lizzy2150

I drink Crystal Light Pure--I wasn't able to drink many brands of sugar-free soda because I'm allergic to nutrasweet, but pre-banding, I LOVED Dr. Pepper and Limeades from Sonic. I don't miss them at all now. The other day at a party, I tasted literally a drop of Dr. Pepper from my husband's glass and wasn't all that interested in it. And when I go to Sonic now, I order an unsweet iced tea with lemon and sweet-n-low.

Stacie: Call Dr. Ferrara's office! If you read the note above the check-out counter there, it says to call their office in case of an emergency--and not being able to drink anything in this heat is an emergency! Their answering service will let the on-call doctor know what's going on. Let us know how you're doing once you've talked to someone there.

Don't point out the BMI discrepancy to anyone at BCBS!! Make them send you a letter, find out if the 6-month change affects you, and then re-submit your request! That's what I would do, anyway.

If you've already decided you definitely want lapband, your surgeon might feel that his or her time is better spent talking to patients who either still haven't made a decision or who are closer to actually having the surgery--and that two months out from your surgery is soon enough to talk to the surgeon; in the meantime, his staff can probably answer most of your questions. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you--just start a list of questions specifically for the surgeon!

Rachel: I read this answer from you on a post before I got banded last month and have adopted it as my strategy. It keeps me positive!!

NSV today! I went to a wedding tonight. I had decided what to wear and had a back-up outfit picked out just in case. Then I tried to get dressed. The original outfit was too big. The backup outfit was too big. The next three things I tried on were too big. I finally found a black dress from about five years ago that was only slightly too big. I work from home, so I've been living in capri pants and t-shirts since the surgery; I knew they'd gotten baggy, but DANG!!!! Looks like I need to go shopping soon.

If you want a lap-band, your insurance will cover it, you can find a doctor who will work with you, and you believe that you can make it work, then I think you can and should do whatever you feel is right for you. And as you work toward figuring out what you finally want, perhaps you could take the first doctor's advice and try Protein shakes. And I think that the Dr. telling you that he will only get paid $900 makes it sound like you're not worth his time--like he'd rather deal with someone who will net more cash for him. While that may be true, he shouldn't announce it. Sheesh.

Amy: My first-fill Green Zone lasted for almost a whole week. It rocked!!! I'm hoping yours will last even longer! I'm back to fighting my constant head-hunger, but doing it fairly effectively. I've totally panicked myself only once. I'm looking forward to my next fill on the 29th.

Crap. Crap crap crap. We have had company for two weeks straight now (different people who all scheduled August trips--one couple left at 10 a.m. and another showed up at noon today) and I've had a hard time sticking to appropriate eating habits. And today, it all went out the window. We went out for Italian food. I dutifully boxed up 1/2 of my dinner and brought it home. Then, three hours later, I took it out and ate the leftovers. Now my stomach hurts. And of course I'm panicking that I may have caused band problems (I don't REALLY think so, since it wasn't much more than a cup of food at a time, several hours apart, but I always go to worst case scenario first). Again I say CRAP. *sigh* Anyone else gone on a mini-binge and freaked themselves out since banding? I'll be glad to start over tomorrow.

Hey, Shauna. I've been feeling a little like that, too. I keep having to remind myself that I am currently in bandster hell--I can't expect to lose like I will when my band and I have learned to work together a little better and my band has more fill. We will get there. Just not this week.

I got my first fill today! It was easy-breezy. I went in and laid down on a table, the dr. put a needle in my stomach, I drank some barium, and the dr. added enough saline to give me a total of 4 cc's. He also said he could see a pocket of gas trapped behind the band, which explains why my shoulder sometimes still aches. He showed me the white cloud on the x-ray machine. I'm not supposed to have anything thicker than tomato Soup today, then full liquids/super-soft mushies tomorrow, then full mushies/soft foods (canned tuna, soft canned vegetables, etc) Wednesday, then back to full solids Thursday. I was doing fine with my liquids until about 9 p.m., when I was suddenly STARVING. So I got some greek yogurt with honey and stirred it and stirred it and stirred it until it was just about the consistency of tomato soup. A slightly thick tomato soup, but still . . . And it was way yummy. I've lost a total of 10 lbs. since band day. My goal is 10 lbs a month, so I'm moving right along. Hooray!!

Ever considered carrying rolls of quarters in your pocket when you get weighed at the doctor's?

I have a question that's never been adequately addressed: What's the reasoning behind the "no drinking 30 minutes before a meal" rule? If the problem with drinking during a meal is that is washes food through the stoma too quickly to fully stimulate the vagus nerve, then drinking before a meal shouldn't have any effect on that at all. So what gives?

Ugh. My (stress-inducing) in-laws are here and already I've had a bad eating day--I ate a huge chocolate chip cookie. Every last crumb. *sigh* Better choices from here on out. . .

CAT: Do you have any unflavored protein powder? I added it to all sorts of things: broth, tea, coffee, juice--it helped me keep my protein levels up post-surgery.

22 pounds in 7 weeks ROCKS!! I doubt your friends who are being dismissive of your weight loss will lose that much in the next 7 weeks. . .

I have NEVER had an accurate self-image. I know intellectually that I'm extremely overweight. But in my head, I've always weighed the same. So when I look in the mirror, it's a bit of a shock! And I've got scars and stretch marks and inner thighs that look like a couple of deflated balloons. But overall, I actually am happy. I feel better than I've felt in years! And if, once I've lost the rest of the weight, I want to do a little sculpting, I'll figure out a way to afford plastic surgery. And either way, I'm in the process of learning to love myself, scars and loose skin and all.

So you're waiting until you know what your vitamin deficiencies are? I just assumed I'd have them and started chewables: a multivitamin, calcium, and iron. I also found some gummy fish oil pills at Costco. They're supposedly tropical fruit flavored--and sometimes I can't even detect the fishy undertaste (sometimes, though . . . ick!!). I'm considering tracking down other chewables--pre-op, I took a lot of supplements to help deal with PCOS symptoms. Now I'm hoping the weight loss will help; but in the meantime, there were some (like biotin and inositol) that seemed to make me feel a lot better. But I have learned to loathe taking pills! What is everyone else doing re: vitamins?

Amy: I always love it when you respond--you always say just the right thing to make me feel better! I do so love this support group. Yay, July Bandsters! I'm clinging to the idea that my standard monthly water retention would usually make me gain 3-5 lbs, but this month, I'm just staying the same weight. I'm hoping that means that when this TOM is over, I'll have a net loss.

My doctor does fluoro and a barium swallow. I haven't had my first fill yet, but I'm glad he does it the way he does--I suspect it will soothe my inner control freak to be able to see what's going on.

Deb: It sounds like a side effect some people get when they need an unfill--in your case, it might be because you're still swollen from surgery? If you have moved on to solid food, you might want to spend a day or two on liquids to see if it eases up. IMO, anyway. I would also suggest checking with your doctor!!

Oh, AlyGurl--me, too!!! My TOM is due at any moment, my weight loss has completely stalled, and it's all I can do not to eat everything in sight!! I have managed to avoid PBing, but I am fighting head-hunger and TOM cravings every minute of the day. *sigh*

And my nutritionist said in order to keep my hair from falling out, I need 70-75 grams of Protein. If I were you, I would absolutely find another doctor.

Yesterday I learned that I can't keep protein bars in the house. I managed to limit myself to just two, but those two were after I'd finished eating for the day. At least they weren't actually candy bars, no matter how similar they seemed at the time.

k&k: My dr. had me do Clear liquids for 48 hours after surgery--it helped keep the nausea at bay! Did your dr. give you any anti-nausea meds?