NWgirl

I was told no gummy vitamins (not as high in vitamin content and can cause issues). My surgical handbook recommended Centrum chewables, which I have been taking for a couple months. Prior to the Centrum, I tried the O-Purity band multivitamins but found they were too sweet. Just make sure to discuss with your nutritionist/surgeon what they prefer you take. It is important to take multivitamins because it is a lot harder to get all the proper vitamins from such a small diet.

My Aunt was banded about three years ago and did get the flu badly about 1.5 years ago. She did throw up a lot and had some band issues (not sure on specifics anymore) but all is well now. She said that she know keeps an anti-nausea med on hand just in case.

I have steel cut oats (w/splenda brown sugar mixture and nonfat milk) and the new Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt. Keeps me full for 6+ hours.

I was hungry on day three, but it's very important that you continue the clear liquids. Make sure to drink all of your protein and if you are feeling hungrier, drink some more. Also, sometimes being dehydrated can feel like your hungry, so make sure you are drinking enough liquids in general.

Last week I was in Trader Joe's and was perusing the frozen foods aisle (I'm really a lazy cook) and found steel cut oats in a 2 pack. They cost a few dollars, and I was curious so I decided to give them a go. They reheated well and tasted yummy. I ran across a blog post (http://amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com/2011/11/oatmeal-freezer-pucks.html) and decided to make my own pucks for cost saving measures. I used Bob's Red Mill Quick Cook steel cut oats and have to say the pucks turned out yummy! I prepared two full batches (8 servings split into five muffin pan slots) and let them freeze for about three hours. At three hours, I pulled them out of the freezer and was able to use a butter knife to slide around the edges and pop them out. Next time I will be adding raisins and splenda brown sugar mix when I cook them. Calories are about 225 per puck.

I feel like there is hope for me to lose weight once and for all. And I feel a lot more confident.

FYI if you don't like what someone posts, you can make it so you cannot see their posts.

As was said previously, sometimes you don't necessarily "see" it. I have lost 6 clothing sizes and over 50 pounds, but most of the time I feel the same and I think I look the same (obviously not true). Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

I was told to use the following equation as a Protein minimum: weight x 0.3= protein in grams

I've "only" lost about 30 since surgery, but am thrilled with my loss. I lost about 20 pre-surgery, and went into the Lapband as a lifestyle change. I do track food, but eat what I want and go about life in a healthier way. Could I have lost more? sure. But, I didn't want to be a slave to another diet. You just need to find what works for you. What are you eating on a daily basis? Also, I only have between 4.5 to 5cc in my band and feel I am at a decent level.

Congrats! It's exciting when you actually have a date and time!

I slept on my stomach within the first week. I actually woke up and was on my tummy and I had not gone to bed that way.

I have Anthem BCBS and did not have to do any doctor supervised diet. I went for my group consult on January 17 and was banded March 20. I received approval late February, but my surgeon was booked until late March. The requirements by my insurance and by my Center of Excellence surgeon were: - scheduled consultation with other WLS hopefuls going over types of surgery, expectations. We also took the psychologist test at this first meeting. - metabolic testing - sleep study - initial complete blood panel, thyroid function, a week before surgery another blood panel was needed - physical therapist visit - dietician visit - psychologist visit, including 400 question test - surgical consult - pre-op class I got most of my testing done in the first two weeks after consultation.

I also would add to stop drinking any liquid ten minutes before meals and up to an hour after meals- this will be something necessary for banded life.

I would recommend asking a qualified surgeon about the differences and the believed pros/cons of each. We can all voice our opinions on here, but in the end, you need to work with a surgeon to decide which surgery is best for you. Some surgeries are better for different conditions. One example is that If you have type 2 diabetes, gastric bypass is recommended because it is viewed as a "cure" for diabetes. Make sure to go over all medical issues you currently experience to find which surgery will be best for your situation. I chose the band over sleeve because: 1. The simple fact that I am young and could not rationalize such a drastic approach as removing or rerouting my inners for better weight loss. If I was not successful with the band, then I was willing to look into more drastic options. 2. I was not worried about losing weight rapidly, so that did not factor into my decision. 3. I also was told that a woman who wants to have children is less prone to nutritional deficiencies from band vs other WLS because the saline can be removed from the band if needed during pregnancy. 4. It appears that some people who get the sleeve do experience dumping, which is a reaction to sugar. Dumping is most commonly associated with RNY. 5. Much shorter recovery time. I was able to return to work within one week and was told I would need to take three to four weeks off for other WLS. Also, there are a very few percentage of sleeve and RNY patients who experience complications (leaks, etc) from surgery and they go through hell to heal. Obviously, the flip side is that some banded patients suffer slips, erosions, detached/flipped ports, and tubing punctures. 6. The band can be slowly tightened, so that if you feel you are going backwards or there is a stall in weight loss, you have something that can be done to get you started again. This means more maintenance, which is a con to some and a reason to choose the sleeve. The sleeve and bypass or more one stop shop surgeries. On an interesting side note, my surgeon wanted me to get the sleeve, but did not say anything negative about my choice. You need to find a surgeon who stands behind you and supports your surgery choice, whatever that may be.

Hopefully you get a speedy response! Try not to think about it ever day

Did you call your Dr's for your records- gynecologist, primary care, emergency room visit, etc? Any weight watchers or other dieting attempts with weight tracking?

Good luck! I recommend bringing a small pillow to hold against your stomach for movement post-surgery.

Stop weighing yourself, you are only making yourself feel worse. Some bodies take a little more time to recover and do not cooperate well with the post-op diet. Yours might be one of them. Instead of placing your worth on an arbitrary number, look at the way you are feeling and clothing fit as an indicator of success.

Hi Stephanie, I am also a Stephanie and had the same experience. I had bought a variety of pant sizes from a clearance sale locally (GREAT discount rate) and one day two months ago I wanted to show my honey how close I was to being able to fit into the 16's (I had never tried them on prior to this experience). I put them on and said, "see, I can even pull them up!" I then buttoned and zipped them and stood dumbfounded for a minute before I started jumping up and down yelling "they fit! these are size 16's! They fit!" etc etc like a broken record. Sometimes we are so focused on a number that we forget to see the actual changes happening. I love this journey and it has taught me to appreciate so much more.

My biggest issue with post-op diet was that it was so boring. I was thankful I was allowed to puree soups in addition to the protein drinks, yogurt, and SF pudding/jello. It is over before you know it, and then you are on to fretting about other food choices

If you find a new insurance that covers WLS, it seems like the waiting period could be up to a year, it really depends on the plan. I was added as a dependent to my step-mom's plan this year and was immediately able to go forward with surgery. Keep in mind that you will most likely have a deductible and out-of-pocket max (OOP) to satisfy for any insurance. I paid all of my OOP of $3000 on all pre-surgery requirements. Also, some plans do not have a cap on yearly spending, so if you have an 80/20 plan, you will have to pay the full 20% of surgery cost. I would also encourage you to research self-pay in your area as well, just in case you can find a Dr who is reasonable. There is also CareCredit, which usually offers no interest if you pay of the balance within 12-18 months. I would also urge you to ask human resources if the upcoming policy for 2013 will include WLS- a lot of insurance companies are adding coverage because it is cheaper for them in the long run.

I would really caution against trying to use soda as a dislodging technique. At one point a few months ago, I was eating a meal and decided to take a teeny, tiny sip of soda because I felt things coming to a halt. It literally felt like the soda caused the food to become stuck and I had a hard time breathing right for a few minutes due to food being lodged and the combo of carbonated drink expanding. Incidentally, this also ended up being my first PB. As for drinking sodas, I do drink a few diet sodas a week. My surgical practice said as long as you did not suffer the negatives (pain from gas) then you were good to go. They of course cautioned to keep consumption low, for obvious reasons.

I don't have children, but the only thing I would be worried about is the children spilling the Beans (so to speak) to someone else because they don't understand it's not common knowledge. Because they're children, I would illustrate in a way they can comprehend- in "Bandwagon" by Jean McMillian, she uses the visual of a soda bottle being the stomach. With a normal stomach, you must fill the bottle all the way to the top to activate the area of the stomach that tells your brain you are satisfied. The Lapband acts as a band around the top part of the bottle, meaning you eat a lot less to activate the satisfied feeling to the brain. I hope I explained that right.

I always make sure to order something that I know will not be dry because I have a big problem with dry meats. I also like to order something that will re-heat well since I cannot eat a whole entree alone. Since I eat out so infrequently, I am a little more lax with calories, but I do try to make healthy choices.