debbiek1

after going on vacation last october, i weighed in at 290. I could hardly walk and had no energy. my knees were killing me. then one day during the noon news i saw an ad for the lapband. my journey started that day. it took 8 months but i finally got banded on june 13th and feel like i have a new lease on life. most of my symptoms have dissapated already.

debbiek1--june 13th

The Fox--welcome. you will find lots of info here. you have a tough decision. you are so very young and you have such a small amount of weight to lose. but if you dont nip it in the bud, it will only get worse--believe me. i am taller than you and at your age weighed less than you do, but 33 years later i topped out at 300 pounds.

Lady QT---so glad to hear you are breezing thru recovery! and be assured every day just keeps getting better as you see the pounds shed. and all the compliments you recieve will compel you to eat wisely. when i think of how i was walking just two months ago, i feel like i have been reborn. i used to avoid superwalmart because it was too big. i was actually considering riding around in one of those handicapped carts. now i cruise thru there with no problem!! and last weekend my BF and i went on an 8 mile round trip bike ride!!! i got a handicapped sticker last year and it expires in october---and i am not going to renew it. and i have only lost 30 pounds---i cant imagine what life will be like when i shed another 90 or so!!! i am looking forward to my first fill though. i am beginning to much more than before. i have to report to the hospital testing center for the fill. i think they may have to do an xray to see exactly where the port is. good luck to both of you, debbie

i know i cant wait to hear all about how her surgery went. i go for my first fill on 7/31. i thought about cancelling it because i have lost 2 pounds each week, which is fine with me. but the other day a friend brought over some KFC and i was surprised at how much i could eat, so i thought i better get that fill. i just hope it doest hurt!! so sue, how are things going with you?

that is sooooo great!!!! it is too bad you wont be able to get that favorite prime rib because after it might be impossible. i know steak is a definite no-no. prime rib is a little softer so maybe eventually you could eat it. enjoy this last week and just be assured the surgery is sooo easy. i dont think i had to do anything the day before. i worked till 0100 and had to be down there early. i think i just couldnt eat after 10pm. i will look forward to hearing from you soon after your surgery. the first night in the hospital wont be fun but as soon as you get home you will start feeling better. like i said i didnt even get the pain medicine prescription filled.

Congratulations Lady Q!!!! you are on your way!!! I dont have much in the way of suggestions except what not to get. dont get the liquid Vitamins from GNC. i paid like 25 dollars for them and after day three they made me want to puke. stick with the chewable flintstones. also i love the chewable viactiv Calcium carmels. they are like my treat everyday. as for the Protein powder--buy samples first before buying a big huge container. Once again, after a few days the protein powder mixed in everything made me sick just to smell it. have on hand plenty of creamy Soups. preferably somekind other than campbells which is loaded with salt. some cottage cheese, some yogurt and some fruit to mix smoothies to mask the taste of the protein powder. i am feeling fabulous!! so far i have lost 26 pounds in exactly a month. today my boyfriend and my grandson and i went for a walk thru innis woods metro park. and i kept up with my grandson!!! this time last year i took him and i could hardly walk. my knees were killing me. this year my knees are not even bothering me. then in the evening my boyfriend and i went for another walk along alum creek. and as i sit here nothing is hurting. it is a a wonderful feeling. i havent done any working out other than walking every night. and i did some Water walking a few times. i plan on doing that more regularly soon. and yesterday i went to look at bikes. i want to get one so i can ride around some of the paths in my neighborhood and all the parks around here. but a good one is expensive. i may have to wait till next spring for that. Sue---i was going to say the same thing as Lady Q--if you have two co-morbidities you should qualify with a BMI of 35. If you dont have them consider yourself lucky, but most people our age do have at least high blood pressure and high cholesterol and at least some arthritis. surely you can scrape together at least two ailments!!!! but if not--good luck. it will work out somehow. i wish you all good luck!!!!

oh, i agree. i thought that a flintstone vitamin would not be enough for me and got the liquid GNC. after day three just the thought of taking it made me want to throw up. that was a wasted 25 dollars!!!

i was banded 6-13 and was losing two pounds a day for two weeks. and i was not hungry at all. for the last week i havent lost an ounce and am hungry all the time. at first i thought "oh, this is so easy, I will never need a fill" now i cant wait for a fill.

B-3/4 cup oat bran with some soymilk L-peach and banana smoothie D-3/4 pureed turkey burger with bbq sauce snack later may be a pudding cup or a popsicle banded 6/13/97 lost 22 pounds so far

will i ever be able to sleep on my side? i had my surgery june 13, so it is still new. i have to sleep on my back which is hard. but if i try to sleep on my left side i feel the band pressing. if i try the right side i feel the port. will this ever change or will i have to sleep on my back forever???? other than this i am having a great band experience and have already lost 20 pounds.

i feel wonderful. :nervous i never anticipated i would feel so much better so soon. like i said before my feet quit swelling. i am walking up and down the steps better. as of today i have lost 16.5 pounds and it feels more like i have lost 50. I really think if it had taken me a month to lose 16.5 pounds that it would not have had the same effect. my gas pains are completely gone. my incisions are doing fine. my stomach is still a little black and blue but that is fading. i read Khaliah Ali's book too. it was helpful and the story of her life was so interesting and kind of sad. it only took my insurance 10 days to approve once they got the paperwork. i dont know what kind of insurance you have, but i suggest you follow up. in about two weeks call them and see if they got the request.

Lady QT--good luck on your visit tomorrow!!! Dr Choban is great. You will be getting your band before you know it!!! all the waiting is worth it.!!!

i am feeling great! i dont go back to work till jul 1 but i could have gone back today. i would just have to take it a little slow. my stomach is a little black and blue around the incisions but it doesnt hurt. i havent taken any pain medication since i left the hospital. one reason being--the prescription was for roxicete which is liquid percoset and hardly any drugstores carry it. so after the first day i decided i didnt need it anyway. i have lost 11.5 pounds already!!! what i love the best is my feet arent all swollen! i was able to get into a pair of previously too tight shoes today and they were actually roomy!!! that alone is a blessing!!! i eat a little cream of wheat for breakfast. a strawberry banana smoothie. soup for lunch. a pudding cup, soup for dinner. it is harder than i thought to get in 60 grams of protein a day. i try to mix protein powder in everything but i eat so little there is only so much you can put in a half cup of soup. and i try to sip water between meals but i am not getting anywhere near the 64 ozs a day i need. but i still feel fine.

i am having a definite tightness in my lungs and have trouble taking a deep breath. the hospital gave me an incentive spirometer and i have been using it. but whereas i could get up to 2500 before the surgery now i struggle to get to 1000. i have been worried i was going to get pneumonia. so i hope you are right that it take a couple weeks to breath normally.

one word of advice-- be careful with the heating pad. when i first came home i slept on and off for almost 24 hours getting the sedative out of my system. and i must have been so knocked out i didnt feel the heating pad burning my back!! i have a big red rectangle on my back and a blister the size of a quarter. so dont leave it on high and fall dead asleep like i did!!!

i have been constipated since i had the surgery june 13. i am thinking it is due to the pain meds, too. i bought some colace today and hope things work out. but here is what i dont understand---little babies are on a liquid diet and they have some whopper BMs!! how come i cant?

i was just banded on wednesday june 13 and my surgeon put me on coumedin afterward for 30 days to prevent blood clots.

i a home and recuperating. now i know what everyone means when they talk about "gas" it is what is causing most of the pain i have. but all and all i feel fine.

yep, tomorrow is the big day.

i belong to the lifetime here in columbus. it is nice, too, i sort of feel like i am having a day at the spa. they just built a brand new one that is even nicer. i just wish our pools were open 24 hours a day. i get off work at 0100 and would love a dip in a pool but unfortunately it closes at midnight. but our dues are a bit less, so i guess it is a trade off.

that is true about the arthritis in the knees and bicycling. my doctor told me that was the best exercise. has anyone ever tried a recumbant bicycle? sitting up on a bike makes my butt, back and wrists hurt.

i am being banded on june 13. i saw my dr last thursday. she never mentioned going on a prediet. thank goodness because i am eating everything in sight. i want to have at least one good steak before i have this done. i already had two but they werent that good, so i gotta keep trying!! maybe i need to go to Mortons this weekend but i am not sure i want to shell out a hundred dollars for a steak dinner!!

that is not a stupid question. it is something i have wondered about too. what i could never understand is how are the gas-x strips going to help. i always thought they just got rid of gas in the intestinal tract. how does it help with gas that is trapped in my body cavity?

you will really like dr choban, she is cool! i would say that august is a very realistic goal. it might even be sooner. it just depends on how fast your insurance company approves it. you may not need to take two weeks off. from the way the dr talked most people only take 4 days off. i just wanted more time off. i go for pre admission testing on thursday and there is some kind of a class that day, too. so i am putting off buying stuff till then. i want to see what they recommend. i think that list of stuff you need in in FAQs. also i am pretty sure they want you to spend one night in the hospital. which i though was strange because most places do it as an outpatient surgery.