val144

I am feeling a little better today. I have had my Protein drink and banana. My stomach is rumbly tumbly already this morning, dont know what is up with that. But, I feel less stressed. I guess reading others stories and talking to a few made me feel some better. I still have some doubts about it. And I am sure in the next 9 days, I will flip flop back and forth a dozen more times. I have to take the family stress element out of it, I have to set my foot down and make it known this is about me and my life and my decisions and not a time for them to come bringing their neverending petty squabbles. I feel achy all over, my lower back is really hurting, I am hoping it is just from the extra walking yesterday. But I am not all freaked out today. Of course it is really early. Determined, add me, I tried to add you but for some reason it wouldnt go.

i guess everyone is different, but ww has its own agenda, if everyone starts going for surgery and gives up on ever losing any real weight with ww, then they lose millions of dollars, dont get me wrong, ww is good for some people, but lets face it, ww is just as much a tool as the lap band, and maybe you should remind people of this, you dont lose weight with ww, you lose weight by dieting and exercising and using ww as a tool. you can cheat on ww just as much as anything else. there are some great success stories with ww, a handful of ppl have lost really large amounts of weight with them, but there are just as many who have struggled to lose a few pounds and i was one of them, i spent hundreds of dollars over several years trying with ww and i lost maybe 10 lbs total, gained, lost, gained, and i learned that i starved for 2 days before weigh in, used diurectics and laxatives to lose at least 1 lb and as soon as i left the meeting on weigh in day, i went straight to the fast food place and ate so much junk i would get sick not saying everyone does this, but i did and i had to quit going cause not only was i making myself sick physically, i was sick emotionally as well.

I am freaking out as well. I am scheduled for surgery for August 30th, was supposed to have already had it July 15, but had to postpone, because of all things, my dog got very sick and had to have 2 surgeries himself and I just couldnt be stressing about all of this at the same time. I wish every day of my life I had never told anyone, friends or family!!! My mother and father want to come to the hospital the day of my surgery and this is creating even more stress and aggrevation. Because they are both very negative people who make everything about them. Can I just tell them not to come???? I really dont want them there in the waiting area where I will be. I will just get even more stressed. But in all honesty, I am seriously re-considering this decision. I had started my 2 week pre-op diet on Sunday 14th, and by Thursday 18th, I had given in and had some chunky chicken Soup and a few crackers, and it has all been down hill from there, I have drank soda and eaten lunchables and even had some Peanut Butter candy today!!!! How can I be serious about this and expect success to come my way if I am sabotaging my own pre-op diet already??? I am depressed and having heart palpitations and knowing I will fail. I just dont know if I can do this!!!! I hate pain, I hate the idea of needles, I hate the idea of my family being a part of any of this and I hate knowing I will have to drink and not eat and crush meds up to swallow and other than losing some weight, I cant see anything postive about any of this.

Glad to hear you have so far had a positive experience, I am scheduled for august 30th and getting very scared and wondering if I am making the right decision.

My name is Valarie and I am 13 days away from my surgery date. About 3 or 4 years ago, I had a stress test and echo and was told I had a slight irregular heartbeat, my medication was adjusted and I was told it wasnt serious and was most likely too much caffeine or some of my medicines, or related to my PCOS. So, after having had a stress and echo each year since, and was never told it had re occured or gotten worse, I never gave it much thought. Back in May, while going thru the process of getting my approval, I went for my heart stress test and the cardiologist decided to do an echo as well. He told me how great my heart beat was, how strong my heart was. But then out of the blue, he says, he wants to do a heart cath on me, and he never gave me any reason why, he never showed me any tests that showed an abnormality, etc. He also said, if you werent trying to get approval for lap band I wouldnt even consider doing a heart cath, but since you are I want to do one. I felt like this was a form of blackmail. It was as if my lap band surgery was being held hostage. I was told by his staff that I would not be given a good report without having the heart cath. But I refused to have it until they gave me a reason and when they didnt, I asked for my chart and the films as well as the dvd from the echo so I could get a second opinion, there was no need, because my surgeon told me that I was given a good report and all was cleared to go ahead. I never did get my chart/films. Now, here I am 13 days away from my date and I began the pre-op diet 4 days ago and yesterday and today I have had very noticable heart palpitations. I have a home bp cuff and have been taking my bp, it has been very good, and my pulse is at a good rate, however, when I take it, it shows the irregular heartbeat symbol. This has me worried, and I am wondering should I go to my doctor and have her do an EKG or something? Should I have had the heart cath? If I go back now will my surgery be refused or postponed, I only have until December before my approval runs out and I have to try again. What could have suddenly brought this on....? Stress? too much Calcium, or Protein increases or sodium in all the broth I am eating??? Does anyone have any advice or has had this happen to them?

Thanks for the replies, after I spoke to the friend today, I realized she said she was put on blood thinners after her surgery. For other reasons, she was only given a blood thinner before her surgery, as many are. I spoke to several friends about this and they all said they werent put on blood thinners post surgery. Only during the surgery itself. I guess I misread, or misunderstood, or jumped ahead of myself. The reality is hitting me I suppose that I am only 12 days from my date, and maybe I am getting a little freaked out. Trying to stick to the pre-op diet, my doctor told me yesterday to ease up a little, I was pretty much living on broth, yogurt, and bananas and Protein drinks for the last 4 days, she told me I can have some eggs and tuna and green veggies as long as I dont have starchy carby foods, or sugary drinks...for the next 4 or 5 days, then i need to go back on the stricter diet. I think my brain was misfunctioning from malnutrition, just kidding.

I was already given approval for my band, my surgery date is august 30, and yesterday, i received a copy of my echo and stress, etc, and the report from my cardiologist from back in May, and it was all good. The report and the ekg nor echo showed any signs of abnormalities or any reason to do further testing. I fear this particular cardiologist saw a patient who really wanted his consent and thought he could use the situation to do unnecessary tests, as he did a relative of mine the same way and she went ahead with the test, using another doctor and was told, everything looked good, no problems. Maybe, just maybe from time to time you run into a doctor who has their own agenda. But thanks for the response, I had another ekg yesterday and no problems were found.

Update- I saw my doctor today and she did an EKG, and she pulled my results from my echo and stress test which had been done in May, and it was all fine. She said today's tests showed no abnormalities and neither did the ones in May. Could be too much sodium, or too much caffeine from the coffee or just stress. She told me that if I continued having the feeling and if I began having any pain, burning, tingling, sweating or shortness of breath to go to the ER. However, and this is just another fear that popped up, after speaking to a woman who had the same irregular heartbeat, she told me that after her surgery, she was put on Coumadin. Now I have to tell you, I have had experience with blood thinners thru family member and I would just as soon cancel the surgery and forget the whole thing than take my chances on blood thinners!!! Has anyone else experienced any problems with this?