leatha_g

Great photos Jane!! Thank you for posting and congrats on losing during the holidays! You go girl!!

Trader Joes has an awesome French Onion soup in the frozen section too. It has quite a bit of protein too, believe it or not. I used Trader Joes alot when I was in Cali.

Hahahaha!

Welcome home Northerner!! So glad to hear you had a good experience!! Congrats and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

That is a Jessie Ahroni-ism. I agree with her. This WLS lets you be in charge. You have to use your own brain to make the choices that will guide you to success instead of having had your innards re-routed and having your body shrink due to malnutrition.

Soup is a good standby, but you are right. The general rules of the band are that you eat hard proteins and no caloric liquids. However, some days 'normal' people choose soup. It is not a good idea to get in the habit of 'soft foods', because of the higher caloric intake that is associated with that. Good eye, Jammin. Good question.

lol, no offense.. it's my mind... lol

Yup, me too. Everyone I know who's had it says they are SO happy they did.

Oh lordy...

Okey dokey. How's this?

Your doctors orders sound very clear and concise and the fact that you seem to understand them is a good thing. Do what the doctor says. I've had some complications, even had to be re-banded. Would I have done it if I was afraid or dis-pleased with my first band? Nope. I would do it once a year if that was the protocol and my insurance would go for it. lol. Your concerns are very valid and everyone has them, but I can tell you this surgery is so many more times safe than bypass that it's really a cakewalk once you've gone through it and seen what you can do with it. It does require maintenance and constant vigilance, but you will see. It's really a very minor thing compared to bypass and you are so much more in control of your own destiny. Please continue to read, read, read, all the threads. You will see how everyone feels about their bands, their ups, their downs, but you will not see many who are ready to give their bands up to go back to where they came from. Good luck!!

We get a little snow maybe twice a year. I have seen as much as 18 inches in western Texas and I've seen weeks at a time at -0 temps out there. Thank goodness, it doesn't happen often and usually the snow doesn't hang around long. We get more ice really and that is usually only a day or so at a time also. I have seen it snow one day and be 80 degrees the next too! That's my Texas!!

I've heard if you can document infections/irritations under your 'apron' of skin. That insurance is likely to pay. So, hopefully, your doc documented that you discussed it and going forward if you have ANYTHING that irritates you about it, have it documented, take pics, etc.

Great pic Katie!! What a cute couple! Thank you for sharing. We love to see the photos!!

I agree with you Carmen. My situation was much the same as yours and I got my divorce long before WLS ever came into my mind or even before I seriously needed it. I was divorced 6 years ago, but it had EVERYTHING to do with self-esteem and self-empowerment. I had come to a place in my life where I finally found out that I did not NEED someone to take care of me. Until that point, I had been married 20 yrs to someone that I loved dearly and still do, to be honest, but he was going backwards in holding up his end of the marriage. He gradually had become a 17 hyr old again, not caring if he worked or not, not caring if our kids had decent shoes or clothing, he was into partying with his friends, illegal recreational drugs and he had this romantic idea that because I had gotten to a place where I had a 'decent' job, making decent money, he could now quit and not worry about working. I felt I had made an honest effort investing 20 yrs of my life and my kids lives in trying to help him realize his potential, but he let us down as a responsible husband and father, so I decided this was not an example I wanted to set for my daughter and made the choice to do better for myself. It was the hardest decision I've ever made and there are days when I wished I still had my husband. I miss a lot about him or the idea of being part of a union that stands together in good times and bad, but I did deserve better and my kids did too. Problem is, this decision leads into a whole lot of 'what ifs'. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be single for 1 yr, let alone 6. I sure never thought I'd face the health problems that came later, alone, but I managed to get through them and still be standing. I have very lonely times and I have very triumphant times that no one else really sees or gets to share in, but I still have hope that eventually God will bring that person into my life. I know now that I AM worthy and I don't really have to 'settle' and mostly that I CAN do many things I never thought I was strong enough to do. It's not easy at all, but I don't think you can put a price on your sanity or your self worth or a clear conscience and those are all things that I have regained in this process. I'm really sorry to hear you're having to go through this, but I think it takes a much stronger person to face their demons than to give in and learn to just live with them out of fear. I truly hope you are able to find yourself in a better place.

That's cool Sue. Do you think you'll go for it?

All of these questions are discussed at length many times over on this board. Read, read, read all you can before you undergo surgery. There is much to learn. To answer this question. The first 6 weeks is meant for healing. It is not even meant for weight loss. At this time your tummy will be very grouchy and the doc will want you to take in only fluids or soft foods. This allows the tummy to rest and not have to churn and grind to digest solids. While the tummy is resting and not having to work as it normally would, there will be scar tissue that develops around the band which will help to anchor it in place. This is your one real defense against slippage later down the road. If a person begins eating solids too soon, they are putting themselves at danger of not allowing this 'anchoring' to take place as intended. Hence, possible slippage later on. Some people DO get hungry. But, more than that, they hear their stomach growl which they THINK is a clear sign of hunger and this is not really always the case. It may just be digestion taking place or small intestine doing it's job. We have to re-learn alot, but you'll THINK you are hungry, even though you may have loads and loads of storage already on board. (I know I did.) This is where new habits need to come into play. Learning that you can do something else, besides eating. Learning that sometimes your thirsty when you THINK you are hungry. Learning to actually talk to your dinner partners instead of focusing on the food. Learning to put your plate away and go for a walk instead of eating more. As for fills. Some docs are more aggressive than others. Some prefer to 'sneak up' on the fills by using small increments at a time. Some use flouro and fill you to completely blocked closed, then they back off enough to see barium coming through. It all depends on the doctors. Most people tend to get a couple of fills before they can really tell they have restriction. Some take more, some take less. Some have restriction right outa surgery and have great weight-loss right up front. One can never tell which one you'll be until you actually get there. I hope this helps. Please feel free to browse all the threads here, old and new. There is so much knowledge and experience just free for the taking. Good luck with your surgery!

Jammin, It's been said that some docs say don't drink coffee because it is an irritant to the lining of the stomach. With the band around it to begin with, I think they just feel it's a good precaution not to add more irritation, such as coffee or carbonated beverages. It's very easy to get esophagititis as it is, I would think coffee could only exacerbate that possibility. Personally, I don't drink it and I don't think ALL docs encourage you to stop drinking it, just some. I reckon it would be an individual thing.

Lucky you Jack! I think I had post-op restriction for about the first 12 hrs. lol. I was never severely hungry, but I could constantly sip pretty much all day long. Now and again, I would get a bout of scratchy throat which was my immediate post-op signal of fullness, so I'd have to let it funnel through and start sipping again later. At this rate, you're going to be halfway there before you get off liquids!! Eureka!!

Thank you Babs! I hate to admit I've been preparing myself mentally that I may indeed be one of those who only lose 50% But, I know it's more me than it is anything else. I just have to admit to myself that the band has done it's job and I have to just meet it halfway. In my case and at this stage in the game, that means no more fooling around. I've gotten by with alot and still managed to lose, no matter how slowly, but I've come to a crossroads where I have to make a decision. Do I want this bad enough to buckle down and kiss the goodies goodbye? or do I want to sit here rocking back and forth and kicking my own arse from now on? .. Maybe I'm even being too hard on myself? Maybe that truly was a plateau? Maybe I reached a place where I had been before (which is true) and my body wanted to hunker down in the old familiar place? I dunno. But, I do know that it's not going to give in easily. I'm going to have to work for every pound past this point.

Amazing isn't it? I had a lady tell me I just needed exercise and to lose weight. Unfortunately, I had moved to another city and she was my NEW family physician. My complaint was that I couldn't breathe. This was never a complaint for me and I got to the point that walking up 2 steps to my apartment nearly caused me to collapse. Trying to be strong, I kept trying to perform, so one day less than a week later, I was on my knees, cleaning my bathroom and began shaking so bad I couldn't get myself up. I couldn't breathe and there was no one there to help me. I had to crawl to the phone and call my daughter to come take me to the ER where they found that I had pneumonia, which this lady could have seen if she had just done her job. I asked her to do xrays, anything, but her pat answer was that I just needed exercise. Interestingly, it may have even been more than that. I had the same sort of episode less than a year later which turned out to be a pulmonary embolism. Same symptoms, shortness of breath, weakness, shaking.. hmm... Amazing.. but, it doesn't take long to tell if someone can't see past your weight. They're very obvious in their ignorance.

Well, check into their website. They've been in most states that I've ever been in. I really enjoy their foods and they keep me on the straight and narrow when I have them on hand. It's when I have to go to that evil grocery store that things get out of hand. lol. http://www.schwans.com/

I'm only at 68 - 18 months out. boohooo!!

It's not an easy thing to do, but you're right. If your goal here is to regain your health.... We're all rooting for ya!!

I understand they say no coffee due to it's erosive/irritant nature. I think we all hear our tummies growl for the first time once we begin healing. Many of us have never even heard that before. But, I never really allowed myself to get to that 'starving' stage. I just kept liquids going in consistently. I also have this theory, I can stand on my head long enough for anything as long as I know it's temporary. these are all fears that we all had going in. You can do this!