mags2u

Hi Mich! Sending peaceful and calming thoughts for your blood pressure. Hopefully if your PCP got you on meds right away, you will be under control enough for surgery. My EKG was abnormal, but I had a stress test done two years ago. I talked to the hospital today to make sure there weren't going to be any surprises day of surgery, and I think so far so good. Hang in there!

I agree with Patty Girl that this site is for all of us bandsters to stick together! Some of my family doesn't even understand, stating well can't you just do it on your own. I too am completely a Type A personality which is where I think we get in to trouble, because we CAN"T control this sometimes. Keep positive!

First off thank you for your honesty. Secondly get the word failure out of your vocabulary. I have not had the surgery yet, but I've been overweight yo-yo up and down my entire life. We self sabotage our success. For every "failure", you need to recognize a success, like the fact that you took a step to save your life! Start from scratch. Take today and make it yours. Your surgeon is not your enemy, he's there to help. Prayers for you in getting back on track. Thank you again for posting!

Shay that's so awesome! Congrats. Can't wait to be reporting my surgery is done as well. How are you feeling today? I put myself on a protein liquid (revised to one high protein meat meal at dinner since my doctor didn't require diet) and so far I've lost 9lbs this week! I've never peed so much in my life. I've given up soda cold turkey but definitely still drinking tea for the caffeine! Keep us posted, hope you are feeling well!

My doctor doesnt require pre-op diet. Im 7 days away. Im doing a high protein diet. So far today its been ok. Everyones body is different. I would talk with your surgeon, maybe a nutritionist. I was fortunate to be at a center of excellence where they require on going nutrition classes, etc. Good luck in your journey!

Welcome!

Best of luck Shay! Will be thinking of you tomorrow and sending positive vibes your way! Keep us posted!

Thanks! My doctor doesn't actually require a pre-surgery diet, however since my surgery is 7 days away (oh my thats the first time I can say that ) starting tomorrow I'm doing a Protein drink, liquid diet. Then Sunday and Monday I will do Clear liquids before surgery. Kind of had my last horrah of the year and am just ready for the new year and new me to start! Did you have your surgery in St. Louis?

I was watching TV the other night and this new song came on by Shania Twain. By the end of it I was crying. Hope, Inspiration, belief that this time things will be different. It was a moment, an idea I wanted to share!

I have been practicing CHEWING my food verses inhaling it.

Hi Mich, no Ive not seen THIS surgery, but am in the O.R. Rest your fears though. The day of surgery they will get you there early, youll probablly sign paperwork. Then they will first bring you into a pre-op area. Youll change into a gown (which I always tell my patients was created by a man because no woman would create such an awful thing!) They will start an IV and thenyou usually meet the anesthesiologist, then the CRNA ( nurse anesthestist that actually does your case) and usually the OR nurse. Of course you will see your surgeon as well. It will seem like you are waiting around and then they will take you back. At my surgery center we give people Versed through their IV before we roll back to the OR. Versed is a nice drug that I call the Men in Black mind eraser. You will be awake but VERY relaxed. Once you are in the OR you will not remember much. They will place a breathing tube to assist your breathing while you are under anesthesia. You will NOT be awake during this. They will prep your skin,usually with betadine and the the surgery will begin. Once your surgeoun is done they will turn off the anesthetic medicine and let you start waking up. When you are breathing safely on your own, they will gently remove the breathing tube (you will NOT remember that either. They will then take you to a recovery area. I hope that helps in easing your fears about the day. I think im most nervous about down the road with complications like slippage, erosion, etc.

Thats awesome to be 14 lbs down before surgery! Its really sinking in that this is Really happening. I think my biggest fear is slippage and having to do things all over.

Hello all and Happy 2012! I woke up kind of giddy this morning just thinking my surgery is RIGHT around the corner. So with New year's Eve tonight, what are everyone's plans for "dodging" temptation and food. I'm not a big drinker, a glass of wine maybe every six months here or there, so I'm not so worried about that. I know the party we are going to this evening will have a ton of food. Although I've been very "out of the fat closet" to friends, family and co-workers, I'm not wanting to shout it out to my husband's friends. I plan on bringing my water bottle and will re-fill as much as possible to keep full on that. With that said though, I'm not going to beat myself up if I eat a little cheese and crackers.

I've been "Out of the Fat Closet" for quite sometime. Most people that know me tell me that sometimes I should learn to use the filter in my head that God gave me before I speak. I'm working on it among numerous other things. So it's not been a big secret that I'm having this surgery. For me I think that it is a neccessary tool to keep myself accountable. The other night at dinner, my twenty year old son said, "So when you come home from surgery are you going to be as skinny as her", pointing to a stunning beautiful slender blonde waitress. Puzzled, I looked at him and laughed aloud and said "what do you mean?". He said, "well aren't they just going to go in and cut off all your fat and then sow you back up?". Note to self Maggie: Better job needed on educating people what my surgery will be. I've never laughed so hard!!! More at the fact that he EVER thought I would be a size zero! Have a VERY safe and Happy New Year!

My surgeon doesnt require any diet before but im doing high protein shakes only starting Tues. (7 days prior to surgery). Then im going to do clears the two days before.

What is the difference in Iband with plication?

Congrats!

Hello! Im Maggie. After my three month medically managed diet i was ready to submit for insurance (bcbs). They then informed me i had to completevsix months as their requirements had changed. Needless to say ive jumped through all the hoops and will be having Surgery in less than two weeks. Glad to have this forum!

First of all, please seek help immediately if you are this depressed. Call a friend, call a help line. I must clarify the misconception though from different post that I have seen. Anesthesia DOES NOT CAUSE DEPRESSION. I am a surgery center RN. Anesthesia can be in your system 18-24hrs typically to wear off completely. We also see this type of "post-surgical" depression in heart patients. I think we really have to look at why we are all in this having surgery. We (or at least I ) feed our emotions with food and never really feel our emotions, or work through them. After surgery you are forced to deal with emotions like you never have before because the "go to" for dealing with emotions, good OR bad has been taken away from you. We didn't get to this point over night, and it certainly won't go away over night. I really do recommend on-going counseling for this. I know it will be a needed aspect of my healing. Please private message me if you would like to talk. Please stay safe and reach out for help.

I'm surprised he would try it again if he thought it was due to rejection?

Welcome! Good Luck!

Nicole that is awesome! Ultimately after surgery that is what we will be doing anyway. Its kind of what Suzi said, a test run. I'm going to steel that. Today I've done really well. I had an HMR (similar to medi-fast) chocolate protein drink. I added a instant coffee packet to make it a chilled coffeemocha and plan on doing that after my surgery just with decaf. I've known from the get go that my struggle will be not drinking 30min. after eating. My family calls me a camel because the waitress normally just leaves the tea pitcher! So with that said, I've really been practicing that to get into the habit and so far so good. I just boiled two eggs and had those for lunch. We will see what the rest of the night brings. I'm sure there will be snacking at the party we are going to but I will just bring my water bottle with me and keep filling up on water as much as possible, but I'm NOT going to beat myself up if I do induldge a little. Happy 2012!

Hi! I'm Maggie. I'm having lap band surgery January 10th. This has been a year long "pre-surgery" journey for me leading up to the surgery with disappointing insurance requirement changes and hoops to jump through, but its all a part of the journey. "Is that a Fat Joke?" is what I've named my blog. I often make fat jokes/comments about myself, especially at work. Co-workers will always say, oh stop! My response is always, "it's ok, I know I'm fat- it's not a big secret to anyone". Kind of hard to hide 300+ lbs! Through this journey I hope to obviously not only take control of my health, my body, the physical number on the scale, but also to gain control of dealing with why I feed my emotions with food. This surgery is afterall just a tool, certainly not a fix-all, fix-quick solution. Although I like to make people laugh, today I am making the committment to STOP hiding behind "the fat jokes"........So this skinny girl walks into a bar. I'll keep working on my material!

I agree that this is a great site to come to for support with people that have actually gone through the same thing. Although I haven't had my surgery yet, I'm so excited about my next phase of life; healthier, happier, skinnier. Congrats on your beginning of the journey! Best of luck.

Columbia MO? I'm going through SSM Weightloss Institute at Depaul. I actually did their HMR medically managed program about three years ago and lost 60lbs (all liquid x7months) but obviously have gained it back. I will definitely start up-ing my protein and no carb with all the posts I've seen.