Fenton

Rhonda, you know your own body best. It sounds like stress, but if it's a real symptom, you should talk to your doctors about it so they can reassure you. When's your surgery date? Are you worrying about it?

Awww, Amanda! I'm sorry you're feeling down. But you're focusing on what you've lost, not what you've gained. And you're not even focusing on what you've REALLY lost! You're worried about some scars (which will eventually be tiny) on your tummy, when your tummy is in the middle of a body that was 110 pounds overweight! As the weight goes off, as you become healthier and healthier, as you find your energy exploding, as you find yourself doing things and going places you haven't done or gone in a long time - if ever! - then you'll remember WHY you got your lap band. And when you do, the sacrifices you've made will seem trivial. This band will give you your life back. Having your life back may require you to make some adjustments - at whatever reason, for some sneaky internal reason, we've managed to make peace with being fat, so we probably were gaining some value out of it, instead of being so horrified by what we'd done to ourselves that we lost the weight immediately. But, speaking for me personally, I'm tired of being a reclusive fat person, hiding away from the world at large. I don't want to worry about bumping into old friends, into old girlfriends, and seeing their shock and concern about how much weight I've put on. And I don't want to lie around, wondering when this coffin of fat I've put on is going to kill me. These are reasons why I decided to have surgery - five little cuts is NOTHING to me if that's the price to flay off this fat, to set me free again. Please stop asking yourself WHY you did this. Instead, ask yourself why you got fat? Why did you do that? How could you do that to yourself, how you could you make your heart work like that? How could you make your friends so sad? Don't you care about your life? And even if you don't know the answer, I do. You DO care about your life, your heart, your partner, your body. I know that because you chose the lapband. You chose LIFE! Now hang in there. Your scars will heal, your eating habits will settle, you'll start feeling better, your weight will continue to drop off, and YOU will emerge - the real you, living a real life, not hiding away inside your body. You're going to be better than fine!!! Just hang in there, and tell us how you're doing. And, above all: NEVER FORGET YOU'RE A SHRINKING SHAMROCK!!!

My sisters and brothers: AH HAVE SINNED!!! I cheated a little while ago. I went to walk and to buy a sleek new fire extinguisher, and dropped in on a friend who owns a restaurant. Long story short, he complimented me on how much weight I'd lost (he hasn't seen me for about a month - I was really pleased he noticed - he used the expression "Whoa! You've lost a s**tload of weight, my friend? You been dieting?"), and we sat to chat. He had the kitchen make us some bruschetta (Italian toast topped with flavorings); I gummed the toppings of mine, but even so, they weren't as smooth as they should be at this stage! No way I'm getting pureed chicken livers with balsamic vinegar, or ricotta with lemon zest and toasted hazelnuts up through a straw! So, yeah, a slight slip. I feel OK, though, and don't tend to repeat that. I just thought you'd want to know!

Hey, Kettering - are you English? I was ill right up to my start date for the liquid diet. Indeed, I delayed going liquid for a couple of days because I was worried I wouldn't get enough Protein to support my body's fight against the infection, so I did a 10 day liquid pre-op, instead of 14. Worked fine!

Well, it's more just a feeling of being gassy, but also I'm a frequent burper and farter now. The thing is, nothing has smelled bad - let's face it, all of us are capable of producing noxious gases, but I feel like since my banding I haven't been farting so much as decompressing, letting of excess air. I think that bypass surgery, because of the way you get replumbed, can be associated with malabsorption syndromes which are both gassy and foul-smelling. I don't think banders suffer anywhere near as much with that. But to be honest, I'm still waiting to find out when this will settle down. As I say, my surgeon has had his band for something like 8 years; I'll ask him when I see him on Monday.

POD-7 I'm pretty good today, although my sleep isn't great - I wake up a little bit before 7AM, feeling like I overate the night before. Which I didn't, I swear! I walk around a bit and feel a bit better, but now I'm wondering if I'm doomed to have this odd overfull feeling when I wake each day. I know my MD, who has a band himself, says that he doesn't usually eat breakfast; he's had his band for 8 years or so, I think - is this why he doesn't eat Breakfast? The other thing, too, is that I wake feeling gassy, and I'm wondering if that, too, is the New Me. I've been pretty good about the liquid diet thing for the last three weeks, and felt pretty good about continuing, but this morning I watched the first episode of the new season of TOP CHEF. There was deep dish pizza, and duck a l'orange, and crab cakes, and MAN I wouldn't mind having something to eat. Something real... Otherwise, everything's still the same, maybe a little better.

Hang in there, Christine! Not too much longer and your surgery will have come and gone, and you'll be eating real food once again. Oh! AND your DH will have returned! Eyes on the prize, eh?

Chris, nice work! Congratulations! Thanks for stopping in and letting us know about your progress - it really helps when people who've been in the program for a while give us newbies some idea of what to expect. Keep up the good work! And lakrull: if you're going to be on the road, the best thing to do is to make sure you understand the principles of how your band works - what foods you can eat, and what foods you shouldn't. You can pretty much always find something to eat at any restaurant, but it'd be a good idea to bring, like, a protein shake or something (like a can of Slimfast Optima) as a back-up for those times you're overworked and can't get into a restaurant or food shop to pick something up.

Whimsy- have you tried your left side? It's supposed to be the better side for people who have reflux to lie on, so I guess there's less pressure on the stomach in that position. If you take some Tylenol before hoppping in, and pad the bed with enough pillows on that side, you might be surprised to find it's fine.

Off-topic: TANYA! What IS that banana/"peanut butter jelly time" thing? I've seen it as a bit on FAMILY GUY, and I didn't recognize it. Where does it come from?

Haha! I was just clarifying my ChickenChewin' habits, because I knew you guys were worrying about me! I'll post a video of the state of my mouth contents when chocolate Chompin' time comes around... Post-op, my first worry was not getting enough Fluid in. Now it's not getting enough Protein - I don't want to lose too much hair - and calories. At my size, the recommended daily intake is over 4,000 cals, so I expect I'll get decent weight loss in this period of low cal intake. But I worry that my muscles will begin to get cannibalized for fuel if I don't raise my intake a bit. The thing is, I just don't want to. I haven't had my Isopure or my tom yam broth yet, and I'm not at all hungry. I feel full from the Soup I had at 2PM. I'm hoping this means that I'll be one of those people who gets decent restriction without having the band filled up too much.

Oh, wait! I also had some Tuscan white bean soup - 200 cals, 1 g total fat, 12 g protein.

My planned total intake today - full liquids day 7: 1. smoothie made with 1 cup of low fat pomegranate kefir with two scoops of Protein powder - about 250 cals, 2 g fat, 33g protein 2. Half a diet Snapple 3. A pineapple-orange-banana Isopure - about 260 cals, 45 g protein 4. The other half of the broth from my tom yam goong - maybe 10 calories? no protein And Water at will. I'm going to have to start taking in more calories. Hmmm... some mock tortilla soup might go nicely... Oh, medicine: 20 mg of Prilosec Two Flintstones chewables (over time - I worry that the granularity might irritate my stomach lining)

Welcome aboard, newer March bandsters! And Harleygirl, congrats of Day 1 of liquids! The headaches are day 1 or 2 stuff, and once your system gets used to that, you'll be fine.

I'm amused by the counterpoint attacks of me being a chicken Chewer! It's TRUE! But I'm not as much a hypocrite as I might seem - the chicken in the soup was cut into thin ribbons (Thai Soups tend to be quick-cooking affairs - indeed, Thai food as a whole is that way) (short cook times - prep can be lengthy), and most of it went to the cats. I had a couple of small pieces, and I chewed each piece for a couple of minutes until it was a fine paste, and then took more broth - my goal was to get the meat to something that I could sip through a straw, the criterion proposed in the bariatric center guidelines. Which I did. My suggestion would be that you save your outrage at my hypocrisy until Easter Sunday, when I have decided that I will have not one, but TWO pieces of high-end chocolate!

Post-op day 6. To my astonishment, I still have the steristrips! And the haloes of grime around my old IV and EKG lead sites! (I'm going to borrow some damn nail polish remover from my gf to take care of those, as God is my witness!) I get the occasional twinge from my incision sites, but no pain. Since the first night, I've been able to sleep at home on either side, so the incisions have really not been an issue. I can now bend with minimal discomfort, although, if I stay bent over, it begins to feel a little uncomfortable. Although that may just me being neurotic. I have less gas pain, but that might be related to the fact that I've been walking more. And I've actually been having a life - both yesterday and today I went to the movies. Bathroom-wise, everything seems fine. Peeing is normal, and I seem to be going to the toilet every 3 days maybe, and a very small amount. I decided to take two weeks off work for this, and am glad I did. I know many people go back to work a lot sooner than that, but I'm a fairly hefty fellow, and I'd like to think that it took more out of me than it did out of some of the more sylph-like types on this board! But I'm glad I have another week off to finish healing, to decompress and to recover from the last month of preop/op stuff. I'm trying to think - did I miss anything?

Thanks, lads. It's getting better - a week out and I still don't feel 100%, but I don't feel bad either. There has been minimal pain, but I'm still not used to my strangled stomach. I know it'll happen. Rick, when are you up for the chop?

HarleyGirl - I'd be psyched for a new model band! The technique isn't that old, and the technology is just getting better and better...

Those Soups sound pretty tasty, but I have to say that I'm a bit wary of them. Those refried Beans may be fat free, but those other tasty ingredients represent a heckuva lot of starch and fat. I figure that'd be good for the occasional treat, but just because it's a liquid, doesn't mean it's great for you! Obviously, in the early post-op period, you need as much liquid as you can get in, but apparently you have to be careful with fatty foods. Part of the band being a tool is that it gives us an opportunity to break from our old habits and start new ones. We have to be critical of what we're taking in, and making sure we're getting what we need - fluids, Protein, Vitamins. The delicious Mexican Soup, all riched-up with gooey melted cheese and slow-cooked beans, will give a little bit of protein in a good bit of calories; I think it's fine for the occasional delicious treat, particularly in the early days where your calorie intake isn't huge, but not too often! I'm sorry to be a killjoy here, but - and maybe this is more relevant to me than to you guys - I think it's a good lesson that just because we have a noose on our stomach doesn't mean we can eat whatever we want! While it isn't as delicioso, I suspect, as the soup, I had a pretty delicious shake today made with lowfat pomegranate kefir and Protein powder. Kefir is a cultured milk, a bit like yogurt, thick and slightly tangy, that you can get at health food shops. It was rich, and the taste of the dairy was enough to completely camouflage the taste of the protein powder. SCORE!!!

Mom, what is BFE? I'm a video game player, and BFE sounds so similar to an expression we sometimes use that my mind can't think of alternates for those letters!

Rhonda! I know just telling you to relax won't do any good at all, so I won't even try. The thing is, you're taking what is for you a difficult first step that's going to end up liberating you, making you half of the woman you are now and all of the woman you know you can be. It might be hard for you to walk into the hospital, but no one will laugh at you. At that moment, the only reason that hospital exists is to look after you, and no one but you. I was scared too, but I promise you: 1. Anesthesia: A PIECE OF CAKE! 2. The surgery: A PIECE OF CAKE! Look at it like a roller coaster: you pay your money, you sit down, and they put the bar down over your lap and you're off on the adventure that will change your life! Never forget why you're doing this. You're going to be fine. And when it's over, we can all have a good laugh about how scared we were. You're going to be great!

Congratulations, Ms Cathy! And I can only DREAM of the day when cracking open a Protein shake will taste like "heaven"!!! I have stocked cases of the damn beverages. I suppose I'll drink them overtime, but I still find them kind of yucky. I've bought a selection of DaVinci sugar free syrups - hazelnut, toasted marshmallow, vanilla, etc - and will start using those more to spice up the shakes.

Post op day 5 I wonder whether I overdid it yesterday. I think my Fluid intake was good, but that I might have just kind of *overdrunk* - taken in too much at a single sitting. I felt a bit overfull, and I woke up at 5AM, something I used to do when I overate. Tummy still a bit grumbly, a small amount of soreness near the port incision. I, too, have the feeling I'd like to be burping a lot more than I am. Yesterday, though, walking really helped that. Sometimes, when I'm walking, I get this feeling as if a bubbling froth is shifting inside my belly, and a sudden feeling of relief. For some reason, though, every day I have to learn over again how much better walking makes me feel. Basically, I'm lazy, and when I feel a bit less than 100%, my natural tendency is just to lay about - not today! I'm going to shower, have some more delicious, life-sustaining fluids, then... I'M GOING TO THE MOVIES!!! Wish me luck...

How great to see everyone from all over the world! And, since by now, about half of us are on pre-op liquid diets and the other half on post-op liquid diets, I'm beginning to think we should change our name to the Drinking Shamrocks...

It looks like things are going pretty well for you there, too, Loprofyl!