thunderbeast77

Also I intern at a small assisted living facility for people who are affected by AIDS, my "Job" is basically kicking it and being a friend and support person to the residents, and the staff and I decided I should be open with the residents as severe weight loss in that world ussually means some one is getting sicker, so it would be less traumatic and less cause of alarm for my residents. All my boys (residents) tend to really internalize and worry for the staff if they think somethin is wrong which takes focus of their health issues that they need to be addressing so I've been very open at work too because of what I do. Uhhhhh so yeah hope this deluge of info is helpful haha.

I was very public about it because I am very well known to a large group of people because of my participation in a particular music scene and I had a very public battle with drugs several years ago. I was not nearly as fat then as I am now but the only time I've lost a significant amount of weight in the past was because of that. ( So, knowing that the way I'd be eating after lap band especially in small amount and that'd I'd probably be dropping weight rather quickly I figure I should make it public rather than let speculation of drug use even be an issue or topic for the rumor mill. Also I'm a pretty open person in general and don't know why I'd keep this a secret. I am lucky to have received an onslaught of support and good wishes and an incredibly helpful network of people. I only have one big outspoken critic of my decision and it's a "friend" of mine that is extremely overweight herself and big into the whole fat power movement and I suppose views me as a traitor of sorts. She apparently thinks that I need to just love and accept myself more, but she fails to see that those are the reasons I chose to do this. On some level vanity plays a part but the bigger issue is I do love myself, which is why I dont wanna lose a foot to diabetes or have a stroke or drop dead from a heart attack. Ultimately it's your decision who you tell, and in my experience most people will be happy for you but don't be surprised if you have some haters and critics along the way.... But hey that's just life!

Way to go, lady! You look great! Fantastic inspiration!

That's so cool! I haven't been able to cross my legs since I was a teenager! I look forward to a new and interesting way of sitting! Hooray for you!!!

I'm excited and wanted to share - I'm officially one week banded and down 13 pounds! This is more than I hoped for and I'm really stoked about it. Last night I felt like another week of liquids was gonna be torture, but my victory today makes me feel like I can do the liquid shennigans another week. I look forward to seeing what another week will bring. Hope all my fellow early July bandsters are fairing well! Jeni in Portland

I've had similar pain and went to see my chiropractor - turns out three of my ribs were sublocated during surgery. According to my chiro this isn't uncommon after surgery as you're body is put in a position sometimes that you don't have the muscle mass to sustain and it moves stuff around. She got my ribs back in place and I felt some relief for about a day but they've seemed to sleep again so I'm going back Friday. Maybe worth seeing a chiropractor and see if you're having a similiar issue.

I can totally relate to how you're feeling right now, I too was banded last Wednesday and I'm dealing with cabin fever more than anything. I keep telling myself that this is the hardest part and is temporary. Like Melinda in Florida I just keep thinking about how a year from now how much better my life will be!

This may be kind of a strange topic, maybe not but I figure it's worth mentioning if any of you pre-oppers are in a similiar boat. So, about a year and a half ago I was in a car accident that resulted in pretty severe whip-lash (which I never thought was that big a deal until my ordeal) in the last six months I don't have so many problems any more and didn't really think to check off that I had "neck injuries" on the paper work for the anesthiaologist. Boy, I wish I had, but I don't know if it would have made a huge difference. But I'm now almost five days post-op and have been recovering very well and almost have no pain from the actual surgery it's self. However, I've been in EXCRUCIATING pain on the left side of my neck, and have been having severe migrains, I saw my massage therapist (who also happens to be a good friend) the day before surgery to help calm my nerves, and not because I was in any pain, but today she came over to see if she could help ease any of the pain when she discoverd that four of the vertabrae in my neck have been sublocated (twisted totally out of place). Our theory is my neck being in a weird position for a prolonged period of time and being moved around too quickly when they placed the breathing tube in for surgery must have caused this. To make matters worse I had been getting a pretty rough, shooting pain on the same side under my left breast making it hard to get up, or lay down or breathe very deeply, which I assumed was probably gas. But tonight it's gotten so bad I can barely breathe or lay down and we discovered I also have a sublocated rib (which probably came about from the neck vertabrae being twisted since it's all attached the same muscle structure) I don't think that this is due to any negligence on my surgeon and her teams part but it has really set off and reactivated previous problems from whiplash. Happily as far as any pain from the surgery itself I'm in tip top shape and feel great don't even need the pain meds anymore and feel like being more active - except for my neck and rib - they're excruciating and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do if I can't see a chiropractor tomorrow. Ugh! So, while this isn't directly related to being banded, and may seem strange if you don't have these issues, I thought it may be helpful to those of you about to have surgery if you DO previous damage from whiplash or whatever else so you can be sure to let your surgery team know so they can be extra gentle with you and hopefully prevent you from finding yourself in this position. Anyway, hope this cautionary tale helps some one!!!

Thanks all for your input. I'm trying to get as much protein as possible which I'm finding challenging. It takes me all morning to get through a protein shake and by the time I feel like putting more in me I really am not into having another protein shake Trying to be easy on myself because I've only been banded less than a week. Staying well hydrated so that's good. I've lost eleven pounds since surgery already which is awesome, but I'm having a hard time belieiving it's real.

Hey all I decided to track my calories yesterday and it's the most I've eaten since being banded on Wednesday. What I ate: 9 oz of protein drink, 2 oz of squash soup, three sugar free Popsicles, and 3 oz of v8 veggie juice. This was all through out the day and with vitamins but only comes out to 320 calories. Is this ok until I can get more down? Should I get an unflavored protein powder to put in soup? Am I freaking out for no reason?

Thanks Carolina - I did end up calling my doctor tonight and I'm going in this morning because the neck/rib pain is totally unbearable. I doubt they'll be able to do much for me, but they want to see me to rule out anything else in case there's more to it than my rib being out of place. I know gas pain extremely well (Hello IBS) however this is something completely different, the pain meds won't even touch it and I've found some relief with muscle relaxants, and my LMT confirmed that vertabra were severely out of place. As far as gas goes it seems like it's gone totally. Gas-x the first two days and I walked two blocks the day of surgery and have added a block every day since totally took care of that problem! Just thought I ought to do a public service announcement in case others have injuries in similiar places so that hopefully this could be prevented for them.

Eighteen pounds is incredible!!!! Especially so soon in the game! You can't compare yourself to others, because you're just going to set yourself up for disapointment. You aren't anyone else, so you can't compare your results and successes and failures with any one else. Also, this whole weight loss surgery journey is about YOU and no one else. You did this for you, to be happier and healthier. Not to "be skinny and impress your co-workers!" This isn't a magical process where you get the surgery one day and a week later you've got the body of your dreams. It's gonna take hard work, determination, and laughter and tears. Be gentle with yourself and learn to love the ride. You'll have ups and you'll have downs, but don't get discouraged, we all have that. Take your measurements on a monthly basis and pictures of your face and body once a month. Sometimes pounds don't come off but inches do. Also, when you take pictures to track your progress when you get discouraged you can actually look and see your progress and how far you've come. Keep you're chin up and be nice with yourself! You are going to be a great successed just keep a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude!) Best of luck!

Miso broth, pho broth, and thom Kai broth are all really good and taste exactly the same as they would you're just not eating the stuff in it! Egg flower soup broth too. I like a variety of Asian food and so eating the soups have been making this whole two weeks of liquid thing go a lot easier for me. Also the V8 soups that come in a box are really good I particularly like the butternut squash! Hope this helps!

Hey all I'm in SE Portland and was banded by Dr. Patterson on the eleventh! Good to see some local people on here!!

My first goal is to get under three hundred pounds! I was banded on Wednesday and apparently have already lost 7 lbs (I can't really believe it) so only twelve more pounds to go!

.... And I feel like garbage!! But hanging in there. Can barely get through an ounce of water/Gatorade when I wake up. Everything feels sooooo tight. Please assure me this is normal! I'm just sleeping and sleeping. Ugh! Words of encouragement needed.

Thanks guys! I'm feeling loads better than when I posted the gas x really made a difference for me. Getting my ounces down slowly but surely. Still in disbelief that this has actually happened!!! thanks for everyone's support.

Also is it normal to hurt kinda under my ribs when I take deep breaths?

I'm having surgery later this morning (can't sleep too nervous!) as well! Good luck to you girl!

Hey All quick question - for Protein Shakes can I use almond milk as opposed to skim or soy milk? I prefer it a lot more, there are less calories, and more Protein. I can't see why it would be a problem but it wasn't listed. Thanks!

Hey all - Just need a place to share what's going on with me. I started my Quest to get banded in February, and things moved fairly quickly, until the psychological evaluation (I promise I'm not crazy, the woman who I was sent to took at immediate dislike to me and made things difficult to proceed, different story for a different day.) Anyway I went in today for my consultation with the surgeon, where I basically I assumed I was going to be told that my surgery was going to be pushed back several more months until some of the jumps the psychologist put forth were jumped through. But, apparently my surgeon is pretty fair and balanced and listened to my concerns and decided to go ahead and schedule my surgery..... FOR A WEEK FROM TODAY! I'm totally excited but also really overwhelmed as I was not expecting for this to move so quickly. I feel like I have a lot of work to do and not a long time to do it. Also, 4th of July BBQ and pre-op diet is kinda a bummer haha. So, yay! This is really happening. Has anyone else had an experience where surgery came up faster than they thought? How did you cope?

Thanks for all your responses! I'm self pay and from what I know that tends to go a lot faster than when dealing with the insurance! The downside with self pay dropping all that cashola obviously haha! Anyway I'm excited about this and I realize that there's no time like the present especially since I've been wanting to do this since I was 18!

Congrats!!!