Daisalana

Just wondering, have you tried the lunchables pizzas? They have a tortilla like crust.. I don't like pizza or worry about wanting it after surgery, but this might be an option for those of you who love the pizza!

Well they told me to cut out sugar, salt, and greasy foods. They said I need to shrink my liver. This isn't part of the pre-op diet, just a warning due to my liver size. I've been doing good really, cut out the major daily sugar I intake.. cokes. Also been watching what I eat, but I am PMSIng and craving chocolate, so I got the Russell Stover's sugar-free coconut bars. When I did Atkins back in the day, I used Ketosis strips to check my Ketosis (I was a little obsessed with those things..) and when I ate sugar alcohol it did not seem to affect it. I'm not talking about gorging, I just never knew the affects of Sugar Alcohol outside of Atkins. And yes, sugar alcohol/malatol does cause diarhea, but normally only in large quantities. I binged on a bag of sugar-free gummie bears on Atkins and paid for it all night!! In less than a week I have to start the SSS diet of Sandwhiches, Soups, Salads.. and then 3 days pre-op I am to do the clear liquid diet, and day before the magnesium and Protein shakes.

When I did Atkins, sugar alcohol was a saving grace for me when I was craving something bad. Russell Stovers made a great line of sugar-free candies using sugar alcohol which did not 'count' on the Atkins diet. I was wanting to know, since right now I'm having to cut back my sugar if Sugar Alcohol affects the liver? I'm having to shrink my liver.. don't want to mess it up, but couldn't find any information online about the effects of sugar alcohol on the liver.

Thanks for all the info, and the questions Faith. I am actually going to call and talk to him tomorrow about his techniques and if his statistics are wrong (his said 36-38% but, he said there has been documentation of 50-70%..I went back and re-read through everything he gave me), does he keep up with the newest techniques, etc. You've got some good questions for me to ask him. Thanks!

My liquid pre-op diet is only 3 days before hand. They told me to reduce salt and sugar NOW to shrink my liver (it is 9.4cm and they said over 10cm is a high risk of having to do open surgery..eeeeek)1 week out I am to do a SSS diet.. soup, salad, sandwhiches.. Then 3 days prior, liquid diet, and day before protein shakes and magnesium citrate only (Can't wait for that 3 hour drive on magnesium..). I have been on my no sugar/no salt diet since I guess 2 days ago, and since I normally drink 6-8 mt. dews (diet? whats that?) it's been rough. Gave up cokes cold turkey, if I drink diet drinks, I will end up wanting the real thing. Never been a fan of diet drinks. So I've been drinking a lot of crystal light and water. Never looked at sodium before, never had a doctor tell me to monitor it, so this is new for me. Odd how much sodium stuff has in it..

My doctor said there is a prescription you can ask for if you're worried about hair loss (or in your case losing hair), that they can prescribe to reduce the hair loss during the weight loss. I will ask the name of it on April 11th when I go back in if your doctor doesn't know what it is. Meanwhile, I'd ask your doctor if he knows what it is? When I did the Atkins diet, I lost weight rapidly and did lose a signicant portion of hair at the time. That was partially why I stopped the diet :confused: I had a bald spot on the back of my head for.. well, that was 2 years ago and it's still a thin spot for me now. I use to have extremely thick hair, and it's grown back some but it's not back to what it use to be. Good luck!

Well, like I said he did not in any way discourage the lap band directly, and I took it with a grain of salt that he personally had RNY and is the supporter of that. I'm sure a year after having lap band, I will tell everyone it is the end all-be all I had my heart and mind set on lap-band once I researched it. I had thought about RNY years ago, but I was terrified of all the risks. I knew people who have had it, who are seriously ill from malnutrition, and despite massive weight loss have regretted it. So no matter what he told me of his opinion between the two, I am not swayed from my course of lap banding. RNY is too scary for me, I did not even know lap banding existed until about 6 months ago. I did all of my online research and reading this forum and consulted with 2 doctors about it. Everything definitely steered me in a positive direction for it. Even when I read the 'horror' stories here, I keep thinking of what my real horror story would be if I don't have something done. I did ask where he trained to do the surgery and he explained who he worked with and his whole team went up to Portland,OR. He did say RNY is not for everyone. He was very thorough with his explination of how he places the band at an angle to reduce slippage, and he does suture it in place (things I have read about, some doctors don't, etc.). The only things I did not like were his statistics, which he said he got directly from the makers of the Lap Band that he said is the only one approved by FDA in the US. Which again, I think had to do with the fact it's only been in US for 5-6 years so they don't have the good studied done on it. And like one of you said, I read long term people are more likely to gain weight back from RNY, so I am bias, as when I talked to the other women in the room when we were waiting for our psychological appointments, I told them how I felt lap band was better because of the long term affects. I may not lose it immediately, but I don't think I'd have the likelier risk of stretching my stomach back out. Or if there's serious complications, the band can be removed, where as mutilating your intestines is hard to reverse. Anyway..I won't be finding another doctor, and I don't mean to make it sound like he doesn't know what he's talking about, because I feel like he does. I just wanted the reassurance that the lap-band isn't set in a statistic of 36-38% weight loss.

BPD is not a big deal, no hauling away MY sister has BPD and Bi-Polar.. and they still didn't haul her away. They medicate her and she sees a therapist regularly. Don't fret!

I did not hear anyone mention this when I did my research (it was news to me when I went to the doctor) the H. Pylori test for the bacteria in your stomach pre-op. I take mine in 3 days (have to be 5 days off of Prilosec for acurate reading-this is rough).. But they said that if you have this bacteria, you're more likely to be nauseous after the surgery aside from the anesthesia. Did you have this test?

I don't have any words of advice, but congrats on the weight loss so far!

Just wanted to say again how excited I am. All of us getting done in April, I'm sure it's not just me, who is saying 'ARE WE THERE YET?!' LOL Let's do this.. Good luck everyone! Can't wait to share the experience with you guys.

I do not like Pizza, but my fiance loves it, and orders it several times a week.. When I have tried liquid diets in the past (to lose weight, not as part of this surgery), I would make chicken or beef soup with the seasoning from Papa John's, which is delicious. The seasoning packets are .15 each and 1 packet lasted for 4 soups for me. If you have family that eats Papa John's, I'd suggest getting a stock. So I took bouillion cubes, heated them in a bowl in the microwave with water, when it was done, sprinkled the seasoning on, to my liking (it's pretty spicy). I planned on trying this when I'm in my liquid phase!

Wow. I agree, my fiance would be returning the camera PRONTO. :welldoneclap:

Ok, after my first doctor consult in Huntsville at the beginning of March, I felt uncomfortable with them. They had me come in and pay $250 fee to answer my medical history questions, which were already on the form I turned in. It took less than 10 minutes, and I never even met the doctor. It seemed cold, and I thought.. they don't care about ME they care about my $$. And it may seem like an excuse for my 2nd reason, but it wasn't. I was really bothered how they went about charging me $250 for something they could have done on the phone- and then didn't even introduce me to the doctor. Reason #2, I am a smoker and they require 8 weeks no smoking with urine test. If you fail the urine test, day before operation, they will not operate and you forfeit your money. I can't guarantee I won't cheat in 8 weeks and not light up, and not have a stop smoking aid with nicotine.. eek. I'm ready for a lifestyle change in my eating habits. I don't think I can handle both right now. So I found Dr. Freeman in Anniston, AL, who does not require you to stop smoking. It's a 2.5 hour drive from here (bummer), but I need this surgery before I kill myself, and I know my limits. Today was my first day at their office. I went in for a group meeting and explination of roux-en-y gastric bypass, and lap-banding. He performs both, and prefers gastric bypass. He was SO friendly. He came in to our group, and he had somehow memorized all of our names, PLUS the people we came with, he welcomed us all individually with no charts in front of him or anything. I can't say enough about how nice he is, and caring. He prayed with us, and his staff is very nice too. I felt so comfortable, and knew he cared about me, not just how quick he can get into my bank account. I am self pay. My insurance does not cover Lap Band. So after hours in the meeting and getting every question answered that I had, we had an ultra-sound to check our liver size and for gallstones. Then a heart/lung test.. and a psychological evaluation. It took all day (I did not expect that), and after our 2.5 hour drive we got home around 7:45. We had started at 8am. But, I am now scheduled for lap banding!!!!!! April 16th won't come quick enough. On the other side of that, my liver is 9.4cm, and 10cm+ is high risk for having to do open surgery instead of laproscopic. So I am having to cut out salt and sugar to shrink it down. I am starting that tomorrow. Also, he only requires a diet 1 week out from the surgery of soup,salad, and sandwhiches. And then 3 days prior something else (I'll update later, the paperwork is not in front of me), and then day before magnesium citrate which I hear is DELICIOUS (not!). On April 11th I have my pre-op consultation where they do bloodwork, I meet with the surgeon again who is awesome, and then pay everything up front. I will try to keep this updated as often as I can, I have learned and valued other lap bander's journals so much in my research and decision to have it done myself, I'd like to be able to do my part in helping someone else I am EXTREMELY tired after today, and going to go crash now. Tomorrow starts no sugar and salt!:help:

WOOHOOO Went to the doctor today, Dr. Freeman in Anniston,AL. He is SO nice, and so friendly and made me very comfortable. I am so glad I decided to check him out, this is what I needed. A doctor that made me feel good about my decision and cared about me, not my money. I am SOOO excited guys. I can NOT wait. Add me to the list! Lap Band Date: April 16, 2007. :clap2: :clap2: :Banane44: :welldoneclap:

What a great story and you guys look great!

I could tell a million stories, I've been overweight my whole life. I do have a hero story though. Some kids called me Diesel at school, as in a mac truck I guess?? (I didn't know what it meant exactly, I Just knew it was to say I was a big girl).Anyway, I would come home crying to my mom about it, and she was always there to support me. One day at the mall, the girls who called me that were there.. they said it to me.. my mom was with me.. My mom is a skinny beautiful woman, who looks in her 20's.. and this was at least 10 years ago.. She goes up to the girls (one of which actually wasn't skinny anyway), and my mom calls them out on it. She told them how ugly they were, inside and out (and frankly, they were ugly inside and out!!) and told the one girl she wasn't even skinny, so what the hell did she think she had to make fun of someone else.. anyway.. the girls cried.. and my mom's my hero for that. We still talk about that sometimes. At some point I got enough self-confidence that school bullies didn't bother me anymore.. I guess I found a group that accepted me and I didn't care about the people who didn't like me. I have great self-esteem now, but now I want to be skinny for my health. I hate my back problems On another note, things that have stuck out beyond that that affected me, my fiance said once (on one of the many times I've dieted), it would be nice if I ever lost weight and we could have kinkier sex because I'd be more flexible. I felt bad, like I let him down.. and that he thinks about things like that. Also, my younger sister, who is just as overweight as me, had done her yo-yoing dieting, and had lost a signifcant amount of weight.. and I figured she understood how it feels, she was picked on in school etc.. and when I came home to visit the family she makes some comment about how fat I was.. in a 'make fun of' way, not just in talking. It hurt really bad that in my family's home and by my own sister she would do something like that. She has since ballooned back up, but I'd never make fun of someone for how they look :/

I bought mine from a direct website bean.com or something, it's 49.90 and s&h is free, so probably about the same as qvc.

*not=now in that last post

I have changed doctors, I'm not going to go with Dr. Freeman in Anniston,AL. Anyone have any experience with him?

Today has FINALLY come, I get to meet with him and find out all of his expectations for me to have this surgery and his medical opinion on it. I'm so ready to do this, I kind of bypassed the medical side of this! I can't see why he wouldn't think it's a good idea.. Anyway, I can't wait. I'm going to tell him I'm self-pay and want to get this done ASAP. :clap2: :clap2:

Well, I'm a little disappointed. It was a consult with a nurse, asking questions they could have asked me over the phone for $200. Just asked my family medical background. Then told me they can get me in on April 11 for another consult, and then April 24 for my other consult and bacteria testing. I have to be 8 weeks smoke-free. SIGH. I know I can commit to weight loss, but not smoking? :success1: :) :) I called every lap-band surgeon within 300 miles, and they all require it. They do urine test. If I fail, I surrender all money put down and they won't do it. Little depressed right now. What if I can't stop smoking.. I like to smoke. Giving up food is going to be enough stress to me right now. I also have to go a week without Prilosec to do some bacteria test in my stomach, that is not going to be fun either.

There are the 100 calorie packs where they changed the food (i.e. chips ahoy, oreos), and then I found they make 100 calorie-packs that are the original, just smaller in size. I liked the first ones until I tried the 2nd ones. Sandies had shortbread cookies in a 100 calorie pack.. mmm.. Those are my favorite, and I'm able to stick to 1 pack when I have these (I normally have one of these for snack at work). However, the place I got the Sandies from, doesn't have them anymore and I can't find them at any of the stores I go to.. just the original ones I also keep some in my glove compartment for when I'm out and don't want to stop at a fast food place.

Well you convinced me! LOL I went and watched the video, the back relief when you have it upside down and lay stomach on it, just looks so nice. I could use that right now!! And to do some stuff while watching tv would be nice. I'll see how it goes, I just ordered one

Eeek, got me a little worried. I'm hoping to return back to work after 3-4 days! I have an office job, so I won't have to walk around or anything.. and worst case scenerio I can do most of it from home.. but I have already told my employer I only plan on taking a week at most off. :x