4sweeties

That's a great attitude...I can learn from you. I'm excited your day is almost here!!!

I tried the muscle milk light chocolate and like it a lot. I got it at costco. For $4 more than I paid, Amazon will automatically ship to my house and I can cancel at any time. My surgery is not until De. 19 and I feel like I am getting more and more nervous with this waiting time. At first it was earlier in the month, and my nut said even though THanksgiving fell during my liquid diet, I could have a small piece of turkey and vegetables (if not in loads of cheese or butter) during the family meal. But I know, all drs and nut give different advice, but maybe you can ask about this, especially if you are not going public with your lap band and you are on the liquid diet on Thanksgiving.

I'm hoping to lose a lot on pre op diet because my wedding rings are stuck on me, and I don't want them cut off for surgery. I plan to go to a jeweler 2 days b4 surgery if they still won't budge. I have a month to pre op diet, so I'm trying to be healthy most of the time now, then my liquid diet. I also am interested in hearing how much people who did a pre op diet lost. I'm guessing if I lose 20 pounds in the next 6 weeks (very hard maybe not possible but who knows I don't have experience with a liquid diet...which is why it is nice to her from those who do) maybe my rings will come off...I'm hoping!!!!

First, is my starting weight, my heaviest, my current weight or my weight the day of surgery? (after a 2 week liquid diet) Second, how do I decide my goal weight? Do I look at a healthy BMI for my height? Do I just subtract 100 pounds? Do I use my senior year of high school weight? My lowest adult weight? HELP I weigh 288. At 175 I looked really healthy and good (over 10 years ago) but that is far from the weight the charts say I should be. I am 5'9. Please tell me how you figured out a realistic goal weight and a suggested one for me based on what I just wrote

I had 3 children, had an IUD in, it fell out of place unbeknowst to me, I was pregnant and had no idea. I knew the first 3 times but had no symptoms with 4th pregnancy. TAKE THE TEST.

OMG that's great that you are so close to the ones Junior Guru. It will feel so good to step on a scale at a drs office and not have them go up and up with that stupid bar balance thing. I hate that. I never announce oh just start higher bc I'm 288. I stand in silence as they move the bar on the scale. You are doing great! I think 160 will be my goal weight.

Ok...You convinced me. I will do it close to the break. Thank all of you for responding and helping me make my deision and now i am confident it is the right one. I have to wait 2 etra weeks, but in the big picture, that's nothing. So my surgery is in 6 weeks now!!!! Woo Hoo. And I will have until after New Years to recoup. Ok, don't think I'm crazy but now part two... The closest I could get to the winter break was Dec. 19. Then the surgeon is off for the holidays. That's a Wednesday. I am staying overnight bc of sleep apena and plication. SO I'll be home from the hospital Thursday the 20. Is there any way, I can go to work for Friday the 21? My husband can drive me, it's an easy day. I can get away with sitting most of the day and even saying I'm still not feeling better. I hate to take 3 days right before a vacation off. (the 21 is our last work day) Not telling work about the surgery, unless my dr can write it up without it looking like WLS. I don't want it to look like I'm hopping on a plane for an extended vacation. I hate to be off before a vacation, not say good bye to the kids, give them their presents, clean up a little. I will take the 21 off if I have to and it's best for my health. But is it at all possible I can suffer the one day at work, and then rest from Dec 22 to Jan 2???? I need to be realistic. Please help.

I haven't had my lap band yet, but I am nervous like you, I had a surgery in August and was just as nervous. What helped me then, was telling the dr how I felt. Even the day, an hour before surgery as I was getting preped I said to the surgeon, "I guess it's too late now to back out" and nervously laughed and he said, no it isn't. That answer surprised me, but it also made me stronger. It was my decision and I really wanted the surgery and I did not want to back out, I just wanted to survive and have little to no complications/pain. So I prayed and positive self talked. I told myself I was strong, I could do this, I wanted this etc. When the anesthesiatologist met me a little after, I said I have 3 kids who will be distraught without me, so do your best work please. I also said please I am scared I will tell you my deep dark secrets or say something I'll regret as you put me to sleep, so please talk to me about yourself or general things as I fall asleep. She did and it took away that personal fear. She also asked me what else I was scared about and explained things. And I told the nurse assigned to me, when she said how are you doing, I said I'm good but really nervous. Telling the team, helped. They treated me the way I needed to be treated. It really helped.

I'd also like to know about the recovery with plication. My health insurance does not cover it yet, I think most don't because it is so new (when done with lap band t has been done for various reasons in US) to the United States. My doctor has a grant and that covers the cost of that part of the surgery for me. I think my doctor has done about 100ish. I forget how many the grant allows. I am very happy to be included in the study.

Thank you so much for sharing. I will be banded next month. I enjoy exercising (don't like how quickly I get tired lately due to my weight, but truly have always enjoyed being active) and I don't crave junk or eat a lot of junk food. I just eat too many portions of food. I eat a lot, especially at dinner. And if I don't eat much in the morning, I feel shaky, headaches, like hey you need to eat or you wont make it through the day. My tests all came back ok. My dr and nutritionist tell me things similar to your journey. They also said that with the band making things smaller, it triggers hormones to the brain sooner. Hormones and messages that I'm not hearing now. They said that will make it so much easier for me. A lot of talk about not having that stomach hunger. They say I may not miss the diet sodas, that I actually may get into the good habit of drinking water and get used to drinking it more throughout the day. So thank you for sharing, because I was beginning to think I was being sold, and your real life story made me realize there is truth to what they said.

I'd love to have a wedding to go to and be able to buy a dress because I like the dress itself not because...it hides my arms, goes past my knees, comes with a jacket etc. Just becuase And leggings and a sweat shirt. I know sweat shirt probably sounds so frumpy but I feel right now in comfy clothes I look even sloppier than jeans or work pants etc. I always hated my legs and want them to look nice in black skinny jeans or leggings, and sweat shirts never look big and comfy without looking huge on me like on my fit friends. I just want to be able to go out to the field with my kids, dressed like the other moms, comfy but neat and put together. I hate that even for causal events i have to put so much thought into what I wear.

Excited for you!!! Happy healing.

Is anyone good at organizing a group member heading list with our names, surgery dates and anything else we think will help us in this thread (our state, plication, pre op diet start date, maybe starting weights and goals if people are comfortable)? I remember when I was on a pregnancy board with my first child we did that with due dates instead of surgery dates. It helped us remember who was who, etc. and made it exciting as our day got closer. I haven't searched other bandster months to see if they do this. If yes, maybe they can help us get an idea of how to organize. Am I making sense? lol I'm so tired.

I decreased soda but haven't given it up. I feel like I need to make small changes because these are huge changes for the rest of my life. I am inconsistent with eating healthy now. When I get 2 weeks pre surgery then I will be strict with the food. My nutritionist said for now to practice stopping eating before I get full. I haven't made a big effort to do that, but it makes sense. Maybe I'll start that with dinners. For now, I eat until I'm full. It's so exciting and nervwrecking at the same time, to make major life changes. It's just weird to think I will think of food differently forever.

I have a hard time balancing everything too. Too much on my plate at once. I am trying to put my health first so I can be strong to take care of my family, but I run myself down, and end up with no energy for me. I am trying to break that cycle because I know it's not the way to go and ultimately fails. I know I am not helping but I am with you in that we need to make a plan for our day and needs...exercise,eating etc. Maybe one day it will become natural, but for now it needs to be written out.

I am fortunate insurence is covering this, but my co pays are adding up quickly. So many doctors appointments and lab tests in a short amount of time = lots of co pays. I'm not complaining, it's worth it, but I did not think about that and should have budgeted better even though health insurance is paying. And now I go to order shakes on line that the nut. recommended, and I'm broke. So instead of just going the easy route and ordering the sample one she suggested, I've been reading a lot about protein shakes on here so I can make informed choices and get my monies worth.

For me, it is about how long it took me to see all the specialists and get tests done. Working full time, trying to get late appointments slowed it down. If my schedule was more flexible I could have gotten done faster. I went Aug. 29 to meet the dr. and came home with a folder of info and doctors to see. I thought 5 doctors was a lot little did I know, some of these doctors needed to do 3 tests, appointments on seperate days etc. It was really the heart dr who made me meet him, have 3 tests which I was told at the time came back fine, and then a 4th appointment to tell me my heart is healthy enough for surgery. My seminar is once a month and I coundn't go to the early September one so I waited to October. I was pretty much done with my appointments by then. I didn't know some people go to the seminar before seeing the doctor, but a lot of people in the room did. Then I had to make sure all the doctors sent the right tests/letters etc. back to the bariatric surgeon. THen it takes my doctors office about a week to review the folder and your surgery is scheduled in 4-6 weeks (and they add 2 more appointments: a second nut. one, a pre op and you go to your own dr for pre op. That was all without a 6 month diet- I just had to wrote about my diet history/time line for the past 3 years. Then, I am waiting 3 weeks after the first surgery date offered, because it works better for me. So it will be about 3 and a half months from when I met the doctor to surgery day. I'd say I could have rushed, rushed it and got it all done in 6 weeks. I think it depends on your schedule and tests required. Now I have 6 weeks of waiting for surgery so I am all over these boards!

I have to stop celebrex 2 weeks before surgery. They will tell me when I can start again. I'm hoping I won't need to, by losing ten percent of weight it is supposed to help joints/muscles feel so much better. We will see.

I needed to get my date changed and I decided to do Dec. 19. This way I will not have to take so much time off of work (sick days), but I can rest since I have the week off. I'm a teacher and posted about best time to have surgery and the advice I received was on a break so I'm going to go with it. I love this board. My husband said but you won't be able to eat on Christmas, isn't that sad? I feel like if I'm going to do this, it doesn't matter. My first date Dec. 6 allowed me to not be out of comission on Christmas, but this will work out too. My health will be my gift to my family. Now if something goes wrong, right around the holidays, that's terrible but lets think positive. I am getting plication with the band. Is anyone else? I am so excited and nervous.

Not teling anyone but my husband. Hate to put all that pressure on him for support but I want to keep it private. Most people I tell would not even know what a lap band is, I'd have to explain it and I'm not an expert yet. I just want to keep it private. If I change my mind, then I can tell. My children are under 8 years old so I am not going to tell them, but I will let them know I want to live a healthy lifestyle for them. I will raise them not to make rude comments about heavy people. I hope to be a role model for them by healthy eating and exercise. I will know when it is right to tell them. It helps to know others were successful at keeping it a secret too.

I have always had a problem with weight loss compliments. I'm sure it's emotional issues- but still, I'll need to get over it so I can have one less stress once I'm banded. Like if someone in the past says you look great did you lose weight, I'll say "Oh no I got my hair highlighted". Or someone will say "You're losing weight, are you trying?" I'll say no but thank you and compliment them back to change the subject. I just feel like weight compliments make me feel like people must have thought I looked terrible before. I know it's silly becuase even fit people get weight compliments. So...how do I get over this?

Oh lovethenewme, I am one of those guilty of being slow to give weight compliments. Maybe because I don't like receiving them myself. Maybe because I try to give compliments about peoples personalities and good things they do. Or I might say wow you have so much energy. I know it's silly, but it's no offense to the person losing weight. I hope others don't notice that I avoid weight compliments. UGH one more thing to work on. lol

I am a private person and am only telling my husband about my surgery. I'm not the type to generally talk about any procedures I'm having done, even, common ones so this is not out of the ordinary for me. There are some people I trust would be supportive but they would tell one or two close other people and I don't want that. I also don't want negative comments or judgements or to have to explain my decision to anyone at this point. I feel it's best for me personally not to tell anyone that IKIRL. That's why I need this support page so badly. Has anyone done this? Do you feel guilty about white lies? For example, for all the pre op visits I needed grandparents to help watch the kids. When they would ask where I was going, I would say something similar like an appointment. What kind? the dentist. I felt bad for that. Will the words LAPBANDTALK come up on my emails? Not that others read my emails but if I have my account open at work and someone walks over to chat, I don't want to have to minimize the screen. Thanks for your help.

Week one of my pre op diet I can have veggies. Like day one sample menu had an apple. Day two carrots. Do you like those kind of veggies? And soups with veggies don't need to be pureed yet. I know everyones pre op diet is different. Week 2 is stricter I guess to get gradually used to the post op diet. My nutritionist said it helps to think of each diet phase as 2 weeks. Because you can say I am half way thought the first week, half way to the next diet phase etc. I liked that. Yes it might take a bit longer for some people in reality but it's about 2 weeks, 2 weeks and 2 weeks. LOL so I even checked the calendar as soon as I got my surgery date, to see which date I will be back on small portions of table food.

I get the sense one or two of you think the main reason I'm keeping it a secret is because I'm ashamed. I think you missed the part where I said I was a private person to begin with. I didn't even announce the name of my children until they were born. I like telling things after. Many people open up to me, strangers all the time on lines in stores, and I think hmm, I would never tell half my friends, never mind a stranger personal details of my life like this. It's just not my personality. But I'm a great non-judgemental listener and encourager. I can be going on vacation and I don't talk it up and discuss it on a regular basis with people. I'm not ashamed of a vacation. If I'm planning a party, I don't talk about all the details along the way like some people do. I just throw a thoughtful, detailed oriented party. Some people blurt out when they have their period or the last time they had sex. Again I'm not ashamed of periods or sex, but I tend not to share. There is nothing wrong with people who do talk about these things loudly, and nothing wrong with people who are more private about things. I'm not ashamed of vacations or parties. I'm not sure this will change in a year when I lose weight. I hope my core self stays who I am. I am overweight but I'm also a happy person. It is possible to be large and jolly. I'm also a teacher, I don't think that factors in here. I do want to keep it a secret, because like other posters mentioned you might trust one friend, but that doesn't mean I want my best frieds husband knowing. And yes some people will be judge. That's reality and this is hard enough of a journey without defending myself. I don't feel my parents would be judgemental, as I think was assumed. I think my Mom will worry about the surgery, she will be happy I am getting healthy, and she will feel sad for the reality that I need this tool to begin with, when no one else in my family does, or noone ekse that she knows and loves. She loves me so much, and I'm sure she wishes I can easily be a healthy weight like my siblings, for me. She hates to see me struggle with my weight or get upset about it. And I think she will want to talk to my sister about it, or my brother who is a doctor for his advice. It will be a lot asking her not to tell. And my Dad, well he hates hospitals and everything that goes along with the risk of surgery. I had a deviated septum fixed and it worried him and he wanted to know if I could manage without the surgery. So in this case, telling them when I am ready, past the surgery, happy, healthy and successful is protecting them I guess. As for stretching the truth about the pre op appointments, how many times could I say I'm going to the heart doctor without them thinking something is wrong with my heart. Or the seminar at 8pm on a work night, my parents would say now what kind of seminar are you going to? Not to be nosey but if they are watching the kids they're interested in where I am. My mother in law, well she is the opposite of me. She tells everyone everything. So she would tell the entire extended family. At showers and stuff, she would mean well, and point out to everyone how proud she is I had the surgery and how well I am doing. Some people like that attention. Me, I don't need to be the center of attention at our table at someone elses shower. They might be hurt I didn't tell them from the start, but I think they will not care I said I was going to x place instead of z. I just feel uncomfortable at the time, becuase I am usually honest with them. I am not lying to hurt them, it is to protect my secret. I am a upset I need this tool, I wish I never had a weight problem. But the reality is I do and I accept that. It helps to hear the lies take a toll on toehrs too. It's hard keeping this a secret and not bending the truth at the same time. In the future, if I feel like I can be someones mentor I will confide in them. But I'm not at that point yet. The journey is just beginning and too much is unknown and I like to share when I know. I am doing this for myself and my children and my husband so we can live a healthier life style. I'm not ready for friends, friends of friends, people who never heard of lap band to ask me questions or make comments that might steer me away. As it is I have days that I doubt my decision and days I am confident. I don't want other voices adding to my doubt. I need my head clear to listen to my own heart and head. I don't want others advice or opinions at this point. Except for on a board like this, where people are experiencing similar feelings etc. first hand. I know it will be hard to keep it a secret and that is why I posted. It really helps to know others felt this way too, and only told a handful of people. And I like how someone mentioned you can't unring a bell. Reading that made me realize, if I tell before I'm ready I will regret it. Thank you all for sharing, because I was feeling like one of the only ones who is keeping this private and I needed to hear I'm not alone.