wen

I totally agree Sterbear. I think she needs to realize that people can deal with the emotional challenges as they come up (in the interest of regaining their physical health while they are at it). If everyone had to be 100% mentally healthy before WLS, no one would ever be allowed to have it!

I loooove watching this show since my surgery! It makes me so grateful for what I have and for what I have accomplished. The whole time I'm thinking, "There but for the grace of God..." when they show the extremely obese people who can't care for themselves, and, "Someday with the help of God..." when they show the people who have lost all their weight and are having their tummy tucks. I'm so excited for that to be me! :clap2: What do you all think about the Psychologist on the show?

Hi Jacqui, I'm curious how long it took you to get to 1500 calories a day post-surgery. I don't feel like I can eat anywhere near that, but want to increase my calories somewhat due to the amount of working out I'm doing. Thanks for the info! Wen

Hi Pandagirl, I just have to say that the hunger I felt in "Bandster Hell" was NOTHING compared to the hunger during the pre-op diet. Honestly, I have not been hungry in the way I was before since being banded on May 17...not even pre-fill. It really does change everything for the better! Wen

I was really nervous before my first fill last Thursday, and honestly, it was nothing. It was so quick and easy. My doc found my port right away (how he did that, I have no idea), and it was pretty much painless (I felt the numbing shot, but nothing after that). I would do it all again in a month, in fact, I think I will. :clap2:

Hang in there on those pre-op diets people!! I know it's so so so hard, but I'm so glad I did mine. It really jogged my memory as to what hunger feels like, and after banding, it was awesome to realize that I rarely feel that sensation any more. It was such a useful reminder of the difference between real hunger and "head hunger" and it's been a great tool in helping me decide whether it's by body or my head which is hungry now. Hang in there!!! You can do this!!! You'll be glad you did.

When I told a thin friend, she said, "Oh, that makes you throw up if you eat too much. I wish I could have that." Um, okay, you can actually throw up all you want, I, on the other hand, think I'll just opt not to eat too much (or too quickly, etc.)...banded or not. And, I've been really surprised by the number of thin people who say, "Oh, I wish I could have that." I think that's actually an underhanded way of implying that WLS is the "easy way out." But because I know there is nothing easy about it, I don't let it bother me. They can kiss my big fat ass now, or they can kiss my skinny little ass in a couple of years, I'll let them decide which they prefer. :heh: Oh, and the WORST response I got from anyone when I told them was, "Well, kiss your boobs goodbye!" What could I say to that? I just laughed and said, "Oh, did you lose a lot of weight at some point?" while looking at her chest. :biggrin1:

Hi Susan, Did you have PB problems before your fill, or was it something that just started afterwards? Wen

Oh, I'm loving those Baby Bels at the moment too! So good. I too have a cheese problem. The problem is my husband hates it!

Oh, the Jazz. It's okay though, good season overall right? I'm two weeks out from getting my band. Back at work since Monday, doing great. I do hate this shoulder pain! It gets a little better every day though. I think my big incision is infected, and I can TOTALLY feel my port, which I wasn't expecting, but doesn't bother me. Hope everyone else is doing well. Check in and say hi!

Best of luck to everyone going in tomorrow! My thoughts will be with you.

Hi, I'd say a 5 at the worst. I didn't feel like I needed to fill my pain med prescription the day after. The shoulder pain may have gotten up to a 7 a couple of times, but you can relieve it finding a comfortable position and not moving, so it's not like you can't get a break from it. The gas was bad at times, but I walked and walked and then I walked some more, and that has helped so much. Overall, I'd say its been much less painful and much less traumatic than I expected it to be.

It went down pretty well. I tried yogurt this afternoon, and that was a little harder..could only do about an ounce. You will feel so much better when you can get some protein and vitamins! Not too long now. Hang in there! I'll be thinking about you.

Hi Wenjea, I'm doing pretty good. Like you, I can't really tolerate pain meds, so I've only done Tylenol. And, I haven't had much of that because the liquid stuff makes me gag and the pills fell terrible going down. I'm doing a lot of deep breathing and finding a comfortable position and refusing to move. Other than the pain in my shoulder, which has been terrible, I haven't had anything too bad. No throat sensations at all really. I'm starting on full liquids today (I will never eat broth or jello again!), which will be a treat. Going to have some tomato soup in the blender with cottage cheese for dinner tonight. I'm really looking forward to that! I've been walking a lot. Around the block about 3 times a day. The gas is passing (literally). I think I'll live! Wen

Hi Wenjea, You're a May 17ther like me aren't you? We are sooo close. I've been really tearful today, I think I'm just super excited and scared. Anyway, I have had the EXACT same experience on the pre-op diet. Lost tons of weight in the first days (probably mostly water), slowed way down, and now stopped. I'm wondering if the really low calories have maybe kicked our bodies into "starvation" mode and now we are hanging onto the weight for deal life. It's frustrating though. I lost about 11 pounds in first week, which kept me going, but yeah, um it's really not that fun anymore is it? :youcandothis: Just two more days now though!!!

Hi Maryum, You're getting banded two days before me. Not long now! We've gone way to long on this liquid thing to mess it up in the last couple of days right? At least I keep telling myself that! Hehehe. I feel better today, days 8, 9, and 10 were pretty awful, and I didn't lose any weight on those days, which just made me even more moody. Maybe in a few weeks when we are banded and enjoying our mushies, we will look back on all this and laugh.

Thank you all for the words of encouragement and support. I'm having a particularly hard day on this pre-op diet, and I think you have all saved the day! Someone had the nerve to bring a chocolate cake into the office today!! Doesn't he know I'm suffering? Oh well, I just gave him and ear full of hurt. Without all that food to keep my anger stuffed down, I'm like a whole new angry woman! :heh:

Hi Utahns! How bout them Jazz huh?! I was just reading through the posts and it sounds like everyone is doing really well. Yay us! I'm on day 8 of my 15-day liquid pre-op. Yesterday and today have been pretty darn hard. I've been moody and that makes me really want to eat and not being able to eat makes me moody and so on and so on. But, I'm keeping my eyes on the prize. One week until banding! I think I just might make it.

Hi Laura, If he does turn out to be B-12 deficent, chances are he needs iron too. He may need an iron supplement, as a B-12 deficiency can lead to anemia. -Wen

Hi Folks, I'm Wendi from Salt Lake City, Utah (Go Jazz!!!). I'm so glad I found this thread. It's a great idea! My banding is on the 17th (in full swing on the pre-op diet now...it's awful, as I'm sure most of you know!!). So far I've lost about 17 pounds on my pre-op and pre-pre-op diets. That leaves with a little under 200 lbs to go after surgery. Wow, what a challenge! I think that's the first time I've ever written it down. I usually just think in general terms of "losing weight" not those kid of specifics. Heck, I just barely told my husband and my therapist what I weigh, now only they and my doctor know. I guess its all baby steps when the goal is this big. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet all of you and I really appreciate knowing the support is here.

Hi All. My name is Wendi and I'm scheduled for banding on the 17th! Whoo Hoo!! I am on my fourth day of liquids/protein and have lost 11 pounds so far. That is some mighty good inspiration to keep going for 12 more days if you ask me! :clap2: The ketosis breath is so gross though. Thank heaven for a few little pieces of sugar free hard candy every day. It's keeping me sane. I have a party tonight too. My plan is to take my own two drinks in water bottles and stay away from the food. I'm also going to stay for just a short time. Hopefully, it will work. Happy Cino de Mayo everyone!:Banane43:

Hiya, I have PCOS too. I'm due to be banded on the 17th. From what I've read, any weight loss helps with the symptoms and the "cycle" (gain weight-symptoms get worse-gain more weight because of PCOS being worse-and so on) of PCOS. My fingers are crossed it will be one more thing that will be helped by losing weight.

Hi Guys, Thanks so much for the responses to my "would you wait 6 months if you had to self pay" question. I really appreciate the advice. But, now I don't have to worry...I WAS APPROVED!! Yay! :clap2: I am so excited, and surgery is scheduled for May 17! I was having a week of anxiety, wondering if I was doing the right thing, etc. a couple of weeks ago. Since I got my approval all of that has gone away though, which is odd, I would have thought it would be the other way around because now it's real. Ohhh, and on May 3, I have to start my very low calorie diet. I think I'll do primarily some sort of Protein shakes and maybe one small meal a day to make sure I stay well below 1000 cals a day. What did you all do for preop diets? Was it as bad as it sounds? Wen

Hi Gang, I hope everyone had a Happy Easter (or whatever you may Celebrate this time of year) and is doing well! :hippie: Tomorrow the hubby and I have a four-hour class/consultation with Dr. McKinlay at Rocky Mountain Surgical Center. I'm very excited and a little scared. One of my insurance pre-requisites is that I have been on a medically supervised weight loss program for six of the past 12 months (and have either maintained or lost weight). Well, my internal medicine doctor didn't keep very good records of all the times we discussed diet and exercise, and I gained weight through most of last year, so I'm worried I won't qualify because of that. Has anyone else had that requirement from their insurance co? If it comes to it, Dr. McKinlay mentioned in the first class we attended that he will supervisor a weight loss program to meet the insurance requirements. That means I would have to wait another SIX MONTHS! And, that sounds like forever at the moment. I'm ready gosh darn it!! So, I've decided I may finance it myself rather than wait. Now, here is the big question for you all who have had your procedures...if you had to wait six months and have it paid for, or pay yourself (and it wouldn't be a HUGE financial burden) and have the surgery right away, which would you choose? I appreciate your input! Wen

Ohhh, that's a big one as far as self esteem in general...learning to just say "thank you" in response to a compliment of any kind. That was such a hard thing for me to learn how to do (I'm not banded yet, but working hard on self esteem issues like nearly all the women I know). It took a lot of practice, but now it's comfortable and I don't have the automatic "yeah, but..." reaction I used to have to compliments. I even accept and believe them sometimes.