Terry Poperszky

Thanks all, I know for the old timers these observations may seem old hat, but I have failed so many times, that I am trying to not take anything for granted, but to look at everything through new eyes and avoid the pit falls that have sidelined me so many times.

11K - Out patient, includes 1 year of fills.

Then don't waste the phone call and just suck it up Seriously, my lap band nurse told me the pre-op diet does two things, 1. Shrinks the liver 2. Makes you thankful for your band. I added a third, in that it was really hard, and helped cement in my own mind that I really wanted the surgery and that I would have the will power to live with the band for the rest of my life. Ask yourself, every time you drink a shake, "how badly do I want to be thin and healthy?"

I had trouble getting water down then (still do, especially in the morning (8 days post op)). BREAD???

The procedure it called "gastric plication" Google it for an explanation.

Day 7 here, it has taken me 4 hours to go through 24 ounces of cranberry juice today. The instructions from my Dr. for right after surgery told me not to expect to go through more than 4 ounces in 45 minutes, but to take small sips all day long. It is going to feel really weird, but sip and wait, sip and wait. Heating pad helped me for the chest pains. Your journey has begun, welcome to the club.

Day 6 post op and until yesterday I was struggling to eat 800 calories a day, yesterday I hit 1200 and an act of will to keep from going over that. I have so enjoyed this week of not caring about food, but the forums have fully prepared me for the for the return of the hunger demon. I am in the "full liquid" portion of the post op diet, so it is time to phase out things like Gatorade, replace it with Crystal Light and focus on getting the most nutrition for the calories. BTW, this post is not a complaint, just an observation. The hunger is still different, not centered around an empty stomach, but more a whole body hunger.

Did your Dr. give you guidelines? If so, follow those. For the first 4 days I couldn't even get 800 calories down. Day 4 and 5 hunger kicked in and I got up to 1200, day 6 600 calories. The things that kept me alive were full sugar popsicles, gatorade, cranberry juice and homemade chicken broth. BTW, I dropped 11 pounds the first 5 days.

I chose a limited group of other believers before the surgery because I wasn't asking their for their opinions, but for their support so I chose people that I could count on. After the surgery, I have told people as the need came. My confidence in the people I told before hand was validated by their unswerving support, and I have been pleasantly surprised by those I have told afterwards as well. Additionally I found out that two others in Church had also been banded. Scripture (Romans 14:20-22) from the lesson this morning is extremely appropriate for the subject: So then let us lpursue what makes for peace and for mmutual upbuilding. 20 nDo not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. oEverything is indeed clean, but pit is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 qIt is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. rBlessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

I find this post sexist, in my experience guys pay a lot more attention to boobs, than women do Sorry, if I offended put I couldn't pass this one up.

1. Last night my wife walked in to the kitchen as I was fixing dinner, and made this comment "Wow, you have lost weight, your belly is quite a bit smaller". 2. Getting ready for Church this morning, I decided to try on a shirt that I hadn't been able to wear in a while, just to see if it would fit. it did I so I asked my wife for a second opinion (fishing for another compliment ), and got sent back to the closet to find smaller pants to go with the shirt.

Finally being able to complete a century (100 mile bike trip).

6 days post op, and from my experience, that is very normal.

Thanks for the responses, I am trying to learn from other people's experiences, taking it one day at a time, and not getting impatient and becoming aware of my relationship with food and the conditioned responses that I have concerning it. The other day I was fixing dinner for my family, and I accidentally spilled some, the next thing I know it was in my hand and half way to my mouth. Scared me to death! I walked away and told my wife I couldn't be in the kitchen right then, and she took over. BUT WOW! How many calories have I shoveled into my mouth without even knowing it.

Yup, I use them when I am having trouble sleeping. I like them because they don't leave me groggy the next day like other OTC sleep remedies.

http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/best-ipad-calorie-counter Most of these have iPhone and android equivalents, I am currently using myfitnesspal and am quite happy with it. I have used mynetdairy in the past and while it is an excellent program, the yearly charges for full features just wasn't worth it to me.

In part of the seminar that I attended, my surgeon gave me his personal stats concerning the surgery, which encompasses over 900 procedures over a period of 10 years. Those are the stats that I based my decision on, and they don't resemble the stats in this article in any way, shape or form. He could have lied to me, but his culpability from doing that would amount to significant jail time More logical to assume that this is flawed, or deals with a procedure that is significantly different than the one I received.

Day 5 post op. Liquid diet is boring, but other than that not a real problem. I am having trouble getting enough calories if anything, the hunger is there, but it is like it is behind a thick curtain. I don't know how long that feeling will last, but it is giving me a chance to think about and identify the other types of hunger that drive me to eat. Frankly, I feel great.

But Coffee already has a flavor, why would you ruin it with other stuff??? Heathen!!!

I can't speak to a partial, but I have had two total knee replacements, 7 years apart. My only regret is I waited so long on the first one (First one in 2003). They gave me my life back.

Same here, heating pad for the shoulder pain, gasx for the gas pain and walking, lots of walking. Based on my experience, what you are feeling is very normal. As far as the burping, I have resigned myself to having it come out the other end.

Fantastic. I am currently sitting at my desk because I couldn't stand being home anymore. There is some pain, some tenderness and eating is a whole new experience. Just taking it slow and trying to get enough calories into me to survive

Too soon for me to know, I was just banded on Monday. I chose the band because it was less invasive than the Sleeve or GB. All I can suggest is do all the research you can, and then act on that information. GB and Sleeve have a higher success rate initially, but there are quite a few people out there that have gained their weight back on all three methods. Regardless of the tool you use, it won't do it for you.

Surgery is tomorrow AM, I have been on the pre-op diet for 10 days and dropped 13 pounds. I haven't really had to deal with cravings because I was so miserable from only eating 1000 calories a day, cravings didn't matter. But I have noticed that while my physical hunger has been diminishing to where I am comfortable, my emotional hunger has been kicking into over drive. All the little things that I ate, not because I was hungry, but because I wanted the comfort that eating them provided. This is what scares me more than anything else, the lap band will help control the physical hunger, but how do I control the emotional hunger? Terry

The physical hunger is still behind the curtain, I know it is there, but I am still having to make myself eat although my pain is minimal and I haven't had any nausea yet. But with no physical hunger, the other hungers are more obvious. So far the two that have raised their head are boredom eating and the "see food" hunger. Of the two, "See Food" is much more powerful, I open the fridge to get some broth or gatorade, and there staring me in the face is FOOD!!! No, I am not hungry, but I have a conditioned reflex to eat when I see food. Since I am a very visual person (as my wife has come to appreciate), I think this will be the hardest of the hungers to defeat. Thankfully the lack of physical hunger is helping me deal with it right now.