PamRN

To help with choking down the protein, I use a small food chopper, or blender and fill it with ice, then add enough shake to just cover the ice, and make it like a shake... I feel like it's a little easier to get them down, and it helps to get my water intake up. 2 for 1 kind of thing... I found slimfast's new lo-carb shakes at walmart, and they have 20g of protein too, along with a nice host of other nutrients, potassium etc... I like the milk chocolate and the vanilla but can't drink either very well right out of the can. I have to blend them with ice.

"but try a SMALL cup of foamy fresh carrot juice with a 1/2 fresh beet juiced with it....pure heaven!!!" LOL! Should we have an anchovy hanging over the side of the glass for garnish?? Blech... never could (& I did try a time or two) bring myself to tolerate the flavor of beets. Last night, I was at our local hobby lobby, and to my great dismay, they have out all of their seasonal christmas items... beautiful greenery's, shiny ornaments... and chocolate MINT HERSHEY'S KISSES... those ba$t@rds!! Don't they know that I'm still a new bandster and can't take the temptation of something I know will only be around for short time? I bought a bag of course... just to prove my point you understand... a kind of protest...and ate a good half dozen before I knew what hit me. :sick When I realized what I'd done, I stuck them under the nose of my kids, and they quickly disposed of them for me. I think they didn't even bother to unwrap them... inhaled them foil, flags, and all. I think it's a hereditary thing...

Denise, only 6 short days til your new beginning, have you made your list and checked it twice? Have you started buying what you'll need post op? You probably won't feeling going to the grocery store for a few days after banding, so this is your preparation week. I think getting things all ready the week before really helped time fly. By christmas you're gonna feel like a million bucks... and here's hoping there's some smaller clothes under the tree!

What a cute picture, I love the teddy with or without the boa, he looks so huggable.

I was a soda pop junkie too, only I couldn't stand the after taste of diet. Finally this past summer I decided once and for all that I had to cut the sugar. I still hated the diet after taste but made myself stick to it. I drank way less pop as a result, and I also dropped 15 lbs. Because I had the pop thing already in line, it has helped me not miss it so much since being banded. Though my head still thinks it sounds good, I'm afraid to mess up the band or cause gastritis, so I have managed to avoid trying some. I can remember days where I consumed more than a 2 liter of pepsi or coke all by myself... WHAT was I thinking??

Great info Leatha, I printed it out too. Is this the only thread you've listed that on? I think it would be great info to have centrally located. I'm going to have a look at fitday.com too.

I wasn't put on a clear liquid diet before surgery either, in fact I ate a very nice prime rib dinner the night before. I think each individual doc has his own idea about how to proceed for the best imaginable outcome. Some are more strict than others. I bought gas x chewables, but walked so much I didn't have gas pains. I also bought imodium chewables in case of loose BM's, but didn't have that either. I wasn't eating much, so I wasn't going much. I'm still going way less than I used to. Betty, You can try warm apple juice for constipation, or warm apple cider, the pectin in it helps loosen you softly. We use it for our patients at the hospital.

My port is also below the sternum. I haven't had any pain at the site, or problem with it's placement. I did think at one point that I may have torn it loose, but it turned out that it wasn't a port site stitch I pulled. Make sure you ask after surgery where it is from the surgeon. I was given info by my patient coordinator that mine was at the left hip area, where I had the most pain, and ended up popping the stitch, but a call to the surgeon reassured me that it wasn't the port, as my port is sternal.

Yeah, he put in 6cc at surgery, he said my stomach was small so to make it fit well it took a fill. I had the midband placed. I always knew I wasn't a big eater, I wasn't a binger at all, but grazed on bits of this and that all evening... frequent small meals are good for you when you're eating healthy food, but when you graze on high carb junk, like I did, you end up obese with a small stomach...

Excellant news that everything went well Betty. I'm very happy for you. I was tired the first couple of days, but made myself get up and walk. The more you walk the less gas pain you're likely to feel. I walked so much I was exhausted, but didn't get any gas pain at all. Welcome to bandland!!

Not to worry too much ladies, as the hair falls out, new growth will be coming in at the same time. You should be able to feel some new growth stubble at your scalp. Remember it's only temporary, your body will adjust it's hormonal overload, and as the weight decreases, so will the stores of hormones. LOL @ bearded ladies... it's almost halloween, but I'm not looking to be a wolf-woman!

Rummage sales are HARD work! LOL leave it to us women to include rummage sales, dog walking and sex in the same conversation... Do we need to start a sexercise thread?

Isn't it a nice feeling to have had all those tests and find out you're ok? I know the tests suq, but you must have some level of relief at the outcome. Congrats on the clean bill of health, time flies from here to surgery, start prepping!

Penni, Marie, and Michelle, you three are great inspirations for the rest of us. Keep up the good work and great postings, I doubt if any of you realize how much of an impact you make and support you are to the rest of us, THANK YOU! I am going to join the weight scale challenge too, I'm looking at that crazy thing several times a day lately... 249 today. I'm off it til monday!

I had fill placed with my initial band placement, but didn't feel the fill until a couple of weeks later. I felt it come on with the visit from my monthly friend, and it didn't go away after it was over, so I'm not sure if it kicked in at the 2 week mark or the cycle induced it. Either way, it was 2 weeks then suddenly good restriction.

comfort... LOL! Me too Ryan... me too

I'm not sure it excites her too much... well maybe a little... but I think she shares because it excites so many of the rest of us... (we're a kind of sick lot). Not to mention there are a lot of health care folks on here, and nothing gets our motor's running like a good open wound picture! For the rest it's kind of educational. Ms. De has a thread about her non-healing port wound, and has shared a couple of personal pictures of her highness's newly purple crown jewel.

I laughed as I read about the gurgling noises, I've noticed that I too have all that going on. I sound like a soda factory with all the bubbling, and gurgling going on, even when I'm NOT eating. I only do the salivating like that when I eat too fast or my food isn't well chewed. I've not "slimed or Pb'd" yet, but I've gotten uncomfortably close too it. My signal that I'm full is a feeling of pain in my midchest. If I'm not careful to eat slow and chew well, this can happen in 2-3 bites. If I'm careful and eat slowly, I can usually take in a decent meal about a small child sized portion. Usually about 1 cup or so. My biggest hurdle is learning not to drink with my meals, I find I want something to rinse my mouth as I eat, so not drinking anything during or after hasn't worked for me yet. I do limit to only a few sips, but everything I read says not drink to at all... I'm trying to get there.

My surgeon said my stomach was small believe it or not, so he instilled a 6cc fill for me at surgery. I'm glad he did, I do have pretty good restriction. I haven't pb'd yet, but have felt like I was close to it a time or two. Close enough to stand in front of a sink for a bit. I lost 10 pounds in the 10 days, then also go up and down the scale about 3lbs. With each up being about 1/2lb less then the up before, then finally end up down 1 to 2 pounds by the end of the week. Now I know why they started the scale challenge! That first time I realized I'd gained was really disappointing! Since I had this site to prepare me, I knew to expect this could happen. Seeing that scale move regularly helps me stay on track with Water, and better food choices, but I'm going to have to join that weekly scale challenge soon I think.

I'm thinking along the lines of Leatha, there are lots of weight gain supplements that lifters use. One is even called "weight gainer". I have no idea how they taste, or if he'd like them, but with a metabolism as high as his obviously is, maybe they'd be worth a shot. Maybe he'd even like the idea of a being on a weight lifter's diet, lots of meat, potatoes and pasta... I'm sure if you researched it you could find tons of weight gain ideas from muscle building sites. I wish your family the best, You deserve some good news after all you've all endured.

I've read that some women using rogaine for hair loss can end up with excessive facial hair growth, for men it can be excessive back and body hair. I'd rather be a little thin on top, than a wolfwoman! The hair loss from hormonal changes has a lot to do with the change in our weight. When we are heavier, we tend to produce more hormones. Because fat stores hormones, as we lose that fat, we release the extra hormones stored in it, plus we're still creating excess, causing an imbalance. One of the symptoms is shedding hair, another sign can be changes in menses, irregularities such as lack of or excess. I'm thinking maybe it's time to join the red hat society... shall we start our own lapband chapter?

My thoughts and prayers go out to your family. I can't do pediatric nursing because when a child is suffering it just breaks my heart. I hope your son is well and it all turns out to be nothing serious.

Congratulations Kelly, and best wishes for a speedy recovery!!

Wow, great picture, great smile too!

Weight fluctuation of any type can significantly alter hormonal balance, but since this has been going on for over a year, and you've only been banded a few months, I'd be looking for other aggravating causes, weight loss can certainly have compounded the issue, but it sounds like something else is going on already. Stress, gynecological changes, hormonal changes, environmental factors, etc... a lot of things can cause dysmenorrhea (problems with menses), I'd have a gyne visit asap to rule out physical/hormonal changes first.