lodum

schampange, this is how you compute it: start - goal = 234 - 145 = 89 start - current = 234 - 195 = 39 percent of goal lost = 39/89 = 43.8%

Okay, I broke a rule this morning and am paying for it big time. I had my first fill last week. My dr says only protein drinks for breakfast due to tightness in the am. Guess I didn't believe it and decided to have a scrambled egg this morning. Gosh, am I paying for it now. I only got down about 1/2 off the egg and I'm majorly sliming and feeling the tell-tale tightness in my chest!!! Geez, it's terrible. Now, hiccups have started too. Kinda wish it would just come up at this point! Needless to say, the rest of the egg is in the garbage and I won't make that mistake again!!

I'm currently on the mushie stage and doing okay with it. I am ready for Thursday when I can start eating basically anything. However, my doctor says to "try to avoid pasta, white rice, bread". My question is I wonder if that's because it's a good diet thing to now have those high carb items or will it be detrimental to the band? I really can't see NEVER having pasta again. Is there someone out there who is able to have it in moderation?

ljuht115, you are probably in surgery now, but seeing that you are St. Francis caught my eye. Are you in Tulsa? I ask because I grew up in the Tulsa area. St. Francis was an awesome hospital back then, so I'm sure it still is! I wish you luck.

Thanks for the responses. It's good to know that I might be able to try it on occassion and see how it goes. I guess that's the only way I'll know. By no means do I want to eat it all the time, but it's a great quick meal. Before being banded, I had also already made the attempt to switch to whole wheat pasta. Maybe that would be even less likely to cause issues.

Okay, I'm frustrated and wondering what's going on. I started mushies on Thursday and haven't lost any weight since Friday morning! What the heck is going on? This is what I had yesterday: Advantage shake for breakfast, small container of applesauce for lunch, and 1/4 tilapia fillet and 3 small bites of potatoes for dinner. That's very typical for me. How can I eat like that and not lose weight? Is it that I'm just slowing down now? To top it off, I took the kids to Sea World on Saturday, so I got TONS of walking in!

Thanks for the response that eggs were considered mushie. I started my mushie stage today and just got finished eating a scrambled egg. oh my gosh, it was FANTASTIC! it was to have something that I could chew for a change!

Okay, I need a quick opinion. I start my mushie stage tomorrow. The doc said yogurt, mashed potatoes, bananas, applesauce, soft fish, etc. My question is, what do you consider soft fish? To me that implies anything flaky, so now swordfish, shark, etc. But, would tuna be a soft fish?

I have one and LOVE it. I use it for smoothies mostly, but I've been putting my soups through it since I'm still on the liquid stage. It gets rid of almost everything. However, I put lentil soup through it and it left pieces of the skin from the lentils.

ick, what a thought! Just eating the powder. Can't imagine a grosser thing! But, the instructions actually read "ready to drink protein drinks only. No powdered drinks because they plug the hole". My doc actually prefer Advantage or SlimFast. And, he says to always have that for breakfast no matter where you are in your diet plan.

You know what I find so amazing? It seems like the doctor's are all over the place with the instructions they give people. Some have long liquids stages, others go almost straight to mushies. Then, most people here talk about using protein powder. My surgeon told me absolutely no powders like that because they can plug the hole! No wonder it's such a confusing process. In regards to mushies, do soft scrambled eggs qualify? Or would I need to wait another week. My mushie list just gives examples like yogurt, mashed potatoes, bananas, applesauce, and fish. I'd think eggs would be as soft as bananas, but maybe not. Any thoughts? I get to start mushies tomorrow!!

kyethra - you cracked me up. I can totally relate to keeping things off the blouse. Things always seem to land on what I call "the shelf". I'm hoping when I lose weight, maybe things won't always land right there!

Okay, so it's been one week since I was banded and I've been doing great. Then, all of a sudden last night I get this extreme pain and can't hardly stand up straight! It's on my left side, basically right at my furthest left incinsion. I didn't think it was gas because I was taking Gas-X, walking, doing everything possible. Woke up this morning to it being sore in the same place but no sharp pains. Then, about an hour ago, it all kicked in again. Geez already! I called the doctor and the office staff said it's just gas. If that's the case, why can't I do anything to get rid of it, if you know what I mean! I wonder if it's because I'm not taking in enough liquids.

Maya, I'm new too and was banded on 5/4/07. I found the most comfortable position was on my right side, but with my legs together. No thrown over the other, KWIM? I had to sleep on my back the first couple of nights but that's very hard for me. I can sleep on my left side some now, but not for long. Good luck.

I just discovered this thread. Can I join the gang? I had my lap-band done on May 4th. I'm so thrilled that I did it. I'm still having quite a bit of soreness, but nothing I can't tolerate. I had my post-op appointment today, and I'm down 8.2 pounds since surgery! I'm thrilled. I can now have thicker soup and my work cafeteria had cream of chicken soup today. I got some of that and it tasted like the most wonderful thing I'd ever had! I just didn't eat the chunks!

I just had my lap-band surgery on Friday. I'm feeling pretty good. A little soreness and gas pressure from the gas used during surgery. I'm having a tough time sleeping on my back because I'm too sore to sleep on my side. I'm not hungry at all, so I'm doing okay with liquids. Totally grossed out on the Advantage Vanilla shake yesterday, but liked the chocolate one today. I thought I'd be able to go to work tomorrow, but now I'm thinking i will be too sore. Hope the weight starts falling off!

Hey. I'm very lucky that I did not have to fly. But, I did have about an hour drive home from the hospital. I'd probably need to get pretty drugged up for a flight home! I made it about 6 hours at work yesterday. It felt great just to get home and stretch out a bit. I'm doing much better today and expect to stay the whole day. I wish you well!

Congrats on getting banded, Muse. I totally know what you mean about the gas. Funny that your shoulder hurts worse than where you were cut open, huh? The gas gets better, although in the morning is still pretty strong for me. I'm starting to have a bit of hunger, but it subsides with the liquids. I'm probably not drinking enough water or something. Ate some jello yesterday and had pain afterwards. Not sure if it was related or not. I'm definitely ready for some more substantial liquids - come on tomorrow!

As a follow up, I am at work this morning. It was tough getting ready this morning because the process felt so exhausting. Now that I'm here, I'm doing okay. Drinking my lovely Advantage shake and easing into the day. Yesterday afternoon was pretty rough, so I'm committing to myself that I will go home if I get to miserable this afternoon. I want to push myself, but not too hard. It feels like a fine line.

I thought I would provide a follow-up now that it's Monday. I probably could have gone to work today. But, since my job is one where I can also work from home, I chose to stay home today. I'm a little sore (like doing too many sit ups), but getting around pretty good. I'm still having the gas discomfort, but not as often anymore. I agree, walking is the key to getting rid of the gas discomfort.

I have decided not to go to work tomorrow. I think I need another day. I have a desk job too. I probably could go back if I had to, but would be uncomfortable. Of course, i also haven't taken any pain medicine today.

Thanks Devana. I thought I'd broken a board rule! I'm trying to do good with the liquids. yesterday I had a hard time getting much of anything down, but I'm doing better today. I plan on following the rules to a "T" so I can do the best! Let's see if I can keep that pace up!

Thanks for all the responses! Devana, I hope I didn't break a rule already....