YoungNy

This might be a weird question, but do you have to be completely naked when going in for the surgery? Are you able to keep your underwear on? A bra? Anything besides a hospital gown? I heard they do it with you standing up, but then how do they put you to sleep?

I am going! I live 2 hours from NYC. I'll take the train and stay. I'll find the money somewhere because I really NEED to be there!

I need help with my diet. I have no idea what I'm suppose to be eating. I'm not losing any weight. I lost 8.3 pounds last month by living off of slim fast, soups, tuna, yogurt, pudding and TV dinners. I tried to do the same this month and I gained a pound. I don't get it. I'm really starting to lose faith in my band. I have great restriction, almost too much I think. I have 8.5 cc in my 10 cc band. I go back to the doctors on the 19th and will talk to him about this then, but until then, someone please help me.

I'm looking for anyone who has experiance with Dr. Artuso. I'm being banded by him and I just want to know how his previous paitents are doing.

I'm a new yorker, but I'll be in central florida between 10/15 and 10/21. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in helping me organize a disney day trip or weekend trip for us bandsters. I was thinking probably around 10/17-18-19 could be the date. Anyone interested please let me know.

So yesterday was my 2 month bandiversary and last month was quite difficult for me. I started anew at the beginning of this month and am doing much better. I've already lost a few pounds. I got my second fill on the 30th and was hoping it would do something for me because I previously had no restriction at all. Well, last night I went to Boston Market and got a chicken dinner with mac and chesse, sweet potatos and cornbread. I was able to eat about half of it and I felt sick I was so full. I went and stood over the toilet for a minute because I got this rush of saliva and couldn't stop spitting and then the food just came back up. I didn't even try, I gagged twice which I was worried might make the band slip, but I'm so happy I had that reaction. It means I finally have some retriction. It was like I had taken one bite too many and my body said "No." I also learned that I need to eat more solid foods. I hadn't realized it until I ate chicken and bread, but I've been eating lots of soft foods. Like stage 2/3 kind of foods. Fish, puddings, Jello, Beans, soft vegtables, potatoes etc... and the food goes down too easily. I ate chicken and got full fast. Anyway, here's to a much better month and hopefully watching the scale go down!

One week of bad eating has ruined an entire month of good eating and excerise for me. The first month after surgery I was going to the gym 5 to 6 days a weeks, eating right, small portions, I was doing well. Then "summer" hit and I got caught up in barbeques and party after party and night outs with friends and I gained 5 lbs. I just had my second fill (2.5 cc for a total of 5.5 cc's in a 10 cc band) and the nurse told me I had only lost 4 oz this month. I wanted to cry. I am so angry with myself. And I think the alcohol had a big part to play in me gaining weight back. It seems every other day for the past week I'm at some party and having a few drinks which makes me eat so I'm not stumbling after 1 drink. I just wasn't being calorie conscience or health wise at all this past week and I blew it. Still staying away from major fast food, but I did visit KFC twice and Olive garden once, then buying lunch at work everyday. I've even been skipping on the gym too, I'm down to 3 days a weeks now and I don't even work that hard when I'm there. It's so sad and frustrating. I know this is a lifestyle change so I'm going to brush myself off, stand up and start all over again. I had no resriction at all before, hopefully this 2.5 cc's he put in today will make some kind of change. I just needed to vent, I was literally on the brink of tears when I left the doctors today.

I started a meetup for people who have had WLS on www.meetup.com it's for those who are in the poughkeepsie, NY area. Just a chance for us to get together have some fun and get moving together. Poughkeepsie Weight Loss Surgery Meetup Group (Poughkeepsie, NY) - Meetup.com or go to the meetup website and search for poughkeepsie WLS groups. Also, I'm looking for an assistant organizer, so if your interested, let me know.

I have a 10 cc band. Anyone know what the reasons are for deciding which size band to use?

This is TMI, but you asked...I was lying down in bed the other night in a tank top (which I will only wear in the house) anyway, I happened to look down at my boobs which were of course slowing sliding up under my chin and they were wrinkled. Like really wrinkled, it was gross. I decided then that if they don't tighten up by the time I reach my goal, I'll have to get a boob job. I measure them as well (I'm weird I know) in inches all the way around the boob. I've lost 2 inches on the left and 1 1/2 on the right. Yet everywere else, it's only 1/4 of an inch.

Losind friend was a biggie for me. I don't have that many friends to begin with, but when I heard that many people lose friends after weight loss I was upset. I did have a friend who begged me before surgery not to change. The only thing is most people tend have a problem with thier overweight friends. The friends who are still fat and aren't really trying to lose or have tried and failed. When you lose and are so excited about everything that is going on, it's hard for them to be excited. They just don't want to here it. And slowly friends will start pulling away. That's why I think it's so important to have "band buddies" people you can talk to about your weight loss and lap band issues.

I don't know if anyone has heard of this store, but it's a store that speacializes in bariatric supplies. It has everything you need if you've had WLS. They even have gift baskets with essentail supplies for those loved ones who are going to have it done. It's owned and operated by 2 women who have had WLS. I got some mayo and red sauce in there that has no calories, no fat, no carbs, no nothing and it wasn't that bad. They have snacks, cereal, a wide varitey of protien supplements (try the cookies and cream shake with milk it's fantastic), protien coffee, soups, power bars, scales for food and body, excerise equipment, videos and much, much more. It's in Hopewel Junction, NY and I don't know if they have them anywhere else in the country, but they do have a website where you could order things from. Check it out. I plan on being a regular. www.c2linfo.com

It's under Individual Protien Shakes(at the bottom of the home page), it's the Isopure cookies and cream. I also tried the nectar Twisted Cherry, but it wasn't that great.

A grabber to put things up. Bandage suppiles, like large bandaids and stuff to cover your incesions once the tape starts falling off.

I went to the gym last night, I did 1 hour on the tredmill which for me is about 2.5 miles. It was the most I've done since surgery. I thought all my wounds had healed. I haven't been wearing a bandage over my port for a few days now and everything was fine. I came home and felt pulling at the port site. I inspected it and noticed some yellow discharge and a slight opening in two places ( I pressed on it,the skin moved apart and I saw pink). I'm thinking I might have overdone it at the gym last night and caused my wound to open up again. I washed it very well and put a bandage over it. I've got an appointment with my doctor for Wednesday, do you think I'll be ok till then? Has this happened to anyone else?

Yeah, I burp too, a lot! When I first went back to work I told them, "I'm sorry. It's gross, but get used to it." And for the most part they have. A few of my co-workers think it's funny and the rest ignore it. The guys said they didn't even notice until I said something about it. I do hope one day it goes away.

I just had my first fill and I just started eating bread again. The bread surprisingly has done down great, but it's the fruit cocktail that always seems to make me feel like it's stuck in my throat. I'm not sure if that's the same stuck as everybody else, nothing comes up, but it won't go down either. I stop eating and just sit there and after about 5 mins or so it goes away, but when I start eating again, I get the same feeling. It's very uncomfortable. I am just afaird of PBing at work, I work in front of A LOT of people and I can't just run off and spit up if I need to. I have to be very careful about what I eat at work.

They told me too keep it clean and keep a bandage over it until I came in to see him. But if it hurt or had other changes to come it early. By the time I went in on Wednesday it had healed up again. I got my first on time. 3 cc's in a 10 cc band! All is well. Thanks!

So, I'm almost 3 weeks post-op and I'm on a soft foods diet, but my doctor said I could eat just about anything (except the big no-no's) as long as I eat slow and chew well. I get my first fill on July 2nd, but as of now I can eat about 8 oz or 1 cup of food or drink at a time. Feeling mostly full, but not uncomfortably full. I was wondering if that's on track. How much can/could the rest of you eat pre and post fill? About how much are you eating if you're at good restriction?

Ok, I'll admit it Bandster hell is killing me. I binged for two days. On rice cakes no less. I think I ate about 3 bags in 2 days. Noted each time was only about 400-500 calories each, better than my 5000 before, but still I am so angry with myself.

If you really need that oral stimulation, instead of eating or smoking why not try chewing gum. Or at the very least have one of those 10 calorie ice pops. They take longer to eat and gum could last for hours. I myself hate gum, something about the texture of it in my mouth, it just grosses me out. But for some it works.

A grabber is important. It will be difficult to bend down to pick things up the first two weeks. Measuring cups is a big thing. Extra pillows helped me when I had to sit up in bed to sleep. Buy all your food for the first two weeks before surgery. Get all the bills paid and laundry done, that way you won't have to do much when you first get home. Throat drops for just after surgery helped me. Lots of movies. Lots of water. Oh and someone to take care of you. I needed help getting out of bed and the car the first few days. Good luck!

Has anybody else had a problem with constipation? I've barely gone once since surgery and now that I'm mostly eating foods with some density I don't think that's healthy at all. I'm not uncomfortable or anything, but I'm starting to get worried. Should take a ex-lax? I bought some colace should I take that instead? Or should I just wait it out?

Someone told me that the apples and plums are very good. I haven't tried them yet, but I did try the bananas and cream and it was nasty, but then I don't bananas so...Custard back in the day was great, but I couldn't find any.

Why can't you just take them normally? I've swallowed all my pills since surgery, even the big ones, starting with the vicodin in the hospital. I bought a pill crusher before surgery, but I never used it. I didn't need to. Try just drinking them with water.