phyllser

Don't like SNOWBIRDS! Boo Hoo! I know the ones you mean. The 90 yr olds who can't see over the steering wheel and drive anyways, 15 mph! LOVE you, too! As you can see, I changed my signature. But I don't really like that font and now it's too big. It was a struggle, so will have to wait until I build up some patience to fix it. And I am .2 lb away from being able to say I'm down 40 lb.! :high5:

:rain:I'm in Everett WA. Indian Summer??? We didn't have ANY summer, Indian or otherwise!! We just moved back to WA state after 15 years in OK. So I've been used to temps in the 90's and even over 100 for the last 15 years! This summer I never got to put my sweatshirts away! We go south for the winter...down there in the Palm Springs area. Those "Snowbirds" IndioGirl doesn't like! And I can't wait to get down there and get warmed up!! :sun: :shade:

Welcome, Bev, You've come to the right place for support and encouragement. I was banded July 20th. At the start of my pre-op diet I weighed 326 and I'm 5 ft tall. At the time of surgery I was at 308, and today 287. I had my 2nd fill yesterday. I have had no heartburn, no PBing, no sliming, no vomiting. Before yesterday I could eat about 1- 1 1/2 cups. Today I'm on soft food and I can eat 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup and that's all. DO NOT be afraid of having a fill. Let the band work for you. If you just follow your physician's instructions as to what to eat and how much, you shouldn't get into trouble.

Here's a place to find bariatric surgeons in your area: Find Members of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

Hi, Carol, I have some unflavored Whey powder that I've used from time to time, adding it to something else for the added protein. But the protein drinks I use, the brand name is E.A.S. and I think it might be soy based. I like it best mixed with milk and its very tasty that way... really like a chocolate milkshake. Sometimes I add some sugar free Da Vinci syrup... raspberry. I ate a lot of salad on that pre-op diet, and lots of veggies. I ate very little meat during that time so I used the protein a lot.

There is a thread for sharing recipes. That would be great. We had lunch at a friend's house today and she made this Lentil soup that was really good. Do you have a recipe for that? She had hamburger in it, sliced mushrooms, carrots, peas, and probably beef broth. I really enjoyed it. I want to try to make some.

Yep, that's what I'm going to do.. cut out some of those supplements! I did go right over to Target and found the B-Complex liquid, sub-lingual. Yeah!! I remember reading that Vit B is important. So now I have that and chewable Centrum, chewable calcium. MY DH keeps insisting I take all this stuff. Especially Vit. C and they are usually hard to swallow. But those are easy to find in chewable. I seem to have a lot more restriction since my 2nd fill yesterday. Hope it stays that way. Achy stomach from the poking around, though, and just feeling generally yucky today from that & my flu shot. AND the gloomy weather!

Yep, that's what I'm going to do.. cut out some of those supplements! I did go right over to Target and found the B-Complex liquid, sub-lingual. Yeah!! I remember reading that Vit B is important. So now I have that and chewable Centrum, chewable calcium. MY DH keeps insisting I take all this stuff. Especially Vit. C and they are usually hard to swallow. But those are easy to find in chewable.

Sorry, I screwed up that last post! CONGRATULATIONS, CeCe!! :wow2: :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2: :eek: :car:

Good Work!!

:omg: Well, all my typing just went away! That makes me mad! Anyway, the cranberry pill wards against bladder infections, one of my specialties! I just want to get rid of some of these pills and supplements! Two BP pills, two cholesterol pills, one reflux, one thyroid, one bladder pill, one synthetic hormone replacement. Enough, already!!

Thanks, you two, for your pill suggestions. I tried a local health store... like GNC or something, for liquid fish oil but they didn't have it. I'll look for that stuff you mentioned, momlambert. I didn't know about sublingual Vit. B. I have a Target a block away so I'll head over on my scooter & check it out. In fact, I think I'll go RIGHT NOW! (My DH is already shopping for a lighter weight scooter for when I've lost some more weight... easier for him to lift in to the car. I'M shopping for an ortho who can fix my knee!!)

Congrats on the Chip victory!! Yes, it was a sad loss for my home town Buffalo Bills. They were robbed again in the last few seconds after playing very well through four quarters! I was upset! At least it was a proud loss... not like the Seahawks blow out on Sunday!

Is this the thread where we were discussing pills and how to get them down?? I had my 2nd fill yesterday and this morning, I was fine after a very small bowl of cream of wheat, and then I took my pills! I think I'd be okay with just my prescription meds, but those vitamins!! I have a multivitamin, vitamin b complex, cranberry capsule and the worst... fish oil capsule. No more fish oil capsules! Since I took the vitamins I'm feeling sick to my stomach. It seemed like it was all caught up in my throat for a while. That has eased some now, but still feeling sickish! Yesterday I bought Centrum Silver Chewables. I think I'll go back to those so I can eliminate that other multivitamin. I DO eat a lot of fish so if I can't find a liquid fish oil capsule I'm going to forget about that one! It's just too big. I was surprised to see I had a little over 1100 calories yesterday on mostly liquids. It seemed like I was hungry all day and had very little to eat. But the calorie count says I shouldn't have been hungry. I did lose 1/2 lb. since yesterday though! Hope everyone is having a GREAT DAY!!

Hi, Carol, I started my pre-op diet drinking SlimFast in the morning, usually a salad at lunch time and small meal at dinner.... meat, veggie. Then I found a protein powder at Costco that I liked so I started using that instead... fewer calories, more protein. I was eating between 500-800 calories a day. Yes, it was to shrink the liver. And my BMI was over 60 and my doctor frowns on doing surgery on patients with 60+ BMI. I searched on the internet for bariatric surgeons certified as "Center of Excellence" affiliated. Then I started making phone calls to see who would take Medicare and how long the wait was. Someone posted that Medicare had refused to pay their hospital bill because it wasn't an overnight stay. So far, I have only had to pay $202 and I think that was for the dietary consult. My surgery was 7/20, so I'm thinking that if anything was refused I would've received a statement or bill by now.

Had to do a pre-op diet as doctor wanted me to lose 10% of my body weight. Took me about 6 weeks to lose 20# and doctor agreed to give me a surgery date. I didn't have to do many of the preliminaries others have had to do... sleep study, psych eval, cardiac work up... none of that I already had a CPAP from previous sleep study, had a cardiac workup within a year and psych wasn't required, so just a dietary consult, which I was told Medicare wouldn't pay for. I've only had about $200 out of pocket expenses so far.

I've heard there's a fill center in Arlington. Is that too far for you?? http://www.northwestfills.com/ There may be others. I did a search on Fill Centers USA and Pocatella Idaho was the closest to my zip code! I live in Everett.

OH, we're both having our 2nd fill on the same day. I don't have any dietary restriction before the fill, just full liquids for a day afterward and then a day of mushy. The rain was not as bad as predicted, so I shouldn't complain. The football game... well, I'd hoped for better! The Seahawks have been doing so well this season... until today! I have a "Fantasy" team, too, in my grandson's Fantasy Football league! Seahawk Shaun Alexander is one of my players, so besides the Seahawks loss, he sure didn't get me any points today!! And my grandson tried to get me to trade him for another player last week. I wouldn't do it because they player he wanted to give me was injured! I probably would've done just as well with him as it turned out! Oh, well! Maybe next week will be better. Hope all goes well for you tomorrow. We'll have to compare notes at the end of the day. I have either 3 or 4cc in my 11 cc band so far. My doctor uses fluoroscopy to do his fills and still had a hard time finding my port last month!

Welcome, Elaine! We are glad to have you join us here. My surgery was July 20 and I'm down almost 40 lb. I will be 64 next month. I use an electric scooter a lot of the time because of bad arthritis in my knees. I have been working very hard at extending my walking distance since surgery. I'm hoping when I get some more weight off I can get my left knee worked on.. probably replacement is necessary but I haven't seen an orthopedic doctor in several years. Keep up the good work!

Welcome to this thread. I will try to help you find it again more easily: Across the top of this thread you'll see some headings, one of which is "Thread Tools". If you click on that, you'll see an option that says "Subscribe to This Thread". Click on that and in the future, you should get an email whenever there is a new post on that thread. Some say they don't always get the emails, so I'm not sure exactly how that works, but even if you don't get the emails, once you are subscribed to a thread, you can go to the home page and click on "Quick Links" and then go to "Subscribed Threads" for the list of the threads you've subscribed to. I am Medicare, on disability, also. I had a difficult time finding a doctor and facility who were "Center of Excellence" and who would take me without a lengthy waiting list. I had my first consult in early May and my surgery July 20th.

WOW!! That's great! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: I wish I could walk more! Four Miles is really good! Hmmm.. I was feeling good because I didn't take my scooter to church this morning!! Shame on me! Left knee hurts with every step, though. Hope to get that fixed in the spring when we get back from PS!

:update: Well, the scale hasn't been moving dramatically lately... moving, but so slowly! So I decided to update my measurements today. I hadn't taken them since not long after the start of my pre-op diet. It was encouraging! I've lost 6 inches in my hips, 12/ inch - neck, 2 inches - bicep, 3 1/2 inches - bust, 4 1/2 inches - waist. Trying to remember the questions: I have an 11 cc band and my first fill, Sept. 24th, if I remember correctly, the doctor added 3 cc. I go back tomorrow morning and I'm hoping for another fill. I've lost about 4 lb. in the four weeks since the first one, so I don't think I have enough restriction. I can eat about 1 - 1 1/2 cups at a meal. I have a hard time feeling where my port is and the doctor had some difficulty finding it at the first fill, even using fluoroscopy. He said it is very deep. I have very rare episodes of brief discomfort in that area. It was a little tender after the first fill from all the poking around. It is a dark, dreary, cold and rainy Sunday afternoon here in the Pacific NW and the Seahawks got pummeled today, so I'm trying to keep my spirits UP!! :faint::doh: :umbrella::rain::rain::rain::umbrella:

You're right!! I don't really miss the Diet Coke at all so it would be really dumb to try it again. I'm sort of hooked on Crystal Lite now. I like the Albertson's brand, too. Can't really tell the difference and its usually on sale 2/$5 which is way cheaper than Crystal Lite. They just don't have many flavors in the Albertson brand. And they don't have the little boxes of "On the Go" Crystal Lite which is really handy when you're --- ON THE GO~!! I like my Crystal Lite a little diluted. Mixed according to their directions it's a little too sweet. So I put one of those little "On the Go" tubes in my 24 oz. water bottle and its just about right. We stayed at our daughter's last night & I forgot to bring some with me so now I'm stuck with plain water until we get home this afternoon. It cuts down on my fluid intake because I'm not a big water drinker.

Hi, Judie, I will be 64 the end of Nov. I had my band surgery in July. I don't regret the decision for a minute. Things have gone quite smoothly thus far. I have my second fill on Monday. I was down almost 40 lb., then went on a week long trip to visit family and regained 5 lb. Have gotten most of that off this week, though. Its slow but steady progress.