genepha

Jodie I didn't sleep well until about day 10. My tummy is still tender and I'm 16 days out so it's hard for me to get comfortable. You will feel better once u get some good protein in you. Get some soup and blend it up if u r allowed to at this point. Protein drinks (isopure) and shakes will also help. 22 pounds is fantastic! Good luck!!

It was my understanding that most overweight ppl have hernias and most doctors will repair them as part of any WLS. I'm surprised to hear that your dr wouldn't just offer to fix it since he's already in there. There was a question as to whether my gallbladder wpuld need to come out during surgery and if so my dr would have removed it at the same time. Luckily it didn't need to come out but it was nice to know that it could all be done in one procedure.

Hi, I buy Isopure at GNC. It's kind of expensive but 1 is my Breakfast for 2 days. I think they have a sale - buy 1 get 1 half off. I think they are around $4 each bottle. I didn't buy a case (which is cheaper) because I wanted to try different flavors. I like unjury a lot and mainly use the unflavored and mix it with my Soups, pudding and shakes. genepha

Melanie, You are doing great! You have dropped a lot of sizes too. I started mushies and I try to stay between 800-1000 calories. I can finally start going to the gym next week but I have, of course, been walking. I can't wait to get into the 250s. Can I ask you how tall you are? I think when I am in the 240 range I will be about a size 18-20. Can't wait! Take care and KUP genepha

So far I've tried about 10 different types. I've decided the best ones are the ones that I make myself in the blender. However, I will be returning to work soon and that is just not an option for me in the morning because 1) I don't have time and 2) I can't use the blender in the morning because it will wake up my children. So I've decided to try the pre-made Protein shakes. I'm not a big fan of milk, even soy milk so I can't say that I love the milk based ones but here are the ones that haven't made me hurl so far: 1. GNC Total Lean - Lean shake in Swiss chocolate, 14 oz. 25 grams of protein, 170 calories, 24 Vitamins and minerals, lactose free, 6 grams of Carbs (3g are dietary Fiber and 2 g are sugar), 6 g of fat (1.5 g saturated, 0 g trans fat). Decent taste, I liked it better cold. Even though it's lactose free it still has kind of a milky taste because it has diafiltered skim milk (It just means they remove the carbohydrates). Comes in a nice, plastic easy to carry-with-you bottle. Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10. 2. GNC Total Lean - Lean Shake in vanilla, 14 oz. Basically all the same stuff as the chocolate but I didn't like the taste as well. I would use this one as a base to blend stuff fruit with later on. It would be good blended with ice, blueberries and strawberries and then I'd have 2 smoothies. Yum! 7 out of 10 straight outta the bottle. 3. Isopure Zero Carb, 20 oz. - Alpine Punch 40 grams of protein, 160 calories, 0 carbs, 0 sugar I like this one because it's a clear liquid, not milk based. It's more like a punch. It's not very sweet and takes some getting used to. I like to have it in my car or in my purse BUT the major drawback is it comes in a GLASS bottle. The glass bottle is soooo inconvenient and heavy. Grrr! To make transporting it easier, I poured it into a Water bottle and refrigerated it. Isopure needs to make it in a plastic bottle and it'd be a winner! I give it 8 out of 10. Losing 1 point for flavor and 1 point for the stupid bottle. 4. Kirkland brand weight loss shake, Milk Chocolate, 11 oz. 10 grams of protein, 230 calories, 44 g of carbs, 2 g of fat (0.5 saturated fat, 0 g transfat), 24 vitamins and minerals I put this one on the bottom because it really is the worst one for carbs and protein, however, I think this one is the tastiest, probably due to all the sugar in it!! The ingredients list starts with Skim Milk, Water, Sugar, Cocoa, Corn Syrup - Yikes!!! My husband bought these for me the first week after my surgery because I couldn't go shopping myself so now they are just sitting in my kitchen. I'll take them with me to work and throw a few in my car and have them as back up but most likely will not use them. I give it 4 out of 10 due to the high carbs and sugar. 5. Medifast Dutch Chocolate Shake- 14 grams of protein, 13 g of carbs (4 g dietary fiber, 9 g sugar) 110 calories, 1 g fat These aren't really pre-made but I can make them in a shaker instead of a blender so they'll count. They taste pretty good when blended or mixed with ice. There aren't big clumps even when using the hand shaker. But they are not pre-made. I give it 6 out of 10 for the relatively low protein and high carb ratio and inconvenience of having to blend myself. I think costco has the Premier Protein Shakes which are supposed to be pretty good and have like 30 g of protein. When I feel up to it, I'm gonna head over there and buy some of those. I'll report back later in the week. genepha

Congrats! I like the idea of lots of little mini-goals. I'm going to work on setting mine this week. Thanks for the idea! genepha lapband replaced via insurance, self-pay plication 2-7-11 starting weight: 283 current weight: 263 goal: 199 Big goal: 160-170ish

Well I couldn't resist weighing myself because I am scheduled to start mushies today. I weighed 283 when I came home from the hospital and this morning I weigh 263. That seems crazy to me!! I had about 3 oz of protein drink this morning and met friends for lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I had the broth from their chicken tortilla soup, which was fabulous!I also had 3 small bites of mashed potatoes and 2 teeny pieces of turkey. I was pretty full. My friends ordered a piece of cheesecake to share. I resisted for awhile basically because I was just too full to eat 1 more bite. After about 20 minutes or so I did take 2 small licks and it really was like heaven! but that was it - 2 licks and I was done! So far I'm loving my new little tummy especially compared to life with the band!!

I'm on my phone so I can't go into a lot of details but I had my band for almost 10 years, was pretty successful with it and lost about 100 pounds through a lot of hard work and effort. I had numerous fills and unfills and the process was very difficult and time consuming because my port had flipped. I could be poked up to 15 times to do a fill, even under fluoro. Last year my dr told me that my esophagus was enlarged so my band had to be emptied. After waiting 6 months for my esophagus to calm down, I was diagnosed with a slip and told that my band wpuld need to come out. I had 2 choices; a new band or sleeve, I didn't feel comfortable with either of those choices so I researched and discovered the plication and found a dr. here in California that started performing them. So far, I'm very happy with my decision.

Olivia, Are you eating soups? Soups saved me the first week. I blended or strained the big chunks but I highly recommend soups, all kinds but try to choose higher protein ones. If you have a Vons or a super market that has pre-made soups, use those. My husband bought a lot of different types of chicken soups for me and I added unflavored protein powder to it also. I went out to lunch with friends 10 days after surgery and was able to order chicken tortilla soup. Sounds like you need a night with no cooking or buy pre-made food for your family. Good luck - you'll get through it. genepha

Olivia, Yes, gastric plication. I started mushies so I'm at a stand still right now with weight loss. I am going to walk more next week. I can start going to the gym in about 7 or 8 days so I'm hoping that will keep my weight loss going well! I'm trying to lose another 7-10 pounds by March 7, the one month anniversary but I'll be happy with any loss!!

I can't taste it but it definitely has a funky smell so I try not to smell it when I put it in my food. The chicken flavored is pretty good too. Good luck I know the pre-op liquid diet is hard.

I officially started mushies on Feb. 17 - 10 days after my surgery. I had a post-op appt. with Dr. Billy on Friday, Feb, 18 and an upper GI. There was 1 area of concern with my new tummy but nothing to worry about or that would require surgery. The top part of my tummy where my band is was left a little larger than Dr. Billy wanted. I have an underperforming gallbladder that might need to come out later so if I need to have my gallbladder out, Dr. Billy can take it out and then adjust my plication if needed. I weighed and am pretty much hovering around 263-265. I knew when I got off liquids and went to mushies I would stall so I'm not too surprised with my weight. I can't exercise yet but I am going to increase my walking this week to help with weight loss. I'm going to include my mushy diet (so far) for anyone interested: Breakfast: Optifast shake blended with ice and 2 oz. Water, 2 oz. milk Snack: 1/2 stick of string cheese, water Lunch: about 3 oz. of chicken tortilla Soup (strained or blend the big pieces), I add a little bit of shredded mexican cheese blend, water or crystal light w/ unjury unflavored Protein Snack: sf pudding (I usually blend in some Unjury unflavored protein), rest of string cheese Dinner: 1 egg scrambled with a little cheese on top, 1 large tsp. of mashed potatoes, crystal light w/ Unjury unflavored protein Snack: sf popsicle, or 1 graham cracker w/ a teeny bit of Peanut Butter (YUM!!) I forgot to mention that I also drink Isopure (about 1/2 a bottle per day - 80 calories, 0 carbs and 20 grams of protein!) I feel like I'm eating all the time but I'm trying to get in 40-60 grams of protein. The unflavored protein is helping!

Ah Olivia- Sorry u had such a bad reaction but I'm glad u r better. I usually have that same reaction to surgery also. Now u know and u can tell the doctor to add Reglan or another kind of anti-nausea to ur IV. Glad u r back, feeling better and on the loser's bench!!

I was stuck at a shopping center today with a non-working car so I ended up having to eat some unplanned food. I didn't expect to be there for lunch but I was lucky to find a place that served chili. I drank 1/2 a Protein drink this morning and by 1 pm I started feeling a tiny bit hungry. While waiting for my ride I walked around the shopping ctr and found a BBQ joint, a Mexican fast food that doesn't serve Soup and Quiznos. I know Quiznos has soup so I tried their chili - it was the lowest calorie option because their chicken noodle wasn't ready yet. It had the most protein-20 grams (also the most carbs-26), 6 g of dietary Fiber and 1050 mg of sodium (less than chicken noodle) and 230 calories. I thought I'd eat about half. I ate about 1/4 of it and was stuffed! I asked how many ounces are in the cup and was told they have two sizes 6 oz. and 10 oz. I ordered the bigger one so I guess I had about 2.5 oz. I brought it home and had it for dinner. I measured 1/2 a cup, mixed with a tsp of chicken broth and finished a little over 1/2 of it and had about 3 bites of chocolate pudding. Very happy with my little tummy's capacity! This was what I was looking for with the band but didn't get!!! Take care, genepha

I had my follow-up with Dr. Billy today and an Upper GI. My plicated stomach looks very good. There was 1 area of concern where Dr. Billy might want to tighten later if needed but other than that all went well and I was cleared for mushies. I drank 1/2 an Isopure during the morning - 80 calories, 20 grams of protein. On my trip home I stopped for lunch. I ate about 3 small bites of scrambled egg, about 2 ounces of french onion soup and a couple of small pieces of the cheese on top of the soup. I'm stuffed!! I don't quite know the full signal yet but started sneezing soon after I finished so I figured that might be my full signal. I used to sneeze if I ate too much with the band too. I think I'm gonna start carrying a measuring cup with me! I'm gonna go walk now. Take care, genepha

Hi SD I had the band for almost 10 years. I had my band replaced, left empty and the plication done all in procedure on Feb 7. So far I'm very pleased with the plication. I've lost about 20 pounds so far and have about 70-80 more to go. I did a 2 day pre-op diet of all liquids and haven't heard of the Metamucil thing. Good luck to you!

Yeah!! Wow that is great!

Thanks so far I'm enjoying my plicated tummy much more than when I had the band.

Upper GI is like an x-ray but I had to drink the white chalky contrast so the dr.and tech could see it go through my new tummy. They also have this fancy table that lays you down and then stands you back up. It's easy but the contrast tastes nasty!!

Yeah Jodie!! I hope u have a nice easy recovery. Walk, walk, walk!!

Jodie OMG! That is so great that u r doing it as a family! KUP. I'm sure u'll do great!! I'm eating tortilla soup broth right now so in a few days you can look forward to enjoying yummy good-for-you food!

Jodie Congrats! Keep us posted!

Amy, I know. I'm worried. Haven't heard from her. Hope everything is okay and she is recovering nicely.

A bit of a repost from my blog...Today is my official 1 week. My starting weight: 283 Today's weight: 267 Lost so far: 16 pounds So when I see the numbers I wanna check my math and make sure it really is 16 pounds in 1 week. That seems crazy! I can't believe it's only been 1 week. It kinda seems like a lot longer!! I think the liquid diet does that! Ate out twice this week, mostly had broth but had a couple of tiny bites of refried Beans blended with broth. Yum!!! So far very happy and recovering nicely. I will be seeing Dr. Billy on Friday for an upper g.i. and my follow-up. Looking forward to weighing on his special scale and to see my progress! take care, genepha

Tracy, Wow! You r doing great!! I have about 65 pounds to go before one-derland. Can't wait. You r soo close!!