littleroo1

Some of you might remember that we had an adoption situation fall through in August and I was able to move my surgery up instead of waiting until next year. We're matched to adopt a newborn again! It's a girl and she's due November 1st. Oh smokes, it's coming up fast! Kicker is the birthmom is in Iowa so it means travel for us and we'll be there for 2-3 weeks. I hope I can get my first fill in before then! Things have been crazy around here for sure. I've been reading the posts when I get a chance... sounds like everyone is doing well! Michelle - good luck with the IRS!!! :eek:

Good luck today Woofay!!!! You will do great!

Yay!!! A new baby!! Congratulations!!

Hey Tina.... I haven't ordered off the kids menu either because most of the time it has hamburgers and mac-n-cheese on it. Not really my cup of tea right now! I've been ordering an appetizer and taking the leftovers home. Sometimes I'm still getting soup or chili for dinner because I know it agrees with me. If you do decide to use your card, don't put up with any crap from the staff. Ask to speak to the manager if they are not happy to help you. It's probably not a big deal!

I LOVE this!!! I'm so glad you are feeling great!

Mal - I LOVE LOVE LOVE your pictures!!! :bounce: Thank you so much for sharing!!! Marcy - I'm curious.... is it crazy expensive to have things shipped to your house?? I'd probably go crazy on drugstore.com or something and let them ship a ton of necessities to me to not use up the precious bucket space! My husband is from a very very small town and you have to do all your shopping in another place, but your situation is much more extreme than that.

Anita - :wow2: How does it feel to be a blonde?? Are you having more fun now?! :eek:

faith - I'm glad you chimed in here! I knew you would know!!

I have the new AP band (Inamed) that came out earlier this summer. Specifically the APS (which is the small one). The other is the APL (large). I believe mine is 4cc as well but I'm not exactly sure. I wouldn't worry too much about it, the band they decide to use ultimately is decided when they actually see your stomach in surgery and you get the one that fits you best.

Mine was done in a surgery center that was in a wing of the hospital. My aunt is a head nurse at one of these surgery centers and she prefers it to all the years that she was in hospital surgeries since they typically do shorter procedures. No long organ transplants or anything!! I found the staff to be much better, more attentive than the hospital unit. I think because they were not constantly preparing themselves for an emergency to come through the door. It was nice to know that my surgery would most likely be on time and I wouldn't be bumped because of another trauma. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It felt so much less "hospital-like"! I felt like a patient, not like a burden. I never once thought they didn't know what they were doing. In fact, I would think they are more experienced at what they do. It's all the newbie docs that are working in the big hospital for long shifts and don't have the nice hours like the center workers!

Having mixed emotions is very very normal! I told my DH that even though I knew I was making a very sound and good decision for me, as it got closer I would probably be scared so he needed to help me stay strong. Turns out on the day of surgery, I was so much more calm than he was! If you are making the choice to be banded for the right reasons, you will be fine. Being nervous about any procedure is a normal reaction! I trusted my surgeon and the staff to take good care of me, which they did. Good luck to you both!!!

I'm self-pay and I traveled from Florida to Colorado... I was nervous about going out of the states myself. More so because of the after-care issues. My surgeon has banded people at your BMI before.

I think I'm going to start the Alli again since I have my band now but I'm still 4 weeks away from getting a fill. I have followed the instructions and I haven't had too many "explosions". When I did, it was because I chose to eat something that I knew was probably over the limit and it was going to make me sick. It did and frankly it was my fault. I was on phentermine many moons ago.... my doctor told me it has short term success only as your body adjusts to it. She had me take it M-F and take the weekends off to try and extend that effectiveness as long as possible.

I agree what stunning pictures! I take a lot of pictures but I am far from the artist that a lot of you are. I think in Colorado I was around 1000. I play the law of numbers - when you take that many, a few of them are bound to turn out good! LOL Keep in mind that I was on "vacation" in Colorado... but here's my pictures if anyone is interested. We did Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park before my surgery, Air Force Academby, Pikes Peak, and zoo after my surgery. I squeezed in as much vacation as I could!!!

Good luck GurlyGirl!! You will do great! And you'll get all sorts of things to keep your stomach in check, so you have nothing to worry about! Truthfully, the suppositories work really well.... not that big of a deal. And believe me, it was a huge deal for me at first - exit only I always say!!

Safe travels Karen!!!!

As your swelling goes down, you will not have any restriction before your first fill! Congrats - this is bandster hell and you're in it! This is only a temporary phase!!!!

Welcome!! Congratulations on your weight loss! Check out the support threads that deal with more of the head work you are talking about. I don't think it is unusual in any way, considering how most of us became heavy to begin with!! There's lots of support here. Glad you could join us and give us some of your personal experiences since you have been there!

Deeda - thank you for posting your words of encouragement! This is EXACTLY what I needed to see this morning! Good luck to you and your fill tomorrow! Those 9 pounds will come off and more!

LOL I have to admit to having a lot of soups heated up from boxes during my full liquids too! Mostly I was back on my protein shakes that I was on before surgery, so I was happy about that and those were 2 meals anyway. Heck even during my mushie stages right now, if we go out to eat, I'm still getting soups but now I can eat all the stuff in them instead of just the liquid part!

The flavored Isopure drinks in glass bottles count as clear liquids. 5 or 6 different flavors and you can find them at places like GNC. They have 40 grams of Protein per bottle - but I agree that you should only take half the bottle at a time. I believe the protein helped me recover as fast as I did and kept my energy up. I was told to get in 60 grams of protein a day (each surgeon is different) so for my clear liquid days, I was drinking 1 and 1/2 bottles of Isopure a day, spread over 3 "meals".

I took off the clear bandages after a week. You want all the liquid to be dried up or reabsorbed, and especially the port one will take the full 7 days to dry up. I've still been putting neosporin on them twice a day since then but mine are all doing well. The port one is definitely closed, was much better after the bandage was off and it could really dry up. I know the liquidy stuff is gross.... BUT at least you can see that you aren't getting any infections! Marcy... I'm so jealous... sea glass!!!!! They are sea jewels!

I agree! Well stated Tina!!! We'll all DO this - stick together and we will be successful!!

Karen - Look how far you've come already!! I've been banded for a week and a half, and I don't regret it one bit. As Anita said, there is no price tag on health. The jitters you are having are very normal. I had them too, but I can tell you on surgery day, I was very calm. I knew I had made this decision for all the right reasons. DH was very nervous - I was cool as a cucumber! Once the versed went in, I was in lala land! And then before I knew it, it was all over and I was waking up!! I haven't looked back since - not once. In fact I am very grateful that I was able to leave my former life of food obsession behind. Now I just have no room for that any longer.

I only had noticeable pains for two days after surgery. Walking a lot helps! The heating pad helped me more than GasX but everyone is different. Some people have relief if their hold their arm up while sitting or laying down. Hang in there!!