Brandy

Lynette, That's great! How exciting! I was turned down and expected to be, bu still may send the bills for the surgery center, surgeon, and anesthesiologist to them with a letter asking them to consider it for reimbursement. Don't expect it to turn out successfully, but will request a Explanation of Benefits form showing that it was declined for tax purposes. All, That's a question....can you claim the expense of unreimbursed weight loss surgey on your 1099 if you itemize? Hopefully, it's not considered cosmetic surgery. I'm supposed to be on mushies, but have been eating minced meats or well chewed meat, etc. at least one meal a day, or scrambled egg. Hopefully, that's still considered soft enough. Went to Chick-fil-a today before having a manicure/pedicure. Ate six nuggets, which isn't that many calories, although something you shouldn't do everyday for sure! For the most part, I've been very good, but am eating too many potatoes I'm sure. Still between 600 and 850 calories per day though and meeting my protein needs...

I've always had bathing suits. I go to the beach, on cruises, etc. Bought one one-piece and one two-piece tankini. Love them! That's the only things new I've bought. I've been just stepping back through my old clothes. I think I'll keep doing that for the most part, until I've reached my weight or I run out of clothes..... )

Chimboree, Thanks! All, Someone else was asking about who was telling and who was not. I'm still not! No one at work knows. And I only told two friends and a couple of family members. I kind of like it this way. It's my secret, so although people are noticing, they haven't got a clue. Bought two bathing suits this weekend. Very pleased with them!

Hi everyone! I haven't been on in awhile as I've been out of town. Been catching up on the posts. Someone was asking about Slimfast shakes. Your doctor is probably thinking about the original shakes, not the new low carb ones. They've got 190 calories, only 6 carbs and four of those are fiber, so net of 2 carbs, and they have 20 grams of protein. And they are delicious! You can get a pack of 15 cans at Sam's for a really good price. Only $16 ish, and at the grocery stores it costs $5.50 to $6.50 for a four-pack, so it's a good bargain. I have a shake for breakfast each day. I stick a can in the freezer while I dry my hair and then pour it into a frozen glass...delicious! My surgery was 7/16, so I'm in the mushy stage, but eating more of the minced meats, like minced ham and turkey. Had tuna once, but it didn't taste that good. Haven't had any in years and I identify it as a diet food. Also having mashed and baked potato flesh. And well chewed chicken and pork. I don't really like many mushy foods, so I've been eating much more soft or shredded foods instead. Don't get my first fill until six weeks out, 8/30. No problem eating any foods right now. But still eating between 500 and 850 calories most days. Still very aware of the port as it seems to pull when you move or roll onto your stomach, etc. so sleeping on stomach isn't as comfortable as it used to be. Doing okay and still losing weight slowly, so I'm pleased.

Hi all! I'm just sitting here on the couch with my DH catching up on everyone's posts. I've also been on a plateau for five days, but the scale finally moved, a little, today. Weight loss slowed down when I went to the mushy stage, although I still haven't consumed over 800 calories a day so far. I'm not really very hungry. I'm eating three meals, but just a shake for breakfast. No snacks! And drinking all my fluids. I think during this stage we just have to control ourselves. My Dr believes in three small meals, with no snacks in between. And no fluids with meals or 1/2 hour before or after. I'm also exercising, either walking or riding an exercise bike regularly. And of course working all day long. My port site is still very sore, not from the incision, but from the fact that the port is sewed into the muscle wall and so it feels like it is being pulled when you move, etc. I'm eating minced meats (instead of mushy pureed meats), but I'm chewing well and it seems to be working fine. Only eating a few ounces of meat. Have also been eating mashed potatoes, probably more than I should, but there aren't many mushy type foods I like. And certainly none without carbs.

Maria, Welcome to the group! I had the pains in the shoulder the first week. They are the caused by the gas pushing on your diaphram. The nerves for that run up through the shoulders per my anesthesiologist, so that is why you get the shoulder pains. My left shoulder has continued to ache on and off, however, this past week too. I figure it is still from this. I've just used the Gas-x strips that dissolve on your tongue. Can you get them there? All, my literature said to wait a week before taking a bath or swimming. I think a week is fine, unless you're concerned about the sanity of your pool. Your incisions should be completely closed after a week. I do have something that I just noticed yesterday that has me a little concerned. There appears to be a raised area all around my port, the size of an old silver dollar or a little larger. I do hope that it isn't going to be raised forever, as I think it is quite noticeable. Not sure that I'll actually be wearing a two-piece swimsuit any time in the future, but would prefer it not be noticeable. I'm not vain, but am hoping that the scars will fade also. Take care everyone and goodnight!

Hi everyone! Didn't go to the movie after all. We went to lunch at Chili's and I got an order of plain mashed potatoes and picked on that. DH got the chicken tenders, and I had a couple of nibbles of one and it was delicious. Tonight, I ate one of his left over tenders, very, very slowly, no problems. As to sex, the hospital literature says something like at your own comfort level. Well, this afternoon, me and my DH got comfortable and everything worked JUST fine! So, that hurdle is past. As a reminder, my band date was 7/16. All seems to be going fine! Good night everyone! Oh and to whoever asked, the bad breath is due to the protein and ketosis, I think it is called. It too will pass...

After my first disappointing mushy meal on Thurs, I went back to mostly liquids. Had a low carb slim fast shake for breakfast, soup and jello for lunch, and then for dinner, I had 3 oz of minced turkey, and 3 oz of pureed potatoes, and a mushed up banana. Tasted pretty good and felt fairly full afterwards. Still didn't make 650 cals for entire day. Shake again for b'fast this morning with 1 oz of minced ham. Delicious today. I've cleaned house today while DH mowed the yard (usually my job). It's a big job, as both front and back are on big hills. I mow, he weed eats and trims. But.....not for a couple of weeks, til I'm good and healed. We're going to go out and see Oceans 13 this afternoon. Popcorn will prbly smell better than usual! LOL

All, I thought my first mushy meal would be great....boy, what a disappointment. I cut and boiled a potato and added skim milk and mashed it in the silver bullet, added a little butter, salt & pepper. And then minced some ham. Got both nice and hot in the microwave and sat down to eat it and it wasn't very good. It tasted too salty after twelve days with nothing but sweet shakes and stuff. I soldiered on and tried to eat as much of it as I could, which was about 2 to 2.5 ounces of each. All I really wanted was to take a big drink of water and have my low carb slim fast shake, which I used to despise.... I will enjoy my water soon and I think I'm going to go back to liquids tomorrow. Have a shake for breakfast, soup and jello for lunch, and then perhaps try some more mushies tomorrow night. But, I'm so disappointed, I had such high hopes for mushies.....

Hi everyone! Haven't read your posts yet, but I thought I'd share info about my post-op appt today. He said everything looked good and was happy with my diet to date. I have the new APC band which can be filled to 10 cc's. It does come with a little fill of between 2.5 and 3 cc's, which he said is it's static point or neutral point. I told him that I wasn't feeling any restriction and he said, that I wouldn't at this point. Told him i wasn't having any problem drinking fluids or shakes, like some people were saying. I asked about progressing my diet and he said yes, but then something like he prefers to keep patients on a liquid diet for the first six weeks. I said six weeks, the diet specs you gave me said that you would move to pureed food after two weeks. He said that was what he meant which was a great relief. I've been consuming less than 600 calories a day and he said at this point that I should be somewhere between 600 and 1,200 calories a day. And once I get my adjustment in five more weeks, then I'd probably move to 1,400 calories. Sounded good to me! IMPORTANT: He said the reason you want to stay liquid/pureed before your first fill is that the band isn't working, so you won't know if you eat almost too much, but you will know if you eat too much. Consequently, if you go that far, you may expand your upper pouch too much and force the band to slip and slide down, so it will never be very effective. Once you've gotten the fill, the band will work and you'll know before you overeat. Told him that I don't like anything on his list for pureed foods (beans, yogurt, cottage cheese, baby food, etc.) except for the lean deli meats. He said it was fine to do the meats, tuna, add a banana to my shake (first time he's said anything about carbs before five months time). I asked about the mashed potatoes and he said I could have a bite or two if I wanted. I was thrilled, so went to store after work and got ham, turkey, some romaine lettuce (not sure if I can puree it with the meats or not, but gonna try), potatoes and bananas. Came home and wanted to eat since I've only had 295 caloreis so far today, but decided to exercise first. Did 25 mins on bike, bathed, and now I'm boiling a potato. Figure I can have a little tonight and maybe take some work to go with my soup tomorrow. I'll read through everything I missed and get back to you if I have any other thoughts!

Kathybad, Did you at least stay low carb and high protein for the last week? The yogurt, etc. is weird, but if you kept your carbs under 30 and minimal fat and kept the proteins high, you should be fine. And my Dr said every person's liver is different. I was very, very good keeping to the diet, but did eat some of the flesh of a baked potato a few times and was really pushing up against the 30 gram threshhold. I'm sure you'll be good.

Cate54, Congratulations! All, I'm still on full liquids. Dr's appt is tomorrow, so we shall see. As I said yesterday, my Dr doesn't like carbs, so no oatmeal, potatoes, fruits, etc. So, even when I go to mushies, I'll probably still be very, very low calorie. Have run between 115 and 590 calories per day for the last 11 days. probably why weight loss has been fairly good so far! And Red Lobster, I love it! Went there twice in my last two weeks, which was hard to have only one roll, due to the carb content. I don't even eat seafood, but there grilled chicken is to die for! That, a potato, a salad, and rolls, yum! Maybe again one day!

tmeyer, Congratulations! And welcome to the group!

AshRae, That's great, I'm close behind you at 18.5!

Kassie and OnMyWay, Congratulations and wecome to the group!

jfk, Thanks for sharing your story. I can't believe how many kind people assisted you, gives you faith in people doesn't it. Congratulations!

ReneeMarie, Congratulations! Glad you are feeling good!

Lynette, Thanks for sharing! Mine was a little over $14K, since doctor and surgical hospital had package pricing and anesthesiologist had a pre-pay discount of over 50% I'm thinking worth it too! I've got my first post-op appt (10 days after). Real curious as to whether I get to move on to mushy foods or not.

Biggest Loser, Glad your procedure went well too!

Jackie506, Glad things went so well for you! Sounds terrific!

Icybreeze, On the potatoes, my Dr. doesn't like carbs period, so no fruits, no potatoes, nothing that you would normally want to put in a blender to try to turn into a shake or mushy. That's probably why I haven't had a day yet where I've consumed even 600 calories since two days before my surgery. So, it's been ten days since I've had anything more substantial than soup, jello, and protein shakes. To All, My bubble bath was fantastic last night, so I took another one tonight. How I missed those this past week. I've changed my mind and decided that maybe my port is directly under the big incision rather than below it, not sure if that's how it is or not. I had thought I felt it a little lower. I've got more soreness today than the past two days for some reason. Perhaps because of working all day again. No energy with this few calories to work out. Work pretty much takes it out of me. QUESTION - How many of y'all were private pay like me? Insurance doesn't like to cover this surgery unless you're over a certain BMI and have co=morbidities, so I lost out on both fronts. Still think it will be worth every cent in the long run!

Oh, I bought a Magic Bullet too! Even though I thought it sounded like a vibrator when my friend first told me I should buy one.... LOL! Good night!

Hi gang! I went back to work today and it went well. I was so busy catching up with email, projects, meetings, etc., that the day went by pretty fast. Tired when I got home though. Read through everyone's posts! And thought I'd share my thoughts. My doctor required a two-week pre-op diet of at leasst 70 grams of protein and no more than 30 grams of carbs. So I ate a lot of meat, which got kind of boring. Then clear liquids only the day before surgery. Surgery was 7/16. Now diet requires two weeks of full liquids, so I've only had liquids, jello, and popsicles since then. Consequently, I've only consumed between 115 and 590 calories since 7/15. I was hoping that at my post-op appt this Thursday, the doctor would tell me to go ahead and start mushy foods early. But maybe it would be better to stay on this low calorie liquid stage longer as the maximum weight loss per week will probably be at this stage. I'm worried about mushy, cause I don't eat baby food, beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, or tofu! And mashed potatos are not allowed! Mushy stage is supposed to last for weeks 3 thru 6. Then, move to soft foods thru week sixteen. At five months, go to a regular diet. Dr is supposedly strict with diet, but should yield results. So, I'm hopeful, that I'll be able to blend the heck out of tuna, deli ham, deli turkey, chicken, etc., with perhaps a little oil or mustard to moisten it. If not, then I'll still be subsisting mainly on liquids. My port is on left side several inches below belly button level. It's still tender on that side. Can't quite sleep on side or stomach yet. Took bandages off on Sunday night and the steri-strips off tonight. Gonna go take my first bubble bath since the operation. Should be heaven! Hope everyone has a great night!

Good morning! Just checking in to see what I missed. Day 6 for me and I'm feeling good. Got on the exercise bike for the first time yesterday afternoon for just 20 minutes, as I didn't want to push it. Felt good! Lost two pounds yesterday. Quit fighting the shakes and started having one low carb slim fast choc shake for breakfast and dinner with a bowl of blended chicken noodle soup and an EAS protein drink which I chug during the day to round out my protein needs. Eat a little jello or a popsicle if I get bored. Not hungry, only eating because I need to. Don't feel any restrictions at all on liquids, etc., but feel like I am full. Hope hunger doesn't return any time soon! My hospital experience was nice! Supposed to get there at 8:30 for a 10:30 surgery. Got there earlier, took me on back, got me all ready. Two failed attempts on the IV's that hurt a little, but nurse was really sweet and apologetic. Finally got it in, although I didn't let her give me but one lidocaine shot and I wouldn't have taken that if I knew it hurt more than the IV stick. Don't think anybody had ever used it on me before, so I didn't know better. Got an injection in the stomach for blood clot prevention and a pill for nausea. Then taken into surgery early. All went perfectly, woke up in recovery and taken back to room. A few minutes later they asked if I could stand up, I did and they called for someone to take me to radiology and I went down for the upper GI, where I had to stand in front of the wall while I drank the liquid. All looked good, they let me look too, and pointed out the band, stomach, etc. Gave me water to rinse my mouth, etc. Then back to room and they gave me a full cup of ice water to drink. It was delicious! Then they said I could get dressed and go home. Got dressed and they wheeled me to the car. Made them get me another cup of ice water for the road. Felt fine on way home and the rest of the day, just sore! As to nurses, i had one primary and three other nurses that attended to me prior to the operation and they were all really, really nice! But afterwards, one came in that was very short with me. She didn't want to get me the incentive spirometer or the pill crusher (that I was supposed to have per their brochure), she was short with me when I asked questions about a contradiction in the discharge instructions regarding resumption of meds, and a form that looked like it said I was a smoker, when I was not. She was nice at first joking with me and my husband, but then got strange and I asked my husband if we did anything to piss her off. But we hadn't. She looked at me strange when I asked for a refill on the water and delegated the task to someone else! I had asked nicely and said when you get a chance, etc. etc. I was just so cotton mouthed and didn't want to get into trouble on way home with nausea or anything. But all and all a wonderful experience! All went like a dream. Pain hasn't been bad, just soreness, like everyone said over the port. And if I hadn't gotten the nausea Day 2 and 3, it would have been perfect. But an Rx took care of that.

To New CC, I gave up Diet Mountain Dews the day before the diet. I've been addicted to them since they first hit the market. I haven't really missed them all that much! Probably will change once I get back to real food. I wonder if caffeine and carbonation are really the big NO NO's that my doc says they are?