Big-D

Thanks to whoever setup this section. Having weight loss surgery seems like only a chick thing, so I wonder if I've lost my membership to the men's club. However, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter what other's think. What matters is losing the weight and living better. So that's my frame of mind now. I just got banded on Monday, December 31st. I'm nearing the end of the clear liquid diet phase. It can't end soon enough for me. How's everyone else doing? If you've done it, was it worth it?

Well, I assume you've done it. So how are you doing?

Well, I weighed this morning, January 20, 2008, and now I'm unofficially 310 lbs. This means that I'm no longer morbidly obese. Now I'm just obese! I'm not doing anything special except I'm not eating very much, I'm drinking lots of Water, and I try to stay active. At least more active than I've been in the past. It is getting a little easier. I'm not too concerned about my next mini goal, but I know the third one might be a bit more difficult. After February, I'll return to "normal" eating and that might be my downfall. I don't mean to sound negative. I'm just trying to be honest with myself and by doing that, I hope to avoid failure.

For me, I think it is more a quality of life issue than anything. Anyone can die at any age, so whether I die today or 50 years from now is besides the point. What matters to me is that I'm able to enjoy the time I'm here. My poor uncle is 67 years old and 450 lbs. He's miserable. He can't wear shoes. His feet have turned black. He has big ball of fat that hangs down between his legs. I don't know all of the health issues he has, but I know he is extremely depressed. He has looked into having the surgery, but no surgeon will touch him because all of them say he won't survive the surgery and probably because of his age as well. Yet, if doesn't lose weight, and lose it fast, he will probably die in the next 5 years. Given what I see him go through and the success of my wife's WLS, I decided to do something. Although, since I had first hand knowledge of the hardships related to the bypass, I opted for the band. I think it was the right thing to do for me, but I also understood that there was a small possibility that something could go wrong. If something had gone horribly wrong and I died, I was okay with that. I know that no one will live forever on this earth and at some point we will die. No one wants to go before their time, but then no one knows how long they have. So for me, I think it is better to deal with life one day at a time. Heck, despite losing weight, I could die today on my commute after work, but I'm not going to let fear rule my life. I'm sorry people die and leave behind loved ones, but that is life. What matters is how we treat people each and every day. Especially the ones we love. As for my personal experience, my father died in August of prostate cancer at 70 years of age. He was diagnosed when he was 64. I wished he would have had prostate surgery, but he decided that he didn't want it. As a result, he suffered greatly during the last six months of his life. I know if he had done the surgery, he might have died or his prostate cancer may not have been eliminated, but for me, I thought it was better to fight than to wait for the inevitable. I miss him and I was upset that he didn't do the surgery, but that was his decision. Everyone has to decide for themselves when it comes to their health.

DavidB, Yea, I figure I'll have to battle my weight for the rest of life despite the help of the lap band. Plus I guess I'll have to exercise. So far, the Liquid Protein diet is dropping the pounds for me and I haven't been too terribly hungry. Good luck to you.

Okay, as of yesterday, I'm now down to 315. At this rate, I should be down to 300 by the end of this month.

Okay, a new UNofficial weight. My home scale says I weigh 320. Officially, at the doctor's office with shoes and blue jeans on, I weighed 323. I'd rather take the one I did at home in my shorts. :-)

See article at: food choices and develop bad eating habits that lead to less mobility with end result being obesity, but I don't think anyone, other than an offensive lineman, wants to be obese.

I know technically I should be in the December 2007 group, but my post banding expderience will be this month. So should I be in the January 2008 group or the December 2007 group or both? Does it matter? Thanks, Danny

Chrisann, Yes, I had the Gladiator pre-op. It was okay. Post-op, I had a small portion of it, I felt pretty bad. I don't know if it generates a lot of stomach gas, but it took a while until the gas pain went away. I ordered the smallest size. When the guy made it, he had a little left over that he put in a small cup. I only consumed what was in the small cup. It might have been only 2 oz. I noticed when I was about to drink it that there were lots of little bubbles in it. I figured that was do to the blending process, but I'm thinking that might mix in a lot of air. For someone who isn't restricted, a normal smoothie is probably designed to expand so that the consumer will feel full, but for a WLS patient, I think this feature can be hard to digest.

Best of Luck! The surgery should be the easy part. Thanks for the tip on the New whey liquid Protein.

Hey B-Man, thanks a million! You were the first to tell me, so thank you very much. I found some 25g New Whey Liquid Protein at smoothie King and I tried the fruit punch. It was okay. Kind of like taking cherry flavored medicine. I just like the fact that I can get all that protein in 3 oz. I've ordered a dozen of the 42g product, so hopefully it be okay to drink. This 42g protein boost coupled with CIB and Braum's Fat Free milk will give me 60g of protein a day. Note: Anyone else reading this that doesn't have a Braum's near you, I feel sorry for you. Braum's has the best tasting milk around, plus you get 5g more protein than what you'd find at the supermarket. They make the best milk in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

I forget who told me about this, but I found this New Whey liquid Protein at smoothie King. It is $3.31 for 2.9 Fluid oz. I had the fruit punch. It doesn't taste great, but it isn't horrible, IMHO. I had another person taste it and he said it tasted like cherry Kool-Aid. This little test tube like package holds 25 grams of protein. They have another just like it that holds 42 grams. I ordered a dozen of those from Bodybuilders.com - The Largest Bodybuilders Site Online. For Bodybuilders, By Bodybuilders. for $36 which includes the shipping. As soon as I get one of those, I'll let you know how it compares. I kind of think of it like medicine. Some medicines don't taste good, but the sooner you can get it down, the sooner you'll feel better. New Whey Liquid Protein is made by IDS Sports which can be found at :: Innovative Delivery Systems - Welcome to IDS Sports ::. I like the fact that it gives me a lot of protein pre-mixed in a small amount of liquid. Good Luck! -- Danny

I know there have been people with successful surgeries in Mexico, but personally, I wouldn't do it. I'd rather deal with someone local than someone out of the country. After you get back, if there are complications, you will probably have a hard time getting an American doctor to help. I can see where a doctor might be perturbed to have to deal with someone else's screwup with a patient that expects everything to be fixed when that patient didn't want that doctor to do it in the first place. Especially if that doctor saw the patient initially and may have done the pre-op work for the surgery down in Mexico. If it became life threatening, then whoever is there at the emergency room would handle it, so then you would have no control over your care whatsoever. Just my 2 cents. Regards, Danny

She's seen a specialist, so they're doing all they can for her. Thanks! I try to be positive. Life's too short to be negative.

Well, I'm already banded, so I guess having second thoughts is ridiculous. I guess I'm having second thoughts because I remember how much I loved food and my wife has been cooking up some great stuff over the past week since New Years. I just miss not eating all that good food, like black-eyed peas, cabbage and sausage, and home-made spaghetti and meatballs. Plus she made some fudge on the day I started the diet, so didn't even get a piece of that. On top of all this are the fast food commercials that have been running hot and heavy that show the food up close and beautiful. Especially when I see it in HD, I feel like I can just reach out and eat it, such as the crunch, gooey, gordiata from Taco Bell or the Church's boneless wings or the pizza Hut Miza pizza. Just thinking about this makes my mouth Water. Anyway, I also think about the fact that I will never eat peanuts, peanut M&Ms, yeast rolls, Olive Garden bread sticks, macaroni Grill's bread, Pasta in all its variations, popcorn and Peanut Butter. That's why I have second thoughts and so, I get a little depressed when I realize it was my cardinal sins, sloth and gluttony, that got me in this situation. If only I had practiced moderation, diet and exercise, I would not have needed to take such extreme action. That's why I have second thoughts.

Thanks Terry, best of luck to you too.

My wife nearly died from gastric bypass. She was in ICU for 10 days after her second surgery in a week. The second surgeon told the family that her chances of survival were slim. She pulled through and got better. She went from a size 22/24 to a size 6. She is now 6 and a half years post op. She's moved up to size 8 and still looks great. HOWEVER, the bypass makes it difficult for her to get proper nutrition. She has advanced osteoporosis and she's anemic. Asked if she would ever do it again, she says she would. Personally, I would never do the bypass, but I have just done the band. I'm having some second thoughts, but already I've lost 25 lbs. Regards, Danny

Well, good luck with your surgery. All the best!

Well, the weight is flying off of my body. One week after my surgery and since I started dieting December 27th, I have unofficially lost 25 lbs. Yesterday, I took my dog for a walk from my house to my sister-in-law's house a few blocks away. I plan to walk the dog more often, so by the time I see my doc on the 15th, I might be down another 10 to 15 lbs. Maybe I'm losing too quickly, but I feel fine. Today, I go back to work. This will be a challenge.

mreagle5, Actually, I don't think I was scared enough. You see, prior to this I had two other lap surgeries and they were easy. As for the this surgery, that part was easy. The post surgery phase with this 2 oz. liquid diet is the hard part. My suggestion is that if you're post-op, you should try eating 2 oz. of something liquid for 8 hours. That will be small test of what it will be like. The only difference is that you shouldn't feel as hungry after you've had the surgery. Right now, I don't feel very hungry. Although, I may not be the ideal post child for WLS since I'm not being consistent about the 2 oz. rule.

Yesterday, I kinda went off the program and didn't worry too much about how much I was consuming. I just ate gingerly and if I felt full, I stopped. I didn't eat quickly and just took little sips. I had a Protein drink and some yogurt and Water all day. By evening, I had some potato Soup. I felt a lot better. I'm not trying to ruin my band or its placement, but I think this is what I have to do to survive. Right now, it is 9:41 AM. I've been up since 7:30 AM and I've been sipping on 12 oz. bottle of Gatorade. It wasn't full when I started and it still has some left. I feel good. Thanks for your support.

My DW is being supportive and that helps, but what is helping me right now is Gatorade. Maybe it is psychological, but it is really curbing my hunger and I feel better overall. This isn't the only thing I'm consuming and it isn't the main thing. It is just one part of what I'm ingesting. Right now, I'm sipping on strawberry flavored Gatorade and I feel fine.

I don't understand why we are restricted to 2 oz. per hour of food? Is this the lap band diet? Or is this necessary to shrink the stomach? Or if you eat more, will it cause the upper stomach to be larger than 2 oz.? I'm trying to understand because I just measured out 2 oz. of cheese Soup and it is hardly anything. Just enough to barely coat the bottom of the pot I'm using to heat it up. Heck, I'll probably evaporate 1/2 an oz. heating it.

One week out I'm kinda so-so. I'm kinda having mixed feelings about having done this. I don't think I thought about being restricted to 2 oz. post-op or even 6 to 8 oz. after a month.