Dave01

Refried Beans spread on a plate with canned chicken (pureed) on top, covered with a piece of FF cheese and nuked for 30 seconds....YUMMMM Almost like a mushie no-wrap burrito

My dr told me it should take an hour to drink a bottle of water. Any quicker and I am not sipping. I am 24 days post-op and can only manage about 4 oz of food for a meal. Not that I am full, but I am pacing myself for my first fill. It takes me around 45 min to get the food ( mushies) down since I am using a mini spoon, also to get used to the new way of eating. Hope this helps some....Dave

Here is what I have gotten out of the whole thing. The reason to shrink the liver is in order to get to the place the band goes, the liver has to be moved. They dont like to move it a lot, so shrinking it is safer. The pre-op diets vary with each dr. Mine was protein shakes 2 times a day and a small meat/veg meal. It wasnt real strict on what I could et. My dr never mentioned Optifast. I started my pre-op early just to get used to eating a new way. No sodas, snack foods, fast foods. I think it made the changeover to healthy post-op eating easier. Hope this helps....Dave

Michelle, Mine lasted a few days too. I think its still from the surgery. Is it mostly on the left side? Thats where mine was. Be sure you are getting enough liquids and the walking will help. My goal was a minimum of 64 oz of liquids, which is a lot since we are only supposed to sip them. A normal sized bottle of Water took about an hour to drink. If it doesnt get better soon, make a call to your dr just to be sure. He/she will probably tell you to take the pain meds a little longer, since this is supposed to be a time to heal. Good Luck, keep us posted....Dave PS sleeping in a recliner did wonders for me

Welcome Mandy, Congrats on the band date. You will find many answers on here. I've found it a great place to hang out....Dave

Way to go Fish. It is an interesting journey, to say the least. 23 days post op and its been a trip. This board has been a real help too....Dave

Wow, you are lucky. I had 2 weeks of liquids before mushies. 7 more days, then soft food for a week. My dr is pretty strict with the diet plan....Dave

I added more protein and it really helped. 2 protein shakes a day and broth for lunch

I take a chewable multivitamin daily, but all of my other ones I can swallow. I take them with my protein shake and boy am I full afterwards...LOL

Put down the sink....they dont taste too good. My surgery was 8/30 and my first fill will be 10/15. I cant wait. I'm still on mushies for another week, then soft foods for a week.Still no hunger for me but I changed my diet 2 weeks prior to my surgery.

I am doing a lot of canned 98% ff chicken blended with salsa, tuna with ff ranch dressing, ff cottage cheese with natural apple sauce mixed in, vegetarian baked beans blended with ff cheese and still lots of soups.

I'm no expert on sleep apnea, but I have it and so did my cousin. See my earlier reply to this post. It may change your thinking about the cpap machines.....Dave

Ellisa, welcome to the site. As you have seen, there is a bunch of good information on here. Hope your time with the ins company goes good. I dealed with Aetna ( very strict) but got thru it. Good luck...Dave

Raspberry Ice, My lifeline to sanity.....that and fruit punch...LOL

3 weeks out and my dr told me yesterday to enjoy the pool. My incisions have all closed up, so there is no chance of infection

Janet. Sorry to hear all this. Your dr has some bad information. Just look at the people on this site. I am new to the band, just 3 weeks post-op, but am very happy with it. As far as being on a diet forever with the band, he could not be any more wrong. Its a modified way of eating, just like with the bypass. I personally have 3 friends that have been banded and they are all over a year out and very happy with thier results. They go out to dinner with friends, just watch what and how much they eat and have had 0 problems. Have your dr check out this site. Anyway, the choice is yours, not thiers. Good luck....Dave

Its not really that bad. I did 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery. Just drink a lot of water/crystal light. It helps fill you up. For the liquid diet, I used a lot of chicken broth and turkey broth. Right after surgery and lasting almost 2 weeks, I did the protein shakes twice a day and broth for lunch. Good Luck....Dave

Welcome and congras on the banding. It gets better real soon. Walking was my way of getting rid of the bloating/gas problem. Pain meds were available, but I quit them after 2 days ( I hate medicine). Your first few days are for recovery only, but any walking you can get in will make it better. And dont forget to Sip, sip, sip all day long. The liquids also help. Remember, if nothing goes in, then nothing comes out:biggrin1:....Dave

Christie, Mine were removed by the dr prior to me going home from the hospital. I have had them in the past and they will fall off on thier own, usually within week or so due to the water from showers. Congrats again on the banding, Hope everything is going ok....Dave

My pre-op was nt ad, but I did a protein shake for Bfast and dinner with a small lunch. If you can stop the soda's now, it will make it easier later. I would consult your dr and see if you can modify your diet a little. Yours seems extreme to me......Dave

Lets see: Mine was EKG, Chest x-ray, Psychiatric evaluation, sleep study, pulmonary study, stress test.....That was about all Congrats on the approval. I have Aetna too and they are strict.

Congrats. Mine was about 18 days ago and its a little bit of a change. I started the liquid stuff on my own 2 weeks prior, so it wasnt too bad. Post up when you can and let us know how it went....Dave

Went in to see my dr. for my post surgery appt. All is going good and now I just have to wait till Oct 15th for my first fill Checked out the accuracy of my scale with the dr's and they were the same, so I guess I am doing ok with the weight loss. Plus I got the ok to swim, so I will be adding that to my daily walking. Hope everyone else is doing good too.......Dave:whoo::whoo:

Julie, Thanks. I am giving it all I have. So far its been easy

I was given Hyrdocodone pills. I was able to take all of my pills ( 5 per day not counting pain med) right away, without any problems.....Dave