kagoscuba

You look amazing! Congratulations and best wishes for future success as well! :clap2:

Oh, I should mention I have a Tempurpedic bed, so that may help a lot, as it conforms to my body and is pretty darn comfortable, surgery or not.

Results may vary, but I was sleeping on my side in 2 days and on my stomach within another couple of days. Having a pillow to support me from the front side, while sleeping on my side helped a lot.

I'm sure you will be fine. If you are worried about the pain, for a lot of us, the pain never got above a 4 on a 1-10 scale. Personally, my pain stayed around a 2. I thought my stomach was going to hurt, but it was gas in my shoulder that took the pain crown, which is the only time I got up to a 4. liquid Roxicet knocked that right out though. I'm 13 days post op and can barely even tell I had the surgery. I am on the elliptical machine daily (since last Friday), and I have been doing crunches since Monday. Last Sunday I even played golf...all on the go-ahead from my surgeon of course. Your recovery may or may not be as swift. If your concern is hunger, that also varies. I was not hungry at all during my Clear liquids stage. Now that I am eating full liquids I do get the occasional hunger pang, but a sugar free popsicle or Protein shake takes care of that too. Motivation? For me, my motivation is I've lost an entire 2 year old child (almost 25 pounds) hanging off of my sides and I'm cinching my belt in two notches more than 2 weeks ago. This morning I put on a pair of pants I haven't worn in a year. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!! You'll do GREAT! :confused:

Supernatural BS explained: Jesus walking on water: It was not recorded by him personally; as a matter of fact not one word of the Bible is written by Jesus. It is all written by others, and as such is suspect. Virgin Birth: Angel gets her pregnant; this is a direct correlation to mythology, whereas the Gods routinely got mortals pregnant. This story was written at time when the ones being told the story would be comfortable with the story from their cultural roots. God somehow protects those who believe: Tell that to 500,000 Rwandans, 6 million Jews, or 20 million Russians (World War II) Cast out of the Garden of Eden: Ok, so God is going to punish billions of people for the frailties of one person? That makes God vindictive, which makes him flawed, which makes him a contradiction of himself. I can't really go with that. Other examples also exist. Belief and faith only go so far. Perception and reality coexist for a reason.

Burn in hell? Well, hell, me and my wife get that, and we BELIEVE in God. :fish2: I'm Unitarian and my wife is Jewish. I can't count the number of times the "forgivers" have dropped the "hell bomb" on us. Our mantra is: Religion is not the truth; God is the truth. Anything given by man is suspect. Any book that was vetted by man, had entire books (chapters) discarded by man, has been translated many times, and was argued about 600 years after its lead protaganist was killed should not be considered the infallible word of God. A revelation is a revelation to the first person god tells it to. Anything after that is hearsay. It's like the grade-school tell a sentence at the beginning of a line and have everyone whisper it back and see what the last person has to say was the original sentence. Usually, that is a far cry from the original message.

I agree mostly. I'm a Unitarian, if you had to put a label on me. God directs no influence on the earth, and all the supernatural stuff taught to us is BS. I do believe in a higher power though, and I believe he will one day reward those who lived a good life. However, he's not going to save one person on this earth who is in trouble. I'm reading Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" right now...a most excellent book on this subject...George Bush should pick up a copy.

The muscle milk tastes very good. It has an odd texture (very thick) for pudding, but the taste is top-notch. I have the chocolate flavor...I'm not even sure if they have another flavor. I've been drinking the Banana Scream flavored shakes from Chamption Nutrition, and I like those a lot...of course I love bananas too.

Can you mail order to France? I will get 98 grams of Protein today from the following: Dannon Yogurt Muscle Milk Protein Pudding: Cytosport - Home Champion Nutrition Pure Whey Protein Shake: www.champion-nutrition.com Myoplex Carb Sense Shake: EAS.com | ENERGY-ATHLETICS-STRENGTH Hope this helps

I was banded 9/27 and my first fill is 10/15. The doctor has advised me I will probably not be able to tell any restriction for almost three weeks, as I'll have 3 days of clear liquids, 1 week of full liquids, and 1 week of mushies following the fill. Considering I won't have eaten a piece of "real" food from 9/25 until the middle of November, I can't wait to have the fill and at least have the opportunity to eat a small portion of "real" food.

I am on full liquids as well, and here is my typical day: Breakfast: 1 Cup of coffee 1 Dannon Fit and Light Yogurt 1 Viactiv Calcium Supplement 1 Centrum Multi-Vitamin 16 Ounces of Water mixed with Crystal light (after 30 minute wait) Lunch: 1 Myoplex Carb Sense shake 16 Ounces of water mixed with Crystal light (after 30 minute wait) Snack: 1 Jello sugar free pudding 1 Cup of Coffee Dinner: 1 Muscle Milk Pudding 16 Ounces of water mixed with Crystal light (after 30 minute wait) Snack: 1 Sugar Free Popsicle I am getting around 700 calories a day from this, and I don't feel hungry, as long as I spread the meals out correctly. I eat "dinner" at 5:00, as I'm preparing to leave for the day, and I work out as soon as I get home. That way the Crystal Light Snack is a wonderful post-workout relief, and I can chill out for awhile before eating the popsicle that takes care of any before bed munchies.

No problem at all. :eek:

I'm almost two weeks banded, and I've already noticed the following: 1. I feel "lighter" on my feet 2. There is a significant change to the way I look 3. My clothes fit better 4. I have not needed to take my hypertension medication 5. I have more energy 6. My snoring has improved (actually, my wife noticed that one...personally, I don't snore :eek: ) 7. Exercise is much easier. I was on the elliptical and doing crunches last night, only 11 dady s post-op. I thought that would not be possible, but the doctor gave the ok, and I felt good while exercising. My only two negative so far have been: 1. Most Protein drinks SUCK. 2. My golf swing has changed dramatically, since I can't tuck my elbow into my "spare tire" anymore. I'm going to have to learn how to play...again. Small price to pay though. All in all, I feel 100% healthier than I did two weeks ago, and I believe you will too.

What, the guys are chopped liver?

Sleep Apnea was one of my co-morbidities, which almost got me approved by my insurance carrier. They eventually weaseled out of paying by saying I did not have 5 years of written documentation saying I was overweight...thanks Horizon; I hope Hillary or Barack render you meaningless...anyway, I digress. Apnea did not delay me or cause any issues with surgery. I chose not to do teh CPAP, as there is no way I could sleep with the Darth Vadar mask on. I'll see if the apnea is still present, once I get to my target weight, before visting the mask option again.

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere before, but I found a great site for counting my daily calorie intake. It's hard to find a food that is not already listed. Even my dietician, who had not seen the site, loved it, as I can bring in printed reports of my daily meals, exercise, and Water for her. It is located at the following site: Calorie Counter - Free Online Diet Journal -Kurt Surgery Date: 9/27/2007 Post-Op Weight: 265 Current Weight: 242 Goal Weight: 180

After my first fill on the 15th of this month I will be: 3 days Clear Liquids 1 week full liquids 1 week soft/pureed foods Then I go to "normal" foods.

Kat gave me a good piece of advice to go to this thread to ask about fills in NJ. I was banded by Dr. Nusbaum 10 days ago, and I was remiss in asking about his fill policy before-hand. I am a self-pay, so how much the fills cost are of a big concern to me. I asked last Friday how much they'd be, and the nurse replied $900...then she must have seen my jaw bounce off the floor and quickly added, "oh, we "only" charge self-pays $200." Then she went on to mention the radiologist charges an additional $178 per fill visit. That puts the total charge to right around $400. Are there any other self-payers on this board from NJ who know a doctor who charges less? thanks!

If it wasn't already paid, that'd be an option. :car: I asked on Friday (first post-op visit) about the fill policy, and I was told the first two are "free." After that they are $900, with a caveat being self-pays "only" pay $200. Of course the $200 only covers my doctor's charge. There is an additional $178 the radiologist charges for the use of their facility. So, every fill for me will be approximately $400. Considering I live in NJ, I'm probably not going to find a huge range of prices.

Like a lot of people here, I was banded on a Thursday and went back to work the next Monday. I was lucky to never really have any pain to speak of, and by Monday is was down to nothing but occasional discomfort. I am now 11 days post-op, and I can barely even tell I had the surgery, other than the fact I am 19 pounds lighter! :car:

Today is day 10 of my Clear liquids diet, and I am 8 days post-op, and I am barely ever hungry. Is that because my body is feeding so much off of it's rather generous stored fat? Day 1 of the liquids was a real pain, but every day since has gotten progressively easier. Of course, I am a rule oriented person, so the mere fact I have a set of rules about eating may be able to trick my brain into thinking, "well you can't eat other things anyway, so don't worry about it." Anyone else have this experience? I keep on seeing these posts about how hungry people are, and I feel like a very odd duck in the pond! Pre-Surgery 265 Current 254 Goal 180

My doctor charges $6000 for his services, the hospital was $13000, and the anesthesiologist is another $3000, for a total of $22,000. That does not include after visits or the required nutritionist services at $110 every 6 weeks.

My father always told me, "Son, if you are hungry enough, you'll eat anything that doesn't eat you first." I took this advice as gospel, as it made common sense. However, after 6 days on a liquid diet, I can honestly say it's false. I'm pretty darn hungry sometimes now, and I could not see me taking another sip of Isopure Protein drinks. I was planning on having the Grape Frost flavor as my "dinner" last night, and it was so vile I poured it out after about the tenth sip let me know it wasn't a trick: it did taste like crap. It was like drinking a chemical concoction. Whatever they used to sweeten the drink was horrible. I also would not care to ever taste another Jello cup as long as I live, once this phase is over. Pure whey "protein bullets" are also made by the devil. I was in the military and ate MRE's. A beef patty MRE is like a Ruth Chris filet mignon compared to the Pure Whey products. I think I am still psychologically scarred from the consistency of the liquid I swallowed. It was everything I would imagine pond scum to feel like.

Does the Unjury totally dissolve, or does it thicken whatever it is mixed in?

I was rejected within two weeks by BCBS. I went ahead and did self-pay, and I'm resubmitting everything anyway. It never hurts to try!