Tia Maria

Hi Hoodoofan, so how does it feel 7.5 weeks after surgery? Have you had a fill yet? How are your eating habits? Are you hungry? Tracy, I can't believe that. I'm also going to see the doc on 22nd Jan!! Very strange! I'm not sure if I'll be getting a fill that day either....I suppose it all depends on if we need it or not.Wow scrambled eggs!! That would be heavenly at the moment. I think I'd be a bit too scared to try them just yet, don't they come under the mush food description? He told me to stay on the liquids until nearer to new year....bummer! :hungry:

I just phoned the doc to ask him about the chest pains, he said its normal and has something to do with the band and me being sensitive to it, he assures me that it will settle down with time. So fingers crossed that we don't have a heart attack and think its just the band! A few questions he asked: 1) Do I have a shortness of breath - NO 2) Is the chest pain going through to my back - No 3) Is it only after I have eaten - NO ( I actually woke up with it today!) 4) Do I have any funny sensations in my legs - NO If you have answered yes to any of these then maybe you should phone your doc and just check that all is well. But I'm sure were all just experiencing something that is quite common.

My port site is just above my tummy button, sometimes its a bit uncomfortable to sleep on my side, but mainly I can sleep any way that I want. It seems to be the area with the most bruising. Well done 8kg!!! Thats fantastic! Why don't you think its going to last? Do you know when your due to have your first fill? Although it sound like you won't need one for a while if your struggling to drink a whole optifast, I could do that straight away...Slowly. I staying in hospital for 1 night, I had the most pain in my shoulders. But now my chest is really awful, it feels like someone is sitting on it! I'm not sue if this is because he also fixed a hernia while he was in there, or just indigestion....I should phone him and ask really, I just don't like to keep annoying him. I can't remember if I told you this, but yesterday for dinner I had creamy mash potatoes for dinner mixed with gravy, it was so good to have something different. I made sure it was so runny that I had to eat it with a spoon. I just phoned him on his mobile about the chest pain and he said its normal, I'm just sensitive to the band and its probably over stimulated...Well thats good to hear.

I'm just the same Tracy, my tummy is a bit sore....But I expect thats normal after being cut into an all. It makes getting in and out of the car a bit of a mission, I tend to hold my belly as I go over speed bumps in the road. I think I'm coming to terms with what I have chosen to do (lap band) I have had a few moments of panic, where I have thought about how it will be not to be able to wolf down half a loaf of bread at a time, especially when stressed. I will have to find another way of dealing with situations I guess. I still haven't gone back onto tea and coffee like I was, instead I have become addicted to hot chocolate the jarrah 98% fat free one. I'm not sure that is such a good thing though, its lovely though! I have had a lot of chest pain, well maybe discomfort is a better word to use, I think its indigestion. Have to had any of that? I'm a bit worried that maybe I'm eating too much or something. Tonight for dinner I did mash potatoes, I made them really creamy then added some gravy, it was actually really nice. Did your doc weigh you? Mine told me it was a waste of time as the body is too interested in healing itself at the moment and weighing in would be very inaccurate. But I can tell by my own scales that I have lost weight anyway lets hope it stays off! Wishing you a speedy recovery, take care. Tia

Hi Tracy, How you doing? I got really fed up with the protein shakes, so I now make myself fruit smoothies and drink up and goes....I was drinking soups, but I also got a bit fed up with them. I thought I would be able to eat mushed food on Christmas day, but when I visited my doc the other day he said I have to stay on liquids until new year! I felt so gutted, but I suppose its for the best. I don't want to end up in hospital for Christmas with it stuck! What sort of advice has your doc given you? Have a good Christmas, imagine how we will look next year!:clap2: Tia.

Wow, thats fast. I had my surgery on the 11th December, I'm still feeling sore on the inside and have been told by my doc that I have to stay on liquids until new year. I had a fruit smoothie yesterday that was very lumpy (chewable lumps) but ate it anyway...I felt so bad after with chest pains, I thought I was havign a heart attack. That will teach me to do as I'm told! Funny how the doc's advice varies.

Hi there, I'm due to start my pre-op diet on 27th November....totally dreading it. Has anyone started it? How are you doing....What are you doing? Has anyone cheated? Shouldn't really be thinking that way, but when I'm starving I start to get a little panicky and can't seem to cope with life very well. Anyone else have this experience? I can't wait for the two weeks to be over. :help:

That sounds like a fantastic idea, that way the rest of us will know what to expect. How about if you go into all the gory detail....Or maybe that will put some people off!:faint:

Wow, Tracy your doing brilliantly!! Well done. I have been really good up until yesterday! I couldn't stop myself, I was so hungry! I had 3 slices of bread stuffed with chicken nuggets!! So annoyed with myself.... But I'm going to be 100% from now on. I really don't like many of the drinks I am on Dr MacLeod's, I don't know if this is the same as Optifast? Today is day 5, so 1 slip up is pretty good going. Considering I still have to cook for the family. Try and have a good birthday, what about if you go out for a meal but have a nice salad instead of one of the optifast shakes? Good luck with the next 11 days.

Well, here I am coming to the end of my first day on the pre-op diet. It was every bit as bad as I thought it would be! I felt awful hungry all day, but had to keep going with the shopping, school and kindy run. Even though I felt like falling down from time to time. The shakes don't taste too good either but I'm so hungry I actually appreciate them. Only another 13 days to go.....I'm sure it must get easier?

Hi ya Tracy, I can't believe we are doing it all on the same day!! Have you tasted it yet? I will get mine tomorrow. I have just stuffed myself all weekend, it's like I am never going to be able to eat again...Well the way I'm eating you would thing it was the end of food forever! I know its wrong of me to stuff myself like that, but I just feel like I want to make the most of my last weekend of eating any old rubbish. Have you felt like that? Maybe its just me:omg: Let me know on Tuesday what you think of it, hopefully its not too bad. Did you get a good choice of flavors?

Hi there Tracy, I know what you mean about worrying what people will say. I will still be on liquids or just have started mushy on Christmas day, we always go to my sister in laws for Christmas dinner. I'm already thinking up excuses as to why I can't join everyone at the table:eek: What day is your surgery on? Mine is 11 December, so I start the pre-op diet tomorrow week, I"m not looking forward to it....I hate being hungry. I can't think straight when I'm hungry, today I had an appointment that was at lunch time...I came out so hungry that I drove down a one way street the wrong way!! Do you have any christmas parties coming up? So far I have been told of two that are coming up and they are both dinner parties that will be while I"m on my liquid diet. Any thoughts on how to go, have fun and get away with not eating? Tia :help:

Wow, Carol! You only have to be on the pre-op diet for one week...thats fantastic. Very weird the way doctors advice differs. We will have to keep posting so that we can encourage each other, maybe draw stregnth from one another...Best of luck to you. Hi Sewen, not long till the op now! Are you on a liquid diet? And your feeling well? Good luck to you, hope all goes smoothly with the op.

Hi everyone, I posted my date on the wrong thread....Sorry!! I'm due to have surgery on the 11 December...very scary!! Although I think the pre-op diet is just as scary, hunger and me just don't get along very well, it will be a battle till the bitter end.

Hi everyone, I have my date all set for 11 December!! I will start the pre-op diet on 27 November. I'm not sure how i will manage that....I hate being hungry, I get dizzy and sweaty when I'm really hungry. Oh well I guess it is only for 2 weeks. Anybody else having surgery around the same date?

Wow, Tracy that all sounds fantastic!! Your right there will be no Christmas dinner for you, great isn't it. Your going to be a real slim Jim before you know it.:eek: When do you start the pre-op diet, did the surgeon mention that?? I'd be interested to see whats involved. Did you go and see the surgeon in Auckland, Dr.Fris? Keep in touch. Tia.

Hi Tracy, Well, how did it go?? Was it worth worrying about? I have my first appointment on Monday...I'm very nervous, but not too sure if I'm more that the doc might tell me that for some reason I can't have the surgery or that I'm the perfect patient!! I really want to have the surgery done, but I'm so scared of hospitals and needles, its not funny. I suppose this is where I have to look at the bigger picture and be really brave. Looking forward to hearing all about your appointment Tia.

Thanks for that Tracy, it looks as though it was probably all about a gastric bypass....but it doesn't actually say, so I'm only guessing.

Hi everyone, how is everyone doing in NZ? I live in Auckland and I am in the process of seeing the doc, I have lots of appointments for different doctors...very exciting! Did any of you see 60 minutes tonight? My friend phoned me to tell me to watch it, because it was about weight loss surgery, but I wasn't home and missed it! Bummer! She said it was scary looking but is not sure what type of surgery it was that they were showing, now I'm dying to know what it was all about......So if anyone can shed some light on it, that would be great.

Hi everyone, I am new to this site and the whole lap band thing, I only heard about the lap band a couple of weeks ago when I went to my doc's and asked him what I could do about my weight problem. It all sounds amazing and I'm really excited to be attending an information evening tonight, well, in less then an hour. Right, I better go and put a bit of lipstick on and see what its all about. Not that I don't know very much after reading all your fantastic threads! Your all such a good source of knowledge, for someone like me that knew very little. Hope to get to know you all better, I'll log in later and tell you how it all went. xx (feeling very excited!)

I feel so deflated and crap now....I have just done my kindy pickup, where I had told a few people about my meeting last night. They were all eager to hear all about it, but when I told them the price they were all saying it was a waste of time and money, that I should just stop eating and do some exercise...I really felt like crying, don't they think I have tried that time and time again!! One of the ladies asked if they had spoken about failed lap bands?! Has anyone heard of this, is it common? I was so excited, now I don't know how I feel or what I want anymore. I truly wish I hadn't told any of them anything. Sorry for the rant.... I just didn't know where else to turn.:think Hi Skinnyafatbody, your so lucky to be on the right track, I hope you get what you want really fast. Where are you in NZ? Is your surgeon close to you? This place is great, isn't it, I feel at home already!:cool: Thanks Jude for your comment, do you know the price of the lap band in OZ? I'm so new to all this that I suppose I haven't done a lot of research yet.

Hi Nina, Thank you for replying....last night was fantastic! I got so excited about the whole process that I felt like shouting out to the surgeon, When can I have it done! The down side was that I found the price a shock, my GP had told me it would be approx. 10K. But its more like 16! How far along are you Nina? I was told that the next step would be to make an appointment, have blood tests and urine samples done, then visit the in house shrink. then after all this they would advice me on weather I'm a suitable candidate or not.....such a long drawn out process. I'm so impatient that I want it done like yesterday. I guess I will have to sit back and relax...It will be worth it in the end. I will worry the whole time that the doc's will find something that will stop me having it done. Are you certain that your an acceptable candidate? I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all goes well for you.:gluck: Speak to you soon. x