SpecialK

Is Chillicothe closer to Columbus or Cincinnati for you to travel to? There are support groups at the different Columbus programs like Mt. Carmel West (downtown Columbus) and we have an informal group we've put together to meet at the Polaris Mall to meet all the different Lapband patients from Riverside, Mt. Carmel, OSU and Barix. On the other hand, I think there are some Cincinnati lapband doctors that have support groups in that area. See the thread about the Central Ohio April 12th meeting at the mall. Good luck.

Palarin - Absolutely discuss your concerns with your doctor and let her know you want her to do your fill. She should understand given you have other experiences to back up your concerns. I definitely want them to do fills with fluroscopy until they have a good track record of hitting the port on the first try! All the best. K

They make SlimFast powder that might be lighter in your suitcase and you could mix it with the water and ice there after you get to Vegas. Love that city. I celebrated my 40th birthday there too!

Good Luck Lisa and all you March 31st Bandsters!

I was wondering what any of you on Mushies thought about Ham salad as something that would be processed real fine but Protein and tasty. Do you think it would be okay? I was thinking of maybe trying some refried Beans with hot sauce and lite sour cream as a mexican food option for mushies. Does that sound okay? I'm ready to go with mashed potato flakes, cottage cheese, and looking forward to having something semi-soft to eat instead of drinking everything or spooning it like Soup.

Scrappy - I'm trying to stay off the scale and weigh once a week on Mondays since that was my surgery day as I was warned about getting down if I get on the scale one day and find I'm up 3 lbs like you experienced. I figure our bodies are going to fluctuate some up and down with the unusual changes its going through so I'd just stay focused on being healthy, stay at 800-1000 calories if you can, and hang in there. I did tell all my direct family and closest friends about my surgery and they have been wonderful support. I only told a limited amount of people at my church - primarily my ladies Bible study group I'm most close to - because I didn't want to feel any judgment but I have to tell you, for everyone I have told, they've been totally good about it. Now for work, I work with probably 80% men and 20% women, and I told just my boss, former boss and one female coworker that I'm close to for now. Didn't tell the guys that I have to sit in an open pit style seating arrangement. We'll see if they notice I'm losing and ask or just keep quiet. I found some sugar free Tang at the store in a recent shopping trip and its quite good. Reminded me of my childhood. I am amazed at how completely I gave up Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke now for almost a month - so it doesn't look like I'm missing carbonated beverages like I wondered about.

Yes, me too, I was scrubbing the steri strips glue gunk with alcohol and not having much luck getting it off --- I was even tempted to get my all time favorite product out "Goo Gone" and use it but I didn't want to put chemicals near my incision...just kidding I know not to do this really. I'll be heading to CVS tomorrow for liquid bandage. Thanks.

Sue - I was counting Monday as the start of Week 3 - I wasn't planning to go hog wild on mushies but I've stocked up on some cottage cheese, instant mashed potatoes, and am looking forward to that instead of only soups and shakes, juices.

No I find the Unjury dissolves very well and isn't gritty at all.

Yes welcome! Hope you'll come join us over on the March 2008 Bandsters MASTER thread where all of us banded in March are sharing our progress since we're going through the same stages at the same time.

I have a cup of coffee in the morning but I put sugar free creamer or skim milk in it and so far no problems. I do find that I slowly drink my coffee and then wait and have my breakfast shake or whatever protein I am having so that I don't use coffee to wash out what nourishment I'm taking in.

It is so nice to see the bandsters moving along at about 10 lbs lost a month - Heather banded at late December and here it is about 4 months and she's at 45 lbs down! WOW! Same with OHJuli is about 1 year exactly out and I think her last ticker had her down 110 lbs in a year! And DebbieK's ticker is showing her down 80 lbs and I think her banding was late September. I'm so glad I chose LB over the RNY because I think the results of those who are committed to it are showing they can be great! Keep up the good work everyone. I'm inspired by ya!

Niki - I find that putting the Unflavored Protein powder from Unjury in things helps boost the protein in regular foods (soup for me for now) without changing the taste.

Hi all. I'm about 11 days now post-op from my banding and I can't wait to eat some mushies on Monday! I miss chewing. Actually I came to this thread because I'm still feeling like the biggest bandster amongst my group of March bandsters and local to Ohio but I'm sure I'll get losing more soon. I was weighing almost every day after I first came home from the hospital and then I was warned maybe not to do that because I could get discouraged if I had a gain or didn't lose so I'm trying to hold out until Monday to weigh myself again. For now, I'm thrilled with what I have lost.

Hi to the Shamrocks bringing up the end of the March Parade on March 31ST !!!! Congratulations on your upcoming band date! Take care. Post soon to let us know how you're doing this weekend and as soon as you're home from the hospital.

The packaged creamy potato and cheddar broccoli soup mix (like Mrs Grass or Bear Creek) are good and they do come out thicker with some chunks in it so I just added it into the blender with some extra skim milk to thin it down and chop the chunks into bits. Tasted good to me.

I make 1 serving of cream of wheat which is 3 Tbs of the dry mix cooked and then I thin it down with skim milk and add Splenda brown sugar blend to give it a nice sweet taste and then to boost the Protein of it, I added 1 scoop of unjury unflavored protein. Made a nice breakfast other than drinking a shake.

I am adding extra skim milk, or chicken broth or beef broth to soups that I puree in the blender to get them nice and liquid so they are real thin.

Thanks Greg for the links. I'm definitely ready for the mushies stage come Monday.. I miss chewing I think. I've been using my blender to liquidify just about any soup using extra chicken broth or beef broth. I've made real runny cream of wheat using milk and Splenda brown sugar blend to give me something with substance for a breakfast. I'll look into these.

Dr. Price told me that Dr. Choban was who would actually be doing my fills! Interesting to see how this goes.

Ladyroz - Congratulations on the 45 lbs. That is Fantastic! All -- I'll try to find out the details of the April 7th fashion show at Polaris being sponsored by Mt. Carmel's Bariatric group and post when I have it.

Yesterday was my first day back to work and it was a piece of cake since I work at a computer most of the day. No pain at all here for me. I feel blessed for that. Something I haven't seen anyone post on is that my doctor has me on Coumadin for a month post op and a acid reflux medicine Protonix for about that long too. How about others? And finally for FENTON-- the saying still goes -- boys and their toys! a blender with all the gadgets!! Congrats!

MRODR - Good luck today on your band date! Let us know soon how its going!

Thinner Me -- yep I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good things for you too!

NDWife - yes Dr. Price did ask me if I didn't want to consider GB since the weight loss would be faster and I said No, I really think the lapband is best for me and I'm willing to take a little longer in order to have the less drastic procedure. He said, now you'll have to work with the band as a tool and I said, Yep, I understand, and he said, well great - I'll do your band. Sounds like you know what you're after. BNLisa - Yes, the last few days are crazy! I agree with GrowingPanes - get out and do something to work off the energy and distract your mind. It will be here and a week past and you'll be back at work like me by the time you blink your eyes twice! LOL