shortgal

You could be starting what they call here on the forum " The Last Supper" syndrome. We worry before surgery that we won't ever be able to enjoy our old favorite foods. That thought, combined with stress of thinking of surgery, can alter our thinking about food and many here have posted about stuffing themselves with food before being banded. We tend to think if we found the answer to our weight issues with the band, then why not have a last fling with food before the surgery. Believe me, you will enjoy food again but not in the portions you did before. You might find you enjoy food more. You will eat slower, eat things that are better for your health, look and feel better becasue of what you are eating. The band changes your thought process about food. I did not have the last supper syndrome. I was focused on changing my old habits and didn't want even more weight to lose after the surgery. I think what you've experienced is completely normal.

Generally you will have a routine EKG as part of the pre surgery testing. If it's normal, you probaby won't have to see a cardiologist, if the EKG shows a problem, they will want further testing. sometimes it is your PCP that does the pre-op testing, sometimes the hospital does it. My EKG showed a problem. First time that ever happened to me and I had to get a pet Scan, which turns out I have a slight abnormaility, but it's an ok kind. No problem. I also had bloodwork and a chest x-ray. Really it's just to be sure you have no underlying problem that makes you at risk for problems during anesthesia, sugery and recovery.

At first I thought it was "extreme" to have surgery to fix this problem, but now that's it's done, it doesn't feel extreme. I don't have flags waving on top of my head that announces to the world "I had lap band surgery", so it just feels like me but now I eat less. People get lasix surgery to fix their eyes, boob jobs, knee replacements, insulin pumps. We color our hair, whiten our teeth, wear earring aids. They are all things we do to look better, feel better and function better. Coloring our hair won't make us healthier, Lap band surgery will. I'm not saying your wrong to have those feelings, they are normal feeling before surgery. Just want you to know I felt the same and now I don;t think of it the same way. Good Luck on your journey.

CTMan: The big day is here! Good Luck. I know you'll be fine and so excited when it's over. Just take one day at a time and follow the Dr's orders.

Yeah, I should have mentioned fear also. I saw others on the forum say they tried pizza or soft bread to test their restriction, not me. I was so afraid something would get stuck. It took me a while just to try salad again. Fear can be a good, healthy thing!

Longhorn, I am so sorry it was bad news. I know how shocked and overwhelmed you must be. So many thoughts must be running through your mind. At least that's how I felt when my husband got his diagnosis. I'm sure your family is overwhelmed, too. What a freaking pain... you get banded to get healthy and then this! Well now I guess I realize you must also be feeling anger. I wish there was more i could say to help you. Please feel free to share anything if it makes you feel better, with the November bandsters that helps to get things off your chest, that you can't share with your family, because you don't want to worry them. We can be your personal therapists>

I was worried about that two, but so far I have eaten small amounts a few times and it went fine. I don;t have really good restriction yet, so we'll have to see how it goes later. There is a poll thread on the forum that talks about different foods that people tolerate. Maybe you could find it. Of course being able to tolerate some foods changes with each fill and the tightness of our bands. Now if I was just brave enough to try a Twizzler! LOL. Glad I'm not that brave, they were a big vice before being banded.

Are you sorry you asked??? LOL Don;t worry most likely your band will give you a little extra willpower than before, that's how it's been for me.

Well, let me know if you ever end up in Vegas and we can meet and have a drink when I visit.

Kat, That is so evil..... I love it!

Good for you. Make a plan and work the plan. Have some excitement in your life while you're young!

It's a frustrating time and I am still in it, but after you heal and are on regular food, weight loss is possible. Just follow your Dr's instructions on post op diet first. Once you get to regular food, just practice your old "diet" habits like weight watchers taught us. Weigh, measure, track calories and track your Protein. Stay within guildelines for weight loss for your height and weight and you can still lose until you get good restriction. Some people have good restriction right from the beginning and don;t lose it until they lose some weight. Once you get your first level of restriction and lose some weight, you'll need another small fill to get it back, as the fat around our stomach and band shrinks. It's just part of the band process. I haven't broken any weight loss records (well for me I actually have, compared to before being banded) but I've still managed to lose while having less than ideal restriction.

Aubrie: Your husband has a good sense of humor... that was funny... you have to admit that! I think you should call a subsitute to bowl for you.

Bandster hell is the period after initial surgery swelling goes down and our band is not "adjusted" or filled to fit us perfectly. It's there and it can help us a little, but it's not working to it's full potential. Kind of like batteries that are almost dead. They might work a little but not fully. We are then tempted to eat more than we should, so we have to be very careful. We start to get fills, but until we get the band filled to just the right spot, we can still have hunger between meals. Some people never need a fill, some don;t need one for months, some need then sooner. We're all different inside.

I went to the movies yesterday and learned that the sky doesn;t fall in and the world keeps spinning even if I don't have popcorn and candy! Amazing huh? Kept putting off going because I just asssociate the movies with food and if I couldn;t have one thing, I wouldn't enjoy the other. Learning I could have one without the other, is a big victory for me. When I'm closer to goal, I'll bring a small 100 calorie pack of microwave popcorn in a big purse.

Twenty more??? No way. You look positively great, normal, thin, right now! Don't let those old bad self images confuse you now. You are normal weight and look great. Just my two cents and congratulations! Concave? Whose belly is concave? Is that normal, to be concave, at any age?

Yeah, slim and trim is the goal, but definitely worried about buying a dress. I'm short ( five feet even) and will need to be at least 150 to find a dress and I'll have to start looking by end of July, so there's time for alternations. Hope there's time. i would feel better if I could get to my first level of restriction. The band is working but not to it's potential. I'm hungry between meals. At my last fill, I had a few days of being perfect. A small meal filled me and kept me satisified for a long time. It was so nice. So I think I'm close. I was just saying to hubby, I think I'm calling the Dr. tomorrow, to go in this week and get my next fill, if they have something available. If our daughter still lived in Ct. we might have had to give her a check instead of the wedding, houses are so expensive here. When they bought in Vegas, it was still affordable, so we knew it wasn;t a choice between a wedding or a house. I planned most of it, as she was in Vegas. All she really asked for was to be by the Water and we found a great place for the reception. It was a beautiful day in June and the cocktail hour was on a lawn that swept out to Long Island sound. It was a great day. Now our son will get married by the ocean, too. Seems to be a theme for us!

It's kind of like when you're pregnant, you notice all pregnant women or you never notice a certain car until you buy a new one and then you see the same car everywhere.... just depends on what you're focused on. Your focus will change and you'll start to notice on commercials what they wear instead or their make up or shoes. It just changes, you'll see. And somedays are easier (better) than other days for me. I was so busy yesterday cleaning out my closet, I didn't even think about eating and forgot to drink my mid morning bottle of Water.

Her Dad and I could have saved a bundle if she got married in Vegas, but she and we, really wanted a lot of family to attend and didn't think too many would be able to fly out. A wedding ( no matter what kind or place you choose) is always so special. As you can see from one of my tickers, my son is getting married late Sept on Cape Cod ( they live in Ma, near boston), the best part is this time her family is paying for most of it. Last time we paid for most of it!

You'll be able to use all the free time ( not eating or thinking of eating) to pack up all those clothes that don;t fit anymore and spend some of the time shopping for new ones. I just cleaned out my closet ( it's almost empty now), even though I always complained I never had anything to wear, I really hated how everything looked. Once I lost a few pounds I wore anything in my closet I could get into again and now all that got big. I boxed up over five boxes of stuff, but have only bought a couple new things because I know I'll lose more weight. I generally wear what I have until it's hanging and baggy before I buy something. So really I still have not much to wear for the time being, but what I do wear looks so much better on me! Instead of the food network, we'll all be watching "What not to wear" And project runway or something! And I just discovered yesterday, that the sky doesn't fall in, if I go to the movies and not buy anything to eat. I just didn't know the world as I had always known it would continue to revolve, if I didn't get popcorn and candy at the movies. Who knew?

My husband likes to cook and he's really good at it. One of our favorite things to do (before being banded) was to cook a great meal, buy some wine and light a fire. We really only missed that for a while, when I was in liquids stages etc. He's back to cooking again, but we modify some meals, no rice now and definitely no carmelized onion mashed potatoes for a while. But liking to cook can be a good thing, if you like to cook, you'll find healthier alternatives and healthy receipes. Some weight watchers cook books maybe? Or low carb ones? Yesterday, he made the Barefoot contessa's Beef Bourginon ( sp?) receipe. I had a small portion for dinner and I had some leftovers for lunch today. Great way to get my Protein in. Tonight we're having chicken. Small strips of white meat. They are lightly breaded with a mixture of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. A sauce of sauteed onions in some butter, milk gets added and add a thawed well drained package of frozen chopped spinach. That mixture gets poured into the baking dish around the chix and baked. Very moist and many lapbanders can't eat dry chicken, so it's great for those people. I'll eat some tomorrow for lunch. There are a few food network shows that concentrate on healthy eating. Ellie Kreiger ( i think that's her name) don't know the show name. Some days I still have a hard time watching the Food shows depends on the day and we don;t have too much wine lately either. We spend that money on Protein drinks instead! LOL.

I prefer Aleve for my knee when it acts up, but my Dr. told me to be very limited with it and he prefers I take Tylenol instead. I haven't taken either since being banded.And only took it occasionally before.

Call your ins. company and ask what your policy covers. What BCBS covers for one person can be different for another person. This is becasue the ins company offers different policies and your employer might have bought a different policy than someone else's employer. One policy might exclude weight loss surgery and one might cover it with certain guidelines. As the other poster said, maybe some of us need weight watchers AND the band..... maybe some don't. If the band can help you stay on a healthy eating plan like weight watchers, then why let anyone tell you that's a bad thing. It's not that our families don't care about us, sometimes they just don;t know what we need. If you decide to have surgery, let your family know that you've made the decision and they can't change your mind and if they really want to help then they should just be supportive. If they can't be supportive then they should say nothing! Please try not to worry about what your family thinks, you're an adult and by now you know whether the band is something you need for you to be successful.

It is hard in the beginning, you just had surgery tho' and realizing what you've done, mourning the loss of your old friend, food. Most of us have been there and felt the same things. It will get better. Once you move on to other foods, when you Dr. recommends, you'll have more choices. You might want to check out the "food and receipe" threads for ideas on food choices during each post op stage. Oh and stay away from the food network on TV for awhile! Some days, I still have trouble watching that!

Welcome! I am also five feet tall and at my highest weight was 230. A few years ago, I lost 30 pounds following a weight watchers diet ( not going to meeting tho). It took me ten months and almost overnight I put a little over half of it back. I worked to get back to 215 and stay there until I could get the band. I fought for months with my ins. and then decided to self pay. Now a little over three months and I'm down 30 pounds ( and down 45) from my highest of 230. And it was so much easier this time to lose with the band. Sure I wish it was even faster, but what a difference and all this without having the best restriction yet! I just packed up about five boxes of clothes that no longer fit. Down at least two sizes and soon will be able to shop in the regular petite dept! I'm sure you can relate to how hard it is for overweight SHORT women to find clothes that fit. Good Luck. We'll be watching to see you post once you're home recovering!