MamaJava

Actually I bought the 60g Protein powder so I wouldn't have to mess with "getting in " all my daily protein required by my doc. I hate having to add those weak low-gram protein powders (which taste like a$$) to every meal..so I do the 60g once per day in a very yummy drink. I thought it might help me feel fuller, but it still doesn't. I don't think protein is working for me...period. Not 5 g, not 10 g...doesn't matter. It's not helping me feel full. It is helping me to not lose my hair and I love the Protein shake I drink everyday that gets all my protein in (the 60 g powder I bought rocks for that reason alone). I also make sure I get a lot of food Proteins too...I pick full liquids and clear drink-adders with as much protein as I can find. I'll be fine...it's just really hard but I'm doing it! :welldoneclap:

Yes - I was banded 01/04 and my best friend was also banded back in November. Our doc requires 2 weeks of clear & full liquids, followed by 1 week of puree's and then 1 week of softs. So I'm still in the clear & full liquid stage. I did have mashed potatoes once cuz I was very, very hungry (to the point of stomach growling) but I just went very slow and only had about 3/4 cup. Also, our doc does not consider Cream of Wheat to be a full liquid. I think that is technically a puree...so you are lucky! I have my 2 week post-op appt. on the 16th (Wed.) so I'm going to see if I get the go-ahead to begin purees and/or soft foods. I'm really very hungry and I would just love to chew something. I miss chewing. I can't believe you've already lost 13 pounds after only 3 days post-op?!?? What the heck are you doing? I've lost 13 and I'm 10 days post-op and I'm on the same diet as you almost. :welldoneclap:

I have the newer Realize band. My doc switched to those and uses only Realize bands now. Aside from all the differences above, he says there is also higher success rate and less difficulties with the Realize band. He mentioned something about needing less fills and it being more effective at curbing hunger. Not sure if it's true, but he is a teaching physician of lap bands specifically around the world, so I think I'm inclined to believe him. :smile:

I finally found out that my band is a 9 cc band. I'm curious as to why it's 9 and not 10...LOL...just seems like an odd amount.

OK - I've re-done the list. I copied it back to right before it got messed up, then went through and manually re-added those who kept adding to the wrong list afterwards. LOL Here we go!!! Keep the list going from this point forward! UPDATED AND CORRECTED LIST Dec 31- Chrisann (honorary member of the Jan 08 bandsters) Jan 1- HAPPY NEW YEARS! Starting the year off right! Jan 2- phowell, Megmarie21, Gingerbug(Victoria), jengland, racetrackweary, rainbowme2(Bunny), RT, jojokitty Jan 3-WOWOX7, Woodsy,momto3, Mommamare, nancy52,AnneElliot, ovahkummer Jan 4- KUgirl, steviegene, SuzanneG, Songinmysoul, sleclerc (shirley), WendyRae, MamaJava Jan 5- texasbandster Jan 6 Jan 7- CallmeJim, comepickmeup, NukeChik, mamato3, kintime, Shell, destined2befree, babedoe4, ch4251 Jan 8- Fat&thrifty(and husband Joe), itz me, faa31, crackedpepper, flipbarnett, Joanna240, rustymarie, gingydilly Jan 9– Redtulips3, FLMan, TachaBaby505, Lillyanne_M, CJV Jan 10- luvsrocks, Hilary, Jen25bl, jtag10_4, Char1007, Pizzaman citygirl4616 Jan 11- brez1015, Tmusicmaker123, Poopsie, Ready2JustDoIt, B-Man, ganigirl6, Ms.BearKat11 Jan 12- jen6740 Jan 13 Jan 14- CoreynVA, acalpn, srbanker(Suzanne), grayl, cnukaya, Jessthat, Deedle, thinner-or-bust, gilliebean, greeniiii, mitch, WestCoastFatGuy, SMR100 Jan 15- Travelology, Dianegoe, poodlecamper, LKM, greeneyez Jan 16- Kathy, Saleel, back2reality, Cherry_Blue, Dazzle, nadean, with his help, Laurinda; Pikedafoe, Ms.Toya Jan 17- SJK, Alfie, L.A., lwood, tweenwaters, Laurieloo, kcintx,mia31771 Jan 18- RuthE?, shanarene Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21- mo7293 (Maureen), graham, lee41 Jan 22- purplegoddess, DPJDMOM, bcgates, AmyMT Jan 23- min, Ang1982 (Angela) Tigger_Shorty (Rose), WhirlWinds Jan 24- holleyhobby,jst4kel,kimmycrs, Somogyi1, rakes4321, RomeGA3 Jan 25- Noni(Mary), htay73il (Hope), Thor, rakes4321(Amy) Jan 26- Louise (London) Jan 27 Jan 28- kawanabear(Kalonda), crystalcml, blg200200, justtjohn, PeachesPJ, kpoincon Jan 29- diane-south fla, Milton 5a (Lauren, UK, 21) Jan 30- PortuguesePrincess(Stephanie),Amberwaves(Amber), Tamika(taismommy), jaycee Jan 31- SarahT1982, lkgrubb, sexymama

Ack...the wrong list got copied somewhere in the last 2 pages and now the list is all messed up. I've been dropped off and a whole lotta dates now don't have the newest people on them. Remember to copy the LATEST AND MOST RECENT list on the last page of this thread. I'll re-do it in my next post and hopefully we can start fresh again! :smile:

Yes, we are relatively close to Hillsdale. (I'm answering cuz Lisa and I are best friends and we live in the same area). It's about 35 minutes SW of where we are. We are just about smack-dab in the middle of Ann Arbor & Hillsdale, to give you a better idea. Curious: why do you get your band fills in Hillsdale? Are they cheaper there? Or, is your doc there? Nice to meet you, now that I've intruded. LOL

Ummm...to the OP: Where on earth did your friend get approved for a LapBand before they did an entire rundown of lab & blood work? Who does that? My insurance required labs for ALL my bloodwork. Every single metabolic disorder had to be cleared before I could get approved for surgery. If I would have tested positive for some sort of thyroid issue, then I would not have been allowed to have the surgery until I tried medication first. I would think good insurance or a good, decent lap band surgical facility would do what is a normal, necessary thing before having any sort of surgery. Perhaps the problem is with your friend's specific location, or sounds to me like she has one idiot of a doctor...IF what you've stated is in fact the truth. If she paid out of pocket, perhaps it was her own negligence and being in too big of a hurry to slap a band on herself hoping for a miracle cure. Anybody who is their own advocate and researches properly should know in advance that rushing into something without properly researching first can be a potentially huge disaster. Anybody who knows anything about metabolic disorders knows that the lap band can definitely still be of enormous benefit to a person's life. Medications aren't cures and neither is the band. Also, if your friend has properly researched her lap band surgery prior to running in to have it done, she would have known that in NUMEROUS cases, restriction is not felt until after 2-3 (or even more) fills! Not only that, but many, many MANY lap band patients do not lose weight during the post-op healing diet. My best friend lost weight during the 1st 2 weeks of full liquids, but has not lost anything since then. She has had her first fill, and has absolutely no restriction still. She's frustrated, but she's educated herself enough about the new tool inside of her body to know that is perfectly NORMAL. She's eagerly anticipating her next fill (or next 2 or 3 if that's what it takes) to feel restriction and to begin losing weight. She certainly is not blaming her thyroid issue or lack of bloodwork on something that she already knew was normal before she even got the surgery. I'm really surprised by the lack of education that seems to be fueling your post.

Actually, the Any-Whey was horrible for me. It made me gag. The one I've found that is fantastic is a chocolate or strawberry one by "Pro Complex" that I got at GNC. I'm literally in love with it. :eek:

Why would people think $16,000 was a lot? My total will be around $18,000 and that includes the surgery, physician fees, the band cost, my Nutritionist, my first fill, follow up appointments, my PAT testing, the anesthesiologist and a few more things I'm sure. I thought everybody would consider ALL the costs when stating how much their band costs. I thought everybody knew the entire thing is typically between $15,000 - $18,000.

Mornin', Jim! I'm 6 days post-op and this morning I finally got out of bed for the first time without making a game-plan first to avoid pain. LOL I just sat up and got up. I must be doing really well. I still have a huge dark purple bruise the size of a softball around my port site incision...but oddly enough it doesn't hurt to touch it. There's not any pain at all. My ribcage is still sore. That doesn't bother me much at all most of the time. I'm getting ready to make a 30 gram Protein drink and get my daughter off to school. Hopefully all that will happen before my baby wakes up. I'm already back to normal routine and will be out and about running errands in a couple hours. Talk to you all later! :rain:

Oohhh...yes I have serious throat pain. You can also see raw scrapes in my throat. I have HUGE tonsils, so that might have a lot to do with why I received such heavy scraping. I'm still sore, and I'm already 5 days out. *sigh* It's worse at night, of course. I can surely sympathize with ya.

Thanks, Taismommy for posting that. The calories are rather low, the fat is low also. I think it's a good tradeoff for 60 g. of protein. :whoo:

I was also banded on the 4th and I am also hungry. I have 1 more week of full liquids, but I'm thinking of beginning purees just a few days early. I bought some new protein stuff today that I hope will give me a full feeling. So far I've been having 15-20 g of protein powders added to nearly everything I eat, but I never get full. I bought some stuff that will pack 60 g of protein per scoop. I'm crossing my fingers and begging some higher being to bring on a full feeling for me. :cry

Great - I think I'll wait until about 4 weeks as well. I remember distinctly choosing the band for a thousand reason over the gastric bypass, but the main reason was because of the ability to still have wine and not get insanely drunk from 1 oz. I love my wine, but I hate being drunk. Bleh! So in about 3 weeks I'll be able to sip slowly...:kiss2:

I absolutely love this thread! Here's me in April '06 at one of the least heaviest weights I've been. I think I was a mere 275 when this was taken (did I just say "mere"?) And here I was just this past Thanksgiving Day 2007 at my all-time heaviest of 298. I'm the one in the orange holding the pie:

Hiya, Jim! I also have disturbed sleep patterns since I was banded a few days before you were. That's getting a little better. My worst thing right now is the incision soreness around my port site. I can't even feel the other incisions...so I guess things are going well on my end. I'm assuming we'll all be normal again real soon. :ranger:

All I know is I saw the words "salad and cheeseburgers" and I about flipped my lid. LOL I could not even imagine eating those kinds of foods for fear of what it could do to my healing stomach right now. Not to mention the gastritis that is bound to happen...and that stuff can be pretty painful. Gotta say it's shocking, but to each their own.

Hiya! I'm wondering the same thing...and I was banded on the same day as you. My deal is that I'm a wine connoisseur, so I attend tastings and wine parties all the time. I will call my doc if nobody knows the answer around here.

Ack! The words "Crystal Light" make me shudder. I can't stand that stuff, so I doubt it would make any drink taste better to me. LOL It has the worst aftertaste on the face of this green earth. I'm surprised it's so popular. :omg:

Actually, LauraD, I think most of us can clearly see that she was not, in fact, educated by her doctor at all. I can see that. Otherwise, she would know that her statements in her original post are only half-truths and half-facts. She claims to know what this journey is like for all of us, and that's what all the opposing posts have been trying to explain to her. I don't see any blanket statements being laid upon her. I'm not sure which statements have done that at all. I also think more emotion is being read into these responses than what is really there. I see the arguments as being really an attempt to educate someone...not as "whippings" as you describe. I suppose it's all in how one may focus on trying to interperate the emotion of a post rather than the words.

Does anybody have any idea how long it takes for the throat soreness to go away? They said it's from my tube during surgery and I guess I have some rawness or swelling from that. It still hurts quite a bit and my mouth is SO DRY - no amount of liquids is helping that situation at all. Any support, ideas or suggestions to can send my way? :help:

I should also add that none of my additional physical issues mattered at all to my insurance. They didn't care that I have obesity-induced joint deterioration (making it nearly impossible to exercise), hip displacements, severe edema or any of my other issues. They didn't care that I had been a Weight Watcher member over 11 times. They completely ignored my doc's 3-page custom-written letter pleading my case. They set all that paperwork aside and the first time I was denied they were like "this is all ya got?" LOL it was right at that time that my sleep center called and said you need a CPAP like NOW...and I was almost immediately approved after BCBS got that documentation.

I agree that it totally depends on your individual plan, terms, etc. I also have BCBS PPO (Gold). I HAD to have (no if's, and's or but's) 1 or more of the following: A. sleep Apnea B. (severe) Diabetes C. Heart issues PLUS a BMI over 40 PLUS have more than 100 pounds to lose. If I would not have had sleep apnea, I would not have been banded 4 days ago. So not all BCBS PPO's are the same.

Just an FYI cuz your question caught my eye...the only objective of the psyche evals are to ensure that you are mentally prepared to follow doctor's orders and to follow your post-surgical plan. They are to check to make sure you are ready. They are not meant to help with food addictions by any means.