timeforme

Hi, in some cultures its considered GOOD manners to burp, so I say Burp away, my employees always tease me cus when I burp I say sorry its the band, so now they say yea i know its the band. Life is toooooo short to suffer cus of some gas, so GO AHEAD< burp and be merry!!!!! Just not in church or when u are being you know yum yum when you with your honey!!!!!

Hi, Jan 2 2008 for me Jo Ann from Seattle, Washington

Im sorry this happened to you, so do yourself a favor, stay on high Protein and low carb til ten days before surgery, and the liquid diet, you will loose weight and wont gain, remember food got you into this mess, dont let this setback hurt you further, you can do this and be strong, I believe in you blessings

ok Darlin, I am a mother of three grown daughters, and you are nineteen? Almost grown but definately an adult. Your mom should have helped you when you were younger yes, but you chose to bring the food to your lips. As a grown up you can chose to get support and feel safe, and your Mom is a grown up as well and she needs to deal with the fact that you need help and getting this surgery is what you need. There is nothing to be ashamed of because you are getting the band. This is not an easy thing to go thru, in fact this is harder work than you will ever imagine and For GODS sake you need support, find other folks who have had the surgery, ie, SUPPORT GROUPS, reach out and dont be afraid to ask. Your Mom sound embarrased and you know what? This is not about her its about you so do as you need to do because if you dont get support this is going to be more difficult that it needs to be. You fly sweetheart, you get the help you need and dont suffer ok? Im praying for you, that you find the strength to fight the fight of your life. And I know what Im talking about, one, I am in the same war, and two, Ive raised three beautiful daughters and its time for you to do things your way,

just have a drink, or order consume on the menu, and say you ate allready, or you have a medical test you have to do the next week, make light of it and you have no obligation to explain anything, just be cool and say nothing more tough but its gonna be ok

One word for you, ok two words 1-TUCKS 2- congrats on your decision, its not gonna be easy but its the choice that will save ur life see you on the other side Jo Ann

Im twenty two days out, and yes am still gassy but not as much, and wow I can burp now but not the first few weeks, the feeling of fullness your feeling is swelling from surgery, each day it does get better and than sometimes when you move wrong, or pull something it gets swollen again. My advice is drink alot of fluids and exercise, its gonna take time for our bodies to get back to some kind of normalcy, ok well sort of normalcy. Just be patient and relax into our new way of life, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. I have to believe it, cus this has been the hardest thing i have ever done in my life including delivering three ten lb babies naturally. and twenty seven years of a horrible marriage. Hang in there your not alone!! Jo Ann

mm no the scale is not moving for me at all, my doc said dont worry, but i am only consuming three hundred calories a day and i believe my body thinks I am on starvation mode, but im not worried I have lost forty eight lbs since nov 23 of 2007 and thats more weight than I have lost in eeeeeeeeeeons. ok Im worried,but im gonna give this a chance

The Drs all have so many different rules. My Doc says only one half cup three times a day of protein first and some veggies, no sugar no potatoes no pasta no rice nothing white, you all seem to be able to eat so many more things, Im afraid, i will fail,

You go for it, and you stay strong, Your young and maybe you can stop the progression of health issues early by loosing this weight for good.. Being big for your entire life damages you forever, so good luck, and stay strong this is the hardest game of your life and you will win it!!!!

Ok here is the tough love!!!!!! Yes this is hard, and believe me when I tell you that its hard!! I was banded on Jan 2 2008. Since Nov 23 I have had nothing but liquids, before surgery three Protein shakes made with Water and ice PERIOD not even a banana, milk nada!! After surgery for one week, sugar free Clear Liquids and broth, then for three more weeks three Protein Shakes made with water and ice cept now they are made with only four oz of water!!! Its not til week five that i can have purreed foods, such as bean Soup, ff cottage cheese and vegtables. Week seven I can eat these things without putting them in a blender, Week nine I can than start solid foods. There is a reason for all of this!! Your stomach is healing after banding. In order for the band to get stable and not slip and produce scar tissue to hold it in place, you need to leave ur gut alone and not give it food to work. ie, digestion, when you eat your stomach moves around and mulls food down to your intestines. If your stomach is moving alot, it wont allow scar tissue to form and slow your healing down. My friend, this is hard I am right there with you but its only a few weeks in your life, so choose!!!! Heal or possibly have issues down the road. No one but a fatty will understand what your going thru but we did this to loose weight, WE WILL NOT FAIL!!!!!!!! You are not alone, so instead of wanting to eat, just remember how bad you feel at your highest weight, remember the pain, remember the looks of other people judging you, remember the anger, remember the lonliness, remember you did this to live!!!!!! Come here as often as you can and choose life!!!!!!

My Doc said I will have to have PS to fix my tiger belly, no matter what kind of exercise i do. I had three ten lb babies and got fat after its damaged and even though ive lost forty eight lbs so far my stomach is sagging allready, its really ugly but he said if i exersice my legs and arms wont be so bad. Im praying and also thinking of buying a lotion plant and swim in it daily!!! lol anyway i saw a thread on a guy who had a tummy tuck and it looks narley, in fact it frightened me. but if you go this far to loose it dont u want your belly gone too? oh well thats way down the line Jo Ann

I was banded at St Francis Hospital in Federal Way, Washington by Dr Srekanth, I was banded on Jan 2 and am still angry at my Dr, lol cus he hurt me WAAAAAA, just kidding, since Nov 17 I have lost 48 lbs this would not have happened if I just dieted. Im still angry for no GOOD REASON just that Im hurting still and am a big baby. Ill get glad in the same pants I get mad in soon enough Im sure

ohhh I am so afraid to say this but listen, we all spent alot of money here to loose weight. How did we all get fat? By eating non fat yogert with strawberries on top? Or did we get fat by driving thru McDonalds to sneak the burger and fries and coke before we went home to eat dinner because we dont want to be seen? Did we sneak the chocolates under our bed? Did we eat alone? Did we have eating friends that enabled us in our eating? I did, I got fat stuffing my face instead of speaking my truth, IT was my best friend, food was my blanket, Hamburgers was a daily experience, my drug!!! Now this band as I see it isnt like a bypass, we will still injest bad things and nothing bad will happen cept the scales wont move, oh sure we might get stuck, or vomit, But this isnt gonna be an easy fix, there is no more room in my life for a hamburger or french fries, and GOD I WANT IT!!! There can never be a time that I allow those things to pass my lips, ever again. Im in the greiving phase but if i dont stop doing this, i will die, simple as that, and we can choose to eat and feel better, or live, I choose to live, and I hope you all do too. Im not so sure why Im so emotional about this, but as good as that cheeseburger and fries and butterfinger would taste now, I would only be cheating myself and I choose to make my life THE ONLY PRIORITY, thank you for letting me say this its not to say anything bad about anyone else its my declaration of DISCIPLINE and choice to live long enough to hold my grandbabies, and to refuse to be held in this fat body stopping me from enjoying life!!

wow, my Dr said forever never in my life, nothing white, no pop. no corn, no rice no pasta and never any chip no matter what it is. no coffee no nsaids, and no dairy forever, wow docs are so different

hi I had second thoughts minutes before banding, it might be normal. But, I went ahead with it and am dealing with the loss of my blanket, food. Banding is the less severe of all the surgeries and to me, gives me a chance to take control of my life instead of my stomach taking control over me. Hang in there, drink lots of Water and pray, it helps get over the hump. And if you dont pray, meditate, and if you dont meditate, just close your eyes and take three breaths. And if you dont breathe?? grins. Just come here and read the posts it will help you get thru this part. wishing you good luck and I pray so I will pray for you Jo Ann

I was banded on Jan 2 and have been on clear liquids til wens. Then I get to be four weeks on protein shakes three times a day only, sfcl and broth for four weeks, than purreed for two weeks, than mushy for two weeks only to try new foods oz;s at a time, sheesh your docs are very nice Its been hard on me this week so far and Im hungry but afraid to not follow the Drs orders. wishes us all luck Jo Ann

How much refried beans can you eat? to make protein enough, is it a complete protein alone? Or does the cheese make the difference? Shakes get to me too sometimes but at least the variety of different foods will be helpful Jo Ann and thanks

Under no circumstances would a Dr say its ok to eat before a surgery!!!!!! The reason is yes you might vomit but the problem is NOT for cleaning up the mess but for the fact you WILL aspirtate if you vomit while under anesthesia. I have been a nurse for over twenty five years and never once have I heard that eating a light meal before surgery is ok. NPO means nothing by mouth PERIOD and only a very small sip of Water for VERY neccesary drugs. This is major surgery, and its not a joke, there is no cutting corners here. Its hard. GOD knows its the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, Please everyone this is the time when you can short change your health, your life may depend on it Jo Ann

Hi My doc requied a ten percent weight loss before surgery, that equaled 34 lbs for moi. I started the day after thanksgiving and did a sandwich type diet one week meat and veggies only and one week three Protein drinks made with one hundred cal protein, four oz of lite soy which was 25 cals and a banana and i dont know how much that was in cals cus i picked the biggest one, added a few ice cubes and it was good and after a few days i lost my hunger and went into ketosis which is what we do when we do high protein no carbs. Turned out i lost twenty seven lbs before the ten days of clear liq with three plain Protein Drinks and lost a total of thirty six lbs. He wouldnt have done surgery if I had not lost the majority of the ten percent. It wasnt fun for the few first days but it got the job done and I did it thru Christmas, ketosis is the key I think to loose the hunger, in my experience, sugar equals to hunger, so hopefully I can stay away from all the processed sugars. The bananna didnt seem to make a difference in my hunger. I have been banded since Jan 2, 2008 and its been kinda hard, gas, emotions, being tired, hurting. I had three ten lb babies naturally and I would have sixty more instead of feeling this pain. BUT in saying that I hope that the future will be healthier and that my butt will be smaller and that my knees wont hurt and that I wont be staired at because I am the biggest woman in the room. I pray that this thing we all did or will do is the best decision we could have made. Ask me next week when I feel better, for today I'm not so sure. Keeping hope alive Jo Ann

My doc says we have to have two Protein drinks daily no matter what we eat, the one from costco? what is the name? wondered if it was any good cus its alot cheaper than the one I am using. Before the ten days before surgery diet i used lite soy milk and a bannna. I lost like twenty seven lbs in a month doing those. I heard that the fat free pudding powders add some oompf without all the cals, a tbs i think or less so it doesnt add that much. I added crystal lite to the vannilla ones the orange juice one? made it taste like an orange sickle hope that helps Jo Ann

Hi kagoscuba, By your picture, I assume you are male. Please forgive me if you are not but the picture is small and I'm getting old. But men seems to loose weight easier than woman. Woman seem to hit plateaues easier and stay that way. Not to say that loosing weight is impossible but its very hard. We have all these crazy hormones that want to hold on to the fat for some stupid reason. My advice to the ones who are eating under a thousand calories is to add a small amount of fat back into their diet. Ok im newly banded but I am a nurse and have been a diet professional for over forty years and when i added a small spoon of peanut butter in the pounds seemed to drop. If our bodies dont get enough fuel we go in starvation mode and stop loosing weight no matter what we do. It worked sans band for me and maybe it will work for you too good luck to all of us Jo Ann