SouthTX LapBand

I recommend asking for the names and phone numbers of patients that the patient coordinator took for surgery --- and ONLY patients who were done a year or more earlier. And I recommend taking a companion. If you have a spouse, friend or relative travel with you, they can fly for half-fare with a statement from the doctor. Same with bus and train fares. Most surgeons have a yahoo group of ther patients and they all can all easily communicate and thus get together to share the company, as well as car, driving & travel expenses to get their fills done.

I am from South Texas - from the Coastal Bend area. Orange Grove is pretty much midway between Mathis and Alice and Robstown. My surgery will be next Tuesday, the 8th. Is there anyone else here from SOUTH Texas ???? South of San Antonio? Corpus Christi? The Valley?? All the WLS docs down south were run out by this area's huge insurance settlements, so you have to go to SA or Houston to find a doctor unless you go South of the Border.

Thanks to both of you for the welcome!! We will be celebrating mileposts at the same times, so I am glad to meet you both. Kendra, I just realized that I forgot to finish answering LadySplenda who asked me what I was instructed to eat the last day before surgery. Well, MY surgeon allows us to go out for a "final meal" of our choice - even full of fatty foods if we want. So I am looking forward to an excellent Mexican (Tex-Mex) dinner. By the way, I have never seen it recommended, but since they aren't prescription items any longer, I picked up a bottle of hydrophilic stool softener at WalMart and plan to take it that last night. I am a little freaked by not being able to chug-a-lug all the fluids I usually down, but am especially freaked by the thought of being constipated! No way if I have anything to do about it. It felt SO NICE to get here this evening and find all the welcome notes. Thanks, guys!

Hello and welcome... I have been hanging out here for several months, but only since I set my date and started my pre-surgery diet have I felt like really getting connected --- as I know I might have the need for a lot of support at times in the future... I am 56, have had problems with overweight since my late 20's, early 30's. I took off 65 pounds once with little difficulty --- but, unfortunately, I was dating a chubby chaser who managed to fatten me up way too quickly -- oh, the hours we spent in restaurants!! Yum Yum! Then came the Internet ... and life alone. Where food too often substituted for companionship. And being around my parents --- for whom eating is a competitive sport! Best not leave dessert "til later" (or anything else, for that matter) for it will be gone, eaten by someone else, when you head back to the kitchen in a couple of hours.. I live in South Texas -- a place in the United States where law suits have driven all the WLS docs out of area. San Antonio, Houston and Victoria are as far south as you find anyone here in the state. I am without insurance coverage for LapBand surgery (just the traditional Gastric Bypass types) so I am headed across the border. With the encouragement of the local doctor, I am hoping to start an information and support group locally after the surgery, as most people have either never heard of LapBand surgery, knowing only the scariness of bypass surgery. I love vbulletin boards --- thanks to the forum owner! Theresa

and Hey, fellow Texans!!! I loved all your tickers and hurried over to make myself one! Thanks for the welcome!

My presurgery diet is two weeks of easy on the carbs, low fat, high Protein (over 60 grams/day) and lots of fluids. The surgeon says defatting the liver ahead of time can help you avoid discomfort after surgery and help accelerate your healing. I thought I was getting enough, but I counted up and found I wasn't quite reaching half that amount, so tomorrow morning I go bring home a big tray of pork cutlets. Part of what I've been using is Ultima SlimFast powder mixed with powdered milk, with extra milk powder added to boost the protein. I plan to get the unflavored unjury whey powder for afterwards so I can cut out the carbs of powdered milk and zero in on the protein. But for the first weeks on tiny amounts of sipped liquids, I bought a whole lot of those 6 oz concentrated Protein drinks and have them in the fridge. I went out and bought a small compact combo food Processor/Blender by Oster. And a big bottle of Centrum Silver Chewables. I already take several supplements under my doctor's direction like B-12 sublingual, folic acid, niacin and more. Here I am rattling on.. there are so many things to do still!! And I AM excited.

Yeah, I feel that way NOW! But at first, after I decided to have the procedure, I spent a couple of months of binge after binge, getting it all out of my system, I guess. I have folders full of links, others full of saved emails I have stuffed with the best articles I could find. Thank you for the welcome!