PhotoNut

About the ticker.. I made mine at www.tickerfactory.com and then copied the code they give you into my signature here. Hope that helps. Grats on getting your band! Im 10 days ahead of you and enjoying the speedy weight loss as well. The gas was a pain! But it eventually went away. Im on a three week clear/full liquid plan, then go to mushies. Im supposed to be getting 60 grams of Protein a day but mistakenly thought it was only 30 all this time. No wonder Im so tired. Shesh. There are lots of ideas for shakes and foods here. Im sure you'll find just what you need.

Welcome to LBT. You'll find a lot of great information here as well as lots of support and encouragement. I joined before I was banded and found it to be a great help in preparing for the day and all that would follow. Best of luck to you. Keep us posted on your progress! :thankyou:

Yup, go to www.tickerfactory.com and set up the design you want. Once you've finished, copy all of the text in the box under it and then select Edit Signature from the Quick Links at the top of this page, then paste in what you copied from tickerfactory. Glad you enjoyed the site. I find her to be quite an inspiration as well. :thankyou:

Heya Elisa, I checked on this thread again today and realized that you are in Orange County, CA. One of the members here, Muffinbirdie, is also in Orange County and has an awesome website you should check out. She has had the band for several years and has gone through enormous changes, both emotionally and physically. She is doing weight loss counseling/support in your area. Who knows, she might be a great local support contact for you. Here is her website addy: http://www.myagb.homestead.com/index.html

Hiya Mary, I thought I would join everyone in welcoming you and to simply echo what's already been said. It's been a rough road for you, but I have a feeling that when youre looking at a mere shadow of your former self in the mirror, just before you head out the door on a sunny day, you will smile at your reflection, happy with your slim tan body dressed in shorts and a cute tank top. And, I'm even willing to go so far as to bet that you -wont- be thinking about these hard times as you walk out the door to enjoy life. It will happen! Hang in there, we're all fighting the same battle right beside you. *hugs*

I was banded on Jan 9th and had a hernia repair done at the same time. the hernia was located between my belly button and the breastplate. It has taken me longer to recover because of the hernia repair. The lapband was done lapro but the hernia was open surgery. Its not too bad really, but I had another complication in the process which might be slowing it down. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me.

*looks at Lisa's face* *looks at the couple in the background* *grins* They look like they were having far more fun All joking aside, great job! I admire your spirit

I was banded on Jan 9th, after a two week pre-op, liver shrinking diet that started on Dec 20th. I've lost 25 pounds since starting that diet. Today, I tried on the jeans I couldnt stand to wear anymore.. I had finally given in and started wearing some baggy stretch pants the two weeks prior to surgery. But today, I was given a strong reminder of why Im drinking protien shakes, broth and slim fast meals.. those jeans come off without unbuttoning them! Woot! Is it a big lifestyle change? Yes? Is it forever? Don't think so. Eating out in public like a 'normal' person and not like a horse with a feedbag on is something I'm looking forward to. *smiles* Susan

I felt this way before, but now that Ive read this post I want to post ads all over the country begging people not to have the bypass surgery. As I have posted before, the US is the last country in the world that still does the bypass because it is just too dangerous and the statistics are showing that bypass patients gain the weight back after a couple of years. Banders dont. What's really, really sad is that the bypassers have bypassed the opportunity and cant change their minds and get the band. They will live with what they have. God I feel so bad for them. *sighs*

Holy cow.. I have just found and read this entire thread and I'm in tears. My god, Mandy, I can't even begin to imagine what you must be going through. The fears, the worry, the tears. Are you taking care of yourself through this? This kind of stress can take a huge toll on your own physical and mental health. If you need help getting through this, talk to your doctor and get some. No matter what that little girl is going through, I know in my heart that she needs her mommy to be well and strong, you are her comfort even though you may sometimes feel like her target of the anger and depression. I know from experience that in times like these we tend to try to blame ourselves somehow. Only you and God know what you've been going through. Bless your heart, and hers. You are well covered in prayers girl, so be brave, all things happen for a reason and everything will work out for the best. *special hugs to you and your family* Susan

I was also banded on the 9th and am just now noticing I can drink more and quicker. I used to only handle one half of a Slim Fast shake but today I drank the entire thing without even noticing. Danger Will Robinson! Time to slow down and pay more attention to whats sliding down my throat. Gawd, I wish it was Cream of.. ANYTHING! LOL ADDITION: My husband just said, 'Why cant you have cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup?' Oh my god. I can! *walks calmly to the kitchen in search of that lovely red and white can* NOT! :eek:

Hey Dancer, Phase one is going ok. The biggest challenge is to get variety. So far my main meals have been whey protien shakes, with Slim Fast shakes (the Cappuccino is awesome). Ive relied on Swanson's broths, my favorite is Vegetable for bringing something not so sweet into the menu. As Kim and I both said, the swelling seems to have gone down so I'm just beginning to be hungry. I found myself roaming the kitchen at 3am this morning, which is why I was posting on the board at that time. lol.. I could hear the faint echo's of my old favorites calling to me. I wound up heating up some tomato Soup, but found out when I started drinking it that I didnt want it. All in all, it hasnt been too bad. The gas seems to be gone, the port feels like a bruised place although I can still feel it sticking out, which is creepy. Bad news is the hernia repair iI had done at the same time is showing signs of trouble, bleeding and stuff. Nasty. My three week follow up appointment was for Jan 31st, but it's now been moved up to next Tuesday to check out this other stuff. Anyway, probably more info than you wanted, but I guess I felt like blabbing. Thanks for listening, and keep busy. It helps the time go by quicker. *hugs* Susan

Mmmm margaritas, what blenders were inveted for. Lucky you! Cancun for work. *whines* I wanna go.

My husband is from England, and he got so tired of everyone asking him where he's from when they heard his accent, that he started responding, 'Pocatello'. You'd be surprised at how many people give him a blank look followed with a meek, 'Really?' No offense, but the best thing I've seen about Pokey (liked that a lot Vinesqueen :eek: ) is that you don't actually have to go in it on your way to Jackson! *grins*

I remember when my ticker that counted down to the surgery date said one month. 30 days, felt like forever. And now, here I am a week and a half after surgery and it's hard to remember even waiting for the days to go by. I had wanted so much to have one last fling at the Cracker Barrel *mouth waters* but my surgery was kind of rushed due to a pretty bad hernia just above my belly button. By the time my psych evaluation was done, it was on to the nutritionist who said, 'you have two and a half weeks to get the fat out of your liver.. here's your diet, start today'. *sighs* Oh well, pureed Cracker Barrel anyone? Ok, it's not fondue, but right now it sounds heavenly. *grins* Good luck to you and keep smiling, you're about to begin a weight loss journey that cant fail. Cheers!

Great minds think alike, I've been contiplating the chew/spit method too! You would give your left boob for Mac and Cheese!? C'mon Kim, you know that left boob IS mac and cheese! LOL My swelling must have gone down some today. I ate - scratch that - I drank my usual meals today in less time than it normally takes, and I've been hungry for the first time since surgery. Still on liquids for a week and a half more. You know youre in agony when youre craving a green bean. That's right, just one, doesn't have to be hot, don't need butter.. just a bean.. please?? *drools*

12/20/05 Met with the nutritionist and started the pre-op, liver-shrinking diet. Starting weight 307 1/03/06 Sleep study - have sleep apnea, 30 occurances an hour 1/05/06 Got the CPAP machine. 1/6/06 PreAdmit at St. Al's, finally exam by Dr.Cahn. Weight 293.8 1/9/06 Weight 291. Checked into St. Al's at 10:15am, prepped and in surgery at 12:15pm. Stayed overnight, hubby stayed with me. He broght the laptop and played my favorite music all night. What a sweetie he is. Gawd was I thirsty. Nothing by mouth until after the barium and swallow tests, so.. we had to swab my mouth with a sponge on a stick that we dipped in water. We called it the lollypop. 1/10/06 Went home late today. The hospital stay was awful. Nursing staff was rude and neglectful, and we suspected one was either drunk or on drugs. Very glad to be home, although I came home with a burn from an accident in the OR. Seems the surgeon was handed a retractor straight from the onclave, which burned thru his glove and he dropped it on my stomach. I now have a 3 1/2 X 1 inch second degree burn right next to the hernia incision. :mad: 1/16/06 Weight 287 Rough week. Sick of protein shakes. Drinking broth, water and slim fasts too. The band of pressure around my chest just under my ribs is horrible. I'm so sore. How do people go to work one week later?? Hubby keeps reminding me I also had hernia surgery and a second degree burn. The port sticks out funny. Its weird to touch it. I think the burn is hurting the worst. Can't get out of bed alone yet. Sleeping on my back only. 1/22/06 Getting out of bed on my own now, painful but doable. Still sleeping in my back. The skin around the burn is so red and sensative that I cant stand for anything to touch it. This makes sleeping difficult, as the covers rub on me all night and wake me up. Im also going stir crazy! Convinced hubby that I'm ok to drive so we went for a two hour drive around town tonight. Ahhh.. relief. Now I will start driving him to work again. Yay, a bit of freedom. 1/23/06 Weight 279 Feeling better except for the burn which has been dripping a clear yellow liquid mixed with blood. Will see Dr. Cahn tomorrow. So hungry for solid food I can hardly stand it. I dont think I can force down another strawberry banana protein shake. *gags* Getting out of bed alone now. Hubby puts on my socks for me. He's been so wonderful, pampering me every step of the way. Realized I was only eating half of the protein I was supposed to be eating. Uh oh. Time to up that from 30 grams to 60. On 500 calories? Good luck! 1/24/06 Saw Dr. Cahn today. He was very upset and concerned about the burn. He said he was going to call the Vice President of St. Al's to make sure I was taken care of. He also called a Wound Care Specialist in St. Luke's and they should be calling me to have me come in. Dr. Cahn said everything esle looked great. All incisions fine, he took off the steritapes. He also said I could start on soft foods. Yay!! Came home and my son cooked me some Malto Meal. I put some butter and Splenda in my 1/2 C. serving but it wasnt all that great. For lunch I had 1/4 C. cottage with 1/8 C. appleasauce. It was the best cottage cheese I'd ever tasted! For dinner? A can of tuna with fat free Thousand Island dressing. What a treat. And for 32 grams of protein, it's a great meal. Didn't have to have the protein shake today. Hit 60 grams with food. Hoorah! I can have 800 calories a day now, but I think it will take a few days to work into that. It seems like so much food now! 1/25/06 I napped on my side for a few hours! Woke up with my stomach hurting tho, and its been so sore since then. Bummer. I cant wait to feel normal again. Had to take meds to sleep last night. 1/26/06 Hubby took the batteries out of the scales last Friday, so we only weigh on Mondays now. I miss those damn scales! LOL Called Dr. Cahn today, still haven't heard from the wound care doc. Left a message with Sherry.

12/20/05 Met with the nutritionist and started the pre-op, liver-shrinking diet. Starting weight 307 1/03/06 Sleep study - have sleep apnea, 30 occurances an hour 1/05/06 Got the CPAP machine. 1/6/06 PreAdmit at St. Al's, finally exam by Dr.Cahn. Weight 293.8 1/9/06 Weight 291. Checked into St. Al's at 10:15am, prepped and in surgery at 12:15pm. Stayed overnight, hubby stayed with me. He broght the laptop and played my favorite music all night. What a sweetie he is. Gawd was I thirsty. Nothing by mouth until after the barium and swallow tests, so.. we had to swab my mouth with a sponge on a stick that we dipped in water. We called it the lollypop. 1/10/06 Went home late today. The hospital stay was awful. Nursing staff was rude and neglectful, and we suspected one was either drunk or on drugs. Very glad to be home, although I came home with a burn from an accident in the OR. Seems the surgeon was handed a retractor straight from the onclave, which burned thru his glove and he dropped it on my stomach. I now have a 3 1/2 X 1 inch second degree burn right next to the hernia incision. :mad: 1/16/06 Weight 287 Rough week. Sick of protein shakes. Drinking broth, water and slim fasts too. The band of pressure around my chest just under my ribs is horrible. I'm so sore. How do people go to work one week later?? Hubby keeps reminding me I also had hernia surgery and a second degree burn. The port sticks out funny. Its weird to touch it. I think the burn is hurting the worst. Can't get out of bed alone yet. Sleeping on my back only. 1/22/06 Getting out of bed on my own now, painful but doable. Still sleeping in my back. The skin around the burn is so red and sensative that I cant stand for anything to touch it. This makes sleeping difficult, as the covers rub on me all night and wake me up. Im also going stir crazy! Convinced hubby that I'm ok to drive so we went for a two hour drive around town tonight. Ahhh.. relief. Now I will start driving him to work again. Yay, a bit of freedom. 1/23/06 Weight 279 Feeling better except for the burn which has been dripping a clear yellow liquid mixed with blood. Will see Dr. Cahn tomorrow. So hungry for solid food I can hardly stand it. I dont think I can force down another strawberry banana protein shake. *gags* Getting out of bed alone now. Hubby puts on my socks for me. He's been so wonderful, pampering me every step of the way. Realized I was only eating half of the protein I was supposed to be eating. Uh oh. Time to up that from 30 grams to 60. On 500 calories? Good luck! 1/24/06 Saw Dr. Cahn today. He was very upset and concerned about the burn. He said he was going to call the Vice President of St. Al's to make sure I was taken care of. He also called a Wound Care Specialist in St. Luke's and they should be calling me to have me come in. Dr. Cahn said everything esle looked great. All incisions fine, he took off the steritapes. He also said I could start on soft foods. Yay!! Came home and my son cooked me some Malto Meal. I put some butter and Splenda in my 1/2 C. serving but it wasnt all that great. For lunch I had 1/4 C. cottage with 1/8 C. appleasauce. It was the best cottage cheese I'd ever tasted! For dinner? A can of tuna with fat free Thousand Island dressing. What a treat. And for 32 grams of protein, it's a great meal. Didn't have to have the protein shake today. Hit 60 grams with food. Hoorah! I can have 800 calories a day now, but I think it will take a few days to work into that. It seems like so much food now! 1/25/06 I napped on my side for a few hours! Woke up with my stomach hurting tho, and its been so sore since then. Bummer. I cant wait to feel normal again. Had to take meds to sleep last night. 1/26/06 Hubby took the batteries out of the scales last Friday, so we only weigh on Mondays now. I miss those damn scales! LOL Called Dr. Cahn today, still haven't heard from the wound care doc. Left a message with Sherry.

Im not so sure this pager thing is working correctly. One was sent to me last night about 9pm and I didnt get it until 11am today, and I was here last night after the message was sent and again this morning for quite some time before it appeared. Mine also said I had an unread pager message but nothing was listed when I tried to read it.

Hey Kim, I did the same thing las night. Drank one cup of a shake then sipped some vegetable broth (great stuff by the way) and wound up with that pressure in my chest. Felt like a stuffed pig for the next hour. I think thats our 'full sign' now. The nutritionist told me that feeling full would now be pressure behind the breastplate, and being too full would be pain behind the breastplate. I thought the burping was just due to gas from surgery, but now Im learning that if I drink too fast (I'm still on liquids) I start burping and it hurts! I have a feeling that once we get back on regular foods, those burps will produce the food we just swallowed. I dont know about you, but I have to learn to slow down. If I chug Water, even it can give me that feeling. We are swollen, like a tight fill, and putting in too much at once doesnt allow time for it to seep through that small opening. And Im guessing the weight of the small pouch contents puts pressure on the opening, which is what we are feeling. Ive found I can drink about a cup of thick liquid before being way full. Trying to sip broth on top of that just puts me into "woah girl!" mode. lol From what Ive read and been told by the nutritionist, our stomachs will ideally be able to between 1/2 to 1 cup of food. Im guessing we can tolerate more liquid than food because its passing through quicker. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Hope they helped. *hugs*

I asked this question in another thread, but thought it might get overlooked there. I got my band last Monday and the port feels like its sticking out quite a ways. As if it's on its edge or something. I called the surgeon who assured me that nothing can pull that port out of place it is probably just swelling and possibly some Fluid built up under the port. Have any of you experienced this? Its really alarming to run my hand over my stomach and have my fingers catch on that thing!

Aww, Nana... I hope it didnt jinx you! I would guess youre right about the stretching. Thats when mine seems to bother me the most. Of course, Ive only had mine for a week, so.. what do I know? I just hope it does go down some. I always understood that people cant even tell where the port is.

Thanks Nikki.. there goes my $26,000! Seriously though, I was just about to start taking the hydrocodone more often to try and relieve the gas pains. Mine are all under my ribs. Almost feels like a wide band tied around me, and within that area feels as if Ive been kicked my a horse! I think Ill keep taking the Milk of Magnesia for a while and see if that helps. Kim - you Super Woman! 3 sets of 100 crunches. Girl, at this rate, you should weigh 90 pounds in a month. *laughs* And I dont want to hear any whining from you about eating. You get baby food already? I am on three weeks of clear/full liquids with two weeks to go. *groan* Where's my bottle?

I was diagnosed with apnea too. I started with a nose mask (set on 11) less than a week before my lapband surgery. I have yet to sleep all night with it as it does irritate me when the mask leaks or pushes on my nose or cheeks. However, it was important to have during recovery and I can tell I have gotten good sleep. Without the CPAP gave 30 occurances per hour. That means I'm being woken from a deep sleep every other minute. I was referred to a good CPAP company that will work with me until we find a maks that best suits me - no charge. Which is important as I think it would take a lot of trial and error to get it right. They told me to expect it to take at least three weeks before I was comfortable with sleeping with the mask on. If your pressure is too high, I would suggest contacting the doctor that ordered the CPAP for you and tell them of your problems. I too have had a hard time keeping my mouth shut when I sleep. I got a chin strap in the hospital but goodness, just how much can a person ignore when trying to sleep?? Bleeding teeth? Hm.. that kind of makes sense. It seems to me that it would really dry out your gums and teeth to have air blowing in your mouth all night. I keep thinking about that stats I saw during a lapband presentation by my surgeon, which showed that over 90% of those who lose a substantial amount of weight are cured of sleep apnea.

Yep, Im not feeling the incision.. what I feel is just to the right of the incision. It seems to be smaller today, but Im definitely feeling the hard port under the skin. I had thought it would be deep enough that you couldnt tell where it was. Ah well, I guess that just means a shorter needle for fills. Its been five days now, and the port location is still very sore.