PennyLane

Thanks, all, for the support I do fully understand why I'm on this diet with the liver and all and that's why I was so upset with myself. There's no other way to explain how it happened other than for the moment it took to make the decision to eat it, I didn't really care about the consequences. Kind of like how it used to be with cigarettes--in my big picture thinking, I wanted to stay as far from them as I could but in my "decision moments" I had a million excuses/reasons why "just this one" would be alright. I am honestly embarrassed to "out" myself as a former smoker--I really don't know what I was thinking even trying one in the first place ever. Anyway, I'm back on track. Today I had two SF Jello cups, a glass of skim milk and I'm working on a cup of chicken broth right now. I still can't bring myself to make a Protein shake but I know I have to and that's a goal for the next few hours. The problem with those is that the very first sip I took was SO terrible (and reminiscent of my recent bout with bronchitis) that I gagged and it all came back up....and I'm pretty sure we all know how hard it is to ever eat anything again that's made you react that way. I'm working on it though, slowly but surely. Also, Capitol Chick, we're practically twins. Close in age, surgery date and weight (I'm 5lbs more than you are right now) :Banane03:

:tongue_smilie: It is nice to get my mind off my anxiety. I pretty much just do little things, make small choices day-to-day that I think add up to a decently "green" lifestyle. Just things like bringing my own bags to the store, walking instead of driving (I live in a very walk-able large town/small city), buying things in reusable containers (milk in glass jars for example), or with the least amount of packaging, using cloth instead of sponges or disposable wipes etc. My BIG project for this summer, which is part of my effort to be more environmentally friendly but also a large part of my effort to eat much more healthily, is to try to keep the foods that I eat 75% locally grown or raised. Environmentally the issue is that each ingredient in the average American meal has traveled 1500 miles to get to the plate, which creates a huge carbon footprint especially in winter when more and more fresh produce is flown or shipped up from South America. I aim (I'm not there yet) to buy most things that I need from within 125 miles of my house (125 because that's the limit that my farmers market sets and it's just easier, but "officially" it's known as the 100 Mile Diet). I can't rely on the farmers market alone and it's taken quite a bit of research to try and find certain food items but I've managed to find a source for most things. I set the goal at 75% because I want to leave a margin of error for "cheating" and also some things are too good or too healthy to be excluded just to make a point (olive oil is one that comes to mind immediately, as do avocados). I have learned how to freeze fresh fruits and vegetables so I buy more when they're in season so I'll have enough for winter, I even bought a mini-deep freeze for my apartment! I am quite literally right now in the process of learning how to can tomatoes. I think the tomatoes are winning. I shed some tears over the jars tipping over in the canner.....we'll just see how this turns out. Also, it makes your local farmland profitable as farmland which is good because then it is less likely to be bought up by some real estate developer and turned into another big box store stripmall. Health-wise I think it will be great because I now have small portions of a huge variety of vegetables already measured, cut and waiting to be warmed up. Also, doing this kind of thing kind of forces you to eat only fresh, non-processed food which is almost automatically healthier than the alternatives. It's a big project and it's been tough but fun and satisfying. I think the main reason it's really been working for me though is that I ONLY have to worry about myself--I don't have a family to take care of, don't have to preserve food for 5 people etc. If you're interested, searching for 100 mile diet, slow foods, eat local or "locavore" will yield a ton of results :tt1: -Penny

Oh goodness thank you all :smile2: I came across this because I searched "scared" because I AM getting scared about my surgery (one week!) and found this thread which just so happens to be one of my favorite topics :crying: I'm really into chemical-free homemaking/cooking etc (so this whole pre op diet of fake Protein and sugar free Jello is bothersome on multiple levels) and I have a lot of fun with it. I make all of my other household cleansers except laundry soap. For laundry soap I buy Nellie's and add some borax and a drop of tea tree oil (though I think I'm going to switch to something that smells nicer). I'm sure I could make my own--I think I'm just a sucker for cute packaging! I do my laundry by hand in my apartment (washboard and wringer and all) for a variety of reasons and as it's just me it's actually much more convenient than going to a laundromat, especially with all the stairs involved for me. So anyway, thanks all for getting by brain back into the realm of "normal" and not "scared to death"....I just have to try to get this to last a week :confused_smile:

Thanks all for the suggestions. I will certainly try other shakes. What I can't stand is what I assume is the flavor/smell of the powered Protein itself, not the flavor of the shake. It also doesn't help that I'm not a big milk fan, which is what this brand (UnJury, allegedly one of the best tasting ones) is mixed with. I'm being banded on the 21st and I'm getting so scared (again). Sigh. I wish I could just sleep until this is all over.

Ok, so I just tried the protein shake for the first time just now. I seriously can't do this. It smells like I don't know what and...just....gag. Seriously, I gagged. This is NOT cool. How are you all doing this?

Nope, no toes-stepping here Just think that we can all "get to know" each other if we're all reading the same few threads--if that doesn't work for everyone then it doesn't work, I'm just trying :thumbup:

Just a quick reminder that we're trying to get the general July discussion moved over to the July 2008 forum's master thread which you can find here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/july-2008-bandsters/68044-july-butterflies-master-thread.html Most other months keep their chat and updates in those forums which seems to be the most effective and organized way of doing it. Besides, we don't need to keep bumping this post up to the top of the pre-op page because more and more of us aren't pre-op anymore!

We've already gotten several introductions going in the master thread--you can check them out and add your own over there. (Trying to get the group organized if I can :cool: )

Hey, all, trying to revamp this master thread. I really want to "get to know" others who are doing this around the same time as me, and would love to hear stories of surgery days and such without looking through tons of threads. We already have three pages of threads in our forum, while if you look at other months (April 07 for example: April 07 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum) they've been doing this for over a year and only have one page worth of threads. They do all their updates in one master thread. I really think that this is the most effective and organized way of going about getting a support group going and think that we should do it too.

Joiful, I think I have said this in another thread but coughing up blood (or even thinking you may be) can be very serious, especially following a surgery. I don't want to frighten you but serious complications from any surgery can and do happen, and coughing up blood is a symptom of these things. Please consider seeing a doctor about this as soon as you can. In terms of your diet, if your surgeon didn't give you any instructions to follow, it sounds like following this book you've found is a good idea. And in terms of work and money, your health is more important than those right now--just do what you need to do to get better.

the coughing sounds dangerous, i would get to a doctor or hospital as soon as possible. that sort of thing following any surgery could be serious. also, i would call the surgery center and find out what sort of antibiotics you're supposed to be taking and how many etc and get a replacement prescription. hospitals (all hospitals on both sides of the border) are full of bacteria and those are often preventative antibiotics to keep you from getting a nosocomial (hospital-related) infection.

Hey, guys! I'll be banded a week after you all--there's a whole group for us being banded in July--look for us under the Support Groups, and we're July 2008

Thanks for the good wishes on the insurance front. I'm going to call them and see what happened--maybe it was a mistake (doubtful, but it's possible). If not, then I'm going to get on the group plan at school (I'm a graduate student/librarian). Luckily the plan starts every August so I won't even have to go that long without insurance. Congrats all who have their bands already--let us know how it's going!

hi all, sorry i've gone missing for a bit. i'm having a tough time of things at the moment. i've always planned on doing this self-pay because my insurance doesn't cover it and even if they did, the approval process for most companies sounds like a nightmare that i don't want to deal with. anyway, i have individual insurance (not group which is what most people get through work) because i used to work in a quickly-changing career path, some jobs didn't have insurance and others i'd go through so quickly the insurance never kicked in so it was just easier and safer to keep an individual policy. well, they just canceled my policy (effective may 15th!) because they "haven't received my past due payment" which is funny because the letter came on the same day as a refund of payment for the months of may and june. so....which one is it? i didn't pay them or they're sending my payment back? basically, i think they found out about the surgery (the hospital billed the pre-op blood tests to the insurance even though i told them i thought it was a bad idea for this very reason. they assured me it would be fine. ha.). i think the insurance company freaked when they found out about the surgery and went into my file looking for any reason to cancel and found one (my april check arrived 3 days late) and canceled my policy retroactively. so it doesn't effect my surgery (directly) but now.....i've read a lot of people on here who have tried to get individual insurance after surgery and have been denied because of the surgery. so it seems that i'll never be able to get individual insurance ever again! which means that i'll have to stick with a job with a group policy or just "wing it" and go without! i don't want to find myself in the position of being without insurance and then getting hit by a drunk driver or finding out i have cancer or something......especially if being without insurance could be avoided by not having the lap band surgery. i'm starting to wonder if i should just cancel the whole thing over this! i just don't know what to do. :thumbup: i am perfectly capable and willing to pay a high monthly rate because i'm a higher risk after surgery. my money is green like everyone else's! what is the ISSUE? it's things like this that really make me hate living in this country and that makes me really sad because i actually (usually) love this country! i've been in public service in one way or another since i was 14 years old and i just feel so betrayed and like a "throw away person" and sad and overwhelmed. thanks for reading this far if you have. i just don't know what to do! :frown: -penny

Great, I'm glad this thread is catching on! I'm getting myself in a real tizzy over this whole surgery thing. I've never had anesthesia before and am SO scared I'm going to be allergic to it. Part of me wants to ask if my mom can sit in there just to watch my vital signs just in case no one notices Have I mentioned I'm a bit of a control freak? Lol. I'm also very worried about other surgical complications but I won't mention that here because I know I'm just being silly and there's no need to spread my anxiety around. But I would like to hear what you all think about complications and risk and all that... Siouxie--it's funny you mention home exchange--I was just on a home exchange website the other day just to kind of see what's out there. Glastonbury is where that large music festival is, right? Orea--yes we are practically neighbors! I'm going to Sibley even though it's a little farther for me, I just got a good feel from the place. I looked into GW but felt like cattle there whereas Sibley was a lot more personal attention. I'm a bit nervous because it's not as long-established as other programs in the area but I'm confident that Sibley is a great hospital that runs great programs and hires great surgeons. And other than that it was really just a "gut" feeling :ohmy:.

Hi everyone. This may seem extremely silly but I was listening to National Public Radio's "Storycorps" last week and heard this piece (really cute and funny you should listen instead of reading the summary if you're interested) which, although not really related, has gotten me all freaked about about altitude's effect on the band. First off, I know that we travel in pressurized aircraft these days and I have gone through and read all the old threads about flying and the band. What I'm really concerned about is ground elevation in certain places, places that I really want to go and (long, long story) could actually be employed one day if my life takes a certain trajectory I'm trying for. Cities with elevations above 5000ft (1500m), and especially above 10,000ft (3000m) seem like they could pose a serious problem. And some of these places (I'm thinking specifically of Kathmandu right now) don't necessarily have the same access to Lap Band doctors as places I'm used to living. Finally, I've always told myself that the reward for getting fit and healthy would be joining a trek and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is over 19,000 feet (5800m) and....yeah. That's high. Does anyone have any experience at high or extreme elevations? And if so, how does it effect the band? I have a horrible picture of it getting progressively tighter and tighter and cutting off blood flow to the stomach, or worse, exploding and doing some very, very serious damage. Please help! Someone's got to live/travel at high altitudes out there!

Thanks for your quick response. I understand about flying and the band and I'm ok with the idea of it being a little tight after flying. But airplanes are pressurized and controlled environments. I'm more curious about high altitude/elevation outside of aircraft, as in if I decided to spend some time in Cuzco, Peru which is over 10,000 feet or go after a life goal and climb Kilimanjaro which is 19,000 feet (I believe). Will the band pop? Will it be so tight it becomes an emergency situation? Has anyone spent any time at high or extreme elevations?

Hey, all. Just a suggestion but maybe we should move our ongoing chat/update thread to the support group area? That way we don't have to dig through lots of posts to find this one here, and also so that we don't keep bumping this thread up to the top of this forum which is full of people NOT getting banded in July. Most other monthly groups seem to do this, and have suggested that we do the same. To that end, I started a master thread in the support group area which you can find here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f182/july-butterflies-master-thread-68044/ I think that it would be a lot easier to keep everything in one thread that you can pick up where you leave off (reading-wise) instead of hunting through long lists of threads. Just a suggestion :thumbup:

Hey all, I noticed that the font was light and small when used so I tweaked it a bit. Let me know if her foot in the "S" is too distracting. Hope this looks a bit better!

thanks! right click on the image and save it on your computer. you should probably re-size it because it's so big. if you don't want to, or can't, you can right-click and save anyone else's whose size you like. then you go into "edit profile" in the members area (on the right of your screen as you sign in) and "edit signature" and then upload the image and that should do it! i had a little trouble myself at first but i just played around and got it to work. hope this helps!

also, does anyone know why my signature doesn't show? i made the little july butterflies banner and now i can't get it to work on my profile!

Eeps, don't forget me! I "signed up" on the July 08 support thread I guess. I'm the 21st.

Arg, oops, that will teach me to resize something in Photobucket! Here is the large size, feel free to do with it what you will and I will try to stop messing with it!

That's how mine was, too. I went to another in my city (there are several) and it was much less professional, and the surgeon wasn't there. It was also much, much more crowded, I felt like we were being herded through like cattle to get it over and done with as a formality, rather than an actual step in the process. I was really turned off by that and even though the first place (the good one) is less convenient to get to and from, and that the second place is a Center of Excellence and mine isn't--I sill went with mine because I knew that I would get more personal attention which would (for me) lead to long-term success.

Hi all, I was away for a while so never responded but I'm glad you like the banner--I noticed the font was really light (and kind of small) so I played around with it a bit more--maybe this is better.... If you think that the girl's foot in the "S" is too distracting I can try to move her (it is a bit involved though)....let me know. Also, I'm going to start a thread about it just to make sure folks see it :smile: