JanetC

Welcome new Feb bandsters!! Good to see us still popping up! How are the gas pains doing? They're still kicking my heinie!! The worst is that my hubby got his band 2 days prior to me... and is rocking it. Next to ZERO pain **sigh**. I try not to compare... lol :couch2: I'm now officially sick of mashed potatoes. Can't wait for the next stage!! Happy Friday everyone!!

Awesome NSV!! Congrats!

So ProNutra sounds seriously cool -- I'd love my mother to try it (she's older & has skin issues & supplements her Protein a lot). How on earth do you buy it? The only site I've found that sells it sells it by the case only & you have to have an MD recommendation. Augh!! :couch2: I personally love Nature's Best Isopure Zero Carb stuff (ok, not the BEST taste... but amazing levels of whey protein! And not so awful I avoid it, lol.) My favorite shopping site (I find the stuff on it, then do web searches based on the name / manufacturer: http://store.bariatriceating.com/ Jan

Welcome to band-land. The local gas remedies are: Gas-X, walking as much as possible & heating pads. I've found tea to be a relaxing addition to that list. Remember that they pumped you full of CO2 & that only time will take care of it (go go osmosis!!) The pains can last a long time... up to 6 weeks, or so I've heard. I can vouch for the first 9 days, lol. **sigh** I have the port pain as well. My surgeon said to not worry, that incision was physically larger (i.e. cut more of the muscle) & then the port was sutured to a muscle, which can also feel like a "stitch from running" until you adjust to it. When I push lightly I can feel the extra swelling. I'm personally paranoid about the port pain, since for some people in some situations (stress that SOMETIMES) it can be a symptom of a port infection. So I'm watching it, but I'm not panicked quite yet... trusting my surgeon. But if it has a sudden rise in temperature or I see puss, I'll be on the phone to my doc faster then anything!! All in all I can't believe I'm doing this well 9 days out from major surgery. This new-fangled surgery rocks!! P.S. If you don't get a lot of replies, edit your first post & change the "test" to "new to LBT". I know I ignored the "test" for a while, then I had to peek. :couch2: Congrats on your banding & welcome to the journey!! Jan

Ok, so we had to go to our group therapy session & MISSED THE RESULTS!!! Who got voted off? It's killing me! I had it set to tape, but forgot to put a tape in... augh!! :help: Jan

I think the worry is normal in the beginning. New toy & all that. At least I hope that's it! 'Cuz I'm worried every second of every day! (Ok, it's not THAT bad... just close!) I've heard rumors that if you don't eat for 3 hours before laying down you'll be looser / hungrier in the morning. I've been trying to hold to that & I wake up starving. Of course I'm not restricted either, lol, so maybe I'm just not eating enough! As for the cup... if you're over-satisfied, cut back. If you're not satisfied enough, add to it. If you can learn to feel your body now... you'll be ahead of the game later when you're restricted!! I'm taking these 6 weeks off from dieting (except for surgeon's orders). I'm trying to just focus on healing & listening to my body & not worry about the scale. I know that route isn't for everyone... but so far so good! Congrats on the 1 month!!

Sometimes you can find them for check out at libraries or for rent at video stores... the try before you buy idea. :couch2: For Mikey & I, we've gone the Play Station route... Dance Dance Revolution!! Yeah, it's corny, lol, but it gets us moving! If you go with DDR, there is some startup costs: the pads. I recommend a more expensive one. Long term you'll save. But after that & the cost of the game (we got a used one for $15, I think), it's free & fun & your kids will join you... if you let 'em win every now & then.

It may be a reaction to the anethesia (sp)... or they may have bruised something during the surgery (I know Mikey was tough to intubate... he was hoarse & sore for days). 5 weeks seems a long time for a bruise to improve though, you might run it by your surgeon or primary care doc... they can check your throat & see if it's red or something. Ok, so I don't really have a clue, lol, but it seems too close to the surgery to not have its origin there. Good luck & keep us posted!

I'm glad you found a local doc. Will he continue to help you? Hope so!! Hang in there & good luck!! :couch2:

We had Heparin both before & after surgery (we stayed overnight)... 3 shots in all. They didn't make us do more at home, thank goodness! The needle was tiny, but I'm not into that!! SOOOOOO glad you're home ok Sunta! Congrats on the banding & on not running screaming from the hospital! :couch2: Hang in there with the gas pains. I know they say walking, but it doesn't seem to do a thing for me... but I keep trying! Gas-X & a heating pad do seem to work... and laying flat. Tea seems to help too, personally I think it's 'cuz it makes me belch, lol (strange, but true). Each person is different, so keep trying until you find something that works for you! I've heard the pains can last up to 6 weeks, but man I hope not!! 10 days of pain & counting.... (( Hugs & welcome back!! ))

Congrats on the banding & weight loss! If you're like me, you're counting days until your first fill!

Ok. I have a weird dilemma. Let me start with some background. Hi. I’m Janet. I’m a food addict. Scratch that. I’m obsessive compulsive. Period. You name it. Give me something to obsess about & I will, lol. Compulsively. :roll: So… I’m trying to break my food addiction. With the help of the band, my husband, surgeon, family, friends & God, I will succeed. (I joined the school of positive speaking yesterday, lol, bear with me. :welldone2:) Most folks starting a diet start… um… how to put it kindly… obsessing. :Banane21: Count those calories! Count the fat grams! Count the carb grams! Count the Protein grams! Count the bites! Count the hours! Count the water! Oh, and don’t forget to weigh!! So you lose one addiction only to replace it with 20. I’ve decided that that is not the life for me. I’d really like to free myself, not sign up for extra duty. That being said, I’d like to see progress happen. And I guess I’d like it to be something I CAN control. In other words, not scale or measurement related. ’Cuz if I hit a plateau, I can’t effect the scale or measurements not changing. I don’t want to get discouraged when my progress slows or stops. I want to see my ticker go go go go go go! Anyone got any ideas? I love hearing the stories from old-time bandsters that say they don’t even really THINK about food anymore. Oh my goodness! What I wouldn’t give! So, I don’t want to obsess, but I don’t want to give up. “Plan your work & work your plan” & yadda yadda yadda. **Sigh** I’m scattered. Sorry, lol. Guess without an obsession I’m lost. Somebody help me!! :scared: Thanks for any thoughts or ideas!

Wow, it's amazing what a difference a TT can make!! Thanks for sharing those! Ya'll are looking great!

Wow Brenda!! You give me hope! Congrats & happy band-day!

Hi Roger! Hang in there! The way my doc explained it to me is that immediately after surgery your stomach will swell, so you may (or may not) feel some restriction. But after that swelling goes down, the band isn't actually restricting anything... it's just a loose belt around your stomach, it's not tightened or anything. Most of us are on special diets for the first 3-6 weeks. Around 6 weeks we get our first fill (hopefully). Until then, I think we all could eat the house!! At least I know I could! Anyway... don't know if any of that helped, but consider yourself to be in the healing phase for 6 weeks. Ease up on yourself & start learning to take small bites, chew well, don't drink with meals, and listen for your body's signals telling you when to stop. (Not that I've learned any of this, lol, but I'm trying! ) Welcome to the board!

Congrats Julie!! Hang in there! I'm one week out & can't believe how much better I feel! I'm still on pain meds, mostly to save my husband from my complaining, lol. Oh, and Gas-X... lots & lots of it! Seriously Tammy, I'm with Rene... hope you're almost done with the killer phase, but you're gonna get... um... dehydrated? lol... or something! I'm with ya'll about not obsessing. We threw our scale away (it didn't go high enough anyway, lol). So we're down to weighing every 2 weeks when we go to the doctor. It's a start!

Congrats on the banding!! That's awesome news!

Hehe, sounds like you might need more calories, rather then less. Silly nutritionist!! I like the idea of the breath test... I need to read up on those (never heard of 'em before this board, I love LBT! ) Thanks so much everyone for your awesome ideas! So far I've gleaned: 1. Obsess about not obsessing (lol, this one's right up my alley!) 2. Pick small things to tweak & only obsess about one thing until it's a habit. 3. Make a list of future tweaks so you don't have to think about them daily, just add to the list (I use this in other areas of life, makes sense!) 3. Don't kill yourself with rules / diets (I'm SOOOO rebellious, so that's a very wise recommendation). 4. Focus on something other then food... work to become a better me. I like 'em!! I do think at some point I'm going to have to count calories, just to find out what 1000 - 1200 calories looks like with my current eating style (more Protein then ever in my life). But once I get a baseline idea, I really want to throw away my food diary. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful answers & great ideas! I'll let you know how it goes!! For today my goal is... um... to actually do the homework for our psyche group, lol. Ya'll just helped me do one of the assignments! :clap2: Thanks!

That's awesome Scott! Grats!! Mikey's surgery was like yours... a total breeze. I'm more of a wuss, lol. I'm still complaining about gas, lol (1 week out). Oh well, all in all it's amazing!! Congrats on joining the band-wagon!! :welldone2:

Here's some of the Protein I've ordered. We're using them extensively during the liquid / mushy phase, trying to get enough protein in. Mikey's supposed to have 100+g a day, augh!!! Beneprotein (powdered, tasteless whey, 20g a scoop, add to anything): http://www.resource.walgreens.com/search/search_results.jsp?_dyncharset=ASCII&term=beneprotein&section=A&%2Fsearch%2Fsearchbase%2FSearchOptions.resultsperPage=5&_D%3A%2Fsearch%2Fsearchbase%2FSearchOptions.resultsperPage=+&_DARGS=%2Fcommon%2Fnavigation%2Fheader_fg.jsp.1&x=0&y=0 Nature's Best products. I LOVE the Isopure Zero Carb RTD -- 40g protein. I don't really like the taste of the smoothies, but they're 50g protein, amazing!! http://www.naturesbest.com/index.html?section=Shopping&catsec=208&-session=thisSession:66E77B3BDD1AD9D09A6A6584CEA7A0E2 (I buy 'em at Vitamin Shoppe or online.) Bariatric Eating has GREAT protein stuff... I've liked everything I've tried: http://store.bariatriceating.com/proteinpowders.html Our staple protein -- the one we use the most -- is just powdered whey protein (chocolate & vanilla) from Walmart (near the Slimfast in the pharmacy area). 20g per scoop. I use 2 scoops per shake. Good luck getting it all in!!

So one way or another the day has passed... how are you doing Sunta? Don't worry, I don't expect you to be on here today, lol, but I'm thinking about you! :welldone2: ((( Hugs!! )))

Wow, everyone's doing so well, I'm proud of us!! :scared: I'm back at work today, sorta, lol. I work at home, so I get to baby myself a LOT. I'm half-heartedly working... probably won't bill too many hours, lol. Oh well. It's a start! Our doctor did the post-op diet really strangely. We add 1 "food" every 2 days. It's bizarre, but I guess it works. We always have something to look forward to. First it was just broth... then broth & juice... then broth, juice & Protein drinks... then... you get the idea. :Banane21: We're up to mashed potatoes with cream Soup. Oh my goodness it rocks!! The gas pain is the worst. I have problems burping (have never been able to do it), so I seem to be suffering more than Mikey (GRR!!!!). Gas-X is our friend! We had our post-op appt yesterday. Mikey's lost a ton! I'm really trying to not watch the scale, though I'll update the spreadsheet. But I don't want to replace my food addiction with a scale addiction. We'll see how long that lasts! :welldone2: Oh well, I'll go update our stats & get back to work. Glad you're all doing well & keep updating! :Banane10:

Now that's some awesome news!! :welldone2:

If there's ANY way you can make yourself wait, I'd see if insurance will cover it. Why? 1. Follow-up care. American doctors often do not want to take patients from Mexico for whatever reason. If they DO take you, they charge you through the nose. 2. Emergency follow-up care. If you do have issues, you have to fly to Mexico. If it's a case of not being able to swallow... can you stand the time in a plane? Folks have found nice people in ER's that will call Mexico & allow themselves to be talked through an un-fill. It just all sounds scary & iffy to me. 3. Paying for follow-up long term. If the surgery wasn't covered, any follow-up most likely won't be covered. Issues probably will be pre-existing or not covered. So you're not just looking at 10k now, but 10k per revision & 100 per fill, etc. Yeah, I painted a worse case scenario. I'm self-pay as well & terrified that we may someday need a 2nd surgery. We've started saving for that "just in case". But if it does happen, I already know my surgeon... and my hospital. They're just down the road. :welldone2: We're self-employed & that's unlikely to change. If I'd had any possibility of having better insurance soon, I'd have waited (screaming, groaning & complaining... but waiting). Sorry to be a downer & remember it's just my opinion. :scared: Go with your gut!!

camomile tea -- for the gas pains. I can't swear that it worked, lol, but a friend recommended it. If nothing else, it got more liquid into me!