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Judy because I am eating such little amounts of food my directions say to have 4 oz protein supplement 3x a day. I am still on pureed. On Tuesday and for the next four weeks when I am on soft the instructions say Protein supplements continue to be mandatory and ideally you should consume 20 gms of prtein a day from supplement. So I continue to supplement. Although I am trying to eat high protein food like eggs and tuna I am still only eating 1 1/2 cups of food a day. Is there a way to contact the dietician between visits? I want to ask when I can add my metamucil to the diet. Take care of yourself and stay out of this miserable weather! I too have a little cold and am sucking on Coldezze to try and keep it at bay.

One more question. Does anyone have gurgling where their band is? I THINK I had some hunger today. Or my stomach was upset from the protein bullet drink. :eek:

Does anybody know if it is normal to still have pain two weeks later? At times it is enough to make me stop, sit down and put ice on it. I am only taking Tylenol cause I want to drive. I am not exercising. It hurts To yawn, take a deep breatrh etc. Now it just hurts period. It is my left side and my back. Big Gurl, do not kid yourself. Maintaining is very hard!!!! I had to do it and it was tough.

Is anyone walking tomorrow with Judy and I?

Oh my gosh I am really banded. Oh I knew I was from the holes in my belly and the pain but today I was put on pureed and when it came time for lunch I realized I had just finished a drink. Opps. Gotta get a completely new mindset! For those of you still waiting I am on puree today for one week and then soft for 4 weeks. I start solid foods the day before Thanksgiving. Good Luck! LOL I am still not hungry so it is hard to comprehend eating but I did puree some cottage cheese for lunch. A whole 2 ozs! NoBuffaloGirl, you add some liquid to everything you puree to help it be thinner. I will still have one shake a day with protein powder. It is so hard to think about food when you are not hungry. I am beginning to wonder if I am cut out for all this planning for eating. My brain is on overload. I bought a food journal to start with this new process. So much to think about. But I am losing weight and haven't gone back on diabetes medicine yet. Yeah

Shar, you are right and I thought that might be a part of the problem. We run a ministry and don't really have to many days off and weekends are our busy time but today we did go for a ride and see the leaves. It was nice but I cannot believe how exhausted I am. I want something to eat so bad and it is not because I am hungry. I am just programmed that way. I going to sit down to dinner with my husband and at least pretend there is some semblence of normalcy. We need to get some girls together to see "The Women". Sounds like a good chick flick.

Yes my email, roadrunner account is temporary off. GRRR. I put a whole scoop of protein powder in my coffee. You must let liquids cool a bit before adding the protein. I am having a pity party, feel sorry for myself day. Did others go through that? Real weepy. I walked this morning and was fine. This is 5 days post op. Today I am wondering what on earth I did to myself! But still not hungy.

Shar, bandsters don't have any malaborstion (spelling?) problems. That is what is so nice. The post op diet states we should have 48-64 ozs total fluid and 40-60 gms protein. That is only 2 shakes as my powder is 18 gms and milk is 8gms. I have more as I put that extra scoop in my coffee. I still feel so bloated and like I couldn't drink an another thing!

Welcome to the new members who attended the seminar tonight! You are on your way. Bloom, this is how I found the meeting point of where we walk. I go to the Colvin entrance of Delaware Park and drive until you can't drive anymore. When you see the former juicery look for a parking space. I don't think I will be walking very fast on Saturday so don't worry.

Hi everyone, I get a daily email from a site called Hungry Girl. They have excellent information on nutrition such as which is the best yogurt to buy and also about eating out. Last week they gave the best choices at Starbucks and today it was on Panera Bread. If you are interested in subscribing go to Hungry-girl.com:thumbup:

I know it is too soon to worry about but when should I look into the fact that I am constipated? I am not eating anything but the protein shakes, was cleaned out before surgery, but have pains which is probably just the gas. Don't want to take anything until I really need to. Would it be alright to wait until 8 days post op when I see Dr. H?

NoBuffGirl I have been thinking if I have leftover protein powder you can have it. Unless someone tells me we use it after the beginning weeks. I know others have leftover powder also. I will know better about what is left after this week and if I will be using after Tuesdays appointment. If I have anything it will be chocolate. I use the vanilla in cereal and coffee.

longhornmom, either I am bloated from gas or to much liquid. I just checked and I only had 44 oz today. I had two protein shakes today. Not because I was hungry but for the protein and because I was told to. I don't want anything I feel so bloated. I am starting little burps and hiccups and they hurt but otherwise ok.

Hi, had the surgery October 13th, everything went smoothly, no nausea thank goodness. We stay overnight cause of a Barium Swallow the next day, saw my band on xray screen, its really there! Now it is my first full day home and I am tired and achy. I think the gas is starting to make itself known but I guess that is good. No complaints so far. I am having trouble drinking as much as they want. I seem so full and bloated. I am on protein shakes and full liquids this week. I lost 8 pounds on the pre op diet. I am just trying to not overdo and walk alot. So far so good.

Oh I forgot - hey aren't we Kaleida WLS center? What do you mean stay away from their doc?

Liz, welcome. I hope you go to the support meeting tonight at 6pm on the first floor of BGH besides the coffee cafe by the gift shop. (hopefully answerd a lot of peoples questions there.) Please don't be freaked out about peoples comments. We tend to talk about the bad and not the good since it is kind of boring to say everything is fine. I hope to go tonight and I am only 2 days post op.

Know what the best thing about this site is? ALL OF YOU! We have no family in town yet I still had four visitors and a lot of the rest of you praying for or thinking about me during my surgery. Thank you!! Nothing eventful to report. Everything went great. No naseua, no gas pain in shoulder. My mid back is killing me so maybe thats where it is for me. Dr. H was 1/2 hour late and I thought he was standing me up but it turned out to be a good thing as I couldn't wait and finally asked if I could go to the BR and when I got back he was there and no foley! He said my liver looked great. I lost 8lbs on Phase 1 but feel like i gained about 100 I am so bloated. It is hard to get all the liquid in. I never would have imagined that 4 oz an hour would be hard! I drank coffee with a scoop of vanilla Protein Powder in it and then a Protein Shake a few hours later. I feel stuffed. I also took four pills and one gummy Vitamin and one viactiv. Eveything went down well. I used ice on my belly in the hospital and now that I am home I have a frozen veggie bag on it. It conforms nicely to my swollen belly. Posner doesn't suggest it but I recommend it anyway. Another thing I recommend is to stand as straight as possible when walking. I learned that from a Lamaze instructor who told her patient who was having a C secion to do that. It feels good and makes me feel and look proud that I am a bandsters. I am finding it hard to drink an oz of liquid every 15 minutes. I have some Special K ice tea with 5 grm of Protein in it so that is good to drink also. Gotta get that protein in to heal! The gas is starting to make itself know but is also coming out of my body which is good. I am only using Tyelnol for now although I hate to drink it as it is more liquid and I am full! Maybe I will see some of you tonight. Maybe.:regular_smile:

I too am having surgery tomorrow. I had a rough couple of weeks, emotion wise, but all of a sudden Monday after my final weigh in I got very calm. I was on phase 1 of South Beach all week to shrink my liver and today at 11:30 I had to take Fleet Phosa Soda and then clear liquids the rest of the day. All of sudden while at the nail salon (to get my polish off my acrylic nails) it hit me. I will never be able to eat a BIG meal again. My fellow bandsters keep telling me I will be able to eat anything in the future, just smaller portions. Still, its a big step. I hear you all! I have to be at the hospital at 5:15am

Dee, I was reading my information getting ready for next week and a lot of the protein shakes suggest adding some sweetner. That could help. If you like cofffee add some instant coffee granulas and splenda and it will be like a latte. Yum

Bandofgold - you have the coolest things on your site. You are gonna half to come over and get me at least a ticker! Judy - the NP said clear liquids, but if I can't stand it and get really hungry to drink cups of soup (the cup at hand you mentioned)

Does anyone know where to get Greek yogurt? I read about it in a lot of other posts and it sounds delicious and like it has a lot of uses. Perhaps, if we do have a get together, we can also have a recipe exchange.

Daniellabee, if it is the same as it was in the spring you must wait for the center to call you for your first appointment. Listen carefully because I was one of the only people who heard you could go in to get your first weigh in and start on South Beach immediately if that is what you want to do. I believe it will be months before you see the surgeon. There are other appointments and tests first.

Dee thanks for the heads up. I will put that on my list of questions for the dietician. One does visit you in the hospital right? I have Designer Whey in vanilla and chocolate. I haven't tried the chocolate yet but I have been mixing the vanilla for months with milk to put in my Cereal and putting the Protein powder in my cooled coffee. If you drink coffee that would be a good way to drink it. Have you tried to add fruit to it (blended of course)? Thank you for giving me some guidelines. The hospital just called and I have to be there at 5:15 am and Michael is on vacation. Awwww I was looking forward to seeing him. I only have two more days of eating so I am trying to clean out the refrigerator of all fresh produce so it doesn't go bad since I wont be eating it for awhile and to my husband it is alien food. LOL

Dee what do you mean the protein is the worse for me? I thought we were on clear liquids for the first week.

1. Where do I start? I have Independant Health for insurance. 2. How long are you off of work? 3. sleep apnea? I have this. 4. I recently had a stress test done....will that be needed? 5. What is the average process time? 6. When should I start the process? 8. Who do I call? I want this Dr Hoffman. 9. How long does the surgey take? Sorry to bombard with all the questions but I'm just so confused Ok...one more, there are some scarey posts on here.....are you all happy you did this? Any regrets? Christina, I will be banded on Monday. That will make it 7 months and 1 day since I sent in my application. As Dee said the first thing is to get an application and fill it out. This is not a quick process so don't put it off. Any tests you have or will have done from this time forward keep a copy of the results. You will need it later. ALWAYS have an extra copy of everything you send the weight loss center or they give you. Documentation has been known to get lost. I have independent health. You need to qualify. This means have a BMI of at least 40 or 35 with comorbiditys. My BMI is 35 but I have diabetes, sleep apnea and high BP so I qualify. I am very anxious to lose weight but am really looking forward to becoming healthy! After your initial weigh in you will be asked to go on the South Beach Diet. You need to lose weight to show you are able to comply to new eating habits and sometimes to qualify for insurance. As far as Dr. Hoffman is concerned yes he is great but so is Dr. Posner. They will probably be adding a third doctor to the practice. You are "assigned" a surgeon but have the right to request a certain one but that is nothing to worry about just yet. It will be months before you reach that point. Again, as Dee said surgery is about an hour and requires an overnight stay. Recovery is different for each individual. If your job requires heavy lifting you will need to be off longer. That is the only real restriction. They encourage walking immediately. You can drive after you are off the pain meds. Also if you even considering it don't delay in putting in your application. You can change your mind, you can delay surgery. My original surgery was scheduled for September 22 but that did not fit in with my work schedule so I had to have a schedule change. It happens. After you are accepted in the program you can attend monthly support group meetings for pre and post band patients at Buffalo General. There is a wealth of information exchanged at the meetings and new friends are made. You could read every post on Lapbandtalk and get 1 million different experiences. As one poster recently pointed out, she has had a perfect experience, no PB ing, no sliming but she doesn't write because it would be boring. Everyone assures me I will love my band and they are all happy they had it done even after a painful "stuck" episode. I hope this helps. Good Luck