DrewsLou

Thanks StrawartS!

Holy crap that pic is huge! Can anyone help me with that? It's the first time I've ever posted a pic.... how do I make it smaller?

This is my hubby, our new puppy Diesel, he's an Australian Cattle Dog, and our Springer Spaniel Kelsey. Hopefully the pic works!

Hi Jen!! :clap2: I will be thinking of you tomorrow as you become a fellow bandit! I am 6 days post op and doing awesome! Good luck to you! Try and get some good sleep tonight... I know, easier said than done.

I'm heading back tomorrow myself Yoda! I am pretty sick of sitting around the house and am looking forward to have the usual challenges of the work day. Good luck to you tomorrow! Let us know how it goes!

Good luck to all those being banded this week! You are doing such a good thing for yourselves! It is day 6 post surgery for me. I am doing awesome. I had my first social meal with my my husbands family this morning for breakfast. It went great. I was a bit horrified to watch them all shoveling food in like it was a race. I sat and slowly sipped my yogurt and enjoyed the taste and tesxture in my mouth. I am learning to really enjoy the experience of food not just eating as much as I can as fast as I can. I still continue to have no pain. I even woke up on my stomach this morning!! I am going back to work tomorrow and am looking forward to getting out of the house. I had my first NSV today! I put on some capri pants I wore a few weeks ago and they no loonger dig into my gut. That's not the best part though.... I put on some sandals that I always wear and they were a bit loose. I have a pair of Doc Marten sandals that I love but have been too tight since I bought them so I thought hey, what the heck? I tried them on and they fit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG! I can't tell you how thrilled I am! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

I feel your pain Sleepyjean. I too am having a hard time getting all my water in. Stomach pain caused by hunger is also a new concept to me. I woke up hungry this morning and got a few sips of yogurt down then I was "full". I took a nap and woke up and had a few tablespoons of soup. This went down much easier. I told my husband today that if I'm restricted like this all the time I won't need a fill! I know I'm probably still swollen from surgery, it was only 5 days ago. It's definatley new to learn what all these signs and signals from my tummy mean. Good news though! I slept in my bed last night with no problem! I was even able to lay on both sides!

LMFAO @ Chris in a fro!

Hello my May friends! Day 4 has gone well. I talked to my doc today and he gave me the green light for some simple full liquids. I made some potato cheese soup and watered it down with milk and blended it until smooth. It's amazing how much better I feel! I probably only got about 6 tablespoons down though and I was full. I thought I was eating slowly enough to tell when I was full but I think I may have overdid it a bite or 2. That was over 3 hours ago and I am just now not feeling so full. Lesson learned!! I am going back to work on Monday and think that just talking 4 days off worked great for me. I went to the grocery store alone today and did fine. I have no pain whatsover just a little pulling pressure where my port is. I think I will try and sleep in bed tonight. My neck gets so sore sleeping in the recliner! I hope everyone who has been banded this week is doing well and getting lots of rest. Those who are waiting to be banded get all those last minute things done before surgery and enjoy lots of time with those you love. The recovery has not been nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be for me. Did anyone have "last meals" before getting banded? I seemed to have many many of them. LOL. Steak, gyros and pizza were my favorites!

Now that's comedy gold!

We are total TV junkies here. Hopefully that changes soon... thank god for TIVO! Wheetsin... Dirty Jobs! Mike Rowe is one of the hottest guys on the planet. He is on my "list" with my husband of who I can cheat with. LOL. We watch: CSI (all 3) The Office (the funniest show on TV) My Name is Earl ER Survivor American Idol Sopranos Big Love Wife Swap (hysterical) Law and Order (SVU mostly)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just called and left my doc a message to call me back to see if I can progress to full liquids. I have had no trouble with clear lquids so far, no nausea or heartburn or anything so I'm hoping he gives me the go ahead! If he does I think I will make some cream of tomato soup. Yummy! Thanks for the idea about potato cheese soup... I have a yummy recipie for that, maybe I can make some this weekend!

My doc says 1 week clear liquids, 2 of full liquids then mushies at 3 weeks. I get my first fill at 4 weeks then will progress to solids from there. I am on day 3 of clear liquids and I'm STARVING!! I have some Isopure in the fridge... think I'll give that a try right now!

I just posted a huge response but it disappeared. I can relate to a lot of what you said Zannie. It has been pretty easy to hide behind the weight and blames lifes woes on being fat. I am afraid to stand on my own 2 feet again and be accountable for who I am. Good food for thought P'Nut! Now you got me thinkin'!

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Okay.... Day 3 and I am STARVING!!!! I'm already sick of broth and popsicles, tea, juice, water, jello and Isopure. Any other ideas??? :help:

I agree. The show is getting pretty boring. I hope they have a good theme this coming week!

I also sinned. I did not believe that I would need the recliner but BOY HOWDY! The first time I tried to get up and out of bed I thought I was going to die. I had a breast reduction a few years ago and lived in my friend the recliner for a few weeks. In the past years it has just become a catch all in the corner of our bedroom for my laundry that I'm too lay to put away. My husband is thrilled that my clothes are put away and I'm using it for sitting again. I'm hoping to be back in bed in the next few days but until then I will continue to worship from a reclined position! :drama:

Hello my May friends! Day 2 is going well. I'm pretty sleepy and have been napping on and off. I didn't sleep well last night. I think the longest stretch I slept for was 2 hours. I'm not in much pain just kind of uncomfortable feeling. I was a bit concerned yesterday because I was able to drink a lot in one sitting then I woke up from a nap and had a cup of jello and some broth and WHAM! I was way too full. Now I know what that feels like! Yuck! Today I've been slowly sipping some broth and apple juice and it seems to be going much better. The worst part is getting up and down. It feels like I've done 10,000 situps. Hopefully this is all making sense.... I just took some Vicoden a bit ago. Maybe I'll go settle down for another little nappie. :notagree Good luck to those that are going in the next few days!

So what did everyone think? I wasn't terribly blown away with any of the performances. Maybe it's just the painkillers I'm on!

It's official. I am a bandster!! My surgery went fine... just as expected. He said my liver looked great so the diet paid off! I went in at about 9am and woke up in recovery at 11ish. I wasn't in too much pain but at a few points I got pretty uncomfortable so they hooked me up with the good drugs. I was up and out of bed by 1. My butt was asleep from sitting on that gurney for so long that I had to get out of that bed. It felt good to be up. The guy in the bed next to me in recovery had to be one of the most annoying people I have ever been in the presence of. He kept telling the nurses to be nice to him since he was being so nice to them. They were treating him like a king! He had no cause to complain one little bit. It was nice to get up and away from him! The ride home was a bit bumpy. That hurt a little... mostly just felt like pressure though. By the time we got home I was pooped. I tried to lie down in our bed but it was pretty hard to sit up from a flat position so I headed for the recliner. Much better! I have slept for a few hours off and on. Been sipping Water, peppermint tea and broth. Everything is going down fine. I felt what I think was a little gas pressure in my side for a little while but took some GasX and that went away in a hurry. I was pretty afraid of how I was going to feel immediatley after surgery but so far so good! I have been really suprised. Thanks to all of you that suggested walking to help the aches and pains go away. It really works! I have worn a path down my driveway and back. Thanks again for all the well wishes and good thoughts. For those of you up next RELAX! It isn't as bad as I was afraid of!

Anyone know this week's theme?

Well... here I am getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I went to the store tonight for all my clear liquid goodies and got some Isapure from GNC. The girl at GNC assures me that Isapure tastes like Gatorade... riiiiiiigggghhhhttt! :confused: I am feeling a lot of emotions right now. Nervousness is probably the first on the list. I know everything is going to go fine but there is still that small part of me that is scared. I have been wanting and planning on this for so long that it almost seems surreal that in 12 hours I will be an official bandit! :eek: I want to thank everyone for their kind words and support both here and in PM's. It means a lot to me that you are all pulling for me. I will update you as soon as I am able and let you know how things are going for me. I hope everyone has a fabulous night!!

Congrats RmichaelsAZ. I have also had to go on a low carb diet to shrink my liver. This weekend has been a struggle for me but overall I have lost 11 pounds! I haven't read any books about the procedure. Most of my research has been here and online. My surgeon has a support group for his patients that I hope to join after surgery.... the support of other people who are going through the same things will be so valuable!

Wow... I feel poor next to all these nice cars! We have a Jeep Cherokee and Subaru Outback. Our next car will probably be a minivan since we are planning on adopting a couple of kids before the year is out.