Lanakila

I completely agree on the pet thing and the IV thing! I was never so grateful to be able to walk from a bed to a bathroom as when I was after not having to drag that darned pole with me! My usually frisky dog immediately, obediently sat when I came through the door and hasn't pawed my lap once. The kitties have come over to sit on the arm of the chair, but seem to "smell" the difference and have not yet tried to climb on me. Because my doc put my large incision horizontally in the crease of my rolls, there's a natural cushion of roll above and below so I haven't had to worry about it rubbing anything. The smaller incisions don't hurt any more than a typical boo-boo would.

I toast you all with my crystal light as you head out to your grand voyage! It's been a long wait, I know, but your time has finally come and we are cheering you on!

Welcome Angela! I got banded today and have to stay overnight (apnea monitoring) but that's not keeping me from watching the NFL Preseason game tonight. Good thing it's a private room...or my yelling at the tv would probably get me in trouble!

Not even gonna step on a scale for the Friday Weigh In. I've been watching this darned saline drain down my IV and just thinking about how the scale is creeping up. My pre-op weight this am was 283.0, which is a 0.8# gain. We'll see what we get next week! :biggrin:

I'm thrilled to see that you and the Mrs. are home and well. I have to stay overnight because they like to monitor how the anesthesia affects my apnea. All things considered, it's nice not to have my hubby hovering, and having to avoid my pets...although being chained to an IV pole sucks!

So here I am thinking I'm my usual calm self, not at all nervous or even excited. Yesterday my shoulders were full of tension while I was at work. I figured that my chair had to be adjusted and that would fix it. Nope, ended up taking meds when I got home and hanging out with a heating pad. This morning, still tense :thumbup: Hubby is sure that it is subconscious stress causing it. I've also done great for the last week and a-half on my self-imposed cut back on food. I've been sticking to liquids during the daytime and then having a regular dinner. No problem. No temptations. BUT, this morning I did my pre-registration at the hospital. I've known since Friday that I was going to have to go all liquid for these next 48 hours. Since things had been going fine the past week, I figured "no problem", right? Wrong! I want every food known to man right now. When I was choosing to do it I was fine, but now that I have to do it I feel deprived. That's some pretty crappy head hunger right there! Thanks for listening to me whine :thumbup:

Yes...and I'm a Rebel! Ok, not really...I did obey the rules and now I'm done being banded :tt2:

Watching the Sopranos on rerun, drinkin' a little water, and playin' on my laptop. Oh, and I'm done with surgery! The doc did a great job by putting my port incision horizontally in the crease between my rolls, next to my belly button. Anyhow, must go strolling the halls now :tt2:

I don't think that its really grief or head hunger...but I do think its funny that I was dealing just fine when I was "self imposing" the diet and suddently felt deprived once I was "required" to do it. Nuts!!!! :thumbup:

It's just the IV fluids. It'll come off in a few days.

As I woke up from a nap, my hubby brought me a "last supper" in bed, complete with a citrucel chew, tobasco sauce, and a beautiful rose!

Listen to Veronica...she's the boss of you right now! How old is your boy?

The only reason that I am staying overnight is so that they can monitor the effect of the anesthesia on my sleep apnea. Otherwise, I would be a same-day surgery.

Hep C should not be a problem. You should notify your dr so that they will be more compliant with infection protocol, but other than that I cannot imagine that it would be a problem. Hep C is not nearly as systemic as B, so your liver should be in relatively decent condition.

Deanna, I'm so glad to hear that you have come through so well! I work at a Univ. so I know how demanding two long lectures and office hours can be. You are a trooper! I'm positive that moving around after surgery is the best way to move healing along and this just supports my theory. Oh, and how is hubby doing? Any support from him yet?

The stitches that folks are referring to when they talk about the limited diet are the stitches that actually hold your band in place. Part of your stomach is "folded" over the band and then stitched to itself so that the band is actually connected to your stomach. Check out the lapband.com website for a diagram.

I've actually been testing out baby foods since I am still pre-op. I found them to taste like VERY well-chewed food, which is the point once we get to whole foods anyway, right?. I add a little Mrs. Dash or some other spices to the jarred meats and it is actually not bad at all.

I'm gonna hang this on my fridge! It really brings things into perspective

Way to go Goodie! I'm thrilled to hear how everyone does. After hearing such great stories like yours, it really helps to keep me mellow as I wait for my day.

Dr. Moran will be doing my surgery this Wednesday. I have been very happy with him and his staff. I don't know how much everything will cost because my insurance will be paying. The enrollment fee was not covered by insurance and was $250. I'll be happy to share my billing once I get it. I'm not sure how many specialists Dr. Moran or Dr. Enochs will require you to see, but be sure to count that into the costs that you are looking at. Hopefully your insurance will cover some of the costs. I know that I needed a chest x-ray, labwork, EKG, dietician (not covered by my ins) and a psych clearance. I'm not sure how many of those are required by insurance or if they are required by the dr.

I use a travel mug! It blocks that baby formula smell that all protein drinks seem to have :thumbup: If I don't have to smell it, most of the stuff that I have tried has been ok. I do know that powdered stuff HAS to sit in the fridge overnight for me. It gets rid of the grit! I really try to stay away from the stuff by drinking crystal light with a New Whey Protein Bullet (only use half at a time to limit protein) mixed in.

Before I used the machine regularly, I never "knew" that I wasn't breathing. Now I've been using my CPAP faithfully for a few years. If I try to sleep without it now, I wake myself up every time I stop breathing. This keeps me absolutely exhausted and I have a headache from the hypoxia (lack of oxygen in brain). There is no doubt that this plays in to how active I am during the day!

Welcome Steve! You will find some great support and even some bandland friends here. It sounds like you have a wonderful life and that you have taken this step seriously so that you can continue enjoying the gifts that God has given to you. I hope to see you post here often!

Laura, don't forget that you don't have to go on a "farewell tour" of your favorite foods. The band is a wonderful tool and will help you limit what you eat. Everyone is different and so they may have a few foods that don't work for them, or that don't work for them early on...but you'll be able to eat again, promise! Follow what your surgeon prescribes for you, and you'll come through with flying colors! Absorb the super support that comes from these boards, but DON'T compare what your doctor says with what other folks have been instructed to do, k? It's just confusing!

Could you describe these spasms in more detail? I haven't heard of anyone have spasms to the point of being hospitalized and I read this board waaaaayyyy too much. This is interesting and I'd like to hear more. Have you gotten a second opinion?