RestlessMonkey

Hey you could be a trophy wife for a 80 year old rich guy! LOL It's after 3 here and I have got to go to bed so good luck to you! Sorry about your fibro and the back issues but hopefully losing weight will help a lot w/at least part of it! Surely they can come up with something to do for you so you can take your pills. Can vicodin be crushed? AND be careful taking it AND tylenol...I think vicodin has tylenol in it. (not sure, it's late) if so you don't want to OD on acetaminophen. your prescribing doc should be able to come up with something for you! Good luck and chew those wheat thins LOL

Those are some heavy duty pain meds you are on! My doc says no ibuprofen AT ALL ... any way you can switch to tylenol? I know it comes in a liquid. Vicodin comes in a liquid, and the tramadol if it's small enough, you should be able to take. Hopefully you can get off those meds if you lose weight?

Doesn't your doctor prefer a specific brand? Mine did.

Personally I plan to do the same thing. I feel better when I cut out the carbs that come from refined flour and sugar etc. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE that food. Chips...white bread...buttercream frosting...fried chicken...YUM BUT to be honest when I was doing my preop diet (that was very low fat low carb high protein) I had higher energy and felt like a million bucks. Not everyone feels this way though. And that extra Protein can tax your kidneys and liver. Our doc recommends that we (once restricted) eat protein first, then veggies, then fruit. So that's what I plan to do. AND...guess what? Atkins type diets aren't as unhealthy as people first thought. South Beach is just an evolved Atkins type diet. I think you should eat whichever way makes you have the most energy. Your body needs protein, fat, and carbs to function; just not as much as we have been getting. You will find a mix that works for you.

Lower left below your belly button is your bowels. Kidneys are in the back. Where is your port?

By the way, your ticker is too cute! :rolleyes2:

Salome...yes that's a good diet to shrink the liver but if you have a low BMI you really don't need to worry. AND...you will be on a liquid diet post op for 2 weeks or so, then move on to foods you can chew. Honestly the idea that we can shrink our stomachs is a fallacy. They DO stretch but it takes a long long time to shrink them. You of course may diet if you want, but you'd probably do just as well practicing things like chewing each bite 20-30 times, not drinking during meals, etc. And of course you know yourself! If you think you need a preop diet then to do it for a little while probably won't hurt you any.

You are probably sick of being in that hotel!

Have you tried the bed with pillows along your side to prop you up? are you taking the pain meds? don't they make you sleepy? you could go look at yourself in the bathroom mirror, dim the lights and repeat in a monotone "you are getting VERRRRY SLEEEPY" LOL ok maybe not...

Only you can decide what's best for you (and living on yogurt can't be the answer!) I think lovegrapes is on track with the test for H. pylori. I'd also get unfilled. totally. You need to let those ulcers heal; that's priority. Once they are healed up, get a small fill and see how you do. I've read that a small esophagus can be a contraindication for the band but now that you have it I'm sure you'd like for it to work for you. And while you are healing try to get sufficient Protein even if you have to drink Protein shakes (whether you enjoy them or not) Your body needs protein to heal. Again; you have to do what feels right for you...but I think unfill, healing, and then see about a slight fill might be a good choice for you. If you did ok until the 2nd fill, you may be overfilled for your situation. You've already taken steps to get better (the losec, which I assume is like our American Prilosec!) .... so don't stop! get unfilled and see how you feel. You may be on your losec forever. My husband has GERD (no band, not overweight, just has GERD) and will probably take a similar drug the rest of his days. BUT his erosion is gone. It's worth it.

Here's a link to a good ticker tutorial....I couldn't tell you how I finally got mine to show up if my life depended on it LOL http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/ AND i got your "request" but for some reason i click accept and it won't save so i'll keep trying, ok? my connection has been funky tonight. :rolleyes2:

AND....be nice to yourself, ok? It's a big step. A positive one, but a big one. You just had major surgery even if it was laparoscopic. If you want to lie around for a bit, you do that!

Does your doc's office have a therapist you can see? I don't know if feeling sad is "normal" necessarily but I'm pretty sure it happens, especially if people aren't truly ready or are grieving the loss of their old lifestyle! If that's so, a therapist can help you talk through it and make sure it doesn't just deepen. You MAY be a little blue, too, if you are still on liquids; hunger can do odd things to people. Whichever the case, you aren't alone; the band is a big step and we all have to learn to deal with the "new" ways we have to eat and so on! Hopefully someone who has been blue or down and gotten over it can post and help give you tips to get past it, too. But until then, I'm sorry you're feeling down. Getting out and about will probably help perk you up a little!

Welcome! Where are you in north Texas? The panhandle area? I'd cry if I had to sit through a five hour education seminar, too! LOL things are moving quickly for you! good luck!

Vinegar is more acidic than pineapple juice. I think if you drink undiluted apple cider vinegar and are blocked and have to vomit it back up you are going to be in some deep misery. If I were you I'd call my doc and ask him what to do for reflux before I'd get the vinegar out...but then I don't want to drink anything that has a pH close to stomach acid. Color me crazy but I just don't. Even apple cider vinegar fans often dilute it before drinking it and they aren't banded with blockage. Good luck! Post when you take it so I can hide under my bed in case there's an atomic type blast from your state! LOL

Faerykiss I think a seminar is an excellent idea! I know you will investigate and do some soul searching and come up with the answer that is right for you. Best of luck to you, whichever you decide!

I've seen unjury here....some people have posted about it. Once I get restriction I'll be nosing around for a protein supplement, I think...and so may give the "unflavored" one a try. i'm too sick of chicken broth and chocolate to even think about them right now! :rolleyes2: Good luck to both of you! :girl_hug:

Then I can tell you why I chose it for me... I'm 53. I was a little chubby as a kid but not too bad. I am 5'5" and weighed 125 when I graduated from high school. Away at colllege the "freshman 15" on me was more "the freshman 50" I fought my weight constantly...up/down up/down. I weighed 290 in 1995 when I quit smoking. Now in 2008 I weighed in at 405. I have tried (and lost on) just about every diet known to man. I would ALWAYS lose interest/get bored/get tired of it and gain back plus more. I have even done 11 months of behavioral therapy. That actually helped me finally realize I needed more help than any diet or "lifestyle" change. It is NOT easy to face yourself and say I cannot do this alone. But for me, at least, it's honest. I have a life I want to live and at my age and weight it just wasn't feasible. I had run out of the luxury of time where I could tell myself "Well I'll "do Atkins" and lose it" or "I'll go back to Weight Watchers and this time I won't let myself get sick of weighing every bite I eat" or so on. Some have the gumption or wherewithal or good luck (or a combo of all 3 ) to lose on a diet and keep it off but the postitive statistics are staggeringly low. When my internist told me on 7/3 that MY own good luckk was about to run out and judging from my blood work within 3 months I'd be diabetic and so on, that he was worried about my blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides, and that "it is all about to go to hell and once you start that downhill slide I'm afraid I won't be able to stop it"...I leaped at the band as a lifesaver. Frankly I had wanted it since 2001 when it first hit the USA but he wasn't on board with it back then. His comment was like opening the gate at a horserace...I was gone like a shot to find out if my insurance covered it, find a surgeon, and attend a seminar. I am grateful to have it. I have hope again. I know it is only a tool, but then that's all I wanted. It isn't a quick or easy fix; as you've said, surgery is drastic. I would've had to die fat (and no doubt I would have) if my only option had been bypass. BUt the band is win win in my book. I did have, a year or so ago, an epiphany because I had caught myself thinking the band was "cheating" and that I should lose weight "the hard way". That was just my lack of education speaking to me. If I needed a pacemaker for my heart, I would get it immediately. THis is a pacemaker for my stomach. It will save my life as surely as a pacemaker would. I wanted to change my life. But at my weight I was unable to do it without help. 4-5 months of WW and I'd get so darn SICK of it....tired of being hungry, (and I was) tired of counting every cracker....same with any diet. With the band, if I watch what I eat and make healthy choices and get exercise, the weight will come off. How could I not grab that ring? I knew myself. My therapy helped. I realized that I could have a healthier life, I just had to have the courage to go for it. Since I try to live bravely, it was a no brainer for me.

nope no deodorant. Husband's an RN. It can react with the anesthesia. Best to just go in bare. :rolleyes2: No fingernail or toenail polish either...they need to be able to 1. put a pulse oximeter on to monitor your oxygen saturation and 2. to check your capillary refill to make sure your circulation is good! :girl_hug:

I think each doc has a different preop diet, too! (you'll learn, if you nose around here, that the surgeons don't ever seem to agree on ANYTHING! LOL) My surgeon had a very specific shake, EAS CarbControl AdvantEDGE he wanted me to use. Some docs use Optifast, some slim fast, others say NEVER use slim fast, etc etc...and then a few poor souls are supposed to use skimmed milk and make their own. Until you know what your surgeon recommends, and unless you just like Protein shakes (they are better than mag citrate but still nothing to get excited about LOL) wait and see what special thing YOUR doc wants! And if you two get your surgeries like, a week apart, then your diets will be pretty similar. It's hard to be on liquids when someone else can eat and it sounds like you are a team (my Dh and I are that way)...again, your doc can give you some guidance. Good luck. Your lives are both about to change so much, for the better! You must both be pretty excited!

Ashmarie ... Sure! They are "Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band...Everything you need to know before and after surgery to lose weight successfully" (mouthful, huh?) by Robert W. Sewell MD and Linda Rohrbough and "Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding" by Jessie Ahroni, PhD. A friend also bought Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies and liked it a lot. I found all 3 at amazon.com but they are in print and so should likely be available at a local Barnes and Noble or Borders if you don't want to order them online. I found them very educational and informative, and both are easy to read.

Ashmarie...they don't do endoscopy on everyone. I didn't need one. Just FYI....

Each surgeon is different and the one you choose can give tips to your partner about how quickly his/her patients usually recover etc. They all have different styles and spins...many different things can impact recovery. I'd think she'd need at least a week or more, depending on what type of retail. If she has to lift heavy stuff, more than 2 weeks. Bowel prep is a liquid (my hospital uses magnesium citrate) you use to clean out your intestines so that you don't have any issues during surgery. Some docs don't require it if you are just having the lap band, but most do. It isn't fun and really not interesting either (unless you like that kind of thing LOL) but most of us have to do it!

Can you call your insurance and ask for the closest physican in the network who does the lap band? I don't understand what the money comment has to do with anything, but that's where I'd start, with the insurance list.

Welcome! I hope you find the answers you need here!