jmegirl

Could you send me the information on your book and when I can expect to find it in stores? I want to read it! :cursing:

As far as I know, you're only supposed to stay away from drinking when you're actually eating a real meal. The first two weeks of Liquids don't count. So you can drink your water or your crystal light while you try to drink a protein shake, that shouldn't be a problem. Once you're all healed and on normal food, you want to avoid drinking during a meal so that the food stays in your pouch for as long as possible and doesn't get "washed through the band" by the excess liquid. If that happens, you won't stay full as long as you should, and you'll get hungry sooner.

I'm in NC, and I traveled to Denver, CO in order to have surgery. My insurance would not cover me as I was a 39 BMI with no comorbidities. So we were forced to self-pay. The doctor in Denver charges a flat $9,950 for everything (not including hotel/airfare) and the cheapest I found locally was $23,000! So, I flew to Denver for my surgery. I could go to Fill Centers USA for my aftercare, they are about a 3hr drive from my home. But they are so expensive that it's actually cheaper to buy a roundtrip ticket to Denver every other month and get a free fill from my own surgeon! How crazy is that?

I was told that once you're completely healed, avoiding soups is a good idea, for that very reason - they just run right through and you don't get any satisfaction. But the day after a fill, soup is obviously what you have to eat - understood. Just avoid soups when you're not "healing", unless of course it's chili or some really hearty soup that has lots of stuff in it. Same story for ice cream, high calorie drinks (like Starbucks :cursing: ) - all those should pretty much be off limits because you don't get "full" on them.

Let me tell you, the first week after surgery I was so scared to have anything other than crystal light and apple juice, haha. I was so paranoid that I would hurt something, stretch something, rip something - and it was totally uncalled for, by the way. I didn't have any kind of Full Liquids until Day 5, even though I could have started them Day 3. And even then, it was just SF pudding cups or SF popsicles for 2 days. I tried to drink an Atkins shake on Day 5 and I got about 4 sips down (maybe 3oz total) and was dreadfully full...so full that I felt nauseous. So this might be the nausea you're referring to. I do know that in those first 2 or 3 weeks I didn't want anything sweet. The protein shakes I was mixing at home were almost too sweet to tolerate, and I definitely didn't want ice cream or sherbert. It was a blessing really, because Full Liquids definitely includes ice cream, haha. :biggrin:

Thank goodness! They numb you!!! You don't know how great that is to read!!! I'm so bothered by needles - my skin is crawling just thinking about it. I hope my doctor cracks jokes to take my mind off of the whole thing! Keep me posted about how your fill treats you (do you get restriction, etc) because I'm anxious to know if this first fill will be a good one! I have to travel halfway across the country for my fills, so this thing better last more than 2 days, hahah!

Last night I started "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris. It's the first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which are the subject of the new series on HBO "True Blood". I'm sure everyone has heard of that show! Now that Season One has ended, I'm going to read the book, because I hear that Season One follows the book, and it ends where the book ends. That show is awesome!

That sounds like a wonderful selection of mushies! :biggrin: I was on Clear Liquids for Day 1-2, Full Liquids for Day 3-14, and Mushies for Day 15-21. Day 22 (which happened to be Thanksgiving!) was my first day of solid foods, though my doctor said to eat as many soft foods as possible the first week. As a result, I had one small bite of dry turkey smothered in gravy, and everything else was a casserole of some sort. I'm gonna get those Edy's frozen fruit bars. I love that kind of stuff, but always just assumed they had too much sugar!

Oh that is so great to hear!!!! I was banded on 11/5 and I've been chewing off my own arm the last 2 days. My first fill is Friday 12/5 so I hope I have as much success with it as you are!!!!

My surgeon places the band about 2 inches below my boobs, in the middle. He said he used to place it 2 inches below and to the left, but he has found over the years that the middle is a better place for it, for whatever reason. I like where mine is, though I'm paranoid about wearing panty hose this weekend to the Company Christmas Party. Typically, the Control Top panty hose come up over my belly and end right where my port site is, haha. This should be fun...... In completely unrelated news, MY GOODNESS I'm starving. This is Bandster Hell I imagine. My fill is Friday and can't get here fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbup:

But of course! FF refried beans (which aren't nearly as bad as my husband said they'd be) and FF sour cream. I don't get low fat cheddar shreds though. I'm not so sure they'd melt that well. And salsa is naturally fat free and actually pretty good for you, except for the sodium content. Yes, you can have spicy things. Just remember that you aren't supposed to drink anything with your meals, and you're supposed to wait at least 30mins after your meal before drinking. So if things get super spicy and you need more than the tiniest sip, I'd say don't do it! LOL I can't stand spicy stuff, so I haven't run into this problem.

Mine was bad from Day 2 to Day 5.

Try this...I layer refried beans on the bottom of the dish, put a little chunky salsa on top of that, then a little shredded cheese. I microwave it for a few minutes on a lower heat setting til the cheese is all melted and bubbly on the edges. Then I top it with a little sour cream. :thumbup: Heaven! As far as salads go, I don't see why you couldn't have salad after 6 weeks, but I would ask your doctor to make sure.

How about cottage cheese? It's amazing how much protein is in that stuff! :thumbup:

I am 25 days post-op. So, last night we got together with some friends and one of them wanted to feel my port. So I told her where to "push" and she did, though she pushed a little harder for my liking. Anyways, she felt it, and that was the end of that. So I was getting ready for bed last night, and I started to push on my port site to feel it - and I felt a pop. :cursing: It didn't hurt at all, but I felt a slight pop beneath my finger, and I definitely think I heard it pop too. It's been about 14hrs now and I've still not felt any pain at my port site. Could I have popped a stitch last night? I'm freaking out man! I plan to call my doctor first thing tomorrow, but I'd really like some thoughts now!

You know, I think you're right about this. Because I looked this morning, and the incision where my port is is like an inch wide. I only pushed on one side of it when I heard the pop. Well this morning, that half of the incision is more flattened than the other half. Like, the whole incision was raised up before, and where I heard the pop is now flattened. Strange!! But I'm still calling my doctor. He's in Denver, so his office opens in about half an hour.

Well, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. We had a lot of people, way too much food, and everyone enjoyed themselves. We decided to cook the turkey in a Roaster Oven to reserve the oven in the kitchen for everything else, and that booger was done an hour and a half early! I had no idea the turkey would cook so fast in the Roaster Oven! So, as a result we had a slightly dried out bird for dinner, but thankfully we also had ham. It took my husband and I until Sunday to finally get the house back in order. Gosh, it's been such a long weekend! I worked Friday, we had a football game and a housewarming party on Saturday - so yesterday was laundry and cleaning day, haha. I gotta tell you though, I didn't realize what kind of effect it would have on me not being able to eat a lot. I have progressed to normal foods now, but I still only ate about 10 bites before I was stuffed. 10 measly bites, and everyone else around me was chowing down on yummy food. Of course, no one actually noticed how little food I ate, so there were no questions. After dinner while everyone was serving themselves dessert, I went into the living room and curled up on the couch with my mom and just cried on her shoulder for a few minutes. A little later I went upstairs to my bathroom to cry. Not being able to eat really bothered me. I guess I didn't realize just how addicted to food I am. Don't get me wrong, after 10 bites I was really full - I just wanted to keep eating. The food was good and I wanted more - but I just couldn't stomach it, and it was sooooo depressing. So basically, there were no problems with the day at all, and everyone had a blast - but not being able to eat what I wanted to really took a toll on me, and what should have been a really enjoyable day with family turned into a slightly depressing day with family.

:thumbup::drool::wink2: Thank you!!

Everything sounds good to me right now! It's driving me nuts. 5 days til FILL!

That makes me feel so much better!!!! :wink2: Good job! I have my first fill on Friday and I seriously can't wait. I ate 3 slices of pizza last night, and I've had 5 slices of pizza over the course of the day today. It was thin crust, so it went down just fine. Weekends are the worst!

Right! Even if I did mess something up, I'm seeing Dr. K on Friday. No pain is a good sign, you're right! Still, it was freaky hearing/feeling a pop; I had trouble going to sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about all the problems I could have just created!!! I agree, I shouldn't be able to pop a stitch just by pushing on it. Maybe Dr. K will have a few opinions. I still plan to call tomorrow morning!

I made a thread in the Post-Op forum but wanted to post it here too for any advice you may have.... I am 25 days post-op. So, last night we got together with some friends and one of them wanted to feel my port. So I told her where to "push" and she did, though she pushed a little harder for my liking. Anyways, she felt it, and that was the end of that. So I was getting ready for bed last night, and I started to push on my port site to feel it - and I felt a pop. :cursing: It didn't hurt at all, but I felt a slight pop beneath my finger, and I definitely think I heard it pop too. It's been about 14hrs now and I've still not felt any pain at my port site. Could I have popped a stitch last night? I'm freaking out man! I plan to call my doctor first thing tomorrow, but I'd really like some thoughts now!

Ugh, that happened with my bridesmaid's dresses. I picked them out from David's Bridal about 10mos ahead of time. About 3mos before the wedding we went back to order them - discontinued, and no longer carried in the Petal Pink color. :thumbup: So we had to pick a new dress, but I ended up liking the new dress on my bridesmaid's much better than the first dress we picked. As far as what size you should order, I would try on the dress now and figure out what size you need. Ask the seamstress how many sizes they can take the dress in and how many sizes they can let it out. At David's Bridal, most of the dresses could only be altered up or down one size, but the dress I chose had beading underneath the bust, and as a result it couldn't be taken in or let out at all. Each dress is different. So find out how much wiggle room you've got as far as alterations, figure out what size you wear now, and I'd say order something 3 sizes smaller. That way if you lose more, you can [hopefully] have it taken in, or if you don't lose as much, you can have it let it out. But remember, usually the more you lose, the slower you lose, so it's possible you won't lose as much over the next 10mos that you did in the last 10mos. Basically, it's Russian Roulette. Welcome to the game! :w00t::wink2:

Interesting note about sweet potatoes. My doctor didn't tell me that about sweet potatoes, but it makes sense! Yesterday I had mashed sweet potatoes with dinner and all was well (I am 3 weeks and 2 days post-op).

Sounds good! I'm 3 weeks and 2 days post-op and I can now have real food! I think I'll stop at Whole Foods and get some of these after work today!!!