jmegirl

OK ladies, I'm having a really bad night. My husband and I went around 9p to a local tavern that we frequent. We know them, they know us, they know what we drink, etc. It's a really friendly place, we can watch some football, play trivia, get some dinner and enjoy ourselves. Well, usually around 10p on the weekends, the not-so-familiar crowd comes in - the kind of crowd that's just looking for drink specials and a place to get drunk on a Friday night. Well, at 10:30p two guys walked in that I knew from about 5 yrs ago - back when I was a hottie. I was 21, they were 17. We all cashiered for the same local grocery store. Back then I was a size 12 and a super hottie, and they both had crushes on me. I remember chatting online with them back then, being the "older hot college girl" and it was so great to have them be flirty with me. I'm at least 60lbs heavier now. Probably closer to 70lbs heavier. Sure, I'm married now and I could care less what these kids think of me. But they walked in tonight, and I turned my head and silently begged that they didn't see me. I seriously hadn't seen them since I quit the grocery store. They went to the other side of the bar, soI got lucky that time. But I got up to go to the bathroom and there they were, by the pool tables. They saw me and came over, said "Hey" and made quick small talk, since we hadn't seen each other since I left the grocery store almost 5 yrs ago. Then suddenly out of nowhere, one of the kids says, "Man, what happened to you? You used to be hot!" And they both proceeded to laugh out loud, and I was so mortified that I forgot about the bathroom and went straight back to my husband and told him we had to leave. I'm embarrassed to tell him what happened to me because I'm so shocked that they'd say something like that!! I guess I can't expect much from them, they're barely 21 yrs old, but it still hurts like hell. :smile2::crying::thumbup:

Seeing the numbers go down every day would be awesome, but that could potentially mean like 7lbs a week! And that's just unhealthy. I can't stand getting on the scale every morning. One day I'm -2.2 and the next I'm +1.8, then +.4, then -1.2 - I swear it's enough to drive a woman to drink. :smile2: When I get the band I'm going to weigh once a week! Yea, like I'll actually stick to that, haha. Oh my, seriously??? That's sounds so awesome! I've heard of women who work in nail salons seeing people in their homes to make extra cash, but Doctors doing house calls??? That's too cool!! I hope it works out for you!!! I agree, let's all fly to Nome!!! :thumbup:

I'm curious to know where everyone's port is as well. All the pictures I've seen show the port being placed below the left breast (which had me worried about my bra rubbing it constantly). Where can I expect my port? How wonderful that you named your port Frank!!! That's so cute!! :thumbup: Dee, what a great avatar! Century Club, woohoo!!!! Sending super big congratulatory hugs your way!!!

Yea, the first class flights were literally 4x the cost of the coach flights! But I sprung for the extra cash coming back because I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. When we applied for our medical loan, we applied for an extra $2k than we needed, to cover flights and hotels. It worked out perfectly! Good luck!

Dee! Hey, I was just wondering where you and Munchkin had run off to?! You two ladies must be working your bums off! BABY BITES!! Is it true that I should invest in some children's plates and silverware? To help me (at first) eat smaller portions and take smaller bites??? Sorta like this...I gotta be honest, I'm really digging the Princess plate. :biggrin:

i think you mean this... :biggrin:

I am having surgery in 22 days. Just for kicks, I tried to "chew chew chew" my dinner last night. I had a salad with lots of fun stuff on it like dried cranberries, cashews, cheese, eggs, carrot shreds, yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes - you get the picture. Well, I chew chew chewed my way to lots of gagging and nausea trying to swallow each bite. Now I'm really starting to freak myself out!! What if I can't do this? Do you really have to chew your food to mush before you swallow it? I am scared to death I'll get this band and underchew everything and wind up in pain all the time!!! :laugh:

I guess I'm just really scared about this whole chewing thing. I'm paranoid I'll forget I have the band and swallow something without properly chewing it, and then I'll be stuck and in agony for hours or I'll PB. I'm sure once I've got the band I'll be crazy about chewing and I'll think about every single bite, but right now I'm just worried. I'm getting close to surgery, so now the idea of a lap band is becoming more of a reality and I'm probably just trying to find things to freak out about. I'm sure next week I'll be freaking about something else! :laugh:

If at all possible, fly home on First Class. I'm sure most everyone can agree that regardless of the airline or the plane itself, a normal seat in Coach is just plain uncomfortable for us "bigger" folks. It's bad if it's a full flight and you've got someone beside you, and even worse if you've got someone on both sides! First Class seats are much bigger and you have more room to spread out. When you are less than 5 days post-op and getting on an airplane, First Class is the best choice you could make! Mind you, I haven't had surgery yet (22 days and counting :laugh:) but when I asked for advice from people who flew out of town for surgery, one of the things that everyone said is FLY FIRST CLASS. They also informed me that Day 3 post-op is the worst of all (but no one really knows why, haha) so if at all possible, avoid flying on Day 3.

I guess it's possible that I chewed too much? How many chews are normal? Maybe I was taking too big of bites, so I had lots of chewing to do and by the end of each bite it was so mushy and soggy that it just made me gag? Perhaps I should have concentrated more on smaller bites in addition to all that chewing. I do have a sensitive gag reflex though, so all that food chewed practically to paste just made me heave. :laugh: Tonight - baked chicken and brocolli. Let's see how that works out for me!

Just for kicks, I tried to "chew chew chew" my dinner last night. I had a salad with lots of fun stuff on it like dried cranberries, cashews, cheese, eggs, carrot shreds, yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes - you get the picture. Well, I chew chew chewed my way to lots of gagging and nausea trying to swallow each bite. :biggrin: Now I'm really starting to freak myself out!! What if I can't do this? Do you really have to chew your food to mush before you swallow it? I am scared to death I'll get this band and underchew everything and wind up in pain all the time!!! :thumbup:

I agree, her comments are good and she makes great points. But this particular thread isn't the place for those kinds of comments. We're mostly a social bunch in this thread, and her comments would be better served in her own thread directed specifically towards people who plan to have out-of-state surgery.

YAY way to go! I always find myself falling off the wagon on the weekends, but sticking to the diet during the week. At least, traditional diets end that way. I'm not sure how my banding will be. Almost there, 23 days left!!!

I guess you didn't really read much past the first page of this thread. This thread is hundreds of pages long, and if you take a look, we are just a chatty bunch of Dr. K's patients who talk about anything and everything in life. :smile2: Sure, people who are considering Dr. K come here and ask questions - I myself did that two months ago. But once they've made the decision to have surgery with him, they come back to this thread just to chat and get to know all his other patients who are happy with his work. I don't think the people who regularly visit this thread are going to read much into your post.

I agree, that sorta came out of left field... :smile2:

I know there are some southerners out there who love sweet tea! I've been a diet soda drinker for the most part over the last few years, and when I switched to diet sodas I cut out sweet tea since it's got so much sugar in it. Well, now they've got Splenda, and since I'm being banded I won't be able to have sodas anymore, so I'd like to switch back to sweet tea to get my caffeine (and avoid those horrible caffeine-withdrawal headaches). I know there's got to be an easy way to make sweet tea with Splenda. Anyone have any suggestions? I've never actually used Splenda in such a large quantity, so I'm not sure how it converts. I've always just used one or two packets in a cup of coffee. Advice on how to make a gallon of sweet tea with Splenda? Can I use one of those Iced Tea Makers?

I did lots of research in MX before settling on a doctor in Colorado. I saw prices that ranged from $6,000 to $9,000 and all of those included flights, hotels, transportation to/from the hospital-hotel-airport. Pretty much all-inclusive packages, and they also allowed you to bring a spouse/family member (the package usually included their flight as well if I recall). Just FYI, the doctor in Colorado charges $9950 total, but this does not include flights, hotel, or transportation. It does, however, give you free fills for 3mos, and after that fills are just $15 each - and that deal doesn't change, regardless of if you get 100 fills.

Hey! Thanks a million! I had troubles getting the flight I wanted - by the time I got around to booking it, it had gone up $100. I'm on Southwest flying in at 8:40a. My flight home is at 2:00p on Delta. MINI, I'm connecting in SLC - I'll be there for an hour! So anyways, I've got to change my appointment time to around 10:00a or 10:30a which I'll do first thing Monday morning. How long does a fill take? I just hope I can make my afternoon fight! :tt2: You are still welcome to join us for lunch! The more the merrier! Hey hey hey, Shelbi-baby! Missing you! Sending positive internet connection thoughts your way! OOOH OOOH, I've only got 25 days until surgery!!! YAY!!! :tt2: My husband and I are going shopping now. We are going to buy a new recliner today! The thought of sleeping in that old "thing" for 3 or 4 days makes my ass hurt, haha. He got it about 7 years ago and it is soooo ready to retire. Happy Saturday ladies!!!

Sorry fellas, I wandered into the Men's Room and got sidetracked trying to find my way out. I thought I'd stay for a second and answer this question. I was also told to do a 7 day low carb diet as my pre-op diet. I am a 38 BMI and am getting banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver, CO. Had I been above a 40 BMI, I'd have been told to do a 14 day low carb diet. The reason for the pre-op diet is simply to shrink the liver. During the lap band procedure, the liver is pinned up and out of the way, so that the surgeon can get to your stomach easily to attach the band. If you do not do some sort of drastic diet in the days before surgery, then there's a chance your liver will be fatty, and a fatty liver could slip and slide around and not stay pinned out of the way, causing the surgery to be a lot more difficult to do. There's a woman who posts on here with the screenname RestlessMonkey who actually cheated on her pre-op diet (without realizing the consequences) and woke up from the anesthesia on the day of her surgery to find out she didn't have a band because her liver was too fatty and the doctor didn't feel comfortable performing the surgery. So anyways, this long diatribe is basically just telling you that pre-op diets differ from doctor to doctor. Some do low carb, some do all liquid, but ultimately they are all effective in shrinking your liver prior to surgery. Personally, I'm happy I got a low carb pre-op diet, because that means bacon and eggs for a week straight. :confused: Hope this helps...

Glad you got a semi-diagnosis and are on your way to feeling better!!

Alright, if you want to switch then be my guest! :biggrin: But it's not a requirement! Have I told you lately how awesome you are?

Nope, thankfully I was smart and didn't book the flight til I was confirmed with Dr. K. So I'll be booking my flight tonight sometime. The flight I was looking at went from $188 on Monday to $288 today, so I'm kinda like :biggrin: Don't worry though, I'll figure something out. You can get really cheap rental cars on Priceline by naming your own price usually. It'll all work out, don't try to switch shifts just cuz of me!

I'm so jealous!! Glad you had a good time!

stick to it! it sucks, but shrinking the liver is essential for a successful surgery. imagine waking up from the anesthesia and finding out your liver was too fatty and the doctor couldn't do your band. :wink2: that actually happened to a woman on here, so be as strict with the pre-op clear liquids as you can! good luck!

I am a 38 BMI and my doctor is requiring 7 days of low-carb as a pre-op diet. If my BMI were higher than 40, he'd just be requiring 14 days of low-carb. The purpose of the pre-op diet is simply to shrink the liver to make surgery easier for the doctor, since the liver must be moved and pinned out of the way in order to get to the stomach. A fatty liver could slip and slide and not stay out of the way, making surgery difficult. This is why a pre-op diet is a good thing! A low-carb diet is one way to shrink the liver fast. A liquid diet (like Optifast) is also another way to shrink a fatty liver just before surgery. Trust me when I say that every doctor is different in what they require pre-op, but as long as you stick to what your doctor says, then everything will be fine. :wink2: