jmegirl

hey froggi, when do you expect you'll have your date??? what are you waiting on at this point???

You're welcome! Go over to www.sparklee.com and make yourself a cute little Notorious Novembers tag! :redface:

:w00t: well, if you wanna have your surgery in november, i'll trade you! i'd love to get banded two weeks early. :redface:

OK - I have a completely "not band related" rant here. Just a general observation I have, and I apologize ahead of time for my extremely juvenile reaction below. :wub: I just have nowhere else to type it, so I thought I'd type it here among my fellow crazies! :wub: I've been making friends with people who are also getting banded in November. We're all over on the November 2008 board. Anyways, I'm sure you've noticed the "Notorious Novembers" in my signature. It has been there since August when I made my appointment. Well, today marks the 3rd time I've had to change my pretty glittery letters because people keep stealing them!!! :redface: I am a very anal person, and it takes me a long time to decide on which pretty color to use, which letters I like, sparkles or no sparkles, big or small, etc. DANGIT QUIT STEALING MY WORDS!!! I refuse to post in a thread where I share the same signature as two or three other people, simply because they are too lazy to go make their own! If you don't know how to make your own, just ASK! DON'T TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S!! Do your own glitter words! The website is there, in plain sight - GO MAKE YOUR OWN! I am an individual, I am unique, and I want my own glitter words. I don't want to share my glitter words with my fellow Notorious Novembers because I insist on being unique. {stepping off my soap box} Thank you for reading. Have a pleasant day! :w00t:

YAY congrats! That's just two days before Turkey Day! Boy, that should be fun, haha. My surgery is Nov. 5th, so I'll have 3 weeks to recover before I'm faced with preparing Thanksgiving dinner for about 10 people! :redface:

Hello everyone! I'm Jaime, I'm 26yo and a newlywed. :redface: I've been big since 4th grade, and in HS I got to 200lbs at 5'8 and thought that was the worst. Then my freshman year of college started and I lost 30lbs because of all the stress, not to mention all the walking I had to do to get from place to place. I was a nice size 12 at Christmas that year, at age 19. Got a boyfriend and started gaining weight. We split up after 3yrs and I gained more weight. I met my husband 3yrs ago at my heaviest, and I've teetered around this 260lbs mark since meeting him. I found out about the band from a nice couple we met on our honeymoon in Cancun. They were our age and celebrating their 5yr wedding anniversary. She said the lap band had helped her lose 60lbs and get pregnant with their son. After the pregnancy, she got her band filled again and lost all the baby weight and then some. I just found out last month that they're pregnant again, and she owes it all to the band. So, I came home from my honeymoon in May ready to convince my husband to get me the band. Finally, in August he agreed. I'm SO ready to get the band and get on with my life! I want so badly to be back in those size 12 khaki shorts from when I was 19yo - I still have a pair of them! Sure they're 7yrs old, but I will fit in them again one day. Sorry I started rambling. I'm so happy to have found this support group, and I wish each and every one of you the very best of luck as we all start this journey together! YAY NOTORIOUS NOVEMBERS!!!

So I've got this super-fabulous idea. Here it goes: There are obviously quite a few of us Dr. K Bandsters that live in CO. It looks like several of you actually did the same 5K race together last weekend, whether or not you actually met up with each other. My suggestion is that we plan ahead, maybe a year out at least, and we all try our best to get to CO and do a 5K together. Shoot, we could even pair the 5K with that "LBT Spa Weekend" that was mentioned a few weeks ago. I'd love to take a trip to CO and meet all you fabulous ladies, go to the Spa, walk/run a 5K, etc. Just meeting and getting to know you all in person would be enough for me. What do you say? Should we get an email group going so we can organize an LBT Spa/5K Weekend sometime next year???

30 days for me too, getting banded on Nov 5th.

Oh yea, I almost forgot: November 5th with Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver, CO. 30 days and counting!!!

Don't enter the code into Signature Picture, just enter it straight into your Signature box, where you've got the rest of your Signature typed out. It will convert the code to a picture. Try it out! Hope it works. If not, send me a private message with your password and I'll add it for you if you can't figure it out. I did that for Jaculin412 last month, hehe. :thumbup:

my pre-op diet is for 7 days and is basically just a low-carb diet. here's what the literature he gave me says : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You will be placed on a high Protein, low carb pre-op diet for 7 – 14 days prior to your surgery date. The diet is similar to that of the Atkins Diet. The purpose of the diet is to help shrink the liver before surgery. The size and condition of your liver prior to surgical placement of the band is the primary safety concern of Dr. Kirshenbaum. A retractor is placed around the liver to lift it out of the way so the band can be placed. If the liver is enlarged this can result in a cancellation of your surgery. The following foods should be eliminated immediately: Bread, rice, Pasta and potatoes Crackers, chips, pretzels, or any other high-carbohydrate snack food Cookies, cakes, pies, candy or any sugar-sweetened food Sweetened drinks and full-strength juices Processed, fast, fried, breaded and saucy foods Good Nutrition prior to surgery consists of the following food choices: Meat: all unprocessed meats, including beef, pork, lamb, veal, mutton, venison, and ham Poultry: any unprocessed poultry, including chicken, turkey, goose, duck, cornish hens, pheasant, quail, ostrich, or emu Fish: all unprocessed fish, including tuna, salmon, catfish, trout, snapper, sole, sardines, herring, and any other fish Shellfish: any unprocessed shellfish, including oysters, clams, crab, shrimp, calamari, lobster, mussels, and scallops. Eggs: any real eggs are allowed, including chicken, duck, quail, or goose. salad Vegetables: Any lettuce, including iceberg, romaine, Bibb, escarole, mache, radicchio, arugula, and endive. In addition to the lettuces, leafy herbs (such as dill, thyme, basil, oregano, and cilantro) and many other vegetables are listed as "salad vegetables." These other vegetables include bok choy, chives, cucumber, fennel (anise), parsley, celery, peppers (hot or sweet), radishes, daikon, sprouts, mushrooms, olives, and jicama are all considered salad vegetables. Other Vegetables: Among the other vegetables allowed on the Atkins plan are asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, tomatoes, onions, summer squashes (yellow, patty pan, and zucchini), okra, turnips, avocado, brussels sprouts, leafy greens (mustard, turnip, beet, collards,) broccoli, celeriac, and artichokes. In fact, just about any vegetable you might wish to eat is permitted, with the exception of corn, potatoes, green (English) peas, and other sweet or starchy vegetables. Fats: Most fats are allowed. Cold-pressed vegetable oils are preferred, and it is important to include some source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as linseed oil or salmon. Butter is allowed; margarine is not. Olive oil, nut oils, seed oils, and vegetable oils are all permitted. You may eat (or use for cooking) any fat that is part of your meat. Dairy: Most dairy products are permitted, but they should be full-fat and as low in carbohydrate as possible. Yogurt is not permitted. Cheese: full-fat cow, goat, or sheep's milk cheeses, as well as soy cheese, are permitted, and they may be either hard or soft cheeses. No diet cheeses, cheese spreads, processed cheese food, or whey cheese. It is important to be very careful when choosing your condiments while following the Atkins plan. Sugar in any form should be avoided, and most people are surprised to learn how many of their favorite condiments, dressings, and spice blends contain some form of sugar. For this reason, most salad dressings are not permissible on the plan, unless you make your own from scratch. Salad dressings: oil and vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice, or sour cream may be used. If using bottled dressings, ensure that they do not contain any form of sugar. Spices: any individual spice may be used, with the exception of sugar. If using spice blends, avoid those containing any form of sugar or malt dextrin. Other condiments: sugar-free versions of mayonnaise, ketchup, and soy sauce are permitted. Sour cream is allowed.

Surgery date Nov 5th - Dr. Kirshenbaum - Denver, CO Highest Weight 260 Preop diet starting weight 259 Current weight 259 Goal weight 165 Count me in! I'm starting my pre-op diet today (30 days out) even though I'm only required to do 7 days of pre-op diet.

You are awesome!!!

OK that's no problem. It doesn't look like the flights are full at all, so I shouldn't have a problem waiting a few days. That would be awesome if you got your fill on the same day. I will definitely need someone holding my hand. :thumbup: I am so squeamish around needles, I'm really wondering if I should ask him for anesthesia, haha. Just reading you ladies' posts about fill docs poking two or three times around your port and missing etc. makes me cringe. Shoot, I'm cringing now just typing it. I'm such a wuss

Ladies, I started looking at flights for when I get my first fill, and I nearly choked on my water. :thumbup: Expensive! I guess it's because it's the first week of December and getting close to Christmas. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me a ride to Dr. K's office and/or pick me up from Dr. K's office on Friday December 5th or Friday December 12th? Either day, the flights have me getting into Denver at 9:45a and leaving at 3:45p, and my appt. with Dr. K would be around 11a. I'd be eternally grateful if someone could give me a ride. Even if I can only get a ride one-way, that would still save me money on a taxi or a rental car for the whole day. Let me know! I haven't booked the flight yet (but the flights are still open) and I haven't made the appointment with Dr. K yet (but he has appts available) so as soon as I know I've got transportation I'll start booking everything. If you can give me a ride, lunch is on me!!! :eek: And I promise I don't bite (too hard). However, I can't guarantee I won't have a little gas at one month post-op.

awesome! what a great idea i thought about taking some before pictures today, since i am starting my low-carb pre-op diet today. i'm only required 7 days of pre-op dieting, but thought i'd do it for a month instead, so i can take my time quitting sodas and beer, LOL. after surgery, i'll take progress pictures every month. i'll be sure to post them here!

good luck! took me almost an hour, haha. what a great way to spend my time at work...

Well, at first glance, the only thing I see that has substantial carbs is the can of tomato sauce. And even then, it has minimal impact considering it's just a "topping" of sorts and not an actual ingredient in the meatballs. The shredded parmesan also has minimal carbs. I think I might be cooking meatballs in the crockpot tomorrow afternoon!

I've found so many recipes on this site just by hunting through the Nutritions forum. I've decided to create a spiral-bound notebook full of recipes to use. When I find something I like on here, I copy/paste it into a Word document, print it out and put it in my notebook. It will be a great way to stay organized with all these recipes I see.

OK I'm finally caught up on all the posts I missed this weekend. Man, if I stay gone for even a day around here, I get so behind! I hate it! You ladies are so chatty, LOL. Today is the first day of my self-imposed month-long pre-op low-carb diet. I am officially restricting myself to one soda a day beginning today. Next week I'll cut it to every other day, etc. In two (or maybe three) weeks I should be soda free! Then I'll start cutting back on the beer...LOL. But, I'm doing low-carb foods every day, so hopefully before surgery I can drop this 15lbs I seem to have gained over the last month during my Last Supper Syndrome. So I went to the beach this weekend with my broken pinky toe, and guess what? Mom and I went parasailing!!! I'll post a picture once the website puts them up. Walking across the beach though, I managed to cut my other foot on something sharp - so I've got this small gash in the arch of my right foot, and a broken pinky toe on my left foot. But that's OK, I had a blast! I had never gone parasailing before, it was freaking awesome!!! :tt2:

My mom scared me away from getting a tattoo this weekend. She said if, by some small chance, I were to get an infection, then I probably wouldn't be able to have my surgery - even if it was just a small infection on my ankle. Whether or not there's any truth to it, it definitely scared me straight and made me reconsider. Mom says when I reach my goal weight (whenever that is) we'll go together - me for an ankle tat and her for a belly ring. If you're anything like me, blonde moments are a regular part of your day! :tt2: WTG Dee!! CONGRATS!!! You and your daughter are just beautiful, and look so happy!! Fluffy Folks! I love it :frown: I call those "Obligatory Myspace Pictures" because all those youngsters on Myspace now take their own pictures, and they're always up high or down low and at weird angles. :frown: I don't see a double chin! Wachoo talkin' 'bout??? Mal! She posted a few pages back, it was one of Saturday's posts, saying she got the package and a few other things. I didn't quote her though - go back and check it out!

Oh my the recipe sounds fantastic I'm wondering what the carb count is? I started my self-imposed one month pre-op low carb diet today, and those sound like they'd really be yummy and low carb. How many meatballs do you make out of that recipe?

finally...i'm less than one month from surgery!! YAY!!!

ok ladies, i'm at the beach. it's a "girls" weekend and i'm here with my mom and a few of her friends. so my question is: i'm having surgery in one month - is it OK if i get a tattoo this weekend? all i've ever wanted is a small tattoo on my right ankle, maybe the size of a half dollar. will that complicate my surgery? i have about 33 days until surgery, so i wanted to make sure it was OK before i go and do it, and since so many of you are nurses, i figure you'd know best!!! my mom wants to get her belly button pierced and i thought i'd finally get my tattoo at the same time. any help is appreciated!

So I went to the Urgent Care to get my toe x-ray'ed...how do you spell x-ray'ed??? LOL Anyways, I fractured my pinky toe in two different places, so they taped my pinky toe to the toe next to it, wrapped my foot in an ACE bandage, and put my foot in this awesome little boot. Yea, it would have cost me a lot less to buy those supplies at CVS and wrap it up myself - but oh well, I feel better knowing that I didn't break a bone in my foot, and that's it's just a toe fracture. Oh, and they gave me pain killers - yay! Gosh, it's almost the weekend! Yea! Me and my foot boot are going to Myrtle Beach! :w00t: