Marienola

Well I am very sad to say that on September 30th I had to have emergency surgery to have my band removed. I developed an infection in my stomach and now have an open wound from where they had to "scrape" the infection out. I also have a tube coming out of my stomach that I will have for 8 weeks for drainage and that I have to flush twice per day. I have a home health care nurse coming twice per day to dress my open wound which probably won't heal for at least a month and I will have this tube for 8 weeks. Needless to say I am having a very hard time with this. I can't believe this has happened. I planned for over a year and anticipated and was so excited about being banded and my new start on my way to my new life and now that is all gone. I have however lost about 30 pounds in 5 weeks - guess that is a good thing???? I won't be able to eat solid foods for at least a month and apparently if I would have waited two days later to go to the hospital, I might not be here writing this today...Definitely gives you a new outlook on life. I pray that no one else goes through what I have been through and congrats to all of those having success with the band. I wish you the best.

Hi all September 15th Bandsters. Hope you are all doing well! would love to hear from you!

You know - someone should send this website and post to Darden Restaurants (parent company of Olive Garden) and let them see how the word spreads and the negative publicity they are getting from this. There is power in numbers and I'm sure they don't want the negative publicity...

Hi there - I am in Keller Tx as well. I was banded exactly one-week ago by Dr. David Kim at North Hills Hospital - he is an excellent doctor. Good Luck with everything and if you need support or just to talk or questions, I will be happy to answer anything I can. You will do excellently!

I understand how much protein I am suppose to have and I know that on pre-op I was suppose to keep my calories at 800 per day - but post-op how may calories are you eating and how much exercise do you do? I had my surgery on Monday the 15th and I walked for about 30 minutes (in one walk) yesterday. In tracking my calories I had about 500 yesterday - all liquid diet. Thank you for your advice and can I say what a great board this is and how much I have learned from it! Everyone is so responsive and helpful! Thanks again!!

I am the exact same way - 20 lbs down before surgery, had my surgery the 15th as well, came home and weighed 7 pounds more. Good to know everyone goes through it. I just figured it was because of all of the fluid through the IV's and gas they pump into you.

congratulations!!! That is awesome! I just started my journey but hopefully in a year I will be there too!

Great recipes! Thank you!

Well we are almost there! Good Luck to everyone and I look forward to all of the good reports post-op!!!

Okay I have a quick question - if women are suppose to have 50 grams of protein per day, but the band makes your stomach the size of a small egg and can only hold 2-3 ounces per meal, how do you get all of the protein you need the first week on a totally liquid diet? My protein shakes for pre-op have been 11 ounces with 20 grams of protein...Thank you in advance for your help.

Thank you so much for responding!!

Thank you so much for the well wishes!

Hi everyone, I live in Keller and will be banded on Monday, September 15th. I am very excited and looking for friends that have been through this - you have all had such great success - it is very inspiring!

LOL - you are entitled to whine - I have had emotional breakdowns over the last few days where I just start crying for no reason....lol!

I am on day 13 of my liquid diet as my surgery is Monday. I am such a foodie and thought I could NEVER get through this - but I found a protein shake that I actually like. My doctor recommends Optifast but I couldn't stand the taste of it so I tried a few until I found that I like that Atkins Shakes. I also have a cup of broth per day (let me tell you broth tasted like a 5-star meal after drinking protein shakes only for 4 days straight). I want to cheat so badly sometimes, but I don't want to have a fatty liver and them tell me they couldn't do the surgery and I just say to myself - one day at a time. Tomorrow it won't even matter what the food tasted like yesterday. I have lost 16 pounds and am proud of myself for doing it. I even have a roommate who lives on junk food and I have made it through her eating all sorts of things in front of me - even Mcdonald's in the car beside me - lol! I also have sugar-free jello and sugar-free popsickes...like one of each a day. Hang in there and you can do this!!!!

I'm joining you all on being banded Monday...I am excited, nervous, etc...the gamut of emotions...but thrilled I am finally doing this for myself - it has been a long journey to get here - but am glad it is coming! Good luck to everyone and please keep in touch and let us all know how it goes.

That is amazing Congratulations!!!! I am in Keller, TX. Who is your Doctor?

I am being banded on Monday - September 15th. 2.5 days to go! I am on day 12 of liquid protein shake diet. I'm pretty excited! Hope these next few days go by fast!

Hi there - which shakes on BariatricEating.com are you referring to? I am always looking for a great tasting protein shake. Thanks!

Sounds great to me! I have met a few others on here that are being banded the same day. I love your blog as well - it is exactly how I feel!

Hi there - I am being banded on the 15th as well! I haven't done anything to memorialize it yet - but LOVE the idea! Good for you and Good luck!

Good luck and hope everything goes well!

Hi everyone, I'm from Texas and my surgery is scheduled for Sept. 15th. I am very excited and nervous obviously - but looking forward to the results! I have been reading your posts for about a week and they have been very helpful! I am inspired by those of you who have had success and hope that I am posting and joining the success stories very soon. I am using my insurance to pay for my surgery. At first it seemed like a lot of stuff to do - weight history for 5 years (I haven't been the best at going to my Dr regularly), 90 days of supervised diet and exercise, 90 days of seeing a nutritionist and a psychotherapy visit; but now that it is all done and my Doctor's office was so very helpful - it wasn't bad at all. I started the process in April of this year (I had actually been to a seminar in January of 2007 but thought it was too much to do and didn't pursue it). I have two other coworkers who were banded 2 years ago and they both look AMAZING now! My deciding factor was that in October 2007 I was diagnosed with Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I decided at 40 years old I didn't want to live the rest of my life taking pills and shots all of the time. I have had a very hard time keeping my sugar under control, but I am happy to say that after a week on the liquid diet - my sugar was 100 this morning!!! I haven't seen it that low ever!! So this is day 7 of my liquid diet and at first I thought I was going to starve to death...but after day three (and crying that night because I was so hungry...lol) it is much easier. I just did my pre-op surgery registration on Friday and learned of some pain pump catheter that I am going to have (not crazy about that and then the nurse told me "oh we will show you how to take it our yourself") and I go on Monday for a pre-op visit with my Doctor. My BMI is 44 - which was shocking - but why didn't I think it would be after living on sugar and carbs for years and not exercising???? So that's a quick version of my story. Anyone with advice, any helpful info, etc., please let me know. I look forward to all posts and look forward to hearing from people going through the same journey. Thank you for reading this and have a beautiful day! :thumbup: