HelloPenny

Well.... That's a pretty loaded subject. I talked to my Bariatric Coordinator Nurse today about it. I was asking her why "their" diet did not have eggs on it. I am HIGHLY upset about the lack of eggs. I started out by saying "I know that Doctor's post-op diets are all over the board. But, why no eggs or mushies?" Her response was about what I expected. One of the Doctors in practice with my Doctor is very "black and white" about things. So, he follows the suggested diet from the Lap-Band manufacturer to the letter. Even his coordinator has asked about exceptions and he doesn't want to hear it. So, she said that around the 3rd to 5th week that some Doctors start the mushie stage. Eggs, Mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, etc. She said you need to make sure that your suture have had time to heal and bind to your stomach. That scar tissue has formed to prevent slippage, etc. And, the big reason they make their people follow a liquid diet.... Malpractice Lawsuits. If you go off their diet and something goes wrong... they are not responsible. If you stay on their diet for the whole 6 weeks.. you will probably heal completely and not put your self in any risk. Basically she said I could try and eat some eggs around week 4. If it hurts. STOP.

Newgrama - Cute graphic in your sig! I am being SOOO bad about drinking anything or getting my protein! I mean like SUPER bad. I did get my unjury chicken soup mix in the mail today. It's pretty yummy. If anyone is on the fence about getting some.... GO GET SOME! It tastes exactly like a "Chicken in a Biscuit" cracker. Exactly. I made some chocolate cheesecake pudding tonight! Sounds pretty exciting. I am hoping it tastes as good as it sounds. Just a box of SF chocolate fudge instant pudding and SF cheesecake instant pudding. 4 cups of skim milk. 4 scoops of unflavored unjury. TA DA! Going to make some broccoli and cheese soup tomorrow maybe some Cream of Tomato, too. I can't pull all my tricks out of my hat too fast. I am on liquids for F~I~V~E WEEKS! :thumbup::scared2:

I thought I was going home, but Tricare made me stay. At least they blamed it on Tricare. I didn't want to inconvenience my family any more than I had already. Plano is about an hour drive from Denison. My Father took off work to watch my Daughter and my Mother was able to work from her laptop and run into work for a little bit, since she works close to Plano. I didn't want anyone to have to drive back down the next day or have my Father take more time off. But, that is what happened. It was OK though. Staying in the hospital wasn't all bad. They took good care of me and I got more drugs than if they would have sent me home. I got muscle relaxers and pain medicine. Which was nice. I would stay overnight if I had to do it again.

Well, I wasn't going to do it at first. But, then when I pulled on it to see it just started coming out really easy and it didn't hurt at all. So I was like OK I can do this!

Jenny.... Click on one of my tickers. That will take you to Graphical Tickers and Trackers: Weight Loss, Trying To Conceive, Pregnancy... where you make a ticker. Setup a pin so you can go back and update it. Once you finish the setup it will give you a code (use the bb code) you copy and past into your signature under the User CP section. Look over to the menu on the right for the User CP section.

The pain you will have in your chest area is your port, apparently. I haven't been brave enough to really poke around my stomach to feel the port. Gingerly poking around, I don't feel it. So, I don't have some big hard lump that is obvious. My Doctor's literature says no fills for 6 weeks, so no I don't have an appointment for a fill yet. I do have a follow up appointment. I took my pain pump out this morning. Didn't hurt at all. Probably because the area was numb! A small scab had formed around one of the catheters. That hurt a little. No regrets. I have not been in any pain that was over a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. I have been taking my medicine religiously though. I think some people avoid taking it or feel compelled to not take it. Not me! Give me the drugs!

Ronda... 3 oz sounds like a little too much to me. Everything that was given to me said no more than 2 oz. But that may be my pouch and not yours. I can't even have full liquids till Saturday! 3 full days of clear liquids for me. My Bariatric Coordinator Nurse suggested that for protein drinks including soup, to make 6 oz at a time and sip it over a 3 hour period. And by sip she meant sip! She said to practice sipping with a small teaspoon. And, Good Lord, I am gassy! Haven't had a BM but I sure am noisy!

I feel pretty good overall. There is some pain in my chest where the port is. I have an on-board pain medicine pump called OnQ. It delivers a Novocaine like medicine that numbs the area. It will probably run out tomorrow and I have to remove it myself. Just a small plastic catheter. I think I will make my Mom do it. LoL. I have been taking my liquid hydrocodone like clockwork. I am a little uncomfortable when sitting especially if I am in a slouching position. I feel much better when I stand or sit very straight up. Laying back in a recliner feels better. I have been sleeping in a recliner. I tried laying down on the couch the other day and didn't feel comfortable and then I couldn't sit up without help. So, I will skip the laying down for awhile. Yesterday I had the pain in my neck/shoulders that they talk about. MY anesthesiologist said it was from air getting caught under the diaphragm and pushing up. I had previously heard it was from air roaming around in your chest and traveling to your shoulders. I think the anesthesiologist explanation sounds a little more believable. I am hungry. I have been dreaming about food. Commercials are torture. I have gotten like 5 emails today from different companies/web-sites with recipes, and they all look so good. There was one with soups and stews that really got to me. I kept making my Mother look over to show her a recipe that looked good, and she finally said "You are just hungry." Then she started ignoring me. We were driving home earlier this evening and passed a factory near our house that makes frozen Mexican food, Ruiz. I said "Oh, that smells so good!" and my Mother said "I can't even smell anything!" So needless to say I am looking forward to Saturday when I get full liquids. I am disappointed that my Doctor's diet does not have eggs on it. Anyone else have eggs in theirs? When could you start having them?

Hey Ronda! Good to hear you are feeling well, too. Sounds like we feel about the same. I was just going to tell you that my Bariatric Coordinator Nurse said the "growling" in the lower stomach was from swallowing air. Mine is growling too. She said you should feel hunger in the middle of your chest. That it is different and takes awhile to get use to. Not real sure if I believer her! But that is what she said!

I am home! Tricare made me spend the night. I wanted to go home the same day. Feel OK. A little pain but nothing I didn't expect.

Thanks for the info on the pump Bikini. I may take mine out on Thursday now. I like the idea of the area being numb though. Hmmmm .

Well, I am home! I had to stay overnight, and I was not planning on it. They said it was Tricare who required it. Which is funny because most insurance companies want you out ASAP. I have an interesting little on-board pain pump thingy.... It's called OnQ. I have all these little tubes connected to catheters and this little ball of medicine in a pouch, that I wear around like a purse. It delivers a numbing medicine like Novocaine to my incisions. They said I could take it out on Thursday, but I think I will leave it in till all the medicine is gone. I feel pretty good. I have some pain in my neck/shoulder. It's either the gas they talk about being caught under your diaphragm and pushing or it's the bad pillows at the hospital. I have some pain in my chest and the doctor said that was from the port. I got a prescription for liquid hydrocodone. I just took 10ml. Will see if that helps. I also took a Gas-X strip. I weighed 296 before the surgery yesterday. I had my Mother take some before pictures. I am on clear liquids for 3 days, then full liquids for 5 weeks. Eggs are not on the full liquid diet :sad_smile:. I was looking forward to eggs. When did you guys get to start eggs? Oh by the way for those that are hungry. My Bariatric Coordinator nurse said that if you are hungry to have more protein. That it's OK to have more than you 60 grams (my recommended amount) if your body is still telling you it is hungry. She said to make 6 oz at a time, and drink it over a 3 hour period.

Thanks! We have to get up at 4:30am to be there on time and I had some stuff to do before I went to bed. And, now I have decided to just stay up. I figure I will get lots of rest tomorrow. I'm tired. I'll let you guys know how it went tomorrow.

I was talking to my Mother about this and her eyes got as huge as saucers and said "She should go to HR!! Her boss could get fired for that! At the very least he (didn't know it was a she) needs a serious lecture in employee confidentiality." Maybe, you should just say something to her directly and remind her about the repercussions for breaching your confidentiality, but you are not interested in getting her into trouble.

I agree. I am not real up on eating pureed tuna...lol Anyway, I have a friend who recommended adding baby food meat to your broth. Sounded gross to me, but I guess I could handle some beef in like onion soup... maybe? She said it was a life safer.

Good Luck to everyone going tomorrow. And Total Freak out moment a minute ago..... MY TICKER SAYS ONE DAY! OMG!

Oh and start documenting any sores or rashes you get where your skin is. And then make sure you get your PCM to put it your medical record. I have read that Tricare won't pay for surgery without a "really" good reason, and your stomach has to hang past your pelvic bone. Good lord... I think that is what I read. LoL I just read my Ticker and it says One day! Total freak out.

They say exercise will help with your skin. But, I don't think it will be enough to help some of us. Even me. I will need an apron surgery. My stomach hangs really low over my abdomen ever since I had a baby, a year ago.

I bet you guys can't wait for your first fill!

No I don't.... however I am going to do it with some laxatives. Only because narcotics make me super constipated. I have learned my lesson. Thanks for reminding me. I am going to go take some now, so they can get to work!

Hi Ladies! Looks like I missed lots of posts yesterday. I REALLY like EAS in the chocolate flavor for a protein drink. I bought my gigantic bag at Sam's. I did see the pre-made drinks at Wal-Mart yesterday, but they were almost out of then, and only had one package of vanilla. I'm not really a vanilla person. An alternative to the Magic bullet is the Cuisine Art, Hand Held Blender. I would die without mine. I use it for EVERYTHING! It comes with a really nice 2 cup measuring container, that I make my drinks in, and just drink them right out of that. It also comes with a small food processor attachment and a whisk attachment. I use the hand held blender the most. I use it to mix up my drinks, soups, eggs... anything I want mixed up really good. Here is a link.Cuisinart - CSB-77 My husband bought me a new one for my birthday before he left for deployment. I'm so glad he did, because I would not have packed it to come to my parent's house other wise! Was like a premonition that I would need it. He got it at JC Penney. And I think I got approved super fast because I am a fatty, too! Can't argue with 200lbs overweight.

Try and make friends with the appointment bookers. Ask to be on a cancellation list to take last minute appointments. I always do that when I need to see a specialist and they book me way out. Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't. Are there any other options in your area for Doctors? I went through the take forever process 5 years ago and was denied twice by Insurance. So this time I was very pessimistic and everything just feel in place with this Doctor. And, I don't know why. I don't know if he has so many people working for him that they hustle to get stuff taking care of... I have no clue. But, I was floored...shocked, at how fast this has come to fruition. Less than a month from seminar to surgery date. I would look at some other options and ask what their waiting period is like, besides how long it takes insurance.

No it's not normal. Well, it could be normal to a lot of bandsters because the same situations are happening to several of them. I would be concerned if I hadn't gone in a week. Same thing happened to me when I broke my arm. I was taking loratabs for the pain. NO ONE told me that narcotics shut down your bowels!!!!!!! SO I never had the urge but when I finally did. I was IN TROUBLE! Go take the MoM as soon as you feel you can. Don't get yourself in a bad situation. I would start taking extra Fiber or something you feel comfortable. My Doctor's literature says to take MoM or prune juice. Also, try some probiotics! That's what all the hub-bub is about with all the yogurt. For all those people who don't go everyday! If you are on full liquids or can eat, try some probiotic yogurt once a day. I bought some super yummy drinkable yogurt at my store. I'm saving it for my full liquid stage. Pooping = normal Not pooping = all sorts of bad stuff Oh and drink lots of Water. That's always my MIL advice for constipation. She's a Nurse Practitioner.

To me and everything I have read, your first fill may not of been tight enough. So this second fill should help with restriction and losing weight. Are you eating correctly? You can "eat around" your band. Just because your boyfriend can eat anything doesn't mean you can. Most young men can eat anything. It sucks. It's life. No one said life was fair! And the liquids are just for a few more days. Think positive! Drink some Protein, eat some sf Jello, and go nuts on some sf Popsicles if you are hungry. Find something you like. If the restriction is working you should get a full sensation. It's mind hunger! Think positive!

ditto... I guess I could drink a protein shake...yippy!