Catherine55

I was self-pay with Dr. Rumbaut in Mexico. He was fantastic, the hospital was gorgeous (brand new, private room) and had excellent service (immediate response when you push the nurse button, they let my mom sleep in my room with me) and the whole thing -- including my mother's & my plane fare -- cost under $10K. There is more info. about this -- including photos of the hospital, etc. on my blog (link below). Catherine

Drink more Water and brush your tongue when you brush. Is bound to help a bit! Hang in there! Your wife won't mind so much when she sees your sexy new post-band body! :thumbup: :thumbup:

Congratulations & welcome aboard!! Glad you're feeling happy about your decision! Best one I ever made. Best, Catherine

Congratulations with your decision! For me, it's the best one I ever made. I'm 27 lbs down -- which is more than I've ever been able to lose on WW -- and I'm still feeling very motivated and am not at all tired of this "diet"/lifestyle change. On the blog front, I started one just before surgery (link below) and I'm glad that I did. It's been great to have a record of my progress, how I've been feeling, and even just basic events during the past several months. One thing I will recommend is that you get out the measuring tape today and take your measurements (waist, hips, upper arm, forearm, wrist, thigh, calf, ankle, chest). I've found it really interesting to see how many inches I've lost so far and where the weight is coming from. Plus, it's a great measure for when you're working out a lot and the scale may not be moving, even though your body is getting better & better. All the best, Catherine

I totally have tears in my eyes reading these stories. What an amazing group of incredibly STRONG women (and men) we have on this site. Probably my most embarrassing moment was going kayaking with 4 girlfriends in Shelter Island last summer (at my highest weight . . 230 lbs at 5'6). I was 2nd to last to get my kayak, and it was really narrow. I had a hard time getting my butt in it, and was thinking about how I was going to be in for a very uncomfortable hour or two. The guy at the rental place saw this and asked if I'd like a bigger kayak (in front of my friend. . who is thin). I was actually pretty grateful, and my friend is the kind of person who probably never repeated the story. Still, it was embarrassing and a bit of a wake-up call.

After my doctor turned me on to the Isopure Protein drinks, I never went back to shakes again (the ones I bought were just so gross to me!). I get them at GNC, they have 42 (or was it 44?) grams of protein, no sugar & no carbs, and taste more like Gatoraid. Check with your doctor though -- I didn't start having these until after surgery. I don't know if they are OK for the Clear liquids phase. I will say that Isopure chocolate shakes are disgusting. :thumbup: All the best, Catherine

Congratulations!! You have a lot to look forward to and it's only a month away! :thumbup: Catherine

That is fantastic news -- congratulations! And you lost 40 before you even had your first fill -- wow!! It's going to be so much easier after you get to decent restriction. Keep up the amazing work! :thumbup: Catherine

I just had a fill, so I'm on liquids for 2 days (then mushies for 2). Yesterday, I decided to have a small "Carribean Dream" smoothie at Smoothie King to get in some good Vitamins. The ingredients are listed as just payaya, banana and strawberry, so it sounded band-appropriate. Was craving another one today, so I got one, but asked for the calorie info (then looked it up on-line). Turns out that the drink has honey and another sweetner in it and has a whopping 395 calories! YIKES! I won't be doing that again! Fortunately, I'm not getting so many calories while on liquids, so the scale was down this morning. I'm now at my all-time post-op low. . and just 3.2 lbs to Onederland!! Woo-hoo!! Catherine

My doctor recommended not drinking during that phase -- but the purpose was more to get you used to that new rule than because of anything else. Soup is going to go right down anyway. Best wishes! Don't get frustrated during "bandster hell"! Happens to everyone and you'll be past it and back to losing in no time! Catherine

I hope all goes really well for you! I had that exact same feeling when I started the liquid diet, but it was fine. I was really anxious about it, but it went really smoothly -- only thing that was hard was being around other people who could eat. I tell you -- that first sip of yogurt after my surgery was one of the most appreciated meals ever! Best wishes for a speedy recovery and excellent results! Catherine

Wow! That sounds really difficult -- congratulations for making it through without breaking your pre-op diet. The hardest thing for me on my pre-op was being around other people eating. To get around it, I carried broth bouillon with me so that I'd at least be able to have something. It helped me feel less anxious to have a backup plan. Also, if your doctor will allow you to have them, try the Isopure Protein drinks (they taste kind of like Gatorade, but not as good)! They have 40-something grams of protein and, in my opinion, taste a zillion times better than the shakes. Congratulations on beginning your journey! All the best, Catherine

I weigh myself every morning (pre-shower, post-loo, as someone so nicely put it earlier)! I find it helpful to take stock of how I'm doing every day so that if I'm ever veering off path, I can get right back on it! One thing I do that helps me keep an even keel is that I consider my weight to be the lowest recent weight. So, if I'm down to 204.2 tomorrow, but bounce up a bit before I hit 203, I don't get too bent out of shape about it. Also, I took my measurements before surgery and updated them for the first time on January 26th (I posted stats on my blog). I was really happy that I did it b/c it's another way to measure my progress. Catherine

I know that a lot of other bandsters have lost much more than this -- and I aspire to join them soon. However, as of today, I am down 25 pounds!!! AND, I'm 4.8 to ONEDERLAND. I feel totally freaking fantastic about this, and thought I'd share that amazingly positive feeling with my fellow band-its!!! This thing works. I've now officially lost more than I ever lost on a diet -- and I've also stuck with this lifestyle change for longer than I've ever stuck with a diet -- and yet I am not tired of doing this and I feel like it's sustainable indefinitely. That's all! Just wanted to share this feeling with people who can understand where I'm coming from! Catherine

I was banded on 10/23 and had 2 glasses of wine on Halloween. It was totally fine. My doctor just cautions that you shouldn't drink too much in view of the calories. ALSO -- very importantly -- you should be really, really careful not to let ANYONE talk you into overindulging at this party or to pressure you into doing shots, etc. You need to avoid being hungover to the point of throwing up at all costs b/c you could rip out your stitches & cause your band to slip. Hope that helps! Catherine

I am going to be thinking of you -- I am sure that this has to be a difficult time. I do have one great friend who went through chemo and has been in remission for nearly 20 years. I hope you will have similar results. All the best, Catherine

Congratulations!! Welcome to an exciting new part of your life! :thumbup: Catherine

Yikes -- plan to spend 10K! My doctor was Dr. Roberto Rumbaut in Monterrey and he is fantastic. The people at NYU (where I do my follow-up) know him and he has a great reputation. You're paying someone to cut you and put something around your stomach -- this is not the time to look for a bargain! Best of luck to you! Catherine

I've been keeping a blog pretty regularly through this whole process and it will give you a close look at the experience from my perspective. I read a few other blogs when I was deciding whether to have the surgery (Lise the Loser & ThinspirationDarling -- there are links in my blog). I found them really interesting, and they demystified the process for me and helped me to know what to expect. I also bought a few books about banding -- here is a link to the one I liked the best -- [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Surgery-Adjustable-Gastric/dp/1600940021/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234480653&sr=1-12]Amazon.com: Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band: Everything You Need to Know Before and After Surgery to Lose Weight Successfully: Robert Sewell, Linda Rohrbough: Books[/ame] I hope that's helpful! Good luck in making your decision! best one I ever made! :thumbup: Catherine

I was really nervous before my surgery too -- actually, the earliest posts on my blog talk about that and about what the whole process was like (much easier than I'd expected). Feel free to take a look if you are interested. When I was deciding whether to have the surgery, I made a list of pros & cons about it. I actually brought that list with me to the hospital so that I'd have it there to look at in case I started having doubts. Honestly, getting banded is (so far!) the best decision I've made about my personal health, and it's finally made getting to my ideal weight a realistic goal. It's been just over 3 months and I'm down 25 lbs, and feel wonderful. Good luck with your decision! Don't be scared! :thumbup: Catherine

Sounds like we're going at just about the same rate! I was banded only a few days before you and am down just about 25 lbs. I'm feeling great about it -- don't stress about your nos. Sounds like you are right on target. :thumbup:

I find shakes just way too gross. The Isopure Protein drinks (taste kind of like Gatoraid) that they sell at GNC are my favorite source of liquid Protein. 46 grams, 0 carbs, 0 sugar, 160 calories. Hope that helps! Catherine

This has been a really good thread. NOPBJ, I was banded on 10/23 and am trying to figure out if I'm at good restriction right now or am too tight. In fact, just last night, I asked a friend who was banded 3 years ago (and lost the 95 lbs she wanted to lose) about what being full on the band is supposed to be like. For me, it is that uncomfortable feeling of having the food weigh on my pouch, and I've been getting stuck quite a bit. That said, the weight is coming off really well right now! But it's mainly because I'm eating less b/c it's just not that pleasant to eat! I'm going to take the advice of other bandsters and try to slow down my eating and take smaller bites to see how that impacts my comfort level and "full" feeling. Anyway, thanks for your post and for getting such an interesting discussion going! Catherine

Definitely walk as much as you can -- for me it was the only thing that seemed to help. The gas pain is the worst, especially the pain in your shoulder. It gets better pretty quickly though. I felt like it got a LOT better with each passing day. Hang in there! Catherine