voiceomt2002

Okay, so it's 3:30 AM and I have insomnia. Not because of anything band related, just life issues. You know, finances, family --the usual stresses. Today, in theory, I'm supposed to start re-introducing full solids into my diet. I think I'm going to go verrrry slowly. Most meats still won't pass my stoma. Last night was the first time I got chicken past my stoma without it being chopped into ittty bitty bits. I can eat fish and scrambled eggs, but I'm leery of trying anything more solid in the way of proteins. Veggies OTOH go down fairly well. I only yarked up rutabaga fries recently, and that wasn't so much of a surprise. Those things are a bit fibrous. Guess I'd better mash my rutabagas for another couple of weeks. I can deal with that. My DH got a hard lesson in shopping with a bandster yesterday. He's been going to school on weekends for the past couple of months, so my roomie had the lesson first. DH discovered just how many "methyl-ethyl-bad-stuff" foods there are for a bandster in the grocery store. He'd bring a possible meal to me and I'd have to point out why I couldn't have it, like pasta in a stir fry mix. Finally, he got so frustrated he gave up and let me stroll around until I found the ingredients for the Chicken Diane recipe I'd had in mind all along. He pouts, but gets his starches on the side instead of in the main dish like I used to cook. He says he's afraid of what I'll do to adapt many of our favorite recipes to my new lifestyle. He's right to be afraid, somewhat, but less than he thinks. I've already made some adaptions and he barely noticed or complimented me. (snicker, snicker) Some adaptions he will notice, as soon as I'm sure I can have beef and pork. For instance, a family favorite around here is due for a severe makeover. Piggybank Pork Bake will no longer have cream of mushroom soup and egg noodles. I'll make my own mushroom sauce (Thank you Alton Brown)and the "noodles" will be zuchinni cut into long strips with a vegetable peeler or my V-slicer. My pantry is ready! Fried pork rinds already replace bread crumbs, a spaghetti squash will be baked today for "spaghetti noodles" for a special dish, cauliflower has already been steamed for rice and potatoes, romaine lettuce is a yummy replacement for bread in sandwiches, and cream cheese awaits my many low-carb cheesecake recipes instead of pies and cakes. As a last thought, I'm writing myself a note. After I allow a cheesecake to cool, cutting it up into the correct portions and freezing the portions I won't serve that night works very well. I've still got two Crustless Red Velvet Cheesecake portions left over from before New Year's in the freezer. Back to bed!

It's just the pain meds, honey. It's okay. Lena

My one meeting with Dr. Cywes was not pleasant in the least, but I dearly love his partner, Dr. Baptista.

I ran a very unscientific poll among my friends. Most of us have what I call "the dumpster pile" in the back of the closet somewhere. It's that pile of clothes you can't wear because you gained weight, but you refuse to give up those beloved bits of wardrobe. I had four outfits in my "dumpster" along with assorted jeans and a few shirts my fat arms were too uncomfortable to wear. Driven by desperation, I rummaged through that pile yesterday, hoping against all hope that I'd hidden a few pieces of warm clothing in there. (We're having a hard freeze here in Florida --something few of us are prepared to face.) I pulled out a much-beloved denim duster and jeans combo. I bit my lip and tried it on. Not only did the jeans slide on, I had to adjust the belt! (Faint) Warm, warm, warm! The doorbell rang. I had a moment of panic and slipped on my clogs before racing to the door. Whew! UPS man delivering another package of promo items. "Wow, Mrs. A! You've lost weight! Looking good! I know it ain't clean living, ma'am. My wife reads your books." I laugh, sign his electronic thing, and tell him I have a new LapBand. His jaw drops. Seems his wife wants one. Now he's anxious to tell her and pulling out his cell as he hops back in the truck. I go back to my fashion show in my closet and reap two more outfits out of the dumpster pile. A darn good day. Lena

OMG!! He left the needle poked in?? EEEK! Imagine me white-faced and fanning myself. Oh Wendy, I'm totally freaked. Lena

Glad to hear from you, Ronda. Enjoy this month when the weight falls off you like melting snow. My loss has started to slow down now that I can have solids, so treasure this time. Lena

Glad to hear from you, Donna. Better now? Lena

Hey, KC! Welcome home. Lena

OMG! You poor darling! Hope you're doing okay tonight. Lena

Wow, and to think I've been just rolling my chicken or tuna salad in a romaine lettuce leaf. Thanks! Lena

You can have decaf and herb tea, right? I've been making iced tea with decaf bags for awhile now. Lena

Thanks, Peanut. <HUG>

So, how about an update, y'all? Doing better? Lena

Congratulations! Your original reason was morbid, but you were smart. I found a few treasures in the back of my closet. I'm wearing one now! I'd already weeded out the Goodwill pile, but now I have a pile of "mend and tailor" things, plus a pile of "I havent got the courage to see if I fit yet." (giggle) I'll be forced into it soon, though. Everything I normally wear is falling off!

Right. Everyone's doc has their own rules. Mine says I can have any liquid as long as I don't exceed 30g of carbs a day. I can even have carbonated diet drinks, but I know my own body and I won't even start that. For me, a diet soda is the road to perdition. I suggest calling your doctor's office. Mine has a nutritionist on staff I can call or email to ask these sort of questions. Yours might too. Lena

Okay, here's my take. YMMV (Your mileage may vary.) A great deal of identifying what the pain is directly related to where the pain is. Bear with me, here. 1. Belly rumbles below the level of the stomach. You can safely ignore those. They're your lower intestine doing its thing. The noise will cease later. 2. Pain around the port site. That's just plain old healing. Take your pain meds. 3. Discomfort in the lower chest-- hunger OR you ate something that can't pass the stoma easily. Disclaimer: This is how I interpret my own body. Yours may be different.

I've been good. Really. Yesterday was the first day I could have solid foods, and I chose a hot dog. The first I cut up in bites I'd consider small for my two-year-old granddaughter. (sigh) It didn't stay down fifteen minutes. :thumbdown: Then my brilliant DH suggested I chop a second hot dog finer using a mini-food processor I had. By golly, it worked. It stayed down. (happy sigh) Okay, so I'm desperate for real food, okay? LOL! Tonight is an herb-crusted salmon, so I know that will stay down if I eat it slowly. Eating a la russe will definitely be important tonight. I'm going to attempt to eat a brussels sprout or two. I'm on a voyage of food discovery now! LOL!

Hi Mary! Hope you're having a good time! Isn't Dr. Baptista a love? Thanks for the encouragement MaryKayLady!

Update: Learned a new lesson tonight. Chopping food into itty bitty bits is not enough. I need to learn to measure my portions and learn how many ounces I can have at a time. Apparently, 2 oz is too much. (sigh) At least the salmon tasted pretty good. The first time, anyway.

I've been good. Really. Yesterday was the first day I could have solid foods, and I chose a hot dog. The first I cut up in bites I'd consider small for my two-year-old granddaughter. (sigh) It didn't stay down fifteen minutes. :tounge_smile: Then my brilliant DH suggested I chop a second hot dog finer using a mini-food processor I had. By golly, it worked. It stayed down. (happy sigh) Okay, so I'm desperate for real food, okay? LOL! Tonight is an herb-crusted salmon, so I know that will stay down if I eat it slowly. Eating a la russe will definitely be important tonight. I'm going to attempt to eat a brussels sprout or two. I'm on a voyage of food discovery now! LOL!

Hear! Hear! Having only the veggies is sooo difficult! I spooned a bit of the broth into a cup and put it into the refrigerator to cool so I could break off the fat and have a bit of broth with my veggies. It helped to at least have that meaty taste.

Okay, so it's 3:30 AM and I have insomnia. Not because of anything band related, just life issues. You know, finances, family --the usual stresses. Today, in theory, I'm supposed to start re-introducing full solids into my diet. I think I'm going to go verrrry slowly. Most meats still won't pass my stoma. Last night was the first time I got chicken past my stoma without it being chopped into ittty bitty bits. I can eat fish and scrambled eggs, but I'm leery of trying anything more solid in the way of proteins. Veggies OTOH go down fairly well. I only yarked up rutabaga fries recently, and that wasn't so much of a surprise. Those things are a bit fibrous. Guess I'd better mash my rutabagas for another couple of weeks. I can deal with that. My DH got a hard lesson in shopping with a bandster yesterday. He's been going to school on weekends for the past couple of months, so my roomie had the lesson first. DH discovered just how many "methyl-ethyl-bad-stuff" foods there are for a bandster in the grocery store. He'd bring a possible meal to me and I'd have to point out why I couldn't have it, like pasta in a stir fry mix. Finally, he got so frustrated he gave up and let me stroll around until I found the ingredients for the Chicken Diane recipe I'd had in mind all along. He pouts, but gets his starches on the side instead of in the main dish like I used to cook. He says he's afraid of what I'll do to adapt many of our favorite recipes to my new lifestyle. He's right to be afraid, somewhat, but less than he thinks. I've already made some adaptions and he barely noticed or complimented me. (snicker, snicker) Some adaptions he will notice, as soon as I'm sure I can have beef and pork. For instance, a family favorite around here is due for a severe makeover. Piggybank Pork Bake will no longer have cream of mushroom soup and egg noodles. I'll make my own mushroom sauce (Thank you Alton Brown)and the "noodles" will be zuchinni cut into long strips with a vegetable peeler or my V-slicer. My pantry is ready! Fried pork rinds already replace bread crumbs, a spaghetti squash will be baked today for "spaghetti noodles" for a special dish, cauliflower has already been steamed for rice and potatoes, romaine lettuce is a yummy replacement for bread in sandwiches, and cream cheese awaits my many low-carb cheesecake recipes instead of pies and cakes. As a last thought, I'm writing myself a note. After I allow a cheesecake to cool, cutting it up into the correct portions and freezing the portions I won't serve that night works very well. I've still got two Crustless Red Velvet Cheesecake portions left over from before New Year's in the freezer. Back to bed!

Mine has a progressive program over several weeks. I was on soft foods ("mushies") until today, but he said everyone's tolerance will be different. This has proven to be very true. While I can get many veggies past the stoma, very few meats pass. Theoretically, I've been allowed chicken and ground beef for a week, but unless the chicken is chopped fine, it didn't pass. I tried Spam the other day, chopped up fine. It didn't pass. Yarked it up in less than thirty minutes. You'd think Spam would be softer than chicken. Nope! At least I have sense enough to try an ounce of a new food at a time so I'm not yarking violently. I haven't had the nerve to try beef or other porks than Spam up until now. Every couple of days, I'll try a meat on the approved list to see if things have improved. Last night I managed chicken in itty bitty chunks for the first time. So, for me meats are a challenge. To supplement the eggs, chicken, and fish I can get past the stoma, I'll have a protein shake to make sure I'm getting plenty of protein. Have to admit, I'm getting sick of tuna and salmon. I never thought I'd say that. Take your time, Glenda. Follow your doctor's rules. It'll be worth it. You'll probably lose more weight than I, right? Lena

Okay, it's worth it. I can say that now. After an overnight stay and enough gas to light a fireplace, I'm a happy bandster. I'm still on liquids, and after one experience tasting a Protein shake, I won't cheat again. That, I promise you. The discomfort is not worth it. Trust me on that one. I'm not hungry at all. Not one bit. My tummy rumbles frequently, but I think that's gas. I still putt around, if you get my drift. Surprisingly, I have very little pain. liquid Tylenol takes care of it very well. Okay, I'm ready for another nap. Back to bed. LOL! Lena:thumbup:

Easy!! Use a V-slicer to cut a peeled turnip into "fries." Throw them in a tablespoon of hot olive oil and cook until soft and a little golden. Turnip fries turn a bit sweet, but with a peppery afterbite. Be prepared, and cook them well. Lena