mlafentres

lol tquad64...

Congrats on going to mushies!!! You so need to try fat free refried Beans. Put some 2% cheese on there and its a little 1/2 cup of bliss. Like you, my port is a little tender, but otherwise I feel great. Congrats on the 4.5 cc on 3/10. That should make a giant difference.

Ok, so maybe I'm dense, but what does this mean? PB? I read about it. I know it's gross. I know it's not fun. I doubt I've ever done it. But I keep reading about it and no one ever seems to say exactly what it is. Sorry for the newbie question, but someone has to ask. .... and please... no "You'll know it if you do it." comment. Thanks all

Thank you. That wasn't in the booklet my doc gave me. :scared:

This is my all time favorite mushy food. 1/2 cup fat free refried Beans Pinch of 2% cheese spoon of tomatoe Soup to emulate taco sauce. (was afraid to do the real thing) This would ward off hunger for me better than anything, and nutritionally its not too bad imho. Kinda like a Pinto's and Chesse from Taco bell, only not nearly as bad for ya.

Hi NurseMelly, hope your and all others are doing well. I too was banded 1/19. I had my follow up appointment yesterday and the NP advanced me to baked fish. So not only am I allowed mushies, i can also have baked flakey meats. They even scheduled my first fill for 2/20. They said they would give me 3 cc. Its so strange how different doctors have such very different standards. I'm sorry they still have you on liquids. Be strong.

Glad to hear another Jan bandster is feeling well! Yeah. I read about it all the time. People say "I'm afraid I will PB or throw up" and I'm thinking.. ok so its not that... Anyway. Glad to hear your doing well.

Ok this just blows my mind.On my food calendar your OP is day Zero and on day 7 the calendar says: "Add oatmeal consistency Well cooked vegetables, vegetable Soup, and legumes (beans) well cook Try fat free refried beans." I even recall the nurse that gave the class gave us a tip to take a thin layer of refried beans and put a pinch of low fat cheese and microwave it for 30 seconds. Fat free refried beans are pretty healthy really and have protien. For me, I'm kinda in this terrible cycle. I get hungry. I eat 1/2 cup of refried beans to get full I get gas I walk to help the gas I get hungry because I walked. [Repeat]

Jack..... that was nearly profound. Well said sir, well said.

I was banded 1/19. Right now, I don't get all my protien yet. The goal is over 50 grams per day, but as I read my manual more, at that first week they only wanted you to get 1 shake to start with and then build to more. It was day 3 before I could do a full single shake. When I did, it made that gas worse. I am still not to the full 50/day yet, so I think you are fine. For now, I would focus on fluids. Focus on getting at least 32oz of Fluid for a mini goal. It is true, what they say. It gets better every day. For me day 5 was a really turning point in how I felt personally. Better days to come, I promise.

It is amazing how different this is for each of us. For me I think I'm in between. At first I felt no hunger at all. Now, I'm partially healed and I guess I feel hunger in the best way my stomach can express it to me right now. In time this will probably return to its old self. But for now, its nice that 'hunger' doesn't feel as severe as it was preop. Tomorrow I graduate to mushies... well, I'm allowed a scrammbled egg, and I've been lusting after that egg for a week plus now. I know, purely mental, but I can't help how I feel. Thanks for all your replies.

When did you start to feel hunger post op? Did the hunger feel different? I was banded 1/19, and over the past 2 days I've started to feel more sensations that feel something like what I used to consider to be hunger. Does hunger feel different? I have yet to feel anything that feels like what I used to call hungry, but I do feel something else.

So I've been reading about what happens to fat when it is used. Amazingly I never really knew where the fat went when I lost weight. My understanding is that the fat cell remains. When certain hormones are release the fat cell empties its contents of fatty acids into the blood stream to be used as energy. One of the byproducts of this is GAS. If this is correct, that explains why I feel like my doctor installed one of these.

I was banded 1/19 and I too feel like walking and just sitting upright makes a difference. Also, I am COLD. Cold in my fingers and toes. So far the best I can do is get down 1 protien shake / day for a total of 17g of protien/day. (not where I want to be, but the best I can do for now.) On a bright note, I am getting my Fluid goal of over 32oz. Each day I feel better, and I know the weight is falling off me. I also did the milk of m and it was painful to get the first one out but it felt sooo good once I did. Right now I'm about 50% gas out one end and 50% out the other.

You are so reading my mind. I kept expecting something other than these burps, and I too have been waiting on the first post op BM. Well, tonight the forces of nature switched gears in a major way. Sorry for the grossness of this post, but lets just say the first one after surgury will be special, and the gas has moved from burps to well... what you'all are talkn about. I was banded just yesterday. We are so in the same boat.

Had my operation 1/19/09 (Monday) at Southern Surgical Hospital in Slidell, LA. My mom flew down to be with me. We left the house at 5:40am for the 6:00am appointment. Once we got there receptionist checked us in. Shortly after that, a lady called me and another person, to the back and showed my mom where the family room was. (They even gave her tickets for a free meal while she was there, but turns out she never got to use them.) When I got in back the nurse, Kathy, begin to prep me. Disrobe, Gown, put all your stuff in a locker. The foot wear was uncomfortable to me for some reason because the seam in the bootie was right between my toes and I could never get comfortable. IV, Scopamine patch, Nausea injection, shot to calm me down and took vitals. They also, put foot pumps on my feet to keep blood flowing. The bed was uncomfortable to me, but the people were really nice. I asked the nurse when we would begin and they said that they were just waiting on the doctor to arrive. Within a few minutes he showed up. It Is now 7:30AM. The doctor speaks to me and asks if I have any other questions. I said I just wanted to thank him for doing this on a day that would have been his off day. He smiled and walked away. I was wheeled back to the OR. The assistants asked to scoot over on a new table. They kept telling me to breath in the oxygen mask and I did. Then they put in the sleeping agent and that is the last I remember until I was being told to wake up. (Guessing it started at 7:40am) By 8:15am the doctor was out talking to my mom and telling her everything went great. About that same time I remember a nurse telling me to wake up. She said that band was in and they also repaired a herina. Next I remember they told me they were waiting for my turn to go to a new room (I am guessing it was the recovery room.) I felt ZERO nausea, but my belly felt like I did a thousand sit ups. Once in the recovery room they brought me some ice chips. (they were sooo good) The nurse got me 30ml of Liquid Loritab. With in a few minutes I wasn’t feeling pain anymore, except for in my left shoulder, which I realized was just gas. Once the Loritab worked its magic, I was eager to get walking. I knew from this forum that the key to getting out that gas was walking. When the nurse seen how ‘awake’ I was she asked me if I would like to walk. Mom came back about that time and I said I would love to try. They sit me up in the bed and I was READY TO GO. Walking made an amazing difference. By 11:00am I was getting discharge instructions and proving I could still pee. J By 11:30am I was in a cab headed for the pharmacy. The hospital had called in the prescription, and they said they would have it ready. When we pulled up in the cab, of course they didn’t have it ready. So I asked the cab driver to take me and mom back to my house and we would try again later. The lady at the pharmacy said it would be about 30 minutes. Once back at the house I waited 30minutes and called RiteAid again. They said that they needed my drivers license number. I gave it to the lady over the phone and I told her what happened last time I was there. I asked her when I should leave, she said I could leave immediately because she was prepping it right then. Called the cab again and drove to RiteAid. Stood in line for sometime as the person behind the register traded pleasntrys with a customer over ringing up bubble gum in front of the store or in back, as 5 people waited in line behind her. (Grr) Once I got up there, she told me that is wasn’t ready yet. I about lost my mind! I went and sit down. 2 minutes later they started paging my name to come to the pharmacy. I walked up and got back in line. (sorry this was a bad experience) At long last I got my pain med and went back home with mom. Its 8:50pm now and I feel good by all accounts, except a chill I had earlier. More news to come,

Count me in for Jan 19th. The big day is less than 24 hours from now and I just can't sleep. I'm to be at the hospital at 6am. Did you guys have to shower with that special Hibiclens (sp?) soap? That is some strong stuff. Anyway, cheers and liquid loritab to all. :huh2:

So I'm on the pre-op and its day 17 of 35. It is getting easier, but it is still tough. Sometimes I think about some of the reasons why I am doing this, and it helps me to stay commited. Here is my Top 10 list for wanting WLS: 1 Job requires travel and flying is horrible if you are heavy. 2 Hard to walk long distances 3 Low Engery 4 I want to live to see my baby get old 5 Love life is non existant. 6 People are jerks if you are heavy. 7 Passed up for a better job in favor of a skinny person with less skills. 8 Ever try to mow the yard with a fat suite on? 9 Gotta order 2 of the big size thing to feel full. 10 Never to have to look at a folding chair again and wonder, is this gonna be ok? What are your reasons for wanting WLS? (If I can't have the Whopper.. I need to at least remind myself of why I don't want it anymore.)

EAS is a good price and the nutrional values are really good, but the taste is not my thing. Boost tastes the best to me, and the price is also good, but it leaves a little to be desired on the nutrional side. Optifast is ok from a taste standpoint, and nutrionally, but the prices is too high. I want something premade, but there seems to be no clear best in my mind. Right now I'm on EAS. I figure if I'm hungry enough... anything tastes ok.

I'm not a doctor. I'm not a expert, and I'm not giving advise. But I do know I was confused about what drink was best for me. The doctor's office recommended Optifast 800, however they said that any other similar drinks would be ok too. I know there is a big difference in price on some of these. Any way, I took the information off the web site for three of the more common drinks I heard mentioned and took off all the fancy formating so I could see them side by side on equal footing. If anyone has information on prices, feel free to add to this. **Again, my only goal is to show some data from the labels of each of these products.

Hey, you were totally right. I was thinking of a different place all together. The great news is this place is under 2 miles from my house. It is new, and VERY NICE. I was, for some reason thinking of a place off Robert road. Thank goodness for google maps. LOL Thanks for your responses. I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER NOW.

Thank you for your posts. I forgot some of these things you mentioned. Yesterday was pretty tough. All I could think is I wanted something with a little flavor in it. Reading through this helps me cement in my mind all the reasons I have to not cheat, especially when my scale says I'm not going anywhere fast.

Hey Peanutband, My date is Jan 19th and I've been on the pre-op for 16 days now. My pre-op diet is kinder than most, but its still pretty slim compared to what I'm used too. Mon/Tues 4 Shakes - 1 very small meal. (4 oz meat / 1 cup veg) Wed-Sat 3 Shakes - 2 very small meals (3oz meat/ veg and or fruit.) Sun 3 Shakes - 1 very small meal and 1 slightly bigger. You are right. The preop is hard. The first week is no joke, but after day 5, it got easier.. Oh yeah. I have lost 16 lbs in these 16 days. I can move about so much easier and my cloths kinda fit better too. But... here is what keeps me going. I've got a business trip the week before my operation, so I really want to take some pounds off before I have to get on the plane and sit in the skinny people chairs. Of all the things about being heavy, flying is the worst!!! Once I got on a plane and the woman next to me said something pretty unkind under her breath where I could hear it. So..... the thing that keeps me on this preop starvation plan... the thing that motivates me not to quit this is. 1) Soon I get help from my band. 2) I am sick of people treating heavy people they way they do. 3) If I have to ask for a seat belt extension, I won't need the op because I will die from embarrisment. 4) When we get skinny, lifes rules are going to change for us. The list goes on... but yeah there are plenty of reasons to drink that shake, smile, and say that tomorrow is truly going to be a better day.

Thats good to hear. I've not lived here that long so I bet I'm confused about where it is. I think it is off Robert road?

heschete, Thanks for your story. It is so helpful to read your stories; I hope mine will be the same. I am glad that the folks at Southern Surgical Hospital said your husband would have been allowed to stay with you, because I'm scheduled with them as well. Yesterday, I called the hospital. A person, half asleep, answered and I asked her about my mom. She cut me off and said, 'We really try to give everyone a private room.' So, I read this as, the hospital's policy is that if you have a private room then a guest is allowed to stay. So, is that really the hospital's policy, or is the person just as uninformed as she was unprofessional? The truth is, I'm kinda scared of Southern Surgical Hospital. It looks a little old. There is never too many cars in the lot. Normally, in a sucessful business (ones people want to go to) you see plenty of people there. Good hospitals are typically busy places, and I have to tell ya it always seems like there is plenty of room to park at this place. Kinda scarey. Hearing 100% postive stories makes me think my concerns are unfounded, but I am a bit sckeptical right now.