Boliele

I was more excited being able to zip up a medium Columbia jacket (bit too tight yet) from a tight 3xl Columbia jacket than I was going under 200. Sometimes I still feel I look like I did 100 pounds ago. You need to get some before and after pictures. It helps a lot to actually see the change. Seeing yourself in the mirror everyday doesn't let you see just how different you are.

I am 5'6" and 194 and fit into size 14/16 pants (depending on the pants) and Large tops. I don't buy many clothes as I drop the weight but I think I had size 20 pants at 230 or so and XL tops.

I was banded 2/05/09 and I am 23. My surgery went well. I was nauseated only after I woke up in recovery and needed pain meds. It was a very bumpy ride to a room I was sore for a little while but nothing too bad. I was expecting it to hurt a lot to be cut open. I am very happy with the band, I am down 63 lbs since surgery (100 since the start of the hoops insurance made me jump through ). I have only had one fill and so far its enough for me. I only told my family and my close friends. If people that saw me before the surgery ask I do tell them too. Take LOTS of before pictures! I take pictures on the start of every month so I can look and see how far I have come. Some random pictures I wish I took were of my hands. They definitely went down in ring size, but I wish I had a before picture :sad:

Mine started falling out a lot in late May/early June (5 months post op) and finally stopped last week. You can't see that I've lost a lot of hair, it still looks normal. It feels like my pony tail is a little thinned out (but that could be in my head). It is scary but there is nothing you can really do for the loss (once its started your body is already working to fix it). Remember we normally lose about 100 strands of hair a day anyway and we are not bald :thumbdown:

nectar Protein drinks (23g of protein)! You can order a bunch of samples to try and see which flavor you like. My dietitian had recommended an unflavored whey protein from GNC and I had tried it long before my surgery. I couldn't stand the thing, I ganged the entire time and now just the smell of Protein powder makes me ill. I had panicked thinking I wouldn't be able to do the surgery because the protein was a must. I still can't stand the smell of the Protein Drinks but the taste of Crystal Sky from Nectar is great (tastes very fruity). You can mix it with crystal lite and throw in some ice cubes.. Its great chilled. I order it from enjoyhealth.com. You might find one flavor you like (there are a ton of flavors). unjury chicken broth was also a good one. Again couldn't stand the smell, but it really does taste like chicken Soup broth (they also have an unflavored that was ok, along with strawberry sorbet). Hope that helps!

I say stay away from the scale until you are well into the solid foods. If you do weigh yourself all the time, expect it to fluctuate a lot. Also, 10 days post op, have you had a bowel movement yet? You could add a good deal of weight from constipation and what not. I find weighing myself in the morning after a bathroom break gives the best show of my weight. Just relax and heal up. Nothing to panic over :frown:

Mine is on my right side. Never noticed if he was left or right handed lol. I hear some people are getting the ports placed right under their sternum now too?

As long as your not in pain from being stuck I think you should be fine. It should melt and move through the stoma when its small enough. Maybe swallow a little bit of water to help it dissolve? If you're really worried its best to contact your doctors office just to get their opinion. The thing I worry about swallowing is gum :thumbsup:.

No surprises with food for me yet. Pretty much if I eat too fast or something is just a little too dry or a little too sticky does it cause problems. I've only eaten grapefruit so far, so I haven't eaten any of the white skin on the outside as of yet to find out if it would cause any problems. Though I imagine a big strip of the white outer part could cause problem if it when down. I don't drink with my food any more. Though it is hard to resist sometimes. Having a bit of gravy or a couple sips of Water to make it moist wouldn't be a problem I don't think. Its when you take drinks through the entire meal that would defeat the band. As long as your not taking so much water that the meat is just washed through the stoma. When I forget and take a drink of water too soon after eating I do get hungry faster. When in real doubt though just ask your doctor, that's what they are there for :thumbup:

I focus really hard when I chew gum now because I'm afraid I will swallow on accident like I used it . When I do chew gum I go for very small pieces in case something like that does happen :crying:

Have you tried Milk of Magnesia yet? That should get things moving!

So did I :tt2:. People love to torture themselves more than anything! lol

I didn't have to do a test on a computer. Mine just asked me some questions to see if I was mentally ready to do weight loss surgery.

Sounds like you have an infection in there? I haven't had any problems in that aspect, though someone else might have. Have you talked to your doctor about it yet?

I pretty much slept all day the day after surgery. I would just sit down in a chair and zonk out for a couple hours. Getting out of chairs was horrible. I would only sit in rocking chairs where I could launch myself out. I dreaded trying to get out of bed the next morning. However, after a night of sleep it wasn't so bad getting up. I was also slumped over because I couldn't stand up straight without it hurting. It got better the next day though. I could stand up straight but by the end of the day I was kind of hunched over just not to stretch too much. You will feel a lot better by day three and four. Just take it easy the first day home.

I'm a side sleeper and I can't stand being on my back. I hug a body pillow and everything is fine. Maybe get a body pillow and see if you can kind of lay on it a little and see if that works out?

I take the chewable centrum and caltrate which was fine by my doctor. I was also going to take biotin if I started loosing a lot of hair.

I had to drink 4 horrible vanilla protein shakes for 9 days to get ready for surgery. They all pretty much kept me full the entire time though. I got to the point where I just held my nose and drank them down as fast as I could . Thankfully the protein drinks I have for after the surgery are actually good.

A friend of mine had her gallbladder out during gastric bypass surgery. There was a chance her gallstones would have affected her after she lost all the weight. They might take it out if they see a future problem?

That's what I was going to suggest. Maybe add a separate sheet listing as many weight loss tries you have tried over the years (include how much you lost and gained back each time). That will only help you also get approved by your insurance (if that is one of their requirements). It probably doesn't hurt to get a letter of support from your primary care physician also. Even without a letter of support, your letter sounds great anyway .