MDSanta

wow that nurse thing sucks, what was she injecting all that time? if you don't mind me asking. I am hoping the restriction comes soon for me, will get another dosage of saline in a week. Maybe if the doctor had placed a smaller band. Are you still going through any of the earlier problems you had (diabetes, hypertension, etc)? Think of things this way, we are never fully aware of our size, that is how many of us got to the point we were before surgery. I've been a big kid all my life but I just kept getting bigger and it was never a worry cause I always felt the same (big), until one day I compared a time lapse picture and saw the huge difference. At that point I became more contious of myself I would always assume I could not fit in the trains and even limited my activities cause I thought I would break something with my size. During that time I got even bigger, it was not until the illnesses and pains got to me that I realized I have literally got a to big a problem to handle on my own and pushed myself for this procedure. What I guess I am trying to say is you can never realize your own size until you compare yourself visually with yourself, that works when gaining and when losing the weight. I guess that would be what the doctor is trying to make you do. I guess we are both experiencing kinda similar problems. I am having issues, because I do not want to be the person I was before surgery. I made a decision that I would completely change and I just cant wait to be that person. You have actually changed but keep seeing yourself as the person you were before; and the person in front of you probably looks/feels like a complete stranger. Just understand that, that person is you. As for distortion, half the fun of breaking down legos is you get to build new things with it, with the added experience of the first thing you built. Wish you luck. Thanks all for the replies, I think I am feeling a bit better. I can tell this is a common problem and that it has been overcome, so that gives me faith and a bit more patience.

It's been a little over a month since surgery. I have gone through all the basics steps after surgery and even had my first adjustment. So what's my problem? Well for starters, I understand this is not a miracle cure and I was very proud to know I had lost 30lbs by surgery date and another 15 by my first docs appointment. By the time I was first adjusted though, I had gained a total of 6lbs back. Which I can understand was due to being able to eat actual food again. I'm still not sure if that's normal or the doc just seeing the glass have full. On the first week after surgery everything was perfect for me, I was actually feeling full with minor amounts, it was like a blessing. But as the swelling went down my appetite has grown back to normal. Even after an Adjustment I can still literally eat anything (although i had a bad encounter with a chicken breast the other day) and while the amount might not be what I used to eat 2 months ago, it is quite close. I don't feel like I am going anywhere lately, if not back to normal, and that just scares me. The surgery has taught me to eat slower and chew more often which is good, but I was hoping it would make me feel fuller faster. Is going up normal so soon? Right now I am at 4.5cc's in a 12cc or 14cc (I forget) band. How many cc's or adjustments did you have to get to find your own "sweetspot"? One trick I noticed for myself was to go against dr's orders of drinking 20 minutes after a meal and do it in 5 to 10. Once I take a small gulp of whatever I am drinking it hits me instantly like I ate two cows. Although I don't think I should be doing this, it is what seems to be working for me recently.

of course I am greatful for the weight loss I have done so far. But most of it was pre-surgery, in which I had started to liquid diet way earlier than recommended. I guess I am looking at my status pre surgery and was hoping it would be easier to keep the ball rolling post surgery. But it seems like its going to be a little while before I can take full advantage of it. I don't really wanna go back to the preop diet, while it was semi bearable, it can drive a person insane after some time. My mother prepares all my dinners but seems to find it hard to decide on what to cook that is healthy for me. So I just started to contemplate on joining one of those meal clubs like jenny craig or nutrisystem but it seems they can be quite expensive. Any suggestions? Or maybe I can try to create some kind of meal plan. Which would probably be cool for a regular person, but she's the type that likes to replace ingridients with stuff shes more accostumed to cooking. Just today alone we had a minor argument in which I kept telling her to bake the chicken cutlets while she kept trying to convince me to pan fry it cause it was just "a little" bit of oil.

i have BBBS and it was 6 months, which seemed to be the average on just about all insurance. It could be shorter with the assumption you already have a monthly weight history of at least 6 months. They should be able to tell you the exact amount of time in the seminar.

good luck teach, and keep us up to date on your progress.

the question should be, what soups did you continue to eat? Even after the post op liquid week.

that's odd, I know they used to do it without 6 months a little over a year ago from now. maybe your on a higher type of plan? or did you already have a 6 month weight history from your doc at that point? I heard if you have enough medical problems due to the obesity though, they should be able to skip that process as well (cheaper for them).

I've been rotating between slim fast and soups for dinner. same as you with chicken soup, also had tomato soup, plan on cream of chicken tomorow in fact i got most my ideas from here lol http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f82/liquid-stage-recipes-17636/ great discussion I cant wait to graduate to second stage. I wants me some chilli

seminar is obviously the first step. There you are practically informed about what the surgery is, some statistics and what are the requirements. Once you have done your seminar (make sure you sign the sign in sheet). You can place an appointment with one of the surgeons/nurses then, they will do a history on you and make sure you are ok for surgery (warning if you are skinny, you will not get past this point). Depending on your insurance you might have to provide evidence that you have at least attempted to diet and if possible other reasons as to why you need it. In my case, it took me exactly 6 months. I have blue cross blue shield and they required 6 month weight history from either a nutritionist or your general doctor. During those six months you can take care of all the other requirements. One being a psychological letter from a psych practically stating you are of well mind for the surgery and not a nut job. My general doctor also had me do sleep study test which diagnosed me with sleep apnea, and I was diagnosed with hyper tension as well. Both caused by my obesity and even more push to do the surgery. Once my 6 months were thru, I was able to make an appointment with my Dr. I made sure all my paperwork was done and waited for pre approval from my insurance. two weeks prior to the surgery I was told to start a street liquid diet, which I followed thanks to monkey scaring the beejesus out of me with her story. 1 week prior to surgery I was sent for pre admission where I was questioned by a nurse my history once more, saw the anesthesiaologist, had blood work done and had some xrays done (chest and esphagos). Surgery date, all went smoothly and here I am now. It seems like alot but time flies like nothing. Just make sure you have your paperwork up to date at all times, it is easy to lose track of appointments with time flying so fast.

Hey guys, finally got banded yesterday. God it was an experience. Is it normal for you to feel sore all over once you get home, I take it the drugs finally lost their whim in my system. How long were you guys sore for? I hate feeling incapacitated and really hard to move from sofa to bed and vice versa. Do you guys have any tip/tricks? Also I've been drinking water and broth and I feel like theres a finger down my throat when I breath in, any idea how i could get rid of this feeling?

I just felt so sore and weak after getting out the hospital and gradually got worst. At one point I could hardly move without much effort as if I were paralyzed. I tried to see if the muscle pains had anything to do with the general anesthesia and I believe I found a page which mentioned a muscle relaxant that sounded a lot like something the nurse gave me after surgery to relax my pain a bit. Supposedly the aftereffects, are extreme soreness. Regardless, I feel much better today. My throat is better, and I was able to take a shower this morning which I couldn't yesterday due to the fact I could hardly lift my own legs. It seems my left side is back to normal but I am still feeling some muscle pain on the right side of my body, nothing I can't deal with though. I also manage to get the prescription pain killer my Dr. prescribed but I don't think I will be needing it. Today I have trying to get a better grasp on my limits, I have honestly not felt hunger since surgery, how do i know I am hungry does it feel the same as before? I have been swallowing bits of this and that since don't starve myself to death. Today I realized that once I past a certain line in a Snapple bottle or 5 sips of slim fast I get this small sharp pain in my stomach. It feels a lot like when you drink a large amount of water in the morning at a really fast speed. The pain subsides quickly, I have not tried to temp more of it so I wait a little while before I resume. I can't wait til next month when I can exercise and really see how well this thing will work for me.

thanks monkey. I tried to do some reasearch on the soreness and it is probably due to a muscle relaxant the nurse gave me to fight the shoulder pains from the gas. I was moving just fine but slowly as I got away from the hospital ive been getting slower and slower due to the soreness, I actually need help to position my leg. hopefully this will go away by tomorow, I've tried to drink lots of water and try to flush out as many drugs as I could. As for actually surgery pains, they seem minimal. I will be picking the medicated pain killers given to me though just in case. I just hate the paralyzed feeling I am having right now. Thanks monkey.

Just got the call from NYU. I have to go in tomorrow morning at 8:30. My nerves of adamantium are slowly starting to shake. :confused: Tonight I die, tomorrow reborn.... Sort of.. :confused:

no no no I was expecting surgery tomorrow, they just took forever to give me a time. I was getting nervous something was wrong but I got the call and got excited and you read the rest. gotta be at hospital in about 8 hours actually, I should get some sleep...

The whole gas part is scaring me already. I am glad all went well for you. Remember what Kanye said "Reach for the stars, so if you fall, you'll land on a cloud". You've gotten this far, you're going to do great.

woof! }:wink:)

I had great luck with my Dr, I had only seen him a few times and told him that I wanted the surgery. He immediately asked me what did I need. From him, he knew what he needed to do but I guess he was just testing to see how serious I was about it. He did kinda leave me in limbo towards the end, by leaving his practice but at least I got all I needed from him by then.

do you mean Military Spouses unite? Military Spouses Unite!! - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum I did a quick search on all your posts, its the only military section I can see. hope that helps.

Welcome to the forums, I sure you will enjoy it here. I am also from new york and got 5 days left for my surgery. I remember the first time I went to the seminar, I actually chickened out, took me about a year to try once more. six months later and I'm approved for surgery by insurance and getting ready for a new life one day at a time. The time rolls by so quickly you won't even notice it. One word of advice, make sure you keep up with all your requirements. I personally had to do a lot of last minute running around, and the worst feeling is feeling like your not gonna make it after trying/waiting for 6 months due to your on negligence. Good luck!

Today makes day 8 for me in the diet. So far only had 1 really bad night but the rest of the times seems pretty passive. yesterday I had a slim fast for breakfast, I ran out of slim fast so I bought some chicken soup from the deli for lunch. I tried to pull out the fat from the top and had just a small portion. later for dinner i just ate a small piece of steamed chicken (3 oz). I was still a tad hungry later that night so I popped open a sugar free jello. Somehow this liquid diet seems to be getting a bit more solid for me lol. I never did ask the nutritionist if i could eat the chicken more than once a day. The only thing I am disliking for now is the feeling of being weak due to not consuming as much as I am used to. Had a strong dizzy spell earlier as well.

Hey guys, new here, it feels nice to see there are plenty of others out there getting the band, so far all the people I have met have gone the full internal makeover way. If god permits, my surgery date will be March 5 @ NYU in new york. So far I am a few days into my 2 week pre op diet, which I hope does not become too torturous with time. I am hoping to be able to learn from you guys and possibly help anyone else with whatever experience I gain during this time. so.. how does one pass their time in here?

I am on my 5th day so far of liquid diet, I was supposed to start at least 2 weeks prior to surgery date. my nutritionist basically just allowed me to drink up to 5 slim fasts a day (Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 in between) or a number of other types of drinks. It did take a bit of begging but I did manage to convince her to let me eat at least 4 oz a chicken in place of a can. I tried to ween myself into this thing since the beginning of the month, slowly replacing 1 meal at a time with a slim fast every week. Surprisingly it has not been "that" bad. The hunger pains are still there (the reason I am here and not sleeping) but eventually they seem to fade away. wish you luck guys. hopefully none of us goes insane during this small trial and that evil cheeseburger staring at me in the closet fades away.