~*leeann*~

I very much agree! I love my magic bullet! It will be easy to take to work and mix and blend things for lunch! Definitely comes in VERY handy!!!!

Carrie: About my port site, (at least what I am guessing is my port site...cuz im not really sure...i was a little morphined out when my surgeon was talking to me) is what I am guessing is hurting from time to time. Its like a stinging sensation every once in a while. especially when I turn the wrong way..or stretch too much. You mentioned you have had broth ...popsicles...and Jello. I have figured out that 4 oz of skim milk, 1 scoop of vanilla soy Protein powder, and a few shakes of cinammon makes a pretty good Protein shake. It curbs the hunger, and gives you the protein your body needs to recover (and helps prevent that hair loss!!!!) WIP: glad to see you can sleep comfortably on one side at least...man i am SOOOO not a back sleeper...I have a pretty expensive king koil pillowtop, and it might as well be a straight piece of plywood. It is so uncomfy for so many hours...I am looking forward to turning! I tried last night...and nope...wasnt happening. Wsully:Sorry to hear about that sickness. That is no good. That is awesome though, that you are getting so much protein in. My intake is supposed to be between 40g-60g...and i seem to struggle with that...how are you taking in so much??? Remember liquids will not really fill up your pouch...(according to my surgeon) they will go right through. So i was told i could have as much Water, broth etc that I wanted...I didnt drink much water for the first couple days, BIG MISTAKE! I started getting dehydrated, and having leg cramps and muscle cramps. I have been drinking more water, and actually drinking on my favorite gatorade as well...to help prevent dehydration. And about that shower....its a great feeling! I was able to shower the next day, but just to stand in that hot water is so relaxing! How is everyone doing taking chewable Vitamins?

thanks SpideyMom! Wow...that sounds like no fun! Being hospitalized for 36 hours...eeek! No I dont have a lazy Boy (I WISH I DID THOUGH!!!!!) But I figured out how to sleep semi-comfortably on the couch. I hit a milestone last night...i SLEPT IN BED!!!!! WOOHOO! the only thing is...i woke up with my back muscles cramping from not moving. lol. go figure. I went to bed at about 11, woke up around 3am...drank some Water and took some pain meds, and went back to sleep...and slept until 8ish. WHEW! I did make 1 mistake last night, I thought I was ok enough to get in a car. Yeah...anyone reading this who is about to be banded....dont do that! All of the movement made my stomache really sore. But...it was nice to walk at walmart for a few mins and pick up some more protien powder and fresh fruit for my protien shakes. Today is Post op Day 3, and I woke up feeling pretty good. Still too scared to try and lift out of bed alone, in fear of tearing something or popping stitches. The leg cramping is not as bad today as it was yesterday. water water water and more water. And actually my DH got me some gatorade so I have been drinking on that as well to help with the prevention of dehydration. Not really any hunger to speak of. I have had a few times where I couldnt tell if i was starving and my stomache was hurting from that...or hurting from surgery. So i would drink my protien shake, and that coated it enough to take away the hunger. I am down 6 lbs since pre-op day on tuesday. YAY! I still feel like I have gas in my chest...and I still cant burp yet. I am almost there...lol...but it still hurts those muscles a lil too much to strain them. I know once that chest gas is out..ALOT of that discomfort will be gone. Im breathing better on the incentives spirometer too. Im hitting between 1500-2000. My goal set by my dr is like 2500..so not quite there. But the first 2 days I was only hitting 1000-1250. So I am doing much better. Are other people having to do this as well? Hubby says he can tell the difference on some of the weight loss already. I have lost a total of 14 lbs since pre-op diet began. YAYAY! Hope everyone is alright...still would love to hear from you all!

sanderson......how did it go????

Thanks carrie for posting! Last night was a bit easier to sleep. I was having a lot of gas pains in my back so my DH went to the store and got me a heating pad...he also picked up some gatorade so that I wont get dehydrated. I layed down on the couch, with the heating pad on my back...and it felt great. I fell asleep right away. I woke up around 130, took some pain meds...(when i was finally able to get off the couch), and drank some Water. I think I am getting dehydrated....ive been so scared to over drink , that i havent been drinking much. Today I am going to make sure I get my 8 glasses of water ...drink my protien shakes all day....and maybe have some sugar free pudding later! One thing I have noticed is that my legs are cramping. I think that is due to the lack of water intake. I still feel some gas pains in my chest, only not NEARLY as bad as yesterday. Im ALMOST to the point to be able to comfortably burp them out! As gross as that is...but WOOOHOO! My back is pretty stiff still too, probably from sleeping on my stupid couch. Maybe tonight is the night to go back to my BED! One great thing that came out of this already....my father is overweight, and is a Type II Diabetic. He is fully covered on Medicare, and wants me to get information from my dr about the procedure for him!!! So that will be awesome!!! I am really excited. I hope he gets to have it..I know it will be so good for his health. (Plus, if he does...I wont have to worry about going to his house to eat those big home cooked italian meals!) haha. Hang in there everyone....it is slowly gonna get better..and we are on our way to great new places!

alrighty, here is my story. Sorry it took til today to write...but here it goes. Tuesday the 19th was my pre-op day. I went in and met the staff and True Results, and met Dr B. He is really a nice guy...he put me at ease. He told me I was going to be the first one to be done the next morning...WOOHOO!!!! He said to go out that night and have a nice big dinner, whatever I wanted...so thats just what we did. (only...i couldnt eat much.) Ever since the pre-op diet started..when I would eat, I could notice that the amt I could eat was cut in about half. Yesterday my husband and I got up around 415am. We got ready, called my mom, and met her and she followed us to the surgery center. While I was sitting there filling out a bunch of paperwork, we were all cracking jokes a bit. So that made me feel a little better too. The nurse came to get me around 645am, and had me take a pregnancy test, and put on the robe, socks, and little hat. then I went and got my IV started. my husband and mom were able to come sit with me during that time. We took a couple of pictures (funny ones..I will be sure to upload them soon) and the anesthisiologist came over. He told me he was going to give me something to "take the edge off" since my BP was a little high from nerves. About 10 mins later I felt drunk. :smile: Everything was kinda blurry...and I was probably slurring ..I dont remember. Next thing I know I was waking up in recovery. There was a nurse guy talking to me, asking if I was ok. I just kinda shook yeah. After a few mins, we got up and walked a bit. The getting up and down was making me feel really sick. My mouth started doing that whole watering thing that it does, right before you vomit...but i just closed my eyes and took deep breaths. I never did. I almost did...but just burped instead. I was given some morphine, and some nausea meds, and walked again. Almost got sick again. So instead of leaving around 11 or 12, i didnt leave til almost 2. People that went in after me were doing awesome....and they got to go home. Last night sucked pretty bad. I walked around outside a couple of times, and tried to do my breathing thing....but it was hard. Of course they said I need to do it, to prevent pneumonia or a collapsed lung...so I have been trying. Just not doing really great yet. I didnt really have any kind of appetite all day....just a really dry mouth. I tried laying in bed...worst mistake EVER!!! It hurt so so so bad that i started crying...and when I was crying..it hurt to cry and breath...so it was hurting worse doing that! UGH!!!! so my husband helped me get up and go back to the couch. He slept on the loveseat all night as i SOMEWHAT slept sitting up on the couch. Because of that...my neck and back are really sore today. My chest was hurting a lot yesterday as if gas was in there. my DH went to the store and got me some gas x chewables, and dissolving strips, but i dont know that it is helping. I managed to get about 3 hours of sleep from about345-7 this morning..but thats about all. This morning, everything still feels really painful. I am going to have to call the dr. because it looks like 2 of my incisions are open. (they were open on the way home yesterday). So i am going to check to see if that is ok. I feel like i need to burp, but when i try..straining those stomache muscles kills me. So i cant ever get anything out. So today my goal is to sip a lil broth, walk walk walk, breathe on the breathing thing, walk walk walk....try to get some sleep, and walk and breathe some more, ,and see what Dr B has to say about my incisions. Thats all....will write more later.

congrats on everyone getting banded...hang in there....and thanks for the updates! Seems like you both did so well! I am getting banded on the 20th...and hopefully I will not freak myself out! It really does help to read everyones surgery stories....thanks again!!!!!

yeah...i bought some bell peppers and have them in the fridge. I LOVE fresh cold bell peppers...and I think tonight I am going to get the ready and cut them up...and when my nightly hunger attack comes on...I am going to take a bite of a bell pepper...maybe the "crunch" of that will satisfy my "snack" hunger!

I am on Day 3 of my Pre-Op diet! I have to drink 2 adkins advantage protien shakes a day, and up to 2 healthy meals. (Healthy meals = 4-6 oz lean chicken, turkey, beef, and green veggies only). Doesnt bother me, I like both of those. I dont have a problem following the diet all day, it is at night that is hard. I drink a shake for breakfast...have lunch...and a shake late afternoon to curb any hunger until dinner. Then eat dinner. I have discovered that my problem is my "snack" hunger at night. On night 1....i cheated and ate some hot fries (one of my fav things to have) and on night 2 I had a couple cookies! AHHH! So this morning I was really thinking about it...and realized that the hardest thing for me will be that. I am going to have to come up with a way to avoid that night time snacking. Today though, I am starting the day and focusing ONLY ON TODAY! Today...im going to do well...I am going to go into the night KNOWING what is coming...and distract myself from it.

Thanks a lot for sharing this!

Hello all...Im new to the forum, (as you can probably tell from my lack of photos etc). Im a 27yo wife and mom of 1 beautiful 3 yr old daughter, from Dallas, TX. I went with my cousin to a seminar in March...and had been thinking about Lap-band for a while. My insurance doesnt cover it....so I never really thought any more about it. Last year I was told I am pre-diabetic. (Both my parents have TypeII)...and going through insulin resistance. ACK! Last Wednesday I finally just said..."hrmm....I will go ahead and do the initial consultation..." come to find out I have pretty high blood pressure...and other "small" issues that I had are now getting worse. So on Thursday I called and got approved for financing and by Friday I scheduled my surgery date. Surgery is scheduled for May 20th....Pre-op the 19th. I start my 2 week diet in 2 days. I am so nervous. I keep reading everything I can about complications...so that I can be a little more educated and perhaps learn from other peoples' experiences. I am starting to feel the anxiety and nervousness of the surgery take its toll. The dr I am using is a little more expensive than some of the others around...but my cousin is good friends with someone who has used him...and has nothing but GREAT things to say. So I think the extra money is worth it. I look forward to all that we will go through together....and look forward to the support this site can give us! ~*leeann*~ **I will be sure and update my profile soon!**

thanks for the warm welcome!