stateofzen

I only had a 2-day pre-op liquid diet, but I put myself on a high protein-low carb diet for a month before just to get me in the right mindset so I'd be setting myself up for success. It really worked for me-- I got a headstart on weight loss and I feel good. But there are lots of people who don't have a pre-op and they do great too. If you think it would help you, you can always institute a diet on your own but it sounds like your surgeon is comfortable with no pre-op and you can trust that too.

Start talking to yourself while you eat, actively and often. This is one of the reasons docs/nutritionists don't want us doing ANYTHING else while we eat-- because the more "mindless" we are, the more we ignore the cues our bodies are giving us. Be mindful, monitor yourself intentionally, and when you hit the "full stage", use coping statements- I can stop eating now since I'm full; eating more than this will make me feel sick; I can be proud of myself if I put the rest of this away for leftovers, etc.

I don't know if your eating plan will allow this, but I plan to make the "fake lasagna" tonight and add sausage to the marinara (pureed of course) to get in extra protein. Basically it is layering ricotta, mozz cheese, and marinara like you would with lasagna, just without the noodles. Everyone raves about it.

I had pureed chili twice earlier this week and it was heaven! It was definitely the first thing I've eaten since surgery that was satisfying psychologically as well as physically My recipe is different though!

I bet your doc is saying "don't eat these for weight loss purposes", rather than you can't have them because of the band (which is why your nutritionist is saying you can add them). Some people low carb their way through weight loss (that's my plan since it works for me), but others still do pasta/bread/etc. in moderation and also lose. You might need to figure out what works best for you and what you can tolerate by trial and error. A good first step would be to just ask your doc next time why he says that and then you'll be able to make an informed decision with him/her.

First, make sure your employer hasn't excluded the surgery from coverage. I had BC/BS of Al under my employer and it was excluded by my employer, so I had to switch to my husband's BC/BS AL plan. Crazy. They require a full 6 month medically supervised diet (it ends up being 7 months because the first visit doesn't really count)-- you have to go every month to your doctor and they have to chart about your weight and diet. You cannot skip a month or you have to start over. They require a 3 year weight history of over 40 BMI, or 35 with 2 major complications (diabetes and high blood pressure, for example). I just had to get my doctor's records with weight faxed in for past 3 years. Once I did those things, I got approved immediately. Like, within 15 minutes of the doc's office submitting my stuff and they have been a dream once I met the criteria. Cost me some of the pre-op visits out of pocket, and $150 copay for the surgery. Not bad.

So I'm driving home from work today and feel a pain in one of my incisions-- like sharp nerve pain that you sometimes get when something is healing and I thought nothing of it. I get home and look at my incisions and one of them is gaping open a bit! No blood, but definitely what should be the inside, not the outside. I called my surgeon after hours and he said as long as it wasn't gaping "significantly" to put some neosporin and a band-aid on it tonight and see him tomorrow. :smile2: I said right after the surgery that I thought he did a crappy job with my sutures (they were not neat at all and I'm going to have unnecessary scarring but I never thought I'd burst right open! I'm being overly-dramatic-- no need for anyone to be scared out there in bandland but I'll tell you, I did not expect this and now I'm paranoid about it opening more.

Shay, I'm kind of with you on this one. For me personally, I feel like every time I think about "cheating" the system in some way what I'm really doing is cheating myself out of what the band can do for me. I trusted my surgeon with cutting me open and messing with my stomach-- I have to trust him that his plan for me is a good one, whatever that plan may be, and not shop around on the forums for one I like better. Sure, I could challenge the band by trying to eat things "just to see if I still can", but what would I be winning there? Just a first-class ticket back to fatland. I'm not saying that I'm perfect or we're perfect, but I am saying that for me, to really succeed I have to stop myself from trying to "test" the band by eating things I know I'm not supposed to. I'm sure sometimes I will not be able to win that battle, but I'd encourage people to really ask themselves why they feel the need to go their own way. Obviously, our own way of eating hasn't worked out too well for us pre-band :smile:

Kittykat- I'm so glad I'm not alone! I'm trying to reset my mind-- I'm not in a weight loss mode (I'm pretty sure I'm not getting ENOUGH calories to lose weight considering how little I'm eating), but a recovery mode. Loss will really start when I can go back to low carb. I say that and I've still lost over 10 lbs since surgery. See, I'm crazy! I hate that all of the detox I did will have to be redone though :smile: I'm picking as low-sugar foods as I can, but it's amazing how "too sweet" some things taste now!

I actually have no idea what band I have or if I got a partial fill-- my first appt. post-op is a week from today and I'll ask then! I suspect I have the Realize band since my doc prefers it, although he does use the Lap Band too on a patient-dependent-basis. Your dinner experience sounds perfect (except for the sliming)! I haven't experienced anything negative yet, but then again, I'm just starting mushies after full-liquids. I am not looking forward to my first stuck experience, that's for sure, but it seems like a learning opportunity. I think my eating issues are twofold: 1) when I'm working I often used to skip breakfast and lunch and then by mid-afternoon I'd be so starved that I would fast food scarf (followed by a carb crash nap, no kidding), and then have a big dinner too, and 2) we eat out a lot and I have issues with portion control. I don't really consider myself a binge-er in the traditional sense but maybe I'm fooling myself. So I think this band will help me- with portion control if nothing else. I'm still going to have to work on making good choices when we go out to eat. It looks like you did that Brian!

Danide and Brian- I think one of the challenges for me (us?) is going to be to NOT test the band to see if we can eat just like we used to. That's definitely not a challenge I want to win (sure, I could go get buffalo chicken tenders for lunch and see if I can still eat them, but why? what will that accomplish?). That's tough, but from what I've read, we have some toughing it out to do before we hit a restriction point with fills that keeps us full on less. I am having a small mental battle with my post-op diet, not because I want more (yet!), but because I did really well low-carbing it pre-op and it is killing me to eat all of these carbs! Anything liquid or mushy tends to be full on carb and for some weird reason I feel like I'm cheating even though I am following my doctors recommended diet. That's crazy. I know I can't really do low carb again until I'm cleared to eat vegetables (and then lean meats), but knowing that my daily diet is yogurt, creamy carby soup, mashed potatoes, cream of wheat, etc. is hard on my psyche. Anyone else dealing with that? LisaA: good to hear from you!

Can you say that you ate before you went, or that your tummy isn't feeling well? That way people might leave you alone about not eating. And definitely do drink your Protein shake right before you go. If worst comes to worse and you find yourself partaking, stick with meat and veggies/ no chips,tortillas, or dessert. Then get right back on track at the next meal.

There is so much variation by insurance plan. The $1600 could be a deductible, or it could be a 20% (if you have a 20/80 plan). Hospital stays are often charged separately from the surgery, etc. My copay was $150. I have a deductible that I haven't paid yet, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting a bill in the mail one of these days for another $500. None of that counts any of the pre-op out of pocket costs. I have the attitude that I was going to get it done either way, so anything insurance pays is a bonus. I know others don't have the luxury of being in the same boat, but I would suggest anyone who has questions about insurance to call your company-- they're the only ones who can explain it to you.

Congratulations!

I have 4 incisions and the lowest one is about 4 inches above my belly button. One just beneath my breastbone, and one a little further down under each breast. I've been able to wear any kind of waistband while recovering because they just don't even come close to my incisions. A bra is a different matter-- thank God for tanks with built in bras.

If it is a hospital that regularly does WLS, I bet their gowns are big enough. Mine was huge! Still, I took it off and traded for clothes I brought with me-- some yoga pants and a t-shirt that I could wear without a bra (i.e. black). My incisions were all well above my pants line so no discomfort there, but I did definitely say no to any bras. I also wore my crocs for walking around after the surgery. I didn't stay overnight, so that's all I brought, but if you are going to, bring a small bag of toiletries.

My husband made chili tonight and I had to have it so I put it in my food processor until pureed (I'm on my last day of full liquids- started mushies about 12 hours too early but I tolerated it well). AWESOME. 1 lb hamburger, browned 1 small white onion chopped 2 gloves garlic, minced handful sliced mushrooms chili powder red pepper garlic salt - Brown hamburger and add the rest to cook In the meantime, this all goes into the big soup pot: 1 can kidney Beans 2 can chili beans 2 cans diced tomatoes 1 can rotel -When the hamburger and veg mix is ready, add it to the soup pot and cook on low for as long as you want. I like to cook it for several hours, but if I'm in a rush I just cook it until its hot Put a scoop in your food processor, blend until there are no chewable bits, and then stir in a little bit of shredded cheese until completely melted.

You'll do great, Lisa! Just spend tonight reading your book or whatever else you bought to distract you and you'll be home with a band before you know it!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what people are saying here. :biggrin: I haven't seen a single person say to not eat veggies or fruits because they have carbs. Low carb people *are* low carb because they avoid starches, white flour, and sugar, not because they avoid vegetables and fruit. I lost about 40 lbs of my weight doing low carb preop and i loved it. I felt good, I had lots of energy, and I got off of my cholesterol meds BEFORE my surgery that way. It doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me and it is doctor recommended in my case and once I'm back on "regular foods", I plan to keep it up. When I don't low carb, we would have bread with almost every meal and Pasta at least once week. When I do low carb, I do pretty much avoid bread because I don't find that I miss it-- but I do have pasta once a month or so because it is a true love. I can do that without gaining, and I think everyone has to find their sweet spot of moderation.

My doc asks that we take: B12 for energy-- I do the sublinguals Multivitamin-- he prescribed a chewable prenatal to start with (it is nasty, but I'm getting used to it) and I bought Centrum chewables to follow up with. They did say Flintstones were fine too. Calcium Citrate-- Tums chewables Calcium Carbonate-- Caltrate + D petites Biotin for hair loss-- I use the Spring Valley capsules, because they pull apart and you can sprinkle the powder in your food-- it has no taste that I can detect.

BetsyB gave my favorite tip too! Never wait until you "feel like" exercising. Exercise is an absolute must do and you do it whether you feel like it or not. Don't make it an option for yourself.

I've seen this show. The treatment facility wasn't created for the show-- it's a long standing facility that is allowing taping from what I can tell. The presence of the show doesn't effect the cost of treatment, just like if you had Discovery Health tape your lapband procedure, your surgeon and the hospital would still need to be paid. For a four month intensive, live-in treatment program, $26,000 is not out of line. They have a lot of professional staff to pay (though I do question the professional credentials of most of their 'counselors'), not to mention the costs of taking care of those children for that amount of time. I feel bad for the kids only because I think for most of them, it probably isn't going to work long term (it's the nature of the disease). I feel really bad for the kids who have fat parents who are "so concerned" but who clearly have issues themselves-- like the dad of the 11 year old girl. These FAMILIES need intervention, not just the kids. However, it is really heartwarming to see the kids weigh in and be so proud of their hard work and accomplishments. Kids aren't always fat because of their parents-- my brother and I were always a little overweight, even though my mom and step-dad who we lived with were normal weight and restrictive on snack foods/soda. But I do think some families establish bad habits as a whole and they need to seek change as a family unit, not give up on themselves and target the kids which then sets the kid up to fail when they come back to a house where nothing has changed.

Yay for you, Margaret Ann! Oh, today is so much better! I almost feel like myself again Last night I went to bed at 8:00 after a long stressful day at work. I woke up at 7:00 this morning (holy long sleep, Batman!), but it did wonders for me! I've been bustling around cleaning up my house and doing some other work and feeling pretty darn normal. My dermabond is starting to curl up on it's own, so I have a feeling in another shower or two it will be washed off. I have to admit I'm not really impressed with my surgeon's suture work-- my 4 incisions look really sloppy and I think I'm going to be carrying larger than necessary scars (compared to my gall bladder scars which I have to search to find). Oh well-- I'm not a bikini person and don't think I ever will be, so I'll just have to move on. MissJoany, I too had a mysterious bruise show up about 2 days ago lower on my belly below my lowest incision. It was associated with some pretty sharp pain/pulling sensation when I'd lay flat on my back and I was worried, but to see that other people have weird bruises too helps. Plus, it just feels better so whatever was irritated seems to be becoming less so. One week out I'm upping my food intake a little-- maybe a full yogurt spaced out, a full protein drink spaced out (I've taken to adding a good bit to my morning coffee instead of cream and that's helped get it all in), and a small cup of soup for dinner. No extra hunger yet, and I'm enjoying that! Still not getting 64 oz of water but I am up to at least 32, so still need to work on it. Hope you all are doing well, and for our last-of-September bandsters, good luck and its worth it! Just give yourself a week after to maybe wonder what the hell you did