pennreporter

I try to vary the protein shakes between EAS Edge and Slim Fast. But also make one from cottage cheese/FF milk/splenda/ice/2 frozen strawberries in the Magic Bullet. Comes out thick enough you can almost use a spoon. Also have done it with Greek FF yogurt instead of cottage cheese but the taste is about the same. And it's 22 grams of protein under 200 calories. You can use any frozen fruit. Trisha

thanks for that bit of info. Never would have thought to ask that. I know my first fill is at 6 weeks. But I will ask Monday when I go to check in what their schedule is. Trisha

I'm on day 9 of two-week preop liquid diet. Only had one slip, but just accepted it and moved on (and it wasn't even because I was hungry, more a mental thing). Surgery is next Monday, so hard care following diet between now and then, plus would like to lose a few more pounds. Lost 5 on the first leg of the two weeks. Good luck to all!! Trisha

Emma, I have not been banded yet, but will be next Monday. Met with PA today for pre-surgery consult and that was a question I asked, how much fill on the first time and they only do 1cc at a time. So guess I'll be visiting a lot... Trish

On the ticker, once you've created it on the other website, there's a box that you have to copy. You're not really uploading, per se. You have to copy and paste. Once you come back to this site, go to edit signature and then you paste it in the box for your signature. Good luck. Hope that helps trisha

I haven't been banded yet (june 1), and I'm now at 215 with pre-op liquid diet, 5-4. So also low BMI. My daughter was 265 at 5-9 when she was banded. She is still at 180 at 15 months, but a size 8 and going for plastic surgery next month. She was never about the numbers, only her clothes size because she is very large boned. She will drop some with plastic surgery but she is pretty close to maintenance. She'll know after plastic surgery if she feels she needs to lose anymore. Band is being unfilled for surgerry so she might gain a little during all of that. I started at 237, goal is 140-150. So at 215, I'm at about 65 to goal. Good luck to all Trisha

1/2 cup of cottage cheese 1/2 cup of FF (I use organic) milk 2 packets (optional) of Splenda ice (optional) frozen fruit (I used 2 strawberries or 1/2 banana) blend approx 22 grams of Protein, 170 calories trisha

Yes, I cheated but my cheating consisted of...I'm allowed tomato or cream soup, a cup. So my cheating was extra soup. Making my own protein shakes I added a banana or a strawberry or two, but that was still in the protein shake. So all in all, feeling okay on day 8 of two-weeks. But my last 2-3 days I am going to avoid my soup as much as possible because of sodium and stick with just protein shake, SF jello, and water. Good luck to all. Trisha

Joey ...nickname for a baby kangaroo that comes out of the mother's pouch. Makes no sense but what can I say... Trisha

My surgery is June 1 (next Monday) and surgeon does the four incisions which is fine. They're already switching doing the Realize band. So don't need them trying anything else new... Day 8 of two week diet. Trisha

Craig, great to read your posting. Some of the prior ones really had started to give me the begeebees. My hospital/surgeon are just now switching to the Realize Band (I don't know if it's a C or not, will find out tomorrow during pre-surgery consult with PA). So I'm already kind of feeling like a guinea pig and then to read the negatives has made me just a tad nervous. But I also know that there are complications with the Allergan band also. So I just have to trust my surgeons (I'm getting both the chief of surgery and my surgeon because it is new for them) and trust the reputation of the hospital I'm going to (Geisinger in Danville PA) and whatever higher power there is and then the rest is up to me and my accepting that the band is not the be-all, end-all but is just an aid or tool. I'm one week into the two-week liquid post-op diet and as much as I would love to chomp down on some nachos right about now, psychologically it has helped because it's really amazing how little food you really do need to sustain yourself as long as it's healthy food. I know some folks only get three days but this time period has been emotionally good for me. After reading the negative postings on here, I will definitely have more questions when I go to surgeon's office tomorrow. Glad to hear you've been pleased so far. Trisha

Below I've copied an article written by Cokie Roberts (news reporter). I also have put down more pets than I care to think of and also say I'm never going to get another. I now have 3 aging Basset Hounds. So this story especially hit home with me. Puppy love The final days of a bedraggled and beloved old basset hound. By Cokie Roberts and Steven V. Roberts bner, our basset hound, has slept in our bedroom since he came to live with us 10 years ago. At first, he'd hop up on his favorite chair to spend the night, but as the leap got too hard to manage, he'd settle on the floor, curled up on a smelly old bedspread. Now he has trouble making it to the second floor, but since he hates to be alone, he just sits at the bottom of the staircase and barks mournfully. When the guilt gets too great, or the noise too loud, Steve relents and carries him up the steps, risking a wrenched back on every trip. As Cokie moaned one night, "It's like having a baby in the house all over again." So it is. As Abner's declining days remind us, the two stages of life that require constant care and attention are the beginning and the end. Both involve a lot of cheering up and cleaning up. In one notably dismal experiment, we even tried putting Abner in toddlers' pull-up pants, with a hole cut for his tail. He walked right out of them. Yet caring for someone else, even a scruffy old dog, is a blessing. A caretaker receives a precious gift - a gift of love, certainly, but the value goes beyond gratitude. It's a chance, rare enough in life, to be needed and wanted. We're not overly sentimental about this. Caretaking can be hard and dispiriting work, for both people and animals. Getting down on your hands and knees, sopping up Abner's mess at the end of a long day, is not exactly an ennobling experience. We buy rolls of paper towels by the dozen now and are thinking of investing in disinfectant spray. Still, the odors never really disappear. Nor do the stains on the rugs and the floors. Abner was never a sleek or handsome dog. In fact, he's downright goofy-looking. When we first saw him, as a 3-year-old, Steve's reaction was, "Why did God make a dog who looks like that?" Now his ears are constantly scuffed and soiled from dragging on the ground, and we sometimes kid that he looks like a "bag basset." Yet the thought of losing him pierces us with pain. We've rejected suggestions that it's time to put him to sleep, and our vet, a lovely man, agrees with that decision, at least for now. "Abner doesn't know how bad he looks," the vet says cheerfully. "As long as he still enjoys every day, just try to keep him comfortable." We always thought "basset" was an English name, but it's actually French, and means "low." That's low in stature, of course, but low in intelligence as well. A recent book ranked 132 breeds of dog according to mental acumen, and bassets were right at the bottom, at No. 125. But he can't be all that stupid, since he has managed to appear on the radio many times. We both broadcast from home occasionally, and Abner has a knack for barking right in the middle of our commentaries. Many listeners have remarked, in fact, that he often has more insightful things to say than we do. Abner has never been very athletic or energetic. Throw him a ball and his reaction is bewilderment. About the only thing that perks up his ears - and his ears take a lot of perking - is the sound of a refrigerator door opening. In his younger days, he could actually open the refrigerator door himself, although he never learned to close it. And after he ate an entire 10-pound ham one Thanksgiving and sent us racing to the doggy emergency room, we got a new and very expensive refrigerator that defies his best efforts at breaking and entering. It seems that Abner has never really thought of himself as a dog, and he hates kennels. So now when we travel, we have to recruit various neighbors and students to dog-sit for him at home. Still, he's a constant worry. Just like a baby. So why bother? Well, Abner is the sweetest creature imaginable. Kids can pull his ears and poke his eyes and his strongest protest will be to walk slowly away. He'll sit at your feet for hours at a time. And when you come home at night, there is that face in the window, silly and stupid and totally captivating. It's really quite simple. Abner loves us, without conditions, without limits, without questions. And we love him. How many things in life are that plain and that pure? Soon after this article was written, Abner died peacefully in his owners' arms. Cokie and Steve Roberts are USA WEEKEND contributing editors. Cokie Roberts is a political analyst for ABC and co-host of This Week; Steve Roberts is a contributing editor of U.S. News & World Reportt and an analyst for ABC and CNN.

Congratulations to all who have just gotten their surgeries date!! We will all soon be on the loser's/winner's bench!! Trisha (June 1 surgery date)

I've been drinking the EAS Edge and Lite. Today made one from a suggestion from another web site. 1/2 cup FF milk (I always use Organic Milk) 1/2 cup FF cottage cheese (could also use Greek Yogurt) 2 packets of Splenda Fruit of choice (I used 2 frozen strawberries) Ice (optional) Blend Mine came up to 170 calories 22 grams of Protein. The cottage cheese sounds like it wouldn't be good but you can't really taste it, plus it's high in protein. Doesn't make as big of a drink as the EAS, but was just like a strawberry smoothie. But blueberries might be good also...great for antioxidants. Just a suggestion. After a week of this, looking for variety. LOL trisha

Walmart carries them here, but I like the EAS Edge or EAS Lite, 17/20 grams of Protein. The EAS Edge is only 110 cals but I do have a Slim-Fast (coffee flavored one) every once in a while. Over a two-week period you have to change them up a bit. i also can do FF yogurt. So I get a Greek yogurt called Chobani (but there are several out there), that's almost as many grams of protein. Good luck Trisha (Banding June 1, '09)

Congratulations PaisleyPea!! And yes, you're lucky you don't have to do pre-op diet. It's no fun, but at the same time it kind of gets me mentally set up for the post-op. For me personally I think it would have been extremely hard to go from eating anything I want to nothing. Now, I would have much preferred a three-day liquid diet instead of two weeks but my doctors have not done as many of these procedures as others, so I don't want to give them any reasons to mess up. They've done tons of bypasses but not so many bands. So good luck. Mine is June 1. So next Monday I will be on the loser's bench Trisha

I'm on Day 5 (out of 14) of liquid diet. Day 4 was my worst. Today has been fine. The V8 juice has helped a lot. Spent most of the day working in the yard, which has kept my mind off of it. Feeling much more encouraged today. Good luck all! trisha :thumbup:

Debbie, 17,500 is definitely more than a lot of people are paying. My daughter flew from nyc to Houston and paid 13,500 (NY, NJ, PA are all pretty high). Her doctor was part of the original 14-member team that introduced the band to the US from Europe. Requires almost no pre-op diet (he's done 4,000 plus procedures. I've also seen on here doctors in Colorado under 10k. And whether you're making the right decision or not, only you can answer that but if it's a lifelong problem, do you want to spend the rest of your life dealing with it. I'm being banded June 1, but my daughter is my biggest support and my primary care physician. My daughter was 265 at 5-10 on Feb 2008. i can't even begin to tell the difference it has made in her life. She is now about 170 and a size 8, but is having to have plastis surgery. But she has never regretted it a day. And, yes, there are some people that don't do as well. I have a neighbor's sister who had it done and has never had a fill, never lost a pound, but is also an alcoholic...duh. I'm 57 and clearly don't expect the same results as a 37 year old, but I've lost the same 50 lbs I can't tell you how many times and it is now or was 87 pounds and every time I gained it back, it came with a new set of health issues. So find a support group if you can near you. If money is the issue, you clearly have options. Once my daughter had all of her blood work and whatever other tests her doctor required in Houston, she was scheduled within the month (no six-month regimen like some of us have had to meet.) Good luck in whatever decision you decide. Trisha

My insurance/bariatric program over the six months has had a multitude of tests. I can't even begin to tell you what all they were, most I'd never even heard of, an ultrasound of the stomach/liver/kidneys, EKG. So not sure that they'll need anything else when I go next week to meet with PA and anesthesia. It's definitely been a journey getting to surgery date. Now if I can just make it for the next 9 days of pre-op liquid diet. I know most of it is psychological because I really haven't been all that hungry. Good luck to all Trisha:party:

Mimi, I thought a week would be good also. Surgery is on a Monday, taking that week off and then I have a follow-up on Tuesday of the next week. I'm a court reporter. So clearly nothing physically strenuous about work. Just lifting briefcase in and out of car and driving. I will dump as much out of the briefcase as possible to lighten the load. I could see if you are moving and grooving up on your feet all day where you might need more time. thanks Trisha

Lucky you Nano. Mine is two weeks liquid but I kind of feel this is going to show how well I can sticking to it even afterwards. My only cheating so far (4 days) is just eating more of the tomato Soup that I can have to begin with. Today, a little lightheaded, nauseous and a light headache. I'm definitely getting in the Protein. I'm allowed two Snacks a day, which to me aren't snacks...they're my dinner..lol. I love ff greek yogurt. So that's one with some splenda added. But I'm headed out to get a Magic Bullet so I can make my own. Good luck to all on their pre-op diets. Can't believe I'm four days into it already. Next week will go quick because I have three drs appts and busy at work. Again, good luck trisha:Banane20:

Mimi, did you feel that you needed two weeks or could you have gone back sooner? My daughter had hers on Tuesday and flew back to NYC on Friday and worked Saturday, but felt she could have worked Friday. Mine is on a Monday and I plan to return the following Monday. Just curious if you just had taken that amount off to begin with or is that when you felt you could go back. thanks trisha

Nano, once you go to tickerfactory.com and create your ticker, there will be boxes that come up, you have to copy and paste, or at least that's how I did it. Once you've copied it, then you paste it into the "edit signature" box under User CP. Good luck Trisha

It's whatever your surgeon recommended. Each surgeon has a different protocol. I personally am of the belief that the more experienced the surgeon at doing banding the less they have you pre-op or it could be how high your BMI is. My surgeon does more bypasses so they have a generic two-week liquid diet for band and bypass. My daughter didn't have to do anything except just abstain the night before. She even went to eat Mexican food the day before but her surgeon has done 4k procedures, mine 120. So go by what your doctor told you, not by on here...there's too many variations. Good luck. Your surgery is on my birthday. Mine is June 1 and my goal was to have it before my birthday. ta-dah! trisha

I would so run, don't walk to a new dr. Also, if you don't sleep well (and if you snore), you may well have sleep apnea, not uncommon for overweight folks. Ask your primary care physician for a referral (if you have the kind of insurance that requires referrals) for a sleep study. If getting approval depends on a nutritionist, I would clearly pick one who is not a holistic nutritionist. She will probably never agree. Just like my first primary dr told me "well you just need to count calories." Oh, silly me, like I didn't know that for the past 20, multiple lose-gain-lose-gain cycles. I promptly changed drs and new pcp is extremely supportive of my getting banded. Good luck Trisha