TopTier

I wonder. . . . if one goes in for an umbilical hernia repair, can some of the excess ab skin be removed during that procedure???

Check! Thanks for the reminder to chew, chew, chew! Glad you're okay!

Welcome back! I've only recently joined, so it's like making a new friend anyway! Best of luck in your port surgery.

Daren, my surgeon will send me home with a prescription anti-nausea medication. I'm surprised yours didn't, or at least didn't recommend what you could take over-the-counter to address the nausea. Give his office a call. They probably have something they can recommend. And, yes, congratz!

Ask me this time next week, when I'll be 2 days post op! Just kidding. I am in my early 50s. I've always been "overweight," but, looking back, not really. I didn't get "obese" until my early 40s. After menopause, or rather, during early menopause, it just seemed to ramp up. So I can appreciate the life-long struggle to be "thin." In the end, I dieted myself into obesity. This lap-band procedure is the most important step I can take to stop that obesity trainwreck, which, now that I'm morbidly obese, will only result in a much shortened lifespan, and a miserable existence, at that. I just regret that I didn't mentally accept the idea of something like this 10 years ago. But, no point crying over something one can't change. I can change the future, though. And starting next Weds., I will take the most monumental step towards that change. There will be a point in your own mindset where you will know what road you want to take and what you need to do to reach the end of it. Do all the research you can, and, most of all, search your own heart. It was only when I made some painful and brutally honest assessments about myself that I knew what to do. Best of luck!

I wonder how you diagnose a fatty liver?

I'm so envious! I am still very hungry most of the time. But, granted, it's just "habitual" eating that I miss. What disappoints me is that after 5 days, I'm only down 2.5/3 pounds. Bummer. It feels like I should be down 20! LOL!

Oh my! Well, I don't smoke. I quit about 20 years ago. I have enough health issues to deal with without adding all the damage the toxins in cigarettes will add. It took me 3 tries to quit, but I did it. You can, too. Just make up your mind that you're a non-smoker. So as a non-smoker, why the heck would you want/need a cigarette?! It's a huge mind game. The addiction is strong, but it's easier to beat than a food addiction. Best of luck to you!

So, my husband took me to Carrabbas for our anniversary dinner. It's a fairly decent Italian restaurant. I think it's a chain. . .but don't know for sure. Anyway, I was very nervous about what to eat, or if it would be (emotionally) painful, given how much I love Italian (high carb) cooking! Of course they brought that fabulous Italian bread (fresh baked, warm and soft!) and a plate of olive oil with seasonings in which to dip it. I confess, I did scarf one tiny piece of the bread. But no oil. Then I scanned the menu to see if there was anything in a high carb Italian restaurant that I could consume, liquid or otherwise! To my surprise, yes there was! They have a tomato basil soup and a chicken broth/veggie soup. I ordered a cup of the tomato basil, my husband the chicken. I ate half my cup and he ate all the "good stuff" from the chicken soup, and then we switched! He's so sweet! For my entree I ordered a dinner salad that had three very thin slices of grilled eggplant, red pepper slices and a quartered artichoke heart. I had them leave off the vinaigrette and the goat cheese. My husband ate the eggplant. He ordered a dinner salad as well! I was so proud of him! He would usually order the steak marsala and the ravioli on the side, but he ordered a chicken caesar salad instead! He said to me, this dinner will be the beginning of our next 20 years, which will be healthier and even happier than our first 20 years! I ended up with a very romantic anniversary dinner after all! :thumbup:

Tomorrow, June 18, is my 21-year wedding anniversary. And I will be at day 4 of my pre-op diet! This means the traditional anniversary dinner will be Atkins Advantage Shakes for everyone! But one thing that this brought to my attention was just how much of our relationship centers around food in some way. No wonder my husband and I both are overweight (read: obese). One of the ways we show our love is with food. And why not? It's comforting and makes people happy to eat high-fat, high-carb goodies. I think one of the things that my husband and I need to do is sit down and find a new "expression" of love. I'm confident we can do it, but, let's face it, enjoying a romantic dinner at a nice, high-end restaurant is going to be missed!

So, my husband took me to Carrabbas for our anniversary dinner. It's a fairly decent Italian restaurant. I think it's a chain. . .but don't know for sure. Anyway, I was very nervous about what to eat, or if it would be (emotionally) painful, given how much I love Italian (high carb) cooking! Of course they brought that fabulous Italian bread (fresh baked, warm and soft!) and a plate of olive oil with seasonings in which to dip it. I confess, I did scarf one tiny piece of the bread. But no oil. Then I scanned the menu to see if there was anything in a high carb Italian restaurant that I could consume, liquid or otherwise! To my surprise, yes there was! They have a tomato basil soup and a chicken broth/veggie soup. I ordered a cup of the tomato basil, my husband the chicken. I ate half my cup and he ate all the "good stuff" from the chicken soup, and then we switched! He's so sweet! For my entree I ordered a dinner salad that had three very thin slices of grilled eggplant, red pepper slices and a quartered artichoke heart. I had them leave off the vinaigrette and the goat cheese. My husband ate the eggplant. He ordered a dinner salad as well! I was so proud of him! He would usually order the steak marsala and the ravioli on the side, but he ordered a chicken caesar salad instead! He said to me, this dinner will be the beginning of our next 20 years, which will be healthier and even happier than our first 20 years! I ended up with a very romantic anniversary dinner after all!

Yeah, UpperWestSide, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the unjury products taste. I recall taking some Protein supplements several years ago and they were gritty and had a "cardboardy" taste and a bit of an aftertaste. They were also hard to "dissolve." But these Unjury products are great. They fast dissolve and have a pleasant taste. Anyway, end of commercial! But I'm on day 5. . . 4 more to go!

Hi, Ritalou! I'm due for my surgery next week, June 24! I'm excited. . . and already bored with the liquid pre-op diet! I spent 20 minutes in Dr. Olsofka's office trying to talk him into letting me do a low carb/low fat/high Protein Atkins diet instead! :thumbup: He wasn't buying any of it!

I think your doctor is correct. Before the first fill, your main concern should just be "healing." You're going to be eating less than you had, but not as little as you will once you get a fill. My doctor repeats over and over and over, as does his staff: Do NOT worry about weight loss after surgery. The foods you are to eat are for the sake of your band, that it's new and your stomach needs to heal. The quantity, at this stage, is somewhat irrelevant.

Congratulations, landdog!

Congratulations, Paula, on your weight loss goals. Hope it works out for you without too much stress. By the way, as a cancer survivor (uterine and ovarian in my late 20s), I give your husband an affectionate and hearty salute in his research!

GonnaLoseIt, great blog! I love your "this is me when I THOUGHT I was fat" picture! I have one or two of those as well!

Yes, but the "why" is very important. It's not simply that it's a smaller container, but it's also the location of the receptors in that container. I was simply expanding on it and reminding that hormones alone are not the only "full" triggers. If it were, we would already have that magic bullet hunger hormone suppression pill and none of this would be relevant. I know the "why" the restriction works was very important to me. I felt it might be an important piece of information for others as well. So we are not in disagreement, simply giving more depth. :thumbup:

Hope all went well!

Best of luck! :thumbup:

Well,that's somewhat true, but not completely. It's not only hormones that trigger the "full" feeling. Receptors for "I'm Full" are in the upper portion of the stomach, which is why the band is placed where it is. The restriction works because it keeps the food in the upper portion where those receptors are longer, allowing you to feel "full" (not hungry), without altering hormone levels or removing portions of the stomach. If one eats foods that go through the pouch rapidly, then he or she will get hungry sooner. Which is why we must work with this particular WLS differently than we would with another form. As you said, it's all about what one feels he or she can handle.

Sounds like you are back on track again! That's great. Just don't beat yourself up for having those feelings! We are indeed a complicated species!

Please be careful of consuming too few calories. The body WILL go into "starvation protection" mode if it senses that there is a long-term caloric deficit. Ideally anything less than 1000-1200 would trigger that. Anything less will mean that your body will start depleting lean tissue (in other words, start reducing muscle tissue). Hope you get some answers soon!

If you start the liquid pre-op a week earlier, then your liver will begin shrinking that week. You could conceivably do some damage that one day off, but if you RESTRICT the CARBS you intake on that day and make sure you are consuming more protein, you should be okay. The key to shrinking the liver is the carbs it has to process. It will attempt to store them, which is what will increase the liver size. So if you can refrain from carbs, you'll probably be okay.