Cherishthepast

I live in Bowie, Maryland and was wondering if there are others in the DC Metropolitan area that may be interested in meeting once a month or perhaps once every 3 months to offer support share recipes or anything else that you can think of? Just a thought...

Hey YankeeGirl!!! Great to hear that you've gotten a good nights sleep. This will definately help in your recovery. I know that as soon as I received a goods night sleep I felt more like myself again. I actually feel that I can go back to work Monday 8/24 w/o any problem; before I felt that I'd never get to this stage. Continue to sleep well and rest and please do as the dr says - I'm following my orders to the ine to the letter. Hang in there.

My first goal is to lose 17 more pounds and be well under 200lbs for the first time in years and treat myself to some cute undies... Yep, a trip to victoria's secret for a matching bra/pantie set.

I was banded on Aug 10th. Initially I slept on 3 pillows, pretty much sitting up while I slept - not the most restful. Then a fellow bandster suggested sleeping on my side with a pillow wedged on my side - voila! this has worked like a charm. You only need to test which side works best for you; I realized that the left side hurt like heck, so the right side it is. I also take a stroll outside w/a Protein Drink before bed this helps me get rid of some of the trapped gas. I'm actually starting to feel more like myself. By the way, the 4th and 5th day after surgery appeared to be my worst - pain, gas, fatigue... then the 6th day it was like someone flipped a switch and things were brighter. I'm still a little tired but I guess that's to be expected since I barely get 500 cals in a day. I plan to speak with the doc about the fatigue Thursday when I return for my follow up appt. Hang in there...

I like the orange flavored - 3.5oz and I've gotten half my protein for the day - 42g. Also, I appreciate the fact that there's no after taste. I hate prolonging the sip, sip, sip... of drinking the shakes (can't stand) and other products. I tend to have 1/2 bottle of isupure (grape frost) for breakfast and the other 1/2 after lunch; then I have the protein shot late evening before bedtime and I'm guaranteed to get the 80g the dr requires daily.

48 hrs post surgery, I started Protein Based liquid diet - with a protein target of 60g/day - gradually increasing to 80g. NO MORE than 8oz per hour. NO liquids w/n 30-60 minutes of meals. Eat 3 meals and 2-3 Snacks, which may include: Protein drinks, Meal Replacement shakes Non-fat milk, soy milk, non-fat lactaid milk High Protein cream Soups (pre-packaged, or mix low fat Soup w/protein powders Low-fat sugar free yogurt (no fruit lumps) or pudding thinned w/milk

Hi Sabertooth, I haven't had any issues with hunger. I find that taking in Protein fills the void. Since surgery, I tend to nurse a bottle of Isopure 40g protein and add unjury unflavored to my Breakfast smoothie. I'm taking liquid tylenol w/codeine (sp?), very nasty stuff for pain. I usually take a dose in the morning and another before bed. libriteen, I plan to try your pillow trick tonight; I'll let you know how it works. Just curious, my dr has me taking the following daily: pepcid AC (1) Tums (4-6) Mylanta Multivitamin Calcium Citrate 500mg 3x daily Vitamin D 200mg 3x daily Again, just curious...

BethfromVA, after speaking with the psychiatrist I informed him that I would most likely come back and wanted to make certain that I had ALL the tools available to assist me with succeeding. Dr H - the therapist wholeheartedly agreed that using him, and support groups are the best avenues to success. I'm very fortunate that I have the support of my family and Drs (Surgeon, Internist and Psych) to lean on and plan to do just that. I feel like crap now - surgery was just 2 days ago. I'm walking alot and using hand weights as ordered by the surgeon to get some exercise in. My spirits are lifted everytime I check the scale and see another pound gone.

Well, there's nothing like a good healthy debate.... I stuck to my pre-op diet to the letter and have lost 10 lbs in 7 days. My surgery is today at 2:30; still not nervous just ready to start this new chapter in my life. Will I CHEAT ever... this I can't say, but one thing that I'm certain of is that I LOVE MYSELF and will do my best (come hell or high waters) to succeed. Having major surgery is nothing to take lightly. It took me 2 years of soul searching to finally say that I was prepared to give this my ALL. Looking forward to joining the ranks of the BANDED - counting the hours...

I just started my 7-day pre-op diet today. I have been instructed to have at least 100 grams of Protein and NO MORE than 75 grams of carbs each day. I'm allowed to have creamy Soups, yogurt, broths... and as many calorie free beverages (water, crystal lite, other sugar free beverages) as I want. I started my day w/ Isopure (grape frost) 40g protein no carbs. I have V8 Garden Broccoli soup planned for lunch. I have unjury unflavored protein, that I plan to add to smoothies, and my soup at dinner. Then end each day with another 40g protein Isopure. At least this is the plan, I'm sure I'll grow tired of this. However, I'll try to remember what I tell my kids "nothing worth having is easy":wink:.

Hello! No, you're not the only one. Someone else started a thread awhile ago asking for August banders to respond. Here's the link. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/ok-who-has-august-surgery-date-95050/

Hello, I haven't had surgery yet and can't supply first hand knowledge; but, thought you may find this useful. My Dr. has told me to take pepsid AC and mylanta everyday after surgery (scheduled for 8/10). The pepsid AC he instructed me to take each and everyday - forever... Hang in there, I'm counting the days until I'm where you are.

Thanks! Your responses really helps me gauge what I have to look forward to.

your appendics removed? I've had both removed and wondered if this is the type of discomfort I should expect after surgery for the band?

RestlessMonkey - so was the pain/discomfort comparable? I had both the gallbladder and appendics removed laproscopically - the surgeon will do his best to used the same incisions. I didn't find recovering from either procedure terrible and just curious if the pain is the same. Thanks!

Congratulations! This is the perfect forum to get support, everyone is very encouraging and best of all we share something very special - we're all working to change our lives for the better. Please keep us posted on your progress.

BCBS MA required Psych, Nutrition and Cardiologist, supervised diet wasn't required. I was approved w/n a week of submitting the paperwork.

Hello! I'm scheduled for surgery 8/10, I'm told to start the pre-op liquid diet on 8/3. I've notice that many individuals are on 2-3 week liquid diets prior to surgery. Is this unusual? Have others also done a 1-week liquid diet pre-op?

LL67 - I'm also scheduled for the 10th. I've tried a number of Protein drinks as I didn't want to wait until that was all I could have to try taste testing. I tend to like drinks that aren't milk based, I've tried and like Isopure (grape frost, fruit punch and orange), which contains 40g of Protein w/zero carbs. I've ordered samples of unjury vanilla, chicken Soup and unflavored - the unflavored mixes well w/yogurt... I can tolerate the GNC 100% whey (Vanilla), it has a strange aftertaste. Also, I've ordered samples from vitalady.com of nectar products, I understand that the roadside lemonade is wonderful. I've ordered samples of all flavors, which I haven't received yet. I plan to order larger quantities once I decide what I like best. Some of the individuals here have recommended adding frozen fruit, crystal light and Peanut Butter to various milk based drinks to add a little zest. I understand that adding orange flavored crystal light to the vanilla Protein Drink, results in a dreamsicle flavor - haven't tried it yet. Hope this helps.

After reading several threads/posts, it appears that many receive their first fill during the surgery while others receive it 6 weeks later. I wanted to know if the individuals that receive the fills during surgery heal at the same rate? Again, just curious and wondering if it worth discussing with the surgeon. Thanks in advance for your replies and patience.

Hello! Thanks so very much for all of your responses; they have really aided in me having a better understanding that 7 days isn't odd. Thanks!!!

Hiding from the camera. I can't wait to feel comfortable enough to stand proudly in front of a camera. I take the occassional pic, but do my very best to stay behind the camera. I swear the camera puts 30 additonal pounds on you. Is it my imagination (probably) that we often feel and perceive ourselves differently from the image the camera projects? People often gasp when I tell them how much I weigh (currently 222) - I hear "you look great!" "why are you trying to lose weight?". I actually heard these very comments from my General Practioners receptionist. She pulled me aside and said that she saw the letter my dr was sending to the surgeon and really didn't know why I would do such a thing (weight loss surgery) when I looked so good. Perhaps I should share some of my photos with her since she appears to see the person I sometimes perceive : o } At any rate, I'm waiting impatiently for insurance approval and can't wait to meet the person that's hiding behind the 90 plus extra pounds.

Whatever the saying, I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from my insurance BCBS MA. Can't sleep, eat or think straight; I guess the can't eat is a good thing. I've jumped through all the hoops and would be crushed if this didn't happened. Okay, I know - I'm doing my best to think along the lines that the glass is half full and this will be fine. I know there shouldn't be any issues as a co-worker was approved and had bypass surgery in February 09; she says that they received approval w/n 2 business days. It's only been 3 days and I'm losing my mind. How in the heck did you guys make it through the wait?