juno610

Audree - thanks for the hair loss aricle! Very interesting. I want to try that aloe vera shampoo too!

Hey everyone! I'm back and banded! Whoo-hooo!!!! Everything went really well, and I'm feeling pretty good. My back is freakin' killing me, but the heating pad seems to be working. No incision pain so far, but it is hard to take a deep breath and stand up straight. I'm in for 2 weeks of full liquids, but man --- it is really hard to get past the mental block of just having few sips at a time! One funny thing... My surgery went so fast (45 mins) that when the doc came out to talk to DH and my mom, they freaked out thinking something was wrong! Turns out I have "great anatomy" (LOL!), which I guess made it easy to do. Did anyone else get pictures of their insides? My doc gave me two pics -- one that shows the band in place and another that shows one of the sutures around the band. I'll post them next week if anyone is interested. It's kinda neat. I'm at my mom's for a few days, so I probably won't be on as much as usual. I'll try to keep up. Can't wait to hear from my date twins! Maria

Thought I'd post some thoughts about Optifast here for anyone who has to go on it. I've had to do 4 weeks of Optifast for my pre-op diet, and ordering was kind of scary because I had never tried it before. Shakes: Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. All three flavors were pretty good. Nothing out of this world, but nothing too gross either. I added sugar free almond syrup to the vanilla and to the strawberry. As far as preparation, I mostly just mixed with a spoon and downed it. I'm sure it would've been better in a blender, but I am too lazy to wash out the pitcher every time I made a shake, and I seem to be completely inept at using a stick blender. I made a couple messes before I gave up on that one.:rolleyes Bars: Chocolate: By far, the best of the three flavors. It tasted like brownie. Even the texture was fudgy. I really liked these. Peanut Butter: Not quite as good as chocolate, but still palatable. This one seemed a little drier and required more chewing (good band training, I guess). I needed a big glass of Water to get this one down. Honey Nut & Oat: Gross, gross, gross. This flavor is horribly dry. I choked these down the first week before I set them aside for good. They are just awful. No flavor, just nasty.:scared: Soup: I only ordered the chicken flavor. This is what kept me sane throughout this time. I had terrible salt cravings, and the Soup fit the bill. They say to mix it with 6oz of water, but I stretched it to 16oz. It still tasted good and really filled me up. I wish I had ordered more soup and less shakes.:hungry: There is also a tomato soup flavor that I hear is very good. I couldn't tell you because I don't like any kind of tomato soup! Well, I hope this helped someone. I was just bored so I thought I'd throw it out there. Good luck everyone! (Edited to fix spelling errors) Maria

Hey date twin! I'm getting nervous too. I had a bad headache last night, and I know it was nerves. I'm glad I'll be busy today getting all my stuff packed up for this week. I am staying with my mom for a couple days after surgery. I'm nervous about the hanging skin too. Especially since my boobs are humongous, LOL! They're already hanging from the weight, I'm scared to see what they'll look like deflated. Oh well, that's what miracle bras are for, right? I need to take pictures today too. My official befores... yikes! Oh yeah, and I found out my surgery is going to be at 7:30am, so I'll have to be at the hospital at 5:30. I was so glad I got the early slot. Less time to be nervous in the morning. Maria

Nice pics! Great job I'm a Michi-bander too.

That would be great! Count me in! We should post a reminder or something in a few months on the Michigan forum here.

Hi Dixie, Check out the complications forum here. There is more talk about erosion there. You might find some posts from people who have actually had band erosion and can better answer your questions.

Me too. 1 night stay and put under. Can't imagine it any other way!

That's great!! Same thing happened to me. I was allowed 8 products a day, and only ended up eating 4 towards my last week. Not hungry at all! Wierd!

My nutritionist ordered mine through bariatricadvantage.com. If you search through google, I'm sure you could find some other sources. I'm not sure if it's available in stores... I've never seen it anyway.

All this talk about Gas-X just reminded me... My surgeon told me to get Maalox Multi. It treats the gas and heartburn. I guess it's common to get heartburn after too? I haven't heard any of you already banded folks mention anything about that, but I guess you never know. Maria

Ugh! Me too! This morning I woke up feeling like I have the beginnings of a sinus infection. I'm hoping it's just my allergies acting up. I think I will pick up some Airborne too. Yikes... I'm only 3 days out! I cannot get sick now!

This is pretaining to a few previous posts... I bought my Better Than Bouillion off of Amazon.com. I couldn't find it in any stores around here. Also, if you are looking for Imagine soups, their website has a store locator. I was glad I checked that because, while there are a million grocery stores around me, only 5 or 6 carried that line. Saved me a wild goose chase!

I just wanted to add... If you can stick to this, it really works. I've been doing some light exercise along with it 3 days a week, and I've lost almost 20lbs! I'm officially down a pant size. It's pretty cool to have an NSV before even being banded!

Hi Chris! I made my ticker at tickerfactory.com. I believe there are a few other sites as well. I think I noticed choosing2lose.com as well. They take you through a series of questions, so putting them together is very easy. When you see a ticker like that, the web site they came from is usually in small print right on top. Hope that helps! Maria

No way, lady! LOL! I must have a box full of tagged clothes! In fact, last summer I finally went through the boxes and boxes of smaller clothes that I've been hanging on to forever. We're talking sizes from 10 to 18! I sorted through all of it, got rid of the stuff that was out of style, kept the rest, sorted it by size, and labeled it. I can't wait to get down to an 18 -- I'll have a whole bin of new clothes to open! Maria

I had my pre-op appointment today. Whee!! They were happy with my pre-op weight loss, and everything is a go! Sounds like my surgery is going to be at 10:30 on Monday. I wish is was earlier, but I guess this way I get to sleep in a little bit. :scared: Maria

Sheesh, I can't keep up with this thread!! Well, I have good news! All my bloodwork came back good, so the hematologist cleared me for surgery! Now if I can only keep myself on this darn Optifast and not cheat! It's so close! I could seriously use a pep talk. I'm SO DONE with these shakes. Blech! Maria

Hi Anne, It took me about 6 weeks to go through all the pre-op testing and get scheduled. Beyond that I also had to do 4 weeks of Optifast pre-surgery. It could've been a little faster, but I was at the mercy of the appointment schedules of the nutritionist and psychologist. Both whom are very flexible, which I appreciated. I personally think Dr. Deol is well worth the wait. Her entire team is fantastic. They have been with me every step of the way. I also think if your insurance will pay, why not let them? Maria

My pre-op was a little more extreme than others. 4 weeks of Optifast! A nice side effect of that is that I've already lost 15lbs and my appetite. LOL! You are definitely still far enough out to do something, so don't worry

I'm from Michigan too! I'll be banded next week by Dr. Deol in Troy. Welcome to the site!

Hey there! I'm getting banded on the 22nd too! I think there are four of us now. Getting close, eh?

I had my anesthesia consultation over the phone yesterday morning. It's finally seeming real! Only 10 more days! Today is my appointment with the hematologist. Please everyone send me good vibes -- I need him to clear me for surgery! Maria

Checking in again. I'm due for my band in a mere two weeks! So close! Maria

Hey all, I got some disappointing news today. Over the last month, my WBC has been on the rise. Well, it's finally high enough that my doc wants me to see a hematologist to figure out what the heck is going on. At this point, there is no way they would do surgery on me. Luckily, my surgeon is AWESOME and she got someone to see me on Friday. I couldn't get myself an appt for another two weeks! So, hopefully all will go well and I can keep my surgery date. Otherwise, God only knows what I'm in for... I saw there were TONS of people getting banded today and tomorrow. Can't wait to hear how you all are doing! Maria