Astrasmom

My doctor makes me drink a tiny glass of water before I leave the office after my fill. I am also to drink liquids for 24 hours after the fill and then I can go back on solids the following day. You are correct. ALL doctors are different. That's why it's so important to listen to the specific orders of your doctor.

It's true. I guess I should have mentioned that I used the Gas-X strips also. They worked wonders for me.

Glad to hear that I gave you inspiration. Anyone can do it. Some may take longer then others but you will get there eventually. I wish you much success.:bolt:

Ok so I think that I have earned the right to brag. But before I do, let me wish everyone good luck and I hope that you meet your goals just like I am. So this morning I woke up and stepped on the scale. To my amazement after 23 years of being obese I............found ONEDERLAND!!!! Wooo hooo. The feeling is awesome. I never thought I would ever weigh under 200lbs again. Last year before my surgery I had pretty much given up because the diets weren't working. I started my weightloss at 304lbs. 9 Months later I have given birth to an entirely new me. I am now 198lbs. I have 12lbs left until my doctors goal. And my secret goal is another 10 - 15lbs. I just have to thank everyone here, my family and my local support group. Without the support of you guys I would have never made it. God bless you all. Thank you so much. And of course I can't go without thanking my doctor and everyone in his office. They have literally saved my life. :biggrin:

Unfortunately you don't want to drink 2-3 at a time. My nutritionist said that I could have 8 oz of Protein shake instead of 4 oz. You can have 4 a day. In between I drank lots and lots of crystal light. unjury makes a good chicken broth Protein Drink that you can actually warm up. You can have that as a meal also. I lived and still live on sugar free ice pops. Unjury also makes unflavored Protein powder also that you can put into your Jello or sugar free pudding to make it a high protein treat. Just make sure that you are getting all of your fluids in. You probably won't feel hungry the first week after surgery and you will be forcing yourself to get those fluids down. It's after your swelling goes down that you will start feeling hungry again. Biggest thing is, if you want to be successful DO NOT CHEAT on this stage. Follow your doctors orders. The doctor puts you on stages for a reason. Of course people do cheat, we are only human. I am suggesting that you try your best not to. Make sure you get yourself some gas-x strips too. They work wonders for the gas.

Wow I am so sorry you are having such a bad time right now. I wish there was something that I could say or do that would make you feel better but I know that nothing I say will make you less anxious about finding out if you will be having the surgery or not. I know it sucks but if your surgery is posted poned its for the best. If your blood work is not just right and they take the chance of operating on you, the risks are very high. So trust your doctor and I promise you, how ever long you have to wait, it will be worth it. I do hope that everything works out for the best. Please keep me posted. As for your Protein shakes. You might want to try a different brand. I know they are expsensive but if you are bored of them, they aren't going to do you any good. They do make fruity ones. They also make unflavored ones and ones that taste like chicken broth. Anyway good luck to you. I wish you the best. Let me know what happens.

Sounds like you are in the same boat as me. The doctor said that after you have lapband surgery. Many people start to have regular cycles. NOT me. My cycle is so irregular it's not funny. I will go without having it for a month. To having it every 2 weeks. My last one didn't stop for 10 days. It went from light to heavy instead of the other way around. I also went for blood work and a pap and everything is 'normal'. So I guess it's just about the weightloss. Weird thing is when I was heavy, my cycle was normal. Go figure. Of course I am 43 so I could be going through the change now. My mom was early in life.

You can try an ice pack on the site. Might help with some of the swelling. Hang in there. I found the recovery of gallbladder surgery was alot faster than lapband surgery. Or liquid tylenol might help too. Tylenol isn't a blood thinner like Advil.

Congratulations. It all depends on the requirements of your insurance company. I had to do 6 months of supervised diet before I was approved. They should be able to tell you that at your consultation. It could be anywhere from 1 month upward. Good luck to you. Please keep us posted.

Takes maybe a week for the swelling to go down. Just keep an eye on it. Your ok if you are able to keep things down and it's not too painful. If you start bringing stuff back up, or it gets too painful, you might want to go back and have a tiny bit taken out. Many don't start noticing restriction for at least the 3-4 fills. Welcome to restriction. You should notice that you are able to stay full longer between meals now and you probably won't be able to eat as much as you were before the restriction. Maybe you have found the 'sweet spot'.

If you can swallow pills you are ok. They can't be any bigger than the size of an M&M. Most of us do the chewables or liquids though. I would in all honesty get the liquid or chewable form. I don't do very well with pills. I didn't get the liquid form of my pain pills either so I had to crush them. DISGUSTING!!!

Keep an eye on yourself. I had to have a small unfill 4 weeks ago. Its not good if you aren't getting your nutrients down. It's also not good bringing the food back up again. If you haven't had an unfill yet, don't worry it's not that bad. I thought that I was going to gain pounds back. I feared getting an unfill, but I couldn't deal with the discomfort anymore. I finally broke down and MAN did I feel much better. Suprisingly I didn't gain anything back and I'm still at perfect restriction. I think I will stay at this restriction for awhile now. So I hope you feel better soon. Go get that tiny unfill if you can't keep things done. It will do you wonders.

Ahh the last meal!!! Enjoy it.

See that's the word, "SEXY" which means if nothing else the weightloss from the band gave you self esteem to make yourself feel sexy. I too feel sexy and it's a wonderful feeling. Congrats on your weightloss. Keep up the awesome work.

My secret is Determination. This was the end of the road for me, and I knew that I had to make it work. I wasn't going to be fat anymore. And I wasn't going to die at an early age. So I made up my mind from the start that no matter how hard it was, I was going to do it. So if death isn't a motivation, then I don't know what is. Obesity causes all kinds of problems. food is an addiction and in order to succeed you have to fight that addiction. The lapband is a tool, and it takes hard work and dedication. How much you lose is entirely up to how you and how much effort you put into it. This isn't a diet. And understand that everyone makes mistakes once and awhile. Your old habits follow you. But you have to learn that when you do make that mistake, you have to pull yourself out of the deep Water and start over again. You can't let food keep you down. Also every so often you have to reward yourself for the hard work that you have done. And don't be down on yourself if you gain a pound or so, or if you don't lose any at all. It's ok. It will happen. Everyone loses weight at different speeds and different ways. Just because the scale doesn't give you the results that you want. Doesn't mean that you have lost anything. TAKE YOUR MEASUREMENTS OFTEN. You will lose inches faster than pounds. Especially when you start working out. Understand that muscle weighs more then fat. And also it does help to take pictures of yourself. Sometimes we can't see what we look like unless we see the pictures. I also eat alot of chicken and fish. I do not do red meat. And I don't do bread, Pasta or rice. I do have ice cream once and awhile (But not a gallon like I used to). I do measure my food. 1/2 to 1 cup of food at each serving. And most of all. I do drink fluids constantly. I also live on sugar free ice pops. Thanks for your kind words everyone.

Yes but the key word here is "Her surgeon Ok'd it." Every doctor is different. That is why you have to rely on what your doctor says.

Thank you so much. I wish everyone as much success as I've had. My goal is to be an inspiration that will help others to know that it can be done. But you need to work hard.

Thank you everyone. Your kind words are so nice. And I am going dancing on Saturday to do the Happy Dance..hehe. Need to go buy a sexy new sundress now.:biggrin: