LoseIt!

Hi all! Today was a busy day, but quite productive. I had my post op appointment this morning. I felt a TON better today and feel like I'm well on the road to recovery. I still didn't understand why my gas was so freaking bad, but other than that, all was well. I told the nurse about the gas and as we discussed it she got a look on her face. She said that they weren't gas pains that they were spasms in my esophogus. She said that is what happens when your band is too tight. Hmm...interesting. How anybody could ever live with that, I have no idea. She said that if it is to continue that they will take the fluid out that was put in at the beginning until I fully heal. I think that the swelling is going down quickly enough that I won't have to do that. If it continues though, I will fix it. Living with it is not an option!! She also gave me my diet progression. I can eat most canned foods now..fruits, veggies, tuna, etc. I can also have eggs, refried beans & innards of a baked potato. Soft cheeses are okay too. This diet is for one week. The next week I can add all veggies and all chicken and fish along with a few other things. The following week (after my first fill appointment routine), I go to my full post op diet. YAY! I still have a lot of swelling so I'm not hungry at all. Not good for the spasms, but since they are lessening now, at least it is a positive by product. For lunch, I had one scrambled egg and I dipped my bites in salsa. For dinner, I had a baked potato with cheese, sour cream, and butter. I only ate about half of it. So far, I have had absolutely no issues with food going down. I have high hopes that will continue! :drool: I spent my first afternoon at work. I was exhausted after about 3 hours so I was really glad I only did a half day. We will see how tomorrow goes. Have a great day, fellow bandsters!!

Hi all! Today was a busy day, but quite productive. I had my post op appointment this morning. I felt a TON better today and feel like I'm well on the road to recovery. I still didn't understand why my gas was so freaking bad, but other than that, all was well. I told the nurse about the gas and as we discussed it she got a look on her face. She said that they weren't gas pains that they were spasms in my esophogus. She said that is what happens when your band is too tight. Hmm...interesting. How anybody could ever live with that, I have no idea. She said that if it is to continue that they will take the fluid out that was put in at the beginning until I fully heal. I think that the swelling is going down quickly enough that I won't have to do that. If it continues though, I will fix it. Living with it is not an option!! She also gave me my diet progression. I can eat most canned foods now..fruits, veggies, tuna, etc. I can also have eggs, refried beans & innards of a baked potato. Soft cheeses are okay too. This diet is for one week. The next week I can add all veggies and all chicken and fish along with a few other things. The following week (after my first fill appointment routine), I go to my full post op diet. YAY! I still have a lot of swelling so I'm not hungry at all. Not good for the spasms, but since they are lessening now, at least it is a positive by product. For lunch, I had one scrambled egg and I dipped my bites in salsa. For dinner, I had a baked potato with cheese, sour cream, and butter. I only ate about half of it. So far, I have had absolutely no issues with food going down. I have high hopes that will continue! :smile2: I spent my first afternoon at work. I was exhausted after about 3 hours so I was really glad I only did a half day. We will see how tomorrow goes. Have a great day, fellow bandsters!!

Hi everyone! I've been absent for a couple of days because I had been following the rule that if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. :bored: I knew from everything you all told me that the pain would pass, so I just waited it out. I can't say you all didn't warn me...you totally did! I guess that since I have a high tolerance for pain, I thought I could handle it better. Plus, I don't think I expected it to last so long. They didn't really get bad until Day #4 and they lasted excruciatingly until Day #6. Alas, it is Day #7 and everything is tolerable. I am still quite uncomfortable, but I feel that it is downhill from here! Food has turned me off since the surgery so I still have to force myself to eat the mushy stuff. I don't feel hungry at this point. I'm sure that once all the swelling goes down, I will be hungry again. Tomorrow is my post op appointment and they will tell me what I can eat from here. I'm trying not to hope too much that I will be able to eat something new. :mad3: That would be super awesome though. I have a girls group that goes to dinner once a month and we are getting together tomorrow. I would be fine to get soup and just eat the broth or get a smoothie on the way, but it would be so great if I can have flaky fish and mashed potatoes or something! Hope as is well with you all!!

Keep at it, girl!! :smile2:

Hi everyone! I've been absent for a couple of days because I had been following the rule that if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. :smile2: I knew from everything you all told me that the pain would pass, so I just waited it out. I can't say you all didn't warn me...you totally did! I guess that since I have a high tolerance for pain, I thought I could handle it better. Plus, I don't think I expected it to last so long. They didn't really get bad until Day #4 and they lasted excruciatingly until Day #6. Alas, it is Day #7 and everything is tolerable. I am still quite uncomfortable, but I feel that it is downhill from here! Food has turned me off since the surgery so I still have to force myself to eat the mushy stuff. I don't feel hungry at this point. I'm sure that once all the swelling goes down, I will be hungry again. Tomorrow is my post op appointment and they will tell me what I can eat from here. I'm trying not to hope too much that I will be able to eat something new. That would be super awesome though. I have a girls group that goes to dinner once a month and we are getting together tomorrow. I would be fine to get soup and just eat the broth or get a smoothie on the way, but it would be so great if I can have flaky fish and mashed potatoes or something! Hope as is well with you all!!

Right now the thought of food makes me a little bit nauseated. I almost have to force myself to eat which is odd for me. I'm sure that will all change when the swelling goes down! Good luck!!

One more day down and getting better. I still have a lot of gas pain so I have been walking and I have taken the advice for using a heating pad. Maybe that will help. All in all, it is doable. I took off the bandage on my belly button this morning to take a shower. Not pretty! I'm sure it will heal fine though. Just one other small incision and it looks like it is healing perfectly. The belly button incision stings a little more since being bared so I have some ice on it. I had hot tea for breakfast this morning and it went down fine. Around 10:30, I had some protein powder in milk. It wasn't too bad, but I definitely like it better cold. I love all the tips I'm hearing from you guys so if you think of something, bring it on! I'm so fortunate to have my mom here helping me. I don't know how some of you all do it on your own. It is just so comforting and makes it easier to relax. We are going to have one more completely lazy day (except for the walking.) Tomorrow I'm going to try and make myself presentable for a trip to church. I think I should be able to do that. I have theater tickets for Sunday, so church should give me a good indicator if I will be able to do that. It is only a couple of hours. We shall see. Have a great weekend everyone!

Ellinda, I'm so sorry you have to do it on your own. :thumbup: I'm sure you will be fine, but try and make sure you have things around you to entertain yourself! I'm still working on the protein shakes. I like Carnation Instant breakfast, but it doesn't have a lot of protein. Muscle Milk, I don't hate... Jennay, I think my throat and mouth hurt from the breathing tube. It hurt for a couple of days, but most of that has gone away. Don't be scared. Most of the ickiness I am going through right now is just general issues from surgery. My friend had her gall bladder taken out and she said that she had the EXACT same issues. Once all this heals, I will start to figure out what exactly "band life" is like.

You defnitely can do it! Preparation is a big thing so good for you!

I have naked dreams all the time. I'm not comfortable with that either so they aren't exactly pleasant. Maybe it is just hormones and they will stop. :thumbup:

One more day down and getting better. I still have a lot of gas pain so I have been walking and I have taken the advice for using a heating pad. Maybe that will help. All in all, it is doable. I took off the bandage on my belly button this morning to take a shower. Not pretty! I'm sure it will heal fine though. Just one other small incision and it looks like it is healing perfectly. The belly button incision stings a little more since being bared so I have some ice on it. I had hot tea for breakfast this morning and it went down fine. Around 10:30, I had some protein powder in milk. It wasn't too bad, but I definitely like it better cold. I love all the tips I'm hearing from you guys so if you think of something, bring it on! :thumbup: I'm so fortunate to have my mom here helping me. I don't know how some of you all do it on your own. It is just so comforting and makes it easier to relax. We are going to have one more completely lazy day (except for the walking.) Tomorrow I'm going to try and make myself presentable for a trip to church. I think I should be able to do that. I have theater tickets for Sunday, so church should give me a good indicator if I will be able to do that. It is only a couple of hours. We shall see. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hi everyone! I am officially a bandster. Woo hoo!! Mom flew in the night before and we briefly chatted and got ready for bed. I was really tired, but once I was in bed I was quite anxious so I took my $13 Valium. Next thing I knew it was morning. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:45 so we were up and at it bright and early. We happened to walk in with my surgeon so I felt that was a good sign somehow. I was slated to go second for the day and I filled out my paperwork. They took the first girl back and it seemed just a few minutes later that they called me back. The nurses were super sweet as they prepped me. I had to give a urine sample before I had the surgery but I had to wait until the first girl was out of the bathroom. That took about 20 minutes, I think. Poor girl could never go so they brought her out to give her fluids and bumped me up a spot. Woo hoo! I talked to the surgeon a bit. He's a feisty one. But I like that. I remember meeting the anesthesiologist (CA-UTE!) but nothing much after that. Next thing I knew I was in recovery. The nurse said that I did so great during my preop diet that my liver looked fantastic and the normally 45 minutes surgery took only 20! That made it all worth it. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but I was also feeling optimistic. I had to sit in post op for about an hour and I started to feel a bit better. As I was about ready to go the girl that got bumped came out of surgery and she was not having an easy time of it. I felt bad for her but it made me realize how well I was doing. That was it and I was ready to go home. Mom drove me and I realized it was only 9:15. Wow. I was home three hours from the time I left in the morning. Crazy! The day was long. I wasn't sleepy at all so a nap was out of the question. My mom kept me company and we watched mindless TV all day. I would move back and forth from the TV to the couch throughout the day. One thing I noticed is that I could lay on my side almost immediately. That surprised me, I took pain medication every four hours regardless of how I felt. I think that helped a lot. I also took a lot of GasX. It didn't seem to do much until late in the evening when I started to feel things moving in my tummy. I have been farting like a trucker ever since. My throat hurt worse than I expected it to, my incisions hurt less than I expected to and my gas hurt about like I expected. My friends at work sent me flowers which was super sweet. And I had a lot of friends and family members sending me good thoughts and messages. I went to bed around 10 PM. I was able to cuddle a body pillow and sleep on my side. I slept quite well until 4:30 when I got up and took more pain medication. I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:00 to a text from my friend. (Side note: she recently had a break in, but is trying to hook up with the police officer that came by and I have been giving her pointers. She had just taken some thank you cookies to the station and needed some support. :thumbup: ) I still have gas today, but it has subsided quite a bit. Insicions hurt but only a little bit. My throat is almost all better. There is just a small cut on the top of my mouth from the breathing tube that is driving me crazy. I have been drinking water like crazy. Yesterday I had grape juice, a popsicle and a tiny bit of chicken broth. No issues whatsoever. Today I have had more juice and I'm having hot tea now. I also took my birth control pill and had no issue. For lunch I will have some more chicken broth and for dinner I might get crazy and have some beef broth. All in all...not a bad experience. Yesterday I felt like I got hit by a Mack truck, but today just a VW bug. Ha! Hope you are all doing well out there!!

Hi everyone! I am officially a bandster. Woo hoo!! Mom flew in the night before and we briefly chatted and got ready for bed. I was really tired, but once I was in bed I was quite anxious so I took my $13 Valium. Next thing I knew it was morning. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:45 so we were up and at it bright and early. We happened to walk in with my surgeon so I felt that was a good sign somehow. I was slated to go second for the day and I filled out my paperwork. They took the first girl back and it seemed just a few minutes later that they called me back. The nurses were super sweet as they prepped me. I had to give a urine sample before I had the surgery but I had to wait until the first girl was out of the bathroom. That took about 20 minutes, I think. Poor girl could never go so they brought her out to give her fluids and bumped me up a spot. Woo hoo! I talked to the surgeon a bit. He's a feisty one. But I like that. I remember meeting the anesthesiologist (CA-UTE!) but nothing much after that. Next thing I knew I was in recovery. The nurse said that I did so great during my preop diet that my liver looked fantastic and the normally 45 minutes surgery took only 20! That made it all worth it. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but I was also feeling optimistic. I had to sit in post op for about an hour and I started to feel a bit better. As I was about ready to go the girl that got bumped came out of surgery and she was not having an easy time of it. I felt bad for her but it made me realize how well I was doing. That was it and I was ready to go home. Mom drove me and I realized it was only 9:15. Wow. I was home three hours from the time I left in the morning. Crazy! The day was long. I wasn't sleepy at all so a nap was out of the question. My mom kept me company and we watched mindless TV all day. I would move back and forth from the TV to the couch throughout the day. One thing I noticed is that I could lay on my side almost immediately. That surprised me, I took pain medication every four hours regardless of how I felt. I think that helped a lot. I also took a lot of GasX. It didn't seem to do much until late in the evening when I started to feel things moving in my tummy. I have been farting like a trucker ever since. My throat hurt worse than I expected it to, my incisions hurt less than I expected to and my gas hurt about like I expected. My friends at work sent me flowers which was super sweet. And I had a lot of friends and family members sending me good thoughts and messages. I went to bed around 10 PM. I was able to cuddle a body pillow and sleep on my side. I slept quite well until 4:30 when I got up and took more pain medication. I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:00 to a text from my friend. (Side note: she recently had a break in, but is trying to hook up with the police officer that came by and I have been giving her pointers. She had just taken some thank you cookies to the station and needed some support. :thumbup: ) I still have gas today, but it has subsided quite a bit. Insicions hurt but only a little bit. My throat is almost all better. There is just a small cut on the top of my mouth from the breathing tube that is driving me crazy. I have been drinking water like crazy. Yesterday I had grape juice, a popsicle and a tiny bit of chicken broth. No issues whatsoever. Today I have had more juice and I'm having hot tea now. I also took my birth control pill and had no issue. For lunch I will have some more chicken broth and for dinner I might get crazy and have some beef broth. All in all...not a bad experience. Yesterday I felt like I got hit by a Mack truck, but today just a VW bug. Ha! Hope you are all doing well out there!!

This is it. This is the last day! So close!! YAY! In my mind the process is broken down into steps: Waiting period - done. Pre op diet - almost done! Surgery Healing Weightloss 10% of weight lost (28.5 lbs) 50 pounds lost 75 pounds lost Hit 200 (85 pounds lost) 100 pounds lost Nutritionist goal (120 pounds lost) Surgeon goal (135 pounds lost) Adjusted goal TBD [*]Maintenance I have no idea how long this all will take, but I do better when I have smaller obtainable goals. Getting through surgery is a biggie for me and that itself will be be done (probably) by this time tomorrow. Whoa. Ahem...anyway... The only thing on my mind is to get through the surgery safely then start on healing. I consider the healing process to be from tomorrow afternoon through my first fill which is scheduled for 2/19. I will give you all an update as soon as I can!

This is it. This is the last day! So close!! YAY! In my mind the process is broken down into steps: Waiting period - done. Pre op diet - almost done! Surgery Healing Weightloss 10% of weight lost (28.5 lbs) 50 pounds lost 75 pounds lost Hit 200 (85 pounds lost) 100 pounds lost Nutritionist goal (120 pounds lost) Surgeon goal (135 pounds lost) Adjusted goal TBD [*]Maintenance I have no idea how long this all will take, but I do better when I have smaller obtainable goals. Getting through surgery is a biggie for me and that itself will be be done (probably) by this time tomorrow. Whoa. Ahem...anyway... The only thing on my mind is to get through the surgery safely then start on healing. I consider the healing process to be from tomorrow afternoon through my first fill which is scheduled for 2/19. I will give you all an update as soon as I can!

I had a major smoothie meltdown over the weekend. I certainly don't hate smoothies, but I was at the point that I couldn't even think of one without gagging. I honestly didn't know that was possible. I didn't eat much on Saturday and I knew that wasn't healthy. I still felt that way yesterday, but managed to choke down a protein shake in the AM, but I ended up having a little less shake and a little more soup than I am supposed to have in the PM. I felt slightly bad for "cheating", but since the two soups together were actually less calories than some of the other soups I can have, I can't imagine that it caused too much damage. Plus, I feel much better today and know that I can finish out the diet from here. I had a little bit of excitement this morning. I was talking to my mom about her flight in (she is helping me post surgery). She is coming in Tuesday evening and my surgery was Wednesday morning. Well, long story short, her plane ticket is for Wednesday evening, not Tuesday. Sigh. There was a lot of drama, but the airline switched her up and she is coming in Tuesday evening, just like she thought. YAY! The surgery nurse called me today and I'm to be at the surgery center at 6:45 AM. I like that. I would rather get there early and get it over instead of waiting much of the day...especially since I have to fast. So, it is really starting to feel real. I thought I would be more freaked out, but I'm not. Yet, anyway. My girlfriends are going to go get pedicures with me tonight so I'm not sitting at home thinking about it. They are awesome! Wednesday morning will be the official end of my pre op diet and I will weigh in then, but as of this morning I am down 11.8 lbs. So, I think I will hit my goal of 12 lbs. lost on the pre op diet. I'm definitely proud of myself for that. *** I want to thank you all for your support. I appreciate each and every response because it makes me realize how "not alone" I am. I can't even put into words what a difference it has made. *** Have a wonderful day!!

I'm guessing that you know that the only person that can get you back on track is you. I have no doubt that you are strong enough to do it. If you were strong enough to make the initial committment, you are strong enough now. Good luck and fight, fight, fight!!

Woo hoo!!!

I had a major smoothie meltdown over the weekend. I certainly don't hate smoothies, but I was at the point that I couldn't even think of one without gagging. I honestly didn't know that was possible. I didn't eat much on Saturday and I knew that wasn't healthy. I still felt that way yesterday, but managed to choke down a protein shake in the AM, but I ended up having a little less shake and a little more soup than I am supposed to have in the PM. I felt slightly bad for "cheating", but since the two soups together were actually less calories than some of the other soups I can have, I can't imagine that it caused too much damage. Plus, I feel much better today and know that I can finish out the diet from here. I had a little bit of excitement this morning. I was talking to my mom about her flight in (she is helping me post surgery). She is coming in Tuesday evening and my surgery was Wednesday morning. Well, long story short, her plane ticket is for Wednesday evening, not Tuesday. Sigh. There was a lot of drama, but the airline switched her up and she is coming in Tuesday evening, just like she thought. YAY! The surgery nurse called me today and I'm to be at the surgery center at 6:45 AM. I like that. I would rather get there early and get it over instead of waiting much of the day...especially since I have to fast. So, it is really starting to feel real. I thought I would be more freaked out, but I'm not. Yet, anyway. My girlfriends are going to go get pedicures with me tonight so I'm not sitting at home thinking about it. They are awesome! Wednesday morning will be the official end of my pre op diet and I will weigh in then, but as of this morning I am down 11.8 lbs. So, I think I will hit my goal of 12 lbs. lost on the pre op diet. I'm definitely proud of myself for that. *** I want to thank you all for your support. I appreciate each and every response because it makes me realize how "not alone" I am. I can't even put into words what a difference it has made. *** Have a wonderful day!!

I had an interesting coversation with a friend the other day. She was the first person other than my mom that I told about my decision to have LB and she is very supportive. I was reminiscing about days long ago when I was smaller and I said something about having no idea what I would look like at 180 because i have never weighed that as an adult. Her eyes got wide and she said that she didn't think I looked 180 now. Ha! I'm currently 280. I love my friend, but I'm quite sure I don't look 180. She said that she thinks her husband is lying to her about how much he weighs since it isn't as much as me. I told her that he probably wasn't as I weigh more than most men I know including my dad (who is NOT a small man.) That got me to thinking about my body type. I have been so fortunate in my life to always look like I weigh much less than I do. My weight is very evenly distributed over my body and I've always (well, until very recently) had a shape. The last area to really gain is my midsection. As I've gained this year into weights I have never been before, I have developed fat areas that I've never had. I now have a large belly and the dreaded intertube. I have lost about 10 pounds on my liquid diet and I can tell a difference in my midsection. Although this area is smaller, I think I can tell that it is never going to be the same. Although I feel sure it would have only gotten worse, I am a little sad that I didn't start this process earlier. Oh well, what's done is done. I'm quite sure that once I get to 180, I won't be disappointed!!

I had an interesting coversation with a friend the other day. She was the first person other than my mom that I told about my decision to have LB and she is very supportive. I was reminiscing about days long ago when I was smaller and I said something about having no idea what I would look like at 180 because i have never weighed that as an adult. Her eyes got wide and she said that she didn't think I looked 180 now. Ha! I'm currently 280. I love my friend, but I'm quite sure I don't look 180. She said that she thinks her husband is lying to her about how much he weighs since it isn't as much as me. I told her that he probably wasn't as I weigh more than most men I know including my dad (who is NOT a small man.) That got me to thinking about my body type. I have been so fortunate in my life to always look like I weigh much less than I do. My weight is very evenly distributed over my body and I've always (well, until very recently) had a shape. The last area to really gain is my midsection. As I've gained this year into weights I have never been before, I have developed fat areas that I've never had. I now have a large belly and the dreaded intertube. I have lost about 10 pounds on my liquid diet and I can tell a difference in my midsection. Although this area is smaller, I think I can tell that it is never going to be the same. Although I feel sure it would have only gotten worse, I am a little sad that I didn't start this process earlier. Oh well, what's done is done. I'm quite sure that once I get to 180, I won't be disappointed!!

I defnintely got over my hump from yesterday, so YAY!! I'm so glad that I have stuck to it. Since I have always been entertained by BG's poop stories, I have one of my own. Everything has been "regular" since starting my liquid diet. That is, until this morning. Whoa. Liquid in...liquid out. Blast off. Holy moly. Ahem. Anyway, I guess I have this to look forward to for the next few days. Fun times! Note to self: no quick toots in the file room! Not that I ever do that sort of thing. :thumbup: I got my blood work today, so another things down. Just have to get my allergy shot today and go by the pharmacy for my post op meds. Wow...it is really coming quickly! But I still have 5 more days of liquid, so it is okay that it is. Have a super duper day!