susidivah

Hey fusion, I was also banded on the 29th Actually it was the second surgery in a month cuz of a complication (not related to the banding) previously. That time I had HORRIBLE shoulder gas pain so I feel you, and yes it does get better just keep moving! This time around praise God I didn't have as much gas pain, just some in my belly and on my left side. I have the same symptoms as you in the port area with the "heaviness". It almost feels like a bad cramp or stitch in my side. I can tell there is still swelling over there too but mine has come down quite a bit in the past couple of days. I trust this all will pass and I appreciate your thread, for peeps responses helped me out a LOT. I am not concerned as much about the food as I am about my abdomen feeling better! Take care and send me a message if you want to stay in touch! Susan

I drink the Isopure flavoreds, a half a bottle to a bottle a day. I was just banded on Monday and discovered afterwards I really was starting to get tired of the Protein shakes I had tried the grape Isopure prior to surgery and liked it so I bought the alpine punch and the orange as well. I sip it over the course of an hour or two. Nice alternative right now to just protein powder! Yeah, Patrice I can relate I'm having difficulty getting all the protein in on this liquid stage, but I too will be singing Hallelujahs coming next week when I start on purees

yummmm-o!!! Thanks for sharing, Imma have to try this! I am a lover of all things Starbucks but am aware now I may have to find my own faux treats!

OMG guys, I know!!! I've tried the Bariatric Advantage and even the Flintstones Chewables I didn't like. I have Celebrate bariatric vitamins now (grape) and they are a LITTLE more tolerable

Hey everyone! Just wanted to post to say it is finished!!!! Was banded successfully on Monday 29th and am now officially post op whoo hoooo!!! Not a lot of pain but quite a bit of soreness particularly on my left side in the port area. Luckily there hasn't been too much gas but I'm not going to count my chickens before they are hatched for it may be coming! Liquids have been going down fine as well as my pills so I thank God so far it's not too bad. I see my surgeon on the 14th for follow up... Wow, December already huh? Time to usher in the December newbies! Congrats to all the November bandsters and keep us posted! Susan

Congrats Hynita!!! Mine was yesterday and doing pretty well so far!!! Keep us posted on your progress and best of luck to you! Susan

Hey Kitten, I was banded yesterday also, congrats to you! I feel better walking around as well, I've been lucky so far not too much gas pain in the shoulders. Some in the back on my port side though. I hear you about the sipping water too! Guess it just takes practice. I've been drinking warm decaf herbal tea too and that's felt good on my swollen belly. I too know it's temporary and takes time to heal, and better to follow dr's orders than to get impatient and do something that may hurt the band and my new stomach. Best of luck to you, and feel free to pm me if you'd like to buddy up Kfranco, sometimes peeps get nauseated by certain types of pain meds. Personally Vicodin makes me nauseated and doesn't do anything for me, so they prescribe me other meds. And it's tough sometimes when you can only drink liquids to take certain meds because "normally" you are supposed to take them with something on the belly. Are you allowed to have Protein shakes or Soups yet? That may help too. And I would check out btown girl's suggestion about checking with your doctor about nausea meds. Even though I've just been banded, I know people who've had this done and read a lot on here about the first few weeks and the overwhelming response is it DOES get much better!!! Best of luck to you Susan

Oh my gosh Elizabeth, me and my coworkers talk about the drink sizes at fast food places all the time! It has gotten insane!!! And amen to portion distortion... as you probably know many other countries do NOT have this issue (nor the obesity issues either), but I am not going to go there... In response to the OP, I too have gotten some smaller plates and utensils. I asked for some 4oz ramekin bowls for Christmas to make lil quiches and such. Using the smaller dinnerware was one of the first things my mom suggested for she did it when she had RNY in the early 1980's. She still uses salad plates much of the time for her meals.

Hello everyone, and Happy Holidays to each of you! My name is Susan, I'm 41 years old, single with no children. I live in the South Suburbs of Chicago. This journey for me has been a long, but enlightening one. I've been heavy pretty much all my life, with my highest weight coming about 2 years ago after thyroid issues leading to thyroidectomy, discovering thyroid cancer, and being hypothyroid for several months while have treatment. Also going on anti depressant meds didn't help Anyway, bariatric surgery is not new to me as my mom had RNY bypass back in the early 1980's. She has been successful at keeping about 2/3 of the weight off, but has had anemia and B-12 deficiency since the surgery. I'm not sure how I started reading up on LapBand, for a long time I was kinda anti-gastric bypass. But I researched starting in Sept 2009 and attended my first seminar in Nov 2009. After all the requirements hoops and such I was approved and set for November 8th. I think some of you have heard this in the post op thread but technically I "had" the surgery, minus the band There was a little complication not related to the actual banding and my wonderful surgeon decided to hold off for a few weeks to make sure no infection came up. Sooooo I have been thru the gas pain, abdominal pain, etc, but got to go back on solids for 2 weeks and just have to do 3 days liquid now before Monday So round two the 29th... I am very anxious to get started with getting healthier. I have a few comorbidities such as hypertension and prediabetes that I trust will get better by losing weight. Also there are so many things I want to still do while I'm "young" lol most of them involve being ACTIVE. But in my head and what my body can do now and two different things. I thank God often for this gift and opportunity. Best wishes to you all and I appreciate your posts and updates! I think that support by others who are going thru it is important for all of us!!! God bless and see you around!

Hello, I too am being banded on the 29th It has been a year of diet, nutrition consults, pre op tests, PCP appts, etc and I feel I am REALLY ready for this! Pre op liquid diet has been the toughest part and I'm trying to give myself credit that I've been able to do it! I wish everyone best of luck and prayers come Monday... soon we shall be official bandsters too!!! Susan

Hey there, I'm a Chicago South Suburban gal :thumbup: I will be banded on November 29th at Rush Univ Med Center. Dr. Myers is my surgeon. The journey has been about a year so far and have learned so much and am ready for this! Good luck to you! Susan

Hey guys... I hope I can swing over to the post op thread now, even tho my experience this week was a lil different than some of you guys Essentially, Monday I had surgery with many of the same after-effects as you are mentioning- terrible gas pain particularly behind the shoulders, sore abdomen, etc... cept I'm without a band as of now There was a complication during surgery where an instrument the surgeon inserts to do the procedure nicked my colon (no puncture). So to be safe he decided to hold off on the banding to make sure the nick was healed and no infections came up. It was repaired easily and I'm on a round of antibiotics and antifungal meds, and my surgery is rescheduled for the 29th. I am going to be very honest here in saying I hesitated to bring this up on the forums, for I'm sure there are varying gut reactions to the situation. For me, I am so greatful that my surgeon did not just go ahead and band (as some would have) and is being cautious. I am greatful he caught the injury. And I found out situations like this have NOT happened very often in the hundreds of cases he has had over the past 8 plus years. Everyone who's been supporting me is like aren't you disappointed or upset you have to wait again after a year of waiting? My answer is not at all, for that miniscule chance something may happen and that an infection could be even more serious, I can wait a couple more weeks for my lapband So back to work on Monday, off the liquid diet until five days before (yes, the day before Thanksgiving), and getting ready for round two! Congrats to all you new bandsters from the week! Keep up the great work! Susan

Well guys, I'm almost ready to go catch the train to go downtown to the hotel in the medical district I'm staying tonight! :smile2: 5:15am call time tomorrow for surgery, surgery is at 7:15am! I have a feeling I will be a morning person tomorrow (I usually ain't!) Thank you all for sharing your experiences both pre op and post op... they have really helped me to prepare for this and after a year of learning and hoop jumping, I am confident I'm ready to do this! Will post back here and on the POST op Nov thread either tomorrow nite or Tuesday! Continued prayers are with you all also! Susan

I have BC/BS HMO Blue Advantage, and the actual approval for the surgery after everything was submitted took less than 24 hrs :eek: I was told by my surgeon my medical group turned it around pretty quickly if they had everything. The slow part in my whole experience with this was my PCP office... since everything had to go thru them, being HMO, I trusted they'd do it TIMELY. Didn't happen unfortunately but hey, it's done and they will have a nice complaint letter coming to them after I am healed and feel up to writing that...

Hey Cheryl, my banding buddy... we almost there girl!!! :eek: And happy birthday to you, what a wonderful gift you are giving yourself this year! :thumbup: The Magic Bullet is the bomb! I've had mine since a previous diet several years ago (involving shakes of course!). But you can do a whole lot with it, puree, blend, etc. What a nice gift from your co-workers! To all... I'm enjoying reading everyone's pre op experiences, surgery experiences, and the early post op ones... good to know I'm not the only one going thru some of the feelings and such about it all! Continued thoughts and prayers are with you all! :tt2: Susan

Yay John!!! Congrats to you and so glad to hear it's not too bad for you! Knew you would do well tho... keep us posted and in a week, I too shall be posting!

Yay, Novembers almost here!!! Best wishes and prayers to all!!! Will be thinking of you November 1st-ers tomorrow :wink2: Mine is one week from tomorrow... and this liquid diet thingy is getting easier! :smile2:

Bella, that is awesome!!! And your surgery date is awesome too... it's my niece's 9th birthday :sneaky: Mine is the 8th and I'm on day 3 of liquid diet... so far not toooooo bad :w00t: Good luck to you on your journey!!! Prayers going out to all the November bandsters in prep for our "big" days!!! Look forward to hearing your progress... feel free to pm me if you need a buddy too :drool: Susan

OMG do you want the long or short list :blushing: So glad you started this thread ape... for since the beginning of my journey about a year (darn HMO and their hoops) I have been making a list of things I am looking forward to doing again, or trying, upon weight loss :smile2: I've kept it to myself, but here are the biggies for me... 1. Getting off my medications- all or most of all 7 of them 2. Taking up dancing again- ballroom, salsa, and jazz 3. Getting into the Couch to 5k program and training/runnning a 5k (shhhh don't tell my dad, he's a former marathoner!) 4. Not having to worry that an outfit or artice of clothing I'd like to buy isn't in my size 5. Having my 8 year old niece be able to wrap her arms around me when she hugs me... my sis and fam are missionairies to Taiwan and will be back on furlough in 2012. Last year, my niece Carmen made mention of the hug and encouraged me to exercise :wub: I wish all of you the best in your journeys and thanks for sharing for I know it helps me a lot!!! God bless

Hang in there John! And keep posting... it will help you as well as others :smile2: Me for one as I just started my pre-op diet today (getting banded on Nov 8th) :blushing: I can't even imagine day 9!!! Good luck and God bless! S

I usually mix mine with skim milk or almond milk as I'm not a fan of vanilla with Water either... Some things I've added: fruit (mostly blueberries and strawberries), pumpkin spice with a lil splenda, Peanut Butter, SF Divinci syrups (I have irish creme, hazelnut, caramel, and raspberry), SF general foods coffee... :blushing:

Hi Stephens, and welcome! :smile2: You will find a lot of great information and support here! I too am from Illinois and finally coming up to the "big day" (November 8th)... my insurance required a 6 mo medically supervised diet, and since it was HMO had to go thru the hoops and red tape with the PCP as well. I've learned so much tho and feel much more prepared! There are other Illinoisans on here whom I'm sure will pop up! May I ask whereabouts are you in Illinois? I'm in the Chicago burbs and will be banded at Rush University Medical Center. Best of luck to you and please holler on the boards or in pm if you need anything! :blushing: God bless, Susan

Praying for you JB! He's got you in His Hands :w00t: It will be over before you know it and like the others said you will wonder why you were so anxious and worried! Now mind you, I have not had the surgery yet (Nov 8th is my date) and I know I'll be a lil anxious at least! But, I too have had other surgeries including a thyroidectomy and neck dissection for lymph nodes... and gallbladder which the bariatric surgeon said is actually very similar to this laproscopically. Sooooo, sorry couldn't spared you my complete medical history but in a nutshell, take a deep breath and think of all that lies ahead on the journey! Looking forward to your next post... God bless! Susan