mzsmartypantz

Calling all October bandsters... I just wanted to start a thread where everyone can post their surgery dates and we can compare notes. I am scheduled for 10/18. I have ALL my pre-op stuff done as of last week. I start Protein shake diet on 10/4. How is everyone else doing getting their pre-op stuff scheduled?

I have been MIA for months now. I just thought I would sign in and see how all my band sisters (and brothers) have been doing. Ok, I will tell the truth, I wanted to see if I was on keel with everyone else too. I guess I am in more need of support from others who are going through the same thing as me more than I knew. When I signed in and started reading posts it was almost as if I had written some of them myself. I am glad to see everyone doing so well. I have done a lot of thinking lately about my decision to have the band. I have had moments where I have broken down crying wishing that I had done the bypass instead. But when I think harder about it, I know that this was the best thing for me. If I had a nickel for everytime someone has asked me lately if having the band was worth it, I would be a rich woman. My honest answer is YES. I would have never lost this much weight and kept it off on my own. So in the long run, if this is all the weight I get off, I am still SO much better off. I am much healthier, I look and feel better, have more energy, etc. Just to give a quick update, I had my surgery on Oct. 18th, 2006. My starting weight was 272. I am now down to 235. I started at 26/28 and can comfortably wear 18s now. I have had no complications with the band. I have had 4 fills (and 1 unfill) and I am now at 1.4 cc. I am pbing a lot, everyday and sometimes 2-3 times per day. Some things go down well and some don't and I am way guilty of putting things in my mouth that I shouldn't, too big bites, eating too fast. I know better. So why do I do it?? Thanks for letting me vent. I wish everyone continued success and I promise to be around more. Lori

Its a miracle! I managed to stay the same this week. No loss, but no gain either! Since my fill/unfill last week, I have been hungry more than I was before the fill. We had Christmas with my folks yesterday and I ate a lot... plus I had treats at the office all week and managed to eat 3/4 of a McDonald's cheeseburger last week. See why I'm so excited to have stayed the same?? LOL

Jodi: Here's wishing you a speedy recovery! I got my first fill on Thursday and my first unfill on Friday last week. I am back down to no fill. Dr. says I may not be able to handle much of a fill ever if 1cc closed me up that much. Oh well, I have had pretty good success with just the band if that's all I get, so be it. I never would have lost 35 lbs on my own. I lost 5 lbs last week. I have been so up and down the last few weeks its hard to tell where I'm at on the challenge. My ticker shows 6 lbs down, I think that's pretty accurate with the gain I had week before last. Happy Holidays everyone!

I had my first fill on Thurs 12/7. My dr. is 2.5 hrs away from my home. All the way home I felt fine. I continued to feel fine until later that evening when I tried to sip some clear broth. Then the reflux began. I suffered all night long with severe reflux and vomiting. Felt like I had a lump in my throat and I was having trouble swallowing. The only sleep I got at all that night was sitting straight up in the recliner and even then I continued to have some reflux. By morning, I realized that maybe I was too tight, so I called my dr. who had me drive back up for an unfill. Now here's my question: He put 1 cc in on Thurs. and ended up taking all of it back out on Friday. He says we will try again in January and that I have enough edema in my stomach to create restriction for awhile. Has anyone else had this happen? Am I doomed to not be able to have any fills and only rely on the band itself?

Grrrrrr!!! I'm going the wrong direction again! Last week was my TOM and I did absolutely no exercise. On top of the fact that I still haven't had my first fill and have no restriction. I'm scheduled to get it this Thurs., so maybe next week will be better.

I didn't get to have my fill today :think My surgeon got called out to an emergency trauma surgery. My appt is rescheduled for next Thurs. I am so bummed! I am really in need of the fill. JDru... don't feel bad girl. One day at a time... if you stumble, just get back up and start all over the next day.

OMG...No Way!!! I somehow managed to loose 3 lbs last week, even though I ate sweet potato pie TWICE. I guess all the miles I logged on my exercise bike paid off. Wooohooo... I'm on my way to 10 lbs by Christmas! Oh yeah... I go for my first fill this Fri. I'm a little nervous of how tight I will be afterward, but I am looking forward to being tight, does that make sense? Everyone have a great week!

Ummm... I think I'm going in the wrong direction!

Starting this week sounds good to me. I don't have a fill yet, so maybe that will help me be good during Thanksgiving. I usually weigh on Monday mornings, so I will report in on Mondays if that is ok with everyone.

I'm in too, sounds like a great idea Moongoddess! Raynie: LOL... glad to know you thought of me while drinking alcohol! One question... did you seem to get ummm "tipsy" quicker than you did before surgery? heeeheee

Well, well well! Just when I was getting nervous because my weight loss has slowed so much, I get on the scales today and to my shock and surprise I have lost 3 more lbs. That makes a total of 30 since 10/4/06. Awesome! I went to see my surgeon last Friday and he told me I was doing really well. Everything has healed well and he said I could go ahead and add some fish and chicken to my diet. That was the best news I have heard in forever! I have been having weight watchers frozen meals for lunch and yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast and then cooking low fat for dinner. It is really great to be able to cook for my family and actually eat some of what they are having! I have also increased my daily exercise to 45 mins per day. When I started this I could not hardly make a lap around the track. Right after surgery I could do 4 laps (1mile) in 35 mins. Now it only takes me 20 mins to do 4 laps. BTW... I started a blog to keep up with my NSVs. If anyone is interested, here's the addy: http://onmywaytoanewlife.blogspot.com/

Raynie- I totally get where you are coming from. I am in the soft food stage and although I haven't tried to eat any meat or anything too hard, I have found that I can eat way more than I think I'm supposed to. Of course, it is still wayyyyy less than I could eat before surgery. Unfortunately, I have been eating soft foods that are full of fat and calories. Mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, omlettes. I once drank sweet tea instead of unsweet. (That's a southern thing... sweet tea is the bomb!) Sat. night was DH's 20 yr class reunion and I drank a margarita. Mondays are my weigh in days and I lost 1/2 a lb last week. Very discouraging since I was loosing 7-10 lbs a week at first. I feel really guilty so this week I am back to soups and yogurt, SF pudding, etc. I'm thinking seriously of going to counseling! I did have some great NSVs this weekend though. I had to break down and buy new jeans because my old ones were literally falling off of me. My old favorite jeans were a size 24. The new ones I bought over the weekend were SIZE 20 with a little room to spare!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! Lori

Tomorrow is my 14th post-op day. I have lost 26 lbs. YAY! I have started mushies, but I would really love to have some ideas for mushy foods. Anyone got any good tips? Be strong and stay away from candy tonight! I know you can do it!! :dance:

Hey Chrispy, I just realized that you and I started at about the same weight and have lost about the same weight. What a coinkidink!! LOL

Btw... I updated my ticker... lost 10 lbs since last Monday- total loss of 22! Go me!!

Yay Jessica! So glad you got good news! You will be a bandster in no time now. Congrats!

Ok, sorry guys for not posting sooner. Honestly, I haven't really felt very chatty. LOL I had my surgery on 10/18. Everything went fine, stayed at the hospital until the afternoon of 10/19. I had to wait until I could pee. I kept feeling like I needed to, but I couldn't get the flow going. Then the nurse came in and said that if I didn't pee soon they were going to have to insert a catheter....I guess that scared the pee right outta me cuz I went shortly after that. LOL The hospital was about 3 hrs from where I live, I slept almost the whole way home then slept most all evening at home. During the night I started getting uncomfortable and had to get up several times and move from bed to recliner, recliner to bed, etc. Friday I stayed home alone while kids were at school and hubby was at work. I did ok until about 8:00 Fri. night. I started aching all over, like in all my joint, etc. I was running temp. Only about 99.9, but I felt HORRIBLE! I had a mini breakdown at that point, crying etc. I was thinking what have I done to myself and maybe this was not such a great idea! Took some of the liquid Lortab (which has acetemeniphine in it) and promptly fell asleep. Woke up two hrs later laying in a pool of sweat. I guess the fever broke. I haven't run anymore fever since then. Had a hard time sleeping Fri night too. I am a stomach sleeper and couldn't get comfortable. Sat. I felt like a brand new person! Took a shower, got dressed and DH took me to Wal-Mart. I walked most of the store, but about an hour in, he had to go get me one of those scooter thingys. I wasn't in a lot of pain, just very tired. Later that evening DH and the kids went to a haunted house with my bff's DH, while she and I stayed home with her 16 mo old. I actually slept very well on Sat. night. Sunday, I felt even better! My parents came to visit from out of town and I endured my first restaraunt outing with the whole family. Mexican food...ugggh! I really wanted some cheese dip and enchiladas. But I did ok. I had brought my SF jello with me and I munched on that. BTW...1/2 of one of those little containers fills me FULL! However, it doesn;t seem to last. in an hour or two my stomach is growling big time! Luckily, I have had almost no gas pains. I have had something that my doctor says is probably a spasm in my diaphram left over from anesthesia. That has greatly improved though. I have some port incision pain and tenderness around that area. I was able to sleep on my side last night, so that is GREAT! Well guys, sorry for the novel. I just felt like I had so much to catch you up on. Congrats to everyone else that was banded last week and good luck to everyone who had banding dates coming up this week! PS: I'm not sure how much more weight I have lost because I haven't weighed since last Mon. My daughter is taking me to run errands today and I am going to my office to weigh and get my flu shot. I will update my ticker later on today.

Joy: It gets better. I had a hard first day with the liquid diet too. Major caffeine withdrawal headache. I am now on day 10 and it is so much better. Hang in there!

Big congrats to all the newly banded. Glad to hear that everyone is doing well. The countdown is on for my surgery...I'm ready to get it done!

What exactly constitutes clear liquids? My surgeon's office just told me that we can have anything that we can see through. But I'm thinking, I can see through beer and tequila, but surely I can't have that! Does anyone have a list of what is considered "clear?"

Happy Band Day to Kilcollins, Ladyred, MarySue33! We will all be praying that you have a great banding. Keep us posted as you can with how your recovery is going! To all of us that are still on pre-op diets... hang in there!

Dr. Baker has his patients do the HMR 800 meal replacement shakes. They are not terribly bad tasting. We can add fruit or splenda to them. I am drinking orange/banana this morning.

Congrats to you! I am on pre-op diet also. I am down 10 lbs too! Yay for both of us!!

I too am looking forward to shopping somewhere other than Lane Bryant and Avenue. I took my daughters shopping last weekend for homecoming outfits and I thought about how in a year I could be buying cute stuff from GAP, etc. I am also looking forward to being able to ride rides at amusement parks with my kids. I know that was discussed in another thread, but I have that same problem, I'm always afraid the belt or guard bar won't fit, so I haven't rode one in years.