SoccerMomma73

I can't tell you why you're getting stuck, just take it slow and chew, chew, chew...if you continue getting stuck go back to liquids and advance slowly. And yes, you can have swelling after a stuck episode, again, back to liquids for 48 hours then advance to mushies x 48, the regular foods with cautions (my docs regimen at least). Good luck!

Whoops, sorry 'bout that, just had me worried! Hope all goes well!

As above in many cases, I'm having trouble with chicken or any "roast" type food...I think it's just that they're so solid I have to check for all of eternity and by the time it gets ready to swallow...bleh.

Oh Tweety, please tell me your doc has discussed this with you!?! Each surgeon is different but I was on 2 weeks of liquids, followed by 2 weeks of mushies (minus meat that was not ground to a spreadable consistancy), Followed by 2 weeks where I could add finely ground meat and toasted whole wheat bread, followed by 2 weeks where I could add deli sliced meats (still no other bread products and fruits/vegetables with peels or that are fibrous)....after those 8 weeks it's regular foods with caution....contact your docs office, they're all very different but they should be able to give you detailed information step by step....Good luck!

I agree with the above...BUT!!! At my first support group meeting (okay, my only support group meeting) we had a lady who was 8 months out and close to 80 pounds lost with no fill (our doc puts nothing in at the time of surgery) so it does happen! Enjoy the restriction while it lasts and maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones!

So I've been doing this about a month and just realized last night that people are actually leaving comments on my posts. Obviously I'm a little slow! BUT!!!! Thank you so much for your comments and support. My friends, family, and co-workers have all been awesome supporting me through this but they just really don't have a clue...about the being fat part, or the struggles, or the sheer joy of actually starting to lose weight. It means so very much to me to have you all here to whine, grip, complain, and laugh with. We are in the midst of an ice storm, it's gorgeous outside and work and school are cancelled for the day so, during a break in the sleeting this morning, Connor (my 5 year old) and I went out and took his sled down the hill we live on. It was a blast. A-I could actually hike up the hill, repeatedly, it's a road but steep, B-that I felt good enough to actually go out and play, and C-that I had SO much fun, even when we crashed, and I landed butt first in mushy slush, freezing and soaking wet....One of my big deciding factors in getting a band now was my boy, I do as much as I can with him but I felt like I was missing so much...the memories we made today, both of us screaming and laughing as we sped down the hill totally out of control....made every penny I spent on the surgery so worth it, (although I'm fairly certain the neighbors thought we were nuts). It's a very good day

My office Christmas party fell half way through my 2 week pre-op, I emailed my docs nurse before the part and said... "what if..." her advice was to just get back on the wagon the next day and it wouldn't be a problem....and he never asked Good luck!

I'm not completely on "normal" foods for 2 more weeks and my doc won't allow salad until then. But, now at 6 weeks post-op, I eat beans A LOT...possibly too much if ya know what I mean....I've always liked beans but now I'd eat them all the time if I could. I don't seem to want meat as much as I want to so beans, cheese, and eggs with a little meat are my proteins for now....

Pre-op depends on your doc. Mine was 2, hellishly long, weeks. Some people on here only has 24 hours, some people have as much as 6-8 weeks....average seems to be about 2. Good luck I hope it all goes smoothly!

I have the gowear and am learning to love it. Seems to be fairly accurate (might over estimate my steps a little). I will just say I hated having it on at first, it drove me crazy but I am getting used to it. I have the display and highly recommend it, have discovered it encourages me to get off my duff and moving if I haven't done as much as expected during the day. It is user friendly and I've had no problems with it.

So I've been doing this about a month and just realized last night that people are actually leaving comments on my posts. Obviously I'm a little slow! BUT!!!! Thank you so much for your comments and support. My friends, family, and co-workers have all been awesome supporting me through this but they just really don't have a clue...about the being fat part, or the struggles, or the sheer joy of actually starting to lose weight. It means so very much to me to have you all here to whine, grip, complain, and laugh with. We are in the midst of an ice storm, it's gorgeous outside and work and school are cancelled for the day so, during a break in the sleeting this morning, Connor (my 5 year old) and I went out and took his sled down the hill we live on. It was a blast. A-I could actually hike up the hill, repeatedly, it's a road but steep, B-that I felt good enough to actually go out and play, and C-that I had SO much fun, even when we crashed, and I landed butt first in mushy slush, freezing and soaking wet....One of my big deciding factors in getting a band now was my boy, I do as much as I can with him but I felt like I was missing so much...the memories we made today, both of us screaming and laughing as we sped down the hill totally out of control....made every penny I spent on the surgery so worth it, (although I'm fairly certain the neighbors thought we were nuts). It's a very good day

As a facebook junkie I think it's brilliant :-P

I have been having the most graphic and vivid dreams for the last couple weeks. The type where you wake up with a jerk and a start thinking "WTF????" There's a general theme. Ex-boyfriends, and nudity. There is not an ex-boyfriend in my life that I regret being my ex and it is very very bizarre for me to dream about them. Nudity is another thing I'm not real comfortable with. I've been fat FOREVER and have never liked showing off the flab and seriously doubt I ever will...In last nights dream I decided to go swimming in this huge pool after it closed...and naturally, since it was closed, I decided to go butt naked. Right after I get in a million (okay 20) people come out of nowhere to go swimming and I decide to go out in the deep end and just tread water until they all leave so they'll never notice...but they never leave and eventually I just have to get out in front of all of them. And not a single person noticed. I tend to think dreams are mostly silly and meaningless but I'm taking this one to mean I need to chill out and not be so hard on myself, maybe other people don't see the imperfections like I do. Of course my closest friends are of the opinion that I need a man..ah, gotta love 'em! Or maybe the decreased calorie intake is rotting my brain!!! (to make up for that I have 1/2 a slice of turtle cheesecake today...hey, it's got cheese and nuts right? It should be considered health food!)

Seriously, you are doing awesome and I applaud you! But, weirdly, yes, you need more calories. Either a little more with your meals or snacks in between 'em, naturally high protein, low carb, blah blah blah....Seems crazy and very backwards but it works!

I have been having the most graphic and vivid dreams for the last couple weeks. The type where you wake up with a jerk and a start thinking "WTF????" There's a general theme. Ex-boyfriends, and nudity. There is not an ex-boyfriend in my life that I regret being my ex and it is very very bizarre for me to dream about them. Nudity is another thing I'm not real comfortable with. I've been fat FOREVER and have never liked showing off the flab and seriously doubt I ever will...In last nights dream I decided to go swimming in this huge pool after it closed...and naturally, since it was closed, I decided to go butt naked. Right after I get in a million (okay 20) people come out of nowhere to go swimming and I decide to go out in the deep end and just tread water until they all leave so they'll never notice...but they never leave and eventually I just have to get out in front of all of them. And not a single person noticed. I tend to think dreams are mostly silly and meaningless but I'm taking this one to mean I need to chill out and not be so hard on myself, maybe other people don't see the imperfections like I do. Of course my closest friends are of the opinion that I need a man..ah, gotta love 'em! Or maybe the decreased calorie intake is rotting my brain!!! (to make up for that I have 1/2 a slice of turtle cheesecake today...hey, it's got cheese and nuts right? It should be considered health food!)

So, I typically shy away from compliments...I'm that girl that always blows it off when someone says something nice about my looks. BUT!!! I'm discovering I love, love, LOVE it when people comment on my weight loss. I'm at 30 pounds since Dec. 3, I've officially retired 1 pair of work pants and am having issues with a couple others but when I look in the mirror I don't see that big of a difference but it must be starting to show. And, for like the first time ever, I love it when people comment on it, absolutely love it. And, it makes me want to behave and eat well and get more more more off!! I'm shooting for 15 more pounds before I break down and buy a few new things. By then it will be warming up a little (unless the weightloss fairy visits and magically makes me thin over night) and I'll be able to start getting stuff to make it through spring and summer. I am determined that nothing I wear this spring will fit me next winter so, darn the luck, I'll have to go buy more then too!

I'm 6 weeks post-op and so far loving my band...the hardest thing for me was the first couple weeks after my swelling had gone down and before I got a fill where I was starving all the time....I had not found this web site and NO ONE at my docs office mentioned bandster hell so i was very surprised and starting to doubt what I'd done....I've had 1 fill and definitely in need of another but still cannot anywhere near what I used to and that for me has been the best thing. I used to eat huge portions and never really get full but now I'm getting that under control and it's awesome! (ask me again in a few months when my hair starts falling out and I'll have a different answer!) Good luck!

We actually call it the "Four F's" Female, Fat, Fertile, and Forty...pretty much sums up the most likely people to have gallbladder disease....overweight women who are still ovulating and approaching 40. The fat and the hormones reck havok on the poor gallbladder!

If you like refried beans...mix chicken broth in a food processor with fat free refried beans and salsa and puree until smooth...as you progress you can add less broth and make it a little thicker so it fills you up better. I also added a spoonful of low fat sour cream after I heated it up for the richness.... I also made a squash soup with a chicken broth base that you pureed until smooth, again, as I got further out put less chicken broth in to thicken things up a bit....sorry I don't have more suggestions!

So, I typically shy away from compliments...I'm that girl that always blows it off when someone says something nice about my looks. BUT!!! I'm discovering I love, love, LOVE it when people comment on my weight loss. I'm at 30 pounds since Dec. 3, I've officially retired 1 pair of work pants and am having issues with a couple others but when I look in the mirror I don't see that big of a difference but it must be starting to show. And, for like the first time ever, I love it when people comment on it, absolutely love it. And, it makes me want to behave and eat well and get more more more off!! I'm shooting for 15 more pounds before I break down and buy a few new things. By then it will be warming up a little (unless the weightloss fairy visits and magically makes me thin over night) and I'll be able to start getting stuff to make it through spring and summer. I am determined that nothing I wear this spring will fit me next winter so, darn the luck, I'll have to go buy more then too!

Viactiv is calcium carbonate, I'm on strict orders to take calcium citrate only HOWEVER have not been able to find a chewable calcium carbonate anywhere...anyone have any suggestions? (citrate is supposed to be absorbed better, however, at this point I'm using carbonate because I figure it's better than nothing and while I haven't had problems with normal sized pills, swallowing the horse pills post-band scares me)

Knowing what I know about anatomy I think they're just trying to torture you, that stuff is NASTY!!! FYI, I had no bowel prep of any type pre-op, although, honestly, after 2 weeks of liquids and 36 hours clear liquids there wasn't much in there anyway. Good luck! It is so totally worth it but I feel for ya!

That's a new one on me...Most of us go on "clear" liquids but that just means liquids you can see through, for a day or two pre-op but i have never heard of anyone not allowed to have anything with any color at all...did they happen to say why? Even with the colored clear liquids my doc has you do sugar free so Sf jello, SF popsicles, crystal light (sugar free of course) and broth that has no sugar or carbs at all...Yup, it was a miserable headachy 24 hours.... Sorry, I have no advice for you, I'm baffled on this one, BUT!!! Good luck, you can do it for 2 days...just keep your goal in mind and the time will fly by!

I love this line!!! I'm almost 6 weeks out with 2 larger (about 3 cm) incisions and 3 that are less than 1 centimeter...the three smaller ones are already fading, the larger 2 are in the process of going from hot pink to pale pink...no biggie..if they're anything like my gallbladder scars I won't even notice them in 6 months....BUT...like everyone above, I wouldn't care if I did. Scars don't scare me, diabetes and heart disease do....