Kristy29

My dietitian asked me what I wanted my goal weight to be, and I had no idea. I thought they would help me set that, tell me what was healthy, etc. They said nothing to me and expected me to come up with a number all on my own. So I just said I'd like to be below 200. I haven't ever been that low, not for a long long time, like maybe middle school, so that would be an amazing accomplishment. I figure once I get there, I will see how I feel and how far I want to keep going after that.

Well I have some friends here, but they aren't what I would consider close friends. People at work, etc. They aren't the kind of people I would turn to for support with my surgery. Yes, they might see me and say some encouraging things if I've lost weight, but they aren't the kind of people I will unload on if things are going wrong or if I'm struggling. My husband would be who I would choose to turn to in those instances, but I am afraid that the whole time I am going through the weight loss, if I mention to him that something hurts or I am hungry or something, he will say see you are failing, why don't you just quit. We had another argument today about it. He kept pointing out that I haven't started a real diet yet, and he doesn't see how I am going to lose 15 lbs in 3 months. Which yes, I am still not eating great, but I am trying a little. I am trying to do this slow, because every time I get gung ho into a diet from the start and then get hungry and fail, so I am trying something different this time, and it is also how my doctor suggests we do it. They said cut out Snacks first. I have tried, but sometimes I am hungry. I work from 4-10, and usually eat lunch around 2 and then dinner around 10:15. So sometimes while I am working I get very hungry. Well the last few times that happened I ate a small bag of plain almonds. Also, a few times when I was hungry at home, I had a pickle or a yogurt. Well, he pointed these things out to me as failures. But I don't think they were failures, because they were better choices than some other foods. I work at a pharmacy, and could easily eat a bag of chips, Cookies or candy, it's everywhere. But instead I chose to eat one of the very few healthy snacks we carry. And really, does he think that me eating a pickle is what's going to prevent from losing weight??

Hubby is a little overweight but not obese at all. When we met, I was living with my parents and he lived an hour and a half away. I moved in with him, and then we moved to the Poconos, which was about 2 hours from my parents. We made the choice together because it was a place where we could afford a house. Then my parents decided to move to Florida. So actually we are living away from them not by either of our choice.

Gosh, I feel like I need an assistant just to keep up with all my appointments, lol. Went to the seminar/first appointment on 5/5. Yesterday, I went to a cardiologist. They did an in office EKG. THey saw some thickening of the heart muscles. Now need to get an echocardiogram and a stress test next week. Doc is confident I will pass those tests and will be approved for surgery. He said the thickening is most likely due to my obesity and will clear up after I lose the weight. Because I have Mitral Valve prolapse though he wants to see me again in a month, and continue with regular appointments throughout my weight loss journey. This morning I went for pre-op blood work. They took 9 vials! 9!!! I was quite scared when she started pulling them off the shelf, lol. Then I went for my opper GI xray. The fizz and the barium were nasty, but it wasn't too bad overall. Thursday I meet with my pcp, and Monday I have my first meeting with the surgeon, plus I will meet with the nurse practitioner and dietitian again, and I have my first support group. Wednesday I have my echo-cardiogram, and Thursday I have my stress test. Even though they are being done at the same place, I am not allowed to do them on the same day or insurance won't pay for it. Makes no sense, and is very inconvenient because it's over 20 minutes away. Stupid insurance. Anyway, just wanted to write down all the I have going in. It's a lot to take in, a lot to keep track of.

Nobody said anything to me about what my number needs to be. I hope to god it doesn't have to be good, because mine hasn't been. Just got my blood drawn this morning and will find out soon what it was. Almost afraid to go into my doctor cause he's going to yell at me for sure. Hopefully my surgery news will distract him, hehe.

It wasn't bad at all. The fizzy stuff was nasty, and the barium wasn't the best tasting thing but it went down without problems at least. I also had my blood drawn this morning, they took 9 vials!! I get blood drawn regularly for my diabetes but haven't ever given that much.

I am going for my pre-op upper GI xray tomorrow. What's it like? I have to swallow barium right? Does it taste nasty? I have a real hard time swallowing something if it doesn't taste good.

I thought meal sized salads were not good for bandsters? Since you are supposed to eat your protein first, a salad as a meal wouldn't work with that rule.

Ok, I ordered a cheapo one on ebay for now. It is an Italian charm bracelet, and I got one charm that says type 2 diabetes and one that says lap band. That way I can wear the diabetes one now and add the other one later. But I definitely am going to upgrade later on.

I went to a session at my surgeon's office yesterday. One thing they stressed, and even included in the contract I had to sign, was that I am not allowed to get pregnant until 2 years after my surgery. The whole reason for the surgery for me is so I can get pregnant. If I wait until 2 years out to start trying, it will be a minimum of 3 years before I am holding a baby in my arms, and that's if I am successful right away. If we still have fertility problems, it will be even longer. I am 28 now and have been wanting a baby for 7 years, I don't really want to wait that long. I see other people on here talking about getting pregnant or trying to get pregnant a year or less out from surgery. Is this just my surgeon that is strict like this? Should I switch to a surgeon that doesn't feel this way, or just ignore their guidelines? I mean, it's not like they can force me to abort my baby if I do get pregnant, and I could always say oops it was an accident.

I am looking forward to getting pregnant, not using seat belt extenders on planes, shopping in the store at Old Navy and shopping anywhere I want, fitting on roller coasters, not having my dh worry every time I sit in a chair that it will collapse.

I just went to the seminar last week, and it also included meeting with the nurse practitioner and dietitian, so it counted as my first appointment. The weight they took when I walked in that day is what is considered my weight for approval. My surgeon requires a 5% weight loss of all patients, or he will not do the surgery. You will find out at the seminar what is required of you from your surgeon and your insurance company. Good luck!

Well, I haven't even started losing weight yet, but I know when I do that I am going to need to do something. I weigh almost 300 lbs and I have size C boobs. They are comparatively small to the rest of my body. It makes it hard to find bras because I need a 48c, which is very rare. Most 48's are d or dd. Also, every top and dress I ever wear is too big in the chest because again they are small compared to my stomach. So I am assuming that once I lose weight, they will be like an A. But then I want to get pregnant and breastfeed, so it will be a long time until I can have the surgery.

I don't like fish, I never have. I can tolerate tilapia and other non fishy fish, but I rarely eat it because I just don't like it. Since my doctor thinks chicken, fish, turkey and tofu are the only acceptable forms of meat (with egg and cottage cheese rounding out my choices for protein) I guess I'm going to have to start eating fish. So how do you prepare it so it tastes good, and also so it doesn't get boring? I bought cedar planks for the grill and am going to try that, but need more suggestions, including for inside cooking since I can't grill in the winter.

I really like those Lauren's Hope ones. I am going to order one when I get close to surgery. I have diabetes and should have been wearing one all along. Now I figure it's dumb to get one now and get a new one in a few months. Thanks for the encouragement!

Ok, I added myself to the spreadsheet.

Can I join? I don't have my band yet but I need to lose my 5%, which is 15 lbs.

In the surgeon section of the forum, he is listed in Connecticut but he is really in NY. When you go to the top of the page and click Surgeons he is there in the right spot, but not on the forum. His forum is blank and I think it's because he is in the wrong spot. How can this be fixed? And sorry if this is the wrong place to put this but I couldn't find anywhere to report problems.

Well, I don't know because I've never had surgery, but my hospital is over an hour away so I will be traveling half that distance the day of my surgery. I don't think 2 hours is bad, and I think it will be good for you to have people taking care of you for a few days post op.

So I joined this board yesterday and have been browsing around. I have noticed so many things that people do that my surgeon says are not allowed. One thing is no carbs at all until I reach my goal weight, but I have noticed some people eat carbs and some don't. But one thing that is really bothering me is that the guidelines from my surgeon say no Beans or Soups on any stage. But on reading what people eat, especially on mushies, it seems these are very popular choices. Mostly they want us to eat chicken and fish. I don't like fish, but will eat it if I have to. But I will get bored if I am constantly eating pureed chicken and fish, which doesn't even sound good to begin with. Is it normal for my doctor to be restricting these things? Soup seems to be a pretty big staple around here, especially in the first few weeks post op. And beans are so high in Protein, what could be wrong with them? Even when I'm on liquids, I am not allowed any broth or bouillon either. It seems like post op will be so hard, and my doctor is making it even harder. I guess I will just live on eggs, cottage cheese, chicken and fish for the next couple of years.

That's what is bothering me so much about it. I have tried dieting before and I always end up cheating. It just doesn't work for me. If I was going to go on a chicken, veggies and salad only diet I'd probably lose the weight without the surgery. I feel like a well balanced diet in much smaller portions is a better approach to this. Obviously cut out sweets and chips and fast food and all the junk, but why not some whole grains once in awhile or some Beans or beef. I know for a fact that if I do limit myself as much as they are asking, I will cheat and that seems counter productive to me.