belld

I was banded August 4th and about 1 month ago, I started losing massive amounts of hair as well. I have lost weight very quickly and I continue to lose about a pound a week. I just want to know that the hair will grow back. I know I went through a period right after I started eating that I had a lot of trouble getting in all the Protein I needed because I just couldn't consume that much food or liquids. I have just gotten to where I can eat what I need. My rheumatologist tells me that there is a delayed reaction to changes in your body like drastic weight loss and that the hair loss now is probably steming from what was happening several months ago. He says the hair will grow back and I have noticed some regrowth even as I continue to lose a lot of hair. It is getting pretty thin. Better bald than fat? I don't think so actually but I am very happy with the weight loss and I would do it all again. I am down 59 pounds without a single fill and I am still losing. Debra

Last night was the first night that I have slept anywhere near flat. I am still on my back but it really felt good to be flat. My back has been hurting terribly. I drove 2 hours yesterday to get my new car. I was crazy but I love it. Bill wants me to fly to NC tomorrow to get our RV and drive home (2 days away by mileage, 3 days by RV time.) I am a little scared to fly. I have read some good experiences and some bad. I guess people who go to mexico and beyond, do it all of the time. I still have an empty band. That seems to be the kicker. Soooo I will try it I guess. I am still having large gas bubbles or at least that is wht I think they are. I had to get up and walk at 4 am. I can't burp. Why is that? I am still having abdominal pain at the port incision site and down my right side. The bruising is hideous. I can't say much for my surgeons plastic surgery skills.:thumbup: I read some entries about hair loss today. I seem to be losing a substantial amount. I can't get all of the protein in. Don't know if that is all of it or just plain ole stress. Hanging in there.:ohmy:

I use GNC Soy Protein chocolate. It is just the right chocolate. For my preop diet, I drank it with water then after surgery I switched to skim milk. It is good both ways but I wanted the extra boost of protein the skim milk gives. I tried several other kinds of protein drinks and they either did not give me enough protein for the calories I was consuming or they were too thick or chocolaty. I never thought I would like soy anything but I developed a whey protein allergy during preop and had to switch. It really is good.

mashed potatoes first, then scrambled egg, soup, pudding, applesauce today. I am at three weeks on Wednesday when I can "officially start mushies. I plan on branching out to some well cooked veggies..probably stewed squash first...yummy. I have been satisfied with my weight loss so far so I hesitate to move on but I know I should. My dietician says it is always better to eat your protein than drink it. I am not supposed to move ahead with chicken and other dense proteins until the 1st of September. I am looking forward to it.

Ok so it has been awhile. I have had a few struggles over the last week with weight loss. I had been losing about a pound a day and for 4 days I lost nothing. I have been extremely gassy and had bouts of diarrhea and constipation. I went to my support group and the nurse and dietitcian sort of helped me figure some things out. I am now including 1 solid item a day in my diet. I have tried mashed potatoes, cream of chicken soup, scrambled eggs and today I tried tuna. I have tolerated all of them well. The tuna today made me kinda bloated. I think I will stay away from that a little longer. I still intend to continue my protein drinks. I really like the GNC Soy protein chocolate and in 16 ounces with skim milk I can get 70 g of protein. They are convenient and I am not hungry in the morning so I can take it with me to work. Anyway, bloating and gas are gone today and I was down 2 pounds from yesterday. School starts Monday and I am in a good place emotionally and nutritionally. I have dropped 26.5 pounds and I think most of my clothes will fit again. I will wait for awhile to buy new stuff. I barely got to wear the new stuff I bought in the spring before it was too small. I am excited for the future and prepared to do battle in the classroom. My knee works great now thanks to surgery in June and I have satisfied the arthritis dragon for another couple of months.:biggrin:

I did the same thing. I added a little benefiber to my protein shakes for 4 days. Just as i was about to take the next step to relieve the discomfort, all hell broke loose. I was at my sister in law's house and had to drive home. I didn't leave my house for two days. No more benefiber but I do still have a lot of gas ad it takes two days or so sometimes to get any relief. I guess it just has to build up. I am still in the liquid phase.

There is a support group that meets once a month. Next scheduled is the 19th of August. I am definitely going.

I had my first post op appointment yesterday. I was a little annoyed at the doctor. First of all my doctor is a general surgeon who does bariatric surgery. It is a Blue Cross Center of Distinction which is the reason I had to go with him. 2nd, he has 2 "fellows" who study under him. I felt like I was on a moving sidewalk. One of the fellows came to get me in the waiting room. He weighed me and thought I was 3 weeks post op. The date was right there on my record. he didn't even read it. He looked at my incisions (for about 2 seconds) and asked me if I had any problems. I went through my list (he didn't write anything down) I told him I was very hungry and that the 1 ounce every 15 minutes would not work with my school schedule. We were interrupted by the other "fellow" who needed the scale so we moved to another room. I was left for the doctor. The doctor came, he didn't want to listen to my difficulties and really didn't give me time to talk about them. I told him I was hungry and that the 1 ounce every 15 minutes would not work when school starts. He seemed surprised that I was only drinking 1 ounce at a time. He said I should be drinking 2-3 ounces at a time. When I mentioned moving to some more sustainable foods,he accused me of "food negotiation" He said he wanted me on protein shakes as long as possible but if i was desperate, I could have some soft scrambled egg. He said come back in 1 month and he would consider a fill! A fill! I haven't even tried to eat food yet! GGggrrrrhhh. The entire conversation lasted 5 minutes. So I cannot count on any kind of food guidance from him. So I will have to make my own deciisons based on how I feel I guess. I was trying to follow his guidelines that he publishes in a nice booklet but it is obvious he doesn't even know what is written there. I can put in 2-3 ounces at a time without discomfort so I should be ok at school. At least I know that I can get in all the protein I need for the day. He is a great surgeon, no doubt, but he is not in touch with his bariatric patients. I mean he could have suggested that I stay in touch with the nutritionist or something. anything but slamming the record shut and saying well you can do some soft scrambled eggs if you want but don't get anything stuck. Eeerrrgggghhhhh:mad:

I have the problem of not being ABLE to burp. It is very painful.

I need help in a hurry. My husband wants me to fly to North Carolina from Texas (about 2 hours) tomorrow. I will be 5 days post op. I am terrified to fly with the new band. Has anyone flown this soon after surgery and what was your experience?

I was a little shocked at the hideous looking port scar. Will this diminish over time? It is too painful to touch but I was able to lie flat for the first time last night which means it IS improving. I get so impatient. I want the days to pass so I can get over the initial weeks and move on with life. Drinking 1 ounce every 15 minutes has been annoying and I can't get all of my protein in. I guess i will just have to go bald. ha ha

I am asking the same question. My doc says only liquids with no sugar....jello, chicken broth, protein shakes etc. for three weeks.

Amber, I had similar problems with my antidepressant but I got up the nerve, cut it into 4 pieces and took them one at a time. I am 5 days post op. After the third day without my meds, I was climbing the wall.

I finally slept last night after taking an ambien. Of course I agonized over whether I could take it or not. I finally did and slept till 10 this morning without waking up. Drinking every 15 minutes has become a pain. I have been a little hungry today. i am still experimenting with the protein intake. I have to maximize the protein while minimizing the disgusting taste of the soy protein. I went out today with my hubby. I had to get fitted with a knee brace from my June knee surgery. I had a dilemma and somewhat of an anxiety attack last night due to a medication I thought I could not break apart. I finally called my family doc today and he said not to worry about it to go ahead and cut it up. Ok so I feel better now. I think every day will get better. I have not taken the vicodin today. I did take some liquid advil which helped a lot. I went ahead and got some tabs to break up. A whole ounce of childrens advil is gross. I am soooo thirsty.

Everything went smoothly yesterday. The people at the outpatient surgery at Northwest Medical Center in Houston were great. The anesthetist Alan was cute and funny. They took great care of me. Last night was restless. I couldn't burp with my cpap on so every once in a while I would have to get up and take off the mask and walk around. I have made use of the pain meds. the pain has not been overbearing but it is hard to cough and I need to cough. I haven't been hungry at all but I have been drinking anyway. My husband waited on me hand and foot yesterday but has made me get up and move around today and do for myself. He is so wonderfully supportive but always has my best interests at heart so he makes me do things he knows are better for me. I am on my way!:tt2:

A cpap is a positive pressure air flow that keeps my throat open when i sleep. It is for sleep apnea. I hope that I will get rid of it in 50 pounds or so. My husband keeps kicking my butt about moving. He had me out a lot today and i got a little testy with him whe he made me get out of the car.

I was banded 2 days ago. My story matches the others in terms of hospital sequence. I slept off and on that night. I find that I cannot burp and so everytime I felt like I had to, I had to get up and take off my mask (Cpap). This kept my husband awake, but he says he was kind of sleeping with one ear open anyway to make sure i was ok. Drinking every 15 minutes has become a pain. I have been a little hungry today. i am still experimenting with the protein intake. I have to maximize the protein while minimizing the disgusting taste of the soy protein. Early in the preop I found I could not drink the whey protein. It made me very ill. I went out today with my hubby. I had to get fitted with a knee brace from my June knee surgery. I had a dilemma and somewhat of an anxiety attack last night due to a medication I thought I could not break apart. I finally called my family doc today and he said not to worry about it to go ahead and cut it up. Ok so I feel better now. I think every day will get better.

Wow the anticipation gets more intense. We are headed back to Houston tomorrow and then Wednesday.... I finally broke the backlog and the scale showed 3 pounds down. That is a total of 14.. The sad part is, I am really only a few pounds down from where I started at the beginning of the summer. Why did I eat so much?:closedeyes: Well, 14 pounds in 11 days is nothing to sneeze at. I know I am just getting a jump on the post op weight loss. Right now, I just want all of my 1X clothes to fit again when I go back to school.

I found the container with the whisk ball at GNC.

We went for a drive over to Gatlinburg today. I took my new mixing container with the whisk ball in it. Wonderful device, the protein mixed great. I think the protein drinks after surgery will be easier to transport. I haven't lost any weight in the last 3 days. I guess my body has decided that it is in starvation mode. I am very tired. The trip today was exhausting. I don't know if it is the diet or the fact that I am now 1 week past my time for remicade. I had been feeling pretty good but I knew it would hit me sooner or later. I am only taking in about 700 calories depending on how many popsicles and jellos and broth I consume. They are all about 10 calories a serving. I need something to chew. 5 days and a wake up.

The day went well. I was down half a pound on the scale but I know that if I can do what I need to do, it will be lower. I have added some benefiber to maybe help the process along. Drinking has become somewhat easier. Maybe I am finally in a groove. I am still wondering what to do when I can't put more than 4 ounces in at one time. Oh well. I guess I will figure it out. Counting down the time I have to go back to Houston. 6 more days till surgery.

I am in between y'all. I am the 4th. I just want this liquid diet thing to pass and get back to something solid.

Well, the soy protein was pretty good except for the 4th time I had to drink it. I nearly threw it back up. I have to hold my nose and drink it. Something will have to give post surgery. I can't do this for 3 more weeks. My stomach is still pretty sensitive though so maybe it will get better. No it won't. This is hell so post surgery will seem like a dream. I have a more positive attitude today. :rolleyes:I am feeling tons better. I got some school work done and I visited my sister in law whom I love dearly. My only problem now is constipation. Maybe the soy will do the trick. who knows. My intestines are gurgly but the urge just ain't there. The scales won't show any weight loss though till something happens. So I am back on track for the moment. We will see what tomorrow brings. Back to Houston on Saturday I guess. Back to the searing heat....uuuurrrggghhhh:frown:

Hi y'all. I have been to hell and back with those protein drinks. This is my 7th day of preop diet. My doc requires 90 g of protein and 0 carbs. I tried the isopure chocolate, the isopure flavored drinks, it was all too nauseating to drink. I got the Amplified wheybolic extreme 60 from GNC. 50 g of protein and 7 carbs. I only had to drink two of them so I was still very low carb. A serving is three scoops so I mixed chocolate with vanilla and came up with a good tasting drink. Here is the problem. I am allergic to whey protein. I was so sick, I could hardly stand for 5 days. I thought it was just withdrawal from carbs and caffeine but after some research, I found that all of my symptoms fit the allergy perfectly. I took a day off the diet and started feeling better while I discussed my options with the doc office. The only option really was the Pro performance 95 SOY protein from GNC. It doesn't taste as good but I can swallow it. It is kind of cardboardy. After a day I am fine so I must have been on the mark with the allergy. I have to drink it 4 times a day though. It has less protein per shake but I might be able to get through the next 7 days. After surgery, we are going to think of something different.

I thought about the blood sugar thing. I have never had blood sugar problems really, but my husband has a meter but no strips for it. I will buy some today in case the problem returns. Yes I dread the soy. I am supposed to be on liquids for three weeks after surgery. That is why I am so concerned. If it was only 7 days, I might stick with the other, but I need a better substitute. My doctor doesn't want me to have carbs and at least 90g of protein. VERY few things meet those criteria unfortunately.