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The doctor's office told me the doctor likes to do the surgeries on tuesdays and thursdays only and i'm scheduled for Dec. 27th!!!! (my choice - because it's two slow weeks for me at work...sales, yup!) but now what that means is that I will be doing all liquid diet for 10 days prior to this date and it will be right through Christmas! That should be quite a challenge since we have our big family gathering on Xmas Eve! I will have to figure out what to be sipping on all night without anyone noticing I'm not eating - anyone have any ideas? maybe jello? that might be a little weird because who eats jello at a party! but do I have a choice? The only ones that will know about the surgery is my husband and closest friend. I am not telling anyone else, not my kids, not my parents or sisters & their family. Maybe later I will probably tell them if I start to lose a lot of weight which is why I'm getting banded. So I'm excited!

I have been working towards my lapband surgery for 2 years now. I was banded on Feb 8, 2008. My doctor is Dr. Timothy Eldridge. He is one really cool doctor! I am a research participant for Allergan and have received my first fill on 5 March 08 with 5cc. I am married with 2 grown children. I am now 51 years young. My decision to have the lapband was not just because of my obesity but because of my health going downhill faster than I could keep up with it. I have hypertension, high cholestrol, sleep apnea, what they call a metabolic syndrome (or the X syndrome), borderline diabetes and non-alcoholic sclerosis of the liver. My liver doctor said I was headed for the organ waiting list and my endocrinologist said with my X syndrome I might live another 10 years..so my decision was made. I consulted my family doctor, my digestive disease doctor, and my heart doctor. All were in agreement to help me obtain whatever I needed to get the lap band. My disgestive disease specialist said he would not help me if I wanted the gastric bypass since it was so invasive, whereas he lauded the lap band! I had no problems with my surgery and the only real shock for me was the incision for the port is a bit larger than I expected. All in all I came through and continue to have nothing but thanks for the people who have the intelligence to develop, create, and initiate this type of weight loss procedure. I am looking forward to the day when all my doctors can say I am doing great and I have my health back!:thumbdown:

Hi Mel-- I am getting banded on 2/10 and can so totally relate to the questions/freak out moments right now! But everytime I start to freak out I keep my goal in mind and it's still more powerful than the doubts, maybe that will help you too? Please be sure to keep me posted on how everything goes!! Jen

I am 6 days post-op today. My pre-op diet was 10 days of liquid, including 4 Bariatric Advantage protein shakes a day (I was never able to get more than 3 in), sugar free Popsicles, sugar free jello, fat free chicken, beef or vegetable broth and water/crystal light, etc. I was also able to have up to 2 cups of vegetables off of a specific list, either all at once or split through the day. The day before surgery was clear liquids only. The point of the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver. That makes it easier to get to the stomach with the laparoscopic devices.

What a neat idea... never knew this exists. Thanks!! H 5'6" HW 253, CW 250, TBS 9/19

My gastric bypass surgery was on February 24th. I’ve been very sick since. Regurgitating all food I eat except liquids, within 5-10 minutes. When I try to eat, I eat one to two bites out of a kid spoon. At this point I’m starting to get malnourished. I can’t keep any food down at all, not even my protein shakes. My surgeon has suspicions that this may be a stricture. I go in on the 7th of April for an EGD to check. Has anyone else had any problems with a stricture? What was recovery like? Did it set you back at all?

I was told no more than 10 pounds for 2 weeks, then no more than 25 pounds til 6 weeks.

I have the opposite problem. Everyone else notices the loss and I can't see it. I see that my clothes are baggy,but I can't see any other real changes. Even though I've lost nearly 80 pounds since this all began. (60 since the surgery 3/19) My partner thinks there is something mentally wrong with me for not seeing it.

Don't feel bad. I am in the same boat. I haven't seen the scale go down in seven days. Yes, it's frustrating, but as long as you're doing what you're supposed to, then I would say just keep doing it. I have read on here that there are people who don't loose anything for awhile and then one day they wake up and BAM...they lost 10-15lbs. Everyone's body is different. Also, my husband and I were talking and I am sure our bodied feel as thought we are starving them. When you go to over 2000 calories a day to 400-600 a day I am sure our bodies think we're starving and begin holding on to the food. This will change over time. Keep you head up. I now it's hard but trust that in time the scale will move again and before long you will be at your goal weight. Best of luck to you.

I went back to work on day 10. O also have an office job. I took a hearing pad for pain and still took my pain meds in the mornings znd when Zi got home. I went back last Thursday. Today I had to lesve early but I think I overdid it last night running errands. As far as being at work and sitting I think you will be fine. Just expect to be slower at your job for a while and you might hdve some brain fog. Mine is getting better.

My little guy was five months old when I had surgery, and he was nursing exclusively at that time. To prepare for surgery, I pumped a lot in advance, and I had Dad feed him from a bottle a couple of times in the three months leading up to surgery just to be sure he could/would. He didn't love it, but I knew he could do it. We also had empty syringes on hand from a prior little one who needed supplemental feeding during our nursing relationship, so worst case scenario, I knew Dad could pull those out and dribble milk into his mouth. I also purchased a can of organic formula and put it in the pantry just in case my stay in the hospital was longer than anticipated. My little guy came with me to the hospital, and I nursed him in the car before checking in for my surgery. I nursed him, checked in at 10:00 A.M., had surgery at noon, and was ready to go be dismissed by 8:00 A.M. the next day (though I did wait to leave until a little after noon so Hubs could put our other small ones down for a nap before coming to bring me home). Since your surgeon is supportive of you nursing post-op, I do not think it entirely unreasonable for you to have your little one brought up to the hospital once you're on the floor and settled, particularly if that makes you feel more comfortable. You could have some gas pain and belly tenderness, but I used a My Brest Friend pillow (well-placed regular pillows would work) or did a side-lying position to nurse comfortably post-op. I will say for myself personally, I was pretty loopy that first day and focused just on drinking and walking. I did not nurse at the hospital, and I felt totally comfortable that my little one was being well cared for at home. By the next day, I was fine physically, and fine to care for my little one. (The lifting restriction prevented me from carrying him around, but someone could hand him to me, and I could take it from there.) As for your sleeping test, keep in mind that you will really just be away from her for one, maybe two, feedings. Practice now with a bottle or cup so you can feel at ease. My guy is eight months old now, and his eating routine looks like this: nurses at 7:00 A.M., purées at 9:00 A.M., nurses to sleep at 10:00 A.M., nurses at 1:00 P.M., nurses at 4:00 P.M., purées at 6:00 P.M., nurses between 7:00-8:00 P.M. Sleeps through the night. I would like to add more food at lunchtime, maybe a a snack in the afternoon, but he still prefers nursing and would rather I didn't. I don't recommend necessarily regulating a child's eating schedule, particularly when they're nurslings, but I do encourage you to take note of the schedule your little one has laid out. I'm big on nursing-on-demand, but a couple of children ago (we have six kids), I noticed that my kids really ate at pretty regular and predictable times each and every day. Once I became aware of each baby's habits, I was able to plan and schedule my day accordingly. Maybe if you know the precise times when your baby wants to eat, you can outline those times and feel some measure of control even when you're away.

Averaging 18 pounds a month is great! I think many people here have unrealistic expectations of how fast they will lose post-op. There are so many factors: did you have sleeve or bypass? Are you male or female? Was starting weight/BMI high or low? etc. No two people are alike, and no two people will lose weight the same way in the same time frame. You're only 2 months out. Do you really think the weight loss is going to stop suddenly? I know it's hard not to compare yourself to others, but really, the only one you should be comparing yourself to is... you! What was your weight loss like before you had the operation? I know for me, the most I could ever lose was about 10 pounds a month, but after a month or two, the weight loss would plateau and creep up again. What are your body measurements like? You may find that you are losing inches, even if the scale is stalled. How do you feel? Do you have more energy? Do you have less pain (if you have it before)? There are so many non-scale victories to keep track of. Even for me, the last two weeks have been a bit of a downer, as the scale hasn't budged (but it finally did today). That said, even though the scale wasn't moving, clearly something was happening because I suddenly found most of the clothes I was wearing were too big - pants and skirts literally falling off my body, shirts so baggy it was embarrassing. So I've done another clean-out of my closet and I'm happy that I am starting to fit into size 16 bottoms, something I haven't been able to do for over 10 years. Anyway, focus on your NSV's, stop comparing yourself to others (social media is great for support, but it often can create false expectations based on what others are projecting out there), and relax. Hope you start feeling better about this soon.

Don't be discouraged, took me 8 months to get restriction. I had my surgery on 9/10/12. Gained and lost 10 lbs off and on. I have a 14 cc realize band. I have 10.5 cc in my band.

I think that is awesome...my SW will be close to yours (surgery 10/25) and I will be SO THRILLED to be down 40 pounds by Christmas! Keeping my fingers crossed! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I know how you feel, my first 30 pounds lost I couldn't fit in smaller clothes and I was pretty frustrated. Then over the past few weeks I have lost 10 pounds and dropped 2 pants sizes. You will be there soon, but I totally get your frustration!

I can't believe after almost 9 months since that first initial meeting....all this time spent in doctor's offices, money spent on co-pays and saving up for this surgery, arranging time off work for my husband and myself, arranging the kids care plus rides to school for them once my husband goes back to work, packing and cleaning the house hard core to preparation and the DAY IS FINALLY HERE! I am doing really well on the liver shrink diet and I am down 10 lbs. in the 9 days so far....today is the Clear liquids only I am not worried about handling it but I do have bad stomach pains that the only thing that will cure it is drinking milk. Luckily I have only had to drink milk three times this week during the liver shrink but KNOW that I can't today. Praying hard I don't get the pains today! Good luck to all the other people on this forum who are also having surgery tomorrow! We can all rock this!! Can't wait to see success pictures

What is the pain?? I am just under 3 weeks post op ....I started soft solid food this past Thursday. Up until last Tuesday I was doing great. Tuesday I started having some pain at the incision area.... met with my surgeon & she said it was totally normal healing. However on Friday evening I started getting stomach cramps. I thought maybe I ate too much or too fast or maybe had water too close to a meal. Yesterday (Saturday) I could not eat. I probably got in about 10 ounces of water, a half a cup of chicken broth and a couple sips of a protein shake. Its 4 a.m. on Sunday morning in my stomach really hurts.... it feels like achy painful cramps in my intestines. My stomach is actually growling a little bit but the pain in my intestines makes the thought of eating impossible. What do I do? Is this normal? Will it work itself out? Should I go to drs? I just don't know what to do.... I haven't had a bowel movement since yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. but I took stuff to clean myself out and do not think it's constipation. I've taken gas-x and pain meds to no avail....has anyone experienced this? HELP!!

Given this, I wouldn't worry that you are not losing much. That 27 lbs is where you lost the water weight that most people lose in the "shrink the liver" diet. That's when you see those amounts like 10-12 pounds. The fact that you were able to lose 27 lbs shows you're gonna do just fine!

I got banded on 10/27 so i've Bern on solids for a while and not at my green zone yet. I sometimes get that lump feeling too while i'm eating. Any ideas on what that, means?

Michelle - What if you did not go into the doc in '09? For '08 I have my gyn appt, nothing for '09 (was thinking of taking my gym record taken by the trainer there monthly for 3-4 months and maybe a picture or two from that time). I have plenty for '10. Do you think this is sufficient?? don't mean to take over the thread but it relates. =)

Suzette - I think I read about your situation. =) It is because of that that I have already gone to my gym. They photocopied the card they kept records on (about 4 weigh ins in 4 months) from last year. It has their letterhead on it and I have the receptionist sign it. Do you think I should do more...like from the manager? According to Aetna we only need 2 yrs history...so I am gathering '10, '09, '08. (I only have 1 appt for '08). Thanks for the encouragement. =)

I'm 10 weeks post op VSG. I've been experimenting with the same thing. If I eliminate the shakes I don't lose a thing. If I add even 1 in per day I lose half a pound per day. My nuts want me to not be having any shakes but I know they work for me. I understand their logic and reasons but I'm just not sure what to do. Keep having 1 shake per day and not tell them or go to all food and lose much slower than everyone else.

@@Nurse_Lenora Congratulations! I have to give you a lot of credit, I could not do the liquid diet for that long. I did well on it but geez, 10 days later I swear my brain was not functioning at 100%. Granted I got so sick of the cloyingly sweet Protein shakes and everything else I was allowed was clear sf liquids.

Doesn't it feel amazing to get rid of the "fat" clothes? I've been giving Goodwill bags full. The other day I found more size 16s and I'm a 12/10 now. I don't want that negative talk in my closet. Congratulations on your success!!!

I would shake up your exercise routine with something like a bootcamp. Not a "ladies" one, but a good challenging workout where you work so hard where you get to the point of searing pain in your abs from endless sit-ups for time or tasting blood in your mouth from running 10 shuttle runs in between every 20 burpees you do. Yoga just isn't that great for weightloss.