August 2011 Bandsters????

[kristenaz 0]

My surgery date is this Tuesday the 16th! I cant wait. How much pain can I expect after surgery?

[Flammingjun 0]

Hi Kristenaz... Congratulations! I'm having surgery on the Tuesday as well Like you I cannot wait but I am starting to get nervous...

[CarynW 3]

For everyone who is post-op now, I also started a thread in the post op section titles "Calling all A11s!".

[healthywoman 2]

Good afternoon to all. Kristenaz and Flammingjun we are all being banded this week- I'm on the 18th at 9am! I am so excited to get past this point and on to the hard work ahead. I'll pray for us bandsters this week.

Jonmon have you tried writing a journal about your expeience? It might be helpful to see all the accomplishments you make on this journey. It's a huge success for you to acknowledge that your eating habits are a problem, research options to support your decision to do something about it, and then make a choice and follow through!! You are just days away from your procedure date so you have already jumped through tons of hoops to get to this point. Changing your point of view about life after banding might make thins go more smoothly for you in social situations. You will still be eating, mostly the same things as the rest, but possibly making healthier choices than your friends. You might be eating slower than they do, but again, it's healthier for you that way. I don't mean to "preach" , just maybe giving you some options about the choices we make in everything we do including how we feel.

Cara and Caryn, how are things feeling several days out? Is there anything that we can do for the gas pain? Is this gas from the surgery where they blow up your abdomen to get a better view, or is it gas in the intestine that going to make us toot???? Is the heating pad making any difference for you? What type of pain are you talking about with the port? sorry for all the questions, just feeling a bit anxious I guess. Just four more days for me! HW

[wvgirl88 0]

My surgery date is this Tuesday the 16th! I cant wait. How much pain can I expect after surgery?

My surgery date is Tuesday the 16th, too! I can't wait - it seems like I've already waited forever. This is such a big step for us - a step to becoming a stronger and healthier person.

Good luck and keep me posted! I, too, am thinking about the pain, but realizing that it's just something to get through to get to the good stuff.

[k9momma56 1]

My surgery is scheduled for the 23rd,the day after my birthday. I planned this as a present to myself. My feelings that I'm having now is that when I started this I never expected to lose the weight that I have on my 6 mos supervised diet. I guess everyone has to find THE diet that works for them. I have tried what I thought was most of them. I started in February @ 217 & today I'm at 185. I have never lost this much weight before on any diet. My goal is 120. I was put on the 30 carbs a day & it works for me. I have hypertension as well as stage 2 kidney disease. I was told if I didn't get this weight off I wouldn't live another 5 years. So, my thought is do I go ahead & have the surgery & if I start to fail with my dieting I already have the band in place or just stick to my dieting. I've never had a diet where I haven't been hungry. I thought I might even get the band & never have to have a fill. Opinions please.

[wvgirl88 0]

Hi Kristenaz... Congratulations! I'm having surgery on the Tuesday as well Like you I cannot wait but I am starting to get nervous...

I am an August 16th bander, too! Good luck...I'm nervous, too - but the good "kind" of nervous! I'll be thinking of you. Keep us posted!

[gelyfish 0]

I am having my LB on Aug 25th, all this time getting everything ready, doctor visits after doctor visits and more visits...LOL, and now it is offical and now i am a nervous wreck...i have to start my liquid diet on the 15th...has anyone had to go 10 days on liquids? I really nervous about it, any help you all can give me will be appricated.

I did 2 weeks of liquids pre-op. It's not too bad. Occasionally hungry, but it really wasn't anything stressful. Get Protein Powder that tastes good. Syntrax Nectar from mybariatricpantry.com is pretty goods - so is Unjury's chicken Soup flavor for when you want something savory rather than sweet.

Keep busy and don't wait and get too hungry before you drink. You'll be fine.

[Flammingjun 0]

Woo hoo! Another August 16th bandster Let's keep each other posted....good luck and I will be thinking of you too. Many blessings

I am an August 16th bander, too! Good luck...I'm nervous, too - but the good "kind" of nervous! I'll be thinking of you. Keep us posted!

[gelyfish 0]

Oh, and also, I'm a bit of a hippy and don't believe in processed foods, so this Optifast diet is absolutely killing me. I mean, there's not really any "food" in any of their products - it's like it's *only* made up of additives. It goes against everything I believe in and I hate my daughter seeing me eat powdered crap.

So anyway, I'm not going to be part of the 'what Protein powder is best' conversation at all LOL But I do have a recipe for an all-natural home-made Protein Shake, so if anyone's interested, let me know and I can post it.

Post it! Post it!

So glad to hear there's another "processed foods stink" person out there. Unless it's naturally SF or FF it's ALL PROCESSED CRAPOLA! Don't get me wrong - I've had my fair share of junk but over the past several years I've shifted to whole, organic, natural, minimally processed foods.

I did find Syntrax Nectar Naturals pretty tasty as far as Protein Drinks - sweetened with Stevia.

But to be honest - the convenience of canned goods has been wonderful these post op weeks. Moving next week and looking forward to being closer to Whole Foods again and only having food in the cupboards that I buy.

[PJ384 3]

Good Luck to you then my surgery date is also Aug 31 as I work at a school and that will be a 4 day holiday for me and Iam taking wednesday and thursday off as well so will be 6 days all together to rest and recoup before I have to get back to work Iam finally at peace with my decision and ready to get on with it

[PJ384 3]

Its time to let go of the shame and the guilt and look forward to how your going to live your life from today on, the past is just that the past leave it there and let it die do not drag it into your present or your future and there is no reason to be embaressed that you had surgery your committing to a lifestyle that will make your slimmer and healthier and maybe help you avoid a heartattack and diabeties in the furture and by becoming slimmer and more active you will be a far more effective person than you have ever been in the past . Iam not telling anybody but my family because first its really none of thier business and I don't want to deal with the negative comments of how if I had just tried harder and just had more disapline or whatever.My family loves me either way and they are rooting for me and thats all I need as for my time off from work I put it down as a minor out patient corrective surgery requiring a day or two of rest and recouperation and I will be back to work on tuesday I scheduled my surgery to fall just before a 4 day holiday so I will have 6 days total to recoup before returning to work I wish you the best of luck and hope you find the joy in your new life :-)

Getting banded 8/24. On day 5 of my 14 day liquid diet. It's very hard for me. 3 Protein Shakes and 2 Protein Bars per day required by doctor. All the jello/broth/water/skim milk/crystal light that I want. Cheated a few times but it's less than I thought I would. Have been getting better every day. Will be getting more strict once I get to 10 days before surgery. Everyone on here is saying how they are excited, unfortunately I don't feel that way YET. I'm very nervous about how life will be after the surgery. Seems like everything revolves around food. lunch meetings for work, dinner with friends, drinks with friends, family dinners, the list goes on and on as you all know. My state of mind is that I am very embarassed and ashamed of letting myself get to this point. I have only told one close friend about the surgery. His words were "would you rather be fat and embarassed or have the surgery and lose weight and be embarassed". Seems easy when worded it like that. Keeping it to myself because I don't want any attention. Also worried about if things go wrong or don't go as well as expected.

Reading peoples stories on this website has been very helpful and encouraging. I am so happy for everyone as they seem so excited for a new chapter in their lives. I know I will feel the same way soon. I've had surgeries before due to injuries so I'm not worried about that aspect. Just going to take a lot of work on my part to change everything I've been doing my entire life. Hearing peoples success stories is great motivation to get their myself.

Congrats to everyone who has been banded this month and good luck to everyone else who has their big day coming!

[RegFern 1]

I feel the same way about dealing with the "afterlife" of having a band. Our lives have revolved around food that's one reason we are in this situation. In my life everything social involves food. We can eat dinner then have family over to watch a movie and order pizza. Since my husband and I have worked more than your typical 40 hr. a week jobs, coached, ran 3 boys around to sports it seems like we ate out more than we eat it. No seems like we did and still do. It is hard to have to come home and cook after work and it was always hard to find something everyone liked to eat. Something quick and not so healthy was always the way to go.

This week we sent my youngest off to college, that meant a big get together at his favorite pizza place, then while at the campus it was Taco Bell then Italian restaurant with my oldest as we past through his town. Last night movie and dinner afterwards where they ordered fries, chili, shakes..... UHGGGG! All of this while I"m on liquids. Last night I was tired, the restaurant was cold, and it took everything I had to hold back the tears. I think I'll get better at, it is just hard now.

Surgery is Wednesday. I've already lost 10lbs. Looking forward to wearing clothes that I've had in my clothes and drawers just waiting for me.

Good luck. REGFERN

[kristenaz 0]

Good luck on Tuesday! Did your doctor put you on a pre-op Protein diet? I am supposed to do this for 3 days prior to surgery. It has been hard because I am allowed to eat 1 meal a day, then the 2 other meals need to be Protein Powder mixed with Jello or pudding. Yuck!

Hi Kristenaz... Congratulations! I'm having surgery on the Tuesday as well Like you I cannot wait but I am starting to get nervous...

[kristenaz 0]

good luck on Thursday! Let us know how it goes!

Good afternoon to all. Kristenaz and Flammingjun we are all being banded this week- I'm on the 18th at 9am! I am so excited to get past this point and on to the hard work ahead. I'll pray for us bandsters this week.

Jonmon have you tried writing a journal about your expeience? It might be helpful to see all the accomplishments you make on this journey. It's a huge success for you to acknowledge that your eating habits are a problem, research options to support your decision to do something about it, and then make a choice and follow through!! You are just days away from your procedure date so you have already jumped through tons of hoops to get to this point. Changing your point of view about life after banding might make thins go more smoothly for you in social situations. You will still be eating, mostly the same things as the rest, but possibly making healthier choices than your friends. You might be eating slower than they do, but again, it's healthier for you that way. I don't mean to "preach" , just maybe giving you some options about the choices we make in everything we do including how we feel.

Cara and Caryn, how are things feeling several days out? Is there anything that we can do for the gas pain? Is this gas from the surgery where they blow up your abdomen to get a better view, or is it gas in the intestine that going to make us toot???? Is the heating pad making any difference for you? What type of pain are you talking about with the port? sorry for all the questions, just feeling a bit anxious I guess. Just four more days for me! HW