July 2011 Bandsters!

[Kate rules 43]

I've had red meat during mushy stage. I get it cooked medium rare, cut into tiny pieces, and chew carefully. I'm actually enjoying food more because I eat less and really taste the food rather than craving the full feeling in my tummy.

I'm doing ham as well. I chop up spiral cut ham and throw in with my mashed potatoes. Yum!

[LisaB68 1]

I ate steak last night and had it with mashed potatoes. I cut up rare steak and put it and the mashed potatoes into a tupperware chopper and it made it very small. went down well.

Lisa

Has anyone tried eating red meat during mushies? I was considering it, but am terrified of what it will do to me, and not sure if i should grind it before cooking or after.

any ideas?

Thanks!!

[Mason33 0]

Here it is my 2nd day post op and I cannot eat anything sweet. Popsicles, Jello, Protein Drink, nothing. It all tastes terrible to me. The only thing that I can have is broth and plain Water. I'm taking my Multivitamins but I'm afraid that I'm not going to get enough nutrition if I can't get past these sweet tastes. Has anyone else had this problem after surgery? Does sweet tasting things still bother you?

Stephanie

[Coco's Mum 1]

Day 6 post-op for me, which means full fluids! I never thought I could be this excited for fat-free yougurt. I have lost 4lbs since the surgery and hope it dosen't stall as I begin to add more calories. I feel suprisingly good; no more gas pains, and minimal tenderness in the incision sites. Yup. Today feels like a good day!

I'm right there with you Razzcat - each day I get remarkably better ... still moving slow but I'm moving, sipping, resting, etc.

[Tracy_1day 0]

Ok, well I got my first fill today!! Hopefully that will help with the hunger in between meals that I have been having but my Dr said not to stress if it doesn't. It might take more than one fill to get me to my green zone. Sooooo....my doctor doesn't do fills under fluoroscopy, they just stick the needle in there and wiggle it around to find the port lol. It sounds painful but it wasn't at all. Just a tiny little stick when the needle is inserted and then she moved to the center of the port and checked to see if I had any Fluid in my band already, I did....2cc's because I have a 14cc band. She says she drains it each time to check for any problems and to confirm how much is in my band. So she added 3cc's to that so I now have 5cc's in there. It sounded like with the bigger bands you have to have more cc's to get the restriction...not positive about that though. So I had to drink while I was still there....it felt fine. I am on liquids for 24 hours then can start back on solids. I go back in next month to see the nut and possibly get another fill. She also told me to step up my work out from 30 min a day to 60 . I hope I see some changes with this fill but if not, I'm just going to stay positive and know that it will work for me if I work with it

[BandedApril 0]

Looks like we had the same surgeon, Serifa! Are you in Austin also?

Guys, I am now 16 days post-op and I was feeling amazing until today

I don't know if I overdid it cleaning or what, but I started have pain in my stomach similar to those like when I was just a few days post-op. AND I have been getting weird pain in my lower side. Gas maybe? Not sure what to do? Hoping that as time goes on I can finally be pain free!

Good to hear it. I'm 4 days post op the gas pains are not painful, but very annoying. I can't wait for the full liquid stage. A smoothy sounds delicious right now.

[ahassan 0]

I have been missing from here for over two weeks! I was out of town, and when we came back, we lost a very dear friend to cancer who had been very sick for the last few months. We were so busy with my friend and her children, I didn't have a chance to check in. I was pretty much eating without thinking, but I think the stress did make me tighter because I would start to PB more frequently probably because I was eating too fast without chewing as much and concentrating.

I go in for my first fill tommorrow and I am really excited about it. I hope they are able to get me to my sweet spot, though I know that is unlikely the first time. I had a huge weight loss stall, but lost 1 pound this morning when I stepped on, so hopefully it only gets better from here...

[MustangMama 2]

2 days post op and I'm doing pretty well. Just had a bit of won ton Soup broth and I am tolerating some juice mixed with Water nicely. I will probably finish one Protein Shake for the day. My diet is supposed to consist of 4-5 shakes a day PLUS 48-64 ozs of clear calorie free liquid consumed no faster than 2 ozs an hour. Yeah... ya'll do the math, its just NOT possible! lol...

My incision sites are still pretty tender and the gas pain has reached my shoulder but honestly... its tolerable. I'm taking my pain and anti nausea meds as prescribed and slipping off to sleep about an hour later until time to take more meds. Any major amount of walking will probably have to wait for another couple of days. I just don't trust the small amounts of fluids I have been consuming in this insane southern heat. 10 minutes outside hoofing it and I would be dehydrated and on the ground so I'm not gonna push it til I am able to get more liquids in. All in all so far so good. I hope everyone else who got banded on the 26th is doing as well or better. Every tick of the clock that goes by gets us one step closer to our goal. (((Hugs))) to ALL the July Bandits!!!:welldoneclap:

[Tammy Shannon 16]

Went for my two-week post op appointment yesterday and the doctor was happy. Everything looked great; incisions are healing nicely. She gave me the go ahead to move to soft foods...yeah!!!! I also got the green light to get back on the elliptical. I go for my first fill on September 8th. Need to make wise choices and keep up the exercise until then. I also get to start taking my Vitamins again. Hopefully that will help with the lack of energy.

I still tire quickly. Yesterday I spent about 4 hours running errands (oil change, kids registered for school, doctor's appointment, etc) trying to get stuff done before I go back to work on Monday. About and hour after I got home, I crashed and burned and slept for three hours. Not good when you wake up about 30 minutes before you normally go to sleep. Must learn to pace myself as clearly I am not back to normal.

I hope everyone is doing well and progressing nicely. I really am excited about being healthy again. It is truly a blessing!

Tammy

[Serifa 10]

Yes, I'm in Austin, looks like same doctor. I bet you just overdid it cleaning. I'm glad to hear you are feeling normal. I just need to get through the Clear Liquids stage. I can't drink broth, the thought of it makes me gag. This is my 4th day post-op, so only 3 more days of this, can't wait for yogurt and smoothies.< /p>

Would just the juice from vegetable Soup be considered clear liquid?

Hope your side quits hurting. And hang in there with the heat!!!!

Looks like we had the same surgeon, Serifa! Are you in Austin also?

Guys, I am now 16 days post-op and I was feeling amazing until today

I don't know if I overdid it cleaning or what, but I started have pain in my stomach similar to those like when I was just a few days post-op. AND I have been getting weird pain in my lower side. Gas maybe? Not sure what to do? Hoping that as time goes on I can finally be pain free!

[BandedApril 0]

Cool! Maybe we'll meet up at one of the support meetings at True Results. I plan to go to the August one.

You can probably move to a thicker liquid and be fine. I moved to full liquids early, and I moved to mushies early and have had no problems tolerating anything. Try a Protein Shake and see how you feel.

I'm going to take it easy today. I think sometimes I forget that I just had surgery.

Yes, I'm in Austin, looks like same doctor. I bet you just overdid it cleaning. I'm glad to hear you are feeling normal. I just need to get through the clear liquids stage. I can't drink broth, the thought of it makes me gag. This is my 4th day post-op, so only 3 more days of this, can't wait for yogurt and smoothies.< /p>

Would just the juice from vegetable Soup be considered clear liquid?

Hope your side quits hurting. And hang in there with the heat!!!!

[lifeisjustbeginning2011 11]

Glad to hear that things went well. Thanks for letting us know about your experience!

Amy

Ok, well I got my first fill today!! Hopefully that will help with the hunger in between meals that I have been having but my Dr said not to stress if it doesn't. It might take more than one fill to get me to my green zone. Sooooo....my doctor doesn't do fills under fluoroscopy, they just stick the needle in there and wiggle it around to find the port lol. It sounds painful but it wasn't at all. Just a tiny little stick when the needle is inserted and then she moved to the center of the port and checked to see if I had any Fluid in my band already, I did....2cc's because I have a 14cc band. She says she drains it each time to check for any problems and to confirm how much is in my band. So she added 3cc's to that so I now have 5cc's in there. It sounded like with the bigger bands you have to have more cc's to get the restriction...not positive about that though. So I had to drink while I was still there....it felt fine. I am on liquids for 24 hours then can start back on solids. I go back in next month to see the nut and possibly get another fill. She also told me to step up my work out from 30 min a day to 60 . I hope I see some changes with this fill but if not, I'm just going to stay positive and know that it will work for me if I work with it

[lifeisjustbeginning2011 11]

April,

Does walking help at all? or make it worse?

Amy

Looks like we had the same surgeon, Serifa! Are you in Austin also?

Guys, I am now 16 days post-op and I was feeling amazing until today

I don't know if I overdid it cleaning or what, but I started have pain in my stomach similar to those like when I was just a few days post-op. AND I have been getting weird pain in my lower side. Gas maybe? Not sure what to do? Hoping that as time goes on I can finally be pain free!

[lifeisjustbeginning2011 11]

I know what you mean about the heat. I live in Phoenix. I did laps around my living room for 5-10 minutes at a time. After about a week of this, the dogs finally stopped following me around, thinking we were going somewhere. LOL. I felt really lightheaded, but I did work some Gatorade G2 (the low calorie version) into each day. I, too, never ever got close to the Fluid requirements. Most days I still don't. I try, though. It is getting better with time. Even now, 3 1/2 wks later, I'm still pretty tired, but not lightheaded anymore. I started with running a simple errand and came home and totally crashed. I would get to the store and literally not spend 10 minutes there because I was so tired. What a difference a few weeks make! I'm still fairly tired after being out for 3-4 hours, but I'm napping less and working up to more time "up and about." Glad to hear you're doing well. Keep up the pain meds for a few days, I always set my alarm clock to wake me up so I didn't miss a dose. I think I was on them for 3 days, then a dose of Tylenol, then nothing since. Best wishes!

Amy

2 days post op and I'm doing pretty well. Just had a bit of won ton Soup broth and I am tolerating some juice mixed with Water nicely. I will probably finish one Protein Shake for the day. My diet is supposed to consist of 4-5 shakes a day PLUS 48-64 ozs of clear calorie free liquid consumed no faster than 2 ozs an hour. Yeah... ya'll do the math, its just NOT possible! lol...

My incision sites are still pretty tender and the gas pain has reached my shoulder but honestly... its tolerable. I'm taking my pain and anti nausea meds as prescribed and slipping off to sleep about an hour later until time to take more meds. Any major amount of walking will probably have to wait for another couple of days. I just don't trust the small amounts of fluids I have been consuming in this insane southern heat. 10 minutes outside hoofing it and I would be dehydrated and on the ground so I'm not gonna push it til I am able to get more liquids in. All in all so far so good. I hope everyone else who got banded on the 26th is doing as well or better. Every tick of the clock that goes by gets us one step closer to our goal. (((Hugs))) to ALL the July Bandits!!!:welldoneclap:

[Kate rules 43]

I'm going to Lancaster, PA, today and am meeting up with my mother-in-law at a hotel. we are taking whole crew to Dutch Wonderland. I'm super worried about getting too tired to have a good time. I'm 3.5 weeks post op but still not quite 100 percent back to being my usual self.