My Journey Starting With Pre Op Diet

[Tawnya777 106]

Yeah' date=' but its so great that you lost more weight! I don't think I've heard my stomach growl in 20 years. I am glad to hear you aren't having any kidney pain. I've been practicing drinking lots of Water. Sounds really stupid, but I want to make sure I can get it all in. How much did you lose pre-op? How much have you lost from start to finish (I know you aren't finished).

Linda[/quote']

I lost 13 pounds pre op and then 6 pounds post op, but I gained weight back and went up 8 pounds. I'm now back on track and have lost the 8 pounds I gained back and I'm now down 20 pounds all together.

As far as the kidney pain it kinda went away with drink water, but it came back way worse. I woke up yesterday at 5am in really bad pain. When I went to the restroom it felt like my kidneys were going to burst. My husband offer to drop me off at the emergency room, but I didn't want to stay there alone and have to wait until he could get off to pick me up. Luckily he got off work early and then he took me to the emergency room. Turns out I did have a bladder and kidney infection. They gave me IV fluids, some medicine for the pain, antibiotics, and medicine for nausea. They also did a CT scan to check for kidney stones. No stones. I was sent home with 6 different meds and pretty much slept the whole day yesterday. I feel like throwing up right now so I'm going to take some meds for nausea and go back to sleep.< /p>

[lbriteyes 10]

It is what is was, there is nothing I can do to change my past, but just move forward and try to be the best mom I can be and enjoy my life with my husband who makes me feel like I matter.

I think you will have wonderful results with the lap band, especially since you were able to lose weight on your own before. The lap band is a tool and sounds like you are making all right choices. That's wonderful that your husband has supported you all these years. Now that's a man. My ex husband definitely wasn't a man and still isn't.

I feel so much better not being consumed by sugary sweets. I would feel like crap after eating sweets and my body would swell up, but I never associated it with eating sweets until I cut them out and felt so much better and didn't have the body aches. I love honey, but I have to stay away from that to since it makes my blood sugars increase.

You will be able to get off some of your meds for sure and will even feel better. I noticed while I gained weight I had to increase my Xanax, as I stopped gaining my Xanax stayed the same dosage, when I drop more weight I will see about bringing that dosage back down as well.

The way I look at the past is that even though certain things happened, it helped to shape who I am. Doesn't excuse that, but it part of me. Only a part, but I wouldn't be the same person is events had unfolded differently.

I find it does help to have support. I know I'm lucky in that. I haven't had any sort of sugars (except what is in some processed foods and fruits, for many years. I am currently shaving some meds. I'm tapreing off what I know I can, and dealing with the rest.

Grandkids are here...

Linda

[lbriteyes 10]

You definitely did a good job as mom, your kids have all done well. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes especially as parents.

There is so much on lap band. People say good stuff and others say bad stuff, but I think it's all about following the plan that makes it work and getting the fills helps with following those rules. I love the fact that if I need to or decide I don't want the band anymore I can have it removed. I feel like my progress has been slow, but I only have myself to blame. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, I'm just going to keep moving forward and follow the rules.

I've seen the commercial for the Ninja, I want one of those to. I have the magic bullet and that thing is pretty cool. I haven't read any of Michael Pollan's books, but I have read something about just shopping the outside aisles at the store. All the processed foods are in the other aisles. I do like to get the dole fruit cups since they are in Water and they don't go bad fast like fresh fruit. I love fresh fruit, but hate going to the store a lot so I get the dole fruit cups along with apples and another fruit that way it doesn't all go bad. That's a good way to think of eating, just like my grandma, everything was freshly made. I'm going to look into some recipes that have Protein and little ingredients. Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into buying some of his books to.

It just seems as though evreything is moving in slow motion. Sort of like walking through water. I don't even have my first meeting until the 26th. I hate not knowing stuff.

I think you have a good outlook on setbacks. Nobody is perfect, but you seem to roll with the punches in a positive way.

I hate grocery shopping too. Its hard when you have to shop for other people as well. Even shopping outside the aisles can't get everything you need. Beans and such are in the aisles. I love the refrigerated Dole fruit cups too. I get all the sugar free ones, but I haven't read the lables. I try to keep fruit in the house. I can't wait til the farmers markets open for the season.

Linda

[lbriteyes 10]

I know what you mean, when we went to California for my brother in laws funeral last year we had to take one of those smaller planes which the seating is even smaller than the bigger planes, I had no problems on the way there since we sat in the emergency exit area, but on the way back they said we couldn't sit there since our son was on our lap even though we were able to the way there. The seats were not open they went up high on both sides like boards which was squeezing my hips and then the worst part was I needed a seatbelt extender, I felt so ashamed I have never needed a seatbelt extender before.

I hear you on that, they always show skinny people eating these foods that are so fattening and you know they don't eat like that, just like the commercials that show skinny people who did some diet or took some diet pills and you know they were never even fat. They even take it as far as photo shopping pics.

When my mom, sister and I went to Vegas, I just pretended to use my seatbelt. I was wedged in so well anyway, that there was no way I was come out of that seat on take off.

Have you ever noticed that with very few exceptions, in movies/tv/etc., that they portray fat people as stupid/evil/bad/etc.? Think Kathy Bates in Misery, or Melissa McCarthy in Brides Maids.

Linda

[lbriteyes 10]

Thanks I sure hope so. I did find a car so that's one less problem to stress over. I pick it up on July 10th, the lasting is moving back to Brazil and she had taken good care of the car, it's a 2007 Mazda 5 Sport, it's in good condition and has a third row seat. I'm so happy that's one less thing off my list.

That's a relief! I'm glad you found a car without having to vist all the dealerships and doing all the jumping through hoops things. Its a plus that its big enough to do everything you need it to.

Linda

[lbriteyes 10]

I lost 13 pounds pre op and then 6 pounds post op, but I gained weight back and went up 8 pounds. I'm now back on track and have lost the 8 pounds I gained back and I'm now down 20 pounds all together.

As far as the kidney pain it kinda went away with drink Water, but it came back way worse. I woke up yesterday at 5am in really bad pain. When I went to the restroom it felt like my kidneys were going to burst. My husband offer to drop me off at the emergency room, but I didn't want to stay there alone and have to wait until he could get off to pick me up. Luckily he got off work early and then he took me to the emergency room. Turns out I did have a bladder and kidney infection. They gave me IV fluids, some medicine for the pain, antibiotics, and medicine for nausea. They also did a CT scan to check for kidney stones. No stones. I was sent home with 6 different meds and pretty much slept the whole day yesterday. I feel like throwing up right now so I'm going to take some meds for nausea and go back to sleep.< /p>

Oh geez. I'm sorry you were in such pain. I hope that part is better than it was. Did they say what caused the infection? Thank God you don't have stones. I hope you sleep well and that you recover quickly.

Linda

[Tawnya777 106]

The way I look at the past is that even though certain things happened' date=' it helped to shape who I am. Doesn't excuse that, but it part of me. Only a part, but I wouldn't be the same person is events had unfolded differently.

I find it does help to have support. I know I'm lucky in that. I haven't had any sort of sugars (except what is in some processed foods and fruits, for many years. I am currently shaving some meds. I'm tapreing off what I know I can, and dealing with the rest.

Grandkids are here...

Linda[/quote']

I agree with that, I wouldn't be who I am today without everything else. Well said.

[Tawnya777 106]

It just seems as though evreything is moving in slow motion. Sort of like walking through Water. I don't even have my first meeting until the 26th. I hate not knowing stuff.

I think you have a good outlook on setbacks. Nobody is perfect' date=' but you seem to roll with the punches in a positive way.

I hate grocery shopping too. Its hard when you have to shop for other people as well. Even shopping outside the aisles can't get everything you need. Beans and such are in the aisles. I love the refrigerated Dole fruit cups too. I get all the sugar free ones, but I haven't read the lables. I try to keep fruit in the house. I can't wait til the farmers markets open for the season.

Linda[/quote']

I was slow for me at first to, especially when my insurance denied me. After I was approved things moved so fast and that point I wasn't even sure if I wanted the surgery anymore since I had already prepared myself for not getting since I had not heard anything back for months. After I did some more research and long thinking I came to the conclusion that this is best for me. I still struggle, but that's not to say I will for my whole journey. I do believe once I get in the green zone I will lose more weight by eating less.

Thanks. I have had so much negativity in my life and mistakes I have made, but I can't let that keep me down or I will never accomplish everything I want to.

I can't wait to be in California and go to the farmers market. There is nothing like that close by here.

[lbriteyes 10]

I was slow for me at first to, especially when my insurance denied me. After I was approved things moved so fast and that point I wasn't even sure if I wanted the surgery anymore since I had already prepared myself for not getting since I had not heard anything back for months. After I did some more research and long thinking I came to the conclusion that this is best for me. I still struggle, but that's not to say I will for my whole journey. I do believe once I get in the green zone I will lose more weight by eating less.

Thanks. I have had so much negativity in my life and mistakes I have made, but I can't let that keep me down or I will never accomplish everything I want to.

I can't wait to be in California and go to the farmers market. There is nothing like that close by here.

How awesome is it that you will have round the year farmers markets? The closest I can get is the organic section at Kroger, and even then, the pickins' are slim in the winter. My grandmother taught me to can foods when I was a little girl. I don't remember how. I think I should look into it.

I really do admire your attitude about life. Life is hard enough without the crap we have to deal with. I sincerely hope you don''t have to suffer too much longer with the weight thing. You project yourself as someone who knocks down each obstacle in your way. You seem strong and more than able to reach the goals you've set for yourself.

[Tawnya777 106]

How awesome is it that you will have round the year farmers markets? The closest I can get is the organic section at Kroger' date=' and even then, the pickins' are slim in the winter. My grandmother taught me to can foods when I was a little girl. I don't remember how. I think I should look into it.

I really do admire your attitude about life. Life is hard enough without the crap we have to deal with. I sincerely hope you don''t have to suffer too much longer with the weight thing. You project yourself as someone who knocks down each obstacle in your way. You seem strong and more than able to reach the goals you've set for yourself.[/quote']

California is wonderful for their farmers markets. It will be nice to get some fresh fruit and for cheap. If you look that up about canning your own foods like fruit let me know how to.

Thanks

I have to keep a positive mind or I will slip back into that dark place I was with my ex husband, and I don't want to feel like that again. I may be fat, but that does not make who I am. With my ex husband how I looked justified how he treated me. I was depressed and hated myself. After leaving him I promised myself I would never feel that way about myself again or let things get me down, just keep pushing and trying. I did manage to get to 170 after my divorce, but later when I met my now husband I began to eat junk food like him, not realizing I'm gaining and he just burns it off from PT in the army. Before you know it I was 246 and then pregnant and then up to 270 after my son. I believe I have an addiction with food and I will always have to work on that. I read this book on anxiety before and it said to wear a rubber band around your wrist for when you begin to have panic attacks, and snap it when you feel a panic attack start. I don't know how this works, but it did help with the panic attack. So I decided to try it with eating. Every time I eat I snap the band and make myself aware of what I'm eating and how much, I give myself a moment to think to myself that this will be feeling and to eat slow. It seems to have helped and keeps me from snaking. I think it has something to do with us as humans don't like pain and when I began to realize I'm snaking I stop, because I don't want to feel that rubber band snap. I know it sounds harsh, but it really has helped me with what I eat, how much I eat and when I eat. I'm still using the rubber band until I feel like I have my food under control. I finally made it into my 40's, I was 247 today when I went to the dr's for my depo shot. I think I finally found something that's working for me.

I got my car on the 3rd to....Yay!!!! It felt so good to be able to drive myself to the dr's today. I have been so busy getting ready for our move, just 16 days left, 10 days until the movers begin packing up. So much to do.

I go for my second fill on the 11th. Still can't wait for the restriction that will only allow me to eat 1 cup or less of food at a time.

[lbriteyes 10]

Wow! Lots going on with you. Its good to keep busy, though.

Right now, I'm living in that dark place. My husband has never used my weight against me. When we argue, its usually about his daughter. She's in her mid 30's and is better than everyone. btw.. I raised her. I don't know how she got to be so different and hateful. The only variable was the addition of her mother into the mix. My birthday was on the 3rd. I lost a daughter on the 4th. She's not dead, but she's dead to me. She's toxic and causes nothing but pain. I had posted previously that I'd put her on a shelf. This time, she burned the box. It hurts a lot, but there's nothing I can do, and arguing with my husband only makes it worse. So I *have* to be done with it. Sorry. Off topic....

I love the idea of the rubber band. I'm going to use that. I have Klonapin for anxiety. lol

Congrats on your car! I bet you feel a lot more independent now that you have it. I know that when I don't have a car, I feel soooo dependent on the kindness of strangers. I don't get out as much, don't get enough exercise, feel like crap. Even if I don't go anywhere, having a car makes me feel better.

I'm going to read up on fills. I know what they are, but not how they work. And I have to remember to call the hospital to make sure they got all my information. They haven't called me yet for my eval appointment.

I wish you nothing but good things on your move. I do hope it goes well for you.

Linda

[Tawnya777 106]

Wow! Lots going on with you. Its good to keep busy' date=' though.

Right now, I'm living in that dark place. My husband has never used my weight against me. When we argue, its usually about his daughter. She's in her mid 30's and is better than everyone. btw.. I raised her. I don't know how she got to be so different and hateful. The only variable was the addition of her mother into the mix. My birthday was on the 3rd. I lost a daughter on the 4th. She's not dead, but she's dead to me. She's toxic and causes nothing but pain. I had posted previously that I'd put her on a shelf. This time, she burned the box. It hurts a lot, but there's nothing I can do, and arguing with my husband only makes it worse. So I *have* to be done with it. Sorry. Off topic....

I love the idea of the rubber band. I'm going to use that. I have Klonapin for anxiety. lol

Congrats on your car! I bet you feel a lot more independent now that you have it. I know that when I don't have a car, I feel soooo dependent on the kindness of strangers. I don't get out as much, don't get enough exercise, feel like crap. Even if I don't go anywhere, having a car makes me feel better.

I'm going to read up on fills. I know what they are, but not how they work. And I have to remember to call the hospital to make sure they got all my information. They haven't called me yet for my eval appointment.

I wish you nothing but good things on your move. I do hope it goes well for you.

Linda[/quote']

I like busy, but I'm ready for a break? or at least some sleep.< /p>

That really sucks that your daughter has to be difficult with you. You raised her and she should have respect for you. I know your husband feels like he needs to stick up for her, but she is a grown woman and her actions are not justifiable. I hope Larry can see that you have done the best you can and to not take out her actions on you. You do not need that stress.

I think the rubber band idea is wonderful.

I feel so much more independent and less anxiety now that I have a car. I can go wherever I want when I want. When I sit at home for so long I get acrophobia and then I don't want to leave. Now that I have a car I have been out like everyday. I even take my kids to the pool.

I hope you get you evaluation soon!!!

Thank you so much, I hope are trip goes good too. We will be driving 21 hours straight, which was ok when we had 1 car, because we could share with driving, but now with 2 hours this sucks. My husband does not want to stop and get a hotel. He just wants to get there as fast as possible. If I really feel tired then I don't care we are stopping at a hotel.

[Tawnya777 106]

Sorry I haven't been updating. I have been so busy with moving. I had my 2nd fill on July 11th. I did feel more full, but not really restricted. My doctor had me come back in on the July 18th and asked me if I wanted another fill and I said you know it. So I got my third fill and now I have 5 1/2 cc in my band. This last fill has kicked my butt. I definitely feel restricted. My stomach is sore this time, I think it's from having a fill just a week after I already had one. It feels real tight and I can definitely can feel the band now. I have already had two episodes of everything coming back up. I think it's just happening when I eat meat. I'm trying to eat softer foods. It is very painful when everything is coming back up or wanting to come up, I feel like I can't breath, like vomiting, and like I'm having a heart attack because my chest hurts. I'm really not eating or drinking much now days. When I do eat I chew chew chew and eat real slow and it seems to help. I cannot drink Water fast anymore or a lot at a time. This fill has made me feel a big change. It's kinda a pain while moving, but glad I finally feel restriction. I will figure out the whole eating and drinking as I move forward in my journey.

[Helli 49]

I just read this thread from start to finish. I want to say thank you. I have been researching lap band for about 10 years so I have a lot of technical knowledge but that can only go so far. First hand accounts are so helpful and make the entire process much less frightening. I am 40 and have fertility issues due to my weight. My clock is damn near done ticking and lap band may be my last chance to be a Momma. Not just a Momma but a healthy, and good example for my hopefully future child/ren. I have a three week pre op diet and am getting banded on October 4th. I am a teacher in AZ and this will allow for fall break to recuperate. Usually during the school year I eat MC Donald's for Breakfast every morning. I plan to do a little pre pre op diet and replace my usual schooldays breakfast with a Protein Shake. Well anyhow, thank you for your awesome posts, all of you.

[lbriteyes 10]

I like busy, but I'm ready for a break? or at least some sleep.< /p>

That really sucks that your daughter has to be difficult with you. You raised her and she should have respect for you. I know your husband feels like he needs to stick up for her, but she is a grown woman and her actions are not justifiable. I hope Larry can see that you have done the best you can and to not take out her actions on you. You do not need that stress.

I think the rubber band idea is wonderful.

I feel so much more independent and less anxiety now that I have a car. I can go wherever I want when I want. When I sit at home for so long I get acrophobia and then I don't want to leave. Now that I have a car I have been out like everyday. I even take my kids to the pool.

I hope you get you evaluation soon!!!

Thank you so much, I hope are trip goes good too. We will be driving 21 hours straight, which was ok when we had 1 car, because we could share with driving, but now with 2 hours this sucks. My husband does not want to stop and get a hotel. He just wants to get there as fast as possible. If I really feel tired then I don't care we are stopping at a hotel.

There's really nothing I can do about my step-daughter. Its kind of like a death I have to grieve. I've done all I can. I have to realize that I did a damn good job raising her - she's a responsible adult. She works and takes good care of her son. It isn't my fault her mother poisoned her. As for the husband, he'll figure it out when she never calls him.

I know what its like to only have one car. Having to take the husband to work when you have appointments is a pain. Especially when you have to get up really early. Its so important to have your independence! I'm glad you finally got your car so you can do what you need (and want) to do. It makes mama a very happy camper!

Evaluation appointment is scheduled for Monday at 11:30 in the city. Its a long (about an hour) drive, but I know it'll be worth it.

Ack! Twenty-one hours is crazy to drive in one session! You're going to need sleep to rest up for what you need to do when you get there. Driving tired is awful. I hope you will be able to talk your husband into stopping. Please be careful.

Linda