toronto lap bander to be

[kimmason 0]

:help: hi there canucks

I am kim and I went for my first consultation today and said, "okay, let's do it"...I have fought this "hamster in a wheel" bit for years now and if I don't do something about it, it will get me. So surgery Aug 1oth although I am scared. I mean I got here myself and haven't had any discipline thus far, I am sweating just thinking about the pre op diet and then post op, hell ,if I had that discipline, couldn't i do this myself?

i will borrow the money and its not cheap..16,000.

so i read peoples BMI's ,,um I don't know what mine is. am I supposed to?. they didn't weigh me today. I know nothing about the size of the band and I read people saying they had a band of such and such size...am I supposed to know this? I also read that folks say they had fills and say how many cc's. Am i supposed to know that too?

I worry that i can't drink with meals as i am used to it, i worry i may choke,....I sound wimpy sorry. I worry most that this will not solve the problem of always feeling hungry......

I do not want to tell anyone other than immediate family but can I hide this? I mean if I go out to dinner with friends next year....am i still eating next to nothing and not even having a glass of wine and they wonder what the heck is wrong with me?

I think, " man, i drink diet pepsi once in a while" and I don't drink coffee so I get my caffeine that way...so wow sounds like lots of restrictions . Anyway I guess i sound awful but ANY help /advise would be greatly appreciated. I get done by Drs Joffe and Yau on the 10th of Aug, so I guess I better start reading the pre op diet soon.

thanks

for reading

Kim

[argon 3]

Hi Kim,

I've never been able to stick to a diet for long either, BUT... the pre-op and post op diets are different, at least I thought so. You know that there's an end to it, for one thing, and you're really doing it for a GOOD reason. Not sticking to it would only make your surgery more difficult, and I found that good incentive to 'be good'. But... LOL, I of course wasn't all good. I still lost 15lbs, and it did its job (shrinking my liver). Just think of it being for the best. It's not for long, and really, the worst of it is the pre-op part. TLBC's is yogurt and cottage cheese, right? Mine was all Optifast. They both suck, eating any one thing for a long time, but... you'll live. And then after, you'll be so excited to have juices and broths and popsicles!

Your BMI is a good thing to know. A 'normal' BMI is around 18.5-24.9. Up to 29.9 is overweight, 30 and above is obese, and 40 and above is morbidly obese... I believe 50 and above is super morbidly obese.

You could tell us your height and weight, and we'll tell you what yours is.

It's not something you NEED to know, but I guess we just use it to gauge where we want to get to. When you hit a 39 BMI, you can say "WOOO! I'm only obese!!!"

You don't really need to know about the size of the bands and fills right now. Joffe/Yau will figure out what you need when they get in there. Then you'll eventually get fills, which amounts will vary.

You should start working on not having a drink with you when you eat. If you're eating tiny bites like you're supposed to, you probably won't choke anyways! Practice that (small bites and chewing the crap out of everything) too! It's not that you CAN'T drink with your meals, it just defeats the purpose, because it makes the food slide out of your 'pouch' faster, and you won't get full, or not for as long. If you absolutely NEED a sip, take one.

I'm not telling people.... not really. I just moved across the country, so no one I know or am around on a daily basis, besides my boyfriend knows. People really don't notice what you're eating or that you're not drinking while you're eating. They're too busy with their own food. Order smaller things... eat what you can. If you can't finish it... just say "Oh, I guess I wasn't all that hungry."

If you just have a diet Pepsi once in a while, you'll probably do fine getting 'cut off' ! I'm not one to talk though, I've started having coffee every morning again. Damn you, Tim Horton's!

Let us know whatever else you want to know!

Mandi

[Yoda 0]

Hi Kim welcome to Canuck bandland!....I agree with everything Argon said.

I had mine done at TLBC by Joffe/Yau on 21 Apr. I stuck to the pre-op diet and lost 17 lbs in 2 weeks. Like Argon, I found I did ok because I "had" to do it for my safety....and it really did help. Plus, it will then be easier for you after the surgery than for those who didn't have to do a preop diet. The diet will be hard for the first 4ish days (serious carb withdrawal symptoms) but then you'll be ok.

As Argon said, no...you don't NEED to know your BMI...it is just another useful gauge to have. Don't worry...you'll find it out on the day of your surgery; you'll get weighed and have your body fat/BMI calculated etc by Kathy.

No need to worry about the band size....docs will know which one will best suit you once they are in there....everyone's insides are different! Band size will affect the # of total CCs it holds....so you don't need to worry about how many cc's you will get for your eventual fills. They'll figure it all out for you and help you sneak up on the eventual perfect restriciton (which may take a while...but that is normal).

I STILL find it difficult to not drink with meals and I will admit I do have a few sips here and there....but that is my choice...I'm willing to accept perhaps slower loss for that.

You can't actually "choke"...no more than if you completely pigged out now and choked (which I doubt happens!).

Will it solve the problem of always being hungry? Apparently yes. If I'm COMPLETELY honest with myself I can say that I don't feel hungry much....however, of course it doesn't help the "head hunger" and that is what I fight on a daily basis.

I also didn't tell anyone other than husband and two close friends. Don't worry....people will not notice. Not once you have recovered....obviously they will notice for the first 6 weeks since your post op diet is quite restrictive...so just avoid those types of situations. But afterwards, it is too easy...been there, done that...they don't really notice anything odd. There is a TON of things you can say to explain it if they do. "Just eating more healthy" "eating less" etc etc.

Most certainly look around on this thread and the general and support ones and glean all the info you can. The search function is also very useful if you want to search for answers on a specific topic area.

Ask away!

Good luck...and yes!!! Start getting prepared now for your pre and post op diets!

[loriely 0]

well said argon and yoda .good luck kim i was banded july 6 at tlbc very nice people there

[argon 3]

I wanted to add... one thing I do, is give my boyfriend dirty looks to signal that he's eating too fast (when we're out eating with other people)! LOL I'm not being a b!tch, but I've asked him, and he's agreed that it's a good thing to do anyways, to eat slower, and chew really well, like I have to. I've even got him putting down his fork after he takes a bite. It's hard to do, cause I'm so used to getting my next mouthfull ready to go while I'm chewing my first one!

It's just so I'm not always the last one with food on my plate, and eating slowly!

[CLOE 0]

Good morning kim, and welcome. Did you post this message somewhere else? Cause unless I'm losing it(which could be true) I responded to it. I think it must have been under another thread, but I'm not sure. But welcome!!! Look forward to hearing from you. Congratulations!!

[argon 3]

haha, yeah, it's in a few places, I think! I was a little baffled too!

[CLOE 0]

lol...you know me mandi, my computer skills are minimal, so I wouldn't even go look for it. I'm sure theres an easy way, but I don't know it. By the way, my husband is a fast eater too. It worked well before I was banded, but not now. It takes me so long to eat a plate of food, he ends up just watching me eat..lol. So now he's working on slowing down too.....it's all good!!

[argon 3]

You know what's really bad? When I can't finish what's on my plate, so I give it to him! Not good when he's wanting to lose weight too. :|

[CLOE 0]

Ha Ha poor guy. I have one of those "eat chocolate, drink beer, mowe down half a cow, seconds on dessert, skinny, never gained an ounce in his life" rotten @astards. Good thing I love him so much or I'd havta kill him!!

[Yoda 0]

Mandi...that is pure mean!!! LOL

Don't give your b/f your leftovers in addition to him eating his regular portion!! Poor guy!!!

My hubby has done well since I got banded...he is down 24 lbs...he is doing things like eating slower and stuff too.

[neenagh 0]

Ha Ha poor guy. I have one of those "eat chocolate, drink beer, mowe down half a cow, seconds on dessert, skinny, never gained an ounce in his life" rotten @astards. Good thing I love him so much or I'd havta kill him!!

Hey Cloe, I have one of those too! Poor guy, he feels guilty sometimes when he's inhaling something in front of me, and gets all hangdog, and says, "sorry", but keeps on eating! lol