December Bandsters

[BrwnEydGrl82 0]

Don't worry just think of the long term results and how great you are going to look and feel. (And how jealous you are going to make people- oh, thats mean- but oh well- it's the truth). Your house is clean and once your surgery is done you will come home to a clean house, and you'll start out the new year- healthy! Think positive!

[Nathalie 4]

beversman - don't worry about a thing. When you get there ask for a sedative. And trust me, I had to be there at 5am, and I had all the time in the world to worry. Earlier surgery times don't decrease the worry, they just decrease the amount of sleep you can get.

I'm heading to the office party. I don't want to go, but I committed myself. I'm trying to pop into the store on the way to get my friend's daughter's gift. We'll see if I have time.

TTYL,

Nat

[sweethot143 2]

beversman, I know exactly how you feel girlie. I was so scare by the time i got there. I was shaking in my boots during the 3 hr. dr. there!

It will go by so fast once you get there though. you wake up in the recovery room and it's all over, and you're so tired.

Good luck tomorrow! we are all thinking about you. You have done so great, and you will do great tomorrow.

dream about all the new outfits you will be getting soon! I know that's what I do all day. lol. I love clothes.

[bkwalling 0]

beversman you will be fine

I am not in pain anymore just mainly gas pains now

I am thinking of going to the mall for some retail therapy

my husband has been a god he has taking wonderful care of me massages and heating pads medicine and Soup

We will be together 5 yrs this Saturday we have only been married 2 and 1/2 yrs but together 5 yrs

he is a little bummed we can't eat out because we live in a one horse town and mostly all we have is fast food with the exceptions of applebee's and Ryans which neither sound appealing

oh by the way the carnation instant Breakfast are awesome I can not drink it all but is good

kay glad to hear you are feeling better and natailie I hope everything comes out okay

My family is crazy when I went to see them last night they were like here comes skinny

I was like not yet It will be so weird to have my name and skinny in the same sentence oh and I thought I should let you know my real name you can call me bkwalling or by my name Khristina

well ladies good luck

sorry about the mixed up post just too much to share

[Levi27 0]

Beversman- Good Luck with your surgery, everything will be fine.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. I'm actually at the hospital now

just waiting, my surgery was pushed back a bit so I figured I would come here. The nerves have calmed alittle... the stomach is very hungry right now though. I hope I won't be hungry for awhile after the procedure. DH decided, he was hungry too... in the last 3 hours he's had 3 donuts and a double chocolate chip muffin. MEN!

Take care everybody, thanks for the support and all the good info all you guys on the forum have provided. This is an awesome place.

[VABandster 0]

LapHappy,

Boy could I relate to your post!!! I am 6 days out...and my scale has not budged!!! I can't seem to get my brain to accept that its not moving b/c I'm still swollen and bloated....I keep thinking "I'm only getting a few hundred calories in in a day...how can this be possible"?? It is frustrating indeed!!

As is the varying Doctor recommendations on when and what people can eat. My Dr. told me that basically I should be on liquids for one week and then mushies for a week and whenever I felt ready, I could work my way up to soft foods...and really that the goal is to not puke for the first 6 weeks b/c that would totally damage the band placement. But I still feel confused about what I should and shouldn't be having.....is SF pudding ok? Is a fruit smoothie ok? I guess if it's liquid enough, Its ok....but my family starts arriving tomorrow for the holidays and that is going to be TOUGH!!! I have a feeling I'll be putting things in my mouth that I can chew/liquify enough to get down that I probably shouldn't be eating...I'm going to try and resist, but it will be especially hard on Xmas day when we're with my Extended Family (only immediate family knows that I got the band). UGH!!! The next two weeks are going to be rough I think....but at least we've got each other here to support one another!

Ok, I"m done rambling

Ok, can we talk about a couple things:

WT LOSS? Or lack thereof. I am nine days out. NINE DAYS of eating less than 1000 calories of liquids a day, and I am only down 4 Lbs, this is after gaining five after surgery. It's so frustrating. I am with you all who are stalling! I know it will come off eventually, it's just such a pain.

VARIATIONS IN DIET PROGRESSION: I'm sure all of us are having a hard time being sentenced to liquids for such a long time, especially at the holiday season. BUT, what makes it even harder is hearing that person A's surgeon says they can have mushies in one week, person B can have them in three weeks. Person C can have regular food in three weeks, while person D cant have them for eight weeks. Don't you guys think that makes it even harder. I'm all for following my surgeons recommendations to a T, but sometimes when the solid food is calling:hungry: , it's easy to just think, well - why not, so and so was allowed to have that at two weeks out, why can't I. It's the same band. Dangerous stuff, had to out my inner demons there. How are you guys dealing with it? I think the surgeons should all get together and make up their minds!!!!

[VABandster 0]

Carol,

Good luck on your surgery!!! I'm sure you're anxious now that you're at the hospital and ready to go! Don't worry, you won't even be Thinking about food once you're done! At least for a day or two!

[bandiva 0]

Hi Everyone. I am back from Mexico and doing very well. The surgery was no problem. Dr Ortiz and his staff are very organized very capable people. I had surgery on Mon, my only pain was in my shoulders and I alternated sleeping / walking it off. I was released on Tuesday. I took a private bus to San Diego and shopped all day. I really think the walking was what made my experience such a good one. I flew home yesterday (Wed), and today I am back at work. Feel like I may have a little cold coming, but I am fighting back hard. Thanks to all the advice here I was well prepared. Gas X and anti-anxiety medication really helped me. I didn't need to take any pain medication.

It was so worth it. The staff at Dr. Ortiz' clinic are very skilled from everything to inserting the IV to post op care. I would highly recommend them. I am very happy with my decision.

Glad to hear you are all doing well...it won't be long now and we will have been banded 'last month'...can you believe it! We did it!

Yeah!

[StephC 0]

I need help. I have figured that as much as I am healed on the outside I am that much healed on the inside and I have NO restriction left. Its hard to beleive just less then 2 weeks since I've been banded when I could barely get 1/4 cup of anything down and it lasted for 4 hours. Last night I wanted to eat - I had my Soup, and I picked at a piece of bbq rib - I didn't eat much of it but I know I was crossing the line. Then I ate a 1/2 cup of cream of wheat - which always fills me up and I could hear it gurgling on its way down to the mother stomach. My dd was eating popcorn chicken and I popped one - that got her and dh on a scolding - so I had to sit through 5 minutes of you're just going to go back to the way you were picking and snacking.... blah blah blah... it made me so mad! They were doing it in love I knw but still - I just felt like crap - my fears of "is this going to work for me" just flooded over and after they went to bed I ate about 5 funions - you know those crunchy onion ring things - I got mad at myself and took a sleeping pill and went to bed. I hope it was just a temporary lapse but its horrible not having the restriction now. And not quite on mushies yet - but then I'm thinking ok so I go on mushies and eat 1/2 cup how long is that going to last me? My doctor doesnt do a fill until 6 weeks so thats Jan.22 - and I'm thinking what if I gain all that I've lost back before I even get my first fill!??! All I can say is pray for me. I am so discouraged today - I feel like bawling.

You're posts do cheer me up and like Nat this is my home - I wander out now and then but this is where I come first and usually stay.

As for the poopies - I haven't had a solid since I came home, its just the smeary dabs - except for the blow-outs - last night was a couple blow outs. I guess our bodies are just changing. And if you think of it, how could we have a solid #2 when we haven't been eating anything solid?

B-man - girl I'm so excited for you! It'll all go great! Did you say what time your surgery is? Anyhoo I'll be thinking and praying for you.

I'm off to shower and dress. I go to the ortho today about my knee. I haven't been wearing my brace since I had the band done - and I'm bending it pretty good. I think they'll give me a green light and maybe some therapy. Its a bummer cause its keeping me from any real exercise.

Have good day - Steph

[StephC 0]

Carol - I didn't see your post - good luck! You'll do great!

Bandiva - you go girl! wow - you're doing great! I didn't need the pain meds either, I think some of us just have a higher tolerance. But to be shopping the next day? wow - I was like get me to the couch!

[Evathenurse 0]

Nathalie (in Michigan) YOU ARE SO STRAIGHT FORWARD AND TO THE POINT ITS JUST LIKE TALKING TO MY HUSBAND AND MY MOTHER....HAHAHA.

CALL ME DUMB, BUT I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT APPLE juice. IM GOING RUSH OUT AND BY ALL THE APPLE juice I CAN FIND, SINCE THAT IS MY FAVORITE DRANK OF CHOICE.

WHAT WOULD I EVER WITHOUT MY DECEMBER BANDESTERS!!!!!LOL

[beversman 0]

Yes this is my home as well :-)

Thank you Mistique, BrwnEydGrl, Nat, Khristina, Carol, Steph!

Good luck to you too Carol. I will be thinking about you today.

Steph it is ok that you dont feel restriction right now. It is probably NOT a good idea to be eating solids... make sure you are chewing them to a pulp if you do!! BUT it is ok to be eating extra mushies. These first few weeks are not about losing weight. It is about getting your tummy healed back up and in working order. So, don't feel bad. You are not going to feel much restriction until you get your first fill. You are perfectly normal :-)

Bandiva! Awesome baby girl! Sounds like you're doing great. I am going to try to follow your example and walk whether I feel like it or not.

VA Bandster - don't worry about not losing like I said to Steph. You need the Protein and calories that you are taking in to heal... AND you are probably still carrying around alot of Water. We tend to retain it (like a bandaid) when we have a trauma to our bodies. So, you may be losing fat and the scale just isn't reflecting it. Don't worry. Get out a tape measure and start looking at that. I hear it is a much better gauge than a scale. :-)

bkwalling -- you are so lucky to have someone there for you like that... congratulations on finding him and being together this long. that is always a big help to have that kind of support. Later Skinny!

SweetHot -- i can't wait to go shopping in normal stores and get the cute clothes I've always wanted! I've never been a shopper but I have a feeling that is going to be changing. (how are you doing? is the pain better now?) I've been worried about you.

Nat - Girl, they better give me a GOOD sedative... hehe. I am coming back on here to spout off some loopy, sedative induced nonsense when I get home. It is gonna be off the hook. I say crazy things when I am not under the influence of narcotics... God only knows what I will come up with tomorrow. ha

BrwnEydGrl -- man I am just focusing on the future... I am thinking 4 months from now -- a year from now... WOW it is exciting to think where I might be by then...

Mistique - Thank you for the encouragement. I am practiing my deep breathing right now... HA -- by the time I get there they are going to think I am giving birth, not having lap band surgery...

OK, back to work again...

[thininde 0]

Beversman - Good luck with your surgery, you will do great. I am 2 weeks out and still on liquids, but it seems like all the stress and anxiety were for nothing. I am feeling great this week, it gets easier every day.

I get to start on mushies next week, right after x-mas and I'm a little scared to eat which is probably a good thing. Everyone in my family has the stomach flu and I am so paranoid about getting something that will make me sick. So I am in the spare room and having my husband fend for himself at being sick.

Steph - I agreed with B-man, I would be really careful with what you eat. I know it is so tempting since everyone else is eating, but it can make you sick. You have done such a great thing with the band, and I'm sure your family is just worried about you, although, like most men, don't know how to actually tell you that without it sounding like a lecture. Good luck with everything!

[ene 0]

Hey Everyone.

I just found this thread. Not sure how I missed it before.

I have my surgery scheduled for 12/28/06 with Dr. Joya in Mexico.

I am very pumped. I have been on his pre-op diet for one week now which is a Protein shake for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a non-fat yogurt in the mid morning, a sugar-free Jello mid-afternoon, and a sugar-free pudding at night.

Whew! But in this first week of pre-op I have lost 18 LBS!!!!! That is so exciting for me.

Anyway, one more week to go till I head to get banded!!! YIPEEEEE

Looking forward to keeping up with everyone.

Eric Worsham

[laphappy 0]

So I took the advice of Beversman and KayDotrn and tried looking at measurements instead of the scale since I've hardly budged since surgery. But, unfortunately I don't have preop measurements (did get pics though).

Instead I went to my "motivation bin". Sounds weird. But every time Ive dieted, I always keep a little rubbermaid storage bin with old smaller jeans, or shirts that don't button anymore. I always put the smallest ones on the bottom of the bin and work my way up to what fit the most recently. Then periodically I open up the bin, try things on, and see how far down I can get. When things go well, I get to add a few items back to my wardrobe and put a few even smaller things at the bottom of the bin.

This morning I opened the old motivation bin and I could fit into the first three things, a pair of jeans, a dress shirt and a button up jacket!!! Really made me feel much better!!!!! Those things haven't fit for a year. :clap2:

Thanks guys!