Lower BMI Bandsters!

[racetrackweary 0]

AudricIan - I've been following your thread and I am so glad to hear that all went well. We are cheering for you! Hope the "home coming" goes just as well.

[new_me_2008 1]

AUDR - glad to hear it went so well - those of us, like you, who have had a c-section are well prepared for this surgery - this one is like a walk in the park in comparison.

keep us posted...

[BabyGotBack 0]

I'm not fearful of the surgery - since I went through plastic surgery ordeal - my only question is recovery time. I know that each person is different - but since I want to keep my surgery quiet - will it be a short enough period of time to feign stomach flu? My mom - 5'2" who weighs 100 lbs soaking wet - "babysat" me during recovery of plastic surgery - NO WAY do I want her to know. She was very, very anti everything. She's never been overweight EVER and she feels like my lack of self control, will power, etc. is what keeps me overweight. I have the luxury of working from home - so no lifting, pushing, etc.

I kept mine a secret also. No one could tell. But since I couldn't eat and had to eat Soups, people assumed I had a stomach bug. My kids thought so to.

I work at home too!

I didn't need to be taken care of at all.

[BabyGotBack 0]

Sounds like I am reaady to go! I am leaving Orange County tomorrow at 7am to arrive at the border by 10 am. It is only about 100 miles, I just need to make sure I have time to fight the southern california traffic. There are 6 surgeries scheduled for tomorrow, mine being one of them. I am not sure exactly what time I will be in surgery. I will get on if I am feeling up to it. I am still very worried since my hubby doesn't know that I am doing this tomorrow. I told him I was doing it, just not when I would do it! I am sure I will be on here asking a million quetions that you all have already answered a million times before!. Thank you to everyone, you are my support until I can get my hubby to understand. Big hugs to all of you:girl_hug:

Let us know how you are doing!!!

Did you go alone?? You are not to far from where I am. I live in Rancho Cucamonga.

[BabyGotBack 0]

Well, here I am. I drove down to TJ yesterday morning and I was banded by 4 pm. No real belly or incision pain at all, just a little soreness and the gas pains. If had the gas pain while I was a sleep, i would just roll over and wiggle my body around for a while. One of the lovely nurses came in and she rubbed my back and patted on it to move the gases around. The pain meds they give do not knock you out or make you feel drunk, they are very mild. I am allergic to several different types of drugs including PCN, morphine and sulfa containing drugs and there was no prblem accomodating me.

Overall, it has been an easy process (getting down here and to the clinic) and an easy reovery. Dr. Ortiz is a nice guy, I was able to joke with him. All of the other doc's are great too, the nursing staff is wonderful. When I was talking to Dr. Ortiz, he said that within the next year he is going to bring on a Brazilian plastic surgeon, I can't wait for that! My incisions are what I expected, the port incision is about 1/2 inch and it is really the only one that is sore. the rest look like little poke holes.

I have been sipping Water and juice, they just gave me some broth. I can't tell any difference at all, I can't "feel" that there is anything in my body. I am not really tight and I don't have any weird pains in my chest. Hopefully this will be an easy recovery for me. However, if you swallow it wrong and have to cough, that hurts mainly at the port incision. I will try no to do that again.

I will keep everyone updated.

Awesome!!! I had a great experience too!

What is the Brazilian surgeon going to do?

[InTheCityGirl 0]

AudricIan! Congrats on a successful surgery. I too had a successful run on Dec 3rd. I am soooo hungry at the moment (still on liquids of course) but this is all worth it.

I freaked a little when I got on the scale and saw I hadn't lost any weight and was actually up a couple of pounds. All the IV fluids I guess. I am staying off the scale until Day 7:-))

Again congrats! Be sure to update the group over on the Merry Losers thread.

[InTheCityGirl 0]

I have to agree with everyone on the not sharing part. I have a friend who had the RNY and tells everyone her story. That is just who she is and how she copes.

I am way, way too introverted and socially anxious to expose myself to that level of scrutiny. My DH actually said why not tell everyone it is the "hip thing" right now. Can you believe that logic?? Hysterical. WLS is hip. Tragic.

[sweetiem1 0]

Hi

I was banded on 10/14/2007.

On the day of my surgery I was 211 / 37.5 BMI since I lost 7 lbs before surgery.

I had my first fill 4 week later and lost another 2 lbs since then.

I seem to be stuck now and the scale has not moved for two weeks.

I am eating more now, but until my first fill I had no appetite and was not eating much more than my 60 grams of protien in a liquid form.

Did eating so little after surgery mess me up?

I feel resticted, eat no more than 3/4 cup but the scale wont budge.

Any ideas of what I need to do to start loosing again?

Also, the incision that sits under by bra, often feels kind of numb. Is this normal? Anyone else have it.

Any help would be appreciated

[AudricIan 0]

I got up at 5:30 this morning to catch the van to the Mexicoach and I was home by 9:00 am. My hubby is still at work, he will be home at 4:30pm. I am feeling pretty good. Still sore. The gas pains seem to be gone. I am absolutely starving. I must not have much stomach swelling as I do not have any restriction at all. At least I am not so swollen that I am sliming. The nutrionist said Clear Liquids for a minimum of 4 days for me or 7 if I can't handle creamy stuff. I must have lost 6 pounds due to my nerves. I was only 179 when I got there. My BMI was 30. I am day 3 today, I have been drinking broth, gatorade and Special K Protein Water. I will start with creamy Soups tomorrow as tolerated. I feel really good, not tired or lethargic, my pee looks clear so I know I am hydrated. Haven't lost a pound yet but that is okay.

When my hubby gets home tonight I am going to play it off like nothing is wrong. If he gets suspicious because I am not carrying my 1 year old around I am just going to tell him I have a stomach ache from some bad mexican food:heh:.

The mornig after my surgery I even went to the local "mall" in search of the new series of Cars Movie figures. I got lucky and found 4 of them for my older son. The cab ride was 5 bucks there and 3 bucks back, not sure how the math was done on that one:cry. I felt well enough to walk around for about 2 hours and then I tried to lay down for a while once I got back to the room. I ordered some tortilla Soup and sipped the broth and an ice tea, it was sooooo yummy. It ran about $7.50. All of the shops in that area accept american dollars. I probably got ripped off on the exchange but I didn't think I would be in the mood to shop or I would have exchanged for pesos before I left.

Here is a bit of advice. The Lucerna is a nice hotel, clean and spacious. However, it right next to a VERY noisey traffic circle. While the traffic circle is quite amusing to watch from you balcony, it is a total free for all, the noises carry on through out the night. I usually bring ear plugs but in the midst of my rushing out of town Thursday morning, I forgot them. If you have a problem sleeping because of traffic noise, ie..sirens, horns, lots of horns, screaching brakes, bring ear plugs!

I will have to give the entire experience a 9/10. I would have liked to have a little more time with Dr. Ortiz to discuss my after care and what to expect having such a low BMI. I thought for sure I wouldn't be hungry and I am.

AUDREE, I am not sure what exactly the plastic surgeon will be doing but Dr. Ortiz said he will be able to take care of flabby skin and stretch marks. My question is where are they going to put a plastic surgeon? He is going to have to take over another floor or two at the clinic to fit all the patients.

I have one technical question for all of you veterans, I have a feeling in my chest like I swallowed a hard piece of candy. I know nothing is stuck because I haven;t eaten anything. This is normal...right? When I sip liquids, I never get a full feeling. I just stop after a cup and wait awhile because I don't want to PB. Is this how others felt too? Did anyone actually feel full from broth? I know that the pain gets sharper the more I drink so I stop drinking at let it go away. Also, the pain is worse when I sit. thanks for the input everyone.:whoo:

[Away2me 1]

I'm soon to be banded. My BMI is 37. I'm short and fat now and I keep gaining every year. I didn't know about the lap band surgery until a month ago! But I'm wanting to have surgery ASAP. I've narrowed down my choices of docs and I'm going to take a drive to check out the clinic tomorrow in TJ. (I'm in So. Cal)

How long did most of you guys do clear liquids before your surgery?

[BabyGotBack 0]

Hi

I was banded on 10/14/2007.

On the day of my surgery I was 211 / 37.5 BMI since I lost 7 lbs before surgery.

I had my first fill 4 week later and lost another 2 lbs since then.

I seem to be stuck now and the scale has not moved for two weeks.

I am eating more now, but until my first fill I had no appetite and was not eating much more than my 60 grams of protien in a liquid form.

Did eating so little after surgery mess me up?

I feel resticted, eat no more than 3/4 cup but the scale wont budge.

Any ideas of what I need to do to start loosing again?

Also, the incision that sits under by bra, often feels kind of numb. Is this normal? Anyone else have it.

Any help would be appreciated

After surgury I wore a tank type like bra or comfy sports bra, no underwire.

For me, yes it did lower my metabolism. I had to take a supplement to help me with my metabolism. It would help to to make sure you take Vitamins, exercise and drink Water. One other trick is to shock your body by having a few days where you have high calorie days. Since it is hard to get in a lot of calories, I would get Hormel chili and add nacho cheese to it and blend it in a food processor. It was SO GOOD!!!

But, I only indulged in it once in a while.

Your body will get used to very low calorie intake and adjust itself to it, survival mode since we can go into starvation mode.

So, having a couple days out of the week where you shock your body with high calories, maybe 1600-2000 if you can.

[BabyGotBack 0]

I got up at 5:30 this morning to catch the van to the Mexicoach and I was home by 9:00 am. My hubby is still at work, he will be home at 4:30pm. I am feeling pretty good. Still sore. The gas pains seem to be gone. I am absolutely starving. I must not have much stomach swelling as I do not have any restriction at all. At least I am not so swollen that I am sliming. The nutrionist said clear liquids for a minimum of 4 days for me or 7 if I can't handle creamy stuff. I must have lost 6 pounds due to my nerves. I was only 179 when I got there. My BMI was 30. I am day 3 today, I have been drinking broth, gatorade and Special K Protein Water. I will start with creamy Soups tomorrow as tolerated. I feel really good, not tired or lethargic, my pee looks clear so I know I am hydrated. Haven't lost a pound yet but that is okay.

When my hubby gets home tonight I am going to play it off like nothing is wrong. If he gets suspicious because I am not carrying my 1 year old around I am just going to tell him I have a stomach ache from some bad mexican food:heh:.

The mornig after my surgery I even went to the local "mall" in search of the new series of Cars Movie figures. I got lucky and found 4 of them for my older son. The cab ride was 5 bucks there and 3 bucks back, not sure how the math was done on that one:cry. I felt well enough to walk around for about 2 hours and then I tried to lay down for a while once I got back to the room. I ordered some tortilla Soup and sipped the broth and an ice tea, it was sooooo yummy. It ran about $7.50. All of the shops in that area accept american dollars. I probably got ripped off on the exchange but I didn't think I would be in the mood to shop or I would have exchanged for pesos before I left.

Here is a bit of advice. The Lucerna is a nice hotel, clean and spacious. However, it right next to a VERY noisey traffic circle. While the traffic circle is quite amusing to watch from you balcony, it is a total free for all, the noises carry on through out the night. I usually bring ear plugs but in the midst of my rushing out of town Thursday morning, I forgot them. If you have a problem sleeping because of traffic noise, ie..sirens, horns, lots of horns, screaching brakes, bring ear plugs!

I will have to give the entire experience a 9/10. I would have liked to have a little more time with Dr. Ortiz to discuss my after care and what to expect having such a low BMI. I thought for sure I wouldn't be hungry and I am.

AUDREE, I am not sure what exactly the plastic surgeon will be doing but Dr. Ortiz said he will be able to take care of flabby skin and stretch marks. My question is where are they going to put a plastic surgeon? He is going to have to take over another floor or two at the clinic to fit all the patients.

I have one technical question for all of you veterans, I have a feeling in my chest like I swallowed a hard piece of candy. I know nothing is stuck because I haven;t eaten anything. This is normal...right? When I sip liquids, I never get a full feeling. I just stop after a cup and wait awhile because I don't want to PB. Is this how others felt too? Did anyone actually feel full from broth? I know that the pain gets sharper the more I drink so I stop drinking at let it go away. Also, the pain is worse when I sit. thanks for the input everyone.:whoo:

I made sure I took my ear plugs. I also heard you can request a pool side room. The feeling in your chest is what some people call the golf ball. It is just the restriction you feel from just being operated and your body adjusting to all the new hardware!

I didn't feel full with liquids either, to a point. It will sometimes go down like a funnel type feeling. The pain will get sharper if there is still liquid in your pouch and you add more before it is drained.

You just need to take it slow. I used to eat fast, but now I eat very slow. I take my time. I have always allowed myself to drink up until my meal, but not ice water. But DO NOT DRINK during. I got stuck today on a little piece of cracker when i drank right after and pb'd on that!:faint:

The water shot out of my nose and mouth and the little bits of cracker flew out!!!

I get tighter about a week or so before my period.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. You will have to relearn how to eat, drink, etc. It is a new way of living, but worth it!

If you'd like to email me direct, pm me for my email!

[sweetiem1 0]

Doc's are different, mine was no carbs for two weeks before and clear for three days before

[snowbird 2]

Dr Ortiz doesn't require clear liquids pre op; he and his nutritionist just want you to lose 5% of your body weight prior to the surgery. They give you several options for doing that based on how much lead time you have. Since I made my appointment over 2 months before the surgery date, I just went on an Atkins diet and lost 19 lb, which was good for me. My husband and I had a nice Mexican dinner the night before surgery at the Lucerna, with the doctor's blessing.

[AudricIan 0]

Okay everyone, I am going to set my first goal now while I know exactly how much I weigh. I was 183.4 on the day of my surgery 12/6. I went to the doctor today for an anual physical and their scale said 179.9. My first mini goal is going to be reached in 3 months on March 10th is 166, that is 17 pounds (3 of which I have already lost). I am not sure if I am taking it easy on myself with this goal, any input???? My starting BMI was 30 so I don't think I will lose at a very fast rate. I am going to try and weigh myself only once a week from now until then. Hold me to it everyone!

BTW, feeling great today, 4 days post op. Back to work for me.