Melbourne Chat Thread!!!!

[TaNgLe 0]

Hi everyone.. hope you are all keeping cool wherever you are sure is a hot one

susannah hang in there u will just get better and better as the days go by . I can't imagine what the pain is like but just remember it is all worth it in the long run. those Smiles and laughs at the breaky table will be happening every minute of the day soon

Bronnie.. don't stress too much. Hopefully this time next week you will have a better idea of when your surgery will be and that will be all the motivation you need to get up and running :biggrin1: Those extra kilos will be a past memory before you know it and it will be you thinking of me doing the impatient waiting thing .....

take care all

Loretta

waiting, waiting, waiting......

[susannah 2]

Hey Loretta, it must be a drag waiting to be banded. Thanks for being such a nice cheerleader for the rest of us. We will be cheering for you too when your time comes, and it will.

Is there a story behind your name? I like it, it is pretty. Have you ever heard of the country singer Loretta Lynn?

I think my father chose my name. My mother is Jewish and they wanted me to have a Jewish name. My Hebrew name is Shoshanna.

We are not religious though. Although the Rabbi still said some prayers for me for my surgery. I am still laughing about that one.

Susannah

[bronnie70 0]

Hey loretta... your one of my only pre-op buddies left. well we will sit and wait together. Hopefully i'll have an op date when i see Dr Nottle next monday. Im excited!!!

[TaNgLe 0]

Hey Susannah

You can bet your banded belly it's a drag waiting .. it seems like forever but i know i'll join u girls on the banded wagon ( NOT ) soon enough :rolleyes

Thankyou. I think your hebrew name is very pretty also.. i like unusual names. my name comes from a very old ( as in "black and white movies" OLD :omg: ) actress, Loretta Young.She was my dad's favorite. which gives away the fact i am probably a little older than you girls lol. and yes i have also heard of Loretta Lynn. and Loretta something out of M.A.S.H so there are a couple of us Loretta's around

Hope that pain is easing up for you and that there were more laughs at that breaky table

take care

Loretta

waiting,waiting,waiting.....

[TaNgLe 0]

Hey Bronnie

Yup :heh: U r my only pre band buddy left now and before you know it i will be sitting on this bench alone :cry but that doesn't mean i won't be excited for you:clap2: . I am getting nervous for u! I hope he can give you a date when u see him in 7 sleeps! Ask him how his public list is going for me

take care

Loretta

waiting,waiting,waiting.....

[bronnie70 0]

Loretta.... your seeing Dr Nottle too, correct??!!

When was your initial consult and have you seen the dietician and physician and had all the tests required?? Do you have to have a follow up with Dr Nottle??

Im asking cause i know a lot of public patients that wait onlt 3-6 months after that happens for the op.

I will definately ask for you.

take care.

Susannah: hope today is a good day for you

----------------------------------------------------------

yet to be banded

1st consult with Dr Nottle: 6 more sleeps

Dietician and Physician appointments: 8 more sleeps

[susannah 2]

Hey Loretta, We have a movie star in our midst. What an honour. As for being older than us, that is perfect to be honest. I like having friends of all ages, as everybody brings a different life experience to the table, which makes conversation more interesting.

How are you all coping in the heat?

Susannah

[Goannabanda 0]

Hi everyone! I haven't checked in here for a while, life has been hectic with holidays, work and getting my little boy ready to start prep.

Great to read up that things are moving on for all of you. Hope there will not be much more waiting on those public lists now...

...and it was Loretta Switt in M.A.S.H., she played the part of Major Margaret Hoolihan (aka Hot Lips). I love Loretta Lynn's music too - she was 'the coal miner's daughter'. Growing up in my house, we only "had two kinds o' music... ...country AND western". LOL!

[susannah 2]

Gday Anna, Glad your back. I could use a bit o humour right now! Loretta Lynn, '' I love my music country style, and this little girl would walk a country mile'';) I liked the movie too. Actually I like all kinds of music from Johnny Cash to Metallica.:biggrin1:

Anna how is your banding journey going?

Susannah

[TaNgLe 0]

Hi Girls (and any guys lurking out there )

Susuannah.. I WISH i was a movie star then i wouldn't be on this waiting bench.. i would have already had the op, my own personal trainer AND all the plastics i needed lol Thanx for the compliment anyway How is your day going today? Better i hope

Bronnie...Yes.I saw Dr Nottle early november.Saw the dietician and physician not long after that and then rerturned to see Nottle straight after that to get results and was told i would get a call hopefully mid year. I will have to have an overnight stay as i am asthmatic. Any time after april would be lovely. Going on an easter cruise so don't really want to be banded till after i come back from that :cocktail: Make sure u book your next visit with him before u leave after your first visit.

Anna... thats right, Switt. i remember now I noticed u girls remembered lorettas switt and lynn but NOT young.. TOO before your time hey? lol. Was this your first off to prep anna? did u cry? I did with ALL of mine now i could give them away lol

anyway, have a great day. Read you all soon

Loretta

waiting,waiting,waiting.....

[dionnem 0]

Hi All, It's been a few days since I have been on as alot has been going here. Day 4 or 5 or pre-op diet as you kow I am doing Tony Ferguson not Optifast (and thank-god for that by the sounds of it), they have a variety of shakes and have just intro'd a couple more flavour (Pina Colada not bad!!!), I also brought one of those "Magic Bullets" for mixing and I thought it would would help post op as well. great little machine. I am getting done on the 19th and millions of questions are floating around my head, maybe you guys can help. Can anyone elighten me on the best way to reduce the shoulder tip pain after surgery?? Can anyone let me know what they experienced after surgey i.e discomfort level etc. I have 2 young kids and am just wondering how to progress, Also have questions about post op diet, I have the booklets but would be keen to hear about your experiences in the lead up to solid food? ? Look forward to hearing from you. Hope all is well and good to see some new names.

[She Smiles 2]

Dionnem heres my response to your queries from my experience-

Shoulder tip pain - walking, walking, walking. As much as you can handle, which won't be much for a while. I cheered when I could make it to the end of the drive way with out feeling totally exhausted haha. As I said in a previous post, I also took painstop medicine. Also I had a wheat pack I could heat up which helped (you can get them from the chemist). Some lucky people don't get shoulder tip pain, cross your finger that you are one of them!!

Discomfort - I'll be honest here, I don't have much of a pain threshold, so I would have rated my pain in the 3 or 4 days after surgery as a 6 or 7. But really in hindsight, it wasn't that bad. It was exactly as you put it - discomfort. I was very bloated and my incisions were quite sore for about 2 weeks. Again, every one has different pain levels. Just ask your surgeon to prescribe you some pain killers and you will be FINE!! If you have any pain that you are worried about don't hesitate to contact your surgeon immediately.

You may need help with the kids for the first couple of days to a week I would think. You will feel tired, lethagic and not very much like doing Mum stuff, I predict, so if you can get some help for maybe the first couple of days it would probably be best. But maybe Jacqui can provide more advice on this one

As for food, I found that the suggestions on this board for the food stages were great. A week is a long time when you are only having liquids or mushies lol (I was on non solids for 3 weeks). It all becomes really boring very quickly. One thing I loved in the thicker liquids stage was cream cheese or cottage cheese with BBQ Sauce flavouring it. Doesn't sound so appetising now, but there is only so much yogurt I could have!! Also snak packs and custard were winners. But one mistake I made was buying HEAPS of food thinking I would eat a full yogurt or snak pack in one sitting. I rarely finished one and I wasted A LOT of food because it went out of date before I ate it.

Also, I have been using mederma gel on my scars from when they looked healed on the outside, I really think they are fading a lot quicker than they would have with out it.

Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, ask away!!!

[susannah 2]

Hi D, Good on you for persisting with the liquid diet. I reckon it does make a difference. My surgeon was really pleased that I did it so religiously.

I can't speak for others only myself re the pain, and I have to be honest that I have had a rough trot with it.

I was two days in hospital.I did not handle the anasthetic at all well, and was in agony with the incision pain in my stomach.

I am still very tender and sore. I have been having the shoulder tip pain, and I have followed the advice of the girls here by walking. I can't yet walk much. This has been my experience though, you may cope well. I already have a neurological condition so health wise I am not as well as others I guess.

My sister has been so wonderful, taking real loving care of me.

Susannah

[susannah 2]

Bronnie if you are reading this don't give up or feel despondant. You will be a bandster soon. I look forward to reading your posts, so don't stop.

Susannah

[dionnem 0]

Hi Guys, Thanks for the advice, it just makes it so much more real hearing it from the people who have had it rather than in a brochure or booklet. I was interested to hear about the "big buy up" and how much food you said you wasted as I was planning to buy big over the next week, thanks for telling me that as I was curious about how much yogurt etc I would actually be able to eat.

Susannah, well you are on your way. I am worried about the anesthetic myself as I don't do to well with them sounds like you are doing it hard but you like me have to have faith in what everyone else is telling us, the wait now really is killing me. I'm nervous, excited, scared you name it I feel it, I'm glad we are getting done so close together as at least you can let me know what I'm in for ahead of time (ha ha). I've got my mum flying up from Melb 14th Feb to be here for a couple of weeks as we don't know ANYONE here and the people I have met I haven't told about the band. Has anyone else kept it quiet???

Anyway take care and look forward to hearing your progress.