N E 1 been Banded at Mt. Carmel col, oh

[djk24 0]

Anyone have any names for good protien powder, having surgery on 7/6/09 and need to start getting some supplies.

[Floridainohio 2]

Anne,

Congratulations & Best Wishes!! I have my first meeting with the surgeon on 6/23/2009. How long was your journey from your first meeting to the actual surgery??

Please keep positng your progress. I would love to hear how great you are doing.

[swood 0]

djk24 I like Unjury the best. I have tried EAS-Myoplex lite (Target and Walmart) and Wheybolic Extreme from GNC. I always come back to Unjury. Make sure you look at the fat, carb, and sugar content if you buy it from a store. Unjury can be bought online and it takes about 3 days to get to your house. I honestly haven't price compared because I like Unjury the best. By the way, I use a shaker to mix mine. When I first had my surgery, I mixed it with the magic bullet and I found it put too much air in the liquid for my stomach. Good Luck with your surgery!

[BillOh 13]

Hello all! I am Anne. Dr. Price will be banding me on June 22nd. It is nice to meet you all!

Impressive pre-surgery loss, I'll bet you do well.

[SpecialK 22]

djk24 - I'll send you a Personal Message here on this board with my email as I have a jar of Unjury chicken Soup that I have not opened that I liked but I bought 2 and just found I didn't use it as fast as I thought. I'd be glad to pass it along for free.

I also bought 2 of the Unjury Unflavored and I've used those up as I mixed them with different things, like making a strawberry shake with 1% milk and Splenda and putting a scoop of Protein Powder in that.

I bought GNC's whey Protein the chocolate and the vanilla and I liked them okay. At the Walk from Obesity last summer, they handed out sample packets from a company called Syntrax and they have multiple flavors. I tried the Cappacucino, the Cookies and Cream, and the Syntrax Nectar of Fuzzy Navel. I mixed the first two with my morning coffee and I mixed the last one (which is an orange/peach combination flavor) with Lite OJ (like 50 calories) and did that as breakfasts.

I just bought a brand called Genisoy Unflavored and the first time I tried it I wasn't sure I liked it but I'm going to give it another try and see if what I mixed it with just wasn't a good combo. Its Soy Protein not Whey Protein.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery.

Edited June 19, 2009 by SpecialK

[OH Juli 15]

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/befor...ml#post1255319

My before and after on the pic page.

I know I'm not a Mt Carmel lapbander, but this site gets all the central Ohio people on it. Thought I'd put that link up here since I can't seem to make it to the monthly meetings.

Juli

[Amy64 0]

Hello to all - I am new to the site and am hoping to be banded sometime yet this year, however, I guess I don't understand the process at Mid-Ohio Surgical - I received my acceptance paperwork and sent it back in, paid my fees and am now waiting for a call from Charlene to schedule my initial consultation - can anyone tell me how long it will take for Charlene to call - am I just terribly impatient? Also, can I go ahead now and schedule my Nutrition and Psych eval or should I wait for the initial consult?

[sillypuddy421 0]

Hi All~

I have done all my prereqs now,and Charlene should be turning everything into the insurance. Right? Does she automatically do that once everything has been completed,including nutrition classes, or do I need to call her? I had the group nutrition class last night. Kinda scary... There are so many things you can't eat,wondering what in the world I will eat,and will it truly become automatic like Andrea says. Also,she mentioned something about not being able to take arthitis type meds,or steroids after surgery because the smaller surface area. I hadn't heard that before... Ofcoarse with a lot of this weight off, I hopefully won't be needing the ibprofen, or alieve,etc for joint pain. There was soo much information!! I guess what scares me the most is I work such crazy hours,and have never been much of a "planner" when it comes to food, and apparently planning,and preparing food at home is key. I knew going into this,there would be a lot of changes,but soooo many I really didn't think of. I have no doubt the end result will be worth it-to be healthier;just trying to figure out how to balance it all out. I also worry about my relationship... My partner is a going out to dinner kind of gal,and I don't want to make her feel deprived,or awkward if she wants to eat out. Can you all tell my mind is spinning,spinning,spinning??? Despite all my fears, I know for my health,this is something I MUST do! Any words of advice,or encouragement would be helpful!!! Looking at Julie's pics is a true inspiration,as I am almost at the weight where she started her journey....Thanks in advance!!!!

Joyce

[SpecialK 22]

Hello to all - I am new to the site and am hoping to be banded sometime yet this year, however, I guess I don't understand the process at Mid-Ohio Surgical - I received my acceptance paperwork and sent it back in, paid my fees and am now waiting for a call from Charlene to schedule my initial consultation - can anyone tell me how long it will take for Charlene to call - am I just terribly impatient? Also, can I go ahead now and schedule my Nutrition and Psych eval or should I wait for the initial consult?

Hi Amy, glad to have another lapband friend in the Westerville area joining onto this site. Well, you've found the one thing that I keep saying Mid Ohio Surg Assoc needs to improve on and that is really good follow up by their office/insurance coordiantor for the bariatric surgeries. Its been about the same story for a couple years now on each patient needing to follow up repeated phone calls and keep track of when you called and how long it took to get called back, etc. You can call Mt. Carmel's Melissa Webb, the bariatric program nurse coordinator, and leave her a message if you get frustrated and want help moving things along, and there is also a David as the office manager there that can help intervene when delays happen that you don't feel are reasonable. I found that by being really diligent with my own follow up, I got through that process. She let me choose my surgeon I wanted to see. I had Dr. Price and lots of folks on this board have had Dr. Choban. I see Dr. Miller for all my follow up visits now on fills, etc. and I like all three doctors.

I wouldn't do the psych eval and nutrition things until I had my first surgeon consultation but its whatever preference you want. I had to do a cardiac clearance and that ended up being the thing that took the longest for me to get through before things could get submitted to the insurance. When they were all submitted, I got approval pretty fast.

Good Luck!

Kathy

[SpecialK 22]

Hi All~

I have done all my prereqs now,and Charlene should be turning everything into the insurance. Right? Does she automatically do that once everything has been completed,including nutrition classes, or do I need to call her? I had the group nutrition class last night. Kinda scary... There are so many things you can't eat,wondering what in the world I will eat,and will it truly become automatic like Andrea says. Also,she mentioned something about not being able to take arthitis type meds,or steroids after surgery because the smaller surface area. I hadn't heard that before... Ofcoarse with a lot of this weight off, I hopefully won't be needing the ibprofen, or alieve,etc for joint pain. There was soo much information!! I guess what scares me the most is I work such crazy hours,and have never been much of a "planner" when it comes to food,and apparently planning,and preparing food at home is key. I knew going into this,there would be a lot of changes,but soooo many I really didn't think of. I have no doubt the end result will be worth it-to be healthier;just trying to figure out how to balance it all out. I also worry about my relationship... My partner is a going out to dinner kind of gal,and I don't want to make her feel deprived,or awkward if she wants to eat out. Can you all tell my mind is spinning,spinning,spinning??? Despite all my fears, I know for my health,this is something I MUST do! Any words of advice,or encouragement would be helpful!!! Looking at Julie's pics is a true inspiration,as I am almost at the weight where she started her journey....Thanks in advance!!!!

Joyce

Sillypuddy/Joyce, I feel I should say I will try to answer some of your questions here based on being about 15 months post op now on my lapband surgery and knowing that the nutritionist still speaks greatly from the Gastric Bypass nutrition perspective (in my opinion) so here goes.

1. Foods you cannot have anymore -- it all depends on the person. I haven't tried really fibrous foods like raw brocolli but I can eat a small amount of steamed brocolli. I can eat crushed pineapple (in its own juice version) in small amounts. I can eat popcorn. I can eat steak - tiny bites and I take my time, use some A1 steak sauce if its particularly dry. Toughest foods to eat for me are dry chicken and dry Turkey - I can get full on a very small quantity of both of these but I can eat them. Okay, don't remember what else was on the "never again" list but I was trying to speak above to the healthy things I thought I'd miss.

2. For the Not Healthy Foods or what is called "Slider Foods" - sweets, ice cream, etc. --- I very rarely allow myself a small treat of some of these things but to be honest, I am very committed to losing now and I know a scoop of Graeter's Ice Cream is like 500 calories and its gone in minutes and that was half my daily calories or so. Lapband patients can unfortunately still eat these things, they slide right on down because they melt in your mouth, and I haven't heard folks talk about getting sick or having what the gastric bypass patients describe as "dumping syndrome" which I think is a combo of throwing up and diarrhea. If I were getting that effect, that would keep me away from them too. Bottom line, choose healthier treats or make it a rare occasion to have something.

3. The forbidden soda pop thing - carbonation - I have been virtually 99% faithful to giving up diet pop since surgery and I have found I don't really want it. Once I had restriction, the carbonation adds air and takes up valuable stomach pouch room I need for other things. Try to stay away from pop.

4. coffee -- still drink it and caffeine isn't a big issue for me but if you want to go de-caf, that's fine.

5. Advil/Aleve - I spoke directly with Dr. Price about this one when I had my pre-op consult and just before surgery as I also have back and knee pain and take Advil daily. He said I could still continue to do so. I have found I need it less and less as I have lost weight but I do take it, with surgeon and my primary care doctor knowledge, and I have been fine. If someone has a sensitive stomach and Advil/Aleve upsets you when you take it now, I'd definitely discuss that with the surgeon.

6. Planning your food -- YES YES -- very important to try to plan to take what you know you can eat if you pack a lunch for work until you get a better strategy and it becomes second nature to think about what you can eat and still get in your 60-80 grams of Protein a day. I am lucky in that my job has a good cafeteria with Soup, salad, baked potato, yogurts, etc. so I keep Protein Bars, pudding snack packs, crystal lite drink mix envelopes, and healthy things at my desk for mid-morning and mid-afternoon Snacks so that I don't go anywhere near the vending machine full of candy and high fat, high calorie Snacks.

7. Eating out -- I do it all the time and it takes practice to get used to this new restricted eating thing. I just automatically plan to take HALF my meal home. I order lean Protein, salad, work on those first, then if I have room nibble on the potatoes or whatever else it came with. Chinese is my hardest restaurant because I love the Won Ton Soup and if I eat that right before the entree comes, I only get to eat a tiny amount of my entree and take the rest home. I don't even consider eating the white or fried rice at Chinese places anymore - focus on the meat/veggies entree part. Skip the bread they always give you at places like O'Charley's. You can get yourself full on a single doughy roll/hunk of bread, and not have room for your real food.

My Fast Food place of choice is Wendy's -- I can get a salad, a baked potato or their chili and all are reasonable choices I can eat.

I love Panera's for their Soups and salad as well.

Bottom line, you and your friends and family will just have to try and see what you can do but still enjoy going out!

Okay, sorry if this is too much info to digest in one session.

Personal Message me by right-clicking on my Special K avatar and you can ask me other things off line or we could meet for coffee 1:1 sometime.

Edited June 26, 2009 by SpecialK

[swood 0]

Good Morning sillypuddy,

Special K always answers the questions so well, I only have a couple things to add.

I would call Charlene and leave a message that you have completed all your clearances and ask if she has all the paperwork. That is what I did. It lets her know you are ready to go and she can make sure your paperwork is together and ready to be sent in to insurance. Andrea should be dropping off the list of who finished the nutrition class today. My first meeting(to get my packet) was in May last year and my surgery was Dec. 15.

I totally agree with Special K that everyone is different with what they can eat. You will learn what you can and can not eat. My no-no is cooked cabbage/sauerkraut. I don't know if other bandsters have a problem, but I do. I drink coffee and tea. I don't drink carbonation it actually hurts. I eat out all the time! Wise choices are my problem not finding something to eat. I love my band and I don't regret getting it for a minute.

I do still take Advil/Aleve off and on. I just don't take a lot in one day or everyday. I also take Nexium because I am a sensitive stomach person. So, I always take my Advil/Aleve with hot tea to help it dissolve faster and slip to my bigger stomach and not stay in my pouch. I have not had a problem so far.

Oh, one last thing, when I eat out I usually drink something warm like tea or coffee when they bring drinks. That helps open up my band alittle so I make sure nothing gets stuck when I am out. Cold drinks seem to shrink it. But I don't drink a lot because of the band rules of not drinking before eating and while eating.

I hope I didn't confuse you more. I so want to look like Julie too!!! Doesn't she look awesome!!

[Floridainohio 2]

Thanks everyone for answering questions and being so helpful..........:thumbdown:

[sillypuddy421 0]

:thumbup: Thanks to everyone for being so helpful! It makes me feel a bit more at ease-and confident. I hear about the sliming,and how throwing up can dislodge the band, etc,and it sends me into worry mode. I am in healthcare,and am exposed to sick folks all the time-what if I get the flu??? Okay,okay, I am gonna try to quit worrying,and look forward to the thinner,healthier future! I am planning on attending the meeting at polaris specialK mentioned in July-hope to see everyone there!!!

Joyce

[djk24 0]

Just needed some support, my surgery is Monday 7/6 at 11:00, getting very nervous. I have read on other sites about problems people have had after their surgery, I guess I should not be reading these. I know I am doing the right thing, but just getting scared.

[gregw 0]

Hang in there! Obviously, nobody can guarantee smooth sailing, but I, for one, have no regrets about my decision to get banded. I think just about everybody on this thread will tell you the same thing. It's only natural to have doubts and a case of the jitters, but it will all be worth it. Good luck with your surgery and welcome to the club of losers!