Hawaii pre & post bansters

[kaohinani 0]

Hey Paula, I will be at Dr. Fowlers at Castle Hospital at 1:15, I plan on waiting around for some others, Ithink the last one to show up is Miriam and her appt is at 3:00. So anytime between there I guess. My name is Beverly, I am part Japanese and part Filipino so I hope you can find me, just let the girls at the desk know you are there and are waiting for some others. Hope to see you there.

[kaohinani 0]

OOOpsss sorry, my name is Beverly

[oreo 1]

Hi Beverly, I just found out that I have to babysit tomorrow for my 2 grandsons. My husband usually watches them, but he's sick with the flu. But the next time you guys get together I would love to meet you, so please let me know.

Aloha, Paula

[mescla808 0]

Its ok Paula, we could meet up again soon. Some live in Kaneohe and i live in Kahuku. I'm going to miss the support group this time too, can someone fill me in later on what the speaker talks about... down te road i'd like reconstuctive surgery.. especially for my boobs...

miriam

[Castle Girl 0]

Aloha Everyone,

My appt. is today at 2:00p.m. I will look around and wait and see to find any and all of you in his waiting room. I assume we will stay there, go to cafeteria, or over to mall. i am really looking forward to seeing each of you.

Mahalo, Kathleen

[mescla808 0]

Oh my gosh girls, this is the weekend before the band. My girls are making dinner tonight, my son is home visiting and he got fatter, im am so resisting the want to eat ... better yet pig out.; I've had a shake so far, some turkey spam with cheese, and a yogart. I will be on liquids on Monday. I was gonna start this weekend, what did you ladies do before...

Miriam

[mescla808 0]

I'm getting on the band wagon tomorrow so wish me luck. I'm starting one day Clear Liquids which i know will be challenging since i have to be out and about today and have a pre op orientation with the nurse. My kids will be off of school this week so i know this will be challenging for my hubby to take care of me, baby, and them. I have teens so they will help the younger ones. I'm ready to start my journey and am peace with myself going in. I will check in a few days out to let you know how i'm doing. I'm always on my computer so it will be a challenge for me to be off for a few days. Aloha and God Bless You All.

[mescla808 0]

Aloha girls,

I am officially on the band wagon. I'm two days out and feeling okay. Better yet, I've even walked in the hospital and was doing excercise there. Anything to get that gas pain out of the shoulders. I applied heat the the shoulder and kept going. I have little ones here so that motivates me to get moving. I will rest rather i have to make myself rest. I'm not that person that can stay down long. My belly is still fairly swollen with some sensitivity in the port area. I was able to have one 4 oz of Jello, three cups of broth, half a Protein Shake yesterday. I hear my stomach making growling noises but i think that gas moving around. I/m not hungry. For the most part, this was a breeze... god bless and i will keep you posted...

Miriam

[lisa_hawaii 1]

Ok You Guys - Im Gaining Weight!!! I Lost 15 Lbs And Gained 4 - 5 Back!!! Granted I Am Pmsing Right Now - But I No I Gained It Back - I Feel It.. Its Not Just Being Bloated.. I Feel Like I Eat Just Like I Used To.. I Dont Get A Fill Till The 26th.. But I Feel Like I Want It Now... Is This Why They Call It Bandster Hell? Well I Joined 24 Hr But Have Yet To Go.. But I Have Increased My Wlaking ... Not That It Has Helped Obviously.. I Am Just Very Discouraged Right Now...

Kathleen, Call Me To Go To 24hr Or I Will Call You Today After Work, Marium, Hope Your Doing Well With Your Post Op

Bev, Look Frw To My 1st Fill.. Hope Your Doing Good

Everyone Else... Keep Up The Good Work.

Lisa:help::rain::think:hungry:

[kaohinani 0]

Hey Lisa, YESSSSSS, that is what they call bandster hell. Just keep doing what they tell you and it will all work out, remember, no carbs, no excess sugar, if you can just eat 1/2 to 3/4 cup of food per meal, only 3 regular meals a day, and two Snacks (healthy kind of course) and lots of Water, be sure you have enough Protein in your diet, cause if you do it will curb the hunger. And most important keep exercising. Remember you didn't do all this for nothing. Just go to the gym and forget about everyone else there. Remember, this is all for you. Good Luck, keep up the good work, and yes, PMSing could be a factor. I am doing well, Thanks for caring.

[mescla808 0]

Aloha Lisa,

Hang in there girl and stay the course. Its prolly PMS. Dont stress and keep up the excericse. Give me a call lets talk story...

Miriam

[mescla808 0]

Hey ladies,

It's day six post op and i'm hungryyyyyyyyy. I'm still doing liquids, cream of wheat, mushroom, chicken, shakes, but still hungry. Any suggestions.

Miriam

[mescla808 0]

Ok ladies,

I'm back at work today. I'm am wiped out. I was sleepy around 11:30 am. I have walked a bit around campus and just sleepy. I did excersice at home this am and even did my cream of wheat. I am still sleepy and its 1:42 pm. She is oveer in a bit buti dont leave until 4pm. I'm downing Isopure with crystal light cuz i can't stomach it any other way. Ok, ladies i need help with this liquid stage. They are no letting me out of it sooner. So i want to know what kinds of Soups and things you guys did. I was soooo hungry yesterday. I got in a Protein Shake and some more Water and was much better. Today doing okay. But want some food suggestions. I was reading about making black bean Soup in the blender, is that allowed?

Miriam

[mescla808 0]

Hey Ladies,

Where are ya, am I the only one talking... Waaaaa. I started having some yogart, pudding, Jello is yuck. Still on creamy and yesterday i had mashed up sardines with soft mash potatoes. I was in heavy. Doing ok. How about you guys?? seems as though when you switch to these things, you put on a pound or two eh?

Miriam

[WRMSMILES 0]

I think I posted this in the wrong place yesterday.....oops.

Hi everyone,

I was looking on this site last night for recipes and found you guys. Actually I found Lisa under a food post. How you doing Lisa? I was suppose to talk to you that one afternoon at Dr. Fowler's office, but we lost each other in the shuffle.

And how are you Miriam? I spoke with you at the September support group meeting. I think you were in our group when we split into groups. Your the one who wants to be able to sing again, yeah?

Well it's good a bunch of us are all in one spot. I've been bouncing from support sites back and forth. I'm usually on ObesityHelp.com or Bandsters group on yahoo. I have found that this site has much more information, especially about FOOD.......lol .

Miriam, I think you and I are at about the same stage in the healing/eating phase as I was banded (final one) a day before you. My journey has been anything BUT normal as I had to be re-banded.

I went in for the first banding on Weds., Sept. 26. After surgery and when I was up on the floor I got out of bed and started walking immediately. Dr. Fowler came up and was happy to see me walking so fast, but the news he had for me was a little upsetting. He said that my liver was one of the biggest he's seen yet and it was 5 times the size that it was suppose to be. He said I'm lucky that I decided to have this procedure when I did or 5-10 years down the road I'd be in big trouble. He said my liver didn't like the food choices I was making and then he said that he put on the "medium" band and that it was VERY tight and that I'd be lucky if I could swallow my own spit. Boy was he right!!!!!! I think he meant it as a euphemism and not to be taken seriously.

All night I kept spitting into that pink emesis bowl. The next morning I went down with the lady next to me to get the swallow test and came back up to the room with a thumbs DOWN.

Jennifer came up to my room and told me basically that I was swollen shut and I had to try to wait it out for the swelling to go down. Talk about totally BUMMED. To make a long story short, we waited day after day until Dr. Fowler realized that the swelling wasn't going to go down and that the band needed to be replaced with a larger size. He tried to get an anesthesiologist to do it on Sunday, but his friend was off island.

When he said there wasn't going to be surgery on Sunday, I asked him if I could please try to drink some broth or tea and he said sure. I think it was more of like a "knock yourself out trying but nothing's going to stay down." Finally on Monday we headed back into the operating room. One good thing about being re-banded is that I got the new AP band that I wanted.....yippeee.

You have no idea how hard it was being in the hospital from Weds. to Tues. and 5 of those days being hooked up to liquid nutrition (IV). I had such a hard time trying to sleep in there too because every 4 hours was glucose stick time, every 5 hours was vital signs and every 6 hours was the "bruising" heparin shot. It seemed that every time I turned the TV on, I was inundated with fast food commercials. The Taco Bell cheesy melt was a KILLER.

I don't know how the rest of you ladies felt about the hospital, but I hope I never, ever have to be admitted to there again. While the nurses/aides were extremely nice, they (most) were not well versed in taking care of bariatric patients at all. I even explained to a few of them what it was that I actually had done. There was also on at least 3 occasions when they brought me food trays and I had to tell them that I was NPO and couldn't have anything to eat. The one aide said, "Oh your so honest." They finally put a sign above my bed on FRIDAY saying NPO so the others would know. Two different times I had to ask if my heparin was discontinued and they came back with my shot and told me, "thanks for reminding me." Geeeez, they sure have a long way to go if they're trying to become a Bariatric Center for Excellence.

Well, that's my saga so far. How is everyone doing on foods? I keep reading my materials from Mary and at times am confused on what I'm suppose to be eating. One handout says at week 2 full liquids and another at week 2 says pureed foods. Thank heavens for this support site to find out what I'm suppose to be eating. I made this recipe for black bean Soup I found on here and it's really good. I feel I could eat the whole batch I made. I think the only time I've felt full so far is when I ate some cream of wheat in which I kept diluting it until it made I swear 2 cups.

Sorry the post is so long. Hope to hear from you guys.