Hi all,
where are my other Jan 27th friends...and the rest of you of course!  I am six days post op.  I have been home for two nights.  I am taking tylenol (regular strenghth)maybe twice in a 24 hour period.  I have 5 incision sites with 18 staples.  I am so not into body piercings!
I sleep in my own bed without difficulty and I get in 2000ml of fluid in a 16 hour period.  Jello/applejuice/broth Jello/applejuice/broth Jello/applejuice/broth Jello/applejuice/brothJello/applejuice/broth.  I am going to dream about these! LOL..I am walking around well...I dislike the hiccups and burps..they hurt!  I get some gas pains...after I drink...It takes me an hour to get thru my meals of 300mlBut i am so afraid to dump so slow I will go!
I am on this clear liquid diet until the 10th of Feb.  I am losing a pound a day...
Last night I dreamt that I put some thing in my mouth that I should not have....I cannot remember what , I just know that I should not have and I was waiting to see what was going to happen to me.....THEN....I woke up!!!! The suspence is killing me! I am teriffied of horror stories...I am terrified of dumping...LOL
I hope you all are healing up quickly and ready to take this ride with me...it sure will be lonely to go it alone!  The real people in our world are supportive (well most of them!) but only you my web friends know what I am feeling, thinking, craving,avoiding, loving.....They say you need to walk a mile in someone elses shoes before you can understand...Well ladies and gentlemen(if they are any)...we have filled our shoes....lets start walking......Chat soon..Laura

You don't need a good kick in the ass, we have all been there and what you are describing is normal!!!!

You wil get less hungry as time goes on and when you reach a decent fill level. To be honest though I do get a little hunger pang but nothing like the ravenous ones I used to get.....some loose hunger and some have a little regardless of fill level....we are all different.

I didn't get my first fill till 7 weeks, 6 weeks from the post op visit and was given 3cc's fill....I am glad that I was well healed first, I want this band to last as long as possible....they schedualed me for 6 weeks after that but they did let me go back at 4 weeks...and have been very flexable in letting me decide the amount of fill (but no sooner than every 4 weeks). Like the last few times I felt close to my sweet spot and I only wanted 1cc I wanted to creep up on it (I live over an hour away and don't want to have to go back for a unfill)....they do have limits and may be a little conservative.....but they base the fill on the answers to the questions they ask and the rate of weight loss...I think after the initial they will only give 2 cc max (but that could vary by person)....

I look at it this way, they are the pros, I want this band to last a lifetime, I want to have the least amount of problems possible, and I didn't put the weight on overnight and it is not going to come off overnight........I also think that what you get out of band depends on what you put in to it......

I am fortunate that I have a good NUT who is there for me if I need her to be, my NP that does my fills has a backround in fitness and exercise and spends as much time with me as I need to answer my questions....

It takes work but it is not as much work as it has been in the past......

Good luck, hang in there!!!!!

Remember your efforts = results

Doing great, no pain, no gas ... walked a lot even before I was 24 hours post op, back to work at 5 days (could have gone back sooner though) ... all is well, I have my 1st fill February 24th and looking forward to see what that feels like to have restriction.  My diet is well, no problems, I can tell I am losing but am sticking to weighing only every 2 weeks so I dont obsess so my next weigh in is friday 2/6.  The shakes are fine, jello, yogur****er, broth, cream of wheat, all great.  Though early in the game, I think I love my band!

I have a question for everyone. 

Over the past several weeks since I joined OH and have been reading and posting on the message board, I've noticed some things that puzzled me and I wanted to ask about.

I realize that all hospitals and doctors do things differently, but one thing I have not seen is anyone talking about an extensive pre op program.  Unless everyone has just put that part behind them and at his point had become overwhelmed by their surgeries being so close and having to deal with the emotions and recovery part of it.  

Anyway.... when my husband and I made our decision to start down the road to a new life, the hospital we chose, required we attend a 6 month pre op program. Which actually ends up being about 9 months all together. And EVERYONE must go through the pre op program. There are no exceptions. This program consisted of first attending an informational meeting, then 6 months of group classes and support group meetings, appointments with the dietitian, the psychologist and monthly appts with the Baratrition. The psychologist and dietition are at our disposal at all times for assistance. If we had questions or needed help, one phone call or email at just about anytime night or day would get a quick response.

Our hospital also has a wonderful post op program. Our surgeron is only a call away if needed for any problems. My friend who had the surgery the same day I did, had a problem with one of his incisions getting infected and he called the surgeons office and Dr Boorse called him back ASAP and had him back up at the hospital within the hour to take care of the problem.  They also have post op support group meetings and as always, the psychologist and dietition are at our disposal at any time.

Another thing I noticed is all these poor people who are put on this 2 weeks of liquid diet just prior to surgery and then I hear so many saying how they are worried or upset because the doctor wants them to lose a specific amount of weight during that time. Talk about putting these patients under extreme psychologial stress. Like they aren't already under tremendous stress just dealing with the upcoming surgery. Our surgeon had us do Atkins Diet for the 2 weeks before, not so much to try to lose weight but to shrink the vital organs (liver mainly) that they had to work around. The issued of losing weight was dealt with all through the 6 month pre op program. There was enough pressure on the patients during that time to lose weight let alone trying to make them lose a specific amount of weight 2 weeks before the surgery. I can't begin to imagine the hell this puts the patients through.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning the doctors or hospitals for there ways of doing things but I was just curious as to how programs are done so differently. Although it seemed to take forever to get through all the required programs and meetings and classes, it really prepared me well for the surgery and life after.  And the ongoing post op support group meetings are fantastic. Pre op patients can also attend these meetings so they can talk to post op patients.

If anyone would care to share their pre op expreiences and what they were required to go through I would love to hear about it. I'm just curious to see the difference.

Thanks,

Take care,
Kim

And just to add, you might find more people at your stage of being banded if you go on the lapband board. You can support each other!

Kate