Newbie here!

Hey all! I am new to the boards but since I live in a rural area, I really need a source of support! My surgery date is January 7th in Colorado Springs. I am so excited I can't stand it!  I would love to hear everyone's stories of their Lapband surgeries!

Hello! Welcome to the boards.  I haven't been on in a few days or I would have replied sooner.  Congratulations on your band date.  I was banded Jan. 30, 2007.  Almost a year for me.  I'm down 83 pounds and have said "goodbye" to a number of co-morbidities.  This was the best thing I've ever done for myself.  Let me know what questions you have.  My surgery went so smoothly.  No problems and recovery was pretty quick.  Quicker than I had thought.  I had surgery early on a Tuesday, spent the night and went home Wednesday around noon, off pain meds by Friday afternoon.  Did go through a little depression that day, but by Sunday afternoon I had turned the corner and felt surprisingly good mentally and physically by Monday.  My PA couldn't believe how good I looked after having surgery only a week earlier.  Take care.

Thanks for the welcome! Congratulations on your weight loss! I can't wait to say I am down 80some pounds! I also can't wait to get rid of the c-pap machine and some of the meds I am on.  What kind of pain meds were you on? I am doing the pre-op diet now, must say it is harder than I thought! LOL Saturday I was seriously hungry. Are you hungry ever? Does it really take that feeling away? What is your typical day of eating after a month? 4 months? year? Do you exercise a lot? Sorry for the interrogation! ha ha. Can you tell I am slightly excited?

Hi! I can't wait to get rid of myh c-pap, too.  I've turned it down from 11 to 5.  Feels so much better.  I'm off my high blood pressure medicine, too.  I can't remember what kind of pain medication I was on.  Whatever prescription they sent me home with after surgery.  But the pain was really minimal.  On a scale of 1-10, it was about 2-3.  One being not really any pain.    For me the pre-op diet was the worst part of this whole process.  You will survive and just remember it will be a distant memory before too long.  Yes, I'm hungry nowadays.  The first few months I wasn't hungry.  The healing process kept the hunger at bay, I think.  But it does come back.  I know now that when I'm hungry (my stomach is growling) that I better get some good nutrition in it or I'm going to have worse stomach pains shortly.   I always carry a protein bar or something like that with me just in case I'm not at home when the hunger hits.  For me, the cravings have come back as well.  I'm more in control over them.  I won't be eating a bag of chips or a package of cookies anymore.  I realize those things are not going to help me in the long run.  It doesn't mean I don't have a treat now and then, but these are not daily occurrences like they used to be.   My typical day of eating after a month was that I only ate twice a day.  That was all that I was hungry.  No snacking either.  I usually wasn't hungry for breakfast so I didn't eat, but if I did I had 2-4 ozs. of lowfat yogurt or cottage cheese.  For lunch it was usually 3 ozs. of solid protein like chicken, tuna, salmon, turkey blended with a t. light mayo to make it smoother.  A couple of whole wheat crackers.  Dinner usually consisted of something like 4 ozs. of turkey chili or whatever I had for lunch (blended).  I'm a pretty boring eater.  I have since added more vegetables to my diet and a bit of fruit.  Trying to get some more variety.  Fat free refried beans were always a good choice for me.  As you go along you'll find out what works for you.  Everyone seems to be different in what they can and cannot eat.   Now it seems I eat pretty much the same way.  Although I do eat about 3 times a day.  I think the exercise has bumped up my appetite.  I still try to keep to about 4-6 ozs. a meal.  Never eating till I'm stuffed.    I do exercise.  I try to exercise 4-5 times a week.  Since it's so nasty outside, I do indoor exercise videos--Walk Away the Pounds, balance ball routines, The Firm exercises, Turbo Jam...etc.  At least 30 minutes a day.  I can usually go 45-60 minutes now.  Before surgery it just hurt too much to exercise and it took me a few days to recover if I did.   Hope that answers some of your questions.  Feel free to ask more.  That's what we are here for.  And hopefully I didn't just confuse you.

Oh no!! No confusion here! As a matter of fact, your story helps a lot. I am glad you say the pre op diet is the worst part. Because, although I am hungry and a little weak feeling, it isn't THAT  bad. Plus, I like seeing the scale move down .  Thursday is preop appt day and Monday is surgery day. Yay for me! I hear what you say about the exercise hurting! I have joined Curves, but because of my schedule and the kids being home for the last couple of weeks, ugh, I have not been able to go. Maybe tomorrow? Thanks for answering all my questions!