New Here, June 5th is my special DATE!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone, I look forward to getting to know all of you, just wanted to say hello!!!!!!!!!!!! I am nervous, excited, happy, scared, worried, anxious, and probaby everything else. To top it off, my company is about to go thru a MAJOR change, just before my surgery. So, here goes....here goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Kristin - This board will be your saving grace for questions, comments, concerns and of course RELIEF..... Hang in there dont be to nervous, easy for me to say I'm already on the other side, but I'm only a little over a month post. What type of surgery are you having? Wishing you the best and June will be here before you know it!! Hang in there!! GOOD LUCK!!

Lapband, so excited, NEW LIFE...here I come!!!!!!!!!

Hey girl... i finally signed up!!!  I will soon be melting away just like you......  love ya sis

Hi Kristin, So glad that you could join us! You will find people here that are at all different stages in their quest for health. Some have just started the process...while others have been on a post-op program for months, even years...and every where in between. I have found many new friends here who have helped me so much. I have tried to be of help to others when I can. Good luck and keep in touch. Robin

Hi Kristin, Welcome to the board. I'm almost 3 months post-op and also lap-band. Your life is about to change in so many ways, all good! I was nervous up to pre-op even, so that's pretty normal. Everyone has the fear that they may be the one that doesn't go right. Then you come back to the reality of how this surgery for these doctor's that do a lot of them, is realatively simple, eventho major surgery. About 45 minutes is all it usually requires, you don't loose a lot of blood and your up an walking around a few hours after the procedure. That's the one thing that helps you the most, walking, and making sure you get in all the fluids (64 ounces) for healing. We could only walk for exercise the first month, then after that whatever exercise you want to add. The only part that is difficult is the first 6 weeks when you have no restriction from your band. You have a pretty limited diet, due to allowing everything to hear properly, they don't want your stomach trying to digest some of the more difficult foods. We were on clear liquids for 4 days only, then on to soft protein for the remainder of the 6 weeks. They will give you a list of food, if your a little creative you can get through that time pretty easily. You will have all the normal foods added back in after your first fill. Fills are a piece of cake too, so don't be concerned about them either. It's learning how to eat with the band that is sometimes a challenge, mainly if you eat too fast, or take too large a bite, hiccups become pretty common place! I've never actually been stuck before, but I have come close, and again, you just have to realize you need to slow down and take your time. Good luck, you might want to try the lap-band forum as well, there you'll see some pretty interesting posts from people that are newly banded. This forum seems to be mainly RNY, so they don't have the same experience concerning diet that we have.

Carole and other Lapbanders, I just wanted to comment on your last line re: RNYers, "they don't have the same experience concerning diet that we have". .... The ONLY differences are the reation we have to sugar and fat grams and the fact that we have questionable absorption and need to be mindful of supplements. Other than that, RNYers as newbies are like Lapbanders who have had a good "fill".....RNYers at about 6 months or so are like Lapbanders normally......RNYers at MY stage are like Lapbanders that NEED a good fill!!! BUT....mainly, we're all on the same journey with healthy goals and the need to have good support from other weight loss buds. Sooooo.....my reason for posting is just to try and convince you to stay around the AZ boards and "give and get"!! I for one love hearing how my fellow weight loss LOSER'S are doing regardless of which way they took off out of the starting gate!!! Hugggzzz and to all, Joyce