brittania

My name is Brittania hence the screen nam brittania. I am 27 years old. I am a firefighter/paramedic and have been for six years. I love sports skiing, softball, soccer, basketball and riding dirt bikes with my boyfriend. I am a 7 time Junior Olympic ski racer, and a 1 time junior olympic softball player! I have been big all of my life! I decited to get the lap band 3/27/08 because I am tired of being the biggest one in my family (for once I want to know what it feels like to be skinny)! I live in the beautiful mountians in So. Cal. where you can ski in the winter and go boating in the summer! This forum is the best!

I changed into pj pants and a t-shirt right after surgery, the gowns and paper thongs just arn't comfortable!

Well, I work out 5 days a week, those days I do cardio for 30 min and than lift weights for about an hour. So I think that puts me at the gold level? Great idea MamaMichelle! Exercize is the key to weightloss!

I am a firefighter/paramedic, and I was back to work in 2 weeks! After week 1 I was going nuts not being able to do any thing. I was just really careful about not lifting heavy! I started to work out 1 week after also. Just be careful and you should be fine!

Sorry for your loss! As far as the band goes you would know if your band slips, you wouldn't even be able to drink water. But you should stay on a liquid diet for at least 48 hours, because vomiting can cause swelling in your stomach and food will make it worse!

I would call Dr. Ortiz because I asked him If I could get a fill at 4 weeks and he said I needed to wait the 6 weeks because getting a fill to soon can cause an early slip! JUST BE CAREFULL YOU WILL OLNY BE 4 WEEKS OUT! He was adamant that I waited!

I would get the 24 hour flu before diner. Just drink some hot tea and tell them that your tummy isn't doing well. just run to the bathroom a few times to through them off.

I think that everyone is different, I haven't had any problems with any food not even doughy bread. But I have read that some people cant eat bread after their three week post op liquid diet. I believe that all of our stomachs are different sizes and the people with smaller stomachs the band has no restriction when it is not filled, but those that have larger stomachs have restriction when the band is not filled.

On my liquid phase I ate apple sauce, tapioca, and fat free pudding mixed with some milk. All of it went down great and it tasted even better!

Sounds like you weren't banded at the OCC because they use glue. I you want to take the sterile strips off make sure you pull them in the direction of your incision. That way if you aren't totally healed you wont open the incision back up.

Well for me I just told my Family (Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother). My mom on the other hand told all of her friends. Personally I didn't want any one to know at least for now. I wanted to lose a lot of weight before I had to tell any one. I live in a very small town and word travels fast and my mom has already gotten a few calls asking if I had surgery. But for people that don't know I am going to tell them I have been watching a show on TLC called I Can Make You Thin, it makes you do exactly what we have to do (take small bites, chew at least 20 times, and stop when you are full). So whan people ask just tell them that you are trying something you saw on tv.

I don't have a craving for salt, mine is for sugar! But I know that there is a few closet chip licker's out there! LOL

Thanks!

I never got the paper with the Dr phone # or emails. If any one can help that would be great.

:lb14: You are toooooo funny Kimmie! I am here every day reading everyones post. I'm just not much of a talker! I am doing wonderful! The liquid diet is horrible but I have started eating watery oat meal, tapioca pudding and an occasional bit of this and that. But only 3 more days of liquid hell! I'm glad to hear you are on track now, you had a rough first week. How are all of your friends doing? I am going to see if a can get a fill at 4 weeks, because I have no restriction at all and I don't want to blow it when I start back on real food.

Hi Evan, my name is Brittania and I was banded on 3-27-08, so I am very new to this. So far my experience has been wonderful! Before I told anyone that I wanted the lap band I researched it for about 1 year. The hardest thing for me was telling my mom (she was the first person I told). Her reaction was surprising, I thought that she would be against it but she was all for it once I showed her all of the facts. From all of my research I found that Dr. Ortiz is the most qualified and experienced lap band surgeon out there! The only down fall is he only preforms the surgery in TJ, Mexico, but the good part about that is it costs a lot less for the surgery (about $8000 compared to about $20,000 in the states)! Getting the band was the best decision I have ever made! I couldn't be more happy!

Kimmie, I started the treadmill, bike, and elliptical 7 days post op, and at 10 days I started lifting weights. I feel awesome, and i started going nuts sitting at home doing nothing. Only 3 days till real food YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Do you have any stretch marks? If you do you will have saggy skin. If you don't have any stretch marks than more than likely your skin will go back to the way it was.

I had my surgery on 3/27/08 and for the past 3 days I feel no restriction what so ever. Is this ok? Can I get a fill at 3 weeks because I know if i wait 6 weeks I will gain back the 18lbs that I have lost. Please let me know if any one else has gone through this. Thanks

don't worry about it, Dr. Miranda doesn't know how much you weigh to start out. she is the one that weighs you and she asks what your weight was at the start of your diet. i weighed 248 and lost 8 lbs, and she was happy. just do your best.

KIMMIE, I REALLY HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER SOON. WARM TEA SEEMS TO GO DOWN THE BEST. GOOD LUCK

I'M SORRY BUT MY WHOLE LIFE I HAVE BEEN WRITING IN CAPS, ITS SOMETHING THAT I PROBABLY NEVER CHANGE. IF I WERE SHOUTING IT WOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HI KIM, I WAS JUST BANDED ON 3/27/08, AND FOR ME MY PAIN IS VERY LITTLE. I HAVE 5 INCISIONS 4 ARE ABOUT 1/2 INCH LONG, AND THE OTHER ONE IS WHERE MY PORT IS AND IT IS ABOUT 1 1/2 INCH'S LONG. THE PORT ONE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT IS SENSITIVE. THE LIQUID DIET FOR 21 DAYS IS PROBABLY THE HARDEST PART.

YOU CANT GET YOUR FIRST FILL UNTILL 6 WEEKS POST OP.

THAT DOSN'T SOUND GOOD. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DRINK WATER, SOUP, AND JUICE SINCE THE DAY OF SURGERY. IN THE MORNING MY STOMACH FEELS A LITTLE UPSET BUT I DRINK SOME HOT TEA AND I FEEL ALOT BETTER. DID YOU CALL THE OCC YET? HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER. KEEP ME POSTED!