cfuture88

I flew in from CT. I stayed overnight because I did not want to have spent all of that $ (tickets) to be stuck with NO restriction or having terrible pain on the plane with too much. Being too restricted is hell and every minute feels like forever. You would not want to wait until the next day and drive back, you would feel like you were dying. Anyway, I also ate in the hotel (carefully) even though I was supposed to be on full liquids because I wanted to make sure I had some restriction. (I was VERY CAREFUL) I went home the following AM. Probably didn't have to stay, but it also gave me a mini vacation. Would have been more fun if I had gone with someone or met some of the OCC folks but I did not manage to run into anyone.

My highest wt was a year ago. Then I lost 40#, then I gained 26. SOOOO I used my preop diet weight so I could track this weight loss go around.

Sacharine sp? was pulled off the market when I was a kid because it causes bladder cancer but got put back on because all the diabetics were so upset at not having anything to use as a sugar replacement. Splenda is another type of sugar molecule. It is NOT calorie free- it is 1/2 the calories of sugar- 350+ for one cup instead of 700+ for regular sugar.

Mannitol-white, crystalline, water-soluble, slightly sweet alcohol, C6H8(OH)6, used as a dietary supplement and dietetic sweetener and in medical tests of renal function. and given IV to decrease brain swelling. check the protein, and fat content. Sugar isn't bad for you in small amounts. Also Bariatric eating.com has these protein kitkat type things in mint (dark choclate, not very sweet), Peanut butter/choclate(awsome), plain choclate- very good. They are called OH YEAH. You get alot of protein, hardly anything else. I take them to the movies, along with my protein water. Awsome.

Chew, chew, chew. Small bites, otherwise you swallow half before it is really chewed. I have only thrown up once, and did not slime first. I had eaten bread. Small bites but kept on eating without a break. I am getting to know that I must STOP eating at the first sign of tightness and let the food go down. Sometimes I think, "Well one more bite won't hurt." Inevitably, the feeling of tightness becomes uncomfortable, I can't talk without sort of croaking (my voice gets messed up) and I have to wait a lot longer. You cannot burp, you can not swallow anything, your voice gets weird, feels like you can't breath, and sometimes there is actual pain. You have to wait about 4 minutes and just sit there. People who know you, know that something is stuck. You are like a deer in headlights, and you are sitting there holding a fork and can't talk. DAHHH. I am also getting to understand that if something is waiting to go down, and having difficulty, if I drink, it gets worse. Whatever it is either gets pushed down further OR it gets hydrated and expands and then I really feel awful. You are not supposed to drink 1/2 hr before you eat and 1 hour after, but inevitably the minute you start to eat you are totally parched. Sometimes I take a tiny sip, just enough to wet my mouth while I eat, and wait to drink later.

I called my cell phone co and had them add international service for the time I was down there and so i had no problem. I knew to do this because I have had problems before. NOW, you can call anywhere in the US from the OCCs phones. They have them there for the patients. So at least you can call before, and after and before you go to the hotel, so be sure to stay overnight. Your baby will have a ball without you. You are leaving him with someone you trust. Just make sure you act confident, tell your baby goodbye, hugs and kisses, and then you have to leave quickly. He will forget you left in about five minutes but is important not to draw it out. Good luck, everyone will be fine. Ellen P.S.- and tell your friend that if he was a friend that he would stop with the doomsay. Especially about how weak you are. How dare he? Some friend.

If you are thinking of seeking some legal help if it turns out you have a leak- make sure you are documenting all of the conversations, meetings, etc. with the old place. I might even record them if possible.

You are doing great- worrying about all of this and mourning where you think you are headed is exactly what you are supposed to be doing. I remember being on that side and I lost like crazy and then ate whatever I wanted the day before I needed to not eat- Picked the thing I craved the most. Was very happy. Funny thing is now that I am on the other side I pass up most things I see because I am motivated and eating anything off the "diet" is too much trouble. I split meals with anyone I go out with. I don't even care what they pick as long as it is not deep fried. I am only going to be eating a small amount of it anyway. You will be so jazzed!!! Of course, this is so much better when the fill has been done and is correct. It would be much harder if you had no restriction. It happened to me 2 weeks before my first fill (7-9 sks postop), I gained a couple of pounds but the fill took care of that. Good luck. By the way, I love your picture. Ellen

Here, Here. Well said. And.. WHAT is it about scrambled eggs??? Ellen

No food four hours before the fill, only full liquids x 3 days after the fill.

Food is foreign, tampons are foreign, earrings (piercing jewelery) are foreign, stitches from any surgery are foreign. Sounds like you are obsessing and are probably an anxious person anyway. You are having difficulty turning off your brain at night. Can take a little melatonin (health food store or pharm), drink lemon balm tea, take benadryl- all of which are foreign. Ellen

Read the post above from me and: I use a healthometer scale from walmart (battery operated): http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8245670 in my office. It is dead on accurate all of the time. (You must tap it with your foot, it will say CAL and when it changes to "0" then you step on it to weight.) A lot of people don't do this which is why the reviews were mixed. ANYWAY: it goes up to 300lbs. and costs $20 + batteries

If you are feeling this crummy- headaches, woozy, then you are not getting enouth calories or protein or water. You need to have something three times/day. (shakes, fat free soups, puddings, boiled egg, etc.) You can order "protein bullets" on bariatriceating.com- they only take a couple of days to get there and they literally saved my life after surgery. (I had put them in my suitcase, and had them the first two weeks-1/day.) I got more and more tired and felt like s---. Called up the center, Dr. Acosta told me to get more protein and water.- I was only three days post op. (thought I was drinking enough)- These "Bullets" have >40 grams/3 oz. If you empty one in a water bottle and add water to taste (it is too sweet without it). and sip it during the day, you will feel okay. After one bottle, I felt 100 xs better. 1. You need 60-80 gms protein/day to heal. 2. If you are woozy, it is either because your electrolytes are screwed up or because your blood pressure is labile. Either one makes you feel crummy. Headaches are also from sugar or caffeine withdrawel, esp in the first few days. The center says to eat protein, protein, protein. You do not have to cut back on calories to starvation levels if you try to cut out fat, have vegetables, and very little fruit, and no carbs if possible. It essentially is the Atkins or south beach diet. You put your body into ketosis, which is why your mouth is dry and your breath is bad. Both of these signs says you are losing weight. When in ketosis, you have to drink a lot of water because it is harder on your kidneys.

No matter what, you will be just fine. Will be thinking of you. Keep in touch. Ellen

You are three weeks out- how are you doing?

Heidi- you are welcome and thank YOU for the thanks. Message me anytime if you have questions, I am happy to help. Ellen

I have an athlete husband too. His idea of a diet is not eating a candy bar. But I have another point to make and it concerns the band... The situation you find yourself in is the deficit vs. the plenty/excess model. Try to stick with me here. A usual diet, any diet, is a deficit model. You must sacrifice. You deprive yourself of food and calories and you are easily able to do this the first couple of weeks or months (We all are experts at losing weight), but whether because of family celebrations, life's crises, loving to eat (chew, taste, feel full), and messing up our set points over the years with constant tries at dieting, never mind causing our metabolism to slow down while dieting making weight loss more difficult, we slowly give up and in to temptation (which is particularly poignant when everyone around us eats and does not even think about it and insist on letting us know in a thousand ways that we are not seen as attractive in this society, have no willpower, and are a disappointment to others. Most third world countries value fatter people as it signifies that they have enough money to buy food). Deciding how much to eat is torture, slipping and "blowing the diet" is even worse. Exercise helps but is also fits in to the deficit model in that you must sacrifice time from your family to pursue your program and make friends with sweating and pain- which is why I swim (I swam for one year, lost 40# in 7 months and got up to 1 hour/day [the crawl] and stopped losing weight. I continued to swim an hour a day, seven days a week and never lost an ounce for the next four months, so I gave up.) ***By the way,most athletes are anxious and exercise as a form of therapy and relaxation...(Try having your husband totally give up exercise for six months while you give up eating and see if he can do it. He will go nuts.) Exercise and thinness are also ways to feel superior and put others down as these ideals are valued in our society. The lap band is part of an adjunctive (plenty/excess) model. I know many here talk of a lap band being a tool. But I would like to tell you how it is that. With the lap band, I will be able to stay on a diet forever if I need to. I can sit through family celebrations and weather emotional times because I never want more. It is not that I am full in the usual sense, or not hungry, it is that the band redefines hunger, and fullness. (Hungry and full never feel like they used to-and I think it happens so fast that bandsters forget and tell newbies that they are full and never hungry and that is not true. It is that you come to define hunger and fullness differently than before. There is now a negative feedback loop---- I am now hungry (never was before the band and skipped breakfast, sometimes lunch, and ate a big dinner. I never picked while cooking, I did not snack between meals. I have been on diets on and off since age 8. My family loved to eat, loved good food, and I am a great cook.) Now I eat three times a day and have to because I am physically hungry. I follow the "rules" because I feel better physically if I do. When I order or make something, I sit down to eat it and after a small amount, I get a feeling that food is sitting in my lower chest (on top of the band). If I have chewed sufficiently (usually so much that the food isn't really any fun to swallow and is now tasteless), it eventually (in the next minute or so) goes down and I take another bite. If I have not chewed enough or I do not rest between bites, the feeling in my chest is soon more uncomfortable, I have difficulty talking, swallowing, and forget drinking. I have to totally stop and wait for a real discomfort to go away (PAIN if I really blew it). Sooner than later you end the meal because it has been real effort to eat in slow motion and there is not the same sense of wanting to eat more or needing to fill up. After a few weeks it is more trouble to eat than not eat. I "diet" all the time now. I follow the rules easily if I am properly "filled." I am motivated because it is (in comparison to no band) relatively painless to eat a small amount and too much trouble to eat a large amount. Even when I "slip" it is not a slip because it was a few bites of whatever instead of "blowing it." When I find myself able to eat a lot, I can go for a fill, get a boost to my program and it is not difficult, at all. If I do not eat around the band (only eat things that are unusually easy to get down, i.e. ice cream, shakes, puddings, etc.), I cannot sabotage myself. When eating solids, following the rules and being properly filled, it is impossible to go off the diet. You don't care about eating like you used to. Filling yourself up has taken on new meaning. As you lose weight, you want to move more because it is easier to move, you do not sweat as much, and you can fit in the boat or bend over easily or a million other ways being thinner effects someone. Your husband will never get it and shouldn't expect to- he is thin. His metabolism works well and he is VERY motivated to help it by having to exercise or go out of his mind. (Again, ask him to sacrifice all exercise- or even cut his routine down to a 20 minute walk a day (After all you will be giving up most of the food you want). It will be almost impossible for him. Suggest he wait 30 minutes more, after he becomes hungry, to eat (you deprive yourself and are hungry all day when dieting), to give up all sweets, and to not drink with meals. He will quickly come to see how your life, right now, is run by food, weight, calories, and exercise. He might develop empathy and more sympathy than the ,"Just push away from the table and exercise and you will lose weight," politically current view of why we are fat (no willpower). He never has to push away from the table, he just fills up the hole whenever he wants to and eats until he is full. He truly believes he can eat what he wants because he sacrifices by exercising and "watching what he eats." That is all he does- Watch- and then he eats it. You, on the other hand are expected to adopt the deficit model, sacrifice, suffer for the cause and do it forever if you expect to be and stay thin. I have been married 23 years. My husband has always said what your husband said. And I tried, and tried. I am a good partner to him and have raised kids, kept a house, worked part time, and took care of everything for everyone. I wanted this for me and made the plans, told my husband I was going in a few weeks and he could ask me anything he wanted. I did not bargain with him because he has always bought anything he needed or wanted. It was my turn. AND I wanted to stay healthy, I wanted to please him, I wanted more and better sex for us both, and I absolutely know that my problem was not a matter of lack of self discipline, an inability to sacrifice, or being obstinate and not wanting to please him. After all, I suffered much more. NO ONE would chose to be fat. It is just too hard in our society. Anyway, hope this helps. I will send this to you to make sure that you see it. Your husband is motivated by many things to have said what he said and to make his bargain with you but he believes he is coming from a loving place... if only he could consider the wasted time and effort on a losing battle. Also, I am a nurse practitioner and I received better care in a cleaner environment, with more professional providers, than in any of the twenty hospitals I have been in, and worked in, in the last thirtyone years of my nursing career. If you have any questions feel free to write and ask. Ellen

If you believe you are at your sweet spot- why drink barium? Are you losing pretty easily?

Am only 12 days post op- still on full liq. Weighed 256 before diet- lost 12 lbs 244 preop 252 post op- gained 8#fluid retention from surgery 235 today, 12 days post op. 21 lbs total Have been eating sugar free jello, custard, pureed low fat soups, popsicles, water with clear protein liquid in it. Went to a party yesterday- really hard, drank my protein water. I really try to do the "see how little you can eat so that you are not hungry." Will go to solids July 1st and can already see that it will be challenging. It is easy to mush things with your mouth and teeth and if you have long enough to eat, you CAN eat anything. So I think the key is knowing you are on a diet, the only difference is the size of your receptacle Custard-7eggs, quart non fat milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4c granulated splenda (can use more if you wish). Sprinkle with nutmeg. Place in hot water bath. Cook at 325 for 1 1/2 hrs. Cool. (can sweat off water because of the skim milk but drain and the rest of it is yummy.)

Do it at one of your fill visits. I was banded on the 10th and believe me, you have enough on your hands during your banding visit without having to sit there for an hour with your mouth stretched wide with a dam in place.

bariatriceating.com sells clear 3oz protein "bullets"- look like testtubes. I have been retaining fluid since surgery, am really hungry and these have really helped. I water them down with a huge amount of water so they taste like vitamin water- they provide 42 gms protein and have really helped me feel better and heal. Because they are clear you can have them and Dr. Acosta told me to use them when I didn't feel well. Also needed to drink more. good luck.

Denise- I gained 7 lbs with the surgery- am still retaining water. Am just back at preop weight so hang in there. I have to keep reminding myself that it has only been 5 days. I feel miserable sometimes. Exhausted, bloated, waterlogged (drinking enough?), etc. I'm right there with ya.

paula- love the new picture of you (avatar). If you have Julie Ts email or location- can you send it to me. cfuture88@hotmail.com thanks

Hey Paula- love your new picture. Coughing increases intrathoracic pressures and you diaphram bounces against the pouch.

If you use nonfat evaporated milk, you can make real pumpkin pie filling- just without the crust- splenda if you like.