vix

Oh no....that's too bad! Hope you are feeling better. This is definitely not something I'm looking forward to...ick! :bad:

Hi Jessica,

My hubby and I will be flying in on Midwest flight 532 and land at 11:52 am. Heck, we might be on the same shuttle to the hotel! You can't miss my husband, he's a 6'4" tall blondish grey guy and skinny (of course)...lol

I'm so excited to meet you!

That sounds yummy!!!

You all are so wonderful! I was thinking the other day after reading an experience of a lady who had her banding somewhere else that perhaps the OCC patients experience less pain because the docs there have done so many that they don't have to poke around as much and are gentler because they know that it will make a difference in the pain afterwards. I dunno if this makes sense or not, but I'm going to think of it this way and it will be easier for me...lol

Thanks so much guys! It is such a wonderful feeling to know I have all this support here. I don't think I could have done it without all of you!

Stormy, I will give you every detail!

I know what you are feeling! It's so exciting! Keep your spirits up and can't wait to see how well you do!

Thanks guys! I think I will only buy a couple in case I can't tolerate them.. :lb12:

Awww....thanks guys! I leave Thursday morning and arrive there at 11:30 am (I got a straight flight so it's only 3 hours, 17 minutes)...

I promise to let ya know everything and am so excited! I only have to lose 1 more pound of my preop diet and have 4 more days so I know I can do it. Maybe I will get down even lower than that. I'm excited and super nervous, but I will be thinking of all of you, that's for sure!

Thank goodness you are ok! Good information to know...thanks for sharing and hope you are back to normal soon... >

Thanks Julie! I am using the Dessert Leans that someone had recommended and they are pretty good, but I want to have something that I can get down easily and something that doesn't require me to "mix" since I sometimes am in places that I am not near a blender. Also, my knee surgery is 2 weeks after my band surgery and my husband will be out of town for a week only 4 days after that, so I am trying to make it easy on myself.. I will have to definitely try the bullets if you say they aren't "moldy"...lol

I was thinking of getting some of these for after surgery, but in researching them, most of what I've read is that they taste like "mold"...or worse. What exactly are they anyway and are they similar to protein powder? Is there anything else to take that would be similar and not so horrendous? Do I need them? Do they help with hunger? Anything that anyone can tell me would be beneficial. Thanks so much...

Not FAIR!!!! I'm on my preop diet right now and shouldn't have read this! LOL

I can't BELIEVE that a can of green beans and beef jerky would make me excited to eat again! LOL

(

Cathy...right now nothing makes me feel sexy...but I hope that will change in about a month.

But...I had to say that I LOVE your hair! You look adorable and beautiful and YOU certainly should feel sexy because you definitely LOOK sexy! You are a huge inspiration to me and I'm sure you are to others as well! =D>

I only have 5 days to go before banding, and I'm getting through the preop diet fine and have only 4 pounds to lose of the goal that Dr. Miranda gave me so I think I will make it. But, my original fears have started to creep back to the back of my mind. I'm starting to worry about pain and this is really getting to me. I am trying really hard to be strong around my husband since that was one of his concerns about my doing this, that I would be in pain...so I guess you guys get to hear my worries. I'm just so worried about being in pain the day after and then flying home. I know some people have said that they didn't have pain at all and then I just read on here where another person was in pain for several days. I know pain is subjective, but I know the power of the mind and I am just concerned that maybe I am talking myself in to pain. One of my unusual problems is that I am allergic to almost all pain medications. I can't take oxycontin, percodan, vicodin, codeine, darvon or darvocet. The only pain medications I can take are morphine (which I KNOW is too strong for this surgery), toradol (which is really hard on your kidneys I guess) and tramadol (but since tramadol is the only thing that I can use easily, I am almost immune to it). I'm just starting to let the fear get to me I guess...;(

I'm going through the same thing you are Heidi. I am due to be banded next Friday at OCC and it's been very very hard. I only drink 2 protein shakes a day and a Lean Cuisine for dinner....that's all I've had for the past week. But, last night I was so hungry that I thought I was going to pass out so I went back into the paperwork that told me what I could and couldn't eat and was shocked that I had missed some actual FOOD to eat. My paperwork says I can have green salad (only green stuff like lettuce, celery, broccoli, asparagus and green pepper), vegetable soup (1 cup), 2 diet drinks a day, sugar free popsicles and sugar free jello. No protein bars or pudding, but to me the protein bars are just like candy bars anyway and don't get your mindset into getting that kinda thing out of your system.

I've had a headache and have been weak for most of this time, and the hardest part for me is when my husband eats his meals, but every time I start to panic and think I am going to break down, I just think of how horrible I would feel afterwards and how I only have 5 days until I get on the airplane to go to the OCC. I know it's going to get harder on me before it gets better, but I just think that my head is in the right place right now and I am ready. I truly think that you have to be in that mindset before you can make this work. But, you can get yourself in that mindset, and you can get yourself in it now. I think of the other people out there who are doing this right now and say to myself..."if they can do it, so can I!" I am NOT a strong person....truly I'm not...but by golly I am going to be strong for this day at least and then deal with tomorrow when it comes. That's how I've been handling this...one day at a time and so can you.

Think of how wonderful you will feel when you get the weight off. Do you hurt when you walk? I don't know how old you are, but every step I take hurts. My feet hurts...my body hurts. Think of being able to walk without hurting. I can't look at myself in a mirror...I avoid mirrors. I can't wait to look in a mirror! I can't wait to be able to take 3 bites of something and be satisfied instead of having to eat 2 servings of it. We all have different things that matter to us. Take what means the most to you and use that to your advantage. You can do it! You will do it! I truly wish that I could wake up in a month and have this all be over, but for some reason I feel that this part (as awful as it is) is something that I have to go through to get better.

Contact me any time and I'll be happy to talk with you...we all need each other. My very best to you...

Why do you still have this doctor? There are a lot of caring, compassionate doctors out there who may even have weight problems themselves.

It's a long story why I still have him but I'll boil it down to convenience for me. I have a lot of health issues, so I have specialists for those and so this doctor is mainly for "regular stuff." He's about 3 minutes from my house and I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes in the waiting room to get in because their office is run perfectly. Also, they are amazing at getting you in for last minute stuff. I have been through nightmares of doctors offices making you wait 2 hours in the waiting room and even one that forgot me in a back room. It's worth it for me to have the convenience and I can handle him. He doesn't phase me or make me feel bad about his opinion. Besides, once I lose weight and get healthier, he will have to eat his words...

It's funny because my orthopaedic doc was really nice about it. Some of you might remember that I had a quandry about whether to have my lapband or my arthroscopic knee surgery first...well I talked to my orthopaedic doc the day before I talked to my regular doc and he told me that he's prefer to wait until my incisions from my lapband were healed. So, at least I know he knows something about it and he didn't try to talk me out of it or put it down.

I don't care if the Surgeon General personally came to my house and told me he advised me NOT to have the lapband surgery...I'd do it anyway! That's how set on it I am...lol

I dreaded telling him almost as much as I dreaded telling my husband, but my husband made me promise to talk to him, so I made an appointment and I went in to tell him.

First I need to tell you that he is young, active...a marathon runner and to give you an example of his mind-set, one time when I was sick as a dog, in the Emergency Room throwing up and came to visit him a week later and had lost 10# he CONGRATULATED ME on what a great job I'd done on my weight loss. So, I knew he would not be excited about this because with having the lapband, I will get healthier and healthier and won't be in the doctors so much.

Well, anyway, I told him and asked him his thoughts. He told me that it was unnecessary...NOT a "non-invasive" procedure as it is advertised to be and that "all I need to do is exercise more and eat less"....SIMPLE. He said there was NO WAY I wouldn't lose weight if I exercised more and ate less. Well ....

DUHHHHHHHHHH

If I could make that one work for me I wouldn't NEED the lapband!!!

I had to laugh though privately because he does a LOT of botox, skin peels, etc. and you have no idea how much I had to bite my tongue not to ask him how "necessary" these procedures were....

Oh well...it wasn't anything I didn't expect...just was a bit comical I thought...

What a horrible experience! I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope that you continue to recover well. My thoughts will be with you...

I truly can't believe all I've learned from this board! My surgery is one week from tomorrow, and I can't even imagine getting through it without this forum. I am reading "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" and it is interesting, but the experiences that others have made are just so valuable!

If there are any newbies out there who are reading this for the first time, my suggestion to you is to come back once a day and read everything you can from this forum. It will make your anxiety just completely lessen. When I first came here I was terrified of surgery and in just the few weeks I've been here waiting for my surgery next week, I am now EXCITED to have the surgery!

You guys are the absolute best EVER, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!!!

Oh Jessica that just sucks!!! I am afraid now because I haven't even talked to Dr. M once and am scheduled for my surgery the same day as you. I have just started my liquid diet and didn't know we were supposed to talk to her.

I dunno what I should do - whether to contact her or not now...

If I contact her and she asks me why I haven't...I will just tell her that I have heard that she was so mean that I have been afraid to...lol

Seriously though...I will see you next week and we will both have our surgery and we will do fine. You are doing WONDERFUL on your loss and you can only do what your body lets you do. I mean you can't cut off a body part to lose more pounds! I'll support you and we will not let anyone there bother us...

Those clothes are BAGGY!!!!! I think you look absolutely beautiful!

1) Sugar free Popsicles. And Sugar free fudge pops.

2) Sugar free jello.

3) Pudding, but only eat it when you get past the clear liquids only stage.

Hope these few thing help.

Dianna

Someone suggested the packet out of the Top Ramen package to make into a broth. I have bought these for my upcoming surgery next week since I think regular bouillon cubes would be boring and taste acky...

Donna,

I went through this exact situation about a month ago and I thought I was going to be divorced because of it. I didn't tell my husband until I had made the decision on my own and had secured the money (and yes...I took 1/2 of it out of our savings) and got a loan for the other 1/2, and he was beyond furious. He gave me all of the same guilt trip and I flat out told him in a letter that if he didn't support me on this and if I didn't have the surgery, then I doubted I would live another year...definitely not another 5 years. (I have a lot of other health issues). And then, as if he wasn't furious enough, I told him I was going to Mexico. He about had a coronary! But, I just told him straight out that it was this for me or that I would no longer be here and I honest to God was prepared to be divorced if I had to be (and believe me...I adore my husband), but I couldn't see myself going on like this. My husband was very similar to yours in that he said that he would help me. But, the only thing he has helped me with in our 7 years of marriage is gaining 60 # with his gourmet cooking and doing everything for me. And, to top it off, he's 6'4", 190# and a marathon runner. So believe me when I say that he doesn't have a CLUE what it takes to do this.

To make a long story short, just in a weeks time, he turned around and is my greatest supporter. He is going with me and is already planning for how we will deal with things when we come home. At first I felt like I had betrayed him by not telling him and taking the money from our "partnership," but then I realized that he was the one who was betraying me by not allowing me to do the only thing that I know will save my life.

It sounds like you weren't in the desperate situation I was...but I would never EVER not have the surgery because my husband or anyone else told me to because it is only me who has to live my life inside of me, and I truly hope that your husband has a change of heart...I sincerely do. Best of luck to you and we will all still be here when you are ready to have your surgery.

Don't worry Stormy! I'm definitely NOT strong! So I understand your struggles...I honestly think that everyone here does. I am 9 days out from surgery and I'm freaking about everything. I just sit back and try to do what everyone else says helped them and that does help a lot. We are both gonna make it...