imworthit

Hi Tamcat~ I will be having surgery on the 11th also! See you at OCC! It's so very nice there.... the staff are so very considerate and truly care about the patients! Cheryl

HEY ANGIE~ Thanx for the greeting...... I appreciate your 'frustration' with the fill issue, however~ it does take time to find that 'sweet spot' so please hon, try not to be concerned with how many you have. It's YOUR RIGHT to seek out what feels perfect to you! (yes, I read ur issue w/having #5 and the readable sighs ) Although the money part truly does hit us hard, that's for sure! Congrats on this one, it sounds like it may be the ticket! Yes, to answer your question~ something did happen to require a 2nd surgery... I will offer detail if you're still interested after surgery. I cannot really say what the problem is~ due to not having an endoscopy/flouro done yet. I have my opinion, but of course I'm not a doctor..... So rather than be negative I will put the past 2 1/2 years behind me and go forward with a healthy positive attitude and get this weight OFFFFFFFF! WOO HOO! It can be done, as my band sister has lost 100 lbs and her surgery was a week after mine! So I know that I know it's possible! Alrightie, I need to get off the 'puter and back to packing! sigh.... We are staying 5 days again so we can SHOP SHOP SHOP! Perfect timing for Christmas gifts! Yay! Take care and I will update my progress soon!

Hello there Funmama!! Congrats on getting banded this coming Friday~!! I will be there also for a check up and most likely surgery! I shall see you there! My name is Cheryl by the way Have a safe trip and perhaps we can walk together Fri eve in the center after surgery! **I FORGOT how to post and do stuff on here! It's been FOREVER! AHHHHHH!

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> WOO HOOOOOO! WAY TO GO~! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AND WE SUPPORT YOUR WONDERFUL LOSS AND GAIN OF A TERRIFIC HOBBY!!! =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

HIYA HONEY!!!! Listen, I forgot to tell you that Fitzpatrick's office also does acupuncture........I read a brochure there that it is especially excellent for your fibromyalgia! Reading this made me want to congratulate you for WALKING each and every day that walk to and from the bus because it's more than quite a bit of us have done lately........(((or maybe JUST me! ))) Love ya and see you Saturday!!! (email me the addy and I will mapquest!) Your pdx bandie~ Cheryl

I FEEEEEEEEEL YOUR PAIN WITH THE WHOLE BROTH DEAL! Lemme tell ya I cannot even stand the SMELL of it anymore! I did end up switching to MISO soup around the 4th day and I will tell u I was so very happy! All I did was strain the seaweed and tofu chunks until I could actually mush the tofu (extra protein) into the miso soup! MMMMMMMMMMMM! wonderful and better than high sodium broths!!! Aaaaand I found the protein water (Special K) has more sugar than protein! It made me cranky! So........ I went to GNC and bought other types of good water and sugar free Torani Raspberry flavored syrups to add to crushed ice so that I would maintain my water intake daily........... I added protein powder (soy) to almost everything I drank so my energy wasn't lacking............ Now I have just moved to Whey Protein Powder by Jay Robb and its amazingly expensive, but GREAT as it has 25mg of protein per scoop and NO sugar, NO fat, NO CARBS!!!! IT could use some better flavor other than Stevia, but if it keeps me away from the extra sugar then I am ALL OVER IT! Just know that you will soon pass this healing phase and move on to other good stuff............. so we understand your fading tolerance to the ol' blahhhh broth stage............. Patience and grab that post op paper from Dr. Miranda cuz I know that like the sugar free popsicles ALWAYS helped break up the monotony for me! best of luck and congrats on your band! Take care! Cheryl

You guys all rock! Thanx for the vitamin feedback and info...........This is WHY we have a forum! Everyone of us have been included in the 'hit and miss' kinda stages and sharing our woes and successes can only serve to help others and laugh at ourselves as we live and learn this thing called the LAPBAND baby!

Chewable vitamins? DUH! How come I missed the bus on that one? How silly of me............ That will be my NEXT purchase. I can't believe I didn't even entertain that idea! Thank you guys for your quick responses and for the web addy Rachelle! take care all and happy banding! > Cheryl

Hi forum fam................ I am cracking up because I am not normally a whiner............. BUT...... More often than not, I find myself struggling to take my liquid vitamins.......... That is nuts, because normally~ if it were a pill form vitamin it would be no prob............ I have liquid Centrum.......... And it's so disgusting! Bright yellow (bile in appearance if you really want to know) smelly and so horrible~! I want to take care of myself and I KNOW what I know when it comes to supplying your body with enuf nutrients. We need to heal and adjust to the band without depriving our bods of what it needs.......... So it's not like I don't realize the value of why we do this.............. HOWEVER......... As I am a cheapskate and don't waste anything, I am involved in a full blown struggle each and every day when it comes to this nasty ritual........... My daughter can smell it on the spoon even after I rinsed it off....... She grosses out with it even on my breath. I immediately put a s.f. fruit bar in my mouth to kill the taste. What a bad example I am to my 10 yr old! Like a pacifier in the mouth of a big ol' crybaby, I walk around being grossed out for like 10 minutes suckin' all the flavor out of my victim of the day till the vita-taste is completely outta my mouth........ Seems like an eternity.......... Thought I would just complain to folks who have had a 'hit n miss' with LapBand aftercare purchases............ Or if you are a pre bander wanting to learn from my mistake....... Hee hee. I'm riding this one out....... I think it was only 14.00 or something......... But COMPLAINING IS FREE! HOW COOL! I thank you all for your time and hopefully have amused some of you that know what I'm talkin' about! Shheeesh! Anyone got a good SECOND TIME'S A CHARM liquid vitamin? Take care! Cheryl

Judy............ How come I get the news last? Sorry you were freaking out hon.............. WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT eating and spitting food out anyways? That sounds crazy! Hee hee............ Chicken that melts in your mouth? Hmmmm. We don't have it that good here.......I don't think I've ever made it that well! So no PB? I'm hoping that it went smooth for ya! The growling when food gets there, is common with me also...........You are not alone there! It seems like you could have PB'd if it were a large chunk or not chewed well or to eat more than one. That was my case with the 'salad' part of potato salad. I ate the 'sediment' if you will~ and it backed up on me like a stopped up pipe..........too much or too fast ~ i just couldn't believe it! So I feel like I have 'food fear' as I don't want that to happen AGAIN....... Makes me very aware of who I am when I eat. SLOW IT DOWN needs to be my motto. Even if it's three bites of yellow colored sand that tasted like potato salad....... Luv ya chickadee! > email me today if u have time, sorry I didn't get your previous one! ttys pdx band bud! Cheryl

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) YAY FOOD! Here I am trying to stay on my protein and optima shakes............. but FORGET ABOUT IT............ hee hee.......... I am so very ready to try some real food! My 21 days is up on Monday! Yes, thats tomorrow! Woo hoo! What ever shall I eat? So now I will be given a green light to try some food, and I am still nervous myself about the chicken/rice/starchy/breads deal. The only thing I truly hope my band will not give me issues with is brown rice and tofu.......... well, and chicken............ if I could eat salad rolls (thai food that I love to make) then that would be a plus. I read a ladies horror story on here regarding the shell of a shrimp that got caught and she had hell to pay for 6 hours or so.........that TOO makes me paranoid about shrimp in my rolls...........So seriously, HELP with additional first food ideas............. Can we have green salads? Or were we to wait on that? uhgggg. time to research again............... ttys fellow bandsters........... Cheryl

Yes, I am able to walk DAILY...........I think most of us were advised to do this from the get go...........To me, THIS IS exercise! As I have never done any cardio for like 18 years............I am also very excited to do this Ab Crunch Dance exercise program in 3 months............. That stuck in my mind that sit-ups and crunches were 3 months out from having the surgery, and I believe they said 3 weeks out for the exercise bike.........I am planning on calling to confirm exactly when I can get on my bike. (Yes, all these years it has been a rack for my clothes to dry, and a place for dust to collect) I heard that Weight Watchers sells a pedometer that can be set from walk mode to exercise walk mode and back to regular walk mode and calculates all kinds of cool things! I want one! $30.00 only! Woo hoo.............. Take care! Cheryl

Yeah, I figured it was something I would get into trouble doing..............SO....last nite, what I did was I put a can of 'lentil and sausage soup' in the blender along with a can of diced tomatoes~ and pureed it into liquid............ NOT ONE CHUNK of anything in it............I didn't drain the tomatoes before adding it into the blender, so that it would 'water down' the soup.......It was GOOD! I ate like 1/2 cup of it cold, and even tho it sounds disgusting it was wonderful!!!!! Just to have another taste in my mouth beyond protein shakes was the bomb! *hubby didn't want to take a bite, as it looked awful, but finally relented and said it tasted like pizza!* HA!! I want to start some sort of cookbook for lapband patients............ P'bing is nothing nice and it's dangerous for us who have no recourse in the U.S. if we slip our band..... We need some ideas on *LIQUID FOOD WONDERS* to help during this phase of transition from broth to drinkable Dannon to solids......... I like that we can all share on here..........These forums are exactly what us newbie banders need to discover and share and learn from each other!!!! ttys......... Cheryl

Hey Karmel!!!! I was banded 05/14/07..........How soon after you were banded and could begin to eat oatmeal and refried beans?I have wanted refried beans mixed with sour cream (to thin them) and some mild sauce for EVER NOW!!! ( It's been 15 days since I've been banded and just made me a soy protein/water/ice/optima 800-vanilla shake............ yum. or something..... Get back on here and tell me so I know that I could POSSIBLY try something little like my dream meal that I described for dinner TONIGHT! HAAAA TTYS, Cheryl

My friend Sanjay!!!!! I love that you even posted this! I too, have the butterball pucker.............. I thought also, it was the port. Thank God you are so all over it mister! I, unlike you~ didn't call....... As that was my only issue, and that my scars are healing up so wonderfully, I stuck my head in the sand and hoped for the best. Stupid me. Now I am applauding you and your wonderful posts on here! =D> You also handled the person who came on here attacking your journal of surgery process wonderfully. You are smart, AND WELL MANNERED? Geez........... What a package. Hope that the remainder of the holiday is a good one for you! I promise I am getting those photos processed SOON! That will be a hoot! ttys, Cheryl

MY JUDY!!!!! HONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why haven't you called me girl? I was waiting for you to heal and hadn't gotten an email from ya, so I was figuring you were super busy or something? Listen, feeling hungry IS TOTALLY WHAT I DID TOOOOOOOOOOOO! The weekend you were getting ready for TJ I was such a freak for food that I was watching THE FOOD NETWORK like crazy. I felt like I could eat my own foot off if it had some bar-b-que sauce on it! Seriously hungry..........but then, on the 7th day forward~ for some reason it became easier. I think for me, it was like a 'detox' stage for the carbs and sugar and soda or something like that? I don't think I will be moving to the mushy food stage for awhile. I am trying to be in the liquid protein stage so that I can continue to drop weight......... 29 lbs so far as of since I began my pre-op diet........ I love that my pants are falling off! So THAT makes it easier to deal with having my family eating Guiseppe's Pizza in front of me while I sip on minestrone BROTH only......... yikes. It's been 15 DAYS since my surgery.........Trippy. I've been a good girl. P-b'd ONCE and it sucked! It was the weekend I was being a fiend for food! It was on like a mushy baby food deviled ham deal. I needed meat so bad, but NEVER will I do that again. I went right back to the broth stage and started over from there. Today I went and bought Dannon Drinkable Immunity, blueberry and strawberry flavored..........YUMMMMMMY STUFF SISTA! And more miso soup, cuz I looooooooove it! Yellow curry soup was wonderful too on Saturday, but has ooooodles of sugar and sodium in it, so I looked like someone beat my face in on Sunday at church(VERY puffy) AND I gained one pound, so just say NO to curry soup for me from now on........... Liquid Centrum is also making me feel better...............Have you tried it? When I felt like a wilting flower by the time I got back from TJ that was just the pick me up I needed, vitamin wise..........Ya know? Good stuff, but tastes/smells terrible! You are so not alone in questioning your level of hunger........... I/we all get it........... When the paper in TJ said be careful of mental hunger for one week, that cracked me up.....Thinking my mind has complete control over my growling and starving stomach then, cuz I WANTED FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! ( Love ya Patootie! Shoot me an email when you can! Cheryl

I am flying into SD on Sunday May 13th.... for my 5/16 surgery! I have yet to find anyone coming in 5/13 or will be @ the hotel on 5/14 or 5/15......... We are coming early so we can spend a couple of days shoppin' and hanging out by the pool...........YAY! Anyone else out here that will be coming in on MOTHERS DAY???? I will be checking out on Friday May 18th 07..... Am I crazy to kick it in TJ for 5 days? I have never been and am really looking forward to getting out of the MOLDY state and catch some sun! Take care~ Cheryl

> Thank you everyone for this useful info............. I JUST got Dr. Ortiz 'Lapband for Life' book delivered today.......... So I will be reading quite a bit before my surgery. ((IN EXACTLY TWO WEEKS!!! YAY! )) Chew to goo will be forever stuck in my head. I am a faaaaast eater and am nervous that I will make that same mistake. I need to wear a t-shirt with the 'goo' logo on it or something till it's just a normal part of my routine........... Take care all.............. Everyone on here so far has been wonderful! Cheryl

Hey Judy. I wrote ya a separate message, but added this info.......... Photobucket.com acct. It's free and if you don't already have it, once getting your pics downloaded from you pc.......You have a few ways to copy and paste your image in the AVATAR portion of photos only........... Use the URL'S info and paste it into the avatar area and bingo! Good luck and I gave you my email addy fellow pdx band sis! ttys! Cheryl

I am reading several topics and discussions where 'p-bing' is mentioned. I don't know what that means. Is that a reaction from eating w/out chewing? HEEEEEEELP! What can I do to avoid this issue also? Gimme ALL THE INFO BANDERS! Thanx all........ I am so excited. I even have my first fill scheduled in July............ after my May 16th band w/Ortiz! Yay! talk to you all soon, Cheryl

SOUP? FOR 9 DAYS? I have alot to look forward to~! Just playing Annette. Forget your co-workers that are just being insensitive to your healing process and perhaps don't understand what would be the consequences of chompin' down on that ham n' cheese sandwich they just bought from the vending machine. YOU ARE doin' what you need to do, to make sure you don't mess up your band! At least you have made a life change that you are proud of now (congrats on the 12 lbs) and EACH and EVERY time you meet your weight goals! Yay for you! Congrats!!! Remember, soup isn't FOREVER............ KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! Take Care! Cheryl

:-? sorry. tried to delete this one...............my first reply. i am not the sharpest knife in the drawer evidently!

> Thank you OCC! I am so very very happy to have this procedure done! I am 275 right now at 5'8" and begin my 15 lb loss MONDAY! I was denied my gastric by-pass AFTER completion of all the nutrition/psych eval and classes etc. here in Pdx Oregon. NOW I see, it was meant to be. It has been over a year since then, and I got so depressed and wanted to continue with my journey. Who CARES about money? I AM WORTH IT, WE ALL ARE!!! Anyhoo............Glad that the LapBand will be my choice after all the research I continued during this year of 'insurance rejection'..... I am disabled due to a severe lung condition, (Never smoked) so I feel the LapBand will assist better with my disease than the 'other method'. wink. Carolyn is a blessing too! Love talking to her! She is awesome! I will be flying in on Mother's day, 05/13 to kick it in TJ for a few days before my surgery on 5/16! My 38th Birthday is the day after.........WOOT WOOT! I am so excited and just purchased our round trip tickets, and made the deposit online, last night. I have never flew first class. But I was paranoid with my size, that folks would be crawling over me in the isles on the flight home, so we are paying the higher costs to 'live it up' this one time!!! Flying back home on 5/18...... I need some Band Buddies on here, so add me if u feel like it, k? ANY INFO and SUGGESTIONS you can offer me would BE WONDERFUL! ANY DO'S AND DON'TS you have, send them to me!! NEED TO HEAR whatcha all know out here in LapBand world! So so so so happy! talk to ya soon! Thanx! Cheryl