Lap Band Surgery

Tomorrow I am having Lap Band surgery. Most people wouldn't want to talk about this but I think it's something that should be discussed. So I've decided to use this as my soap box to stand on. I'm going to try and keep up with this page as often as possible and let you know how my daily path is going with this. Please ask question or leave me messages!! I can use all the feedback that I can get. I have known a few people who have had weight loss surgery. 2 did not do well on it 3 have kept their weight off for 2-8 years so far. I know that it is a tool to use and only a tool. It is not the answer to a miracle of dropping weight and looking great and being healthy. I am going to work hard, exercise and think about myself for a change. My decision to do this is based only on health reasons. By losing weight, I will be able to abolish my diabetes, gain control over my genetic cholesterol numbers, and  be able to eventually take a lot less medications then I am currently on.
I'm not going to put my actual weight on here because... well.... I'm a chick and I don't have to damn it! And it's my blog and I get to make the rules right? Right! But what I will do is put my weight loss on here. It actually started on July 20th, 2012. The doctor started me on a 10 day liquid diet before surgery and then the surgery date was changed. So, since July 20th, I have lost 19 pounds. Not a bad start at all considering all I did was change my diet. And I didn't really stick to the diet the whole time. My main food was yogurt. Yogurt, Yogurt, Yogurt!!! The sound of that word is disgusting really. Yo-Gurt! I actually like yogurt but, not all the time! I did discover Greek Yogurt. Oh what a difference that is. When you are on a diet, it actually tastes like cheese cake. Oikos brand strawberry, cherry and peach in particular. But, when you are buying the small packages, they are about $1.25 each so I bought a large one, 32 oz. plain . No fruit on the big ones yet and to me, it tasted like crap. Very sour and just not right. I added about 2 teaspoons of granulated zero calorie sweetener and a can of mandarin oranges and then blended them with a mixer until the oranges were in tiny, tiny pieces. Then it tasted fine. I also ate bing cherries since they are in season and one of my favorite fruits. Low Cal jell-o has become one of my new friends. I had no clue it was basically the same as regular. Now the next 6 weeks I will be eating anything that can fit through a straw which is approximately the radius of the band. Well that sounds like lots of fun! NOT!!!! But, it will ensure that my stomach will stay the size of an egg. Yes, the size of a chicken egg. I will also be drinking protein shakes like my boyfriend does so that I get enough protein in my diet and taking a multi-vitamin for the rest of my life. If I had gastric bypass surgery, I would be taking a multitude of vitamins so that is a plus that it's just 1 pill and at Costo I got a bottle of 500 for about $10.00 so you can't beat that.
I do want to add here that I was going to have the gastric bypass surgery 2 years ago and I had to back out just days before surgery. I had been on a 5 year waiting list for it because at the time, my insurance company only worked with a few places in Missouri. I had to travel over 100 miles to Columbia, Mo several times to see the Dr there and to go to classes etc. During that time, no one mentioned that I would not be able to take pain meds such as percocet or vicodin ever again after surgery until about 3 days before surgery. I had recently had a total knee replacement and was still in severe pain. There was no way I could go without the pain meds so I had to let the surgery go. I was crushed to say the least. After waiting 5 years and also doing the research and waiting for my insurance to approve me (another 2 years) oh what a waste of time! So that was August 2010. Earlier this year, I found out that I was told a lie. After weight loss surgery, you CAN take pain meds. After the initial being thoroughly pissed offness wore off, I talked to my Dr and she got me right back on track with a new surgeon. The Institute for Advanced Bariatric Surgery was happy to have me as a patient. After going to their very informative seminar and then spending about an hour with the surgeon, he told me I was a very good candidate for the lap band which is much less evasive of a surgery. Their office took care of the insurance approval for me and then I had to meet up with a therapist for 1 session, a dietitian for a half hour and had a stress test to check on my heart. That's it, all clear for surgery. Less then 12 hours from now it will be done.