bandgroupie

Here is a photo that I found on the internet of what appears to be a reporter holding a band. It was helpful for me to see this photo and thought others might find it helpful too.

You're a brave woman Redhead!!!! I'll compliment you all the time if you come stay with me and prepare great meals

No you're the best! Wait a minute, I think Doug thinks he's the best of the bandsters:) I already need my first fill. I realized today that what restriction I thought I had was just the swelling. The bruising is almost gone and obviously so is the swelling. I'm hungry and I think it's definitely bigger than a walnut now I can't wait to see you my BBB and the others again Counting the days ...

Do we really have to tell you the truth

I'm on day 15 of the post op diet and noticed that I have been craving salt. Dr. Ortiz told me that chocolate was my enemy and I wonder if he put a hex on me because I have no cravings for chocoloate but salt........................... Ate some chips today and wanted to throw myself off a cliff. How could I? Anyway, anyone else craving salt?

Hello April 4th Band Buddy :) A certain person wants to know if you have both of your kidneys Ha ha

This is who we tipped: 1. The driver who picked us up at the airport. 2. The bellhop who carried our bags to our hotel room. 3. The servers in the restaurants. 4. The bellhop who took our luggage from the hotel lobby and loaded it in van for our return to the airport. 5. The driver who returned us to the airport. 6. The airline employee who checked our bags for us outside the airline terminal. We tipped the servers at the restaurants 15%. With regard to the drivers and bellhops, some people didn't tip at all. Some tipped $1.00 to each person and some tipped $5.00. Plan an extra $20-25 to use for tipping the bellhops and drivers.

Lafffffin, my husband wanted to take a picture of me wearing the paper thong. Did it rub? Sister! It rode, it rubbed, and, in fact, got lost ROFLMAO

Dr. Miranda, the nutritionist, told me to avoid soft breads, pasta, sticky rice, tortillas, etc. She did say if we ate let's say a tortilla, to eat that last. She also said to toast the bread. So based on the advice she gave me, I will be having a sandwich on April 25th bread toasted, of course

I think that is the mental hunger we were warned about!!!! Seriously, the other day I could smell McDonalds chicken mcnuggets and I was no where near a McDonalds! My best band buddy sucked the juice out of a hot dog! We are getting past the mental hunger by making a list of what we want to eat after we're finished with the liquid diet. Trust me, our lists are pretty wacko and McDonalds chicken mcnuggets are tops on both of our lists! WAY TOO FUNNY.

Glad your surgery went well and that you get a week to recuperate. I had surgery on April 4 and returned to work under my normal full time schedule April 8. I had no problems with returning to work. But again, everybody is different and, of course, some have jobs that require more activity than mine. I listened to an author talk up her book on a radio talk show today. I cannot remember the name of her new book which was a spinoff of an earlier book, but I did remember the name of the first book - Good in Bed. Go get the book, read it while you're recuperating and let me know if it is as good of a read as they made it sound

Welcome neighbor! Well sorta neighbor If you are considering lap band surgery at the OCC in Tijuana, here are my two pointers with regard to keeping the cost down: If you opt for a semi-private room at the OCC, there is a possiblity that you could save approximately $500. Remember to ask Lori (patient coordinator at the OCC) about this. The $500 will pay for your plane fare and give you money to spend on Revolution Boulevard. If you pay for your surgery via credit card, consider paying it all at once, up front, (instead of paying the deposit and the balance later). If you pay up front with credit cards, there is a possibility you could save a couple hundred dollars by avoiding the charge to use a credit card. Again, enough to pay for a plane ticket. Ask Lori! And I am speaking from experience I have two choices for my first fill. Go to Roswell, GA (which is probably a 3-4 hour drive for me) or fly to San Diego and go to the OCC. I am opting to go to the OCC for my first fill because the cost will not be that much more to go to Tijuana. I'm pretty sure that I'll return to the OCC for any additional fills. I'm returning for my first fill in May. Arriving May 16 with the fill scheduled for the 17th. The cost of plane tickets seem to be rising!

Healthy Honey Oatmeal Cookies Ingredients 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey 1 egg 1 tablespoon water 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (all-purpouse is good too) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 cups rolled oat (aka oatmeal) chopped dates (optional) or fig (optional) or raisins (optional) or currant (optional) or chocolate chips (optional) or chopped nuts, etc (optional) Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray (just for convenience :]). 2Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, brown sugar, honey, egg and water thoroughly. Sift together the dry ingredients then stir in the oats. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Add any additional ingredients you've chosen. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Glad you liked it! I went out to lunch today at a Mexican restaurant and ordered their torilla soup. There's wasn't as good as what I made from the recipe! I'm making it again tomorrow night and am going to add a tablespoon of sour cream to it......

Kimmie, I cannot wait until I can have a Lean Cuisine .... I want the meatloaf and mashed potato meal I think I will be in heaven..... sorta how I felt once I had my first can of creamy tomato soup :0 Life's simple pleasues, eh?

I recommended the gum and was told that it was okay to chew. I hope I wasn't given improper information. In any event, it has come in handy and has been helpful for me to chew gum. I guess, check with your doctor, but I'm "stick"ing to mine!

Hi there! I guess we were banded near the same time. I'm scheduled for my first fill on May 17. We'll arrive May 16 and will be staying at the Lucerna. I had a lot of swelling afer the surgery and only noticed some weight loss a couple of days ago. I expect we'll notice more as the swelling goes down. And remember, they told us not to expect great weight loss until our band was fill! I'm wondering if the reason why many don't see much weight loss is that they are consuming too few calories/protien.... I'm guilty of that. Anyway, hope to see you while you're in Tijuana!

This is what I would recommend you take: Socks Gas X strips Gum Comfortable clothing (cotton shirts) Chicken Boullion cubes Special K Protien water mix (Pink Lemonaide) or Crystel Light Digital camera w/batteries! Magic Marker to get Dr. Ortiz to sign your paper thong Bandaids Not sure if you can pack these items in your "checked" luggage, but if you can: 1 4-pack of Jello 1 4-pack or 6-pak of apple juice in cartons

Hi Caro, My husband and I were picked up from the airport and taken to the Clinic for preop testing and then we were taken to the hotel. The next morning, Ms. Ortiz picked up the patients first and then returned for the family members. When visiting hours were over (4:30 p.m.), Ms. Ortiz drove the family members back to the hotel. The day after surgery, Ms. Ortiz brought my husband to the clinic bright and early that morning, and he rode back to the hotel with me in her car. We needed transportation (via cab) only to go to the restaurant the evening before my surgery and to go shopping (Mall and Revolution Boulevard) after surgery. We chose to stay one extra night (Thursday-Sunday) so we paid for one night's stay at the hotel. We were taken to the airport on Monday morning. They make everything easy!

Careful with the enchilada sauce - remember MILD or only 1/2 can!!!!! It is freakin good :) H O N E S T !!!

I did not bring my own food and regret it. I spent way too much money in the hotel restaurant after surgery and "drank" very little. I drank about 1/4 of my apple juice, about 4 spoons of my broth, and about two bites of jello. It's expensive! I now wish I would have prepared better. To do that, I would have brought the following: 1. Chicken boullion cubes 2. Special K Protien Water Packets - Pink Lemonaide Flavored (or Crystal Light packets) 3. 1 4-pack of jello (not sure if you can pack this in your checked baggage) 4. 4-6 Apple Juice drink cartons (remember you only mix 50/50 with water) (not sure if you can pack this in your checked baggage). If you bring those items, you won't spend any money on food postop until you get back home! The hotel left us 2 bottled waters a day in our room. Makes sense to me!

Chicken Tortilla Soup: 1 can of Cream of Chicken soup 1 can of Cheddar Cheese soup 1/2 can of MILD enchilada sauce* 1 can of skim milk Mix ingredients in saucepan and heat on stove, stirring until the Cream of Chicken and Cheese soups melt and combine well with the other ingredients. *The original recipe calls for 1 can of MILD enchilada sauce but I would urge you to start with just 1/2 the can and only add the other 1/2 if it does not taste too spicy. I also used store brand soups. They were cheaper and I didn't miss any taste! If your family is eating with you, offer them some tortilla chips to crush and put on top of their soup. This recipe was provided by my niece who made this soup for her husband during his postop surgery and she said this is what got him through it! If anyone knows why this recipe would not be good during the postop "creamy soup" stage, please let us know. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!

Thanks everyone > iwas banded last night instead of today. Everything went well. will fill you in soon. brook #-o

Thanks for reassuring me re: hematoma. Also glad to know that you had the willpower not to tackle the Easter basket I'm on day five of liquids though I'm not hungry, I think I'm smelling McDonalds even though I'm no where near one