Lise Answers Basic Questions About Lap Band Life

I’ve had Lise The Loser linked in my blogroll for a couple weeks now. She did a good post the other day though, that I wanted to link quickly because I really approve of first person information. You gotta talk to your doctor, but I think that hearing from the people who have been through the process already makes a huge difference in your decision making.

I was writing to my friend Christina complaining (go figure…me…complain…unheard of!) I was afraid that I’m becoming a boring bandster now that I’m in this post-surgery/pre-fill/no restriction phase. So, the brilliant recently banded Christina wrote:

“First of all, you are not a boring bandster, you can always give updates on your pain. I know that is always a popular topic, people always to know what to expect. You can give an update so the people behind you can get an idea of how you are doing these days… are you totally pain free? do you not feel like your innards are coming out anymore? Are you pooping normally, eating normally, getting all the protein, do you have hiccups (I do) yadda yadda yadda. How it felt the first time you sneezed. (hurts!) that’s all stuff that at least I would want to know. we all know you hate exercise so i wont look for that :-)”

Isn’t she a smart cookie? I think so! So here are the answers (I feel like I’m being interviewed…how fun!):

Then she goes on to answer the questions. The first question is about pain, so I know that a lot of people are interested in that:

Are you totally pain free? Yes! I’m totally 100% pain free. I would say I became pain free at the 2.5 week mark. I can now sleep on any side I like, twist, turn, bend, and all of the other wonderfullness that comes with being pain free. I remember feeling like I would always have some pain during the 2nd week…when it hurt to even sit for long periods of time – but this is over. I forget I even have the band in me. Port pain is a thing of the past.

Good news there. I thought the questions on food were interesting, and Lise’s answers certainly echo what Lorraine Kay had to say in her videotaped interviews.

Eating normally? Totally normal. Everything except for bread, pasta, rice, crackers, etc. Basically nothing with wheat or too many carbs. But I eat steak, carrots, all fish, chicken, mushrooms, tuna fish, squash, etc. Have not had a problem yet…no vomiting…sometimes I wonder if the band is really in me or if it’s all a mental test and I’m “rat number 2128″.

Getting all the protein? Most definitely. I eat tuna everyday for lunch and have either steak, chicken or salmon for dinner each night. I am Mrs. Protein. I also drink a SlimFast-a-ccino shake every night before bed because it makes me feel like I’m having ice-cream. Yummm. It’s packed with protein, as well.

Lise is a prolific blogger and I’m sure you’ll see a lot of the questions you have answered in the course of her journal.

Lorraine Kay’s Lap Band Weight Loss Story Finale

In some ways this is my favorite clip in the entire series. The interview was over and we were packing stuff up to leave, when I finally remembered to ask Lorraine about her career change. She talks about becoming a script supervisor and how she never would have done that when she was heavy. And she also talks about her life as a professional musician and performer and how that has changed with her weight loss.

Here is the link to Lorraine Kay’s MySpace page where you can hear some of her music:
http://www.myspace.com/lorrainekay

Great Lap Band Blog

I just stumbled on Gwen’s WLS Journey blog this morning. She’s an RN who is studying nurse anesthesiology. She’s been banded for a year and she’s very thoughtful about the process and her relationship with food. Her entries aren’t short so if you’re looking for pithy little blurbs, she’s not your writer. Her slide show with different images of herself at different stages of weight loss is really nice.

She has a new physician who is advising her to increase her protein intake. I haven’t read anything quite like this before:

So anyway, I see Dr Pennings, at last. He didn’t seem super impressed with my weight loss at 1 year, but he saw I was within 20 lbs of goal. He liked how much I am exercising. They did a Tanita body composition thingie and determined that I had 120 lbs of lean mass, and he used that number with his personal number of 1.5 gm protein per kg lean body mass to determine that I need 90 gm of protein per day now. Um, what? How am I going to do that, without protein shakes? I think 75 gm might be more doable. My “people” at the Portland office told me 45-52gm, which I have been going by for the past year. Pennings believes that my weight loss will pick up again if I get 90 gm protein in per day. I believe he might be full of crap. But anyway, I’m trying to increase it some.

One useful tidbit he did give me was the calories-per-protein-gram rule. He told me to check labels on foods, and “gravitate” towards foods that have a ratio of 15 calories or less per 1 gm of protein. This seems reasonable and simple to do

Anyway, check it out, if you’re interested. I’ve added her to the Lap Bandee blogroll so you can always find her.