Wow. I grew up in Loomis. My DH and I both graduated from Del Oro as did our siblings. My mom lives off of Humphrey on Brooks Avenue.

I have made it all the way to having seen the surgeon. They have me scheduled for a couple of classes within the next few weeks and if everything works right (cough, cough, sputter - sorry choked on that one) I should have surgery around late February. I started this process June 5th with the same orientation that you are going to. I think that when they started doing the band that they opened the proverbal flood gates.

The actual proceedure is pretty simple just drawn out and run by skinny people who I think don't realize obese people's line of thought. IMHO. I am, however, glad that Kaiser does the band because it sure made it possible for me.

I will send you a personal message with my email address. I would be happy to have another band buddy.

Whoop!!! Got a call. My date is December 12th. I'm totally blown away. I didn't expect one until February. What a great day!!!

I am so happy for you Vicki!!! :whoo:

I am finally doing much much better. Dr. Alami just cleard me to Stage 3 which is pretty much all foods, when I went to see him on Tuesday this week. I have been doing ok, wish my appetite was still as small as it was the first week and half out from surgery. I really do notice the difference. I mean I still don't eat ANY where near what I ate in one sitting last month but it is about double what I was eating right out from surgery.
The second good news is that I lost 10.5 lbs since surgery!!!! Yeah for me! The surgeon was so proud of me. He did tell me to be careful and at least try to maintain that and maybe lose some more before I go in for my first fill. We will see?!?!? I am hoping that works out for me, since my fill isn't until Chritsmas Eve.
Well I hope everyone is doing well!

Hey April -

Boy I hope I do as well as you have after surgery. That's great!!! I can imagine that Dr. Almani is happy with you. You're really doing a good job.

A fill on Christmas Eve...LOL. No Christmas feast for you. But in my way of thinking that's a great Christmas present. I will have to wait until just after the New Year to get mine. But my Christmas present is not only the band but the day after I get to start Stage III if he lets me.

What all did you eat for Stage II? Can we blend things up into liquid and eat just about anything? I have to get all this information because in just 18 short days I'll be joining you. Whoohoo!!!

I'm so excited and nervous.

Vicky, that is GREAT news about your surgery! Congrats! What a nice 'early' Christmas gift. You should be very mobile by Christmas, so thats a real bonus! Take care..b

Thanks! And I know you will do just as good if not better, just keep a positive outlook the whole way through...by the way I forgot to mention and this might sound silly but it wasn't silly for me. I had two prior surgeries about 2 years ago for my back and my gallbladder. Right before surgery I was so nervous that I started crying and my recovery afterwards was not easy for either surgery but I have to say this time I did just 2 things differently and I think it helped tremendously. This first is that I prayed the night before and right before surgery (I know not everyone can/will do the same thing depending on beliefs but it worked for me) and the second was I purchased the "Preparing for a successful Surgery" CD from the SSF Kaiser. at my final appointment before surgery. And at the hotel the night before I played it on the CD player just as I laid down in bed and listened to that as I fell asleep and even left it playing while I sleeping. I think it made a real difference. I was so calm this time before the surgery and this time I didn't even have my mom there like I have always had her in the past. My best friend who went with me kept asking if I was nervous and I didn't get nervous at all! Not once! I think that CD really put me in the right mind set.
As far as the foods on stage 2, I started adding cottage cheese (1/2 c. a day) about 5 days out from surgery, then I also had instant mashed potatoes with a lowfat (Campbells) turkey gravy on it to thin it out a little bit. I ate that 2 times a day. A typical meal for me from Day 5 until I was cleared for Stage 3 was:
Breakfast:
4 ounce Activia Vanilla Yogurt
2-4 ounces of Unsweetened Applesauce
Lunch:
2 ounces (1/4 of med. size) Sweet potato
1/4 cup Lowfat Cottage Cheese
Dinner:
1/2 cup Mashed Potatoes
2-3 Tbsp Turkey Gravy
1/2 of (4 ounce) Activia Yogurt
Snack:
1-2 Sugar Free Popsicle or Sugar Free Fudgesicle
About 3 days before my 2 week follow up I started to get really hungry so I started adding in some Stage 3 foods slowly and I was ok with that. I told Dr.Alami about it at my 2 week appt., because he told me to stop the protein shakes and I told him I stopped taking them a while ago because I had a hard time drinking them.
At that time my typical meal was:
Breakfast:
2 ounces (1/4 of med. size) Sweet potato
1/4 cup Lowfat Cottage Cheese
Lunch:
2 ounces cooked ground turkey meatball (cut up in 8ths);topped with
2 Tbsp tomato sauce; little Italian seasoning
(sort of like a spaghetti sauce)
1/2 - 1 (4 ounce) Activia Yogurt
Dinner:
2 ounces cooked ground turkey meatball (cut up in 8ths);topped with
2 Tbsp tomato sauce; little Italian seasoning
(sort of like a spaghetti sauce)
1/4 cup mashed potatoes
Snack:
1-2 Sugar Free Popsicles or S/F Fudgesicle
Sorry for the BOOK, I hope this helps!!!
If you have any more questions let me know

Do you have a doctor in Sacramento???

Thanks everyone for your responses.

April - Thanks for the food info. It looks like I will be on Stage II until January 8th. Dr. Le will be out of the office until the first week of January and the only appointment was at 11:15 on January 4th. I had them move it because I got one on the 8th at 4:15. That way I will only have to take a half day off. It means that I will have to do Stage II for 4 more days but I'm so tired of using all of my time off running to SSF. I will survive it. This is probably why there was a cancellation and why they got all the way down to me. Nobody else wanted to wait 3+ weeks to get off of Stage II.

I purchased a Magic Bullet in hopes of adding a few different things to the Stage II stuff towards the end. It came highly recommended on another site.

I'm really excited about having the surgery. I'm trying to stay away from ANYONE who snuffles, sneezes or coughs. I swear I will be so mad if someone gets me sick right now. As far as praying goes, I've been doing that for 6 months regarding this proceedure. As the process goes along, the prayer changes. :) So trust me, I will be saying a few before I go under and afterwards. I figured I would do some meditating the night before to relax me. That along with a good book and a hot bath should do the trick.

Thanks again for the info.

Want2beme - The only doctor I have in the Sacramento area is my PCP. Kaiser doesn't have bariactric docs in the Sacramento area yet. What are you looking for?

Whoo Hoo!! I would love to join a support group. I was banded in TJ and would really like to talk to others. joangunn@comcast.net

Hello Everyone! I JUST found this thread! I live in Sacramento! I was banded at UC Davis Med Center by Dr. William Fuller on 10-25-07.

I read at the begining somewhere that you guys meet up once a month? Is that still true? and if so Where and When?

Did anyone else have their band at UC Davis?

so glad to be here.

Here is my email for the support group: morningoasis811@yahoo.com

Vicki J - I love the magic bullet. A friend got it for me as a get well gift and it was the best thing EVER. made my life so easy with the food. All soups and meat... no problem. I used it to mix protein powders. Even though I'm on full foods now I still use it. Way better than a huge blender or a clunky food processor. The blending containers are just our size. :)

Welcome Morningoasis811 and Joannieg. It's always nice to meet fellow bandsters in the area. Of course, technically I'm not a bandster yet but I will be on the 12th. Whoohoo! That's 2 months earlier than they were expecting to get me in. Of course, I think I know why the appointment came up. The surgeon will be out of the office the last two weeks of December and that means instead of 2 weeks on full fluids it will end up being closer to 4.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the magic bullet is a good thing. I had heard lots about it on another site and decided I would prefer it to the big blenders. Since it looks like I'll be married to it for a month I'm glad I got it. So when you two were on full fluids you were able to blend meats and everything? Just no chunks?

Kaiser is pretty new at the band and they tend to give more of the bypass instructions than the band. I don't want to do anything that will harm my band in anyway but I may be looking for more by the end of the month. LOL <someone's arm perhaps> I want to keep the calorie intake down so that I can use this time for loosing more weight.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Hi Vicki,

I was the 8th Band that UC Davis did, they only planned on doing 10 (a study or something) they are very Pro-Bypass only, I had to beg, borrow and plead my case to get the band. After surgery the Dr. agreed that the band was best (based on my other internal issues)

Anyhow... so all the stuff I recieved and learned about was for Bypass. Not until my pre-op appointment did I get a Band specific food plan, but it's not as detialed as the bypass, the phases post op are quicker, and the calories and volume increase more than the bypass does.

I've kind of been following a combo of the bypass/Band guidelines to help me keep portions smaller and to allow myself to heal more before advancing to solid foods.

Some hospitals in Sacramento give you the choice Bypass or Band right when you get there.

I live in Sac...

Lana - Welcome aboard. I've got surgery on the 12th. How far are you in the process.

Morningoasis811 - I figure that's what will happen with me too. It will be interesting to see if they grow with the knowledge we hope they learn.