Um, yeah. This is actually hard!

Ok, you try to eat without drinking for a day. This is hard! I think right now, with no physical incentive, it's probably harder than it would be otherwise. But, I was successful at two of my three meals in this regard - chewing, not so much. But getting there. Tomorrow I have my final pre-op visit with my surgeon, which I'm excited about followed up with a nutrition education class regarding how I am to eat before and after my 'banding.' Monday starts the true "pre-op diet" of 40 carbs or less/day - that ain't many, folks. But, it's 2 weeks of my life. I've done worse.

For your entertainment, here are a few visuals:

Here is what my 'pouch' will look like once the band is installed. I keep thinking of a car, like having a stereo installed...anyhow, note the size and the limited "exit" that food will have. This is how it works - you fill up the pouch, which touches off your 'fullness receptors' and then the food has a slow drain, keeping you feeling full longer.



Now, here is what the band looks like unfilled (left) and filled up with saline (right). The point of the band is to give you restriction - so they fill it up until you're good and "tight." Remember, there is stomach tissue inside that band too - so the actual opening (er, exit) is pretty small. For perspective, I put two fingers inside the band they had for me to play with at my last appointment and the doctor filled it up all the way and it was TIGHT. This was good for me though - just to have a really good sense of how it will work.

I'm relaxing through the weekend, and then will have to become relatively hardcore as of Monday. Scary. But ok.