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Teena's experiences, viewpoints and ideas.

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Celebrated 1 week post op with some shopping

You are going to laugh. I bought DH an Electric Cigarette. He is not a heavy smoker and has been wanting to quit. The Electric Cigarette is basically a hit of nicotine minus all the tar, ash and other crap that is in cigarette smoke. There is even a vapor that looks like smoke as you exhale it! It is pretty cool. My sister in Indiana has been using one. She is a heavy smoker and has cut her real cigarettes in half! I hope this works, and I hope he isn't mad. He told me not to buy one, because "He can do it on his own." Welllllll, that isn't working so well. I think he said that 6 times ago. Poor guy. Smoking has never been a problem for me. Tried it at 15, hated it and never touched one again. My entire family smokes except me. But I am adopted. None of them have a weight problem, but my birth family does. Isn't that interesting?
Teeparty

Teeparty

1
 

Day 6 since surgery and feeling good!

My friend V tells me I'm a freak. I have been off the pain meds for more than 48 hours now. Okay, I am still taking ibuprofen (Children's formula - Bleah) But really doing well!   I was down 12 pounds since surgery this morning. 15 since the pre-op diet. I wasn't very good about what I ate for the month leading up to that. Actually, I was pretty bad. But, I have sworn off Chik-fil-a milkshakes so now the numbers go the other way! I think that much of this twelve was soft weight somehow. Or maybe the ole bod is metabolizing to get the energy to heal up? Anyway, I don't expect that kind of loss to continue, but it is fun to watch. :glare:   I am up and going places today. I went and had a mani-pedi this morning. My nails are now a lovely purplely shade of "Grape Fit". LOL I drove to Siesta Key to pick up my DS. No problem. I got a nice leg massage with the pedi which can't hurt for the blot clot issue, right? But, of course!   I am still kind of struggling with what to tell people. I thought I had it covered with, "Eh, it is just stomach stuff." MOST people don't want to know and will let it go at that. I was talking to my friend B today and she asked with concern if I was okay and was it "girl stuff"? Well, at that point I just told her that I was banded. She was great. I am not ashamed to be banded, it's is just do I really need to take an ad out in the local paper? Meaning, does every one need to know? I don't think so. I would think that when asked the inevitable question of how I am losing weight, that I will be honest. There is just something about being at the beginning of something and wanting to keep the cards close to the chest.   Big learning today: On a liquid diet, gas isn't always gas. I will leave it at that. :thumbup:   Teena
Teeparty

Teeparty

1
 

Got here a little late...1st 5 days

I was banded on May 20, 2009 with the Realize-C Band. I researched through message boards when decided upon banding, but waited until after to join.   I don't have to tell you how I got here, do I? Surely, you know. Low Calorie, Low fat, low carb, Weight Watchers...if it is out there, I have probably done it. The last thing I did was Medifast. I lost 70 pounds and found it all back and then some. (Drat)   I was in Vegas with a friend in Febuary. With all the freakin' mirrors there, there was no way to deny what I had done...AGAIN. I got back home, had a good cry and decided it was time to do something permanent. I didn't want to go with the By-pass. I probably read too many on-line blogs where people had bad experiences. But, the band sounded like the right thing for me.   I researched my area here in Bradenton, Florida. I decided on Sarasota Memorial's program. On with the program I went: 1. Seminar 2. Eat Healthy for Life Program 3. Psych evaluation 4. Nutritionist consultation 5. Meet with Primary care Doc for letter of necessity 6. Surgeon Consult 7. Barium Swallow (bleah), Chest x-ray 8. Blood work up 9. Pre-admission testing (EKG, more blood, pre-surgery discussion) 10. Dietician consultation   Wednesday, my surgery was scheduled for 1 pm. That meant no food or drink after midnight. O-M-G!! Sooo hungry. Had to be a the hospital at 11. Talk about hurry up and wait. I had to get through 3 receptionists before going to the pre-pre-op waiting room. I had to give a urine sample for a pregnancy test! From there a nice man took me to the pre-op room. He gave me plastic bags for my clothes and the lovely hospital gown. So, I got changed and up on the bed. Waited for a few minutes and got my phone so I had something to do. My pre-op nurse came in and took my vitals and got the IV started. Got the heparin shot in the belly. (Lots of fun) Surgery was running an hour late. My anesthesiologist came in and had a follower. A very nice young man who went to the same school as my daughter. And yes, he did know her. Oh, and the anesthesiologist's son goes to the same school. Perrrrrfect.   Then time went by for a while. My nurse came back and chatted for a while. This was nice as I was quite bored with the waiting. She left and I got the brilliant belated notion to turn on the TV. It took some manuvering to reach the remote with the IV in, but I prevailed! I found the end of "Sleeping with the Enemy." The anesthesiologist's techs came in and readied me for going to the OR. They were hilarious. They totally wanted to watch the end of the movie, too. We saw Julia shoot her abusive husband and then they gave me that pre-surgery shot. Things get blurry from there. I remember the bed going out of the room. I remember the brightness of the OR. I remember having the gas mask put over my face and nothing.   Next thing is telling someone that I hurt and I was nauseous. I have no idea why or who. The person was saying calming things. My eyes flew open and I begged, "Please don't let me throw up!" Suddenly, I was in my hospital room. There may have been more that occurred with me interacting, but I have no memory of it.   My throat was raw. My incisions really hurt. As I came the rest of the way out, my nurse came in. She was a doll. Wanted to make me as comfortable as possible. She got my computer and Sudoku book out for me. She brought me a cup of ice water. Small sips!!   Finally, I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom. I called my nurse for some help. She was surprised that I hadn't gone already. I was surprised that if they wanted me to go they hadn't mentioned it. So, the put a urine catcher bowl on the toliet so they can measure your out put. Sitting down wasn't so bad as it was the upper abs that hurt, not the lower. With the IV going, There was a pretty full bowl. And not so surprisingly, I had a light period show as well. I was expecting that. I had an appendectomy when I was 15 and the same thing happened. They told me then that it isn't uncommon for that to happen when you have stomach surgery.   I had the surgery as an in-patient. So, I was there for the rest of the night. I had to ask for the pain meds when I needed them. I wasn't shy about that! We found quickly that I needed the anti-nausea meds in place when I got my morphine.   I was determined to stay awake that night to see who won American Idol, Kris or Adam. So I turned the TV on which was on a cool arm that swung to the bed. I was aware that the program was on and of the performances, but couldn't process more than that. I did hang on to see that Kris won. My kids texted me right away. I was out pretty much after that.   That night was rough, because of the discomfort from the surgery and the need to get up to pee frequently. The night nurse came in when I needed her. I could get out of bed on my own. I was still taking small sips. She said I could suck on hard candy. My mouth was still so dry. I found later that there were lemon glycerin swabs in my "kit", but no one thought to offer me one. DH had left me a roll of his peppermints. They weren't great, but better than nothing. I broke them into small pieces and had a bit now and then.   That morning, I got up and took a walk. Again, found it odd that no one had insisted that I do so. After that, I graduated from water to beef broth. It REALLY hit the spot. The day repeated itself. Meds, broth, Sleep. It was getting close to 5 and the doctor hadn't made it in yet. The nurses had warned me with out my asking that they did not know when the doc would be in. He came about 5:30. With that I got paperwork and wheelchaired out by 7. It seemed like a long day.   My kids were thrilled I was home. DH left to get my prescriptions. He came back with pills. Lortab and Anti-nausea. I thought I was supposed to get elixirs, but what are you going to do at that point? Guh. Before bed, I used my pill crusher to crush the Lortab. I mixed it with a bit of yogurt. Bleah. The anti-nausea were small so I just downed that with water. Lortab wasn't as effective as the Morphine. It knocked me loopy and then out. It was not as good on the pain. I took it for 2 more days and then switched to liquid ibuprofen. Sue me.   That night was rough. My neck and chest hurt, my throat still hurt and of course, my incisions hurt. It was hard to move in the bed at all. I wasn't expecting the neck pain. I assume it was gas, but no one had mentioned it going to the neck. Plus! I was in caffeine detox! That was really stupid of me not to give it up before. The headaches on day three were killer!!   I was lucky to have Memorial Weekend to convalesce. DH and the kids waited on me. When taking the Lortab, I pretty much slept. I have Tivo in the bedroom and watched some shows in between naps.   It is now Monday at 3:15 pm, I am feeling at about 75-80%. The incision where my port is still hurts when I move. I went to the grocery with DH and was TIRED when I got back. I feel over all pretty good. The neck, throat, and chest pain is gone. My port incision isn't hurting too much. And I am about at the end of the novel this first blog is! LOL   My doctor has me on full liquids from day 2 to day 45. I have enjoyed pudding, yogurt, protein shakes, cream of tomato soup, jello, frozen, fruit juice bars, pureed cottage cheese, mashed potatoes and cream of wheat. Watching TV is awful. They had a hotdog segment on The View today that had me about ready to eat my pillow. I am one of the lucky -- who is hungry.   I am looking forward to reading up on the other blogs and messages. :thumbup: I will try to not always have such diarrhea of the mouth, er, keyboard!!
Teeparty

Teeparty

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