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My mom has had a rather bad hiatal hernia for the past 3 years. In the last year and a half it seemed to give her hell- nausea, inablity to eat, not able to drink much. In that year she went from the 170's to the 120's. But my mom refused to do anything about it because she was caring for my dying grandmother. Grandma passed in Oct, so mom finally agreed to see a surgeon. My lapband doc also happens to do these types of surgery as well. I spoke to him about her and he said to get her to come in. After talking he agreed that her nausea and in ablity to eat much if at all was due to having 1/3 of her stomach in her chest and that surgery needed to be done soon. Yesterday was surgery day. I don't mind being the patient, but I hate it when I have to watch those that I love go through pain. The doc came in and saw us pre-op and assured us everything would be fine. Mom went in and in about 2 hours the doc came out and said things went great, however instead of having 1/3 of her stomach in her chest she had over half of her stomach in her chest putting pressure on her heart and lungs. I have not idea what this could have done in the long run, but I am glad it's fixed. The doc said he had an easy time getting everything back into place and he did a plication to prevent her stomach from moving and put mesh in to repair the hold in the diaphram. When we finally saw her she was in horrible pain, which I expected. However, the insurance would not allow her to stay over night. So the doc told her the best thing to do was to go back to my house, which is only 20 min away verses her house which is an hour and a half away. So she came and stayed with me. This morning the gas pain was better, but she said she was sore to just breath. The doctor said this would happen since he had to work in her chest cavity. She is onl liquids for the next couple of days before going to mushy, but I know she can do it. Surgery, while painful and the afterward can often times make the need seem less evil, surgery is an amazing thing. Doctors have the ability to give us our life back. Mom lost weight because of illness and had to have surgery so she can eat, I had to have surgery to lose weight. Thank goodness for doctors with the knowledge and skill to do this. I have no doubt that what my mom had done was more technical since as he said he was looking at her heart, but he was skilled enough to do what needed to be done, to help her get better. A doctor with this much skill and ability to do these procedures well, don't you think we should listen to them. Use them for what they are there for- to help us heal and answer our questions along the way. If you have a great doc, let him or her know how you appreciate them and their ability not only by telling them, but by listening to them and asking questions.

I've only had a few fears about going though the whole VSG process, all of them were reserved for life after surgery. Was I going to lose my hair? Will I still be able to have a fun night out with friends? The dreaded loose skin... I didn't count on having my relationship go directly in the crapper and all before I even got the surgery. After nearly 6 years of seeing a self professed chubby chaser, I naively thought that what he'd be understanding about everything. That I was extremely unhappy about my size and needed this to change. His first response was one of assurance that I was sexy the way that I was and there was no need for me to change. Once he saw that was pretty serious about going though with this the reponse was increasingly negative. "You know I don't like skinny chicks" "I don't know how I'm going to feel about you after this" "I'm not going to be attracted to you". Oh silly me, I thought he loved me for me. Long story short, 3 weeks ago one evening after I had cooked one of his favorite meals, baked a cheesecake for him (I hate cheesecake) banged his brains out, ran his bath (all things I love doing for the guy I love) we get into a little joking tiff about certain moments where his behavior was a little off over the past year. At least it started as a joke, until he started acting defensive. Red flag. So I didn't fly off the handle, oh no, I calmly said "I'm tired of you treating me like I'm stupid" and walked out. He finishes up in the bath and comes out and says "OK, OK, I screwed some chick" "It wasn't anything, it was just sex" GTFO here with that BS. I can't say that I was shocked but I'm angry that I didn't follow my first mind when it was screaming at me. I'm frustrated that I have to go though this surgery alone now as well. I'm glad that I know now so I can stop wasting valuable time on someone who obviously did not value me enough to be honest, or better yet, to not creep around behind my back. I'm a little concerned that I'm not laying in bed in my PJ's with a bowl of ice cream (ok a few bowls of ice cream) or plotting some diabolical revenge senario. It's really unsual for me. Although I did briefly have the urge to throw my cat on his face and hope that his eyes where gouged out. Good riddance

What is protein and why is it so important? Protein is an essential part of life and it’s found in almost every part of our bodies. It makes up the enzymes that power many of the chemical reactions in the body and the important hemoglobin that carries oxygen in the blood. Appropriately, bariatric surgery or not, its classical meaning is “first importance.” Indeed, the protein heavy diet prescribed after surgery helps the body heal and regain its former strength. We’ve all had a sensation of being hungry shortly after a big meal. This is usually a result of eating emptier calories in the form of sugars and saturated fats and foods low in protein. Foods that are high in protein, such as chicken, beef and most beans, slow the movement of food from the stomach into the small intestine and reduce the blood sugar spikes that can be disruptive to the continuity of our day (and eventually cause insulin secretion problems). The result of eating a diet high in protein is that you will feel full sooner and stay full longer. Protein also has a secondary effect in that it forces your body to work harder to break down and digest the food you’ve eaten. This means that you’ll burn a few additional calories just by eating the right foods. The benefits of eating protein after bariatric surgery are huge. Not all protein is equal though, so check to make sure that what you are eating is a “complete protein,” which means it contains all the amino acids you need. So when planning meals after your surgery, make sure you have plenty of protein. You might find that you are not able to consume enough protein to satisfy your daily requirement in which case you speak to your dietitian about supplementing your diet with appropriate bariatric friendly protein shakes. No two people are the same, so stay in touch with your dietitian who will work to make sure you lose weight safely and receive the appropriate nutrition to remain healthy.

I have an appointment tomorrow with my new bariatric surgeon. I have visited my physician and obtained a letter in support of revision surgery. I am also down 4lbs. I know it is not much but at this point I will take whatever I can. I am hoping that I do not have to go through another pysch eval. I am also hoping that my insurance company will take into consideration all of my success and then failure caused by my broken lapband. I am a little nervous and very excited. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I proceed quickly through this revision process.

Source: Hula Cardio! Have You Tried It?

T minus 7 hours and I am still awake, put a load of clothes in the washer. I am I don't know, I guess I should try and get some sleep. Imma try and lay down for a bit.. Life changes are a trip, good bad and indifference......IM READY

These two make my day a little lighter. Since my surgery I have had like most folks i've seen on here really bad acid reflux. I usually take a PPI - Protonics but my surgeon doesn't want me to stay on them long time he suggested that I get another GI and that I may need to have a revison to the RNY (not happening)! I continue to search for natural remedies to resolve this issue but until then these two are my "Besties"!!

I got my surgery on the 18th and I did not follow my pre-op diet religiously so this seems drastic to me. i'm excited even though i know a lot is water weight. Started @ 327 now 301