BlairE

OMGosh Dert.... I just looked at the pic and I can't believe how much it is poking out. What did they end up doing to fix it?

OMGosh Dert.... I just looked at the pic and I can't believe how much it is poking out. What did they end up doing to fix it?

I use a straw which helps me take smaller sips......

I am reading posts talking about when ppl get stuck and then they have the "slime".... can someone please explain what this is all about so I know what to expect...

O.K. so I was doing fine and had progressed to mushies and then my hubby brought home some hummus with sun dried tomatoes (my favorite) for Valentines day..... he was eating it with tostitoe chips and I just automatically grabbed some and starting eating it without even thinking about it. Had eaten a good handful when hubby actually asked what I was doing.... Oooops.... so I walked away no problem. That is until today.... I woke up with pressure under my sternum and going out my back. I could still eat my mush and drink liquids with no problem so I am hoping I just irritated my band and did not do any damage. Anyone with advice......

I was banded Jan. 28th and I was so surprised how easy it initially went. Trust me when I say that walking really helped. As soon as I got settled back in my room I got up and walked and continued to do so every 30 min or so. The hardest day for me was actually days 3 & 4, I seemed to feel the incisions more and I got the post surgery blues.... so going back to work that soon might not be a good idea. You could always try and at least get in a half day. Good luck and let us know how it goes....

Why are you vomiting that much.... that is not normal as far as my doctor goes....

through texting with another bander I met on here we concluded that it was gas from eating the chips to fast. I sucked air as well. So I had my 12 yr old daughter hit me across the back numerous times, she essentially burped me...lol.... and boy did it feel better. Still a little pressure but def got some relief. Thanks for the input, I think I will feel better when I get my flouroscope (sp) done with my first fill. What this did do is scare me back on track again....

My friend had a similar problem so when she felt herself getting full she would take her napkin and mush it into her food and whatever else was available to make it not look enticing anymore......

Wow..... I think I need to print out this page and make it my morning read as a reminder each day what "NOT" to do.... All I can say is YUCK!!!! It sounds awful but at least now I won't be so scared if (and probably when) it ever happens. I guess you just get to a point you are so comfortable that you forget you have a band. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, they are forever imbedded in my mind...lol.

I am finishing with day 4 as well and today just plain stunk.... I feel nauseous 24/7, burping like no tomorrow and can't sit for any period of time b/c of the pressure build up. I too feel like I can feel a knot under the skin on my right side and imagine its the band area...lol... but who knows. I drank my shake way too fast this morning and thought I was going to see it again for the rest of the day. I know I need to walk more but I am just plain tired (I have Fibromyalgia) anytime I feel a change I panic thinking somethings has gone wrong. LOL... tonight after I SLOWLY ate my yogurt all of a sudden I realize I don't feel half bad, I should have been relieved but nooooo I instantly think maybe the band has slipped or something. I think its hard dealing with something you can't see or feel except internally. Makes it harder mentally. We are a work in progress..... we have done the physical repair now its time for the hard part....doing the mental repair. If you want to talk I am usually on here late at night and we can compare who is the most miserable..... remember there are many others before us that have all been down this road and have made it and so are we.....

well I was banded today,,,, so happy the anxiety of the unknown if over. The surgery itself was not bad I just feel like I have been punched in the upper gut about a million times but definitely manageable. The thing that has been the worst is the dry throat and sinus's, should have brought some sudefed and ocean spray to keep them from burning. LOl... all in all it was not bad at all... but I am tired again so I am saying BBL....

What I love about this site is I can be brutally honest with my weaknesses and get good advice from everyone on how to help myself.... I am scared to death, did I make the wrong decision ... I was banded on the 28th stayed over night b/c of sleep apnea so yesterday was my first day home. I am suppose to be on a clear diet but I am so hungry I have been eating little bites of stuff here and there. I know this can't be good but don't know how to get my head wrapped around the idea of the band. How bad have I hurt myself and the band by eating the little things???? I am scared I am going to mess this whole opportunity up..... Any suggestions from you guys would be sooooo appreciated. Only on Clear liquids at the moment but I think I can go to Protein shakes tomorrow which I am hoping will alleviate some the these weeknessess. Thank you again for any suggestions.....

Yes you are right ..... no one understands what it feels like to be in pain each and every day of your life knowing there is no relief in site. I have had Fibromyalgia for the past 12 yrs. and was just banded on the 28th. The Fibro is the main reason I got banded, the extra weight was making the pain so much worse. One thing that has REALLY helped me was cutting out all carbs before I got banded. I just ate Protein, fruit and veggies and "wow" what a difference it made in my pain and especially my energy level. Its not easy though, it took about 4 days and by the third day I had to go to bed for the day bc of the detox pain but once I was past that it was amazing how much better I felt. This actually is a good thing to do along with the band anyway since carbs are not good for any weightloss. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH TAKING CARBS OUT OF MY DIET HAS HELPED.... the only carbs I get now is natural ones through fruit and veggies. I use to take Lyrica as well but ended up putting on more weight which defeated the purpose of taking the meds since more weight meant more pain. I do take an anti depressant though which helps with the anxiety....As far as exercise goes I have tried it all trying to see what works best with the least amnt. of pain.... the stationary bike at my gym works great. After a 10 min. warm up just riding casually I do 30 second intervals where I go really fast then slower for the next minute. This pumps up your heart rate really good and b/c you are sitting down its less stress on your back and legs. Start out slow and work your way up to at least 30 min. total. As hard as it is I try to keep mentally focused on not letting this disease define who I am, I was very depressed the first few years after being diagnosed but eventually realized that I need to take control or its going to win. Do I have bad days.... you bet yah... but part of the battle with this disease is mentally not allowing it to define who you are as a person. Hope some of this helps you..... we should keep exchanging posts to see what is working for each other.....take care

Its early Monday morning and I was banded on Friday morning ! Came home feeling fine for the most part but don't get me wrong there is pain in the area between your ribs and belly button. I feel like I have been kicked in the gut, did a million sit ups and add the pain you get when you have a really bad sunburn which makes the skin burn.... combine all 3 of these and thats what I am feeling.... fortunately its manageable... keep up with the pain meds and there timing and walk a lot. I started walking the halls within the first hour in my room and continued each and every hour. I think thats the reason I didn't get the gas pains. Now coming home was a bit harder mentally than I thought. The affects of anesthesia don't fully wear off for about 72 hours is what I was told so my judgement was way off. Its like my mind said.... O.k. now that your banded you don't need that stupid pre op diet and I started nibbling on everything, I was out of control for a bit and luckily didn't hurt the band or myself. It made me realize I still had a big battle in front of me. I wish they could also take out taste buds along with banding me.... if food didn't taste so dang good I would be in a lot better shape...So I sent my husband out and he got box after box of popsicles and every time I feel a need to snack I grab one. One thing thats made it harder is I detest soup broth... I have had it a bit but Yuck....can;t wait for the mush stage.... otherwise I have been sleeping a lot over the weekend but in the morning its back to reality with kids and school. Don't be scared about the surgery itself.... that was not a problem. It was handling it emotionally once I got home..... you have waited so long for this to happen and now that it has you find it hard to adjust, well at least I did for a day or so.... If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask..... Blair

So I have had better success today .... made my shake a little more hearty by adding a bit more protein. Basimah I am sorry you are going through the same thing but was happy to see I was not the only one...I think what happens is we are doing the liquid diet before hand in preparation for the surgery that once the surgery is over we lose site of the healing process and just want to eat.... I likes the suggestion Stateofzen gave with the flash cards, reading those words out loud should do a lot to keep me focused....I feel so much better knowing what symptoms to look for and am happy to say I don't have any of them at the moment. So glad I did not ruin this our of my own stupidity ..... again thanks for all the words of wisdom and support.... I know if I need a kick in the butt again where to come too....

thank you soooo much for snapping me back to reality .... Today is better, I think the effects of anesthesia left me with less self control yesterday. I didn't realize that I actually had sutures in and around my stomach....don't ask me how I thought it was secured in place, I guess i never thought about it... Some of you mentioned that I could make the sutures come apart.... how do I know if that's happened or not.... today had a protein shake instead and feel better.

In less than 6 hours I will be arriving at the hospital for my band. As I am sitting here I feel euphoric and nauseous.... I will soon put the patch behind my ear the doctor gave me so the nausea should pass. I feel as if I could even cry ... its part relief that its finally here and I am starting down the road to my rebirth and part fear of what is to come. I have had many surgeries over the past 20 yrs. due to female problems, back and neck issues but this is the first surgery I actually chose to have and didn't have to have..... I can honestly say that if it weren't for the wonderful ppl that i have met on the site I would seriously need a Valium right now to calm my nerves. THANK YOU EVERYONE !!!!!!

so glad to hear its getting better for you.... will keep in touch througout the months.....keep it up!!!!

I was instructed by my doctor that if I start throwing up that i am suppose to call asap, the vomiting could make your band slip. My doctor said he would prescribe phenergram to stop the vomitting, its a supository. Then you should stick to clear liquids and shakes for a couple of days to let your stomach heal.... good luck!

I need to do a retraction on my previous post... I had read on here in another post that it eventually lessens over time and unfortunately passed on that info w/out checking it out for myself. After reading what seems like 100's of articles I can't find anything pertaining to it decreasing over time. To be sure I am going to call my doctors office tomorrow and discuss it with them if its a possibility, especially if you wait a year between check ups ..... Sry , I should have checked out the info for myself before I posted....

First of all I am not being banded till this Friday so I am not saying any of this through experience but my doctors office has extensive Pre Op classes that are a requirement before you surgery day and I just finished my last one. I read your posts and everyone's reply then I had to go pick up my daughter from tutoring so I had time to think over your whole situation. Basically you were banded 3 1/2 yrs. ago and it sounds like you did well in the beginning but then got off track. I agree with what others have said.... the lap band is not a quick fix. You do have to continue to diet afterwards for it to do its job, which is not letting you eat such large portions. Which works great as long as what you are eating is the "correct" kind of foods. So obviously you got thrown off track.... WHO DOESN'T.... but the doctors job is not to quit on you but to work with you and get you back on track....have they explained that the fills don't last, the Fluid in the band lessens over time, so if you are waiting too long in between fills then you won't feel restriction. So keeping up with consistent fills is important on your part. Maybe he put it to you the way he did to try to kick you in gear, do I agree with his tactics NOT IN THE LEAST so now its up to you to show him you mean business.... look at it as a new beginning. Go to the Nutritionist and ask her to educate you as if you are a new patient. Then try to apply them to see if you can lose some weight. Either way I would go back to that doctor and tell him you are not getting the band removed and instead of bullying you that you need his support. If he is still an @$$ then move on to a different doctor. But just keep in mind he can't do this for you only you can do it for you and it is going to take some commitment on your part. Here are some things that we were told to to follow.... Protein is the key to losing weight.....without the proper amnt. of protein in your daily diet you will have less success in losing. - Even when eating solid food always eat all of your protein first. Eat approximately 4 oz. a meal (measure after you cook the meat)Keep track of how much protein you are eating in a day.... if you fall short of the recommended amnt. then drink a Protein shake to make up the deficit. In my case I am 5'4" so I should have at least 65-80 grams of protein a day. - This one is interesting, you can drink as much as you want up until your first bite of the meal then there is no liquid during the meal or for an hour after wards since it will flush the food out of your pouch and you will become hungry sooner than you need to be. This one is going to be tough for me but it makes sense so I will make do... if anything I will swish Water in my mouth and then spit it out.. can't stand having a dry mouth... Maybe what you need is just more education on how to make the band "work" for you....but whatever you do don't give up....

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VEGGIES AND FRUIT ARE GREAT BUT I BET YOU ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN.....here is what my doctors nutritionist has said..... if you don't get enough protien in each day you won't lose the weight.... I am 5'4" and there calculation for me is between 65-82 grams a day.... when you eat always eat the protein( up to 4 oz ) first and then add the other items. DO NOT drink any fluids during your meal.... this flushes whatever food you ate right through.... they are having us wait an hour before we can drink. If you cannot eat enough in a day to get the right amnt. of protein then you need to drink a protein shake to make up the deficit. It is very important to keep a food log so you can see what kinds of food/ protein you are eating. Don't give up its just taking your body more time to adjust to the change.