saundrac

I had my surgery April 2011. I had a miscarriage January 16, 2012. I was pregnant again in March and delivered a healthy 8lbs90z baby girl December 4, 2012. I have exclusively nursed her since birth and I am going back to work March 18th. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I was 228lbs. Just prior to my surgery, I was 258lbs. I ended up @ 258 near the end of the pregnancy 11/28. As of February 11, 2013, I weighed 220lbs. This was at my physical. Yes, I am eight pounds lighter than I was prior to the pregnancy. I am not really watching what I eat. I am just drinking lots of Water and juice. I go to my surgeon tomorrow. I am not sure if he will give me a fill since I am still nursing. I am concerned, because I heard a lot of stories where people have gained weight or have had trouble losing after having a baby. Hopefully, we can keep posting on our progress. I have only seen one post of many where there was success after the baby. I hope that is not the case. I will let you know what happens after my appointment. Saundra

According to your ticker, you are doing an amazing job! I was banded 4/12/2011 and I am down to about 43 pounds. My doctor say that I am doing great and actually I am ahead of schedule with the weight loss. Remember slow and steady wins the race. I remember feeling the same as you back in June. I just had my first fill today in spite of my consistent weight loss, because my portions seemed to be increasing.

I have been working out with a personal trainer and he has been vigilant about making sure that I follow my doctor's orders over his. He asked me to check in with my doctor, because he wants me to do a two week cleanse. I emailed my doctor and I am awaiting his response. Has anyone out there ever done a cleanse after the band? I did it in the past, do the rules change or what? I thought I'd ask while waiting to hear from my doctor.

I totally agree

Yeah!!!!!!!!! Saundra

I was banded 4/12. The fear began a week prior to my surgery. I started doubting the potential success of the surgery. I did not tell anyone, but my husband. However, a funny thing happened, I picked up the phone three days before the surgery to let my mom know that I was having surgery. I did this because at the last minute, I began to think that I will not wake up from the surgery. That stayed with me until they took me back to be prepped on the day of my surgery. I had not seen my cycle in months so I started wishing that I would have a positive pregnancy test at the hospital. Surprise, surprise, surprise-My cycle was on when I went to change for the surgery so there was no backing out. The nurse was so nice and talked to me so much that I did not have time to be scared. Luckily, I was the second surgery that morning and the one before me ended early. So I did not have a lot of time to sit and think. Within twenty minutes of getting changed, I had the IV placed, then my doctor walked in with his reassuring smile. As he walked out, the Anesthesiologist walked in. Within minutes my CPAP machine was taken and checked. Before I could turn to relax, the anesthesiologist(sp?) came back and added a cocktail to my line. He then unlocked my bed and began rolling me back. I made a bet with him that I will make it into the surgery room without going to sleep. Just before going through the door they had me to switch beds and the next thing I knew was that I was trying to get up, but I couldn't. I asked the nurse, "how much longer before they begin?" She patted me on the shoulder and said that they were all done and just waiting for me to wake up. I was in the recovery room. So do not worry, just show up and before you know it, it will be over. Saundra

I was afraid to get started. Well actually I was afraid to start on solids. I was banded April 12th and I started with my personal trainer 6/9. I realize now that I could have started a lot sooner. I am do abs like nobody's business. The only thing that I was careful of is lifting heavy objects. My trainet had me lifting a 40lb kettle ball yesterday and I was fine. You will be fine. Good Luck Saundra

OOOPS! I saw this after my loooooong post. I am so happy to hear this.

OMG! While I realize that we are all different, if I may offer my take-You are being very hard on yourself. I tried that bit of not taking my pain medicine because I do not like taking any type of medication period. I realized quickly that it was a big mistake on my part. I was advised to take the pain medicine-from my doctor's office and some helpful people on this site. I listened and it was smooth sailing from there. For the first several days after surgery, my activity was limited to short walks to get rid of the gas. I am generally the type of person that has the tendency to put family, job and practically everyone first. I kept being warned that I had surgery and needed to take it easy. While it was not easy for me to keep still at home or at work, I had to force myself to finally treat ME as if I mattered. I gave myself permission to be selfish and took it easy. It was so hard to do, but in the end it was worth it. That bloating that you talked about went away after a couple of weeks. I was banded April 12th and at my second post op appointment, I lost nothing. My doctor said that it was okay, because I was healing. I can now say that 30lbs are gone as of my surgery according to the scale at home. I am refusing to change the clicker until I confirm it at my next appointment on the 17th of June. That will be when my doctor will offer my first fill. I said all of this to say that it dies get better. We take similar and slightly different roads. You will be fine. Just remember that this band is not a miracle, but a tool. Get to know you and that relationship with food, being FULL, etc. Please hang in there and do not be so hard on yourself.

How are the April 12th bandsters doing? I am just checking in.

How are the April 12th bandsters doing? I am just checking in.

I was banded 4/12. Just came back from my post -op appt. I had my staples removed and I am officially down 20lbs. I am starting the puree/mushies. My doctor told me that I can start the chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad. I tried to puree chicken salad in a blender and it was a disaster. I took three spoonful and threw the rest away. I think that I will just fall in love with mashed potatoes and some baby food and call it a day for the next two weeks.

Hello There, I was banded around 9:30 on April 12th. Things happened the way everyone described. I was ready to go home by 9:00 am this morning. I took a bath, some medicine and took a tall cup of apple juice to bed with me. I am still on full liquids because my band is snug due to swelling. I will be able to slowly move on to stage 3 of my diet by Saturday. I feel some soreness at the incision sight, but nothing unbearable. Can't wait to feel 100%. Walked up and down the stars a few times and that was helpful. Oh yeah, I did take two gas-x chewable tablets earlier and have not been too sick as of yet.

I woke up feeling a lot better this morning.

I am on the more thick liquids like cream of wheat and cream of rice. LOWFAT cream of chicken, broccoli or mushroom sous w/ fat free milk to name a few.

Hey There, I was banded Tuesday morning. 10 days prior I was on a liquid diet. The only thing that I had been doing up to this morning is #1. Yesterday(Saturday) I had a small amount of liquid like cream of wheat and a serving of the 98%fat free cream of chicken soup with fat free lactaid. This ultimately led to a very small movement today. Talk about milestones. The cream of wheat and soup may have done it. You are okay. As long as the gas is passing and your are emptying the liquid to some degree you are good. Some have said that the more liquid that you take in or should I say SIP, the more likely you will pass solids. I am not an expert though. I am just sharing my experience from this week and I am still alive and kicking. My doctor's office confirmed that I was okay.

Hey There, I was banded Tuesday morning. 10 days prior I was on a liquid diet. The only thing that I had been doing up to this morning is #1. Yesterday(Saturday) I had a small amount of liquid like cream of wheat and a serving of the 98%fat free cream of chicken Soup with fat free lactaid. This ultimately led to a very small movement today. Talk about milestones. The cream of wheat and soup may have done it. You are okay. As long as the gas is passing and your are emptying the liquid to some degree you are good. Some have said that the more liquid that you take in or should I say SIP, the more likely you will pass solids. I am not an expert though. I am just sharing my experience from this week and I am still alive and kicking. My doctor's office confirmed that I was okay.

I was the 12th

I was banded on the 12th. How are you feeling?

How did your pre-op diet work for you? How are you now feeling?

I was also banded on the 12th. How are you doing?

I was banded Tuesday and now that it is Sunday my stomach is finally retreating. I knew I was bloated, but I kept it to myself. I kept thinking dear Lord am I pregnant and did they miss the baby? Needless to say I had a few moments of the gas easing out last evening-no it was not violent and tummy is going down. I hope that this is not tmi, but I have had my firs b-movement since surgery this morning. I was not too worried about it because I was on clear liquids 10 days pre-op through to yesterday. The tightness around the repaired hernia is gone. I am so happy and blessed.

I hope that all goes well today. I woke up this morning and the tightness where my surgeon repaired my hernia is not there. My husband took the kids so I am going to venture out for the first time since I did not take painkillers this morning. I did have another small bowl of watery cream of wheat and I put a scoop of Protein powder in it...not so good. I am preparing some hot tea to sip while I am out. I will let you know how it goes.

Hi Rachel, I was banded Tuesday April 12th. My problem was that I did not initially turn to the prescribed pain medicine and boy did I pay.I do not like taking medicine period. Once I took my first dose, I was in heaven. Ikept up with half doses every 5.5 hours and that was all I needed. It is now Saturday and I took a half dose this morning. I will take a half dose of what was prescribed tonight before turning in. Because my barium swallow was slow going down and I had swelling, I was told to stay on a clear liquid diet until today. I called my doctor's office yesterday to make sure I was okay with the tightness that I was feeling, they said yes. I confessed that I was not doing my Proteins yet and they told me that I should be getting some in so that I could heal and have some strength. I then forced down the sample unjury chicken broth. I am still having problem with the CIB and Protein powder. What is crazy is that I was able to get my cream of wheat down this morning and my 98%fat free cream of chicken Soup down this evening. I am actually going to try the Protein Powder in my food instead of with the CIB tomorrow. I can't quite explain why I was able to get the Cereal and soup down over the carnation instant Breakfast. The warmth of the soup and cereal was soothing though. Now that I think of it, when I take in iced down juice or CIB I feel pain in the center of my chest as if something is stuck...better description-it feels like a darn knot. Honestly this is the first day that I have felt like I could move and my spirits were up. Do not overdue it, but I do agree with others that said not to give in to the pain too much. What I mean is take care of yourself, but my first step to taking control was taking in a short stroll Friday midday. Today I hung out with my two children for awhile and pushed forward. It was not me that did it it had to have been God, because I was making myself miserable the first couple of days aside from the expected discomfort. Finally, I am learning that everyone is different.