readytolosemomof5

You may need to find a local surgeon who performs bariatric surgery, and see if they will take you on as a patient. I couldn't hurt to check around.

I take centrum chewables for adults, only need 1 a day, and they have an orange flavor. Sure there is still a vitaminy taste, but tolerable. I also have to take a calcium supplement- viactive chewable. I can't even tolerate the smell of liquid vitamin. I imagine if I tried to take liquid, I would vomit. Those large horse pill vits are probably too big for your pouch.

I too am a nurse and had second thoughts a few days before surgery. I began to think I could do it on my own. I overcame this and went ahead with the surgery. Although I freaked out just before they put me under- I told them "wait, wait" even as I was dozing off. Would I go back and change my mind, probably not. I'm glad I have this new device to help me. I went back to work after 1 week. I just can't lift yet, so no pulling pt's up in bed!

My experience has been that they don't go through tattoos that less than 2 yrs old related to risk of infection and the dye/ink.

Your cycle can definately be off, however the bleeding for 20 days part is concerning. You need to contact your GYN and let him/her know what is going on. It could be completely unrelated to having the band placed. You also need to make sure you are not getting anemic.

Your body weight can flucutate 2-3 lbs throughout the day due to various processes going on inside your body, which accounts for the difference in the time of day. The only thing I can think of for the difference between the scales at the office and at home is just the difference in the scales. I have the same issue with my regular scale, and my Wii. There is usually a 4lb difference between the two. And I don't account for my clothes just to make it even.

I am curious what your PA feels the lapband is for, what it does. I was of the understanding that the lapband helps control your appetite, and allow you to eat smaller portions and stay satisfied. I mean, yes, you still have to watch what you eat, but the band should make this easier, which is why it is a tool that we have chosen to utilize.

I'm Amanda, I was banded on 8/4 by Dr Reilly in Houston. I am married for 18 yrs now, and have 5 kids ages 8-19. My highest weight when I started my pre-op diet wa 254, currently 231. I'm only 5'2 so my jean size hasn't changed yet, but it'll happen!

I have weighed my self only a few times since surgery on 8/4, and I am down about 8 lbs, 23 lbs total. I know that I shouldn't lose a lot to begin with, nor do I expect to. I just am not as excited or as happy as I thought as I would be before I started all this. Even though I see the numbers go down, it doesn't feel real. I keep expecting the numbers go back up. I wonder when it will hit me that this is for real.

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm sure this is just because I'm so accustomed to losing and gaining back. But as the clothes start falling off, and I need smaller sizes, I know that I will be more excited.

I don't know if it my stomach or the actual band that I feel move. It is the oddest sensation. The first couple days after I got banded, I swear it felt like the band was moving up and down, or catching or something. It was actually painful at first. Now I have gotten used to it and don't notice as much. I hadn't been told about this, nor had I read about it, but I am glad that I am not the only one!

As long as you wear pants that have a soft or stretchy waistband (I would definately opt out of jeans for now)- they shouldn't bother your incisions, your incisions should be above your belly button. Also of course you are going to not want to take any of your prescribed pain meds before class- you might not be able to focus and pay attention! And of course if you are driving don't take it before driving, it impairs your ability to drive- and if you got pulled over you can get charge with driving under the influence. Talk to your doctor about liquid motrin to get you through, that's what I had to do when I returned to work, but I only need to take it for a couple of days.

My shoulder pain only lasted about 5 days. I really helps to walk as much as you can

Just remember to take it one step at a time. Trying to quit smoking is the most difficult thing you have to do at this point, and I wouldn't make it more difficult on yourself by forcing yourself to eat better at the same time. Eating healthier is retraining process. I am only taking one week off- actually go back tomorrow, and I definately don't have a sit down job. My doc said 5 days would have been fine (I don't know about that!) The main thing you need to remember is that if you do go back after a week, you need to get up and move every hour, to help prevent blood clots- being overweight, and having surgery increases your risk especially with a sedentary job like that.

I can help with some of your questions- I am only a week out from surgery myself. My total time in the surgical center where I had mine was 6 hrs, 1 hr of which was the procedure and 2 hrs recovery. The rest of the time was all pre-op. All I had to be able to do to leave was be able walk short distances, pee once, have a flouroscopy to make sure it was open, and tolerate a small amount of Water. I was given a prescription for lortab liquid- which BTW burns like hell when swallowing, so I mix it with a small amount of red Powerade to get it down without choking. I get to go back to work tomorrow, 1 week out, which the surgeon said I could've gone back after 5 days, but I'm a nurse, so I wanted a couple extra days to recover so that I will be able to move at least half as fast as I could before surgery. But I'm not allowed to lift over 20lbs, and can't pull or move pts for about a month. I am still having a hard time wraping my mind around my post op diet- I have been on thin liquids for the past week, I get thick liquids for the next week, then mushies for 1 week. So hopefully by the time I'm able to eat "real" food, I will have brainwashed my own mind into being careful. Oh, for the record, I have allready lost 5 lbs since surgery. My plan is to stick mainly to a diet geared for diabetics, that way I won't just be limiting my calories, but also carbs and sugars.

I felt I was prepared for post op pain, gas pain, etc. And I have very high pain tolerance. What I was NOT prepared for was the immense amount of pressure just under my diaphragm, just below my sternum bone as I was waking up from anesthesia. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I sort of panicked and felt like I just made the worst mistake of my life. It wasn't really pain, just felt like a baseball sitting there. From what I understand, that is the CO2 gas. That was 5 days ago. Now it is much better. I still have some gas issues, and still need my pain meds a little, but I would have liked to have been forewarned about that pressure. PS- they gave me some simethicone, and then had me walked, which helped alot.

The reasons that the doc doesn't want you to lift is that you can flip your port, requiring additional surgery to turn it back around. Also if you are not healed enough, you can cause your incisions to open.

It is hard to get out of tht "gotta defend my choices/actions/etc" role. As an overweight person, you know that everywhere you go, with everything you do, someone is judging you. You go eat at a restaurant, and some person in that area is judging, or laughing, or whatever. You are always wondering, what will so and so think if I eat this dessert, or if I eat the whole plate. It's embarrassing to go shopping for plus-size clothing, cause you know that some skinny girl, or cute guy is going to walk by, and you wonder what they think, you hide your face, hoping that the person that us walking by isn't someone you know. Losing weight, no matter what method used to do it isn't just a lifestyle change. It is also a mindstyle change. You have to lose any self-esteem issues, and remember that yes, you did this, and you look good, feel good, and who cares what anybody else thinks! Oh and BTW, those people that aren't complementing on the weight loss, they are just jealous. Cause you did it, and they haven't.

I had surgery on 8/4, and am also having a lot of issues with gas pain. Gas-X doesn't help. Walking helps, but only for a short time, after I get settled again, the gas comes back just as bad as before. I kept reading that it should be gone by day 3, but I am relieved to hear that some people can take up to a week or more. It gives me reassurance that this too shall pass.

Having a lap band allows you eat less, without feeling like you are starving yourself. It helps you, but you still need to do the work. Yes you still need to exercise, but as you lose weight, this will become easier. I don't know about you, but when I exercise now- I feel like I'm having a heart attack after about 5 mins. Even if you are successful with losing weight with diet and excercise alone, returning to old habits, even just a little bit- Your body remembers being obese and goes back to that form. When an overweight person loses weight, they can't eat the way they used to. Having a lapband assists with not going back to those old habits.

OMG! What an experience to go through! As you said, you have to make the decision that is right for you, but I don't think that you're crazy to consider the procedure once again. Think of the strain that the added weight has put on the results of the previous surgery. The fact that you are even playing with the idea of going through with another attempt for lapband placement says alot about where you are in the grieving process of what happened before with both you and your friend. It is possible that this is important in helping you heal emotionally, even if you decide against it. It may help get rid of that "what if" feeling. BTW, did you ever find out what complication your friend experienced? And what about the financial- did either of you get reimbursed?

I'm set for the 4th as well! I too have been having headaches since starting my pre-op. Nothing seems to help, I hope once my body gets adjsted, they go away.

Ok, you need to get rid of the pot...seriously. Pot makes you want to eat- it's called giving you the munchies...sound familiar? Secondly, your post-op pain meds aren't going to work as well for you since all your receptors are going to be blocked by the pot. Have you considered stop using drugs and see if that helps your weight? I won't even mention all the other bad stuff that crap is doing to your body, or the fact that it majorly impairs your judgement, affects the ability to drive safely, hmmm....anyways, I hope you mention to your doc and your anesthesiologist that you smoke pot as this can affect the medications they can use on for surgery.

Coming from someone who was (and still is) morbidly obese at that age as well, my opinion is that WLS is a great option for teens that also have medical issues as well. I know it is hard for you as a mom to see your daughter suffer, and it is nice to see a Mom that is open minded about treatment for her. I feel that there actually is no better time, as this is the age in which kids begin forming habits that they will follow the rest of their lives. If she gets used to the dietary habits that the lapband requires now, it will be easier to follow as she gets older, unlike me- I've got to change every bad habit I haved formed over the last 20 yrs since I was 16. She will definately need lots and lots of support, people to talk to, I mean any kid that has health issues need it, and this falls along the same lines. I know that this will be a hard decision as a mom to make, wondering if it this is the right thing to do, wondering if you should put or allow your daughter to go through surgery, (I am going through all that, and my daughter is just getting a biopsy!) but in the end you two will do what is right for you. Good Luck, keep us updated.

All wounds itch as they heal, it's the granulation of new tissue to close the incisions. So be assured that all is normal in that aspect.