nurse535

My surgery was June 16th, so I am 5 weeks, 3 days post-op. I've lost 27.4 lbs since June 6th when I started my pre-op diet (20.4 since surgery day). I haven't taken measurements but I can tell my clothes are looser. I am pleased with the progress so far. (Start weight on pre-op diet day 307.0, weight on surgery day 300.2, today's weight 279.8.) I am doing about 35 min on the treadmill 3x/week, and soon will start some strength training. I've been a little inconsistent about working out due to travel, work, kids, and lack of motivation some days. In addition to trying to get my health back on track, I am also trying to do well with my finances, too, and I figure since I'm paying $35.99/mo for this gym membership I need to make the most of it! So that's adding to my motivation to work out now My weight has yo-yo'd up and down since 2008, so I've been around the same weight I am now for the past 4 summers (I was either on my way up or on my way down...lol). Because of that, I don't feel as excited by my progress as I will once I have lost about 20 more pounds. 256.4 is the lowest weight I've made it to in probably about the last 14 years - I hit that weight in 2008 and it lasted about 32 seconds lol. Can't wait to visit the 250s again but I don't plan to stay there long You're making great progress! It's especially hard to get in exercise when you're traveling so you're really doing a good job with that. Keep up the good work!

55 lbs is great!! And the news about not needing insulin is even better! I'm really happy for you!

I'm scheduled to see the physician's assistant at my surgeon's office on Aug 4th, which will be 6 wks post-op. I've lost 27.4 lbs as of today, 20.4 of those pounds being post-surgery. Unless things change a lot in the next 2 weeks I plan to hold off on the fill. Sometimes I'm hungry only a couple of hours after I eat, but other times I can go 5 or 6 hours until I get hungry. Not sure why but I don't always eat on a regular schedule anyway. It seems like the less fill people have, the less complications they have, so I want to be conservative with fills.

I have a nose piercing that is 4 years old, and I took it out just for the surgery and didn't have any problems putting it back in afterwards. Also have an ear cartilage piercing that is 3 years old and I didn't have any problems putting that back in either.

I understand your doctor's thinking but if you haven't lost any weight in at least a month then it sounds like you need a fill.

Just throwing out my personal opinion about weighing daily: I think it's fine as long as the person doesn't freak out because they have an unexpected gain. For many years I didn't even have a scale. About 3 years ago I started doing Weight Watchers, bought a digital scale, and began weighing myself daily. This helped me to learn what my body's "normal" was, and I can fluctuate as much as 3 lbs from one day to the next. I've never been able to tie it directly to specific things other than water retention around the time of my period. It helped me because if I had a gain on my official weigh-in day that I felt wasn't a true gain because I'd been eating right that week, I knew it was probably a random fluctuation. This helped keep me from getting discouraged and using it as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted because eating right wasn't getting me anywhere! (I know I'm not the only one who has ever had that thought, amiright???) If daily weighing is used as a tool it can help us learn to listen to and understand our bodies. Speaking of digital scales, I have had the one I have now for 3 years. Some days, I can step on it 3 times and it will give me the exact same number every time. Other days, I can step on it 3 times and it will give me 3 different numbers, with as much as 2 1/2 lbs difference between them. When I am weighing as an "official" weigh in, I use the first number that I get. But I don't like the inconsistency. Anyone have any recommendations for a good scale that's consistently accurate?

I found out that a lady I work with was trying to get the surgery and was denied by our insurance. I felt really bad because I was approved on my first try with only a high BMI and no co-morbidities, but she has co-morbidities and still got denied. I didn't know she'd been denied when I told her I'd gotten approved on my first try. She's very nice and I don't think she's upset with me but I still feel badly that she wasn't approved. They told her she'd need to gain about 35 lbs before she could be approved, but that seems crazy! What if she gains that much and then gets denied again? Then she's that much heavier! I told her to appeal the denial. There is mainly one person in my life that I am concerned about jealousy with, and she is my cousin. She is a very jealous person by nature. I think she has always seen as as around the "same level" of attractiveness so I've never been a threat to her. But I have a feeling that if I do lose a significant amount of weight, she will become very jealous of me and it could cause a rift in our relationship. She's about 10 inches shorter than me, and she is only about 30 lbs overweight but of course 30 lbs on someone who is 5' tall is like 60 on a tall person. She has a really difficult time losing weight. I hope that it won't cause a problem for us and I'm going to try to do everything I can to prevent it. When we did Weight Watchers together I texted her on every weigh in day, but I haven't been updating her with my weigh-ins since the surgery. She also hasn't asked, which leads me to believe it's a good idea that I haven't volunteered the info. I've been very fortunate to have a lot of support from my family and friends so far and I hope it continues! I do have one aunt who thinks I only had the surgery so I could get a man, which is funny since I could have one now if I so chose lol. I was joking with my sister the other day and said I was devastated because it'd been 4 wks since surgery and I am still single. What a waste, huh?! LOL

I just wrote you a long reply that got eaten by the computer when I tried to backspace to fix a typo. The short version is, I am very sorry you are feeling the way you are right now. You are not alone in your feelings. My ex left me for a woman he'd known a week when I was 7 months pregnant with our 4th child; it was devastating. It's so hard to see someone we love going on in their lives without us. It sounds like your ex is an abusive, manipulative jerk, and I assure you his true self will be revealed to whatever women he's charming at the moment. Sadly, some of them will probably be so weak they will allow his mistreatment. I am SO proud of you for getting yourself out of that situation. My suggestion is to make a list of about 10 things that you can do rather than eat when the urge to emotional eat strikes you. Then commit to doing one of those activities for a minimum of 20 minutes before you allow yourself to eat anything. By that time, you'll either be distracted and not want to eat any more, or you'll know you're really hungry and you can make better choices about what you eat. I've been doing this myself since my pre-op diet started, because I was so hungry and hating going without food. It's helped me differentiate between real hunger and head hunger. Once you have some fill in your band, you will have the negative consequences of overeating to help keep you from doing it, too. But it's still important to learn coping skills to deal with the hurts/stresses in our lives.

It makes sense to put the maternity clothes in the infant section because pregnant women almost always go to the baby section to buy things they need or just research what's available. If Target would even use different colored signs or something to distinguish the maternity clothes from the plus size clothes it would help, because they mix the racks together too closely. And I find it insulting that they put the maternity clothes next to the plus size clothes but they don't actually sell plus size maternity clothes!

6 lbs in 4 weeks is a great average. Keep up the good work!

If you haven't been already, start walking for about 10 minutes every couple of hours. This helps work the gas out. My port incision was sore much longer than the other incisions, but I am just over 4 wks out now and it seems to be back to normal. I am working on cleaning and organizing my storage/laundry room and did a lot of bending, lifting, and moving things and was concerned about how I'd feel the next day, but I was relieved to feel just fine the next day. Concentrate on getting as much rest as possible, drinking plenty of fluids, and getting in as much protein as you can. You'll be back to normal soon!

I have no ideas about what it might be, but please post again once you know because I'm interested to find out what's going on with you. I'll send up a prayer that you get the situation resolved!

To me that sounds like a gallbladder attack. If you still have your gallbladder and if you're still experiencing it, or if it happens again, definitely go to the ER or your doc (primary care or surgeon) so they can rule it out. Alcohol can cause gallbladder attacks, and many people have gallbladder problems after bariatric surgery for some reason.

When I was at about that same stage post-op (I'm 4 wks out now) I told my sister that the hardest part at that point was that I was going thru all the bad parts of the surgery/eating restrictions without any benefit to show for it. So even though I knew eventually it would pay off, it was frustrating to get through that first part. Kinda like when you're first pregnant and feel sick and tired all the time, with no baby to snuggle to make it seem worth it! And some of my problem really was just the head-hunger thing along with anxiety about how my body would react once I was eating "real" food again.

That's a terrible situation. I hope they're able to come to an agreement so your medical expenses don't drastically increase!

I highly recommend the book "The Depression Cure" by Dr. Stephen Ilardi. It is a well written, thoroughly researched book on how important Omega 3s are and explains some other aspects that can help beat depression (certain vitamins, light exposure, regular exercise, increased social activities). The book can be found on amazon.com. It is important to note that Omega 3s need to be taken at a minimum dosage level of specific types of Omega 3s for therapeutic value, and you usually have to take 2 or 3 or even more capsules to achieve that dosage. The book gives the specific levels but I don't have it near me right now. If anyone wants the info let me know and I'll look it up when I can! How do the Coromega packets taste? I need to find a new way to supplement my Omega 3 intake now that I've had my surgery.

Pretty sure I haven't seen that weight since grade school LOL! Way to go!!

I don't see any reason to tell her. I'd recommend saying it's a hernia repair rather than gallbladder removal, however, because if you do end up having to have your gallbladder out she'll know something's up LOL. There's probably not any way around telling her you are having surgery, but if you don't feel comfortable telling her why, then don't. If she questions your smaller meals or protein shakes, just say the surgery has made you want to work on improving your health, which is totally true

My incision where the port is gave me a burning sensation at times. It never lasted 15 minutes, but it happened more than once. I assumed it was probably nerves healing since I had no swelling or other signs of infection and it went away after a little bit. However, I still recommend calling your surgeon just to be on the safe side, especially since you had a hernia repair along with the band placement.

You should definitely file a complaint. That is uncalled for. A nurse's job is not to judge, but to inform and support in the best way possible.

I bought some child size spoons and forks to help me remember to take smaller bites and it has helped. Even though my teenage son makes fun of me LOL.

I've modified a chicken tortilla recipe that I make frequently to make it more band-friendly: 4 oz cream cheese (can be regular, reduced fat, or fat free) 1/2 cup pace mild picante sauce (this amount and spice level could be varied according to your taste buds and ability to handle spicy foods) 1 tsp ground cumin 4 oz shredded boneless skinless chicken breast, pre-cooked (I cook a big batch of chicken breasts in my crockpot until they're very tender, then shred them and package them in 4 oz servings to add to recipes) 2 cups reduced fat shredded mexican blend cheese This makes approximately (7) 1/3 cup servings. Mix all ingredients in a saucepan on your stovetop until the cheeses are melted and everything blends together. Usually about 1/3 cup of this mixture is plenty. Yesterday I took 1/2 of a 100% whole wheat tortilla and spread the mixture on top of it, then put it in a skillet to crisp up the tortilla, quesadilla style. It was very filling and delicious. I did not feel hungry again for about 4-5 hours! The nutrition info on this, based on putting the above recipe into myfitnesspal's recipe builder is: Calories 133 Total Fat 5.8g Sat Fat 3.5g Cholesterol 27.9 Sodium 392 mg Potassium 0 mg Total carbs 2.7 dietary fiber 0.7 g sugars 1.7g protein 9.9g (note: this info is based on using reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat shredded cheese) The recipe can also be modified to your tastes by adding your favorite mexican spices. The original recipe includes the above ingredients, plus tortillas. You put 1/4 to 1/3 c mixture in each tortilla, then roll it up and place it in a baking dish. Then put more picante sauce over the top and spread 2 more cups of mexican blend cheese over the tortillas, then bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted.

When I think cardio at two weeks post-op, I think treadmill, elliptical, or bike, not necessarily the type of workout you are doing. I was up and walking around my neighborhood the same day of surgery and did that type of casual walking since then, and now I've also started walking on the treadmill at the gym. I'm 3 wks post op today. Next week when I hit 4 weeks post op I'm going to start doing some of the resistance training machines at my gym.

I think the toning shoes should be avoided. They are designed to intentionally put you slightly off balance which is like asking for injuries in my opinion. I don't even like to watch people walking in them because it makes their gait so unstable, and they're not very effective if they're effective at all. Walking, jogging, or using the elliptical regularly will tone your legs up better than any shoes. My podiatrist recommends New Balance and Asics Gels running shoes for good support (even if they're not specifically going to be used for running).

The PA at my surgeon's office recommended 3 weeks. The incisions should be closed to avoid infection...I'll be 3 wks post-op tomorrow and my incisions appear to be completely healed at this point.