kyethra

Well two days after gall bladder removal and I am already doing better. I am able to eat again! Turns out mine did have stones- DH said the surgeon told him it was just full of tiny stones. They didn't show up on the ultrasound because either that wasn't high resolution enough (or tech was exp. enough) or because the stones weren't high enough density. Yesterday my band/stomach was really irritated and i just applesauce and pretty slowly. Today its doing better, but still a little annoyed. I imagine the imrpovement will continue as the gas gets out of my sytem and the abdominal swelling goes down.

I am doing ok. Gall bladder came out without a hitch. It was full of tiny stones apparently despite what the ultrasound said. Hurts less than the band did. I was at the hospital a good 12 hours though because they sedated me heavily with antinausea stuff and that had to wear off. At first I could barely move my arms and talk. And I couldn't take deep breaths. The third time my pulse ox alarm thing kept going off cause it was in the 80s or whatever and I explained that they finally gave me oxygen. That seemed to help in general. Getting up to go to the bathroom actually really helped with that, for some reason. And then I couldn't pee so they had to cath me and call my doc and do a blood test and call my doc. Then I got to go home. Peeing has been getting easier. I'm feeling better already. I ate some salad last night for dinner. Food! But today I'm a little nauseated and prone to gagging. I suspect it might be from swelling and irritation. So I just take a bit of applesauce before my pain pills. My mouth is really dry though so that is annoying me. I also have a sore right inside the top lip. I hate when that sort of thing happens. All of that in combo with the sore through (breathing tube in me yesterday) has me trying not to drink too fast. DH was there with me yesterday. He actually got in a days worth of work since the hospital has wireless (he is a computer guy and can remote access his stuff). He took the day off today to be home and help me. He's a good husband I've got him waiting on me so I can just rest.

On stressfull jobs. I get that. I've worked in the past as an aide for autistic kids who needed one on one. It can be very demanding. But I know about autism- my brother has autism and I have a mild autism spectrum disorder too. I get it, them. Then I started working with NT kids. The pay was better and the work was easier. And it is sad that that is the way things tend to be with developmental disabilities and MR work. Its this demanding stuff and it doesn't pay. Sometimes a break is good. Or maybe a change in duties. I know some people who have high stress lives that don't like to watch anything stressfull on tv- just commedy. Or sometimes stress relieving hobbies can help. Kickboxing aerobics. Picture whatever you want as you aim that punch or kick. I would also have to remind myself about the rewarding aspects of the job. It takes what seems like forever for any breakthrough. But then something happens. And I would think, "wow, I really am making a difference here". Its those moments that need to be held on to.

i hear a lot about water aerobics. I would have tried it ages ago but it seems so, well, wet. Now I'm a big fan of water when it comes to things like my beautiful overflow bath at home (I swear I'm in love with my tub). walks on the edge of waves can also be fun. All that stuff. Its the whole submersing myself in cold water when I can't even swim properly thing I don't really seem to care for. I want to learn to swim properly someday. I think. But not now. Now I have this recurrent nightmare that in order to get my masters I have to take an 8am swimming class. Naturally I refuse to get in the water and so I fail.

Don't give up! You'll do fine once you get the right amount of restriction. I'm sure your doc has his reasons for being conservative. Let him know your concerns. And any weight loss is good. I honestly never imagined I would loose this much right after surgery. I haven't had a fill yet, but I had a lot of initial restriction just from the band. For example, it was over a week post op before I could drink a slim fast in less than an hour. While I'm thrilled with what I have lost so far, there are some downsides to really fast loss. My gall bladder didn't like it for one thing- it has to come out this week. And I've got some skin thats getting loose and I think it might not be so bad if I lost a little slower. You'll get there enventually!

LOL. They will get used to it. At first my DH asked if it was ok for him to order pizza and eat around me because I didn't allow him to eat with me around when I was preop because of the intense hunger from my preop diet. After I got banded, different story. Explain to them that you just had something sewed to your stomach so you're not too hungry at the moment so you really don't care if they are eating. They will get it eventually.

Two week liquid diet. I did do some cheating, mostly in the first week because of food withdrawl. I stuck to it pretty well on the second week. It was awful in part because I had to be less than 1000 calories a day and stuff, I think. I was eating a lot of calories. I was really upset because I didn't loose much with it, about 7 pounds I think. If they were going to starve me, I figured I should look different at the end of two weeks. But I made up for the weight loss after the surgery. These days I rarely get 1000 calories in even, but I'm not hungry. During the preop diet I also made my husband miserable because he wasn't allowed to eat around me. Or have food I could smell. Or leave any evidence of fast food out. Or talk about what he wanted to eat. He was a bit shell shocked for a while, poor guy.

Ok not that many that fit. Rather few actually. I do have some clothes in storage bins that don't fit that i need to weed through and save for when I hit that size though.

Lane bryant and fashion bug tend to be the stores I frequent the most, though I got a bunch of stuff at marshal fields before it went away one time I was in chicago area. I also shop online. I haven't purchased anything from them yet, but I thought alight.com has some cute stuff and a wide variety. There is torrid for some more "normal" type clothes. Hottopic.com has a skull tank I want. Ebay. Oh the things I discover on ebay... The catherines by me I don't like. There is also a new plus sized store in the mall that opened up, I can't remember the name. But it wasn't anything I like, plus the sales lady completely ignored me. I was the only person in the store too. Some stores I notice tend to have what I think of as middle aged comfy teacher wear. The sort of thing I remember a lot of my middle aged teachers wearing. Fine for them, but not what I want. There is one store in the mall that is supposed to offer sizes a little bigger, weather vane or vanity I think. Not as big as me but more like size 17 so when I get to that size I have to try that out. Sometimes gordmans or kohls. LOL now it sounds like I shop a lot. I really don't even have that many clothes. Less than DH, honest.

If you continue having sleep troubles you might want to see a sleep specialist. They will run some tests and how you fill out a sleep diary and questionare and probably order a sleep study. If insurance covers it, its all good. If not those things can be pretty expensive. Good sleep is just oh so imporant... Trust me, I have crazy sleep disorders. Good sleep compared to bad sleep-- its a world of difference.

I have lidocaine patches that I adore. I use them for neuropathic pain, but I stuck one on my port site once (doc said I could them over incisions) when it was acting up and it helped. Its a topical thing so you don't get the whole body effects or digestive tract effects you would with NSAIDs. Its called lidoderm. Might be something to ask about if after time the port still bothers you enough.

Let us know how it goes, I'm thinking of getting one for when I do hit the gym.

Yeah I am hoping weight loss will help with pain. I read before that it does that most for lower body joint pain and back pain. That made sense to me. I was a little disapointed though because my shoulders are bad (my shoulder blades actually). But I found that working with weights does help with that for me. Its just a matter of working through the initial workout pain and reminding myself that the results will be worth it. That reminds me, I need to ask the doc if after my surgery (for the gall bladder) if once I start eating normally I can get back on my NSAID. I haven't had it since a week before the band went it. I have darvocet, but I don't need something that strong most of the time so I try not to take it. But I need something so I want to get back on my NSAID. Thats actually really exciting! I bet I can get back on it soon. I always feel so guilty whenever I hear of knee injuries-- almost one year ago I was in a bad car accident and my brother was with me and he broke his knee and the tendon was disconnected. He can walk again now but its not the same as before. I'm always trying to find out what different things people do for their knees and see if any of it might help him. So if you have good tips, let me know.

You might want to ask about a proton pump inhibitor. Those are more effective than tums and zantac usually. If it is a hernia then that could be fixed, I would imagine. I had read before I my initial consultation that in rare cases the band can make reflux worse. So I asked my surgeon about it since I have bad GERD. He said that if it did make mine worse I could try something called the stretta procedure in the future. Its supposed to be pretty good actually, the stretta procedure. With a band they can't do a fundoplasty.

Yup, get other opinions. And there are some good muscle relaxers. I like baclofen for use during the day myself because it is a lot less drowsy causing then some of the others. Also, I wonder if you were evaluated for ovarian cysts? Since you mentioned that one time the pain went away after your period, the caught my attention. A few years ago I had a monster cyst (it was a big ole complex one and probably had a torsion) making me very sick. But several ER visits and other docs never even thought of gynecological stuff. They look for cysts with a pelvic exam and vaginal ultrasound. Not exactly a fun time, but not that bad either. Its something to rule out at least.

And if you don't have stones you can still ask for a HIDA scan to evaluate how it functions. I don't have stones, but I have all the symptoms. Mine just isn't functiong like it should. I swear it has turned evil! Its comming out in a few days. I hear you about digestion in general being bad. Thats how I felt. The food goes down fine, and its not until after it starts digesting that there are problems. And then its the whole digestion thing! I would be waiting hours and thinking, damn I never was aware of the digestive process so acutely before. My pain is also a little atypical. I do have tenderness and some pain under the right ribs, but the pain started and still has a stronger presense in my lower right back. I know that that can be a presentation of it sometimes, its just not the most usual one. My nausea has also been just overwhelming-- an all the time thing too. For now you probably just want to keep clear of fatty or other troublesome foods. I see ads online for gall bladder flushes that are supposed to help. Personally, I suspect that if they actually worked doctors would recommend them instead of cutting the things out. I found that the more solid something was, like bread versus a shake, it was harder for me. I've been on Clear liquids for the past several days and my body likes those the best, but I do realise thats not exactly a practical or nutritious diet.

I agree. And there are some good condoms out there too. Give it time, relax. Take your time. If you still find yourself having problems after a while, then you might want to see a sex therapist about it. I hear they are good at that sort of thing. I imagine this is not abnormal at all.

purple, I think it all depends on the person. I know some people on here seem to do well without a fill for a long time at least. I don't see one in my immediate future. Once I stop losing weight then I'll schedule one, but since we have the weight falling off it would be silly to get one before we need one I think. I'm glad to see so many people discovering the joys of fish. I really like fish. I don't eat it quite as often as I would like because I've been sort of a lazy cook I guess. I've always disliked chicken, I just don't eat it at all. So for years people always sort of look at me like I'm crazy when I say that I think fish is better. Then I met the dietician who mentioned that chicken has a tough texture, tougher than anything else, and I turned to my husband and I said "so there". For me texture is a big sensory issue especially with certain meats. One thing I find exciting about the weight loss is looking at the difference in my BMI. I'm not that far from 35 anymore, and that will be nice to get to for me because than after 35 I can say I'm not morbidly obese anymore. I remember when I first learned I was MO a couple of years ago. I was shocked. I knew I was obese, but I didn't know I was that bad relatively. Rosi, I miss my husband a lot when he goes out of town too. More than I ever think I am going to. I'm still a newlywed though. Maybe after a few years I'll get more sick of him

It was good, I tivoed it. What I really liked is how they talked about the constant hunger and how that makes it so hard to lose weight. Thats one thing I am always trying to explain to people-- that I couldn't just eat so much less because before I would be too hungry. I mentioned it to my mom who has lost over 100 pounds but she said she can't watch those types of things because when they talk about food in it it makes her too hungry. I get that. I went to McDonalds directly after seeing super size me. And there is that one food court scene in Fat I still think of-- where he had the fries. Those fries looked good. I think they were curly fries. I like curly fries. So that makes me think of Hardees and Arby's. I can go there of course, and I will at some point but know with the band I won't eat nearly as much as before. Its safer now.

Have you tried looking the back of the closet? While I tended to be good about throwing out most things when I reached a size that was too big (well ok donating them if in good shape) I've always had to save certain things for when I will lose weight. Because it was going to happen someday. Well know i'm losing weight and I'm glad I saved that one pair that was too small of jeans, etc. You can also check out goodwill and so forth- sometimes they have ok things. And there is always ebay! Plus if you sew at all you could take things in and add a dart or two. Actually, it might not be that expensive to have alterations done for more expensive type clothing like buisiness suites rather than having to buy a new suite every month if you could get it taken in and altered a time or two. I have on pair of jeans that is now officially too big for me, but they fit so well before. The perfect cut and the right inseam! (for some reason I can't always find the cuts I want with a 32 inch inseam. Then I get the one that is a little shorter because the tall ones are bit too long-- some times I am just too lazy to hem, but then they aren't quite long enough. And esp if I wear wedges it will bother me). So I'm just going to take them in and they should fit a while longer.

I don't know about hormone replacement, but I am on hormones (cause my birthcontrol is too low hormone. I need more estrogen) and I know that getting on the estrogen helped me a lose a few pounds. Before I got on it I had gained some-- every actually suspected it was my thyroid before the whole estrogen thing was figured out. But if the weight just own't come off it might be worth it to ask your doc about checking the hormone levels and various things to make sure your thyroid is ok and so forth.

I think my food costs are going down. My husband has been living off of drive through and take out lately though so that might offset it. But lately especially I'm just not eating much. So there isn't that much to buy. And some stuff does last longer too because I am eating less.

Well good news-- I got my surgery date for wednesday to take the evil gall bladder out! As long as I am careful to rest in bed and take all my anit nausea stuff and things like that its not so bad. I'm getting kind of hungry since I have only had Clear liquids most of the week, but I'm really afraid to try anything, even a Protein shake or Soup. I think if I decide I am hungry enough at some point I might try a little bit of soup. But I am worried about throwing up esp. since a couple of days ago really nasty stuff that nots supposed to come up was. Thats the sort of thing I need to try and avoid, though if I did have to go the ER and get the operation sooner or something they told me that my surgeon's partner was on call this weeked at one of the hospitals. My rate of weight loss seems to be slowing down. I guess my body is reaching some sort of equilibrium mode or something. But its really only in the past couple of days that I have noticed I seem to be a little bit thinner. My cheeks, for example, seem to feel a little less fatty to me, and my wedding rings are looser. Not loose enough to have to resize them yet though. Since I have big man hands I'm always glad to see any size reduction there. I have some cute little rings from highschool I outgrew a while ago-- nothing remotely expensive or special, but fun stuff like a snow globe ring and a mini level ring. I'd like to be able to wear and buy more rings esp the fun ones again if I feel like it. Maybe someday, far down the road, I'll even be able to wear chokers or smaller necklaces, bracelets that aren't extra big... well maybe not. I've always had trouble with that stuff. But I did notice that the one online store I use for all my candles and herbs and other pagan stuff has some cute hair clips as well. Those I can wear. I look at the Christian thread. I feel bad for them. A lot of them seem so conflicted and guilty and stuff. What is with major religions and guilt anyway? I'm kind of sad that I am going to have stay at home for beltane and the planned rituals to recuperate. My group had planned out a nice one using plants in our circle and making bath/massage oils. A friend and I had talked about going up to wisconsin too since she heard that in the milwaukee area they have a good one. Oh well, theres always next year! DH also said our plants outside are doing well. Last year I planted a ton of stuff and we put in bulbs, etc. Between my black thumb and the rabbits just about all of it died. But the onions I planted were always strong and still are. And the rhubard I thought wouldn't come back, but it did. Maybe now that there is a direct comparison I can finally convince DH that the burdock type stuff he planted a couple of years ago really isn't rhubarb and will never turn red

someone is reading it even he or she doesn't feel the drive to comment. I find readins stuff helpful. As far as nausea meds, if you aren't happy with what you have you could ask about zofran. Its the strongest of the anti nausea meds-- its what they usually give chemo patients. I'm not sure how well it would work long term though. Are you getting your hernia fixed?

Sounds good! Personall I wear tank tops or sleeveless tops if I feel like it. No one is going to be staring at my arms, they aren't that bad. When I was a teenager being able to show my upper arms was a big step for me in terms of self confidence. They weren't even bad, just a little bit flabby but I had this wierd self conscious thing about them. I decided that other people had to look at them, not me, so what did I care.