leilaniessence

I'm with you all on a lot of your experiences. Right now all I feel like doing is sleeping/crying because of how uncomfortable I feel. I hate to feel not 100% - it drives me bats. I have a lot of things I'm going through right now that sometimes have me thinking, "Why did I do this to myself?" They are: - Port pain galore! Only my port is on my right side??? - This means I can't fall asleep on my tummy or on my right side, my two preferred ways to sleep. I feel "robbed" of something, if that makes any sense. - 1/4 cup or a 1/2 cup of any shake/soup takes me FOREVER to sip - I can no longer take a big gulp of cold Water in these hot days Do you know how crazy that drives me? I just want one freaking gulp of ice cold water, gosh darn it!!!!!! - I feel thirsty all the time, even though I'm sipping water like crazy in between "meals" (shakes) - God forbid I have any kind of liquid, water included, just before bed. I'm a nightime drinker (always have been), but lately, whenever I take a sip of water and lay down right away, my gut starts wreching in pain. Why??? - I always have this feeling of "tightness" or "squeezing" just below my sternum. Sometimes I can manage to forget about it, other times I can't. - I have a hard time taking a deep breath or yawn right now. I think its my diaphragm that hurts... or maybe my abdominal muscles? It sucks not being able to get in a good yawn, ya know? - NO ENERGY. Super fatigued. Gah! Then again... I have to remind myself. I'm BARELY on day 7 post-op. What can I expect? It's the first time I've ever had surgery in my life (I'm 27) and prior to this, I had rarely taken pain meds. Like other experienced bandsters here say (over and over), I NEED TO GIVE THIS SOME TIME. I'm trusting that it WILL get better. Still... that doesn't stop me from sometimes feeling, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Hang in there. I'm trying to too! (P.S. Weight loss is awesome so far, at least).

Hi all, I keep searching and searching for active lap-band websites. I'm very pleased with this one so far. I was banded about one week ago now, on June 15th, by Dr. Milton Owens in Orange, CA. I'm very happy with my experience with the doctor and his office. My insurance refuses to cover anything WLS related, so I'm self-pay. During my first visit (6/6), I weighed in at 243.5lbs. My highest weight had actually been 247lbs about a month earlier. On surgery day (6/15) after 9 days on liquids, I weighed in at 234lbs on the dot. Tomorrow is my first "official" weigh in, 1 week post-op, so we'll see what happens. I'm very happy with the results so far and sticking to the rules by the letter! I wish I could say that it has been an easy process so far, but it definitely has not. I rarely take any kind of medicine and I had never had a surgery. The anesthesia and pain meds knocked me out cold. The pain from the gas (OMG, don't want to remember) made me want to shoot myself the first 4 days after surgery. Right now I feel pain in the port incision/location of the port which I keep telling myself is obvious because a lot went on in that tiny area, so tough it out. No, it isn't infected, nothing's wrong. I'm just finding out that I'm extra sensitive to pain. I also have this very "tight" feeling in my chest, just below my sternum. I'm guessing that's the band and that my body just isn't used to that sensation yet. It's also difficult to take a deep breath, or to yawn deeply. There's a lot of change going on in my body due to the surgery itself that I had not anticipated and that sometimes makes me wonder if I did the right thing. I know I did... it's just those moments. So... I'm hoping I get to meet lots of wonderful, supportive people here. I need a lot of support right now, and hope that someday soon I can begin to offer it to others as well. Will look forward to catching up on threads/blogs/stories and getting to meet everyone Leilani

Had to chime in on this thread. My surgeon is also Dr. Milton Owens. He is incredibly kind, very caring, and very direct. One thing I especially like is that he gives you his cell phone number so that you can call him ANYTIME you want. (I try to be respectful of hours, but it is still good to know that I can call at 3am if I feel I absolutely have to). He and his staff have been incredible with me. Five out of Five stars for sure!!

Hi Kittyforet! I was banded June 15th. Going to read through this thread and see who else was banded in June. Can't wait to meet you all! Please feel free to friend me. Let's keep in touch! - Leilani

Same thing is happening to me. I'd love to read more responses! (Also, NanaCat, I was banded the same day! Hi bandster twin )