NightShiftNurse

Hello fellow Banders, I am celebrating my 2-week post-op mark today! Honestly, it feels like more than that. I am down a total of 25 pounds since my surgery date weigh-in. I am actually having to wear a belt with everything because I'd be sagging like no tomorrow if I didn't. I have been eating good and getting around so much better this second week. I am returning to work on Friday. It will be nice to get back in the routine. Cheers and God Bless everyone, Jason "The Nightshift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

Congratulations!!

That's great! I'm 10 days Post Op and really feeling loads better. On fact, I'm going to shoot pictures at my cousins wedding today and feel tremendous!

I was saying the same almost a week ago. You will do great! I'm going to see the doc on Thursday for my first follow up! I can't wait!

I noticed this morning that I had a weird rash break out all over my abdomen. Anyone else have anything like this? It's not itchy, but hundreds of red bumps. Already took some Benadryl with no effect. Guess I'll call the doc in the morning.

It's on my abdomen and both flanks. Reddened, raised, dry. It's diffuse throughout and I'm wondering if it's a reaction to the IV antibiotics I got in the hospital or the pain meds. Though, I've never had a reaction like this to oxycodone. Hmmm.

Well I don't think it's eczema. This appears like an allergic reaction to something... I think it's funny that it's occurring on the place where I had surgery.

All of this sounds delicious. I am sooooo hungry for something other than this bullcrap liquid diet right now. And I still have 4 days till my appointment. I feel like this is literally a starvation diet I'm on right now. Sorry for the venting, but POD4 isn't bringing anything happier my way.

Yeah, yesterday was bad. I had a terrible headache and couldn't get very comfortable sitting up. I spent the afternoon in bed for the most part. Shoulder pain is still here and there. My biggest concern is just trying to get liquids down. Since my surgery, i've had like 5oz. Jello, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 3/4 of an Isopure Protein drink and that's it. And that's 3 days!! Hoping for better today.

I've just been walking around and trying to maintain a comfortable position. So far, do good.

I'm such a noob: but what is a NSV?

Was banded yesterday morning. During the procedure it was discovered that I had a small hiatal hernia, so the surgeon fixed that up. Was very sore (still am) and wound up staying the night just for better pain control. On the way home now and things are looking up. I felt like a prego holding my gut as I walked out to the car, Lol. I can't believe it's finally done. Excited to be alive, excited for the future! Cheers, Jason " The Nightshift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

I'm still feeling uncomfortable. And I'm not taking in nearly what they want me to because of how full I feel just after 2 ounces. I'm getting in maybe 3 ounces an hour when I'm not sleeping. But, I have to say that chicken broth never tasted so good in my life!

I'm having a bit of shoulder pain as well. Many don't know this but this pain is referred pain from the abdomen. It's how pain travels along the nervous system. Congrats! I was banded yesterday as well. I kind of have a bloated gassy feeling. Hoping this will decrease in the days ahead. Cheers, Jason "The Nightshift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

You're quite welcome!

A couple things here: 1. It's not likely to be interference with a lead. Interference with a lead is very easy to distinguish on an EKG and any experienced clinician performing the test on you would be able to tell that. 2. As someone else mentioned here, it could be that you simply have a different anatomy. "Borderline" can mean a lot of different things. "Borderline" in what kind of way? 3. Realize that a lot of this is just meant to play it safe. All WLS requires general anesthesia and if there is an underlying heart condition, it will be important to know this prior to induction of anesthesia in order to properly administer the level of anesthestic required in your situation. No other facet of Lapband surgery is stressful on the cardiovascular system. The drugs used in general anesthesia reduce the blood pressure and can alter a patient's heart rate. Therefore, if you have a condition with your heart, choices can be made to use a different array of anesthetics that do the same job but in a way that is safer for the patient. I hope all is well for you and that all goes as you want it to go. Cheers, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

Being a nurse, I would suggest against the hernia. It's just not the same. A laparoscopic removal of the gall bladder would be a far superior choice. It has similar post-op orders that will make a lot more passable to suspicious types. Plus... a lot of people that have issues with their gall bladder can lose weight due to "healthier choices." Just an idea. Good luck with your cover-up. Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

After hearing of so many here that have to do more than 1 week of this pre-op diet, I shouldn't complain about my mere 7 days. As others have pointed out, it sucks and I'm running low on energy. I am on day 3-4 of the diet. I am working tonight and I'm dragging more than usual. My surgery is on Wednesday morning and I am so very excited. Honestly, I'm ready for the surgery because I know at least then I won't feel like eating at all anyway. The Carnation Instant Breakfast sugar free Essentials with either FF or 1% milk is a life saver for me. It tastes fairly good (although I'm very sensitive to the taste of artificial sweeteners and I can taste it with that). Excellent source of the Protein for right now. However, I don't know that it will meet the carbs/proteins = 1/2 guideline the Weight loss institute recommends. Hang in there. April 3rd is just right around the corner. Are you having yours inpatient or ? I am fortunate enough to have it outpatient. Cheers, Jason "The NightShift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

I will only have to do a 1 week High Protein liquid diet. From all that I've heard, it sounds like it's going to really suck. Hang in there and remember this is something you're going to look back on and say "yep, I did it!" Jason "The Night Shift Nurse"

Hi everyone - It's been several weeks since I logged on here, but despite that, I have made some progress towards having surgery. Per my last update, I had joined Weight Watchers as part of my pre-op medically-managed diet routine. I had some success with this: I lost 22 pounds in the first month, but I decided not to join the second month. All in all, I have maintained 14 pounds of weight off, so that's very good. From a health perspective, my lipids are doing better and my carbs have dropped considerably since I've given up the sweet tea. As of last Thursday, I have completed all requirements necessary for insurance approval and the SSM Weight Loss institute has submitted everything to my insurance. I am told that approval may take two weeks, but since I am an SSM employee, I may get approved as early as 48 business hours after submittal. My surgeon is going to be Dr. Mario Morales. I met with him a couple weeks ago and he was very gracious with the amount of time he spent answering questions and explaining the RB&As of the surgery. He wants me to be on a one week liquid/high Protein diet to help shrink my liver a bit prior to the surgery. He also says that since my health is so good otherwise that I qualify to have the procedure outpatient instead of staying in the hospital overnight. Woot! That makes me happy. So, if everything goes to plan, I will be having my surgery later this month! I'm excited that this is getting so close! Will post an update soon. Cheers, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

As a nurse, I couldn't help but read your post with a dropping jaw. Is the NP affiliated with the surgeon who will be performing your surgery or is this someone else? I really believe there is a fine line between honest medical tact and being emotionally over-invested to the point that you come off in the manner you describe. This is obviously a very personal struggle and putting finite deadlines and parameters in place in front of you will only lead to additional stress (which in turn could lead to added pounds). Here's the truth of the matter: do you need to lose weight pre-op? Sure, but there is not a magic number one needs to achieve before surgery can proceed. There are people well over 400 pounds that have surgeries. Take it in stride, but if the NP catches an attitude on your next visit, take a moment to breathe and then let her know that it's a journey and not a destination. It's about the effort. And frankly, instead of lecturing patients, she could take a moment to reflect back on the true nature of the nursing field: caring and therapeutic communication. All the best, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse"

Hey everyone - I'm very new to the site and this is my second post. I thought I would place it here. To put it simply, I have been a busy dude in getting this stuff rounded up. I have completed this mammoth packet of paperwork and just faxed it to the doctor's office. I had an appointment with my Primary Care Physician yesterday and he gave me his soapbox rant about weight loss surgery (to which I endured without blinking an eye). In his view, weight loss surgery is something that is too easy to become a candidate for and that everyone can lose the weight if they had strong enough will power, etc. I rebutted that he is right in some regard, but for someone like me who has been grossly overweight since I was 8 years old (I'll be 33 next month), it's a lot more than willpower. In the meantime while I have been yo-yoing away with failed diets and weight loss that plateaus, my general health is deteriorating. In the end, he recommended me for the surgery and appreciated that I didn't shy away from his malingering commentary. I am also going to be having a sleep study. I believe I have mild sleep apnea. We'll see. I should be having that study in a couple weeks. I'll update everyone afterwards on the results. The psych eval is also something I need to complete. I have that scheduled in a couple of weeks, so I hope that is as non-threatening as people on here have suggested. The last part of my insurance approval is being on a physician-supervised diet for 3 months. Weight watchers qualifies for this and so I'll just stick to that. Everything going to plan will result in being qualified by April. I'm hoping for a surgical date by May or June. Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

Well, I started on the Weight Watchers plan on Wednesday night. Since I was already well into the day, I shrugged off Wednesday and planned to start Thursday. I had a ceremonial last dish of chocolate Ice Cream, a couple beers, and some pizza rolls. LOL. My wife has joined as well. That's nice to have a partner to do this with. I don't know if anyone is familiar with the weight watchers plan, but I was told that I can have 71 points per day. LMAO!! My wife gets roughly half. I don't know whether or not I should feel like I'm a total fatty or what, but I'm taking it in stride, really. I'm finding that I really have to just gorge myself to consume that number of points. Yesterday, I only managed 59 points. Today, only 48. The good thing is that I don't feel hungry on this plan and I really do see that I'm eating better. I'm two days clean from a McDouble!! My doctor also called back and let me know that my Hemoglobin A1C (the determining factor for diagnosing diabetes) revealed that I am borderline diabetic. I can control this with dieting. In addition to this, I found out that my testosterone is on the low side. By taking some topical ointment for this, it will resolve this problem. I'm just taking it all in stride. I know that I am going to make it through this and nothing will deter me. If anything, these results are steeling my resolve. Cheers, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse"

Wow, sorry to hear about you having this kind of problem. I believe what you are experience is something we in the medical field refer to as dumping. While it sounds literal, it's a condition where your body has a major sensitivity to high concentrations of sugars and causes an instant ramping of bowel motility. The small bowel goes into overdrive and the large bowel experiences some colic. The end result is the squirts unfortunately. I hope the recommended shakes help with your diet plan, if not, I would consult your physician to determine alternative diet plans. There are so many out there. Good luck, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO