lisacaron

@@Queenz_Cece Your doing amazing so far! Don't worry about the loss of appetite that's what we all want The first few weeks will be a little rough, but if your expecting it to be "bad" then it's going to be. So take comfort that it's really not all that bad. All I took was Tylenol for pain and not even that most of the time, so your going to be OK. The first few days what really helped me was warm (not hot not cold) sweet tea. Decaf tea with sweet N low or other sugar substitute. I would spoon it slowly from the cup. Here are a few tips for when you get home: sugar free ice pops are your best friend! They help internal swelling and help you to keep hydrated Heating pad to put under your back/shoulder to help the gas pains if you have them Ice Pack. This helps on the port site incision as well as any others. Keeps swelling and pain down. Beano/Gas-Ex Medicine cups. You can get these from the Dr. or the hospital they help when you need to learn to take small sips. Takes away the urgency to gulp from a cup or larger container. Biggest key to recovery is to walk walk walk. It will help move the gas out of your body. Never felt so happy to fart as I did that first day after surgery! Get used to the noises your body is about to start making they last for a while some never go away. There will be lots of toots. Have your self all set up at home with lots of Protein shakes you like, sugar free- fat free puddings, broths and all the things you will need for the first few days at home. If you are feeling nauseous after surgery while still in the hospital don't try to "tough" it out. Tell the Dr. and/or nurses and have them give you something for it. Most of all give yourself lots of TLC, and be patient with yourself as you heal. You are starting a whole new life just like a new born and there are new things to learn, and experiences to have as you embark on this journey some can be scary like getting ready for this surgery but they are also exciting!! So focus on exciting and happy and healthy and you will do GREAT! Never regretted my decision to have surgery and loving it every day! One good tip for the future is...all the things you think you will never eat again. Never fear because you will eat them again, but you will eat them differently and enjoy them 10 times more.

Keep going strong! You can do this!!! I was hungry about 1 week after surgery. So much so I had to yell at my husband who was also banded three days after me to shut the TV off because I could smell the hotwings through the TV commercial. Mind you I don't even like or eat hotwings but at that point I was feeling like i was ready to chew through the TV! If you keep up the regime you have during your pre-op diet, eating when your hungry having a shake or non-fat sugar free pudding, Greek yogurt things like that. Even Soups, go creamy for some extra staying power. Protein is your friend right now. Try to get enough of that in. It will help you to stay fuller longer, and help your body heal from surgery. Right now your focus is still healing, not to worry about losing weight but to maintain what you have already lost and to heal from surgery. Keeping the protein high will help that process and also prevent some hair loss so get it in even if it's the dreaded Protein shakes again. I know I was SICK of mine by the time I had surgery...but they help they really do!!

@@terrydumont46 Feel better friend, I'm pulling for you to just need some Fluid out to make everything A-OK again!!! You hit the nail on the head about calling your Dr. first!! Let us all know how you are doing OK?

@@JoJoNYC Awesome! Congratulations for taking control of your life! We are all right there with you. Lapband surgery was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself! Check in and let us know as you move forward, we are here for support!

@@chefkelly I think it's normal. You are pushing your body asking for it to burn more energy when you work out and of course we want it to take from the fat stores that we have so we can lose weight...but our bodies are resistant and the more you ask of it the more it wants that easy energy burn that comes from food vs dipping into it's fat stores where it likes to save it up for emergency's like the next dinosaur attack I have days where I run around all day then I do cardio and the trainer and I don't eat much during the day by the time I get home or for me even the next day I find that I am STARVING! Usually after an intense work out my band does not allow me to eat very much so I usually have a renewing muscle building Protein shake after an intense work out with some Amino Acids etc.

@@sbrown1 your going to be just fine, don't worry. Usually the reason they have you on liquids then mushy and then soft and then normal foods is to allow your insides to heal up and swelling to be reduced as well to keep you in compliance with your new way of eating now that you have had WLS. I'm not sure what procedure you had so if you get a chance go to your profile and fill in the stats that will help us all to better answer questions you have as well as offer support.

@@loulou29 Welcome to Bariatric Pal! I understand your fears and applaud you for making the choice to change your life in a positive way. Much of what the posters above said is accurate. Not much is known about the surgical procedures performed today 20 years out since they have been revised from procedures that were performed 20 years ago. As we learn more and more about obesity and it's causes, effects, and ways to combat the disease and resolve the symptoms technology and medical science change the way procedures are preformed and apparatus are improved. I understand your hesitation in having something foreign in your body for the rest of your life especially given your age, that can and hopefully will be a long long time. My husband recently had hip replacement surgery and he and some of the less experienced doctors were also afraid of how/if that might break down on him over time since he is much younger then most people who receive hip replacement surgery. The pain for him was so great that there was no choice, when we consulted a specialist in the field he advised my husband that the risk of needing another revision was minimal. When we went to the hospital and spoke with Dr. and nurses who had been there for 20+ years I asked them how many revisions and replacements of parts they had seen in the years from patients and they all replied Zero! That boosted his confidence he had the surgery this May and has been running around literally ever since! The lapband is meant to last your whole life long. However that does not mean that you might not down the line revise to another surgery, and/or have some parts like the port switched out as you lose your weight. There is a low profile port that they can use once the weight is lost to minimize seeing anything under the skin. They can also "relocate" the port to make it less visible. These are all things to discuss with your doctor’s office when you go through the process of scheduling your surgery. As improvements come along, we all like to be able to take advantage of them. Years ago port revisions were not an option today they are, so keep an open mind and know that there is always improvement in all areas. At your age the band is the way I would go. In fact I advise my step son who is 25 the same way. With the band you have options with other surgeries you don't have as many options but the other surgeries can become options as you move forward if you wanted a revision down the road. Do your research and due diligence when choosing your surgeon, ask many many questions. Read through this site, ask lots of questions here too. You will get a million and one helpful, not so helpful supportive, informative sometimes scary answers. Take them all in keep what applies to you and discard the rest. Read @@Alex Brecher WLS books and once again Welcome to Bariatric Pal! Hope to hear more from you!!

The fat in our bodies stores estrogen which is actually a female hormone. As we lose weight this is released to some degree back into the body so it's true our hormones are affected. Those still with menses might notice increased fertility, or wonky cycles. For those of us past that phase in our lives, it can increase your libido a bit and also put a damper on it since the ratio of hormones is out of balance and it's not so easy to "feel" awesome when your off kilter. That said... I think that having a kicking libido is more about your "mind set" then it is about what your body is doing. As we get older, sure we have still 101 things going on in our lives and yes we can kick sex to the back burner because it's not as important as it was as we were in our 30's to have families etc. even if we weren't trying to procreate at that time the natural urge is there. So if your not "having fun" take the time to figure out why not? If your not sure see the Dr. to rule out medical causes, and then get your head around it Maybe there is something missing that you need to set that spark afire. Could be simple communication with your partner. I find that in life communication is the key to just about everything, and you need to be speaking the same language or at least have a translation dictionary available for quick reference Feeling good, looking good, being healthy and happy....go for it!

Reading things like this really upsets me. There are reasons that people need this type of intervention, and in the long run the cost of health care for someone who is obese with co-morbidity issues some of us having more then one costs way more than surgical intervention for the reduction and prevention of those issues. Peoples lives are at stake, and I don't think that everyone really understands the issues that can and do arise from obesity. That is why education and advocacy amount the WLS community is so important! You would not deny a cancer patient chemo therapy or surgery to remove the cancer. You would not deny a cardiac patient a bypass so why deny an obese person who is trying to make a commitment to change their lives forever so that they hopefully never need those surgeries or interventions? I don't understand it....

@@ErinMarie I'm going to say go see the Dr. It will help you get back on track and you can talk with the Dr. about how your feeling/eating etc. If you need a fill at that time, then get one at least let them check it out for you on the fluro to see how things are moving past the band and that can help you and the doc to decide what's best for you right now. Good Luck!

@@PSRS520 Give them a call. I was on top of everything when I was going through all the pre-op stuff for both my husband and myself. You can call your insurance company also if you don't want to bug the Dr. office. They can tell you if they have all the right paper work and if the approval has gone out etc. Then you can follow up with the Dr. office

@@rose2014 great weigh loss! My advice to you is to give your Dr. a call and go in for a quick check of your band. If you are having issues like that more then once you could be stretching things as TMF said. I recently was having trouble and I didn't think anything of it at the time, went on liquids for a few days thinking it would pass it was medication irritation of my stomach and consequently cause the stoma to swell making the space for food and Water to pass through VERY narrow. I called the Dr. as soon as I felt like the issue wasn't getting better but was getting worse, and they found I had a dilation in my pouch and had to take out some fill to see if it resolves. I would not panic about it, but it's always worth giving the doctors office a call and following up. Your doing so great, keep up the good work!!

@@JustWatchMe I understand what you are going through. You are vulnerable right now, your going through something that is an end and a beginning and you are finding, redefining and shaping yourself. Those are amazing undertakings, and when we are vulnerable we tend to be harsher on ourselves and notice our flaws or what we perceive to be flaws, when what we really need is extra TLC. So let me give you a BIG {{{HUG}}} and tell you that you are beautiful, wrinkles dimples what ever all of it. You are an amazing strong person and though you might not feel like it now there is someone out there who will see all of your amazing qualities and love you no matter what! I went through a divorce after 20 years of marriage, we were together from the time I was 15 and I was devastated at the time. I was harsh on myself, incredibly harsh on myself. I was doing lots of negative thinking who would want me now...some old woman with three kids over weight, scratch that obeastly and I could go on...but you know what? It took a few friends from work to put me out there to wake me up to realize the best "revenge" (that's what I wanted at that time) was to live your best life and be happy. So I dressed it up and put the make up on and I got out there and I forced myself to meet new people and "date". I thought men would find me gross...but you know what the opposite was true!! It was a huge ego boost, and then I met the man I would marry...even though I swore I would NEVER get married again..I wasn't sure I could love again...but you know what I did and I have never been so happy! YOU my friend are amazing, don't stress the wrinkles or the stretch marks or any thing because those are your badges of courage and honor...and even plastic surgery comes with it's own set of scars. Wear them proudly because you have and you are making the life you want! Healthy and HAPPY and you deserve nothing less!!! xoxoxox

Have we started a Banders #7 yet...don't wanna get lost

Congrats keep on going!!!

@@BandedMi Give your doctor a call you should not be having these issues so often and as @@labwalker & @@terrydumont46 said you can cause some complications to arise. Go back to liquids for now, give your stomach and your band a rest while you wait for your doctor. When you move back to solid foods work on doing so gradually and work on those band eating mechanics. They are not the easiest thing in the world to master but they are worth taking the time to do. Let us know how your doing.

@@maryan1 Don't wait! Call your doctor and you may need a little bit of Fluid taken out. I waited, I was sick and the antibiotics caused irritation to my stomach with pretty much the same results you are having, I went to the Dr. after a few weeks when I was feeling better but still not able to get much down and after an esophagram (barium swallow) they found that I had a dilation in my pouch above the band and I had to have most of my fluid removed. I am on week two of a liquid diet now that will last approx 3 weeks. Don't wait if you can have a little bit of fluid taken out now until you are feeling better and then you can go back in and have fluid put back. Don't risk your internal organs and/or your band slipping.

I agree go for the 5k and walk/run as best you can and get through it. When you get to the other side and cross the finish line that will be a HUGE moral booster!! I did a 5k not to long ago and I am NOT up to running through the whole thing and may never be able to run that long/far with injury to my foot, but I didn't let it stop me and there were plenty of others who like me needed to stop and walk for a while. I crossed the finish line walking and smiling and happy that I made it and that my time was pretty good as well for my first time ever! You go girl you can do it!!

@@messagetosiobhan I am going to go out on a limb here and say that yes I think you are too tight right now. You have had some very aggressive fills over the last 3 months and are pretty close to a full band already. In the first 3 months of my surgery my Dr. did not do any fills to allow the internal swelling from surgery to resolve and for the band to heal and seat itself to prevent a slip. Not every doctor is the same but you should be able to consume fluids and not be feeling so horrible. It's worth going in and having Fluid removed and allowing your internal swelling to heal before adding the fluid back in. Ask the Dr. to go slow with the fills and not add so much at once to give you a chance to see where your tolerance is at. I have a 10CC band and it took me about a year to get to my actual green zone and then recent events and medications I had to take because of them created stomach upset and swelled my stomach and stoma up creating a small pouch dilation and I had to have fluid taken out. You don't want to do damage to your insides, so give the doctor a call and ask them what they think and consider having some fluid removed, even the tiniest bit can make all the difference. Let us know how you are doing.

Welcome to a day in the life. We all experience what we term as bandster hell when we are first banded and we don’t have that right level of “restriction”. It’s the holy grail that we bandsters search for. It’s that spot between just right and too tight….and some of us walk that line pretty close and even those of us that think we are not walking that line, could be sitting right on it and all it takes is one small thing to push you over it and I'm over it. In July I had a fill that left me in my just right zone. I was feeling good and eating small portions and working out and banded life was just great. Enter my “real” life and all that goes out the window. I have great band mechanics. I take small bites I chew chew chew. I eat within my 20 minute range time, and I have so much stress in my life I don’t know how I have not had several breakdowns. Must be that spine of steel I often joke about and those brass balls that I keep in a nice little box. I could tell you stories my band friends that would probably curl your hair. There is going to be a time when I sit down and write out all these things because you couldn’t make these things up if you tried and who the heck would want to?! I know we all have our ups and downs but these things are extraordinary, it just doesn't lend to that comic genius in my writing just yet but someday I'll work on it. I am not one that doesn’t practice what she preaches. In fact I won’t sit and talk about anything in a support group that I don’t know about. I am one of those avid learners (yes you might say geek) that will go to school, learn it practice it and then speak about it. Recently I went back to school to become a nutritionist, it’s important to me and my friend and my family so I did it! I really don't have an affinity for people that talk out their ass, or people who look down their nose at people like me because we are obese. It's hard to listen to the twiggy nutritionists talk when they have no idea what it's like to be in my skin. Words are great, but experience, understanding and empathy is what reaches me. OK so my BIG problem….I do too much! I don’t know how to slow down until something crashes into me literally and so that brings me to where I find myself today. In the last couple of months I have had a major car accident, that kept me out of work for 3 whole days! To me that’s a long time, and has kept my body in aches and pains, muscle trauma, and a concussion for about a month. I had to stop going to the gym and working out and I really felt like that was a huge set back for me after finishing my first 5K and finally starting to feel like going to the gym wasn’t the heart attack it once was. On top of that I got sick and had swollen glands and this lovely virus on top of my allergies which has me sliming my head off day and night. Over the course of all this and all the medication that Dr.’s shove down your throat for this symptom and that, my band got tighter and tighter and tighter until last night I hiccupped and (TMI gross alert) vomit came shooting out my mouth and across the room from the sip of Water I just drank! I knew I had to get to the baratric Dr. this was just not right. I knew I had been tight, and I knew that stress was not letting up any time soon. 5 kids, who have varying degrees of drama they like to give their mother a heart attack with on a nearly minute to minute basis, one husband, and then we have two new additions to our family. The furry four legged kind two lovely little PinTzu’s. They are the joy to my day in the morning and at night after a rough work day, but you know what it’s just like having new babies. I love it and the hubs is getting used to it he has never had dogs before so much of the pressure to “train” them all husband and pups and family members that live at home is on me to keep consistency. This morning I woke up and I could barely take my morning meds, and swallow my saliva. Add to that some post nasal drip from being sick and allergies and I knew it was time to see the doctor ASAP. So I called and wouldn’t you know I got the whole we don’t open till 9 am thing. Which is BS I know they are there early in the morning but they don’t open the phone lines until 9 and I wasn’t waiting. I drove straight there and of course once I got there and I told them what was going on with me..they took me in right away. I went down for a video esophageal or barium swallow and x-ray. Wouldn't you know it, sure enough that pouch was dilated. They had to remove 5cc of Fluid and I am now on a 3 week liquid diet to see if the dilation goes back to normal. Ugh, but you know what I have to say…nothing bad! I am grateful that I have a great Dr.’s office and good doctors to take care of me. I am glad that I did not wait for longer to get myself in there and have things checked out so my band didn’t slip or prolapse. I’m confident that I can make it through this liquid diet I have done it before and I will do it again! It is a lesson to learn, a BIG BIG one for me. I can’t tell you how many friends of mine have told me time and again to slow down and stop doing so much to just relax and let things flow. I really honestly have an issue with it. I can be lazy sure we all can and I do have days where I do nothing but vege out and watch TV or read. Most of the time though I just cram every second with something. There are things I want to do, and I find I am always battling against the things that I have to do, and my “responsibilities” and commitments. Those things make me feel pressured to be more and do more. It’s exhausting and I always get to the point where something has to knock me down to sit me down. This can’t be a good thing. So here I am in band “reset” mode. What have I learned from this….? Or perhaps the better question is what will I learn from this? So far today I have learned that I need to put up some really strong boundaries. I can’t save the world unless of course the power that be would like to get behind my idea of dropping large portions of Prozac in the water supply of all the middle eastern and certain other countries....happy people just don't decapitate other people. I don’t know quite yet how I am going to corral the issues that I have with my children and my family, those seem to plague me the worst. I have come to realize that work is work and I can give that 100% of effort in relation to the amount of effort extrapolated by those around me which should leave me with plenty of reserve energy to get to the gym and take care of myself. I am going to set some small goals, and keep myself accountable to them. Not just when it comes to my band but when it comes to taking care of myself as a whole person. I am going to keep myself accountable… Today’s goal: Body: Set a pattern for liquid diet protocol and hydrate in between. Mind: Get outside for some fresh air Soul: Practice some deep breathing

TGIF!!! I have to say that I am really glad this week that it is finally Friday. I am not trying to rush my life away...it's just been that kind of work week and I am really looking forward to spending some time at home this weekend! liquid diet is still going great! I am enjoying some awesome fall Soups like the spiced squash soup from Panera! I will usually go and pick that up for lunch. Last night I threw a cup of Wendy's Chili in the blender and that was good. I got to spend some time with the pups, but I was pretty tired so I called it a night early and turned in around 9 PM. Hubs was on a 24 hour shift and I drifted off to dreamland as soon as my head hit the pillow. Woke up at 5:30 to let the pups out and feed them and play a bit of tag. Then raced in for an 8:00 meeting that never happened...and now playing juggle the meeting from 10-10:30-11-1 what time will it be...what's behind curtain number 2...I'm think a big pile of dog doooo Needless to say I am really really looking forward to the weekend Yesterday's Goals: Body:Get some much needed rest and recovery today and treat the body to some good nutrition. Mind: Take a nice long break this afternoon and catch up on some reading Never happened... Soul:Curl up with my puppies and kitty cats and enjoy some mindless TV tonight Today’s Goals: Body: Get out side for a nice brisk walk this afternoon and some yummy squash soup!! Mind: Catch up on that reading while soaking up some sunshine Soul: Leave the office early, get home and spend some time with hubs and furry friends. Weekend plans include: Relaxing in my yard, playing fetch with the pups. Practicing our Dog walking skills, car shopping with my son. Catching up with my trainer and hitting the gym, getting a long lovely Mani Pedi and maybe even a hair cut. Sigh...feeling good just thinking about it!

@@KimB31 Have your doctors done any other tests on you? For kidney stones or gallbladder? Pain in your back is sounding to me like something I had going on with my kidneys way back long before banding. For the acid reflux what my husband swears helped cure him was Aloe Vera juice. If you can take a shot of it, kind of tastes like Water from a rubber hose...but it totally cured his reflux and stomach irritations. Hope your feeling better soon!!

@@CherieRyde Please let us know how you are doing and what your doctor said.

@@JustWatchMe I have been watching you and you are AWESOME anyone that doesn't see that, well it's their loss! You keep going I can't wait to read your 100 pound post! What a great goal!