lisacaron

Are you on any pain killers? I know when hubs had recent hip replacement surgery the morphine, and codeine derived drugs had him itching up a storm. Once they changed his pain meds the itching stopped.

@@redhead87 there could be many reasons for the tightness in your calves, but why wait until tomorrow morning to give the doctor a call? If you have a concern and you are not feeling right, give them a call now. It's just a phone call and at the least it will help to calm any fears you have and at the worst it can save your life so please don't wait give them a call and ask their advice. Feel well and please let us know how you are doing.

@@terrydumont46 I'm sorry you are having troubles friend!! I'm keeping the faith for you that everything will be OK after this and the band will remain for you. I also want to say Thank you for sharing your story, it helps all of us to know and understand the realities of what could happen with the band. @@B-52 I think when they say test for the 5 day pouch test it's more of a "tolerance" type thing and I think it originated for those who have a pouch like with the bypass. For us bandsters I think of it like a kind of a "reset" and I do that on occasion as well. Not because I am having any kind of reflux or intolerance to foods but just to "reset" and regain my focus. When I feel myself getting off track, indulging in too many sweets or high carb slider foods, I know I need to get back on track so I go back to the basics.

I didn't have to give them to myself. I got one shot of it in the hospital prior to surgery. The only thing I remember about it was that it burned for a bit but I am sensitive to medications.

Congrats! Good luck with everything!

Awesome you look great! Congrats!!!!

@@redhead87 what @@Junebug36 wrote is right on the $. My advice is don't look for it to happen, or worry about it happening. It's something you don't ever have to experience and you can avoid it. Your so fresh out of surgery, you want to focus on following your Dr.'s orders and healing. Take it slow and drink/eat what ever it is they advised you to and go slowly with it, chew chew chew...allow the bite sip to clear before taking the next one and you are more then on your way to avoiding the disgusting slime Best of luck to you and congratulations on the start of your journey!

@@NYDani The first three days out of surgery are the toughest. You are going to be OK, normal and better then normal very soon. Why are you crying? Is it from pain, fear, what are you having anxiety about? If you are worried because you are not holding down all the shakes just yet don't fear. Try some ice pops, or Italian ices they work wonders for your hydration, they make you feel pretty good about eating them ( I felt like a little kid again!) and they help big time for your internal swelling. Please feel free to Personal Message me I see we have the same Dr. I'd be happy to answer any questions or help in anyway I can.

I agree with @@Colleen C follow what your surgeon recommends. If you are not comfortable with it, knowing that others have different protocols ask them about it. Remember the Dr. is there for you and to take care of you and answer all your questions, don't be afraid to pick up the phone and ask your questions. Good Luck!

@@SkinnyHereICome Before going in to take Fluid out of the band I would question your eating mechanics. The first thing I would do is to give your band a day or two to rest. Go back to your liquid diet for a day and let it rest to heal from any swelling you might have from food being brought back up. Then I would introduce solid foods slowly, and really watch what your eating mechanics are. Are you cutting the bites small enough? Are you chewing them well enough before swallowing the bite? Are you letting the bite clear the band before taking the next bite? If you are doing all these things and you are till having an issue with sliming and food coming back up or getting stuck then you should go in and have a small amount of fluid taken out. Call your Dr. and let them know what's going on sometimes we just need a tiny bit of fluid removed. .5-1cc can make all the difference and keep you in the green part of the green zone rather than closer to the red zone.

@@ErinAZ your concerns are valid. You are going through a big change in your life as much as your husband will be. There are many differences in the surgeries and as @@LindafromFlorida mentioned each person has their own individual journey. Both my husband and I are overweight. In the year we met I had lost 40 pounds and over our years together I put that back on plus 50! We got married in 2012 and I was at the highest weight of my life at 269!! We both were suffering from several health issues, but not the same ones. He is diabetic, I have out of control HBP he needed a hip replacement and over the last three years I had to have as many surgery's and including organ removal. We were failing in our health and that was what really pushed us both to have WLS surgery. We are both banded with plication, and had our surgery 3 days apart from each other so we went through all the same pre-op diet and post op diet and yet we had and have still today a different journey. From meals to foods that make us satiated to work outs. Have you/ would you ever considered having WLS yourself? Imagine how it would be if you were doing it...put yourself in your hubs shoes now and then, and that will help with your perspective on the situation. How would this affect you?? In the reverse he needs to put himself in your shoes and gain some persepctive on where you are at and take a breath before being mean, spiteful or acting out. Ask him if you can't hike and bike and all that would he just leave you behind? Why? Would he do that if you couldn't walk or had some other disability that prevented you from doing those things? Why? Again in the reverse you have to ask yourself would you want him to not do those things if you couldn't do them? Would you stop him from doing what he needs to do for himself because it doesn't fit into your life style? Having WLS takes 100% commitment to making a life change. It is not easy to do as most of us have done it our one way for a long time, but it can be done. So my advice to you is to adapt that mindset for yourself, even if you are not having WLS adapt the mind set of a lifestyle change for YOUR health and YOUR vitality and for what ever goals you set for yourself. It will help you to deal with your husbands life style changes and give you something to strive for in a positive way in your life as well. Best of luck to you both, sounds like you are going to be a great support for your husband and this group is here to support you as well!!

OK so did you start the thread? Lets do it! My trainer has me do these at the gym..but with "mountain climbing" where you hold the plank and bring up one knee and then switch leg to leg.

@@Apryl1957 You are only 3 weeks out of surgery, and your body still is swollen inside and adjusting to having the band. Your doc is aggressive with the food choices. I was on a liquid diet of Protein shakes for 2 weeks after surgery and then mushy/blended foods for 2 weeks then soft foods for 2 weeks and finally solid food. Give yourself a chance to heal and choose foods that are mushy to soft. I also want to tell you that the choices you are making as stated above are not conducive to weight loss. Try to make some high protein choices and steer clear of the potatoes and ice cream. They are high in carbohydrates sugar and fat. Go for some Soups, or chili. You can put them in the blender for a quick spin to make them even thinner. If you can tolerate soft foods and your doctor is OK with that, try some eggs, or flaky fish. Meatballs are great but mush them up and go easy on the sauces and gravy. Try some Greek or other yogurt. sugar free low fat pudding you make at home with non fat milk. It will take some time but you will get the hang of it.

@@Susan58 when that cheese got stuck, did you bring it back up or did it eventually make it's way past? If you brought it back up by vomiting then I would say yes you could still be swollen. At 8 weeks out your body is still healing and adjusting to being banded, causing trauma by bringing up food could cause the body to react by swelling again. When you have an episode like getting stuck the best thing to do is to go on liquids for a day or two before moving to mushy and soft foods. Try going back to full liquids and Protein shakes for a day or two, try some ice pops to help with the swelling and hydration. If you are having a problem with liquids, then you need call your doctor to get in sooner than later and ask them to check the placement of the band for you to make sure that everything is OK. Take care and let us know how you are doing.

@@micmt There have been many advances in bariatric surgery and some surgeons will even work in tandem with gastroenterologist. Speak to your doctor and see if that is the case. As @@CowgirlJane said losing weight is one of the best things you can do for your body. If you have been having digestive issues, having WLS could actually be helpful in clearing some of that up for you, since your diet will change exponentially and you will be living a new life style in accordance with the surgery and rules that follow. Before my surgery, I had 5 polyps removed and I was diagnosed with early stages of Crohns.The flair ups I would have prior to surgery were debilitating. Since WLS I have (knocking on wood) not had any digestive flair ups and I have been feeling great. Don't be afraid to talk to your doctors, especially if they can help by bringing in another doctor to work toward your ultimate goal. Best of luck to you!

@@blacktxbelle I agree with what @@2muchfun said. If you can learn to listen to your body and the signals you are getting now, then you are going to totally rock it once your banded. The band will help with sending those signals to the brain that you are no longer hungry and or have had enough food. Knowing that, and being able to recognize and understand these feelings prior to banding will make listening to your band and your body that much more harmonizing. Best of luck to you, you sound like you are off to a great start!

@@Mikee57 your doing great my friend! We always want to push ourselves harder and lose faster, but just know that all the weight you have lost this time unlike WW you will be able to keep it off and not gain it back. The scales are moving in the right direction and as they all said above the numbers do add up in the right kind of way!! It took me a little over a year now to get into that green zone, and I just have a tip toe in there. I don't want to be too tight that I can't enjoy life, but have enough restriction that I am able to activate my band with solid foods and feel satisfied. You have so much going on, and your doing amazing!

@@Jenn Cooper don't worry, you will make it through to your next Dr. visit. you have made it this far, you know what to do and when it doubt go back to the basics. During the pre and post op you had a regimen you followed to get through each phase. Take a cue from that and prepare your foods, the times you are going to eat them, what they will be measure them out. Add some movement into your day, and let your body be your guide. Question when you feel that "hunger" where it is coming from and if you are truly hungry and need the fuel to get you through have a light snack in between till you get to the next meal. It's only hell if we make it hell, use the time to bond even more with your band. Listen to the signals you get from it, when choosing foods to eat make sure they are solid dense foods that you have to cut and chew, so that they activate your band to send those (we are not hungry anymore) signals to your brain. You can do it!!!

@@CherieRyde The pre-op diet is not so easy with kids and family around. The best thing to do is to ask them to support you. For the next couple of weeks maybe they can go out to eat. Have Dad take the kids out for some fun and fast food for a few days if you can. If you totally must make dinner for the family, have a nice bottle of Water at the ready. Get yourself some Mio drops, or some crystal light or what ever you like and mix it in and drink it down as you cook, or make a nice cup of coffee get some of the sugar free flavored creamers and enjoy it while making dinner. Another great deterrent is a piece of minty gum or brushing your teeth right before you start cooking. Nothing tastes so great with toothpaste in your mouth. I found that for me the best way to stay on target was to schedule something every single hour. So if I was up at 7 am I was having my coffee at 8 some water at 9 I was having a shake or some yogurt 10 some more water 11 shake or sugar free pudding 12 some water 1:00 some healthy choice low sodium Soup 2:00 water...etc. Always filling that space with some water, it helps you for later when you need to get the hydration in, because for me I am NOT a water lover at all!! If I needed a chew I would have a piece gum and chew and pop bubbles I had my phone set to remind me of every hour what I was going to eat/drink and I stayed on target. Good luck!! You'll make it!

@@clownbaby you are doing AWESOME! Don't let your Mom or anyone else discourage you! You have all the right answers. You didn't gain it over night and it won't go away overnight. I won't just vanish in the night, WLS doesn't come with a fairy godmother who can wave her wand and turn us into Victoria Secrets models strutting the runway of NYC in nothing but our wings and bra's. (actually sounds like a bit of nightmare to me and I'm not shy!) Being banded your 100% right you are going to lose the weight slowly, you have to do the work right up front from day one with the band. With many of the other surgeries the weight comes off from day due to the mal-absorptive factors in the surgery and then it's really hard for the person to maintain and/or keep losing after a few months when the body adapts to the new regime. Your body type and your genetics as well as overall health are going to play a big part in how you lose as well. These bodies we have are pretty amazing at overcoming and adapting to what we throw at them and into them! Keep doing what your doing cause it's working great. Have your Mom attend a support group with you so she can get more education and understanding about what your going through and be an even better support for you. I'm sure you know your Mom means well, we all do...we just don't always approach our children in the best way I have 5 boys...and it's a bit of a river dance to talk to them all on their level and not get my head bitten off!

I will give you all one caveat to planking if you have wrist trouble or carpal tunnel do not do the straight arm plank.Use your forearms to brace you and take the pressure off the wrist. It provides the same amount of core contraction but saves the impact and compression of the nerves in the wrists.

@@scubasteph The first thing is congrats on your new band! The second thing is don't stress...take a deep breath and relax cause you are right on track. In the first few days to weeks after surgery you are going to be very swollen inside and the idea right now is healing. You don't want to force yourself to eat or drink anything right now. You want to rest and heal up. If you can take many many tiny sips of your Protein drink. Use a medicine dose cup. You are very much "babying" your band right now. You would not feed a newborn a half gallon of milk and neither can you feed yourself that right now. As you soon will see that as you are putting liquids in they will come out and soon enough the #2 problem you mentioned will right itself. Your not putting much in so...give it a chance. Feel good and let us know how your doing!!

@@futureformerfattie I'm sorry that you have not had better support from your Doctor's office. With WLS and especially with the lapband follow up support is so important. You are still very new to the band and your body is still adjusting as mentioned above. Give yourself a chance, the lapband does not work the way other WLS work there is no malabsorbtion component to it so what ever you put in is going in and staying in and working through you system the way it always did. The only difference is that now you have a smaller opening at the start of your digestive track which slows down the process of food as it passes through the stoma. If you are eating foods that pass easily through the stoma you are not engaging the lapband. The foods will slide right through and you won't even know you had them and you won't be getting any signals from your band to you brain to tell you that you have eaten enough, and or are not hungry for more food. My first question to you would be what are you eating? You want to choose solid foods that take some time to cut and chew and swallow. You want to use a fork and knife when eating and put those down after eat bite and chew chew chew. It should take you 20 minutes no more and no less to eat your meals. If you are still eating after 20 minutes you are eating into the next meal, if you are finished before 20 minutes are up then slow it down. Download a timer or use an egg time and pace yourself as you eat. Plate out your foods using smaller plates, don't over fill, slow down cut and chew those bites and when your 20 minutes are up get up and get away from the table or the food. After an hour drink some Water, and if you are hungry again 2 hours after you have had a meal and had some water, ask yourself if you are truly hungry, does your body need the fuel? Or are you overfilling the gas tank? If you need it eat it. Have a light snack and see how long you go till your next meal. If you find you are not able to go 3-4 hours between meals you may need a tweak to your band and more fill. You will get there. 30 pounds is nothing to sneeze at and you are not in a stall, you just are learning how to work in harmony with your band and like any good long term relationship, even if it is love at first sight it will take work to make the relationship last and thrive. Best of luck to you and let us know if we can offer any advice or support, that's why we are here