Wenjea

i have six. What's up with that?!

Mer - sorry we missed you. We drive all the way to the back on the left side of the fields when you drive in, by the dog park, and there is a gravel lot with a paved path that leads around a lake. we can hook up Friday if you want to. Sue definately won't be there. Maybe I can come to the Harbor. Dawneb - I really liked the heating pad for my tummy too. I think it helps your scars heal better. Heat brings blood to an area and causes any infection to rise to the top. Laying down with a heating pad is very comforting and they don't cost that much. I think it's worth it. Evilah - When I decided to have surgery I managed to eat on about 10 pounds from the 'last supper' syndrom. I think a lot of us do it and you will get it together and it will come off quickly. Mine came off when I had to do clear liquids for my pre-op scope tests.

I pooped!!! some of you don't yet know how exciting that is but since it's been a really long while, I'm excited! I also walked a mile today. I didn't have shoulder pain until today and it was when I was walking that I got the sharp pains under my shoulder blades. It can take your breath away! I came home and laid on my heating pad for a while and things are good again. The only pain is on my port side now. Everyday things are getting better!

Mer- I am so sorry I didn't see your post till just now. sue came and picked me up and we walked very, very,very slowly around the lake (1 mile) then I had to come home and rest for a couple of hours. Getting out of the car was the toughest part. I felt a little light headed but kept putting one foot in front of the other I have an appointment at 10:15 on Friday with Dr. oh but I could walk after that . . . .slowly. let me know.<br /> <br /> pinenut - guess what? i had a poo! not very big but I am so proud of myself. I can't believe you are working. I spent as much time as possible being vertical today but I am exhausted. I'm sneaking a protein tomorrow before I faint. I think sitting is the hardest thing. A half hour is about my max. I'm wearing a bra today for the first time since surgery and it is okay. All that walking sent the gas racing to my shoulder and that just takes your breath away with sharp pain, first day I have had that.<br /> <br /> O2bethin- I gave up on my insurance and did self-pay when they said it was under 'no exceptions'. Don't forget to add in travel cost when looking into Mexico. At 12,800 Dr. Oh isn't that much more then Mexico plus traveling expenses. Boy, the last thing I would of wanted to do this week is get on a plane and sit.

Sue - Julie will be here this morning/early afternoon so maybe around 2pm. We could walk around the lake at Ft. Steilacoom.. . . .slowly!

faithmd - Look at reality . . . . how many times have you lost and regained again. All the data says that only 2-3% of those who need to lose at least 100 pounds will lose it and keep it off. Three years out, those 2-3% have to exercise at the level of running 7-8 miles per day to keep it off. They ususally end up with over exercise issues. The statistics say 70% of lapband patients lose their weight and keep it off three years out. I'm not a gambling kind of gal but I like those odds a whole lot better. The good news is if they come up with some revolutionary new way to keep the weight off we can have the band removed. You are letting the part of you who doesn't want to have to control food control your thinking right now. Stop it!!! Jessica - I thought about taking some Colace (stool softner) I took it for three days before surgery and didn't get anything out either. I'm just not convinced there is anything there and frankly the thought of pushing anything out is not something I want to do right now. My throat feels good today. I think it was from the tube they put down during surgery. Sometimes I feel a gas bubble come up and it feels like it gets lodged there for a minute. I am really tempted to start protein shakes again even though my doc says not till Friday.

It's day 6 and I actually am thinking this was a good idea. I slept on my side all night and was not in pain. I'm going to see if I can go without meds today. I am a little concerned that I haven't had a BM at all. I'm not sure what would be in one since all I have had is clear liquid but I'm feeling a little toxic in that area. My throat is feeling better, the golf ball is only marble sized now. My insicions look good but are really starting to itch which means they are healing. It's a sunny day so I'm going for a walk for the first time since surgery. Good luck today all you Tuesday banders!

Hi everyone! Today I feel better! Don't know how much pain meds I will need today, not that I was taking a lot anyway. I really want to walk outside today because it is beautiful out. I actually slept on my side last night without pain, Yea!!! I went on NWWLS web site and looked at their post op instructions and they get SF pudding and applesauce along with pureed soup. Would it be cheating if I had some of those? I havn't had a BM in so long I'm thinking I need to get something in my colon, feeling a little toxic! Maybe if I add anything it should be a protein shake. Any suggestions? My insicions look good but are starting to itch like no other! i guess that means they are healing. I worry about not getting enough water in during the day. My throat is finally feeling better. I think that now that it is day 6 I can finally say it's going to be worth it. BREAKTHROUGH!

Mer - good girl for walking!! up hill even . . . I'm impressed. Sues surgery is Thursday. I am feeling pretty lightheaded and weak, wish I could start back on my protein now. I can't believe I have to wait till Friday. This can't be all that healthy. I am so wanting to eat something . . . anything at all. But I totally understand the fear thing. I made some chicken noodle and strained the noodles out and bagged for the freezer. It has taken me all afternoon to eat it and there is still some left. I think I will try some jello and see how that goes. Pinenut - slowdown, you might be pushing things to fast. A friend told me today that if you do to much to soon you risk the build up of scar tissue on the inside of your incisions. I thought I could go to support group too but was out of gas at the end of the day. Sue said she was going to go so hopefully she will report back to all of us tonight.

I got the itch thing going now. Today I had my first hiccup. It wasn't painful but it sure felt weird. I have six incisions on my tummy. I'm wondering if I got an extra one because of the hernia repair. My skin is getting dry even though I drinking lots of water . . . whats up with that? I have steri strips on my icisions and a couple of them have the littlest bit of red on one end. Someone on here said they put on more strips when theirs fell off and they have hardly any scarring at all. I would think you need to keep them closed tight if the clue falls out so the scarring is thinner.

jsrico - take slip on shoes or slippers cuz you won't be able to bend over even a little. Also take a small firm pillow to hold against your tummy when you are in the car ride home or if you cough or even yawn. At home make sure you have a heating pad, it is a life saver on your tummy. The gas x is for home. Make sure you have a good supply of SF popsicles and some liquid tylenol for when you decide to stop the narcotics. Make sure everything is nextto you, TV remote, phone, water, heating pad, etc. because getting up and down and reaching for things is very painful. I found it impossible to get up from a chair. it was much easier to prop on pillows and then roll to my side and drop my legs off the bed and sit up. My bed is much higher then any of my furniture. Think about where you want to hang for a couple of days. You have to get up often to use the bathroom because they put gallons of IV fluid in you. Monica - The pain is different for everybody. if you can tolerate pain meds w/o getting nauseous then it should never be above a 2-3 fo you. In my case I couldn't take anything stronger then liquid tylenol once I was home so my pain was more like a 5-6. It only hurts when you move! I did a lot of laying still. Today I took my second shower and dried my own hair. I'm wiped out now but am getting stronger everyday. Today is the first day that I feel like things are going to be fine. i had my surgery on Thursday the 17th. hope that helps.

Wen - nice to hear from you. I am very jealous of you getting tomatoe soup and cottage cheese. All I get is clear SF until friday and then i get to add back protein shakes. Yippee!

Rachel - I'm so glad you posted, I thought I was the only one feeling horrible! I actually slept all night and when I woke up I was on my right side.(non-port) I swear they did something to my throat because it feels like my cords are damaged when I swallow, the golf ball everyone talks about. Most of my cuts don't hurt at all but my port hurts with evey move I make. I can finally yawn without pain. I've been sipping a lot of water but the pounds are fallingoff fast. I am on clear liquids until I see the doctor on Friday and then I add back protein shakes and vitamins. I actually can't wait to get some protein in my system. I can actually sit up and type without holding my stomach with my other hand so I must be improving. Thank God for heating pads!!! I plan to try and stay on my feet as much as possible today and start to get back to a normal life but I have the feeling I will be laying down often. I thought I was having a rough time because I was older but you are young so I feel better now. lol Cindy - I've been thinking what I would say if someone asked me about surgery, whether it was worth it or not. I'm glad that soon I will be able to say yes because I was thinking that this was a heck of a lot of pain to go through. I would be honest and tell them it's about a week of hell first! Glad to hear you are feeling so much better. Can't wait!

Tomorrow is a new day! I'm going to see how long I can stay vertical before I collapse into bed. My port side is the only one that hurts a lot but tonight I am feeling a little warm in the face. hopefully I am not running a temperature. My throat is still sore and feels like something is stuck in it. I gotta wonder if they hurt it with the breathing tube. Goodluck tomorrow all you Monday banders . . . . and there is a bunch of you!

If it's not raining tomorrow then I am going to attempt to walk around the track once if someone will drive me. Is the no driving rule because of the drugs or because of the pain and strain on the abdominal muscles? My conclusion is thatTylenol doesn't do squat with the pain! anybody have this feeling of something lodged in your throat? how long before it goes away? sorry about the complaining and all the questions . . . just looking for guidance.

Some people make this sound so easy that i wasn;t prepared for the pain. I like to think I have a pretty high pain threshold (4 natural childbirths) but this hurts! I think all of you should be prepared to take 3-4 days to lay around following surgery. I know some of my pain is because I can't take the strong narcotics and the tylenol doesn't make that big of a dent in the pain. Just want all of you Monday banders to be prepared. Thursday,17th, bandmates - How are you all doing? Do any of you have that 'something caught in my throat' discomfort? Is that from having a tube down your throat? mY PORT IS STILL VERY SORE! How about you? I really thought I would be in less pain by now. Wrong . . . .

Day 4 post surgery and I think the belly pain is a little better but the gas pain is definately on the move. Didn't know it could be so noisy. I think i had a little post surgery depression today. I was upset that my family can't seem to put dishes in the dish washer or cleanup anything. I was angry that I was still in pain and I can't figure out what this feeling in my throat is. it feels like something is stuck in my vocal cords or around that region. Some people make this sound a lot easier then it is. Maybe my age has something to do with it but this is not a walk in the park! After all of this there is no way I am ever going back to being fat!

hi Sue - I just can't get comfortable!! Just took some more Tylenol so hopefully that will kick in real soon. Tomorrow has just got to get better!

hi Mer - you promise that this will get better? My port side is killing me!!! The only time it doesn't hurt is when I lay in bed with the heating pad on but then the gas fills like it isn't moving so I get up. I'm having a hard time getting comfortable tonight. Tomorrow will be better I hope.

there is also some chaffing powder that bikers use. My husband is an avid biker and he uses it. Can't remember the name but you can ask at your local bike store. thanks for the hints on how to handle the gas!

Evilah - they will just fix it when they are in there. I had one to but they didn't see it during the scope but found it when they went in for the surgery. I think some of my pain could be from that. The port pain is the worst today and the gas is really stating to move around. I didn't realize how much stomach muscle it took to fart!

I'm up for awhile so I thought I would type. The gas is hitting me hard today (3rd day post op) and being vertical is helping. i am alternating that with the heating pad and gas x so hopefully it will be better tomorrow. i am only on tylenol because everything else makes me sick to my stomach. i am feeling pain but not unbearable, just very sore. I am crushing my pills with crushed popsicle and it goes down real easy. i follow it with a 1/2 apple-1/2 water chaser and that seems to take care of the horrible taste. I am sipping SF clear liiquids (4 sips/oz) as much as possible and haven't had any pain from it. I do have some bruising around the one site I can see. The others are still covered with a bandage and steri strips. My port is on my left side about 2 inches above my waist and half way between my belly button and my side. I have three holes on each side of my stomach. The ones on my right side hardly hurt at all. Breathing deep or coughing are killers in the pain department but because I am asthmatic I have been religious with the breathing machine. I am almost back to where I was before surgery. I had my surgery at St Francis in Federal Way, WA and I must say that they were very good. I got warmed blankets and my own room that was nice and roomy. It usually is a double but I was the only one in there. I was very calm going into surgery, relaxed and very sure of my decision. I thought it would be less painful afterwards but it's totally tolerable. I feel like I am ready to do whatever it takes this time. Friends have been calling and being very supportive all day. At first I wasn't going to tell anyone outside my family but it got out and I am okay with that now. Friends of friends are asking me about it because they have been thinking about it. I am not sure why we want other people to think we did this all on our own. I think it's part of the same lie that we tell ourselves when we look at someone else and think they look bigger then us. It's time to be real about this and part of that reality is letting those around us help to hold us accountable. i don't want to go through this and fail. If I can help someone else start a healthier new life with my story then I'm okay with sharing it. gotta go lay down now. I hope all my band mates are doing well. The nurse said after day three it's all down hill so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Thank you all!

hi everyone, I made it through surgery but after posting my whole story on the Washington web site I have to go lay down now. I'll post later, just wanted to let you know I made it to the band side! Hope my band mates are doing well also. I'll catch up later you guys!

I'm back! So I'm vertical for a little while and I will try and type fast before I need to lay back down. Day 1- (surgery) woke up at 4:30, left at 5am, checked in at 5:30. They took me back to pre-op at 6:40 (could of used that hour to sleep) I was 2nd on the schedule. In pre-op they had me get my gown on, took my blood pressure and put in my IV. They brought my husband back and he stayed with me for a while. Then I got a shot of Heprun (sp) and we walked to the surgical unit. I hit the bathroom on the way there and then kissed hubby goodbye. I got on a gurney and waited for the different people to come in and introduce themselves. They put my leg squeezers on and gave me shot number two of heprun. I went through one whole bag of glucose by then so hit the bathroom again on the way to the surgical wuite. I transfered beds, put my arms out, got the mask and that was all I remember. I had told everyone how sick I get on pain meds before hand so they started with the antinausea meds right away. They gave me something very strong because I have no memory till about 5pm. My husband said that my surgery was around 9:45 and over around noon. They found a hernia and repaired it while they were in there. Like I said I woke up around 5pm and they had me get up and use the bathroom. I had no idea if Iwas going or not but hte nurse turned on the water to help me. It took a while for my bladder to wake up. Some of what made me sooo sleepy was the nausea meds. The nurse made me walk a little while she hang on to me. She kept telling me to open my eyes, felt like I just wanted to sleep. I was in and out for the next couple of hours. They gave me breathing treatments and kept the leg squeezers on. They were pouring IV's through me so I had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom which was frustrating because I would have to wait for them to unhook my IV so I could get up. Almost peed my pants a couple of times. I was very glad for my pillow from home and as soon as possible I changed into a knit night shirt because the tent they had me in was very uncomfortable. My scars are all above my underwear line so I could wear those without any discomfort. The advise to wear a jacket so you didn't have to put a bra on was perfect for coming home with. I still havn't put on a bra yet. They gave me another antinausea at 10pm that knocked me out for the night. Boy was I glad I was in a hospital with bars on the bed to get up on and bars by the toilets! Day two - came home about 9:00am from the hospital. Proped up on lots of pillows inbed and settled in for the day. Gas was not bad. They had to send me home on a pain pill that I had to crush and mix with crushed popsicle to get down. Tasted nasty! but didn't make me sick. The breathing machine is really important this day!!! Popped a lot of gas x strips so that was good. Stayed on top of pain and rested, slept pretty well last night. Day 3 - Gas is worse today. port pain is sharp. Trying to stay vertical more. Switched to liquid tylenol, just couldn't take the bad taste of the other stuff anymore. Heating pad feels wonderful on port side. Drinking lots of dillutted apple juice. I took a shower and one of the clear bandages came off but the steri strips are still on. I'm not hungry but want to stay hydrated. Read through my material and remembered I was supposed to be taking my B vitamims, oops. I can't believe how anyone could fly to Mexice and home again after this, ouch!!! Okay, been up long enough, need some more heat on the belly. I'll check back in soon. Hope you are doing well pinenut, bet we could swap some stories!

Thanks team! you guys are great! I'm ready to go and a little excited so I am not sleeping right now. I figure I will have a few days to catch up on the sleep.<br /> <br /> Pinenut - Good luck and my prayers are with you! I had Sue take my pictures and measurements the day I started pre-op. I wouldn't want to give my husband a heart attack. Maybe when I'm thin I will let him keep the lights on! lol<br /> <br /> Sue and Mer - don't use my down time as an excuse to not walk. I will be waiting to hear you went on without me. Sue, don't forget to order me vanilla protein.<br /> <br /> here I go . . . . . . . . .