Carrie

As others have mentioned walk as much as you can. I am 2 days post op and actually taking care of my 19 month old. I can not lift her but my husband changes her diapers and puts her in the high chair for me so I can feed her. I do get tired and sleepy after a while and I will go lay down for a bit. One other thing is to drink your Protein through out the day. It will help you heal and burn fat not muscle. Best of luck to you!

You're scared of the unknown. Read through my posts of the past week. You would not be normal not to be second guessing removing so much of an organ from your body. What you have to realize is how much success would you be able to do on your own and MAINTAIN it? With maintaining over the long term. I am 2 days out. I got discharged from the hospital yesterday, exactly 24 hours after having surgery to remove a Lap Band and have a revision to the VSG. I am still uncomfortable, it hurts to cough and I refuse to laugh at anything. Other than that it's not as bad as when I had my two previous c-sections because it's higher up in your chest. Everyone has fears going into the unknown, it's normal. I am exhausted and uncomfortable but at the moment I'm glad to have that band out of my body and to be healing. Each hour is another one closer to a healthy BMI and weight for me. I almost cancelled several times myself. I did this for my kids. I'm starting to get excited though of the thought of being able to buy clothes that look nice on my body again and fitting in my leather jacket I haven't been able to wear in so long. Take care and remember we are all here for you!!

You will do fine. I am 2 days out and home. A bit sore but the key is to move through the soreness as much as possible and not lay down. Make sure you get your Protein throughout the day because that's what is going to keep you full and give you fuel throughout the day. I had the lap band and had it taken out when I had my surgery 2 days ago. I wouldn't wish the lap band on anyone. In fact someone posted that we should put Lap Bands on the guys at Guant?namo Bay and it would be cruel and unusual punishment. lol I wish you the best of luck. What type of support system do you have? My husband has been awesome and he too will go with the VSG once our insurance figures out how much better it is than the band. Of course this forum is a great place to find people who have been there and can help you get through it as well. Take care!

I'm just workin on liquids and getting my medications in. I have at least 7 RX meds I must take daily. So I take on every couple hours. So I'm constantly popping pills, THANK GOD they are all tiny because I don't have to worry about crushing them Dr. Castro looked all of them up to make sure they are all okay and not too large. He's definately a keeper. I just have to space them out and not take them at once like I did before. I gained over 10 pounds in the hospital. My hands looked like little sausages. lol

Apparently my Lap Band was place incorrectly. It was really close to my heart and major blood vessels and my surgeon had to use a great deal of patience and skill to get around what Dr. Powell did to me. I am now terrified to see what my husband's stomach and heart looks like.

You go girl! It was awesome meeting you yesterday even though we wer both a little "high" to say the least. Are you planning on going to the support group classes?

I'm not the most excited soul here about it but I'm having surgery tomorrow. I noticed a couple others as well, perhaps we can have a triplet or quadruple Sleeve Sistas relationship thing going?

Okay I know I need to stay away from youtube but I've been watching videos from others who've had VSG and some of them videotaped within an hour of coming out of surgery. This one poor woman kept begging for more drugs she hurt so badly. I was already ready to call and cancel this morning two days pre-op but my hubby reminded me with two kids under 5 I won't likely be able to line up help, financing, etc again for another year or two and how horrible it's been the past 6 months of being on liquids and having sharp pains. They have in a way become normal for me which is wrong I know. My 5 year old has started telling us her stomach hurts when she eats so she doesn't have to eat whatever she doesn't want to. I keep telling myself I'm doing this for my kids, I'm doing this for my kids. I'm scared to death. Take it this woman may or may not have had surgery before but going from how I feel today (normal to me) to that isn't on my top 10 list. I've had 2 c-sections (old school vertical style) and Lap Band Surgery. Other moms please tell me how bad a revision really is.

As someone said living on liquids is no way to live. I guess any experience I've ever had with Bariatrics hasn't been that great. I like my surgeon a lot, his office not so much. His office reminds me of the slimy Lap Band Only surgeons who are just there for a paycheck. At this point I've been mostly on liquids for 6 months. My worry at the moment is things getting worse because at least at this time I can pick whatever I wish. My heart and soul isn't into this but my husband, surgeon and everyone else agrees this is what is best and this is the only time we will be able to do it within the next couple years as we have such a young child and a cross country move planned.

That's what I think the problem is. I am doing this for them or my husband not me. Most other folks on here say I did this because I want to. ______. Me I feel like I have no other choice but to do this and do it tomorrow. I know I don't want another band. I know I don't want RNY but I also know I don't want to take my band out and gain all the weight I've lost and kept off and then some when I can suddenly eat this or that after 5 years in an uncontrolable format. My husband refuses to let me live like I am on liquids for any longer. I feel like the kid going in for shots and it sucks.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm scared to death I'll be jumping from the skillet into the fire with this because I'm always that one. If the lotto was an execuation type thing then I probably with my bad luck be the first number picked. I'm not ready for this surgery so it makes it really hard to be mentally happy about having major surgery. I guess I'll just do it for my kids and go on. I can't really do much with my band at the moment but every now and then get a "window" of time to eat. It's going to be difficult to do all the drinking required and as I already find eating as an un happy experience, I know I'l have to force myself to try to remember Protein, Water level, etc. One thing I haven't figured out is the fact I'm on 7 different meds at the moment. none ar horse pills but they are meds and one is a gel cap type pill. I feel like my future is going to be drinking nasty protein and taking pills (my regular 7 with all the vitamins) so that bring is upt to 13 pills!!! each day. :001_tongue:

Today I start the pre-op liquids. I spoke with my husband again last night. Even after all I have been through, I'm still not 100% on board for this right now. I almost feel forced into having this done because of us planning on moving from DFW to Seattle soon with no support system up there it would be hard for me to find help with the kids. I honestly don't know what to expect. I'm on medicine for my fibromyalgia that my pain management doctor gave me that will make it extremely difficult for them to get pain under control. I of course have his information and a card on the medication he gave me. He knows I was planning to have this fixed but the last time I saw him no idea on the date. Most of the time in my experiences, nurses and regular doctors are so scared to deal with us (pain man. folks) they just let us suffer through the pain. Between that and not being "ready" for this I don't think I will do well with this surgery. I know the jerk who did my original lap band 5 years ago, Dr. Robert O. Powell (practiced in TX then CA) did MAJOR DAMAGE to me and I'm scared to find out what all he has done. My husband also had surgery with him and is doing okay. At least he can eat normally. So between the Pain management (which I allready asked for a PM doctor to be assigned to my case from the beginning) and the damage that was done, I'm very scared they might need some of that 4 pints of blood. Even worse having the job of "full time Mommy" that means a longer heal time that quite frankly I probably won't get before I take full duty of the kids again.

I've heard yes and no on this one. Is it okay for someone to take NSAIDS after VSG? I'm talking of course AFTER you are healed up, not immediately after surgery. Thanks!

I'm so glad you are okay. Take it easy, right now is all about healing even with a normal Sleeve experience. You've had additional trauma with a second surgery and a longer hospitalization. So give your body a chance to heal and recover before you expect too much out of it.

Sounds like my story, only I am getting "fixed" on Thursday. Our stories fill this forum and I've TRIED to find someone on here, Obesity Help, and VerticalSleeveTalk.com that regret having the Sleeve after getting that hellish band out and I haven't found NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON. That says a lot. Even within a month or two of being banded people were having problems. I was banded in 2005 at the height of the Lap Band Mania and I have a dinosaur band. Most of the folks I know of who were banded around the same time as I have a Sleeve now and if not, then they did RNY. I originally lost 140 pounds with the Lap Band. Started having band problems and had it emptied because I couldn't swallow my own saliva and I was tired of playing the fill/unfill, fill/unfill game. I've been primarily on liquids for the past 6 months with an EMPTY band! The sad part, I am back up to 220 still about 80 pounds smaller than when I was banded, so I am a Lap Band Success story!! lmfao.....NOT! I did a search for Lap Band Suit and lawyers are starting to appear. I think eventually there will be a class action suit against them for what they did to our bodies. I have a weaken esophagus which I feel is a lot more common than what they acknowledge. Take care!

I forgot to say I too have PERMANENT DAMAGE to my esphagus and I don't think it's as uncommon as they say it is. I agree with Britt about the class action suit, I'd be the first signature to join and my husband right behind me.

What I tell folks now days as a banded person who will be sleeved in a few days is this. Go online and TRY to find people who are 5-10 years out who: 1. Still have the Lap Band 2. Who aren't having problems 3. And are near goal. No surgeon out there can tell you how long a band will last. I have a dinosaur of a band in me right now that has caused pure hell over the past 5 years. I found out the other day that in order to be certified to do Lap Bands by the company that makes the band all a doctor has to do is be a surgeon with advanced laproscopic surgery skills, sit through a class on how to do bands and do TWO surgeries in front of a judge type person to see if they did it right, then they are a certified Lap Band Surgeon!!! No college classes beyond being the doctor they were before to do weight loss surgery. Scary huh?

As most know, I have been on a primarily liquid diet over the past 6 months. During this time period I have primarily consumed Slim Fast Type liquid nutrition mixed with Silk Soy Milk. I eat as I can here and there and when I do it's covered in "food lube" to get it down. Here's the amazing part. I have maintained my weight around 234 ish for the past several years. However, with being on liquids I figured I would have lost some weight. I'm only down about 13 pounds in all this time period, that's ALL. We discovered I have an issue with Hypothyroidism and recently (within the past 2 weeks) started taking Synthroid. I obviously want the band that has caused me so much pain out and definately don't want to gain weight and be over 300lbs again. That's my reasoning behind getting the sleeve done to get rid of the pain and be able to eat a more normal diet. Now with all that being said, after being on liquids for so long and starting to eat solids (eventually after healing) I am worried about GAINING weight. I know that my Hypothyroidism explains why my body won't easily let the weight off, but I am concerned with going from liquids to mostly solids will cause weightgain instead of weight loss.

Thanks. I do think I am consuming more calories food lubing and drinking them than first thought. I'm 4 days Pre-Op and scared. Please hug me and have patience with me. lol

Same scenario here. I am paying out of pocket for the difference. One thing you may do is go ahead an appeal. I decided on a more experienced surgeon and his staff refused to appeal the old surgeon's denial letter from my insurance company because they used the "correct billing code" so I use several different appeal letters around here for a reference and did my own appeal. I stated why I believed that I shouldn't have another Lap Band, in my case it was weakening of my esophagus. And that my surgeon had told me that doing RNY would not be a good idea due to scar tissue from the band, making it a much more difficult surgery. I also have the need to take NSAID's eventually and with RNY you can't do that, at the moment I can't take the medication that would help with my autoimmune inflammation and with the sleeve I've been told you are less likely to develop an ulcer as RNY surgery can cause ulcers a lot easier than other surgeries. If you would like to see a copy of my letter PM Me. Personally, I am spoke to the surgeon's office who is going to do my Lap Band removal and asked them what the difference would be out of pocket. I am paying 8k in differences and hoping the appeal will go through post-operatively and I will be reimbursed the difference. Best of luck to ya, it's just another speed bump on your journey with the right letter you can get over it as other have.

Please do keep us posted, with you being in Bellevue and on Premera we maybe dealing with the same branch of Premera. They denied me at first, I submitted my appeal and have gotten a letter stating they have gotten my notice of appeal but I haven't heard anything from them. They are covering my lap band removal but I am paying out of pocket for my sleeve expenses (around 8K) and hope for reimbursement if the appeal goes through post-operatively.

This time next week I hope I'm feeling well and relaxing after having surgery the day before. I plan to take my notebook to the hospital as they have wifi. I went yesterday to Dr. Castro's Pre-Op class. At first I thought it was kinda dum to make a pre-op/post op who had originally lost 140 pounds before my band went all bitch on me to attend such a class. It started at 8 am. They had a slide show presentation with several different speakers. They had the Bariatric Coordinator Nurse over Methodist to talk to us, She was a Gastric Bypass success story. They had a nutritional lady come in and teach us about the nutritional stuff we needed to know. Here are a few tips I learned: 1. Pay attention to the # of servings per container. 2. Get 60-80 grams of Protein each day in order to burn FAT NOT the LEAN MUSCLE we want to keep. And remember the 10/10 Rule instead of couting calories. Less than 10 grams of Sugar and less than 10 grams TOTAL FAT per meal. So basically keep it less than 30 grams of fat and 30 grams of Sugar PER DAY and you should lose weight. Much easier than keeping track of calories. They said stuff low in each of those two things are naturally lower calorie, so no calorie counting needed. Then we had this really (I'm sure nice) REALLY, REALLY pumped up Exercise Phsyiologist (sp) come in and talk about exercise. And of course we all had our Psych Evals. I passed with no problems except with the advice to take more time for myself because ALL mothers give give give until they are dead for others and feel guilty for taking a second for themselves, I'm sooo guilty of that having my 5 year old and 19 month old. It's pathetic. I also saw Dr. Castro for my last pre-op visit. The more time I spend with him the more respect he earns from me. Coming from a VERY picky person who worked for an "Old School" do the best for the patient doctor I am hard to surprise. Dr. Castro continues to surprise me with how serious and how much he CARES about my success. I am apart of his research study he is currently doing in order to hopefully make the Sleeve a more "Insurance Acceptable" method of WLS. I think that the ONLY reason the horrible Lap Band and Realize Bands are on the market is because of the money and power the makers of both have. :huh0: It's definately not a safe product in my opinion. Today I went for my pre-op testing. I had about 6-7 tubes of blood drawn. An RN named Happy (that's her real name) drew my blood and got it on the FIRST time which is RARE, so I was very Happy with Happy. lol. Next Happy did an EKG and she commented on how nice my heart was. Then on for a chest X-ray to make sure I don't have anything that might make me a good case for pneumonia. This process has really been different than my previous experience with the Lap Band folks, Dr. Castro also does Gastric Banding but he is even picky with WHO he does and who he recommends for the banding. I just get the impression he doesn't recommend it that much anymore. I also got two great books filled with invaluable information such as protein powders that other recommend, suggestions on foods to eat when and how and recipes. They even put in what to order at fast food places. I may post some of it on the forum boards AND on my here (my blog) when I have more time. I must continue to low fat diet and try not to lose weight. Because I have a low BMI and primarily drink my meals, I was not placed on a Pre-op diet. I was told NOT to gain weight to keep my Liver as happy as possible. On Wedneday, the day before, I start a clear liquid diet. Then nothing to eat after Midnight. I must take a shower both Wednesday night and Thursday morning in a special scrub they use on pre-ops to help keep infection rates low. I am to arrive at the hospital at 8am for my 10am surgery. So at this point, I've done everything to prepare except the two showers. Now I just sit back and enjoy the last few non-painful days with my family and kiddos. I expect to be in a lot of pain because of other medications I take that can interfere with pain meds and my Epilepsy that makes certain pain meds unavailable. Please keep me and my young family in your prayers on Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 10am Central Time. Thanks, Carrie

My big fat brain is starting to mess with me. For some reason the closer this date gets the more nervous I have become. I have a beautiful and intelligent daughter who is almost 6 and starts Kindergarten next Monday. Only 3 days before my surgery. She comes looking for me if I am in the bathroom a bit longer than she thinks I should have been, just to check on me and walks away. She has a very sweet and pure heart. Then I have a beautiful yummy rolly 19 month old girl with eyes bigger and bluer than any sky you have ever seen. No matter if it's when I pick her up in the morning from her crib to feed her breakfast or just running to the grocery store down the street after only 4 minutes in the car, she has a giant smile on her face with little white popcorn looking teeth. Sometimes she can't handle it inside of herself and must squeel in order to contain herself. I know tomorrow is never guaranteed. My 6 year old will have fague memories of me holding her close and rubbing her belly, giving her "baby messages" after a bath, sharing my Lavender night scents speficically for her. However my baby would have very itt memories of ME. People can tell someone that another person loved them but I dont want resentment toward either of my babies. I don't want one mad at the other because she got more time with me. I know being on liquids for so long is not a good idea and that my banded days are coming to an end but I am down right terrified of Anesthesia. I have Epilepsy and with both you know you will lose consciousness but never know when. Then you wake up not sure who or what is going on around you. I'm always looking for my kids are scared someone is trying to hurt me or even worse my kids. I've warned those with the magic juice that knock me out then they just stand there acting shocked when I try to get a good right hook in. I have 5 days until my clear liquid diet on Wednesday. 5 Days to fight the urge to cancel or reschedule. So we can see. I guess I have until they put the magic shot of juice in right? :huh0:

Eventually you will need a new picture on your name badge! Of course the day they call da po po on you will be the ultimate in I lost all my weight and my co-workers didn't recognize me!