JanettRN

On December 30th 2010 I underwent a revision surgery. I had a lapband placed in September of 2008 and it was the most miserable 2 years of my life!!! I am the mother of 3 and a very busy nurse and wife. I vomited almost daily, could only eat junk food, and had no fluid in my band. If I ever had fluid put in my band my stomach would swell shut and I wouldn't even be able to tolerate liquids. After two years my surgeon finally decided that the band was a failure and recommended the Gastric Sleeve. I was very apprehensive at first. By this point I was so discouraged, I had the beginnings of an ulcer and esophagitis, and had only lost 15 lbs. I researched so many sites, and finally decided to give it a shot. The day of the surgery, I had a horrible panic attack, but a lot of prayer and encouragement from my family got me through. Now I am 13 months out, and have lost 73 lbs!! I have only vomited 3 times, and don't even have to take any acid reducing meds. I can still eat less than a cup of food at a time, and bread has to be limited, but there are no other foods that I can't tolerate! The only issue I have is low blood pressure. Yes, you heard me correctly LOW blood pressure. I was borderline low before the procedure and now I'm running in the 90's over the 50's. We thought it was dehydration at first, but it has persisted even after I.V. fluids. I see the Dr. again this week to hopefully find some answers. I am currently at a bit of a stand still on my weight loss. I still need to lose about 30 lbs. to hit my goal weight, but I have to say I am content even if I don't lose another pound. I've regained so much self confidence and am able to do things with my children again. It's also helped my marriage. It's hard for another person to love you if you don't love yourself first. Good Luck to anyone out there considering the Gastric Sleeve. I would really recommend it!!

I just had this discussion with my physician today. I will be 8 weeks out on Thursday, and hamburger meat HATES me. She said many people that have the sleeve can not tolerate hamburger meat. It's just a really dense, drier meat apparently. I also have issues with scrambled eggs, and hot dogs. No matter how small the bite or how much I chew. I had an EGD done today, and everything looks GREAT, so I know it's not a sleeve issue. Guess I will just have to avoid those foods.

Ok, I am a little over 4 weeks post-op and I am having this "hung up" feeling everytime I eat. It doesn't matter what consistency or what size bite I take. I can't eat more than one or 2 bites before it starts, and it occasionally happens when I take a drink. Any words of wisdom? Thanks.

Thanks, I did a little research in my nursing books, and from what I've read a stricture usually causes vomiting. But, it is something to consider.

I completely agree on all the posts. I hated my band!!! My 2 years of HELL, as I refer to them. I'm still paying off my physician bill for all the fills and un-fills. I never had a complete fill, because the minute they put fluid in my band I would hang up with everything I ate. except of course for the cookies. I could eat cookies and candy bars all day long, and not have pain, so that is what I lived on. Finally, after 2 years, my doc said "the band was a failure for you". Wow, it took 2 years to figure that out!! Anyway, I do love my surgeon, and she tried really hard to figure it all out before giving up. I Love my sleeve!! It has been the best experience, even with the issues the first 2 weeks.

There is a great website. www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com It has a lot of protein shake recipes.

I hate to hear that he is so close minded about this. My husband wasn't very supportive either. But, he was open and honest and told me that he was afraid if I lost a lot of weight that I would eventually leave him. I had to do tons of reassuring him that we have been married for almost 15 years, and weight loss wasn't going to change that. I just explained to him that I knew he loved me the way I was, but it was time for me to love myself as well. He was still not happy about it, and we got in to a very heated argument the night before my surgery. But, he did go to the hospital with me, and has been very helpful since. Now that he sees how well I'm doing I think he's even regretting his attitude beforehand. I hope it all works out for you, and I am so glad you are making the decision to do this for yourself Good Luck!

I had my band for 2 years, and had a similar time. I lost 40 lbs in the beginning (only because my stomach swelled completely shut for 10 days) , and gained 20 lbs. back, so it was a complete failure in my book. The only thing that would go down and not cause a hang up was junk food. I couldn't eat eggs, hamburger meat, chicken, tuna (unless I added tons of mayo). I could eat something one day and not the next. It was 2 years of Hell in my book. Anyway, I was sleeved 12/30/10, and it was the best decision I've ever made!! My recovery was way better, and I feel sooooo great!! I've lost more weight in 3 weeks than I had after 2 years with my band. Wish I would've known about this surgery the first time around.

The only Protein shake I can stand is the Myoplex Lite chocolate. It has 23g protein per 11 oz. shake. I have a very sensitive gag reflex, and all of the powders are disgusting to me. I have found that drinking one of those for breakfast, and then focusing mostly on protein the rest of the day allows me to meet my goal of 60g. I also crave avacado like crazy I am on soft foods, so at lunch I take 2 very thin slices of turkey and put a piece of cheese on it.....roll it up and microwave it. I stalled for a week at 2 weeks out, but started losing again quickly there after.

I also have problems with eggs. I am 3 days away from 4 weeks post op and just started mushies this week. I had pain with the scrambled egg, so didn't go further with it (I also added milk to make it more moist), and I also can't handle a really runny egg over easy. I get a pain in my stomach, so I've decided to hold off on eggs for now. I am, however, able to eat a little bit of meatloaf. Just don't quite understand..........I would think the meatloaf would be a heavier choice than an egg. But, I'm grateful to get some food with flavor after 3 weeks of liquid/pureed foods. good luck with it all.

I was sleeved on 12/30/10. I am still struggling with the protein and water goals, but it's getting better. I am currently on pureed, but have to admit I tend to eat more really soft foods instead. I just can't handle putting stuff through a blender...........gross. Anyway, I have lost a total of 23 lbs. so far.

I'm a nurse as well. It's great to see other nurses on here. Anyway, I had IV Dilaudid while in the hospital, then was switched to Dilaudid pill 2mg every 4 to 6 hours at home, but I only took 2 doses after I came home (I was in the hospital for 4 days). It managed my pain very well. The only reason I get Dilaudid is hydrocodone and oxycodone make me vomit. Also, unable to use morphine immediately post-op due to respiratory depression issues. Hope this helps. My doc generally uses liquid Lortab for home pain mgmt.

Wow, so sorry to hear you are still having trouble this far out. I am less than 3 weeks out, so I can't give you any words of wisdom from that perspective. But, I have had patients that had severe reflux and OTC PPI's wouldn't work. You may ask your Dr. about Aciphex. It is an RX for reflux, so it is a bit stronger. Not sure if it is contraindicated with this surgery, but he or she can let you know. I also agree with tiffykins suggestions of 30 minutes before you eat to give it time to work. Good Luck!!

We are all 3 on the same timeline. I was also sleeved on 12/30/10. I am eating pureed at this point, and tend to mainly eat cottage cheese, cream soups, yogurts, and SF puddings. I am not meeting my protein goal yet, so I am going to start adding the flavorless protein powder to my pureed foods. I also drink the Myoplex Lite. I drink the premixed individual ones. They are more expensive, but I can't handle the texture of the powdered kind. Good Luck.

I am 15 days post op and just started pureed yesterday. During the liquid diet phase I mainly had cream soup, protein shakes, SF pudding, SF jell-o, and yogurt that didn't have any fruit bits in it. I wasn't able to eat much at all, so the repetitiveness wasn't a big issue. I had my moments though I am definitely ready to move on to soft foods, cause it will be easier to find something to eat. Good Luck!

Using a scopolamine patch as previously stated is a great idea, and I also had Zofran that was orally disintegrating. This way you don't have to try to take in any fluid to swallow the pill. Most importantly, as everyone has said, call your doc. Not only can they get you something better to control your nausea, they can also assess to make sure you aren't having any kind of complication. Good luck. I had nausea for several days, and actually spent 4 nights in the hospital due to the N/V. I still have nausea in the mornings, but my Pepcid takes care of that. I'm 15 days post-op.

I was 31 when I had the lapband and just had the sleeve Dec. 30th at age 33, will be 34 in a few days. I'm glad I've gotten it now, but do wish I wouldn't have wasted any years feeling miserable, and failing at diet after diet. So ready to start my new life

I am 13 days post op and am transitioning from full liquids to pureed. I am now noticing today that every time I eat anything I belch a lot afterward. ( I had a small amount of pureed avocado, and some very thin potato soup.) It kind of reminds me of when I was having "hang ups" with my band, but without the discomfort. Anyone else experienced this? Am I doing something wrong? Thanks.

I was NPO for 24 hours, then clear liquids for 24 hours, then full liquids for 2 weeks. I am 13 days post-op, so tomorrow I start pureed.

I have a really hard time with protein shakes too. All the powder forms just seem way too gritty to me. I hate Slim Fast, and not real crazy about muscle milk either, but I have found that I like Myoplex lite chocolate. They are premixed individual servings and come in a 4 pack at Wal-Mart, and any place that sells protein supplements. They are best really cold, so sometimes I will put mine in the freezer for about an hour to get it extra chilled. Good Luck, I've been having a really hard time with the whole liquid diet too. I'm 12 days out, so 2 more days til pureed.

Ok, I'm on day 11 and I am getting weaker and weaker. I am only taking in about 230 calories a day, and maybe 8 to 10 oz. of fluid. I can't seem to make my body hold anymore than that. I can't eat or drink for 2 hours in the mornings due to nausea. I went in and received 2L of fluid yesterday, but still dehydrated. I'm on full liquids til Thursday when I can advance to pureed. Any suggestions?

I have Zofran and Reglan, but not really helping a lot.

I completely understand how you are feeling!!! My husband would never bring my favorite food in, because he knows I'd ring his neck......LOL. But, my family has to eat, so I've had to smell the chili dogs, chinese food, beef stroganoff, etc. I have had to go to my room several times to get away from the yummy odors while I feel like I'm going to die if I have to eat another jell-o. But, I have 5 more days til pureed, and realize in just a few short weeks I'll be able to have food with flavor again! We can do this!! Good Luck.

I had that issue with pudding at first on full liquids. My doc said it was because the food was too "heavy" for my new stomach, and had me stick with lighter foods for another week.

Frenchie, I had the band to sleeve revision all in one surgery. My physician never even discussed the option of having the band out then going in later to do sleeve. I haven't had any complications so far.....(10 days post-op) other than the norm......nausea, reflux, diarrhea. So, I guess it depends on how long you've had your band and what damage your band has caused. I was lucky to never have a slip with my band.