kacee

Oops repeated my last message....

He operates at the Surgicenter off Main Street and also Park Plaza Hospital. I was told it depends on which day you have surgery as to where you are. I was at Park Plaza and it was a wonderful experience. You are going to LOVE Dr. S!

A LOT of people have the impression that once you lose the weight they take out the band. I have to explain that, no, it will be permanent, unless I choose to remove it or it needs to be removed because of any medical necessity. That seems to kindof blow their minds a little.

I wonder if that could be the formation of an adhesion (scar tissue inside). Sometimes those things can be very pesky when they attach themselves to parts of the body. Not sure if one would form that quickly. Your doctor would know.

Sounds like your uvula has been irritated with the intubation. Just like having an irritated sore throat, it'll take a few days. If it really hurts a lot you can get some of the green throat spray which is a topical anesthetic and give it a spritz.

My incisions closed up tighter than a drum right after surgery, but I hear about a lot of folks whose incisions have the dribbles for a while. As long as there is no smell or distinct color (green, yellow) to the discharge, and as long as the incision site isn't inflamed (red) and hot (fever possibly indicating infection) you're probably good to go. Welcome to bandland!

That's why you get a medical tag...bracelet, necklace or whatever. I got mine about 2 weeks after surgery. I don't wear it on my body, but I do have it hanging on my purse strap in plain sight. At this point in time there are still a LOT of medical professionals uneducated about WLS. I know when I went in to have my meds adjusted after surgery, my doctor's assistant didn't even know what the band WAS! Put a card in your wallet (many doctors give them to you) or carry a medical ID.

First, call your doctor and see if he suggests some meds for nausea. It also could be that you are dehydrated and not receiving enough protein. That leads to nausea, weakness, etc. Since you are so close to your surgery date, it could be the effects of the anesthesia on your body. A lot of us went through nausea initially, or within the first 24 hours or so. You could be a little more prone to it.

Just as you can lose inches but not pounds, your fatty liver may be revising itself inside and "slimming down" though you are not noticing the effects externally. When you restrict the calories, the body is going to go looking internally for more sustenance. It is probably accomplishing what your doctor is setting out to do, so I would just continue on. Don't necessarily use your scales as a success indicator.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Been there and done that! It is never a good idea to eat and then recline imediately, or shortly thereafter. I find that unless I sit up, things feel like they are going trough an obstacle course in my gut. I made the mistake a few weeks ago of chowing down on something RIGHT as I laid down for the night. WHOA! Within about 30 minutes I had sliming, pain, sour mouth, you name it. Bad move. Check that box and won't do THAT again! I make sure I have a minimum of an hour after a meal before I lay down anywhere.

Whoa, quite the opposite. If I am anything but straight up and down when I swallow things tend to go awry. I've been able to wiggle before and get stuff to go down, but there are also plenty of times I've done the wiggle dance and NOTHING went anywhere.

I don't know about your doctor's program, but chicken was definitely NOT on the plan for the first 30 days for me. The only meat I could eat that fell into the "mushie" category was "soft fish".....like fish filets and tuna. I personally would not try chicken now. I don't think I ventured to try chicken until something like my second week of solids, and then just a small amount. It was fine. I haven't had any problem with it at all (and I like the dry kind...white meat, which is harder to get down). Mushies should be just that....soft food that doesn't have a lot of mass to it. I call chicken a full blown solid.

Frankly, as far as being able to eat a lot....don't worry about it now. You are healing right now....not in the active losing stage and the band is not working for you yet. Try to keep it to a "dull roar" and cut down on the amounts....it will make transition to restriction much easier. But don't sweat it right now....

I too am a boredom eater. But I find now that I just don't head for the fridge anymore. For one thing, pre-band you can make a career out of eating and you can make it take time. After the band, when you get good restriction, you'd literally have to be going to the fridge 200 times a day, because when you DO it....it's over with so quickly. I mean, 3 bites and you're done....none of the "grazing" like before. I just gave it up because it wasn't worth it. The satisfaction for it is no longer there at all. YEAH!!!!

If you already do not use it because it is bothersome, I think I would forgo taking it to the hospital with you. You're not going to be there very long anyway. I'd say a good majority of folks are done on an out-patient basis and not required to spend the night. It's just one more thing to lug around and if you want to be comfortable I'd say no. I have a CPAP I haven't gotten used to myself. I'd only had it a few weeks when I had surgery and I definitely didn't take it, and glad I didn't. You want to be as unencumbered and comfortable as possible. That's just my two cents.

I had a stone too about three years ago. They got it out when they put me under to put the stent in. That stent was a BITCH! I was out of work for one week until the stent was removed. I think it was ultimately worse than the stone itself and I was living on pain meds the entire time. Minute it was removed I was 100% okay. Whew.

I have a 4cc band and it took three fills to notice anything and the fourth fill was just a "top off" to perfection.

No, I would say NO FILL definitely. You could easily be stuck in some other country and have an incident with your band (like the delayed reaction a lot of folks have where it suddenly gets tighter on them....two or three weeks AFTER they get the fill.) Your doctor is being rightly cautious. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't rush it.

1) How long did it take most of you to get back to work? I was banded on a Wednesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. 2) How long before your energy level is back up and normal? About 3-4 weeks. 3) Did most of you get constipated? Yes, I would think so. Just get some stool softener at the drug store to keep on hand. 5) I weigh 235lbs and my goal is 135lbs, does this mean I will need surgery to tighten things up when I get to my goal? Depends on your age and genetics. I was 218 (225 was my top weight) and my goal is 150. So far the one thing I see not going away is a case of turkey neck, but that also has to do with my age. Everything else isn't doing too badly. I am about 20 pounds from goal now. Might have a little lipo on thighs when I get to goal. We'll see....

Amy you are only in the HEALING stage. Your band will not begin effectively working for you until you have a fill WITH RESTRICTION (the two don't nevcessarily go hand in hand, at first). It's going to get a LOT easier, believe me. I got my first GOOD restriction with fill 3 and fill 4 was a "top off" to perfection. I have retrained myself with the aid of the band and I'm about 5 months out and NOT fighting anything. For me it is relatively easy. But that first 6-8 weeks can be a bugger!

During Bandster Hell (the period between surgery and the first fill giving you restriction) you will experience hunger, mostly in the first 30 days when you're on the liquid and mushie diet. When you get proper restriction you may not feel hunger much at all. I am 5 months out, and never seem to feel hunger at all anymore, and actually my head hunger is rare too. If you don't deal with hunger well....then eat. Just try to eat things that are working with the band. The first 30 days after surgery I tried to find "filling things" that would at least give me the sense of eating something solid (something with a spicier taste, or whatever). I was used to "grazing" a lot. So I grazed....instead of eating 3 Lean Cuisines (which is what I would have grazed on in my "former life" I ate 6 jello cups (at 10 cal per cup)... But no, to answer your question you are not going to feel like you are being "systematically starved". No one will hold your feet to the fire but you, but hunger has not been a problem since I got a good restriction.

Yep, a lot of that is water retention. Also, your body is adjusting to the new eating style. It will go in and out of "conservation phase" (hoarding all calories you put into your body), which will cause plateaus. If you are TRULY taking in fewer calories than you are expending, it will eventually reverse itself and the weight will start to drop off. And zounds! You could eat 3500 calories and not gain???????? Are you a 6'4" man or something?

If I tried to eat a bagel I would probably be in agony on the floor. Now that you are in the "land of restriction" you need to be VERY AWARE of what you eat. It's a fast learning curve because the consequences are pretty uncomfortable. I do have head hunger occasionally, but if I indulge, after about 4 bites it gets pretty much more trouble than it is worth. Kindof like if you love chocolate cake more than anything in the world. But you're told that in order to get some you have to hike up the side of a mountain first to get to it. You'll do it once, maybe twice, and after that you just won't respond anymore. You'll think like Pavlov's Dog... "chocolate cake = a 45 minute hike.....yuck." Then after a while those feelings of hunger just kindof trickle away....

You are experiencing the "delayed reaction" of a fill that my doctor's nurse told me about. One reason they hold off to give additional fill until a minimum of about 30 days after the last one is because some peoples' fill can "adjust itself" 2-3 weeks after the fill is given. If it causes enough problems getting stuff to go down you may need a slight unfill.

I know the cycle....drink, eat, drink, eat. That's one reason why I ballooned up. Been there, done that. Unfortunately I would venture to guess that you may cut back initially, but will probably ease back up to the current amounts before too long as your body adjusts and old habits set in. The band will not stop you from drinking or drinking heavily because being liquid, it's just gonna roll down your throat. By "pickling" I don't mean that you are soused 24/7. Your body has adjusted to the amounts you give it and compensated to some extent. However, your regular blood alcohol level when you think you are cold sober is probably borderline or more. After a period of chronic alcohol consumption your blood is going to maintain a permanently elevated level of alcohol all the time as long as you keep "feeding it". Just be aware that you are working with a lot LESS territory to inebriate after you lose weight (though I would also think you probably will not lose much weight based on habits). However, because you will be able to eat less, you probably are not going to be able to fend off the hangovers as effectively anymore.