Jeni 85

How do you know if you have a problem with gallstones?

i actually didnt have the usual gallstone issue.. my gallbladder just wasn't working.. it wasnt releasing the bile like it should.. this would cause pain afer i ate. like 30-45min after eating .. i didnt have the typical syptoms at first but then all the sudden i got bad and fast within 5days i was in the hospital having emergency surgery because i couldn't keep fluids down. (not band related!!)

So trust me you would know if you had a problem...

my advice... EAT WHILE YOU CAN!!! lol

sorry... probably not the best advice because i've been struggling lately just being 3 months post-op and going thru a depression phase because i can't eat as much as my brain wants.

you'll get back on track after you get refilled! i hope you're healing well!!

HAHAHA:lol: Ya i figured i can treat myself to a couple things that i cant eat when im filled... like french toast:tt2: and i wont weight myself till i see him either later this week or beginning of next..

Hey ive been good for 16mths i can be bad for 1 wk right?!?!?!?!:confused2:

Thanks ladies...

And good luck on your surgery adorkable!!! Luckily my surgeon was nice to me and used one of my old incisions... But a forwarning to you you the 3 small incision on the abdomin dont hurt. the bellybutton on does!!!:teeth_smile: but it gets better!!!

So i had surgery on wednesday to have my gallbladder removed...

Luckily it was the same surgeon who put my band in.. But the bad part is that he unfilled my band completely.. The first two days were ok but today all of the sudden i have the bottomless pit of a stomach again...

I wont be able to get filled until the end of this week or early next week..

What would you do to make sure the weight stayed off???

I never realized how much of an influence the tightning was until i was unfilled.....Its easier to control how much you eat when you dont have the bottomlees pit stomach..

****Yes i realize healing is more important right now*****

And another question.. to those of you who have been unfilled before how long till you feel restriction again???

The funny thing about my situation is i didnt have any gas pains after the banding surgery.... But i just had surgery this past wed. to have my gallbladder removed and my shoulders are killing me.. Left more than right..

I finally know what everyone is talking about and biy am i miserable...

So when do they go away.. ive been doing the walking.. im about 3days post op:eek:

Thank you ladies for all your kind words...

I was admitted into te hospital tuesday night for dehydration., my surgeon, already had a room waiting for me when i got there and he also got me a private room.. fancy.. i had surgery on wed. at 4:30 and it was an 1 1/2hours long..

I got home yesterday and today im feeling a bit better the only thing that hurts is the damn bellybutton incision!!! and te fact that im so lightheaded... But all in all everything went well!!

One downside to the whole thing is that he completely emptied my band !!!!! and i cant get a fill fo almost 2wks... which sux.. and i just know ill gain weight but oh well i guess my health and healing well comes first...

Jeni, just get it done. You will feel so much better when its done. You will wonder why you waited so long. Good luck, will be think of you.

Carol

thanks carol...

i know ill feel so much better and its all worth it.. and im well aware of what they are exactly doing.. i have complete faith in the surgeon and i also know its a simple procedure..

but surgery is surgery and it just plain is freaking me out.. lol.. im planning on going friday.. as long as i can tolerate liquids and keep myself hydrated if not Dr's orders go to hospital asap.... (hopefully it wont come to this)

Ill definately keep everyone updated.. everyone is so great and supportive on this board..

Gwen,

I'm sorry you've been stressed. I have missed your encouraging words, it's nice to see you back.

I loved your statement about being at goal come March of 09. That's my plan too. I hope actually to see it in January but if it's March, that's okay too.

I was resting on my laurels so to speak for the last few months. I was losing slowly like a half pound a week. If you asked me I would have lied and said I was eating okay and exercising enough, but reality is that I was letting extra calories creep into my mouth and I was making excuses to exercise less frequently.

Anyway, I've shaken that thinking off. I've gotten serious again about eating right, and wouldn't you know it, the weight has started to move again.

I'd like to believe I'm not alone in needing/taking a break from the process.

I definately see where you come from and you are definately not alone in the lets take a break mode.... I definately have been doing that the past week.. (although i do plan on being at goal with ps done by my B-day in march exactly 2wks after my bandiversary

Its more of a im completely stressed out and cant deal so i turn to my old evil friend food; actually its more of sweets to be exact.. But luckily Dr. Shayani (aka the band he placed) luckily has his hand on my shoulder letting me know enough is enough and i cant eat no more....

But to update you all I most likely will be having the surgery sooner than expected... I spoke to my surgeon today about the nausea and vomitting ive been having since friday and he said that if i wanted that i could even come in tonight to the hospital and have the surgery tomorrow in the am...

But as long as im tolerating liquids he thinks the longest i should wait is till friday and no longer.....

He said he will trust me in making my own judgement...

And wants to hear from me if things get worse even if it is a 3 am :eek:

I am so very grateful that i have such a awesome Surgeon and would trust my life in his hands...

But im still terrified about all of this

It's been awhile!!! I've read through the July posts and it seems everyone is still losing and doing really good.

Jeni, my band sister, I am soooo proud of you! You look so awesome!!!!! I am sorry to hear you are having gallbladder problems. I had mine removed years before I had lapband surgery. There are many options, but the only one that is certain to correct the problem is to have it removed. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Tia, were we dating the same guy?!?! I just dumped a guy after 3 months of dating...same prob, broke or just cheap!

Well, I am still struggling with the same 5lbs. I've never really quite hit that 100 mark yet, but I will get there! I go for a fill on Aug 4th so I'm hoping to finally hit my goal by my 35th b-day on Sept 18th!

Hi Juli, Rosi, gkeyt, carol...great to see you all are still here!

Thanks tammyj... Besides the gallbladder i feel great.... How Have you been doing??

Im actually going for the surgery at the end f Aug after my vegas trip... As long as these symptoms dont keep getting worse and worse... Today i developed a new symptom of nausea...

By the way, haw was the gallbladder surgery??? I'm a little nervous about it.. the good thing is that the surgeon who did my band is going to this one as well.. so i already trust him.. and i know its laprascopic...

In how many days did you return to normal activities, like work...??

Jeni

Glad to hear that there might not be Surgery, no one wants to go under the knife if the don't reallly have to. I have hear that a lot of weight lost programs do cause galbladder flairs. I too have been slow at it so I hope to avoid trouble..ya thats my story and I'm sticking to it..LOL

I am just so happy to have the scale only go one way for a change after all these years.

Like I said I am having a lot more pain with the Fibromyalgia just because I have so much more energy and am not Pacing my self as well as I should. That is the number one enemy of mine,not pacing . But I have just upped my pain meds but then I run into other problems with all this protien and narcotics. I think I may have to start eating prunes every day. I am trying this yogurt with biotics?, first,... any suggestions?

By the way you look FANTASTIC girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you enjoying your new You ?

Try Fiber... benefiber.. no taste and can add to almost anything... a lot of narcotics cause the evil Constipation deal... You can also try plum juice... it tastes a lot better than prunes!!!!

Thank You by the way.. i am very happy with the weight loss so far and am celebrating wearin 14/16 instead of 24/26... I also find i am a lot more confident and willing to act myself around strangers...

I still have the problem of my mind catching up with my body.... like when i went shopping my mom handed me some stuff and i was like are you kidding me i wont fit that its too small and sure enough it fit:tt2:

Jen...Sorry to hear that u will need surgery, but at least u know now. Is the problem connected to the weight lost?

Actually its not for sure that i will need to get it removed.... i guess there a couple of different options..

As far as it being connected to weight loss...

Hmmm... Intersting question... (im not a MD im just telling you what i have heard from various MD's)

Well as far as i've been told is that Rapid weight loss can affect the gallbladder but it usually is a concern to gastric bypass patients not band patients..

So no need to worry, i will definately try to find out more. But like i said it is more of a Gastric Bypasss patient concern...

I really didnt have the rapid loss.. its been pretty much a steady pace... Ithink it was bound to happen and it is a functionql problem..

For all i know it could've been there all along just asymptomatic until recently when it decided to give me some signs... lol:eek:

By the way rosi, hows the fibromyalgia.. ?

Well i have both good and bad news... Turns out that my gallbladder, in fact, is not function correctly...

So in a way this is both a good thing and bad thing... Good thing is i finally know whats been bothering me the past 3 months.. Bad is that it most likely needs to be corrected with surgery..

But i thought i would give everyone an update...

thought since i hit the 100+ lost marker i would put up a pic.. im now down 104lbs..

<a href="http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/JeniM85/?action=view&current=260185.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/JeniM85/260185.jpg" border="0" alt="2post-16post"></a>

Name.............Current......Goal.........To Go

Bunkey1965......205..........189...........16

CQQlgirl............200...........180..........20

Cadets71.........231...........219..........12

Dreamsize8.......216..........190...........26

FeliciaLevy75....257.4.......240...........17.4

Gayle21...........190..........175...........15

Jeni 85............183...........169..........14 (start wt. 189)

Laura bough......210..........190...........20

Liz_hager..........166..........150...........16

MMarg.............216...........199..........21

Newhope4me....163.6........150..........13.6

NukeChik..........227..........197...........30

Scrappy_friend..222...........200...........22

TexGirl.............198..........180...........18

Thininside28......271.5........245..........26.5

Wannabthin......199...........179..........20

Im down 6lbs!!! I also decided to put our list in alphabetical order... i know im weird... lol:lol:

I think everyone should put thier start of the challenge weight as well ..

it will give everyone an idea of how far you've come!!

Hey Rae,

from what i see here you have only been banded a little over a month.. don get discouraged yet...It takes multiple fills before you reach that sweet spot to where you are losing wieght..

In the meantime think of these things

-how much am i eating?

-do i drink with my meals? (at least wait and hour after meals to drink)

-hows my excercise?

-am i making healthy food choices?

-Am i eating protien first?

-Do i get my daily recommended serving of Water?

-Do i only eat when i am hungry?

-Do i listen to my band when it says stop?

-Am i grazing between meals?snacking?

These things are all very important to being successful with the band..

I am 16mths post-op and still find myself going back to the main guidelines when i hit that plateau..

Best of luck to you..

as far as the fat flush diet i have never heard of it.. and was curious to see what it is as well..

i've been on the metformin for about 10 days now and the scale is doing wonders for me.. i feel like i have a lot more energy with less appitite... since monday the scal has gone down 4lbs!!!:scared2:

:biggrin:Congrats!!!

Let us know when you get your surgery day...

When i got approved i had surgery 1.5wks later.. because my one insurance was expiring on my 22nd birthday so we really had to ush things along.

I think Jeni might be getting simple fluoro mixed up with the full barium swallow test. Some places will opt for the full-on barium test. Some docs use fluoroscopy (kinda like an xray machine) to better visualize the port. That way, they can hit the port with only one "poke" of the needle, and don't have to dig around. Having said that, I can palpate (feel with my fingers) my port very easily, and apparently so can my doc, since he's never had to use fluoro to give me my fills.

i was just basing it off my own expirience, i always had to drink the barium whenever he did my fills under fluoro.. (i only had it done under flouro twice) I'm pretty sure each dr has thier own way of doing it.. my drfigures if he aleady has me under the fluoro he may as well have control over the amount of fill i get..

As far as finding the port, the only time had a hard time was for my first fill.. And he said that it would get easier with each fill as i lost weight..

And the second time he did it under fluoro was 1 yr post op to check if everything looked ok and to control the amount that flows through my band because i was having heartburn issues

First of it all welcome to BandLand...

Next , id like to start off with stating that its a mater of opinion which one is better.. I think that Flouro. fills are good in the sense that the surgeon completely controls how tight your band is based off how he see the barium flwing through the stoma..

But as far as im concerned i like the regular fills just fine.. You have to be able to listen to your body and band and you decide on the restiction.. Im pretty sure that for newbies some surgeons will decide by only doing a little everytime until they hit the right restriction.. but it realy depends on the Dr.

Me and my dr. have a pretty relationship in which he trusts my judgement on restriction level.. But then again i am 16mths post-op

GOOD LUCK on your journey and let us know how your first fill expirience went!! (by the way dispite what you might hear it really is quite a painless experience)

i CAN FINALLY join you in the 100+ lost !!! officially on July 15 ... Im so excited.. It only took 16mths but i made it!!:cool2:

i fit into size 14 jean shorts!!!

Jeni,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

But to answer your question. I see the doctor about the same as before, but my pap came back with "a-typical" cells so I had to get one again 6 months later. That too came back with "a-typical" cells so we are watching it.

My PCP believes it has everything to do with my drastic body change in the last 16 months. So we shall see.

Aside from that I think I have had fewer colds and just am in better health because of the exercise and Vitamins I take daily.

How about the rest of you? What do you think? Actually Jeni, I'd love to put this out there on the general forum to see what the overall experience is. Would you mind?

Go ahead and post it on the general forum, juli i dont mind I think it would be interesting to see the resposes.. (and also if you dont mind post a link on this page to the thread)

So i saw my surgeon today and well he decided that i should hold off on the fill for now... at least until i get my health issues better..

He also asked me about my symptoms and whats been going on.. I told him everything and he pressed on different ares of my abdomin and said that he thinks my gallbladder is fine and also he thinks that these issues are all related to the pcos because of the fact that when he pressed the area that hurt me it was pretty much the location of my uterus/ovaries...

Basically he is going to help me find a good gyn. in the area which he would recommend. And wants me to see them within the next 1-2wks..(this should be interesting trying to find an available appt.)

He really is a Dr. who goes above and beyond his job description and cares for his patients..

But on the bright side im down 102lbs!!! 20lbs more until i start the process of looking for a Plastic Surgeon!!:frown:

Hey Everyone!

So about the whole fake nails thing. From what I have heard from other people that have had surgery including the lapbad is that they can tell if your getting enough oxygen from you body or not by looking at your nails. Maybe some doctors go by this and some don't. Who knows....I won't have to worry about that because I have been too poor saving up for the surery to get my nails done in awhile! LoL! Good Luck to all! I am only on day 6 of PreOp diet of 3wks so pray for me! LoL!

- Amber

This is also one of the reasons.. there are many reasons behind it.. all that matters is that you cant have them because its for your saftey... they want the environment to be as sterile as possible

P.S. Good luck Jeni, I hope everything turns out alright.

Thank You...

Turns out no gallstones, but i need a gallbladder function test first before they give my gallbladder the clear..

I see my band surgeon tomorrow.. he insisted tha i come to him to talk about the symptoms... The way he put it he also specializes in the gallbladder..

I hope he will finally be able to fix the problem.. :smile2: And if he lets me im going to get a fill as well.. i think i need a slight fill..

So is anyone else finding they are more at the Drs office now then they were before being banded???I am... your health is supposed to improve with weight loss but why is it im always at the drs :confused_smile:... I could be that i possibly wasn't as concerned for my health then..

Till tomorrow,

Jeni M:cool:

meganmatters, what do you mean you had to take off your nails? Yikes!

For some reason they always want the fake nails off for surgery... I think it has to do something with the length...When your nails are longer you can harbor a variety of bacteria... and can possible cause staph infections. Thats why you never see medical professionals with fake nails.

Jewelery also can interfere with surgery.:party:

I got approved yesterday, scheduled for PreOp on the 16th, and surgery (with luck!) on the 24th. What I want to know is what everyone discussed at their PreOp appointments.

I'm alternating between joy and fright right now and need to read some LBT to calm my nerves. :tt1:

TIA,

Lisa

We discussed how to get prepared for that day all the rules like no eating after midnight. what type of anesthesia.. i met the anesthesiologist...

All it really was basic explaination of what was going to happen on surgery day from the time you get there till the time post op when you get to go home...

Its more or less a meeting so you know what to expect.. And of course any last minute questions you may have.

CONGRATS ON GETTING APPROVED!!! AND WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HEALTHY LIFE... BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!:party: