hf2havefun

My most visible bruise is around my port incision which i swear looks like it's 2 inches long. It's at the yellowish with a little purple stage. I had my surgery on 8/21. I have a couple other little bruises around a couple of the other incisions. My stomach is starting to itch, which is getting a little annoying.

Well, I think I'm feeling well enough to join up. I've been walking around a little around the house. A couple of days I've gone out to the stores and walked around. Today I actually went out to Mystic Village and walked around for awhile. Commitment: I commit to do 21 days of mindful exercise. Name: Heather Types of exercise I could choose from: Walking, Treadmill, Elliptical. Crazy Ates Aug/Sept Exercise Challenge 4/21 Days of Mindful Exercise

Congrats to both of you (Hannah and Jody)! Hannah, the easiest way to get your ticker in your signature is open both the ticker page and your edit signature from the Quick Links above. Then go back to the ticker page, right click on your ticker, and click copy. Then go back to the window you have open for this site with your edit signature and paste it where you want in the edit box. If you scroll to the bottom on that page you can preview your new signature. To add the CRAZY ATES logo for the August Group just right click on mine and copy and paste it into your edit signature page. It is normal to take naps. :notagree Take full advantage of it. It helps in the healing process. I'm 7 days out and I took a nap today. :notagree Just take it one day at a time, follow your doc's orders, and you'll be fine. Jody, Gas-Ex helps too. The chewable ones. And of course, continuing to walk more will help the gas move out. It took me a few days. I had a couple of bubbles that just didn't want to budge. Sometimes you just have to let it take it's course. Hang in there.

Hi Everyone, It's been 7 days since my surgery (8/21) and I finally got to start on FULL LIQUIDS today! Yippee!!! :biggrin1: I was getting soooo tired of chicken broth and those Isopure bottled clear Protein drinks. The flavors I tried (Icy Orange and Blue Raspberry) are gross. :sick I cut it in half 10oz. and added the same amount of Water and still couldn't tolerate it. I haven't been nauseous at all, thank goodness! The gas pains have basically subsided, except after sipping on something for a little bit (water, chicken broth, crystal light, etc) I get this tightening feeling in the middle of my chest (like indigestion) and feel like I need to burp. Eventually, I do burp without any warning. Has anyone else had this? It feels like my band is tight but, maybe it's still swollen around it. Luckily, I'm not hungry at all. We'll see how much longer that will last. My incisions I think are doing pretty well. I still have a little discomfort near/below my port incision when I try to lay on my right side. Kind of like someone is pinching my skin. OUCH! I get to move onto pureed foods as of 9/4! Not sure yet how I feel about pureeing chicken or turkey or fish. Maybe I'll just get some canned crab meat and canned chicken and mix each of them up with a little light mayo. Kind of like a chicken salad or a seafood salad. We'll see.:phanvan Other than that I feel pretty good.

nulife2be, I don't know how good they are since I haven't tried them but, I did a little searching online myself and found one product called: New whey liquid Protein 42g by IDS Sports. They have it at: supplements.Net - Health, Fitness & Supplements Superstore!. It looks like it's in a test tube and you get 12 for $26 and change on sale. I hope this helps.

claramae, It makes perfect sense! I had so many emotions running through me at points I couldn't decipher what was what. My nervousness finally overwhelmed me as soon as I got onto the OR table. The nurse could tell it was starting to get to me and quickly came over and started joking around and comforting me and eased my mind. If you're nervous before hand, I think from what I've seen on here, that they will give you something to take the edge off. Just try not to think about it tonight and get some sleep. Have a good night!

MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS CALLED: Colonel Ledyard and Freeman Hathaway I GOT PICKED ON FOR: being the shy kid and the new kid in Freeman Hathaway. MY FAVORITE TEACHERS WERE: Mrs. Barnes (1st grade) because she was really nice and kind of like a grandmother to us. MY WORST TEACHER WAS: Mrs. Doomer(2nd grade) She was so mean because I wouldn't participate in class. I was extremely shy. MY BEST MEMORY IS: My friends and I playing during recess. MY JUNIOR HIGH EXPERIENCE: Was pretty fun. I did enjoy school when I wasn't sick. (I had mono in 7th grade) MY FAVORITE TEACHER WAS: Mr. Purcell (7th or 8th grade) he was always so funny and made class fun to be in. MY FIRST CRUSH: Eric Campbell (my boyfriend 6th-7th grade, yes I know that's too young) MY MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: I came into the school one morning on crutches (after spraining my ankle) and it was raining. Both my crutches went flying out from under me and everyone just walked right by me. Then finally my friend Malcolm came along and helped me up. MY BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Swing choir in 8th grade. Only so many people were in it and you had to audition. THE DUMBEST THING I EVER DID WAS: I can't think of anything off-hand. Maybe I mentally blocked it out. MY HIGH SCHOOL WAS: Fitch High School and then Ella T Grasso Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School (started in Culinary Arts but, I couldn't stand the heat so I got out of the kitchen and into the Barbering/Hairdressing Department) SCHOOL COLORS:Blue and Silver SCHOOL MASCOT: The Eagles! MY BEST SUBJECT: Made straight A's Algebra MY WORST SUBJECT: Social Studies!!! I was bored with all the past history stuff. Never have been a History Buff! MY CLIQUE: A handful of us that weren't popular, but we weren't Geeks! MY MUSIC: Then, 80's music, oldies (because my parents listened to it), and the new 90's stuff just coming out. EXTRACURRICULARS INCLUDED: I did cross country, cheerleading, yearbook, volleyball, track, and a little softball. In junior high I hung around in the neighborhood with my friends playing kickball, basketball, and even touch football with the guys. Sad fact, a lot of times I was better than them. Didn't last long though in high school they were a lot better. PROM WAS: Junior prom was boring I went stag, again not popular but hung out there with my friends. Senior prom was a joke. We still in line forever for pictures, our food took forever, they barely played any slow songs. So we left after the food, went and changed at a friend's house and went bowling. Then around midnight or 1 in the morning we went to McDonald's for some better tasting food, and then went camping. MOST MEMORABLE EVENT: In 6th grade we were all escorted to the gym/cafeteria to watch the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle. Needless to say, shortly after they quickly got us back up to our classrooms so the teachers could better cope with us I guess. I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I: Didn't finish college!! My grandmother that I was closest to died and I moved back home. I have about a year and a half left to go. I'm trying to payoff bills so I can move back down to Va to finish and get my degree. MY GRADUATION MEMORY: It was very emotional once we got finished with the ceremony because I think it then hit us that most of us would probably never see each other again. After the ceremony they took us for our ALL NITE GRAD PARTY! That was a lot of fun. :whoo: TO COLLEGE OR NOT TO COLLEGE: Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

You should be fine by that point. It's taking me a little longer I think because I had gallbladder surgery just a week before my band surgery. I'm not on pain meds anymore (day 5 post op now) but, getting up and out of bed and off the couch is still a little hard for me. I'm ok once I'm up. Everbody's different and has their own circumstances. Good luck!

My doc came to see me about an hour or so before surgery and touched my leg and told me I was going to be fine and that they'd take good care of me. He then left to do one more surgery before mine. My OR nurse came to get me a little while later and walked me to the OR. Just before we got to the OR we ran into the anesthesiologist who apologized because he had just com from lunch. I told him "well, at least somebody got to eat". He laughed and said that he'd be in the room in a minute. We walked into the OR and they had me climb onto the table. I said, "so where's the fat people table? I'm not going to fit on this". The nurse without a beat said "oh, this is the one size doesn't fit anybody table". Again the room was laughing. They had me take some Albuterol before they laid me down because of my asthma. Then the anesthesiologist walked in and instantly starting singing along to the 80's music that was playing. What a fun group. I only wish I could've hung out awake a little while longer. We continued to joke around and the last thing I remember was I think telling them to remember that "I'm having the lap-band done. Don't forget!" :nervous I think the nurse said "we know, now breathe deeply". I guess I might have been fighting the anesthesia.

I WAS BORN IN: New London, CT AND GREW UP IN: Groton and Mystic, CT I MOVED AWAY FROM HOME WHEN/BECAUSE: At 19 to go away to college Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va and lived in VA from 1996-2001 SINCE THEN I'VE LIVED: Roanoke, Va and Salem, Va before moving back home to Mystic, Ct in May 2001. I TRAVEL AS OFTEN: I travel down to my friend Jen's once a year in Phenix, Va (about an hour east of Lynchburg, Va). On occasion I get to travel to other places. FARTHEST I'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME IS: My mom, dad, sister, and myself went on a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands and Fanning Island in Oct. 2006. It was my sister and my 1st cruise and we absolutely loved it. It was on the Norwegian Wind for 11 days. Can't wait to go back again someday. BEST VACATION EVER, THAT I'D REPEAT IN A HEARTBEAT: The Hawaii Cruise on NCL cruise lines. I like not having a set time or table I have to sit at for meals like the other cruise lines. Maybe we should try NCL for the Lap-band groups cruise next year.:biggrin1: WORST VACATION EVER, THAT WILL HAUNT ME TIL I DIE: One of my trips to Disney World and Universal Studios. It was just my friend and my self and we went to all the places and rides he wanted to because he claimed it was his vacation. How RUDE!!!! DREAM VACATION IF TIME AND MONEY WERE NO OBJECT: I would love to go on a Mediterranean cruise. Greece, Europe, Italy, Paris, etc. SPECIAL PLACE I NEVER GET TIRED OF GOING BACK TO: Camp Spofford in Spofford, NH. I usually go up in September for the Women's retreat. It is centered around a beautiful lake that I like to Kayaking on but, I can't go this year because: 1)I didn't have the money after all the copay's from all my pre-op tests. 2)I would be on pureed foods at that point and wouldn't be able to eat anything while I'm there unless I brought it with me. There's always next year.:confused:

I weigh myself once every morning. I was banded on Aug. 21st and I had weighed myself that morning at home and was down 14 lbs. When I got to the hospital and they weighed me with gown and robe on it was 5 lbs. more. I told the nurse that I liked my scale at home better because it was 5 lbs. less and she gave it to me and wrote it on the chart. I've been weighing myself at home again almost every morning since Thurs. and as of this morning it's 20 lbs. lost starting from my 10 day pre-op diet on Aug 11th. Yippee! :clap2: I haven't seen that much weight-loss in so long.

Congrats on your date! :clap2:You'll do fine. I was very nervous also before my surgery which was on Aug. 21st. My pain was a little more intense, but I think that was only because I also had gallbladder surgery on Aug. 14th (one week before). I had a lot of gas pain and the incision sites were really sore but, that's what the pain meds are for. I stayed overnight having surgery on Tues., staying Tues. nite, and leaving after lunch on Weds. I was a little dizzy which was probably from the meds. I haven't had any meds since Thur. Yesterday and today I haven't felt too well with my intestines constantly rumbling and running to the bathroom but, from what I've been reading on here on another post that's normal. I was starting to worry myself. I would suggest that you try to get your pain meds filled before surgery, because you won't feel like going to get them after leaving the hospital. Good luck and keep us all posted.:biggrin1:

I just had my surgery on Tuesday. A few things I found helpful: -bring a book to read, they don't always bring you in on time (mine was 1 1/2 hours later than scheduled) -a neck pillow for the ride home -a bottle of Water to sip on for the ride home -loose clothing (I bought a pair of loose seersucker capri's to wear for the next week or so) they worked out really well! -chap-stick would have been nice (I didn't think to bring any) -leave your jewelry at home would be the best then you won't lose anything -if your hair is long - a scrunchy/or hair-tie for after the surgery -try to get your pain meds filled before surgery, it saves you from having to wait in the pharmacy after a long trip You'll be fine. I feel a little better today. I'm still really sore, but didn't use any pain meds during the day today. I'm 3 days post-op. Also when you come home you might not want to be around your family when they are eating meals. Some people have a hard time with that. I still don't have an appetite right now so I'm good so far. But I know in the next couple of weeks it will be a little harder. Good luck and keep us posted.:biggrin1:

Hi everyone! Well, I had my surgery on Tuesday 8/21/07.:clap2: I arrived at St. Vincent's Hospital @ about 10:30 am and checked-in with admission :nervous and then went up to the 3RD floor and checked-in there. I was initially scheduled for 12 PM, but I guess the day wasn't going as planned. The nurse brought me to my temporary room and gave me my gown, robe, and slippers to change into. I sat on the gernie for a little bit and then a nurse came in to check my vitals and ask all the main questions. Then the other nurse came back and I had to follow her to what else "the scale". She said she'd take 2 lbs off the total because of all I had on. I didn't like that # either. :cry I said that I liked my scale at home better and that I weighed 3 lbs less than what she came up with. So she wrote down my home weight instead. :biggrin1: (My scale was pretty accurate when I did Weight Watchers). I went back to my room and waited with my parents some more. My dos came in to talk for a couple minutes and we discussed where I wanted my port and then told me it would probably be another 45 min- 1 hour before they take me in. My parents went off to get a bite to eat and I continued to wait. Another nurse or 2 came in and then the anesthesiologist. Finally, just after 1:30 pm my OR nurse came to get me and we "walked" to the OR. I can honestly say that I've never had a surgery before where I was walked to the OR. We get in there and they took my robe and had me get on the table. That's when I asked them where the 'fat people table' was? The nurse laughed and then told me that this was the 'one size doesn't fit anyone table'. OK then.:biggrin1: The OR was a light and fun calming atmosphere. They were all really nice and joking around with me to calm my nerves. With 80's music playing, they continued to prep me and then had me sit up and take 3 puffs of an Albuterol inhaler to help my asthma with the anesthesia. Next thing I know I'm closing my eyes and drifting off to :notagree. I woke up in the recovery room and I was shivering and the nurse gave me warm blankets. I woke up again on and off for awhile. Finally they brought my mom in, just after 5 pm I think for a little bit. I wondered where my dad was and my mom had told me that the hospital had my dad drive all the way home (a 3 hour total round-trip) to get my stupid CPAP machine. Apparently, this decision was made by ONLY the anesthesiologist, because I have sleep apnea and asthma, and never consulted with my doc. NICE! Needless to say I was furious. My dad, back in May, had a heart attack and really didn't need the stress of driving through busy traffic for 3 hours on I-95 just for that dumb machine. Apparently, when my doc found out about this he was outraged as well! They had all my papers and results from all my preop testing before surgery so you would think that when they called to tell me what time my surgery was and what time to be at the hospital that they would have said to bring the CPAP with me. They certainly made sure to call back and remind me of my Co-pay of $250.00. My mom had to step out again for a little while when they brought another patient in right next to me. It took the nurse awhile to get him to calm down while I was still waiting for some ice chips and for my parents to come back in. At some point I got the ice chips and finally about 7 pm they let my mom back in. About 7:15 pm my dad finally made it back to the hospital and could visit with me. They didn't stay too much longer because neither of them had dinner yet. I was finally able to keep my oxygen levels up and someone came to roll me up to my room finally just about 9 pm. I'd been in the recovery room since probably 2:30- 3:00 pm. My gas bubbles were intense and the pain meds were starting to wear off. I felt bad for my roommate Sue who was nauseous and having major back spasms and her meds didn't really seem to be helping her. She had the lap-band before me that day. I started sipping my 1Oz.. every 15 min. and did well with this. Neither of us got much sleep because of: the pain, the nurses coming in to take our vitals, or having to go to the bathroom repeatedly. I ended up taking a 2 lap walk around the halls just after 1 am. Gas bubbles didn't budge at all! We maybe got 1-2 hours of sleep Tue. night into Wed. morning. Then the docs and interns started making their rounds after 5 am. ARGHHH! Sleep! All I want is Sleep!!!!:notagree They came, they questioned, and they poked and prodded. Our doc then came in to see us, tell how our surgeries went, and apologized to me that the hospital made my dad do all that added driving for really no needed reason. We both had to go for an x-ray to check on the band placement. ALL LOOKS WELL!!! We could go home today (Weds. 8/22). I washed up, went for my x-ray, and came back up to my room for Breakfast (which the nurse had to re-heat). Breakfast: Decaf tea with splenda, chicken broth (actually tasted better than canned), apple juice, and Jello. I couldn't eat the jello I felt too full. At least I think that was full. The gas bubbles seemed to be going away this morning, but I was sadly mistaken. I stayed for lunch because I was feeling a little dizzy. Lunch: Decaf tea with splenda, beef broth (pretty good too), diet cranberry juice (gross), and jello again. I again didn't have room for the jello. We got home after 2 pm (Weds.) and I sat propped up on the couch after taking another dose of meds. About 4 pm I decided to go lay down for a bit. :faint:At 8:45 pm I woke up. Had some apple juice to drink and was up for a little bit longer. I came on-line and typed all this Weds. night and next thing I know all I typed was gone:faint:. Tired, exhausted, and medicated I nearly burst into tears and decided to go to bed. I think I slept through the night for the most part and woke up about 8:30 am today in a lot of pain through my abdomen. I had some to drink first and then I took some meds (only 1 of the 2 tsps.) I walked around the house a little. Still had a lot of gas pains. My incisions are really sore. Just below the port incision it has a weird feeling to it like when your foot or hand starts to fall asleep. Almost tingley. I hope that goes away soon. I'm on my clear liquids until next Tues. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing. Sorry for the long post, but there was so much that happened. I'm going for another dose of meds before I head to bed. Have a good night everyone! I hope I will.:phanvan

Well, I can't believe how fast this day has come up. Today was my 2nd day of clear liquids. I'd have to say I think I did all right on it. I had 8 days of 1000 calorie diet before Sunday. As of this morning I've lost 13lbs so far. :clap2:Two more lbs gone would be nice to see 1st thing tomorrow morning (for 15lbs total). I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere! :biggrin1: My incisions seem to be healing nicely from last Tuesday's gallbladder surgery. I actually felt good enough to go out to a couple of stores with my mom and my sister. The hardest place of course was the grocery store. I wanted to eat almost everything in site. Talk about your stomach growling. Of course, after a little while I was ready for a nap. Anyway, I found out my lap-band surgery is at 12pm (HIGH NOON). Here comes that mix of emotions again.:faint: Well, I'll keep you all posted. Pray for me and good luck to my fellow bandsters going in tomorrow too and those of you the rest of this week. Let's keep each other posted.

Thank you Judi for your well wishes for us going this week. Glad to hear you're doing well. I hope you see BIG results when you go to the doc tomorrow. Take care and have a good night.:biggrin1:

Hi everyone,:phanvan Well, yesterday I had my gallbladder surgery. I was up at 8 AM and did not sleep well the night before. We left for the hospital just after 9 AM and arrived there around 10:25 AM. I was scheduled for surgery for 12:30 PM, but didn't actually get taken into the OR until 1:30 PM. I was sooooooo hungry and thirsty by that point it wasn't even funny. It's bad enough knowing that after the lap-band I won't be able to have food so why torture me now. Anyway, surgery went well. Apparently, the gallstone was bigger than my doc thought it was (a little bigger, I guess than an Atomic fireball candy). They removed both the stone and the gallbladder. At one point in the recovery room (I think the 1st time) I woke up and wanted ice chips or Water since my mouth was now even dryer. They said I couldn't have anything yet because they didn't want me to throw up. So I solved that problem by going back to sleep. :notagree I woke up again freezing half to death and they came over and put more warm blankets on me and on top of my head. I again fell back to sleep. :notagreeI did this quite a few times apparently. I guess the anesthesia has quite the sleeping effect on me. It's a good thing! I finally woke up and I think it was almost 5 PM. They gave me some ice chips and sat me up a little more. I tolerated that all right, but was a little dizzy. They were monitoring my vitals and oxygen level and I guess I wasn't breathing deep enough and my oxygen levels kept dipping below 90. I then was able to keep down a piece of wheat toast with a small amount of butter on it and a cup of orange juice. I wasn't nauseous at all. I was just a little light-headed from all of the deep breathing. It seemed that every time I started dozing off, I stopped breathing as deep and my oxygen levels would drop into the 80's. I guess they like it above 90. They told me it was probably a combination of the anesthesia, my asthma, and my sleep apnea. They gave me a Percocet and said that they wanted to watch me for another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and as long as I could keep my oxygen level above 90 then I could go home. If they found me getting groggy/dozing and my levels continued to drop I was going to have to stay overnight. No thank you. I finally got to leave the hospital just after 9 pm. We got stuck in construction traffic for an hour and didn't get home until 11:30 PM. ARGHHH! :cryNot to mention on the way home some of I-95 is not in the best of condition and even with drugs I could still feel the bumps. OUCH!!!! I didn't sleep all that well last night, and I dozed off and on today. The pain has gotten intense at times and I still have a good amount of gas still trapped. It is starting to subside though. The hardest part is getting up from a sitting or lying down position. I guess it could be worse. And just think, I get to do this all over again next Tuesday (8/21) when I go to have my lap-band surgery.:clap2: I'll keep you all posted on how it's going. I think I'm ready to lay down again. The meds are kicking in.

What I had with my gallbladder was usually pains right in between my shoulder blades in the middle that continued right through to the same spot in the front. Usually an intense pressure that would slowly move to the left just below my chest to where it felt like I was having pains in my heart. I also had a lot of indigestion and it got to the point where it didn't even have to be fatty/fried foods to flare it up. Come to find out in my pre-op testing with an ultrasound of the abdomen (on 6/25) they found I had one large gallstone around the size of an Atomic fireball or slightly larger. I had my gallbladder removed as of yesterday (8/14). I go for my lap-band surgery next Tuesday. So if it's really bothering you I would call the doc and discuss it with him. They can do the proper tests to find out what the problem is.

Good Luck to this week's crazy ates!!!!:clap2::clap2::clap2: I have my gallbladder surgery on Tuesday next week and I'm already flipping out:nervous, so I can sympathize on how your feeling. Just hang in there and we'll all get through this together. My thoughts and prayers are with you this week.

December 28th, 1975 :biggrin1:

Hi Pat, The way my doc explained it to me was that there is bacteria in the gallbladder. If any of the bacteria gets out while they are removing it, it can cause problems with the lap-band. Since the lap-band is a foreign matter going into your body that could cause an infection I guess. I guess I can understand with it being put that way. I guess too it's up to the individual doc. Trust me I'd rather have just one surgery. That was the first thing I asked when I found out I had to have my gallbladder out too. I can't believe that surgery is already next Tuesday. it went so fast. When is your surgery?

Hang in there! I know that just when everything seems to be pulling together in the right direction someone has go and put a wrench in the works. I myself, had to go through 2 1/2 weeks of waiting for sleep study results and then had to wait for an appt for my CPAP machine. Because I have moderate sleep apnea I had to go for 2 more weeks and use the CPAP machine before my surgeon would even think of doing the surgery. I finally have my dates: one being the gallbladder surgery on Aug. 14th and finally my lap-band surgery on August 21st. I would talk to your Doctor that you saw in June and explain to him/her what's going on and I'm sure they'll give you a note to document the diet. Have you tried any other supervised diets within the past year (i.e. Weight Watchers, Curves, etc.)? If you were with anything like that you could get them to copy the documentation showing that time span and save yourself the trouble of another supervised diet. In the mean time, plug away at getting all your other appts that you need for approval. That way when you're done with your supervised diet they can put the paperwork through sooner and you'll get your date before you know it!:biggrin1: It'll get better I swear!

I'm from CT and I'll be banded on August 21st!

I have Dr. Ehrlich out of St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport. My Surgery date is August 21st.

Hi I'm from Mystic, CT and my surgery is August 21st at St Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport.