~Bridgette~

I've just been donating clothes to goodwill. I don't work outside the home, so as long as I can have a couple pair of jeans and some tops to rotate, I'm fine. My yoga pants and tshirts that I wear around the house, I'll wear untill they fall off me, LOL.

I'd say just keep walking. That's the best thing I've been able to do so far... still dealing with it.

Flinstones too... the purple ones... haven't looked to see who it is... LOL

I will be so glad to be able to actually go into Victoria's Secret to get a bra! Never done that! But my tatas are tiny (B cup) so I pray I don't lose too much!! Thank God for padding!!

I really needed this thread right now. I have had my period for almost 2 weeks and was banded last Weds. It got worse afterwards (I think b/c of the blood thinners they gave me in the OR) but anyways... it doesn't look like it's ever gonna go away! If I still have it in a week, I'm planning to call the doc. I've had one every month for the last 3 months (since I started losing weight preop) so there shouldn't be but so much lining for it to shed...

my pain is in my ribcage too.... but it's on the right side.. I'm pretty sure it's the gas.

I just wanna say that this thread was so helpful! I'm 5 days post op and doing pretty well. My suggestion in addition to what's been mentioned, is a timer. For the first day or so I had a timer set to remind me to sip my fluids, no lie! Now I set it to remind me to walk laps around the house every hour and to do my deep breathing/coughing. Speaking of which... it just went off.. time for deep breaths and laps!

What's a body slimmer? You mean like gurdle type things?

Ok, so I had a little gas today and thought I'd try that position... not good to try less than a week postop! Too sore in the abdomen to try to bend like that.... UGH!! Maybe I'll be healed enough by the time I start eating and run the risk of getting stuck I can try that if I need to.

So far so good! I had a BM last night and it didn't hurt so much as the smell!! OMG!! DH came home about an hour afterwards and I was so happy to have had my first bm, but he was like, "dayum it's ripe in there!"... I knew it was bad! LOL I've been walking at least 30 min consecutively since Thurs and doing pretty well. When I was walking today, I had a brainstorm. I have a timer that I set for 1 hour. At 10 min before the hour is up, it beeps, then again at 5 min before. So... I set it for an hour and when the 10 min beep goes off, I do my 5 "deep breaths" and cough, then start walking laps around the house. Carrying the timer with me (resistance training, LOL) I stop when there's one more minute left and do more deep breaths and cough. That way, I'm making sure I'm breathing and getting 8 min of walking in per hour. If I can do that consistently, I'll be really adding in some activity. It doesn't have to be consecutive to count and it'll help further prevent the gas. Now, how long are we supposed to be breathing into our spirometers and coughing? Just curious.... I sneezed today and was terrified, but it didn't hurt. Thank God!!

mine said 30 before and 30 after... but does that count during the post-op liquid phase? I feel like I'm sipping constantly, but switch between protein and water.....

I have been dizzy too. I'm not sure why. I've gotten between 85-90 grams of protein in everyday since Thursday. It's odd though, when I go more than about 3-4 hours between protein, I get nauseous and weak feeling. My blood sugars are still not coming down yet, that's frustrating! I guess I expected to be feeling much better than I am by now; I still have very little energy! Ugh! Oh and TMI, I know, but I have this horrid smell coming from me! I'm wondering if I'm in ketosis, but I can't seem to bathe enough or brush my teeth enough and it doesn't want to go away... yuck! Sorry, but I can't handle odors well, specially when they're coming from me and I know I'm a clean person!

Another day down, another day closer to being myself again! Woohoo! I actually slept in this morning! That shocked me. I hadn't really been sleeping very well. I haven't left the house yet but am ready to get out. Cabin fever! Anyways, just wanted to pop in and say Hi to everybody. We did it!! :thumbup:

Thanks for the tip. I think I might have to look for my heating pad! My husband rubbed my back this morning and said he could actually hear the bubbles moving around when he rubbed me... ugh! My body had become some kind of noise making machine, lemme tell ya! lol

I completely forgot to take my "official" before pics... I guess I'll just have to live with the candid shots that have been taken recently... But remember, you're doing so well!! Where would you be without the band? Try not to get discouraged! You are brave for taking control of your life and your body! :cool2:)

Good luck! I think I'd wait until tomorrow too. I have steri strips and just have to wait until they fall off.

I think it's ketosis as well. I can't brush my teeth enough to suit me! Jeez! But, it's the smell of fat going away!! :cool2: Think of it that way... fat being removed from our bodies never to return!!

It's pretty good, but if you're trying to get in lots of protein, it's not as much bang for your buck, I don't think... but I have a ton of them to drink, LOL. I figure I'll just add that to my sippin' water and will increase my protein that way. I bought some unflavored protein at GNC and it was disgusting! That was a waste of money. I figured I'd add it to my soups or juices for variety with protein... but it was nasty!! Don't bother if you were thinking of trying it.. ewwww

It's pretty good, but if you're trying to get in lots of protein, it's not as much bang for your buck, I don't think... but I have a ton of them to drink, LOL. I figure I'll just add that to my sippin' water and will increase my protein that way. I bought some unflavored protein at GNC and it was disgusting! That was a waste of money. I figured I'd add it to my soups or juices for variety with protein... but it was nasty!! Don't bother if you were thinking of trying it.. ewwww

Thanks for the encouragement, everybody! I'm taking the MoM tonight if there's no movement down there before then! ETA: my doc recommends 90-110 g of protein a day from here on out.... hopefully it'll be easier when I can eat meat. As far as getting in the 90g of protein, I drank 2 low carb slim-fast shakes (20g each), had some hot chocolate with 15g, some fruit juice (15g), another protein supplement with 15 g and some K2O in my water with 5 g of protein in that... BUT... My doctor gave me a huge box with protein supplements to use throughout the liquid phase, almost 20 items and each has at least 15 grams of protein... so, I haven't really had anything for "fun" yet, just trying to get in my protein, and sipping water. I haven't gotten as much water in, but am counting all these liquid supplements as fluid too.. My port is sore today and I finally had the gas pain everyone complains about last night (around 1am!)... so I spent about 20 min walking laps around the house and took a couple of gas-x strips... I didn't like the gas and have apparently been very blessed to have not really experienced it until now.

I've walked 30 min straight everyday since surgery on Weds. Of course when the gas kicks in, I usually get in another 15 min or so a couple of times throughout the day in addition to the 30 mins. Who would have thought I'd have walked everyday? How exciting!! I *know* we're required to exercise, but I've always hated it.. it's like the surgeon flipped a switch in my brain when he put in the band to make me focus on doing what I'm supposed to do... I hope this lasts for awhile :cool2:

How's everybody doing this morning? I was up last night with gas. It was the first time I've had bad gas so far... it was jabbing me in my ribcage.. ugh! I walked around the house for about 20 min, took 2 gas-x strips and it finally subsided enough for me to go to sleep. But I guess for me to make it that long without any real gas pain, I did well. LOL I think I'm going to actually talk DH into going for a walk around the neighborhood today. I don't want to overdo it, but I'm going stir crazy in the house. Have a great day everybody! :cool2:)

I'm pretty nervous about this... I may have just moved out of mushies by Thanksgiving and don't want to draw extra attention to myself but also don't want to get sick on anything.... I know we're supposed to get our protein first, but turkey is usually so dry... I don't want to have to drown it in gravy to get it down... that would defeat the purpose, ya know? We'll see..... but I'm still nervous about it, especially since we'll be with DH's family that day for that meal...

That's awesome!! I can't even imagine running (unless it's from a big dog or to a sale, LOL) but I think it would be such a liberating feeling! Funny how even our thoughts towards some things change as we start to make a commitment to this new lifestyle! Way to go!!!

I tried going in... I'm up with gas and trying to distract myself, LOL.... and it said that it was signing me in, but that was it... it never did anything else... :rolleyes2: