tizen33

I also had irritation from the dressings... Even the bandaids they put over the smaller incisions got all red. I was banded on the 18th and have still had some reddness. Weird. I have taken all the steristrips off finally and although still a little pink around my larger (4inch) incision everything is looking better. Although I've never had surgery befor I have worn bandaids and other dressings and never had that reation. I'm just glad everything is looking better. It is so exciting all of us getting banded. I am so pleased with mine. If I do get hungry soup, protein shake, yogurt smoothies, heck even water fills me up. It is great! Take care everyone as we embark on this wonderful lifestyle change that we have chosen for ourselves in order to better our lives!! ~Tina:)

One week post-op today. :girl_hug: Start weight: 295 surgery weight: 270 1 week post-op: 266 Today was a very busy day. I didn't have much time to eat... I mean drink very much. I only drank 540 calories today. We went to Boise and dropped the baby off at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night. We are so lucky, Angelina has wonderful Grandparents. Then we went shopping all over town. Hubby and I had a really good day. Lots of visiting, joking and laughing. There was a long while where I wasn't much fun to be around because I was so miserable with myself. I feel like I've got a new lease on life. I've actually been happy lately. It may sound weird but I haven't been happy in a long time. It is amazing how doing something good for yourself and your life can give you an entirely new perspective. Things are good. I didn't ride my bike today but we walked around alot. We walked enough that my tummy started to ache a bit. I took a pain pill when I got home and reminded myself that I still need to take it easy. Good night all!

One week post-op today. :confused: Start weight: 295 surgery weight: 270 1 week post-op: 266 Today was a very busy day. I didn't have much time to eat... I mean drink very much. I only drank 540 calories today. We went to Boise and dropped the baby off at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night. We are so lucky, Angelina has wonderful Grandparents. Then we went shopping all over town. Hubby and I had a really good day. Lots of visiting, joking and laughing. There was a long while where I wasn't much fun to be around because I was so miserable with myself. I feel like I've got a new lease on life. I've actually been happy lately. It may sound weird but I haven't been happy in a long time. It is amazing how doing something good for yourself and your life can give you an entirely new perspective. Things are good. I didn't ride my bike today but we walked around alot. We walked enough that my tummy started to ache a bit. I took a pain pill when I got home and reminded myself that I still need to take it easy. Good night all!

I survived the jerky incident. Thank God. Today was pretty good. Not much to say. I rode my bike for 10 min. I will work up slowly as I heal. I consumed 650 calories today. Tomorrow is my weigh day. We'll see how much I've lost my first week of being banded. Until next time....

I survived the jerky incident. Thank God. Today was pretty good. Not much to say. I rode my bike for 10 min. I will work up slowly as I heal. I consumed 650 calories today. Tomorrow is my weigh day. We'll see how much I've lost my first week of being banded. Until next time....

My anesthesiologist and surgeon told me that they would be putting a tube down my throat while I was under general anesthesia. The surgeon also told me he inserts a camera down the throat to check the stoma internally to make sure everything looks okay. He said that my throat would most likely be sore for a few days because of that.... and it was. But is much better now. I'm 5 days post-op and doing GREAT! Take care! ~Tina:)

Okay so I freaked myself out bad tonight. We recently got a food dehydrator and have always wanted to make jerky. Well, I made jerky. And I decided to just chew a piece.... just chew, to see how it tasted. I was planning on spitting it out and then OOPS down the throat it goes! and it wasn't even very well chewed yet. That was two hours ago. I keep waiting for terrible chest pain, or a PB or something. I think I might be in the clear but am not sure yet. I'm scared to drink very much. I can just see it now: "33yr old woman admitted to emergency. Patient was recently banded(less than a week ago) and now has a chunk of jerky stuck in her band. It has been decided that the band must be removed..." These are the thoughts going through my head. I'm not going to feel in the clear until the morning. I'm also not going to sample anymore jerky. What a dumb ass. Other than that today has been good. I am really amazed at how well the holes in my belly are healing. Only one of the incisions has a bruise. The rest look like 1 inch scratches- except for the one that is about 4 inches long. I have 5 incisions total. My port is under my left breast. I would say below but I sag a bit so actually it is under. :phanvan I went for about a 10 minute walk this afternoon. We have been having wonderful weather for October. It was 70 degrees today. And consumed right around 700 calories. Until next time........:girl_hug:

Okay so I freaked myself out bad tonight. We recently got a food dehydrator and have always wanted to make jerky. Well, I made jerky. And I decided to just chew a piece.... just chew, to see how it tasted. I was planning on spitting it out and then OOPS down the throat it goes! and it wasn't even very well chewed yet. That was two hours ago. I keep waiting for terrible chest pain, or a PB or something. I think I might be in the clear but am not sure yet. I'm scared to drink very much. I can just see it now: "33yr old woman admitted to emergency. Patient was recently banded(less than a week ago) and now has a chunk of jerky stuck in her band. It has been decided that the band must be removed..." These are the thoughts going through my head. I'm not going to feel in the clear until the morning. I'm also not going to sample anymore jerky. What a dumb ass. Other than that today has been good. I am really amazed at how well the holes in my belly are healing. Only one of the incisions has a bruise. The rest look like 1 inch scratches- except for the one that is about 4 inches long. I have 5 incisions total. My port is under my left breast. I would say below but I sag a bit so actually it is under. :phanvan I went for about a 10 minute walk this afternoon. We have been having wonderful weather for October. It was 70 degrees today. And consumed right around 700 calories. Until next time........:confused:

4 days post-op. I didn't take any pain meds today. I can definitely feel something in my chest. It's like pressure or tightness- I don't know if it's always been there and I'm just feeling it now since there's no pain medicine in my system or what. I'm still not regularly exercising although I am anxious to get back to it. My caloric intake was at 705 today. Here's what I had and it's pretty typical of what I've been drinking each day. 8:30am- whey protein 1 scoop w/ 4oz nonfat milk and 4oz water 11:00am- slimfast 1:30pm- 8oz cream of chicken soup 3:30pm- whey protein 1 scoop w. 4oz nonfat mild and 4oz water 6:00pm- Dannon light and fit strawberry smoothie (which I water down and drink like juice because it's to thick otherwise). I haven't had much of an issue with hunger and when I do I wouldn't know what to eat anyway even if I could. I usually just drink something and it goes away anyway. It seems to work best for me to have something to always sip on. I am so excited for the scales to start descending. I hope my journal entries help those of you who are starting out. I started them in hopes of giving new people good details of my journey and what you could possibly expect on yours. I can't believe that I am blessed enough to have been able to have the band "installed". The difference this is going to make in my life is a miracle really. For the first time in a long time I am feeling a sense of well being about myself... and a sense of hope.... and that's just a damn beautiful thing!!:confused: Good luck to all of you on your journeys! ~Tina

4 days post-op. I didn't take any pain meds today. I can definitely feel something in my chest. It's like pressure or tightness- I don't know if it's always been there and I'm just feeling it now since there's no pain medicine in my system or what. I'm still not regularly exercising although I am anxious to get back to it. My caloric intake was at 705 today. Here's what I had and it's pretty typical of what I've been drinking each day. 8:30am- whey protein 1 scoop w/ 4oz nonfat milk and 4oz water 11:00am- slimfast 1:30pm- 8oz cream of chicken soup 3:30pm- whey protein 1 scoop w. 4oz nonfat mild and 4oz water 6:00pm- Dannon light and fit strawberry smoothie (which I water down and drink like juice because it's to thick otherwise). I haven't had much of an issue with hunger and when I do I wouldn't know what to eat anyway even if I could. I usually just drink something and it goes away anyway. It seems to work best for me to have something to always sip on. I am so excited for the scales to start descending. I hope my journal entries help those of you who are starting out. I started them in hopes of giving new people good details of my journey and what you could possibly expect on yours. I can't believe that I am blessed enough to have been able to have the band "installed". The difference this is going to make in my life is a miracle really. For the first time in a long time I am feeling a sense of well being about myself... and a sense of hope.... and that's just a damn beautiful thing!!:girl_hug: Good luck to all of you on your journeys! ~Tina

It is day three since being banded. Today I only took one pain pill when I got up and then just took one because I am getting ready for bed. I have still been a little tired throughout the day. I still have my butterfly type bandages on my bigger incision. The others have the band aids I put on them yesterday. I have drank a little over 700cals today. Sometimes I think I could eat but I am not starving. I am not near as hungry as I was on the pre-op diet. So I guess things are good. I finally had a bowel movement for the first time in over four days. It was a little odd looking. I won't go into any more detail I'm just glad to know things are moving again. Although I did get on the scale today I'm not going to pay very much attention to it accept for on Thursdays which will be my weigh day for my ticker. They might switch to Sundays after that because that's when I weigh in for another log that I keep. We'll see. I can feel something in my lower/mid chest at times. I guess it's the band. I don't think what I'm feeling is restriction. Maybe it is. It's hard to tell. I'm still trying to figure out this new part of me. But I'm very happy to be where I am right now. I'm very content and very excited at the same time. Well- Good luck All!!!

It is day three since being banded. Today I only took one pain pill when I got up and then just took one because I am getting ready for bed. I have still been a little tired throughout the day. I still have my butterfly type bandages on my bigger incision. The others have the band aids I put on them yesterday. I have drank a little over 700cals today. Sometimes I think I could eat but I am not starving. I am not near as hungry as I was on the pre-op diet. So I guess things are good. I finally had a bowel movement for the first time in over four days. It was a little odd looking. I won't go into any more detail I'm just glad to know things are moving again. Although I did get on the scale today I'm not going to pay very much attention to it accept for on Thursdays which will be my weigh day for my ticker. They might switch to Sundays after that because that's when I weigh in for another log that I keep. We'll see. I can feel something in my lower/mid chest at times. I guess it's the band. I don't think what I'm feeling is restriction. Maybe it is. It's hard to tell. I'm still trying to figure out this new part of me. But I'm very happy to be where I am right now. I'm very content and very excited at the same time. Well- Good luck All!!!

I'm a little dissappointed. It is day 2 post-op and I weigh 5 pounds more than I did the day of my operation. I've had over 60grams of protein each day and less than 650cals each day. What the hell? I don't really expect my weight to just fall off nonstop but it would be nice to at least be where I started. I guess I should just weigh myself weekly. My first doctors appointment is November 8th. That is three weeks from now. I am not in much pain today. I only took pain meds as needed- only three times all together today. Which is better compared to every four hours the day befor. My incisions look pretty good. They are itchy. The big one is a little red. I worry about infection so I'm not messing with it. My hunger isn't bad. I just keep the protein drinks I need to consume around so I sip on them all day. I'm eating about the same things I ate on my pre-op diet only less. I can't wait to be all healed up. It will be nice to exercise again. This is such an exciting journey... I'm on the BANDWAGON! and I can't believe it.

I'm a little dissappointed. It is day 2 post-op and I weigh 5 pounds more than I did the day of my operation. I've had over 60grams of protein each day and less than 650cals each day. What the hell? I don't really expect my weight to just fall off nonstop but it would be nice to at least be where I started. I guess I should just weigh myself weekly. My first doctors appointment is November 8th. That is three weeks from now. I am not in much pain today. I only took pain meds as needed- only three times all together today. Which is better compared to every four hours the day befor. My incisions look pretty good. They are itchy. The big one is a little red. I worry about infection so I'm not messing with it. My hunger isn't bad. I just keep the protein drinks I need to consume around so I sip on them all day. I'm eating about the same things I ate on my pre-op diet only less. I can't wait to be all healed up. It will be nice to exercise again. This is such an exciting journey... I'm on the BANDWAGON! and I can't believe it.

Okay... time for the details of surgery day. My Grandmother and I left for the hospital around 5:45am. We arrived there at 7am and went to the surgery waiting area. It was a really nice area. They had tv screens with each patients abbreviated name and time they go into pre-op, then surgery, and then recovery. A little after 7 a nurse came and got me. I was weighed and vitals were taken. They had me empty my bladder then took me to my little area.. partition #16. There they went through the lovely task of trying to get an IV in me. I've never been a good IV patient. I don't care about getting one it's just that they can never find my veins. They only had to try twice. So I only have two large bruises on my arms. After all of this the anesthesiologist came and talked to me as well as the surgeon. They made sure I didn't have any questions or concerns. Everyone was very nice. Around 8:30am they let my Grandma and my Hubby come back and visit with me for a bit. Then some time after nine they sent them off and by 9:30 I was headed back to the operating room. The gals told me to take some deep breaths of oxygen and befor I knew it I was being woke up befor being wheeled into recovery. I was a little nauseous and in pain. They immediately gave me something extra for both. Within a few minutes they wheeled me into recovery. It was 11am. The nurse offered me ice chips and water right away. I was very thirsty. My family came back into sit with me as I recouped from surgery. I was told that as soon as I drank 500ml (without any problems) I could go home. I took slow steady sips. It took four hours befor I went home. I dozed in and out a lot the first couple of hours. After that I really focused on drinking my fluids. I was ready to get home. The worse pain that I had was in my middle back. My upper stomach area was also pretty sore but not as bad as my back. I had a hard time getting comfortable on the hospital bed. That was one of the main reasons I just wanted to get home. When I finally got home I was in pretty good shape. Some people I have read about have said that the surgery was worse than a c-section. But mine wasn't even half as bad as my c-sections was. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst. I'd give it a six or seven. But then again I haven't had any gas pains in my shoulder and I've been taking my pain medication as prescribed. I'm not into unnecessary suffering.:confused: Today I was a little more sore. I feel like someone punched me in the tummy a few times. But nothing intolerable. I haven't been hungry. Thirsty a lot though. Yesterday I drank my protein shake, some broth and a slimfast. Total cals:565 and 48grams of protein. Today I had 615 cals and 60.5grams protein. Things are great. Take care everyone!! ~Tina

Okay... time for the details of surgery day. My Grandmother and I left for the hospital around 5:45am. We arrived there at 7am and went to the surgery waiting area. It was a really nice area. They had tv screens with each patients abbreviated name and time they go into pre-op, then surgery, and then recovery. A little after 7 a nurse came and got me. I was weighed and vitals were taken. They had me empty my bladder then took me to my little area.. partition #16. There they went through the lovely task of trying to get an IV in me. I've never been a good IV patient. I don't care about getting one it's just that they can never find my veins. They only had to try twice. So I only have two large bruises on my arms. After all of this the anesthesiologist came and talked to me as well as the surgeon. They made sure I didn't have any questions or concerns. Everyone was very nice. Around 8:30am they let my Grandma and my Hubby come back and visit with me for a bit. Then some time after nine they sent them off and by 9:30 I was headed back to the operating room. The gals told me to take some deep breaths of oxygen and befor I knew it I was being woke up befor being wheeled into recovery. I was a little nauseous and in pain. They immediately gave me something extra for both. Within a few minutes they wheeled me into recovery. It was 11am. The nurse offered me ice chips and water right away. I was very thirsty. My family came back into sit with me as I recouped from surgery. I was told that as soon as I drank 500ml (without any problems) I could go home. I took slow steady sips. It took four hours befor I went home. I dozed in and out a lot the first couple of hours. After that I really focused on drinking my fluids. I was ready to get home. The worse pain that I had was in my middle back. My upper stomach area was also pretty sore but not as bad as my back. I had a hard time getting comfortable on the hospital bed. That was one of the main reasons I just wanted to get home. When I finally got home I was in pretty good shape. Some people I have read about have said that the surgery was worse than a c-section. But mine wasn't even half as bad as my c-sections was. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst. I'd give it a six or seven. But then again I haven't had any gas pains in my shoulder and I've been taking my pain medication as prescribed. I'm not into unnecessary suffering.:girl_hug: Today I was a little more sore. I feel like someone punched me in the tummy a few times. But nothing intolerable. I haven't been hungry. Thirsty a lot though. Yesterday I drank my protein shake, some broth and a slimfast. Total cals:565 and 48grams of protein. Today I had 615 cals and 60.5grams protein. Things are great. Take care everyone!! ~Tina

Hi everyone! I haven't been keeping up on all the posts and just spent the last half hour reading. Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good... except for the gas pain. When does the gas pain happen if it's going to? I haven't had any yet but it's been less than 24hrs since my surgery. That is my biggest worry. Other than that things went good. I got some medicine right after surgery for the nausea. And then took some more of that when I got home because I didn't want to risk experiencing that again! I am taking the pain meds still. I feel like I was someones personal punching bag! Still wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. How exciting to finally have this done! Congrats and big pats on the back to all of us October bandsters!:clap2: ~Tina:)

I am Banded!! It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. I am tired though. I will give a more detailed account of the ordeal tomorrow! :confused: ~Martina

I am Banded!! It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. I am tired though. I will give a more detailed account of the ordeal tomorrow! :girl_hug: ~Martina

Well, tomorrow morning is the big day. I can't believe that it is finally here. I haven't been very nervous today. My Grandma being here probably helped with that. She is very supportive. I have packed my bag for the hospital. I have to get up at 5:15 in the morning. We have to leave here by 6a.m. just in case of traffic or any other delays to be to the hospital by 7:30. I don't know much of what to say... I'm kinda speechless. I think I am in denial about what is really happening. It must be some sort of defense mechanism so I don't freak out. Either that or I've just accepted what is happening and that's that. Either way the next time I post I will have joined the band wagon! Take care everyone!:car: Here are my measurements: 9-18-2007 10-18-2007 weight: 295 BMI: 46 w: 270 BMI: 43 bust: 53 1/2 in bust: 51 1/2in waist: 55 in waist: 50 in hips: 57 in hips: 56 in thigh: 35 in thigh: 33 in calves: 21 in calves: 20 in arms: 17 in arms: 16 1/2in I'll have to figure out next time how to post this so it shows up in columns. Oh well:phanvan

Well, tomorrow morning is the big day. I can't believe that it is finally here. I haven't been very nervous today. My Grandma being here probably helped with that. She is very supportive. I have packed my bag for the hospital. I have to get up at 5:15 in the morning. We have to leave here by 6a.m. just in case of traffic or any other delays to be to the hospital by 7:30. I don't know much of what to say... I'm kinda speechless. I think I am in denial about what is really happening. It must be some sort of defense mechanism so I don't freak out. Either that or I've just accepted what is happening and that's that. Either way the next time I post I will have joined the band wagon! Take care everyone!:confused: Here are my measurements: 9-18-2007 10-18-2007 weight: 295 BMI: 46 w: 270 BMI: 43 bust: 53 1/2 in bust: 51 1/2in waist: 55 in waist: 50 in hips: 57 in hips: 56 in thigh: 35 in thigh: 33 in calves: 21 in calves: 20 in arms: 17 in arms: 16 1/2in I'll have to figure out next time how to post this so it shows up in columns. Oh well:phanvan

My pre-op appt went great! The doc's scales said the same as mine.... 25lbs gone!! Yippee! So I am going into surgery weighing 270. I was so proud of myself for losing all the weight that he asked me to. I go into surgery at 10:15am on Thursday. I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. That means we have to leave my house at 5:30 or a little after. Yuck! But it will be worth it. I had told myself that if I reached the 25lb mark I would let myself have something to eat. So I had a taco bell chalupa. It tasted good and filled me up so fast considering I haven't really eaten in just shy of a month. Then it made my tummy hurt. Kinda ticked me off... I just wanted to enjoy it. I skipped my last slimfast. I haven't calculated my caloric intake yet with the chalupa in it. Probably still under 1500 cals. I didn't ride my bike today as I was gone from 11 this morning until 8 pm tonight. Now I have some last minute cleaning to do befor Grandma arrives in the morning. It is impossible to describe the emotions I am going through. I've only gotten really nervous once... so far. I was happy to hear that they give an anti-anxiety pill at the hospital befor to long after you get there if you want. I want. Give me happy pills!! I know that this is the best thing I could do for myself but it still freaks me out a bit as the time gets closer and closer. I will post a detailed entry of my experience after the surgery. I will also remeasure myself tomorrow to show the loss I've had thus far in inches. I hope everyone is doing great. Good luck on your journeys!

My pre-op appt went great! The doc's scales said the same as mine.... 25lbs gone!! Yippee! So I am going into surgery weighing 270. I was so proud of myself for losing all the weight that he asked me to. I go into surgery at 10:15am on Thursday. I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. That means we have to leave my house at 5:30 or a little after. Yuck! But it will be worth it. I had told myself that if I reached the 25lb mark I would let myself have something to eat. So I had a taco bell chalupa. It tasted good and filled me up so fast considering I haven't really eaten in just shy of a month. Then it made my tummy hurt. Kinda ticked me off... I just wanted to enjoy it. I skipped my last slimfast. I haven't calculated my caloric intake yet with the chalupa in it. Probably still under 1500 cals. I didn't ride my bike today as I was gone from 11 this morning until 8 pm tonight. Now I have some last minute cleaning to do befor Grandma arrives in the morning. It is impossible to describe the emotions I am going through. I've only gotten really nervous once... so far. I was happy to hear that they give an anti-anxiety pill at the hospital befor to long after you get there if you want. I want. Give me happy pills!! I know that this is the best thing I could do for myself but it still freaks me out a bit as the time gets closer and closer. I will post a detailed entry of my experience after the surgery. I will also remeasure myself tomorrow to show the loss I've had thus far in inches. I hope everyone is doing great. Good luck on your journeys!

I can't believe that my little countdown ticker says only three days to go. And really it's only two because today is about over and I have to be at the hospital by 8am on Thursday. A little bit ago I went through a big old case of the nerves. And all I wanted was pizza and to forget the whole thing. This breaking up with food is getting to me. But I've come this far and I'm not backing down now. I don't want to be morbidly obese which I am now. I want to be attractive and healthy. I want to tie my shoes without it feeling like yoga. I consumed 840 cals today and am going to ride my bike for 30 minutes after this entry. Good luck everyone!

I can't believe that my little countdown ticker says only three days to go. And really it's only two because today is about over and I have to be at the hospital by 8am on Thursday. A little bit ago I went through a big old case of the nerves. And all I wanted was pizza and to forget the whole thing. This breaking up with food is getting to me. But I've come this far and I'm not backing down now. I don't want to be morbidly obese which I am now. I want to be attractive and healthy. I want to tie my shoes without it feeling like yoga. I consumed 840 cals today and am going to ride my bike for 30 minutes after this entry. Good luck everyone!