medicdustin

Before you have your surgery take a few minutes to reflect on your life. What struggles have you been through? Why did you decide that weight loss surgery was right for you? What was your deciding moment? What steps did you have to take to get to your surgery day? Why are you making this change in your life? While you reflect on some of these ideas write them down then write a letter to yourself. Put that letter away somewhere safe and include a before photo inside. After your surgery you will hit a point where you think that having this surgery was pointless and that you are stuck and you will be overweight forever, (insert pity party here). When you get that feeling of helplessness open the envelope take a good look at the photo and read the letter you wrote to yourself. The letter will bring back the memories of your determination to get to your goal of being a smaller healthier you. I unfortunately wrote my letter to myself online and lost it. I do still have my photos that I took of myself before surgery and each month there after. Last week I steeped on the scale for the first time in a long time, because the scale can be your worst enemy. I noticed that my clothes were fitting a bit tight and wanted to make sure my clothes were not shrinking. The scale did not lie. I was lying to myself. I had allowed my mind and my mouth to take control again. I looked at my before photo and all of the memories came back to me. I am now determined to maintain my goal at being smaller and healthier. I wish I still had the letter I wrote to myself. I had read it a few months post op and I realized how far i had come. I would sure like to read it again to remind myself where I came from and the struggles I endured.

It is important to know what your full "sign" is. For some it may be tightness, sweating, hiccups, nose watering, eyes watering, etc. What is your FULL sign? Mine is usually the hiccups at first. If I am too full I will get a running nose and sneezing. This usually tells me that I will be making a trip to the white throne.

Your surgery was only two months ago, so it may be your port healing. I know I had random pain near my port that would come and go. The only time I have pain there now is if I bump my stomach. Good luck to you.

I get the same pain when I consume too much food.If you are getting the pain after you eat or drink something, your band may be too tight. I usually get the pain after consuming foods that go down easy then hit me like a hammer. I don't vomit because what I ate has already passed the band. The pain feels like someone is stabbing me in the side with a knife. The pain eventually will go away after lying down. What have you been eating/drinking before you get the pain?

The intention of the liquid diet is to shrink the liver. I would not advise consuming alcohol as the liver will enlarge making it difficult for the surgeon to see where he needs to place the band.

Carrie where is your pain at? Left abdominal?