new L&D RN

Well I joined a gym close to my house. I can't go on the days that I work because I work 12 hours shifts and after running around like crazy all day I must get in enough cardio...ha ha!! On my days off I work out for about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours depending if I do the weight circuit or not. I do 35 minutes on the elyptical and 45 minutes on the treadmill alternating the incline up to 6 and then back to 0. I find that works your butt muscles pretty good. When I dont do the weight circuit I also add in the bike for 20 minutes. I get to the gym about 3-4 times a week. I get 4 days off a week, but sometimes that first day off after working 2 twelves in a row I find I need to rest and just do errands. I have only had the one fill so far, but I think I have restriction. I got something stuck about a week ago....a peice of very tender baked pork chop that I guess I did not chew well enough. I did not PB or throw it up, but boy was that slimy spit nasty and it felt like I had a golf ball stuck in my stomach. It eventually went down, but I am extra careful now.

ShhhDontTell, Sounds to me like your family needs to be good enough for you...not the other way around. Families can be tough and we cant choose them. The only thing we can do is change our own outlook on things and there comes a point when you realize you can not change your family.....we can only change the way we react to the things they do and say to us. Trust me after many therapy sessions and a lot of forgiving but not forgetting I have come to realize this. I hope your weight loss journey helps you to be more accepting and loving of yourself because that is what is truly important. The love and support of your husband and daughter are both there to guide you also!!! Good luck with your journey and we are all here to support you!!! Twyla

Hi everyone!! I know it has been a while since I have posted. I have been reading everyones posts though and am glad to hear how great we all are doing!! Well my lap band program fee included a pre op fitness evaluation and two post op meetings with a trainer who shows you how to exercise. It is all done at a fitness center run by the hospital where I had my surgery. The place is pretty much like a medically supervised Bally's. Anyway , I went for my first post op training session yesterday and boy do my arms hurt today!! I have worked out in the gym before, but this session was an hour and a half long. Granted, part of the time the trainer was teaching me to properly use the equiptment so I was not working out the entire time.... But I did many laps walking fast around the track, walked the treadmill, did the recumbant bike, the elyptical, and then hit the weight circuit. We skipped the abs because I wanted to ask my surgeon first if I can do abs yet. It has been almost 5 weeks since my surgery and I can sleep on my stomach and everything just fine, I still baby my abdominal muscles a little though. I have another meeting to go to with the trainer at the hospital center and then I have to stay motivated to go on my own at the recreational centers that are closer to my house. The hospital center is like a 45 minute drive. This kinda stinks because I like the center and the trainer and my surgeons office even has a program you can join there that costs only $30 a month and only gastric gypass and lapband patients can attend and we all work out together. You also have free run of the fitness center while you are there. The class meets a couple different times a week and you can go to as many as you want. I really wish it was not such a drive because I think the support from the other post op patients would be awesome. How is everyone else doing with exercise???? I was walking everyday before I went back to work. Now I am so tired after those 12 hour L&D shifts I use my days off to clean the house and recouperate. But since I have lost some weight I am finding I have more energy than I used to. Sorry such a long post!! Feels like I have been off the chats for a while!! Twyla

Hello everyone!! I am a nurse also. I have my BSN and am a registered nurse in labor and delivery. I am the first nurse on my unit to be banded but another nurse had a gastric bypass 2 years ago. My unit has been very supportive. I go back to work on Monday the 22nd. I started my unit orientation in June and it lasts 6 months. I just graduated from school in May and passed boards in August, so I am very lucky my unit was supportive of my surgery and let me have the time off of work. I just hope I did not forget too much of what I learned the past three months!!! I am a little nervous to go back on Monday, I feel great but we have some heavy pt's and I can't lift them just yet so that may be a little challenging. I love the area of nursing I am in, it was L&D or critical care for me. I worked 2 years in 2 different ICU's as a care partner and did an extensive externship at a level 1 trauma center in the ICU, but I chose L&D because of the unique interactions I get to have with my pt's and their families. It is also usually a very happy area to work in and the pt's are not usually "sick". I hope to loose this exra weight to allieviate my PCOS symptoms and start the family my husband of 5 years and I are hoping for. I dont have anymore excuses to not have kids soon, I got my degree, have a great husband who has a stable job in the NAVY, we bought a house, and our parents are starting to give us the "when are the grandkids coming??" talks. I chose the band becasue it does not cause any absorbtion issues and I want to have kids after this weight is gone for good!! :whoo:

I also feel little bubbles if I drink too much. I think I am going to burp really big, and then just a little bit of air trickles out. Now that I am on mushy foods it is not as bad. I get full really quick and it lasts a few hours. I also am having trouble getting all my protein in. My doc wants us to shoot for 80-100 grams a day. I think I average 70-80.

Hello Everyone!! I am very excited to say that I went to my firts post op appt. yesterday and I have lost 18 pounds!! :whoo:16 of them since surgery on the 4th!! YAY!! I guess all the walking at the park helped a lot!! I just hope it stays off now that I have been advanced to mushies. I do not think it should be a problem though because I made some egg salad and tuna salad, and I can only eat about 2 tbsp or so every 2-3 hours. I actually feel full!! What a weird feeling to actually feel satisfied with such a small amount of food. I was worried I would be able to eat a lot of mushie food becasue I can eat about 3/4 to a cup of Soup but my doctor told me I would be suprised how the change in consistency would allow me to feel the pouch more now. Boy, was he right.... I hope everyone is progressing well and tolerating their diets. I just have to say I am so glad the liquid phase is gone for now....I have my first fill appointment on the 15th of November.

I was banded on October 4th, and my steri strips are still on. I was tols to just trim off the edges with scissors if they came loose, but not to pull the attached parts off. I took off the gauze bandages the day after my surgery. I just keep washing them when I am in the shower with mils soap and water like I was told, and they really clean still. I have not had any drainage issues at all.

Hi Everyone!! My name is Twyla. I am 26 years old. I have been married for the last 5 1/2 years to my great husband who is in the Navy, but we have been a couple since I was 17 years old and he was 20. We were both born and raised in Michigan. We now live here in Virginia because of the Navy. I recently graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing. I currently work as a registered nurse in labor and delivery at a nearby hospital. We bought our first home a year and a half ago, and remodeling it had been quite the adventure. It is a 2 bedroom 2 full bath end unit townhome. We have replaced nearly everything, and I currently have my kitchen cabinets stacked up in my dining room area waiting to be installed. I put off the kitchen demo becasue we will have to be without a sink for 2 weeks while our countertop is being made, and I did not want to be without a sinke downstairs during my post op recovery. I have Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome and have slowly gained weight since my late teens/early twenties. My endocrinologist says by loosing the excess weight I will increase my fertility, and we really want to have a family. I can loose weight, but just cant keep it off. I had surgery on October 4th, and am feeling pretty good now. I go for my first post op appointment on the 17th and boy am I anxious to get off of the liquid phase!! It is nice to meet everyone and this thread was a great idea!! I am going to try and attach a picture of me and my hubby.... Sorry the image is big, I cant figure out how to shrink it...This was taken at a nursing ball on a boat ride when I was still in school about a year ago. The only thing that has changed is that my hair is longer....

hello everyone!! Well I am now on my 7th post op day and I am feeling pretty good. My DH and I went to the park and walked around the lake this morning a mile and a half, and I did just fine. I even drove there. I am glad to see everyone seems to be on the road to recovery also and doing pretty good. I am not going back to work for another 11 days. Being an L&D nurse is very active, a lot of lifting, bending, running around like a crazy person. There is no way I could take it easy at work. But I am going stir crazy here at home. Grey's Anatomy comes on tonight, so I am looking forward to that. I am definately loosing weight everyday but I am not going to change my ticker until my official first post op weigh in on the 17th. I am sick og liquids...but they are getting a little better...okay that's a lie...but I now how important it is for us to heal. Way to go everyone who has been banded and good luck to those who are being banded soon!!! :clap2: Twyla

It is not good to put any type of petroleum based lubricating product, such as vaseline, onto your lips or in your nostrils when you are getting oxygen either by nasal cannula or an oxygen face mask because of the risk of combustion (FIRE---OUCH). I am a nurse and this is a big hazard, but you can ask for the nursing staff to give you a water based lubricating product for your nose and lips if the oxygen is drying you out. No vaseline or Vicks rub though....

Holly, You will do just wonderful. I look back on my experience and think I made it out to be more dramatic because being a nurse I know what goes on in the OR. I also expexted the same care to be given to me that I give to my patients....I guess we all have different standards of what excellent pt care is. But, I will take this experience being a pt and use it when I go back to work and try to be even more compassionate to those I care for. We just have to learn to make the best of everything. I am now on post-op day number 5, and I think all of the swelling in my stomach is gone becasue my water and thin protein shakes go down just fine. You will do great, and the pain is short lived.......update as soon as you feel up to it!!! Loads of support!!! Twyla :clap2:

TNNurse linda ( I live in southeast lower virginia), and Oregon Holly, I do plan to say something to my doctor at my post op follow up on the 14th. She definately needs to be spoken too, because even being as educated as I was she made me have last second doubts which is not the state of mind you want to be in right before surgery. Anyway, enough negative stuff. I am now on post op day number 3 and my hubby and I are going to go out shopping for Halloween decorations. I figured it would be a low stress way to get some walking in, and I am a little stir crazy in the house!! I am still sleeping on the couch with pillows, but only becasue our dogs sleep in our bedroom upstairs and they like to sleep in the bed and I am afraid they will step on my stomach. I have a yellow lab and a pomeranian. I can get up and down without too much help now, I just had to learn how to get up without using my abdominal muscles. I seem to have to drink fluids all day to get my requirements in. Clear liquids go down easier than the tomato Soup, and I seem to get a little bit of acidy burning with the tomato soup. I do not feel hungry. My husband ate sweet and sour chicken with rice in front of me, and I didn't even mind. He brought me a big thing of wonton soup broth and I sipped on that. Boy was that good!! I am trying to stay off of the scale until my first doctors appointment, but I have taken a peak or too, but do not remember what I weighed immediatley pre op to be able to compare.....I will post again soon!! Thank you all for your concern!! I am going to scour the site for liquid recipies!!

well, it is done. I have the band and was not expecting as much pain as I ended up having, but it was not too bad. I found Dilaudid does nothing for me, and the Morphine just took the edge off. I went in to the hospital at 6:30am and was taken back to surgery at 8:30am. The nurse who prepped me and started my IV kept telling me how she had a friend who hated her band and wished she would have never gotten it. How she had had it for 4 months now and only lost 20 pounds. Then she emphasized how I may never be able to eat certain foods again. What a downer attitude to have to put up with right before surgery!!! She did not know I was a nurse and had researched the surgery and weighed all of the possible outcomes for over a year now. I looked over at my husband and he rolled his eyes at what she was saying. She should definatley not be the nusre prepping lap band patients. Anyways.... I was out of surgery by 12:30 and doing by swallow test by 1:30. Boy was that stuff nasty!! Worse than barium!! Everything looked a-okay and I had my pain somewhat controlled and was up and walking by 3:30pm. We left the hospital by 4:30pm and I just kind of camped out on the couch with lots of pillows that night. Going up the stairs to get the the bathroom was a challenge the first 2 trips, but now is fine. I am a nurse, so the hardest thing for me to do is ask for my husbands help. It is hard to be the receiver of care when you are used to being the caregiver. I have only had to take my liquid lorotab once so far today, at 9am...I am going to take a dose here in a minute though. I was taking it about every 4-6 hours around the clock the first day after surgery and the day of surgery. I will update more later. I took a shower today and that felt really good!! Hope everyone else is doing well!!