giveyouthemoon

I think all this just liquids is really going to my head.....when read this thread my first thought was: "Siiiigh, nice to know I CAN get jiggy...but I'm single so it's not like I'm GOING to...." then my brain said: "I need to find a band boy who would understand about this thing...." which led my brain to twist and say: "Wonder what pickup lines bandsters use.....'hey baby...let's rub our ports together and make magic'...or.....'I'll touch your port if your touch mine'...or the more romantic 'baby...if you PB, I'll hold your hair back' " [giggle] I REALLY need to get to solids......eight days and counting.....

My best advice is to never stop drinking. As soon as you finish one thing start another. It's the only way I can keep ahead of the hunger. So for me it's like a Protein shake first, then I get some juice going, then when that's done some broth, then maybe an Ensure (lots of flavors there), then a different kind of juice, then some tea, then some Soup, then a popsicle. It's tiring but it works. Just keep going back to back to back. Just my .02

You won't need much, I tell ya. Just to emphasize what has already been said here.....CLEARLY think out what clothes you will wear to the hospital because it REALLY matters on your way home. If I had it to do all over, I'd have gone with a caftan as vinesqueen said. I wore a huge tshirt and loose elasticy waistband pants but they still bugged. My port is mid belly and the waistband hit that just so. UN good. Me, I'm not too uptight about the ol' jiggly bod, so I wore the VERY roomy gown they gave me with nothing underneath and was fine. Yeah, they lift your gown frequently to look at your incisions, but everytime they pulled the bed blanket up to cover my lower parts then only lifted my gown high enough to see the incisions. I figured my surgeon had already seen all my parts when he operated on me so now wasn't the time to get all modest! But they give MUCH dignity the way they go about it so no problems there. They gave me little sockies with treads on the bottom so no slippers necessary for me. I did bring some just in case tho. I had brought a bunch of books and magazines but found none of them interesting while I was there. I pretty much just wanted to lay there and sleep. And on the other side, that backpack was WAY too heavy for me. My sister grumbled HARD because she had to carry it for me. Less is more. Don't bring anything of value because they'll take that away and put it in a safe for you. I brought my tiny iPod shuffle but they didn't think it was a good idea to hang onto so I never even got to use it. Don't bring your wallet if you can help it. I had to because I had to pay that day. If someone is bringing you, leave your wallet and all your credit cards at home. If you do need your wallet, clean out the credit cards first or only bring the one you will pay with. Toothbrush, hairbrush, things to tie your hair back if you need 'em (I did). OH! And a chapstick. Man will your mouth and lips be dry after the surgery. When I put that sweet blistex on my lips as the were cracked and stretched, MAN it felt good.

While that's a very solid point...let's be honest here...being a human in this skin with all the insanity of the world, sometimes a little comfort is necessary. I think a meager half cup of potato Soup is a lot more positive than a lot of the alternatives........I read somewhere, probably on this board, that a lot of people who have bariatric surgery become alcoholics because they forgot to figure out how to comfort themselves without food...so they turn to alcohol. Truly an unhealthy path.

I third that emotion....banded almost two weeks and already I can tell this was the right choice for me.

You might have a point there.....there is some still in the bottle. The folks are work are jockying for my leftovers.

Wow...I never yakked up the liquid Tylenol, it stays down fine, just makes me sleepy. I got liquid Vicoden in the hospital and they dosed me up way too much...so much I was hallucinating. Nice. I signed off for my valuables while riding the Vicoden monkey. How scary is THAT? I would have signed just about anything at that point......

Man I'm starting to realize HOW lucky I am that I didn't have to drink any of that yucky stuff! Wow. Okay, so I may be stuck on liquids longer than other folks, but I'll take comfort that I didn't have to drink the barf making liquid!! Congrats on your band MZFAB50!! You sound like you are doing great!!

psssst.......SoonerGirl.....they deliver.... http://www.davincigourmet.com (I figure even after I'm on solids, I'll still be doing Protein shakes so I invested in a few flavors of syrups)

You know, friend, it's funny you word it this way. Just this very evening I have been suffering some liquidness there again....and I was pondering, while sitting....if anyone else on the board referrs to liquid BM's as "productive farts" or PF's as I do. And here you are referring to gas as being productive. Guess it's not just me then!!! Nice to know I'm not alone in this problem. I've run through a few pairs of undershorts in the past week and a half...... You also had MANY a hospital experience that I did not. It's interesting how different. I didn't have to do the barium swallow, also, they didn't make me ride a wheelchair, they made me walk my tired @ss everywhere including out the door when they released me. I also go NO picture of my lap band. Now I feel like I was cheated! Also, I didn't have the joy of bandages...my doctor superglued the beejezus out of my incisions so I've been pick pick picking at that for DAYS and it's STILL on there!! Sheesh! Bad news about the nicked nipple tho....that's just all kinds of not right.

WHAT?????? Oh man I am STEAMED!!! Wow, I have another week and a half, THEN creamy soups for a week and THEN mushies. Wow. But I have a little secret, I have been blending cream of potato soup and adding a ton of milk and having that anyway. I needed the comfort food aspect and I've handled it fine. I'm BURNED I have to wait so long for mushies. I'm doing SO well right now I know I could handle mushies with no problem. :whine: I don't see my doc until July 20 either so I can't even complain to the doc.

Yeah, I find I'm using the vanilla protein shakes more because vanilla mixes better with stuff. I've bought a bunch of the Davinci sugar free syrups so I throw those in with vanilla protein powder and non-fat milk and YUM. I have Peach, Cinnamon, and Peppermint Patty flavors (peppermint is also yummy w/ chocolate protein shakes). That's my "secret" I guess.

Should have gotten it from your doctor. If you didn't get one, ask for one. It's to carry in your wallet so that if you are in an accident or something medical folks will know what you got goin' on in there.

Well....when you eat certain foods, mainly refined flour and sugar foods like cake, Cookies, and such and also potatoes (ya know, all the comfort foods) it actually causes your brain to release seratonin. It actually makes you feel better if you are depressed or upset. For people like me who reach for these foods when I'm upset, it's basically a way of self medicating....... Also....have you ever had something that was really good. Something SO good (like mama's homemade biscuits loaded with butter and apricot jam...but that's just me....) that it made you feel SO happy just by eating it?? Something you anticipated, think about and then when you have it you are SO happy, so at peace? That is a food high for me personally.

Bondgirl....wait wait wait!! You were banded on the 30th and you can have mushies in about one more week??? I was banded a week before you and still have the rest of this week and one more week until mushies. NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!! :grumpy from all the liquids:

Bondgirl, what flavor protein drink do you make cubes out of? Vanilla so you can combine with other flavors?

I asked my doc specifically and from day one he said non-fat milk was fine. I was SO glad because that's the base of my Protein shakes and I was worried I would have to do without those. They are my main salvation!!! I'm doing better as well. The Fourth was indeed hard with all the lovely smells coming from the neighbors yards. I went to a baseball game and EVERYTHING smelled good but when I actually looked at the food, it was like "bleah...no way". So that's good. My friend INSISTED we needed to get ice cream after the game and I didn't want to. I ended up buying a non-fat yogurt and not even eating it. It's still in my freezer. THAT IS A HUGE CHANGE FOR ME!!! I'm usually a little b*tch for ice cream!! Also doing better. Back at work after a week and two days off. It feels SO weird to be back at work! Oh well, gotta do it if I'm going to pay off this surgery. Don't want them to come reposses my band!! The bloat is gone, I lost 13 lbs REALLY fast and then my body seems to have put on the brakes, which is okay. Thirteen pounds in one week is pretty hard on a body. Still have a bad burning next to my port and it hurts if I sit for too long (was in a bit of agony at the baseball game.....also when something good would happen and I'd yell real loud...OUCH). Overall doing good. Having ZERO trouble getting liquids down, even thick liquids. I can see how I'm going to need a fill sooner rather than later!!

Walking and LOTS of GasX (chewable or liquid). Walking a BUNCH is key, it really gets things moving. Take the GasX ALL the time, like everytime you eat anything. I also started using a straw to drink as I think I swallow less air when I use one. It does get better, I promise!!!!

Ok donali, you've made me feel a bit better too. I also have trouble rolling over in bed and if I lay on that side, I have to push pillow up against my tummy to be comfy. Leaning over to grab the car door to close it is AGONY. I do a little scoot scoot scoot thing trying to pull the door behind me so I don't have to lean. I actually went and bought one of those girdle thingys that you wear around just your middle and it felt SOOO good, unfortunately my hips are so big that when I sit down the girdle thingy rolls up. DAMN. I was so proud of myself for thinking up the girdle idea. So I don't know if I have a problem or not.....then again, I'm only a week and a couple days past surgery so who knows what is going on. I guess I'll wait a few more weeks to see if anything improves. As long as I can still get fills and it doesn't stick out terribly I think I'll be okay. Sigh. Nothing is ever easy.

Mine is three inches directly above my belly button. I think different doctors put it in different places.

My port is located about three inches directly above my belly button. The burning pain is off to the left of there by about an inch.

Okay, so tonight I had a real moment of weakness. I think what's been hardest in these 8 days since I got the band is that I've always used food as a form of comfort. With post-surgery pain and feeling sorry for myself I've really needed some comfort but the swelling I had (and dr's orders) meant I wasn't able to have much comfort food. broth just doesn't cut it. So tonight I was obsessing about having some potato Soup. It's a fave. I did everything I could to divert my brain. I had two sugar free popsicles, I tried watching a movie on TV, normally I would try a bath but I can't take baths yet....(this really blows having my main comfort tricks off limits) So I made some potato soup and I added a ton of milk and I sat down and had some....okay, I made it pretty thin...but you know what? It's too soon. It's WAY too soon for me to be eating things like that. Thankfully it was thin enough to go through the stoma, but still.....it's too soon. Plus it's not even good nutrition! So, veteran and newbie bandsters....what is your distraction technique? What do you use to comfort yourself in the place of food? I want to compile a list that I can turn to the next time this crops up (which should be soon given my track record..........) So begin listing away....I'll copy all ideas back here to this one post so it's an easy reference. I'll start with a couple ideas (tho none worked for me tonight): 1) Take a bath 2) put in a good DVD (one that will be captivating and distracting) 3) take a nap 4) exercise 5) LBT 6) video games 7) homework (lol! This one is going to be tough for me!!) 8) gardening 9) SEX! Lots of it (well....this one will be tough for me too..... ) 10) Walk 11) Book store 12) Lake 13) Shopping --love this one! (me too!) 14) pedicure--manicure 15) Call a friend 16) Go see my parents (oh GOD no...this doesn't comfort me, this makes me more crazy! But if it works for you!!!) 17) Take a nap! 18) Rent a movie/go see a movie 19) Work on training my puppy! He is such a little mess 20) Read 21) SING--I have a karaoke machine and I put on some good music and jam! 22) Download music 23) Arts & crafts. 24) Home improvement. What's worked for you?

The responses these people are giving you are more about them then about you. Bear this in mind! They are afraid! Afraid you'll succeed. Afraid you'll be disappointed. Afraid you'll be hurt more in the hospital. Just afraid. You husband is scared that you will lose a bunch of weight and then decide you can do better than him. This is a common fear among spouses when women decide to have this type of procedure. Are others in your family overweight? They could be jealous of what you are about to do. This is all scary hard stuff to deal with. You've got to sort through all the muck and find what is about you....and what is about the fears of others. You can't make others feel okay....you can only take care of yourself! And getting banded is a HUGE step toward taking great care of yourself!!

I edited the duplicates and put them all above in the first post. All GREAT ideas!!! Keep 'em coming!!

I had a terrible time for several days past my surgery then finally it all cleared up. I do recommend warm liquids as folks here on the board suggested that helps open things up. Try warm broth. That seemed to go down best when I was SO swollen.