giveyouthemoon

Doing pretty good. Got through the rougher part of the pain over the weekend and just learning now how to eat enough. Also learning to sip and not gulp is HUGE. I keep learning the hard way. Also, getting in front of hunger, eating before I'm starving, is important. In all, it's gone GREAT!

Welcome Corinne! I was just banded four days ago so I'm glad to hear your experience. It seems like weight is falling off of me right now (six pounds since Thursday) so it's good to know to look out for a couple months out. You mean this weight just falling off doesn't last forever??? lol!!! Welcome to LBT!!!

Maybe add a little tablespoon of fat to a Protein shake? Good fat like olive oil or flax oil? I found I was about to hurt someone being so hungy (tummy GROWLING) and so one Protein Shake I added some fat and it helped. Fat helps you feel more full. Also in the liquid stage, ALWAYS having something you are sipping on. Just keep something with you always because that liquid moves through the ol' system quickly so always be ready. It's best to get ahead of hunger....having something to sip BEFORE you think you might get hungry. Don't let yourself get super hungry as it will be hard to "come back" from that place.

It's important to designate a person as your voice in the event you cannot speak for yourself. I have a living will and my sister is my person. She knows EXACTLY my wishes and has all final say so. I cannot stress enough how important having a living will (also called an Advanaced Directive) is!! Good for you for getting this taken care of!!

Whew, okay good to hear others experience!! No, I didn't have a barium swallow but it was my sis who thought it might be the anesthesia and perhaps the harsh pain meds that might be causing this. Always nice to know what is going on is normal...or at least to be expected!!!

Hey, I got banded three days ago. So.....I know this is TMI, but since yesterday I'm having diarrhea. It's not crampy or painful, it's just all.....liquid. This is rough because yanno I'm doing my best to keep up with liquids and it seems I'm losing them just as fast. My sister says she thinks my body is having trouble with all the meds I'm on (I am SUPER sensitive to medication of all kinds). I think it may be because I'm only on liquids so it's not making things solid down there. Anyone else have this "side effect" after being banded? And how long did it take to go away? I'm not worried yet but may put in a call to my doctor tomorrow.

I take the Source of Life liquid and it doesn't taste bad at all. It's very thick tho and just a few days post-op I have to drink it REALLY slowly. It's hard to get down. But it works great! Feels good.

Hey Diane! I just had my surgery on June 23rd so I'm still recovering! Welcome!!!!

Personally....I'm a thinker...I need to think things like this through. I took a surgery date over a month and a half out from my first consultation. This provided me time to think about things...and if needed, cancel the date. I say if you are having questions, don't do the super soon date. Give yourself some breathing room! Allow yourself to think more about this and come to grips with whether or not this is really what you want to do. I spent a month thinking I wasn't going to do this and then over time I was like "yeah...I'm ready"....by the time my date rolled around I was raring to go. You need to take it easy on yourself and get used to the idea of what's about to happen. It is a MAJOR change in your life. I'm healing now...so far still VERY happy I had the procedure done....but this is not something to be taken lightly!!

Sweetie....seriously, I think the issue here is you need to go LAY DOWN!!! You need to let your poor body heal. Tell those folks in your house to get their own dinner!! You've GOT to take care of your body! You've just been through something major and yeah, your stomach is swollen and you've got to be gentle! Healing is VERY important!!! {{{Hugs}}}

Mine weren't really hose...they were these fabric covered plastic things that wrapped around my legs and secured with strong velcro. Then there were tubes that attached to a machine. The machine inflated and deflated the things on my legs (almost like a blood pressure cuff). The nurse said they were "to simulate walking" and thus to keep blood clots down. Mine were mostly annoying and when I was able to get up and walk around for longer periods of time they took them off.

Kristen, I'm two days out from being banded and I just wanted to say YAY YOU!!! This is a crazy experience. Let's share stories as we recover!! I liked your question.....what to do with time spent thinking about food. It's a good question.....I'm going to have to think about it. For me right now, I'm thinking A LOT about what I'm sipping because I'm finding that if my tummy is growling it makes my pain worse. I'm SO ready to be recovered and see what this band is all about. Yay!

No, I wasn't using the Prilosec before. My doc wants me to take it to keep acids down to help healing. He gave me a script for capsule form Prilosec so it's easier to tolerate. I don't think I'm especially acidy, I think it's just a form of prevention. Pain is MUCH better today. I think I'm doing a better job managing it which means staying ahead of it by taking pain meds with regularity. There is still pain and I think if I didn't have meds it would be horrible. My sister who is here taking care of me (and has had laprosopic work done tho not a band) talked to me a lot about taking pain meds BEFORE you need them. Even the paperwork with the meds say it works better if taken before pain is severe and doesn't work as well once the pain has gotten really bad. So that's my best pain management advice. Don't be afraid to use the meds. They give you a happy button in the hospital and don't be worried about using it. I got myself into a really bad place yesterday but I think it was mostly to do with not planning ahead to get my prescription filled and letting it go too long. I was in a BAD way but managed to get it back under control. Don't fear the pain. Also, getting up and walking around is KEY. It may hurt and you may feel weak at first but do it anyway. It has made ALL the difference for me and I think helps with the pain as well. Also, I'm now two days out and no shoulder pain. I have been walking A LOT (including at 5 am this morning, lol!) To those who have gone before me: Does shoulder pain come later or have I managed to walk it out (and, well, pass gas it out) and maybe I won't have it? Thoughts?

Surgery today! It's 7:40 now and I have to be at the hospital by 9. Surgery at 11. Scared but excited! I'm ready. Will report back in a few days. Everyone send me good vibes around 11ish Pacific time!!! Thurdsay June 23 heralds a brand new life!!!

Hey, I also got done on the 23rd! Yeah, a LOT of pain. Walking walking walking helped the gas pain for me. I still feel SO bloated and liquids not going down all that well yet. TONS of pain and they gave me liquid vicodin but if I take too much it makes me hallucinate. Weird. Right at this moment I feel TERRIBLE but I know it will improve....... Hang in there band buddy!!

Surgery = WAY easier than expected Hospital stay = WAY easier than expected pain since come home = WAY more than expected. Struggling a little right now but only one day post op. Hope to be feeling better soon.

Good question...I'm curious too...one day post op and I'm VERY aware of it. Every sip of liquid gurgles it's way down.

Just had my surgery yesterday and no catheter. They said since the procedure was so short I didn't need one. They made me go pee right as I was walking into the operating room and no catheter. Okay, I did have a rough 2:00 in the morning need to go pee and it was a bit tough to get up, but in all, I'm glad no catheter.

I did it! I'm on the other side. Wow what an experience!! The hospital I was in was FANTASTIC, I would HIGHLY recommend. My doctors did the procedure in just under 60 minutes. They said it was "uneventful" meaning all went just like it should. I did great while in the hospital and was released this afternoon. After they took me off the morphine drip I began having quite a bit of pain. They gave me liquid Vicadin for the pain but gave me WAY too high a dosage so it kicked my butt and gave me halluncinations. I'm taking FAR less dosage now. I'm home and in a lot of pain but I also waited too long to fill my prescription. I just took some pain meds and my Prilosec that the Dr prescribed to keep the acids down and it's getting better. I was doing super great in the hospital, walking around a lot, didn't get shoulder pain, passing gas like they wanted. But like I said, leaving the hospital has been tough. I think managing the pain, ie geting ahead of it with meds will be key. My tummy feels REALLY tight right now, I sip, get a pain, hear a gurgle, then am fine. This is REALLY weird but I'm excited to recover and really see what this band can do. Thanks for all the great words of support!!!!

It's kind of weird....when I went to the support group put on by my surgeons, all the RNY'ers were REALLY down on the band. They basically said it wouldn't work and I wasn't brave enough to do a "permanent" solution. They kind of looked down their collective nose at me. So kept doing research and found that after a year or so, the pouch of an RNY patient will relax. Thus the person can eat more. Even the RNY'ers there said "get all you can in the first year because it gets hard after that". To me the band is MORE long term solution because even tho the pouch will still relax some, with the band you can still get good restriction going forward. It just seems like a good choice. You know, each person has to pick what works for them based on research (and more than just one online forum).

This is all really good to know. My surgery is tomorrow but I went ahead and took all next week off as well. Like Jack said, I'm looking forward to spending some down time while recovering.

Hey all, well, my surgery is Thursday and so I'm doing liquids only now in preparation.....wowowow this is HARD work! I started with a Protein shake this morning, Green tea mid morning and some Imagine brand potato leek Soup. So far so good but I think by end of day I will be a mess. I couldn't get through all day yesterday on liquids so had a small meal around dinnertime. Thoughts? Advice? Suggestions? Man oh man am I peeing a lot too! (I know, TMI!) I'm sure hoping this goes easier after I get banded......woooo little light headed!

Broke down again last night and ate something. Again, yesterday on liquids wasn't required but I wanted to do it. Oh well. Tomorrow is the "must" day on clear liquids. I am determined to get through today on liquids only. :hungry: MAN I'm going to be so happy to have my band so I won't feel this gnawing HUNGER. Yeeks. BIG bows of respect to all who have gone before on this successfully!!!!!!

Pretty standard restriction after surgery, esp laparoscopic. My sis had her tubes untied laparoscopically and she had the same restriction. It's to wait until you are healed. The surgery cuts through the muscles of the tummy and you use those core muscles to lift. They don't want you popping anything open.

Actually, this is one of the reasons I didn't choose the bypass surgery. I went to the support group meeting put on by my doctors and it was for people of all types of procedures. The doctor said that you have about one year with the gastric bypass, and then after that, the stomach relaxes. All the people who had bypass were saying you have to work your buns off in the first year because it gets MUCH harder to lose or even maintain after that. For me the band is a better long term solution because even if my pouch relaxes a bit, I can still get fills to get better restriction. I've heard of a few people who had the gastric bypass now looking into the band for additional restriction.