renewedhope

Kathy, I would rate the pain/discomfort initially at about a 4. Now it is a 1 at the worst. It isn't really pain. In the beginning getting up and down was the worst as with any surgery. The thing I struggle with the most is mentally. The compression garment and binder make me feel closterphobic in my own body if that makes sense. I don't really sleep well at night because I wake up when I move around in the bed. The limited activity makes me afraid I will lose my drive and motivation. I haven't really been following a "diet" lately because this is a healing time not a weightloss time. So, I guess the biggest deal is that I am afraid of falling of the wagon. Having said all of that, I am really doing great. i just have moments. I can sleep on my tummy, back, or side now. I don't have to sleep with pillows under my legs or my wedge under my head. The swelling is much better. Getting up and down is not even difficult. This is TMI, but DH and I have even resumed relations without difficulty, just very carefully. I won't tell you at what point after surgery we resumed that because I would probably be in big trouble with my cybermom, Kathy. LOL Anyway, I love the way my body looks. I can't wait to wear clothes without all these garments underneath. I want to know what I reallyl look and feel like. Ok, that was a book. Probably much more than you asked for, but the main struggles are definately mentally, because physically, I am one pretty tough gal. I just love that we can come to this thread and share our most personal things and have this support. You guys are the best!!! Mamato, I see you. What's the latest on the job??

way to go on the run/walk Sugar. You are doing a great job. It is so good to see you posting regularly again!!

Thanks so much Karey. I will definately do that tonight. I took the steridtrips off my back and that helped a lot, but sleeping at night is the worst part. I seem to have weird dreams lately too. I just don't feel like I am resting well at night. Benadryl and I have a date tonight.:thumbdown: I went to the doctor today and she removed all but 2 staples. The 2 staples are in the center of my back. She said that the area between them doesn't look completely healed. The open area appears superficial, but she doesn't want to take them out and risk it opening up. So...I go back next Thursday to have those 2 taken out. Slowly but surely. BTW, I walked a mile today in 15 minutes. That's a far cry from my 5K time, but at least it's a start. It felt really good to be back at the track. I feel better and better everyday. I can't wait to get rid of the garment and binder, but I have 3 more weeks of that. Not much to report. Just ticking along.

Sounds like a super fun trip Lyn. Glad you are home and doing well. Kathy, glad you can eat again. I have been way too tight once, and when yo feel like spit isn't going to go down it does get kinda scary. I'm glad you seem to have found the balance. Well, the rain is gone and it is beautiful today so DS and I went for a walk. I walked a 15 minute mile! WOOHOO. I felt like I was moving at snail's pace. It's a far cry from a 29 minute 5k but I guess I have to start back somewhere. I tolerated it very well. I can't wait to be running again. I thought about running just a few steps to see how it felt, but I knew DS would tell DH on me so I walked like I am supposed to. I will be 3 weeks out tomorrow. That is 1/2 way through wearing the garments and all the restrictions. WOOHOO, I am 1/2 way there!!

I was so proud of Amy! She is typically not a very strong personality, but she stood up too psychowoman. She is going to pay though. Vicki is just evil. I think she would have even turned on Brady if it would benefit her. I was so disappointed to see Ed win the challenge. I was rooting for Phil then Stacey. By the end of the challenge my heartrate was up. I can't believe how much I got into that challenge. Vicki, Heba and Ed make me want to vomit. You know, people like that don't win. They will be voted off because they are burning too many bridges. Now they are in the minority. Watch Heba turn all nice to try and manipulate votes form the black team, or at least ensure she gets Amy's. Heba and vicki in the bottome 2 next week. How awesome would that be!!

Thanks guys. I am doing great. Not much to report. Tonight I can't sleep because my back is itching like crazy where she left those few staples in. I removed the steristrips. I am thinking they are iritating my skin. The skin underneath is a little red, but it is mostly along the line of where the steristrips were. It doesn't look infected. I think it is time for the staples to come out. My doctor said to call when the drainage stopped and she would take them out. Wel, I had my big leak on Saturday and haven't had any drainage to speak of since. I think I will call in the morning.

That is awesome Whosya!!!!! I can't wait to get back to running. Don't worry, we will have a Nikeplus rematch!! I have been released to walk, but no running yet. It won't be long!! Way to go on the 10 miles. That is amazing!

I'm staying on plan today because I am finally feeling human again since PS and I want to lose those last stubborn pounds.

Somehow I forgot to post my bandiversary pix. I was banded October 24, 2007. I have lost 94 pounds and am so glad that I made this lapband decision. I just finished round 1 of PS, so I am going to post 3 pics. The first is the night before lapband 1 year ago, the 2nd is oct 23 this year(the night before PS, and the 3rd is 2 weeks post PS.

I didn't actually get a butt lift. My surgeon was going to do an extended TT and I talked her into carrying the incision all the way around to get the skin on my back and my "love handles". In the process I guess my butt got lifted a little (nice little perk), but I didn't actually get a butt lift. Hey Julie... Thanks so much. Julie is my sister. How cool for you to be on here with my "cyberfriends" cheering me on.

Ok, all of you experienced PS people. I have a question. Since surgery I have had a little drainage on my back. It had gone down to next to nothing in the past few days. I have been more active the last couple of days and can tell that I am a bit more swollen. I was sitting on the couch eating some soup this evening(sitting straight up) and felt something wet on my back. Well, apparently the drainage has decided to revisit. My 4x4, compression garment, binder, panties, pants and wedge pillow were all wet. The area on them is about 6 inches in diameter. The drainage doesn't look bad. It is serosanguinous, much like in the drain tube toward the end of the drains. Yellowish with a hint of red. DH took off the saturated steri strips and replaced them with some the doctor had given me for my thigh dehiss. He can't tel that there are any open areas. My 4 staples are still intact. The skin isn't mushy and looks fine. It is jsut weird that I suddenly had that much drainage. What do yall think?? Have I overdone it, creating more fluid?? was there a pocket of fluid that burst?? Everything looks ok so I didn't bother the doctor on the weekend. Just wondering what you all thought.

WAY TO GO BOTH OF YOU!!!!!!! I am with georgia, Leslie, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Like Georgia said, you ran further than any of the other 5kers!! It is so good to see you back at it again!! I am so proud of both of you!!!!

Leslie and Georgia, Thinking of both of you!!!!! Can't wait to hear your awesome results!! I hear Rocky music.

You are looking great!Thanks for posting the pics. I have looked at everyone's before and after PS surgery pics and never really appreciated the difficulty in posting those pics until I posted mine yesterday. It is very hard to post them. Thanks so much. You look awesome!!

Thanks Georgia! Welcome mominflorida. This really is a great support group!! Looking forward to your progress!!

Thanks Luluc. I went back to the thread and the pics are on pages 11 and 12. I hate that it split them, but oh well. Ok, so Georgia and Leslie are running tomorrow. Yall are running together, right??? It's all coming back to me now!! Yall will have a great run!! I am cheering you on!

Thanks guys!! Georgia, you are going to do great on your 5k tomorrow!! I can't remember who else is running. Blame it on pain meds. LOL I am not even taking pain meds anymore. Maybe Luluc or Leslie, or both. Anyway, big cheers for everyone running tomorrow!! Mamato, I am soooo hoping you get this job. Saying prayers for you!!! I posted my pics on my PS thread. I posted a bunch of pics, so I am not going to hijack this thread with them. Here is the link. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/renewedhope-headed-flatlands-76071/ Go to the last page and they should be there. There are 3 posts of pics, so make sure you see them all. I am not super happy with the pics we took this morning. They are at an angle instead of straight on, but anyway. Have ag reat day everybody!!

Ok, last ones. This is me the night before PS fully clothed. The pics are at an angle. I iwll post new ones when I take them. It looks like my curves on my waist are lopsided. They aren't. It's just the angle.

Here are pics from the side. They are opposite sides, but you get the picture... I am also going to put my fully clothed side pics here. Yall are getting more pics than you bargained for :thumbs_up:

Ok guys here are the pics. I am not crazy about the pics at all. DH was at an angle instead of staight in front of me so they are not the best, but you get the idea. I am going to post several so it will take a few posts to get them all. These pics are preop and 2 weeks post op. I am still pretty swollen, especially my thighs. You can see the little pooch I was talking about on my left hip. Anyway, here goes.

Down 1 pound NAME*************START WEIGHT*****CURRENT WEIGHT*******GOAL***********LBS. LOST *** *************:smile2:*************:tt2: ***********:thumbup:**********:w00t: 1dayatime..........259............259............239............0 1000words..........237............237............220............0 Ariel..............193............193............183............0 Barb12590..........207............207............187............0 Bea1129............198.5..........198.5..........183............0 Brandy.............208............208............198............0 CQQlgirl...........188............188............170............0 JasonR.............366............366............351............0 Jodi_620...........174............173............159............1 KikiVal315.........229............229............215............0 laurigee...........170............169............158............1 Leslie2Lose........215............215............199............0 LilMissDiva........244............244............225............0 lindar172 .........257.8..........257.8..........240............0 LisaB..............189............187............170............2 mamanmidwife.......275............275............255............0 MegMegs13..........266............266............250............0 mominlv13..........282.4..........282.4..........270............0 noosagirl..........138............138............124............0 Renee74............198............198............185............0 renewedhope........162............161............150............1 __________________

There is nothing as wonderful as a caring and helpful husband. This surgery and recovery has really strengthened my bond with DH. He has been so very attentive. I am not used to being/needing to be pampered and he has really risen to the occasion. I am much happier taking care of myself but it is reassuring to know that he is willing and able to step up when I can't. And remember....the results benefit them as well :thumbup:. Kudos to our awesome hubbies!!!!

Great to hear from you Shalee. I am actually starting to feel human again. Keep telling yourself that it is all worth it, because it is!!!

For those of you who are following my PS thread I am so sorry to be redundant. This post is copied form my PS thread post so I wouldn't have to type it all again. So, here is my report from the doctor today!! I'M BACK!!!! I am doing great!! I went to the doctor today and she was very pleased. I have a couple of areas that pulled away from the sutures, but they are healing well and appear pretty superficial. The incision at my mons is sluffing off some, but again very superficial. I am putting neosporin on these areas and that's it. I was so relieved after going to the doctor today. I have 2 very small dog ears at the top of my thigh incisions(one on each side) and on my left hip I have a little pooch. I wasn't sure if it was swelling or fat. Anyway, I wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not. Probably noone except me would notice either of these things. Well, my surgeon had noticed them too and when I am completely healed she is going to fix them. Very minor. She will do it in the office. Not a big deal at all. I was so relieved. I am VERY happy with my results and had convinced myself that I just needed to quite being so picky. I am so excited to know that she wants to fix them and that it will be easily done. I am still having a very small amount of drainage on my back so she removed all but 4 of my staples. When the drainage stops she will take those out. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff, but they are all very minor. I feel really good this week. I am still swollen, but less and less everyday. I HAVE BEEN RELEASED TO WALK FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXERCISE!!!!! WOOHOO!! Still no running, but I can live with that for now. I am so excited!! I was down 10 pounds since surgery. According to her scales I have lost 14 pounds of fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle. I am not sure how that is possible since I have been mostly sitting, but at least I haven't lost a lot of muscle during this process. According to her scales I have 7 pounds of fat left to lose. I want to lose a little more than that, but i can't believe I am getting this close to goal!! I am very excited tonight. I am starting to feel human again!! I will ahve to be careful not to overdo it with my little bit of added freedom. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers and for following my progress. DH is going to take pictures in the morning and I will post some so you all can see my results. I am very pleased!!