hope2bhealthy

glad everything went so well for you. my surgery and proceeding days went really smoothly too. it's also nice to have a detailed example of what to expect surgery day. that would have been nice before hand.

so, i've got to say, i had pretty bad gas pains yesterday, especially last night. they were so bad that i even burped twice, real burps, not air pockets. those are the first burps since the surgery. then i let out some really big farts (sorry, but i did), which have also been difficult for me since surgery. it helped, and today, i don't have any gas at all. go figure. i have no idea what did it. gas x never worked, and i haven't taken any today. walking didn't work, and i haven't walked today. heating pads didn't work, and i didn't use one last night or today. hot liquids never worked, and i haven't had any today. i guess it just took time. course, i probably just jinxed myself by talking about it, but there you go.

sundevil - that's hilarious, though maybe you don't think so. i'm 5 days post op, and i'm thinking sex would be ok now, as long as i was on top. but i've felt really good since my surgery and don't have any real pain from my cuts. i think it just depends on how quickly you recover, and how much you want to have sex. i was the one who started the last sex thread, and i was hearing numbers closer to a month, so it really just depends on the person. good luck.

i was banded on 3/31, so i have a day on most of you. i've felt really good the whole time, except for some pretty bad gas pains. today, i haven't even been bothered with those. hallelujah!!!! things are looking up!

because you are on clear liquids, you probably aren't getting very many calories, and from what you described, they are all coming from protein. if you are feeling light-headed you should try drinking some juice. not thinned down with water, and not sugar-free. you need to take in some carbs, and you will feel better. and 50-100 cals from some juice is not going to hurt you or your band. (even atkins advises carbs for light-headedness) if some juice doesnt help, or you're worried about drinking something that's not sugar-free unless your doc says you can, you should call your doc immediately (he has an answering service). i was banded monday, too, and i feel wonderful (i've been on full liquids the whole time and am able to take in about 400-600 cals a day). if you don't feel great, then it's probably your diet, and you need more calories.

i was banded on monday, too. the first couple of days i couldn't drink much, and it took me 3 days to finish 1 Protein shake. however, the last couple of days i've been able to drink more. i have no problem with drinking as much real liquids, like Water, as i want, so I think that those just run right through down to the stomach and are quickly processed. i've been thinning Soups and puddings and things down with milk, and i can only handle about 1 1/2 cups of those thicker liquids, and they really fill me up. i think that they are running through the band also (i drink water with them to make sure that they do), but i think that they just take a little while longer to process, so i have to be careful about drinking too much of them at once and stopping if i feel full. but since i can handle more than a couple of ounces of them at a time, i have to assume that they are running through the band. i don't think we need to worry about drinking only 2 or 4 oz of liquid at a time, because we'd be hard pressed to get in 300 cals a day. just be careful with the full liquids, drink them slowly, and stop when you are full.

i was banded on monday 3/31. as of this morning, i've lost 10 pounds in the last 5 days. add that to the 5 i lost pre-op, and that puts me at 15. i'm really happy, but sort of hungry too.

So, I just wanted to know if anyone else got really emotional over nothing right after surgery. I was feeling just fine, then I just started bawling and couldn't stop because I was getting the run-around trying to schedule my first post-op visit with my doctor. There was no reason for me to start crying just because they were frustrating me like they always do. So could it be tied to the surgery? Hormones or something? Just curious.

good luck magic!!

i just got one right before the surgery.

congratulations! the day will come quickly, believe me.

i know that you are not supposed to take any aspirin or NSAIDS after the surgery (or directly before). the only thing you can take is tylenol. however, if you are worried about this, you should just speak with your surgeon. he will know what to do about your meds. he might allow you to stay on them, or he might put you on a different medication that will work equally well but will not harm your stomach. i don't know what your condition is that causes you to need anti-inflams, but losing weight might imporove that condition so that you don't need them any more. good luck.

I read a lot about how sore everyone is after their surgery, and I'm just curious about this. I had my surgery yesterday, and I am not in any pain, aside from a little difficulty taking deep breaths. I do have a pain ball hooked into my stomach, so my port incision is completely numb, and I have a really big bottle of hydrocodone for pain also. The nurses commented that my doc was very generous. Were they referring to the pain ball? Does everyone not get one of these, and is the soreness that I hear about the incision sites? My ball will likely run out tomorrow, so I'm just curious if I'm in for some crappy pain-filled days?

my pain ball ran out this evening, so I removed the hose that was in my stomach. I wasn't exactly sure if I should wait and get every last drop of numbing medicine out of it and then take it out, or if I should take it out while I was still numb. The nurses seemed to intimate that the hose was short and would just come out. Well, I'm really really glad that I was still numb when I took it out, because I had to pull and pull. There was about 9 inches of hose in me, and it was a little stuck, so I really doubt it would have been painless. I'm still pretty numb about 3 hours later, and I'm not looking forward to sleeping tonight, then waking up tomorrow to feelings. oh well. guess i get pain like everyone else, now.

my mom stayed with me the day of surgery, and left about 5 pm the day after surgery. I could have taken care of myself the day after, but it was nice to know that someone was there so I didn't have to keep getting up for every little thing. She also did my laundry for me. Moms are great!

i never found out what happened so that he lost privileges at INNOVA. Apparently he is still doing surgeries, just not at that hospital. I ended up getting my surgery done by Dr Stegemann, and I am very happy about it. I didn't really like Dr Patel's attitude, and Dr Stegemann has a very good bedside manner. I just had my surgery 2 days ago, and since I am feeling great right now, I think Stegemann did an outstanding job.

So, I was going to get my surgery done by Dr. Patel at Innova Hosp in San Antonio. But now that I'm done with my 6 mos and am almost ready to set a date, they just told me that Dr Patel has temporarily had his privileges suspended at the hospital and I have to pick another surgeon. I'm not upset that he won't be doing my surgery, but I am VERY curious to know what he did to get suspended. Anyone know? Also, anyone else have there surgery done with one of the other docs in this program? Recommendations and/or stay-away-froms?

i got banded on 3/31 and i am feeling really good today. i've been up and walking around every day, even the day of my surgery. i do have to admit that yesterday (1 day post op) i did over do it a bit. I was feeling hungry, but I didn't get around to having anything more than the protein water I was sipping on. Then we went to target to pick up some bandages and things, and none of their electric carts were juiced up, so I just decided to walk around the store. I would have been ok if we hadn't walked so much, or if I had had a little bit of a protein shake or something before going. By the time we got to the check-out, I was feeling really weak and needed to sit down. A line opened up and the lady waved at us to come over, but this other lady beat me to it, and I almost started to cry.:thumbup: When I got home, I took some pain meds, drank some onion soup, and laid down. I felt much better after napping for a little while. Today, I feel good enough that I'm going to go to class. I'm going to be careful about overdoing it though, and I'm drinking a protein shake for breakfast. Well, about a 1/2 cup of shake. I think the key is just to make sure you listen to your body and don't push yourself too hard. but on the other hand, nobody is here to help me out, so I have no choice but to be up and doing for myself. I'm really glad that I'm not in pain, or else not having help would really suck.

It's a little pouch that that gives me 2 ml of numbing pain meds per hour. It's connected to my stomach with a little hose. It eventually shrivels up when all the meds are used up, and then I just have to pull the hose out myself and likely put a bandaid on it. I think I've probably got one more day worth of meds in it. My stomach is numb on the port side, but the small incision aren't numb. They feel ok, though, as long as I don't touch them. My port incision looks to be about 2 inches long with maybe another incision crossing it, so I bet it would hurt if I could feel it. I haven't really been in any pain. I went to the grocery store with my mom to pick up a few things and to get my prescriptions on the way home from the hospital yesterday, and today I went and walked around target for a while. I guess I'm just lucky.

if you are having trouble keeping down water, you should definitely contact your doctor. this means that something in wrong. i would call him/her ASAP, and they will know what to do. good luck.

i am totally a sweet person, but the sweet drinks are really getting on my nerves, too! if you are on full liquids, try some cream of whatever soup. if it's too thick, add some mootopia milk to it to thin it out. i haven't tried it yet, but it's on my list of foods, so i'm really looking forward to it tomorrow. i also haven't tried v8 yet, but i'll do that tomorrow too. i think that once im done with my 6 weeks of liquids, i'm probably going to be way over my sweet tooth.

thank you, everyone, for responding with supportive words. it's good to know that maybe it was just the anesthesia, or hormones, or something. i feel much better now since i had a good cry earlier. actually, i had 2 good cries and a few sips of a protein shake, so maybe it did the trick.

my doc does things a little differently. i am on liquids for the first 6 weeks, then soft foods for 2 weeks, but he fills me every 2 weeks, so by the time i am able to eat real food, i've already had 4 fills/have good restriction. i like the idea of this, but since i am only 1 day post op, i'm not sure how i'll like it 6 weeks from now.

i too was on weight watchers sporadically for several years, and i had very little success with it. However, the reason i didn't have much success was because i didn't follow the plan, at all. i have a very bad habit of going out to eat all of the time, and this is my downfall. so believe me, i know where you are coming from! you say that you have a difficult time following WW points. I wonder, have you tried following the core plan? there are no points to follow, just a list of foods that you can eat. for the most part, they are all lean meats and healthy carbs. i know that it is difficult to follow this plan at first, because all of the good foods that you WANT the eat aren't on the list. But you might try this plan, really try it, before you give up on WW (for your 6 mo diet). Once you get your band done and are on solid foods again, you'll have a list of foods to eat that is very, very similar to the WW core plan. the only difference is that the WW lets you eat some good grains in limited amounts, and you'll have a harder time with them with the band. so if you can master the core plan, and stick to it for the most part, you'll have a much easier time once you get banded. you also said that you think that the surgery will make bad things happen to you when you eat things that you aren't supposed to. to some extent this is true, particularly in the beginning. but the band is not like bypass. you will still be able to eat most things with the band, so you will have to learn how to make the right choices, or you won't lose weight with the band. if you can begin "learning to look at food totally differently" now, you will be much more successful with the band than if you depend on it to save you from yourself. i'm saying all of this not as someone who knows better than you, but as someone who is very similar to you. i didn't take advantage of my 6 mo diet, and i am still in the place that i was 6 mos ago. i will be banded on monday, and i still have all of the same food issues and excercise phobias that i've always had. if i'd tried a little harder for the last 6 mos, maybe i would be better prepared to succeed with my surgery. i still know that i will be successful, but i think that it will be harder for me. look at the band as a tool to help you be successful, but not as a fool-proof plan. if you don't deal with your food issues now, you will have to deal with them later. the band won't keep them away. good luck.