Carsons_Mommy

Ok, so I had the first fill on the 9th. THAT was a weird experience, let me tell you. There wasn't any pain involved except for the numbing shot of lydocaine. That was a real JOY to experience!! Sheesh!! I will say this, however: getting the actual FILL is a very strange feeling. I liken it to when my son started kicking me in utero. You don't feel any pain, per se, but you feel this weird pushing, digging around, moving feeling. Then, when he began to push the saline through, I could actually feel a weird little twinge in the band area itself. What hurt more than anything, though, was the saline needle injection site. That hurt later in the evening and was a little bit bruised. I bruise like a summer peach, however, so that's not surprising. I can definitely feel more restriction now. I've actually lost 1 lb since the adjustment - likely because of having to do fluids and purees for that first 24-48 hours afterward. All in all, it was not a bad experience. Fingers crossed now that I'll start losing again - but not too quickly. I don't want to have all of that hanging flesh that comes from losing weight too fast. High 5's to all!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Hey Longhorn! Does getting the fill hurt? That needle that he showed me was a tad intimidating.

Hey Everyone!! I haven't posted in a while. Just popping in to give an update and to read about how everyone's doing. I'm down a total of 32 lb since this whole process began. I feel GREAT! My pant size is down from a 26/28 to a 22/24 which is stunning! I'm down from a 3X to a 1X on my shirt size. I haven't even had a fill yet! Incredible! I was supposed to have my first fill on 12/28/07, but I was REALLY sick with this nasty, "hangs on forever!!!" cold that's been going around. Now I'm rescheduled for next week on the 9th of Jan. I'm actually glad I had to wait, because my inicision area just didn't feel *completely* healed. Now it looks and feels "ready for the needle invasion" by my surgeon. Does it hurt???? <eek!!> The holidays were great! I did gain 1 lb, but considering what I used to pack on, I'd say that's definitely progress. Hehehe... Sending you all lots of well wishes, positive energy, thoughts of success and great health!!!! This New Year is going to be amazing!!! :-) :-) :-)

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to you, too!!!! :whoo::clap2: That's so totally awesome!! I'm so proud of us for doing this, aren't you?!!! I feel so great about myself and my future. <we truly are TWINS> Now if you tell me that you're 5'7", red hair, green eyes, I'll be really freaked out! Hehehe!! Way to go, Kristin!!! <<HUGS!!>>

I've lost 20 lbs since being banded on 11/9/07 - a total of 30 lbs since I started the whole process on 8/22/07. I'm trying REALLY hard to eat as though I'm at full restriction. I'm focusing on small portions, small bites, chewing reeeeeeeeeeally slowly and not drinking fluids with my meals. I don't have my first fill until 12/28/07, so I still have some time to wait. I think hitting the 280's on my weight is what was the big motivator to stay on track. Then, this morning, I weighed and for the first time in, oh FIFTEEN YEARS, I'm below 280. That's the best Christmas present I could have ever gotten!

Absolutely! But on the plus side of having time to think about things, it helps you prepare not only your body but your brain for the big change that's about to come - eating a LOT less and still managing to survive. LOL! Who'd have thought you could actually SURVIVE on so little food. Ya' know, in the first week, I was starting to think, 'This is the DUMBEST thing I've ever done to myself. I feel like crap. I'm in pain. I'm starting to get hungry and am TOTALLY missing food...' I actually think I was getting a bit depressed and starting to grieve over the loss of food. "She" was a grand old friend and she served me well o'er the years... Now that I'm feeling just about back to 100% and I'm actually seeing the changes to my body that losing just 27 lb can produce. I've changed my mind about the whole "dumb" thing. LOL! I'm now in agreement with all of the people who've posted notes saying, "This is the best decision I've ever made!" and I haven't even had my first band adjustment!! That's coming on 12/28. A little nervous, but excited. I'm hoping that my oldest sister will see my great results and will become motivated to have the surgery herself. She's an equestrian and hopes to ride in the Olympics some day. I know she can do it! She's truly amazing and this would be SUCH a great thing for her to do, but she's never had any kind of surgery. She's pretty freaked out at the thought of it. I'll ease her into the idea. :nervous I'm sure glad to have met you and everyone else that's been on this site. It's been such a tremendous source of comfort and support...

Hi Everyone! I went in for my 2-week post-op appointment yesterday. I'm down 14 lb since my surgery finally feeling HUMAN again. My surgeon, dietician & fitness guy were all very pleased with my progress. I'm SO proud of myself for doing so well WITHOUT any restriction. Although, I have to say, maybe it's just how I'm built but I swear I feel some restriction if I try to eat too much or too fast. I go in for my first fill on 12/28/07 <Merry Christmas to me!>. I'm excited but a little nervous to experience what it's like to truly have my stomach pouch begin to be the "size of an egg". So proud of us all for doing this! Yay!!!!

You know, Tracy, I've had several surgeries before too - gall bladder, appendix, c-section, on and on and on... but these have all been emergency surgeries. None that I've actually PLANNED, ya' know? So I was nervous just because of that. I'd had all this time to think about the surgery, watched it online, prepared my home and my recuperating "space", wait, wait, wait... Next thing I know it's time to go to the hospital! The others were slice & dice events were like, "Hey! Just going about my day. Enjoying life. Whoa! What's that pain?? Uh-oh... I'd better go to the ER... Surgery? What???" For me, it was the whole waiting game that was torture. Then when I got to the hospital, there was an emergency procedure ahead of me that delayed my appointment by over an hour and a half. <sigh> But now it's all over and done and I feel great. YAY!!! Hey! I see you're in Washington State. Me too!!!! What hospital did you go to? I was at Valley Med in Kent/Renton. Had my surgery on the 9th.

ANTELOPE???? Whoa! Ok, so I have to ask: where do you live that you're able to eat antelope? That's SO interesting!!! I think the most unusual meat I've eaten is ostrich, but that was when I was working in a fine dining restaurant years ago. I haven't done the chew and spit it out technique, but that would have definitely been my action too if I hadn't been able to tolerate regular food. I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with doing that. LOL! It gets the temptation out of the way and the craving out of your head. Very cool!!

Hey Everyone! You know, my Dad and I were talking right around my Post-Op Day 8 - the day I got my "hunger pangs" back. I was so discouraged and frustrated because the thought of having yet ANOTHER Protein shake was disgusting! He reminded me of something: I'm a very creative cook and I know what I can and can't eat and what I should and shouldn't eat. I need to give my body the chance to decide if it can tolerate certain things and that's when I decided to take the plunge into trying new things like mashed potatoes with cottage cheese or pureed beef stew over a half a piece of dry toast. After I tried these things, I realized I was ready to start eating actual food again. There was a posting that I read a week or so ago. This person was expressing the very same frustration that I was - needing to feel like they were EATING again and not just slurping some new cup of pureed "baby food". Their suggestion was this: when you're finally allowed mushies or soft foods, try eating something real - healthy, but real and just chew the hell out of it before you swallow it. For example: 1 scrambled egg on a piece of wheat toast w/ lowfat margarine. Take SMALL bites and chew each bite like crazy. Have some fluids on hand in case it feels like it's not quite moving smoothly. Wait a few minutes and try another bite. Do this until your hunger is gone. If you FEEL like you're full, DON'T take another bite because it could be that "one more bite" that harms you, overfills your pouch, etc. Once you start easing yourself back into real food, remembering the whole time to chew, chew, chew, it makes SUCH a difference. Since my surger on 11/9, I've lost 14 lbs. I've been back on real food since, oh, I'd say 11/19/07. These are obviously just my findings for myself. Don't go against the advice of your doctors, but DO listen to your own body. Stay in tune to how you're feeling and take care of your needs. Good luck everyone!!

Hey Kristin! Be glad the hunger hasn't come back yet. It's a struggle at first, but then, just when you think, "If I don't eat a Big Mac, Large Fry and a Chocolate Shake soon I'll die!!!" the feeling passes and you're back to your 'normal' self. LOL! I tried some Maple/Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat for breakfast this morning... um... YUCK!! Unless you had a taste for the disgusting nerdlies known as "wheat hearts" before your surgery, don't do it!! It's so grody!! I'm sticking with my oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple sauce for breakfast. Good grief!! I hope you have a TERRIFIC holiday. Be sure and tell me how it goes with trying a "bowl of blended Thanksgiving", or in your case "blended pot roast". Sounds FABULOUS, actually!!! Happy Holidays! Hugs!! ~ Andie

Hey Kristin! Be glad the hunger hasn't come back yet. It's a struggle at first, but then, just when you think, "If I don't eat a Big Mac, Large Fry and a Chocolate Shake soon I'll die!!!" the feeling passes and you're back to your 'normal' self. LOL! I tried some Maple/Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat for breakfast this morning... um... YUCK!! Unless you had a taste for the disgusting nerdlies known as "wheat hearts" before your surgery, don't do it!! It's so grody!! I'm sticking with my oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple sauce for breakfast. Good grief!! I hope you have a TERRIFIC

Hi Kristin!!!! So glad to see you're feeling so good. I'm finally at the "feeling good" phase. I had a rough 1st week post-op only because of my shoulder pain, but that's pretty much 98% gone. Whew! Ya' know, the whole "I'm just not hungry" feeling stuck with me for about 5 days or so. Then my husband came home with McDonald's for my son and himself (argh!!). That's when I felt hungry for the first time. By the weekend, I decided I needed to feed my hunger so I took some of the beef stew I made and blended up a bit of it in the food processor. I poured that over mashed potatoes and it was AWESOME!! I only had about a half cup but it was MORE than enough! So weird. I don't have any restriction yet, except for whatever bit of swelling there might still be and I feel full after having such a small amount. It's just a trip!! I've already lost 10 lbs since the 9th. Now I just need to be careful about eating ENOUGH! I'm finding that I just don't have the interest in food that I used to have. Especially now being back at work, food is less "available" than when I'm home so it's even harder to remember to eat those 5-6 times per day. What kind of "creative eating" are you doing?

Elizabeth, are you being careful about not drinking fluids while you eat? That will definitely allow for more to get through, hence, more calories in that you thought.

Hi Everyone! I'm back! I haven't been on the chat forum for a while - life stuff, recovery, blah, blah, blah. So far, my recovery has been "OK". I say that in quotes because I've had some minor ups and downs. The pain in my shoulder got to the point of being almost unbearable. I'm not sure why it was so bad for me, but truly the only thing I could do was lay in bed, propped up on pillows, heating pad over my shoulder and good pain meds going down my gullet. That all seems to have subsided and I'm actually feeling pretty great now. By Day 4, I graduated out of clear liquids and ventured into the world of "anything pourable" like tomato soup, runny mashed potatoes, runny (blended) oatmeal. I've been able to tolerate *everything* I've consumed so far which is SO encouraging!! I've lost 10 lbs since my surgery on 11/9 which is AMAZING!!! I was able to be off all of last week. I have the best boss ever!! I went back to work yesterday and that was a little tough. I was so exhausted at the end of the day, but I made it through. I slept like the dead, though. Unfortunately, I think I'm coming down with my toddler's nasty cold. On Thursday, almost a week after my surgery, I felt a sneeze coming on and went into a bit of panic. The thought of sneezing after abdominal surgery - not cool!! But I'm flushing so much water through my system, I think I'm gonna breeze through the cold with minimal suffering. :-) So, I made a completely WONDERFUL discovery over the weekend. I had made my husband some of my fabulous beef stew and GEEZ!! By the time it had finished its little crockpot cycle 8 hours later, it smelled SOOOOOO good! So I thought, 'Ok. I can enjoy this too. I'm gonna run a couple of cups of this stuff through the food processor <so that I have some for dinner now and some for meals later> and I'll pour it over mashed potatoes - like gravy!' It - was - THE BEST MEAL EVER! And it was so nutritious because it was everything in the stew - the beef, carrots, onions, mushrooms, etc! I'm telling you guys this because it's a great solution for Thanksgiving! For those of you that are eating mushy foods now, you don't have to be deprived on one of the best eating holidays known to man!! You can blend together some turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, yams, green bean casserole or whatever you usually like to have on your plate - pour a little gravy over it and enjoy a little hodge-podge bowl of mashed Thanksgiving! You can even put a small amount of your blended YUMMY on a small amount of mashed potatoes, pour a little gravy over that and VOILA! Thanksgiving in a bowl!!!! Anyway, sorry I've been away for a bit but I'm feeling somewhat human again and can tolerate sitting at my computer. So glad to see that everyone else is doing so well!!!!!

I totally forgot to tell you all about this guy that was in the surgical center to get his BRAND NEW BAND repaired!! At 2 days post-op, he asked him mom to get him a cheeseburger meal from McDonald's and SHE DID!!!! He ate everything and ended up destroying the little pouch - completely SCREWED his band up... Geez! How foolish and desperate can someone be to do that?!! I was completely stunned when I heard that. When I mentioned it to my surgeon he said, "It's not one of my patients! They know I'd have to slap 'em upside the head!!!" LOL! I love food, but not enough to harm myself like that. The thought of eating something solid right now just gives me shivvers. No thanks! I'll happily wait a couple more weeks.

Longhorn - yeah... totally meant the port. LOL! It's the drugs... And this little scopalomine <nausea> patch that they have me use -- makes me really dizzy and loopy. LOL! Woohoo! Fun trip!!!

Yay!!!!!! I'm so glad your recover is going so well. My shoulder's finally starting to feel normal again. Last night, it was hurting so bad I was in tears. My poor hubby felt so helpless. I said, "Just keep rubbing my shoulder. That's all the help I need right now, honey..." Yeah, the gas. LOL! That was a rather unladylike moment for me. My son called to me <while I was in the bathroom>, "Mommy! Are you ok? You're making funny noises!" LOL!! Oh well... my tummy's growling the weirdest sounds. I woke up around 4am to go potty, give myself an injection, take a shot of tylenol/codeine and when I laid back down I SWEAR it sounded like a lion was laying at the foot of my bed and growling. It was HILARIOUS! I'm so proud of us for doing this surgery, Kristin. I was really scared, as you know, but now I'm just so THRILLED that it's over and we're on our new journeys!!!!! Keep in touch and let me know what's going on with you. Hugs!!!!

Hey Diva! Bust out your heating pad, too. I had my surgery on the 9th and SWEET LORD my shoulder's been killing me!! It's the referred pain caused by the gas that's lingering in my abdomen. Whatever, man!! It HURTS!! The heating pad really, REALLY helps though. I kind of wrap it up over my left shoulder and keep it there for 20-30 minutes. It makes a HUGE difference. Also, if you feel up to it, take a shower. That really helped to calm a lot of the gas pain and discomfort. Keep taking your vicodin on a regular basis, not just when you feel pain. Take it every 4-6 hours so that you're covering yourself for the anticipated pain to come. It really makes a difference. I hope your recovery continues to get better. We'll be here for you!!!

Hi Everyone! Forgive the copy/paste of this note into the various boards, but I wanted to make sure I let you all know... Had my surgery on the 9th! Wow, my shoulder sure hurts! It's getting better, but GEEZ it was sooooooo sour yesterday and when I got home Friday night. Everything went really smoothly. My surgeon said I was "text book" which was lovely to hear. No hernia to repair. My surgery took about an hour and five minutes. Woohoo!!! I haven't been hungry AT ALL! I'm sticking to Water, flavored water and chicken broth for now. I had some pretty bad nausea this morning, but thankfully no vomiting. I made the mistake of taking my little nausea patch off after my shower - which, by the way, was quite possibly the BEST shower ever!! Just because it felt sooooo good to wash my hair. I've been really good about getting up and walking, using my spirometer, giving myself my heparin injections. All in all, I'm doing pretty darn great! I don't plan on going back to work until MAYBE Thursday or Friday, if at all. My boss said to take the whole week if I want it. We'll see. So far, the recovery is going really well. Thanks to everyone for the pre-op advice and suggestions. I'm quite sure that's why I feel as good as I do.

Hi Kristin!! Here I am! Just now feeling good enough to sit at my computer. Wow, my shoulder sure hurts! It's getting better, but GEEZ it was sooooooo sore yesterday and when I got home Friday night. My husband has been so great about massaging it for me, but ultimately rest has been the best thing. Everything went really smoothly. My surgeon said I was "text book" which was lovely to hear. No hernia to repair. My surgery took about an hour and five minutes. Woohoo!!! I haven't been hungry AT ALL! Have you? I've been sticking to Water, flavored water and chicken broth. I'm kind of scared to try anything else because I had some pretty bad nausea this morning. Thankfully no vomiting. I made the mistake of taking my little nausea patch off after my shower - which, by the way, was quite possibly the BEST shower ever!! Just because it felt sooooo good to wash my hair. I think taking the patch off is what allowed my nausea to kick in, so I put another one on. Now it's got my vision a little blurry and I feel pretty loopy. Could be the hydrocodone too. LOL!! I've had some gas build up, but those little Gas-X strips are AWESOME!! They've helped a lot. I've been really good about getting up and walking, using my spirometer, giving myself my heparin injections. All in all, I'm doing pretty darn great! I don't plan on going back to work until MAYBE Thursday or Friday, if at all. My boss said to take the whole week if I want it. We'll see. So far, the recovery is going really well. Thanks for asking about me and thanks to EVERYONE for the pre-op advice and suggestions. I'm quite sure that's why I feel as good as I do.

Hi Kandice!! Had my surgery on the 9th! Wow, my shoulder sure hurts! It's getting better, but GEEZ it was sooooooo sour yesterday and when I got home Friday night. Everything went really smoothly. My surgeon said I was "text book" which was lovely to hear. No hernia to repair. My surgery took about an hour and five minutes. Woohoo!!! I haven't been hungry AT ALL! I didn't get the smaller profile bad; just the regular one. I asked him about it before my surgery and he said, "It's hard enough to find the regular one, so we don't change you to the low profile band until after you've lost a lot of your weight." Ok - I can live with that. I had some pretty bad nausea this morning, but thankfully no vomiting. I made the mistake of taking my little nausea patch off after my shower - which, by the way, was quite possibly the BEST shower ever!! Just because it felt sooooo good to wash my hair. I've been really good about getting up and walking, using my spirometer, giving myself my heparin injections. All in all, I'm doing pretty darn great! I don't plan on going back to work until MAYBE Thursday or Friday, if at all. My boss said to take the whole week if I want it. We'll see. So far, the recovery is going really well. Thanks to everyone for the pre-op advice and suggestions. I'm quite sure that's why I feel as good as I do.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I feel very blessed, indeed.

So I was sitting in my chair, watching my son play with his trains, occasionally glancing over at my husband - he'd look at me and small, I'd look back and watch some television... then I started thinking about how truly blessed I am that I have this little family and how much I love them... and then I started to cry uncontrollably. My husband looked so startled! He came over and held my hand and said, "Everything's going to be ok, you know." I guess I hadn't realized I'd not let myself really feel everything that was inside me about my surgery TOMORROW!! I'm really scared, you guys. I'm excited, yes. I'm so proud of myself for deciding to do this, but I'm really scared. Today, I filled out an Advanced Health Care Directive and a Living Will/Power of Attorney for Health Care. My sisters and my husband and I all agreed that, just in case, it would be good to have these things so that no one had to decide my fate should things go wrong tomorrow... I didn't realize how much doing all of that really affected me until I took the time to SLOW DOWN from my always busy life and look at the beautiful duet of men sitting right there. I'm scared, but I'm going to do this. I'm excited to do it and a bit anxious, but I know it's the right thing to do - for me, for them. <sigh> And I know this will be a journey I can share with all of you because you've either already been through it or are getting ready to go through it. Ok... I just needed to take a moment to say all of that. Thanks to you all - my new FRIENDS for not judging me, for being so supportive, for listening without caring what I'm saying or if it's making any sense. I'll chat with you all tomorrow after I get home. Now I need to go and hug my guys and tell them how much I love them... ~ Andie

I'm so proud of you, girl!!! That's the way to focus on success!!!!