Dee5611

Spent 11 days in the hospital; saw every specialist my surgeon (that did the lap band) could think of & even tho the cat-scans & blood work doesn't confirm it, the diagnosis is diverticulitis (based on surgeon's medical experience). Surgeon sent in a bunch of specialists ranging from urology to GYN to gastro & had every imaginable test ('cept a colonoscopy which would never be performed with this diagnosis). Only thing left to do was exploratory surgery, but thank God I got a little better the next day. It's day 13 & still have the pain in my lower left ab which is concerning me. Maybe it just needs more time - my mom was out of work for 2 months with diverticulitis.

I am 6 weeks post op - no adjustments yet. I have pretty bad pain in my lower left ab (right to the left of my belly button). Had pain x6 days. Diarrehea on & off x6 days. I can't seem to press a certain place to find the pain, but definitely feel it if I twist my waist, walk or try to lift anything. Went to my regular doctor & he's talking about possible diverticulitis. Gave me 2 antibiotics: Cipro, Phalgum (sp?) & anti-spasm med: Librex. 48 hours later & pain is still there. Don't know if I should follow up with a gastro guy (like my reg MD suggests) or see the lapband surgeon. Anyone else experience this?

Just read all the recipe ideas which are great. Would appreciate comments on using a blender v. the bullet. Don't know which to invest in or if it's worth getting both. thanks

Has anyone been advised by their physician that they will need a lifetime of GI series? My doc didn't tell me that, but his associate did the day after the surgery. I forgot how often he said because he blew me away with this news. Said something about I'll always have to watch for esophagus problems (erosion?) or something with my stomach. He also said the surgery was the easiest part of this whole thing and not really sure what that was supposed to mean. He says the TV talk shows with people who were banded are so misleading and that diet and exercise is so key to success. I was under the impression the band kinda gives you a full feeling so I'll be able to control my impulsive eating. Now I'm hoping I won't regret being banded. I had no idea I needed to follow up with the surgeon every few weeks & then every 6 months either. Another little tidbit they left out is the band isn't inflated at all for 8 weeks after surgery. I'm so afraid of becoming ravenously hungry just having broth, jello & 3 optifast drinks for that long. And, I don't really get it. If I have to work so hard at not eating after getting the band along with increased exorcise, what's its advantage?

Day of the surgery I was still pretty drugged so the pain didn't bother me at all (and they got me up every 2 hrs to walk to help with the gas). Next day (still in hosp) I was getting shots of pain killer & pain was bearable although the incisions definitely made themselves known. Kinda like when I cut my knee as a kid - a cut's gonna hurt for awhile, but not crazy hurt. Went home the afternoon after surgery & did this with no pain killer (doc took forever to come to the room, nurse woulda had to keep me another half hour if I had more & I chose to go without it). The ride home was rough, but I got through it without screaming. Doctor's office also gave me a teddy bear to hold on my stomach which helped a lot. Have a pillow in the car so you can hold it against your stomach. This will avoid any jiggling from the bumps in the road & help avoid pain. I suggest keeping a pillow or nice thick stuffed animal close by to hold in case of a sneeze or cough. That night & next day was rough getting out of bed or up from a lying position on the couch. Two days post op - I'm much better. Wounds don't hurt as much. Walking was never really a problem; stair no problem either. My surprises were that I can't drive for a week. My surgery was Thurs & planned to go back to work on Tues so the driving thing is causing me a problem. Other thing is the doctor wants me in the office on Wed for post op care & seminars with him, the dietician & another staff member. Now I guess I'm out of work till next Thursday & doc's office said I'd be back to work in 2 days. Don't appreciate their lack of honesty there and not sure my employer will appreciate it either. Other surprise is after the surgery one of the doctor's associates told me I'll need to have GI series in the future to make sure my esophagus, stomach & I don't know what else is o.k. I'm still looking into this 'cause like I said yesterday was the first I heard about that. I was supposed to be on a diet for 1 week consisting of 3 Protein drinks, 1 protein (both bought at the doctor's center), a salad, dinner of lein meat & vegetables and all the sugar free Jello & broth I wanted. The 2nd week consisted of the 3 Protein Drinks & all the jello & broth I wanted. 2 days after I started week 1's diet, I got a call from dr's office & they moved my date up to 3 days later. So I was only on the all liquid diet for 2 days. The day of surgery I ate nothing - not even Water. Day after surgery I got little thing of jello & broth & 3 bottles of water. But then was able to drink the 3 protein drinks later when I went home & have all the jello & broth I wanted. BYW - the broth helped to satisfy me a lot - I got the packets of dry powder stuff that mixes with water. I found the ready made ones really gross. The powder ones have a salty flavor. Told pretty few people I was doing this. Not 'cause of embarrassment (I could really care less what anyone else thinks). I thought it 'cause me too much stress because everyone would be watching to see how much weight I was losing & I have enough stress in my life. Good luck to you!!

Went home with about a pint of tylenol with codeine. Not sure what I got in the hospital, but definitely wasn't morphine. Bad experience with morphine (& heard many others say the same) so I told them use something else. In recovery I got something strong for pain; then pain killer was much less potent by that evening (but worked); day after was switched to liquid tylenol w/codeine. Don't have that much pain. The wounds are pretty sore, the tylenol makes bearable but doesn't rid the pain completely.