twiggysmiff

Before my surgery, I made a list of all the reasons why I wanted the surgery. I even posted some of it here on the thread "Bear with me while I relieve pre-op jitters". It really helped me focus on the big picture. You have quite a bit of time to focus on this list and make a pro/con list. I'm sure you'll do fine. :wink2:

Thanks doodle! Fortunately, all the rashes have disappeared except for where the adhesive held the catheter in place for my On-Q pain buster ball. I'll have that rash for a while because it was on there for 2 whole days and I didn't get to take it off until Friday. Now, my incisions are itching like crazy, but that's a normal part of the healing process. I'm doing really good about not scratching. I will rub them a bit through my shirt at times though if it gets too bad.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking too far down the road. I think 5 or 10 years from now, I'll still be following all these rules and not able to eat what I want, but I quickly tell myself that this is what got me into trouble in the first place. Someone on here said they gave themselves 6 months with the band and if it didn't work out by then, they would have it removed. That's what I'm going to do. That should give me time to get over the soreness, start seeing some real weight loss (yes, I'm aware of average 1 lb per week, so that should be around 24 pounds). I sometimes find myself beginning to panic at having something inside me, but I keep telling myself there would be no choice if it were a pacemaker or a hip replacement, etc. This really isn't a choice right now and I'm ok. I try to focus on the moment. Let's just get through recovery and we'll handle the next part when we get to it. My doctor's plan allows me to eat bananas today and I have to say, this is the best damn banana EVER! All of us band twins should stick together to see how we do and support each other!

When they found out I usually get sick from anesthesia, they put a nausea patch behind my ear that I was able to wear until Saturday. It was WONDERFUL. I didn't have ANY nausea at all. Perhaps next time you have any surgery, you could ask for one yourself. I hope your nausea fades soon! We're band twins!!!

Depends on your doctor's instructions. Mine says you can't have anything with carbonation for life. The gas bubbles can damage your pouch.

Found the emoticons, did you??

I was given a huge binder too called the Toolkit. It was very informative. My doctor's almost went to the point of being TOO informative. Of course, there really is no way to have too much information, but at every turn, I was given information materials, videos, teaching sessions with various people in the office. Its hard to believe that some people don't get this kind of information.

I'm having gas pains from my surgery and while its nowhere near as bad as when I had a C-section, I'm not overly comfortable. I'm taking a gas X chewable regularly and it does seem to be helping, but the box says not to go over 6 per day. I haven't been keeping track of how many I take. How many did you guys take each day? (TMI notice!!) On a brighter note, some of the gas is coming out and earlier today, I had the most amazing fart ever in my life!!! LOL Gosh it felt so good! :yikes:

I had to have a lap surgery for endometriosis about 7 years ago. Apparently as I was waking up, I kept asking the nurses if my husband had had Breakfast yet. I also kept asking him what he ate for breakfast. My first "real" memory is when I looked at him and said, "Did you get to eat breakfast?" He rolled his eyes and said he had. I asked why he rolled his eyes and he said that was at least the 10th time I asked that and he was about to not answer because he just knew I wouldn't remember. As for coming out of the LapBand surgery, the only thing I asked was "did everything go OK, do I have a band?" and the nurses assured me that things went great and I do have a band. :yikes:

I did the same thing before my surgery. It took me 2 years to decide to have it. Once I started doing research, I wanted to hear all the success stories, but more importantly, I wanted to hear the horror stories. It was important for me to know the typical worst case scenario before going through with it. I knew that death is always a possibility, so I was looking more for people who still gained, band slip, erosion, etc. Good for you that you are overthinking this so that you are sure. This is a lifetime commitment and it's important to really be sure this is for you. Good luck!

You should warn someone before you make a statement like that. I'm too sore from surgery to laugh like that! LOL

Ummm...not sure. I didn't realize you could subscribe to a particular post, much less unsubscribe. I just come online and read the ones that are in bold and look interesting to me and stop reading when they no longer interest me.

Calm down Kelley. Not everyone's doctor follows the same guidelines. My doctors only had me on clear liquids the first 2 days. Today, I am allowed full liquids. Then on Saturday and Sunday I can move on to pudding, yogurt, by Wednesday, I can eat pureed food. After that I can start adding in "real food". Not every doctor does the same guidelines and it doesn't make them a bad doctor because they don't match your doctor's rules. My surgeons have an extremely high success rate and have done literally thousands of these surgeries. Really, the only thing you should do is tell your experience and refer the person to their own doctor. Not criticize their intelligence or their doctor's competence. I doubt any doctor would say to eat a hamburger this early (or ever).

Nope. No dressing of any kind. Just durabond....

Why would the hospital give you a fill needle??? Wouldn't they realize that the doctor's office would have all that covered?

The surgery nurse called me today to check on me and I asked her about the rash and she said that the instruments are free standing, so they don't need adhesive, but when prepping me, they put a drape over you and that tapes down to your skin and leaves a small opening for the incisions. She thinks this is what has caused it and recommended some Neosporin on the rash, but not the incisions themselves. They aren't really itching me right now or bothering me. I was just curious as to what caused it.

als...if you look in the forums for the food and nutrition spot, they have posts with recipes for the various stages we go through. Perhaps you can find something new and exciting there!

My surgeon gave me liquid lortab for pain meds and I have an OnQ pain buster ball that delivers meds to the incisions through a catheter.

I would call your doctor asap. I know I was told specifically not to put anything other than mild soap and warm Water on my incisions, especially not neosporin, etc. Your doctor may have different instructions than mine though. If you have the slightest thought that there could be an infection, you should be checked out. My sister had an MRSA infection right after her hysterectomy and its not a fun thing to go through, but the quicker to start treating, the less dangerous it becomes. Good luck.

I want to thank all of you for helping me through my pre-op jitters. I was freaking out beforehand, but I am pleased to report that I was banded yesterday and everything went well. I am on my clear liquid diet today, eating SF Jello and drinking the propel Water my doc and the hospital gave me. I feel like I've done a million situps today and the gas is making my shoulder a bit sore and a sharp pain in my back. I've posted my full surgery story on the Surgery Days Stories post area if you're interested in the details. :thumbup: I love this group and it has been SOOO helpful!

I've heard that if you take in too few calories, you could gain or stop losing because your body thinks you're starving and holds onto everything. I've seen posts on here where they increase calories to 1000 and they start losing. I don't know if this is the solution for you, I just remember reading that here.

I've been reading these posts for a while now and I guess its finally my turn! The entire time I was going through my surgery day, I kept thinking about what I was going to write on my post to this thread! My surgery was scheduled for 10:45 and I was supposed to be at the outpatient surgery center at the hospital at 9:15. That meant that I had time to get my daughter up and dressed for school and drop her off. My husband and I dropped her off at school and then we went through a drive through so my husband could have breakfast. We made it to the hospital at 9:00 and was checked in. I didn't have to wait long before I was called back. I was VERY nervous and afraid I was going to have a panic attack, so I answered everyone's question of "How are you" with "I'm very nervous!" I had two wonderful nurses who got me ready for surgery by putting on leg pillows, my gown, getting my IV in (she numbed it with Lidocaine first) and gave me a lovenox injection in the stomach for blood clotting (didn't hurt a bit, but the medicine burned a little...I've had flu shots that hurt worse), and an antinausea patch behind my ear. They called my family back and my mom and husband sat with me until it was time. I didn't get to go back until 11:30 because they were running behind. While I waited, they gave me the Verset (happy medicine) and that helped me calm down ALOT. Normally, that knocks me out, but the nurse slowed down the IV drip so she could still get me to walk to the bathroom for a last minute pee. They took me down to the OR and there were about 5 people waiting for me. One of the nurses started rattling off a bunch of directions for me to get into the other bed (bend legs this way, hold this, scoot here, put feet here, etc). I put my hand up and said, "Whoa!! You just gave me way too many directions at once. I've already had my happy medicine and I have no clue what you just said!" She laughed along with everyone else in the OR and helped me over. I was OK then. As soon as I was on the table, I felt my head begin to spin. Then they put the mask on me and told me to take 5 deep breaths. I only remember taking 2 breaths and saying, "Take good care of me". The next thing I knew I was being wheeled out of OR to the recovery room and I felt about a level 2 pain in my stomach and the nurses were saying, "You did absolutely great!" I asked if I got the band and they said yes. Once they got me to recovery, they began asking all kinds of questions about pain and nausea. I had some of each, but no big deal. They immediately offered liquid lortab which I accepted. I drank it and had some pain in my chest like I swallowed an air bubble, but I am now convinced that was more from the gas pains, not the band. They gave me a bottle of propel fitness water (they had grape or lemon and I chose grape) and I was told to sip on the for a while so they could make sure things were going down. They called the family back and shortly after, my mom left to go to work. They gave my husband all the discharge instructions. The doctor came in and talked to me and said that the surgery was only 30 minutes and was very easy. My liver was a little enlarged, but not too fatty and they were able to put the band in with no problems. He put in a 10cc band and said it was a little snug, but as I lose weight, it will be fine. I was taken to the bathroom to pee and then they let me sit in a recliner until I was ready to go home. I wanted to wait for a while to see how the water went down and then when I thought I was fine, I asked to change clothes and go. I was home by about 2pm. I've been up walking frequently, taking my meds on schedule, and sipping on my fluids. I didn't want anything yesterday except the water they gave me and this morning, I'm trying jello and that's pretty good. I have an OnQ pain ball in my pocket that is putting meds in my abdomen until tomorrow sometime. The worst thing has been that the doctor wants me to give myself shots of Lovenox at home. I was hoping I lost enough weight pre-op to not have to do it and I did (I lost 5 pounds during that week), but he wanted me to do it just in case. I just gave myself a shot this morning and it was fine. All in all, I'm glad its over and the soreness will go away and I'm happy to say that all my pre-op fears were silly and everything went better than I could have hoped for! Now if I could just burp and fart, I'll be OK. :thumbup:

OK...my banding is scheduled for TOMORROW morning (Wednesday 1/14) and I'm getting a little nervous, so I thought I'd start this post to remind me why I'm doing this.... I want to... 1. play with my 6 year old daughter and not get tired. 2. take my daughter to amusement parks without fear that I can't go on rides with her because I can't fit. 3. be able to sleep at night because I don't have sleep apnea 4. shop in regular stores for regular clothes 5. not have to worry that people are only seeing my fat, not me. 6. be able to have relations with my husband again. 7. be able to bend over to release the emergency brake in my car. 8. shave my legs without doing some ungodly contortionist act. 9. wear a bathing suit at the beach or Water park without fear of someone seeing me. 10. always being the "quiet one" so no one will pay attention to me. 11. be IN the family pictures instead of always being the one to take them. 12. sit in a chair without wondering if it will hold me or not. 13. be able to sit in a restaurant booth comfortably. 14. have more energy to clean the house. 15. wear cute shoes and not have them kill my feet. 16. be able to look at myself naked in the mirror without feeling ashamed... I'm sure the list could go on and on, but this has helped me. Thanks for bearing with me.

Restless Monkey: I just have to say...are you a therapist or something? It seems you are all about the phrase "own it". I've seen many responses where you have mentioned people owning their behaviors, etc. It just sounds like a very "therapy oriented" statement. (No offense meant here...I'm laughing in a teasing way and just find it amusing. )

I have a tilted uterus and tampons hurt a lot when I wear them. Also, for some reason, my cramps become so much worse while I have one in. I'm pads all the way, but always the overnights. I have weird periods. They don't follow any schedule they want. I went through a time of none for years, then I would have a heavy one that would go on for 40 days. I ended up with a D&C 2 years ago (they found several small uterine polyps) and since then it's been like clockwork, up until about 6 months ago. They are gradually getting more and more time in between. Right now I'm experiencing spotting since New Year's Day (I remember because had sex on New Year's Night and I thought the bleeding was because things got a little...um...intense....TMI). I've been spotting every day since then. The last 2-3 days, its more than spotting, but barely enough to wear a pad. Of course, I'm due to be banded on Wednesday and I'm probably going to have to have surgery while on my period! That SUCKS!!!!