RestlessMonkey

Unless it's mayonnaise (which I hate so much i hate to even type the word) or vinegar, no food smell makes me sick. I should be so lucky.

I hope I learn from your mistake!

Because of my size and my blood work etc they knew I'd need a preop diet and had me on it for THREE weeks. My surgeon if he requires one, runs anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks....I'm one of the few bandsters who needed 3. And actually mine stretched to 5 1/2. BUT they told me in plenty of time I needed to do the diet. Not everyone has to! Lucky dogs! :girl_hug:

Good luck Darion. I can only say I originally thought my insurance didn't pay (I'd called them in Jan and again in April and was misinformed each time) and my husband and I were going to get financing if we had to, to cover it. I figure it costs about what a KIA would and I'm surely worth as much as a KIA! Even if you DO have to pay 3K up front, they may have financing options available for you. The surgeons won't finance it most likely but they have brochures and such.

slim-n-tn you are a great board navigator! :girl_hug: I thought I'd nosed around here pretty well but you have me beat hands down!

No kidding! I'm glad I'm not in an office any more. I was a bookkeeper for 20+ years and if I didn't do my job it didn't get done. It was pretty stressful at times! Anyway not to rattle on and on about me. Good luck to you! Please post how you are, ok? I'll think of you tomorrow and cross my fingers that it is either something weird about HOW the test was administered, or some minor thing that the anesthetist can easily correct for. Good luck, ok? :girl_hug:

LOL you KNOW better! I'm a nursing student and I can GIVE a shot but still can't stand to watch it! Turn those shows OFF! LOL By the time excess skin is an issue for you (if it ever is) you will feel so good and be so frisky that a little plastic touch up won't even slow you down! :girl_hug:

This did get me to thinking though....maybe they should have a "singles" type forum here for those who want that support? It could be a good idea!

Sorry I have to pipe up...I did this for health. I'm very self confident and I don't want to be "sexy"....so not all of us are here for that! (don't mean to be pissy I just have to speak up sometimes) I've made some friends already but have a husband I love who's been with me (literally) through thick and thin so no love connection will happen! hope I don't sound nasty...if you are doing this to be "healthy, attractive, confident and sexy" I hope you find those things! I feel I've already got the others, I just need to preserve the "healthy" part! LOL

thinwithin you need to take deep breaths and walk...that will help prevent the fever! If they gave you your incentive spirometer, use it for 10 times once an hour for a bit. If you are too sedentary, fluid can collect in your lungs and cause pneumonia if you don't stop it. One sign of that is fever! That's not the ONLY reason for a fever of course and if you catch it early it is minor minor....like cleaning a scratch so it doesn't get infected. A scratch is minor, an infection is more problematic. You're at the scratch stage! So breathe and walk! :girl_hug:

Believe it or not I understand your dilemma. We are tricare also. I'm in nursing school. And let me tell you, you don't just take a few days off of nursing school! there are portions that, if i miss, regardless of my reason, state law requires that they fail me! Egad! So I had surgery 8/11 and the doc couldn't place the band (my liver was still too fatty) back on the liver shrink diet and he banded me 8/29. I missed 4 hours of a "mandatory" class but that's under the wire. Now I'm playing catch up, but it's worth it. I didn't want to wait until christmas and pay out another huge amount to have it done again!

Yeah your reaction sounded more like guilt and anxiety than some band thing! LOL But do the breathing and drink some Water. And wait on the next shake until the doc okays it! LOL :girl_hug:

Angie if you're an RN you surely know that having a little excess skin (and you know it depends on how much and how long it's been stretched, your genes, your skin condition, your diet, and a million other things) is way better than being obese? I look at it this way...I would rather face plastic surgery than open heart surgery to correct blockage or some such. Don't borrow trouble! You may not even HAVE extra skin! You won't know until you lose and see how things settle!

Unless your shake mix was really bad or something, it shouldn't have those side effects. You don't want to drink full liquids until authorized but if it did something to your band, you wouldn't have dry mouth, sweating, and so on. Just drink some water and you should be fine. If the symptoms don't go away and you get worse, you may need to go to the ER....but I think deep breathing (in for count of 4, hold it for a count of four out for a count of 4, hold for 4, in for 4 etc) a few times plus some water and you should start to feel better.

Sorry I can't help you with the interpretation but it may be nothing. My sis had an ekg prior to having her gall bladder removed and it showed she had a weak heart. ends up they just didn't have the electrodes in the right spot or something odd like that. So don't borrow trouble, as the saying goes...it's probably something minor that the anesthetist will just have to adjust for. Good luck!

it shouldn't make you sick. Are you sure it's just nerves from drinking it? Those symptoms also sound a little like a panic attack....

That bypass v lap band is a decision only you can (and only you should!) make. Hopefully the seminar you attend will present both fairly, as mine did. It was a no brainer FOR ME to choose the lap band, but we are all different. Lucky there are options for us nowadays!

Once you've done the seminar and contact the surgeon's office to start scheduling all your preop appointments, ask them when payment will be due. If the receptionist doesn't know, she can direct you. There are a LOT of people who don't have a handy 3K to just "drop" on surgery or whatever and so I know your question isn't uncommon. It's forward thinking and prudent! Good luck!

AND FYI our stomachs always churn when digesting ... but we don't ever feel it. It's something it's always been doing and you never knew. The docs could be more informative but I think they believe we'll just follow their directions. After all, they are getting big bucks to do the surgery and advise us! Anyway, stick to the diet and you'll do fine.

When you eat food (anything that is not liquid) your stomach churns like a little washing machine to help digest it. That churning action can rip out some of your sutures. You may not feel ANY pain now but then down the road, have a PB incident or something and have slippage and/or erosion. You DONT want that so DONT eat. Most of us are hungry before we get to mushies. I sat and held a can of refried Beans and CRIED !!! I am not a crier, either. BUT I did NOT eat them. Do what you have to...cry scream kick nap...but DO NOT eat things that are not on your preop diet. It's just for a short time. You have the rest of your life to eat. You can do it!

I had surgery on Friday AM and went back to class (am a student) on tues PM. I thought I was doing GREAT! I felt GREAT! but I failed a math test...I missed all 16 questions. People I DO NOT fail math tests. My teacher reviewed it with me. She asked me how she had told us to round off certain items and I told her (I remembered her directions clearly) She asked me what that meant and I told her (I knew exactly what she wanted) THEN she showed me my test. I had calculated every answer perfectly, then rounded off incorrectly and labeled the wrong part as "THE ANSWER". She passed me anyway (thank goodness) because she said "Its obvious you were still mentally under the effects of the anesthesia". Maybe? don't know. ANYWAY moral of the story is take as much time as you can. AND FYI there is no way I was physically up to speed on week 2. I rebounded quickly (except for the nasty math incident) but it took a little longer to get physically up to speed.

You now, at the start I will measure because I'll be learning anew what "full" means. But after a bit, no. I plan to go "scale" free.

MyTurn...thanks for your kind words. I had to look it up because like many, my beloved surgeon just told me to do it but, at first, not why. I'm a "question authority" type but I don't want to hurt myself either. Between my husband (who's in the medical field), my research, and my doc, I now have a good answer WHY! WHY WHY do I have to starve! LOL and I'm happy to share! We have to have each other's backs!

Steri tape strips (that are allowed to fall off on their own, usually in 7-10 days) are different from the adhesive tape used to secure gauze etc. Although irishrose doesn't seem to think I do...I agree with her that if you are unsure or reluctant to clean it, don't. A few more hours won't hurt you or endanger you any! You know your body better than either of us. Most "yellow" stuff is infection, not scab, but again language has it's limitations. Unless I could look at it in person I couldn't tell you if it's infected or not. (nor could your doc!) so do what feels right to you. Either way, call your doc tomorrow to be sure! :girl_hug:

See my yellowish stuff was infection. My husband is an RN and does wound care, and told me it was infected...I went in to my doc and they said to do just what I told you (and what my husband told me) but I can't see it; if you are unsure wait until tomorrow and call your doc. I was 6 days post op and they told me to do what I've passed on to you, and in fact told me to clean all my incisions with soap. (only scrub the infected one though) HOWEVER each doc is different so if you are uncomfortable cleaning it out, putting an antibiotic on it and covering it up, by all means it won't hurt you to wait a few hours and call your doc's office tomorrow for instructions!