RestlessMonkey

Wow that really depends on so many factors...you, how you heal, your surgeon, his skill, what he uses to close the sites, etc etc. I have scars but am older, had 2 surgeries just weeks from each other, etc. Your surgeon will probably be your best source of info AND...s/he can tell you what product(s) you might use to minimize whatever scarring there is. (there are quite a few on the market now and I think there are actually several that work) Good luck!

I'll proudly say I think you're the bee's knees any day of the week.

Isn't that just one of the big questions of life...which decision (if any!) is the RIGHT one? I may have problems with the band down the line; I for SURE would've had problems doing nothing. So today, life is good!

Check with your doc. I take about 20 pills a day (that's a lot for a relatively healthy person..but a good chunk of them are vitamins and calcium etc) I also take 2 K-DUR potassium pills a day. Those suckers are HUGE. I have never once had any trouble taking any of my pills. ever. Not from when I started post op (and I did NOT take the ones that needed "food" with them until I could have food) and now I'm at my sweet spot and STILL get them all down (I dole them out...some with each meal). I did find this...as I've hit restriction I've needed to adjust the time I take my potassium (it HURTS if you take it on an empty stomach) I need to take it 2 hours AFTER my main meal, then I'm fine. Odd but true. SO don't panic, don't crush, ask your doc. Odds are you'll be able to take them all just fine. (my doc even gave me a pill prescription pain reliever for my post op pain! LOL I can't take lortab/vicodin/hydrocodone so he gave me darvocet in pill form. It may have just been an oversight on his part but I took them the few doses I needed with no issues. By day 3 I'd tossed the liquid tylenol...ick...and gone back to the capsules) It probably won't really be a problem for you.

Good for you! I went for the refried beans for my first mushie meal. I don't think I could've waited to cook the hamburger (and no steak tartare for this chickie! LOL)

I'm 54...not quite 60 yet but headed that way! There's a thread (click on "home" and then scroll down) for 60's so I'm sure there are a bunch. I think it's a great tool and hope you love yours too!

just don't tell plain, ok? and while I LOVE the love fest...and think you all are pretty darned marvelous too... people who even DONT think I am "the thing" should post their good experiences if so moved. It's mostly a "love the band" fest (but if you want to PM me about how great I am..... LOL )

HH...you are just the sweetest thing! How nice of you to say! Awww....... I'm glad you "get" me, and this place helps me more than I have ever helped anyone here! I think you're pretty cool too.

Ok BigMomma you add the numeric MONTH to the Numeric YEAR of our anniversary and you get YOUR YEAR. COINCIDENCE? Or .... conspiracy? LOL sorry I can't help playing with numbers! but now I know If I forget my date I can always ask you!

elcee...thanks for sharing. I meant this for anyone...not just "successful" bandsters. We're all successful. I read over and over it's not a race, it's for life, etc... Like Jennifer who's almost at her goal! That is so wonderful! If I were 17 pounds away from my goal I think I'd need tethers to keep me on the ground I'd be so happy! Thanks for sharing this. I really don't know about everyone else but it does me more good than I can tell you to read some happy things too! Because for many of us our issues are minor or non-existent (thank goodness!) so we don't post much. It's all balance though. There's plenty of good about the band. It gave me back a huge chunk of my life, and I'm so pumped to read others finding small (or large) joys now that they are banded! And to clarify...those who need help...we're always happy to offer it! This is just to offer the other side of the coin, a little! More? More? (I'm a happy-junkie today!)

I hear you. Unfortunately, I'm that way with beer. I enjoyed a couple about 3 times a year. When I was about where you are now I had a swallow. Good grief I burped for 5 minutes! It just wasn't worth it! :crying:

Unforgettable, that is all so great! Sometimes at 3 weeks, people are still in that "OMG why did I do this to myself phase" They should enjoy reading your take on it. You're already looking ahead and figuring out ways to use it to help you with more than "just" weight loss and maintenance. (isn't nursing just a real head trip?) I'm so glad to read you are doing well! I agree too; I got such a mental BOOST from knowing I had the band, like a safety net or training wheels! :crying: I still feel that security. It's grand!

elcee you don't get off the hook...I am sure you are having some good things happen too. Share with your classmates! :crying:

This early on, unless your surgeon says it's ok (like some people's docs tell them to let it go flat first) you're probably safest to just pass on it. Once you've had the band a while, been at your sweet spot, learned how your body responds to it and so on, maybe revisit it. You are just under 3 months out...so I'd give it another 3-6 at least (again unless your surgeon says "go for it") :crying:

You, my friend, were just giving me more credit than I deserve! :crying: That's all.......

greytz...that type of thing is SO COOL! Thanks for sharing it! I realized today when I whipped around the grocery store (and shopping is much faster now...partly because I MOVE more quickly and partly because there are huge chunks I can thankfully just avoid! :crying: Have you been on the candy row at 5pm on a friday? LOL) I remember times in the past when physically (I always refused to use a scooter) I'd really have to pump myself up to get up the gumption to go grocery shopping. I'm happy to leave where I was, but I always want to remember it. Now, I'm happy for Petunia, you, AND me!

Congrats on YOUR loss! and your good recovery...off to a good start on your bandster life! :crying:

I never heard that carbonation can cause your band to slip. I ask how far post op the OP is because at 11 mos I just asked my surgeon about it and he said that now that I'm this far out if I proceed VERY carefully I can have carbonation. He said if it hurts, stop. If it doesn't, you're ok. I think this is something (one of the many things) we should all get directions about from our banding surgeons. I believe there will be conflicting opinions. My doc also gave me the go-ahead for straws and gum and said the big issue with those two things also was gas (and the concurrent PAIN involved in gas) There are many things that can cause a slip and eating the wrong things ahead of time (during the immediate post op phase) is a biggie...so follow your docs advice of course

GAS. How long post op are you?

Talk to your SURGEON! You need to be unfilled ASAP and they can numb you today as well as next week. Good grief that nurse is a witch! SIGH! Don't mess with it. You are getting cruddy care, ok? They shouldn't have filled you during surgery. You may have swelling that is going down but if you aren't getting a little better each day, odds are the fill is irritating you and you WONT improve. Fills lessen over time as you lose weight and the fat around your stomach lessens. Also you can lose a neglibile amount over time (months and months) Again...I'm not a surgeon. I just graduated from nursing school. BUT what I'm telling you to do is what I'd do, or do for a loved one. Based on what you've told me. I don't know the surgeon, the nurse, or you.... There are some people who fret more easily over things than i do and if you are a worrier then perhaps waiting is right for you because you may feel it's worse than it is. I don't know of course! But unless (not being tacky, just honest) you are the kind of person where friends and family call you a hypochondriac..:crying: you are getting bad care. You need attention. And even if you are the biggest hypochondriac in Texarkana, if you can't drink 64 oz of Water each day you are in danger! OK? This is what I think in my limited capacity (NOT A DOC! You need your surgeon...not that nurse) You were filled during surgery and are one of those people who have a large degree of post op swelling...coupled with the FILL you can't drink. And like many surgeons tell us to take it easy after a fill because our stomachs, esophaguses (esophagi? whatever!) and bands can be agitated....your upper digestive tract is agitated and swollen. It is so agitated that when you try to drink you re-agitate it. If you could be put in the hospital and given nothing by mouth and hydrated via IV it MIGHT calm down. OR you could get an unfill. Your SURGEON can give you the best info on this. Don't feel you are the problem because you aren't. I think he inadvertently caused it by filling you and the nurse has exacerbated it by blowing you off. Now she's trying to scare you. Shame on her. It may hurt to access your port because you are so soon post op but they can give you drugs to combat that....and it will be cheaper and easier on you than ending up in the ER on an IV. Having had my rant....IF you can get your 64 oz of fluids in, then yes you can wait until next weds. But I want to tell you this..your port isn't going to miraculously heal so much in 4 days that what would hurt today won't still hurt on Weds. Your medical team needs to pay some attention to you. Call them and make them listen.

Be sure to remember that to tell your kids! That's hysterical! :crying: There's love, and then...the judge's schedule! :frown:

Great! So when's your date? (J/k!) I am sure you're excited

Unforgettable...I didn't follow my doc's diet; at least not the 1st time. I did my "own" diet because, Hey, I'm a professional dieter! (yes I am making fun of me) This is what I think....that happened and it's a good thing because I re-evaluated my "knowledge" and realized I needed to listen to my surgeon...question him of course if in doubt but otherwise LISTEN to him. I'm not really a know-it-all (I may sound like it sometimes but I know I'm not) but I am mature, smart, and used to figuring things out for myself. So I thought I could do a diet that I would enjoy more but I would lose weight. And I DID lose 15 pounds. BUT I didn't know about the liver shrink part. Why? I didn't ask my doc "WHY THIS DIET" I just assumed it was for general weight loss. NOT. SO mostly I learned (once again although by now you'd think I'd have known it) NEVER ASSUME. THAT Is how I learned that for the post op diet it is VITAL to follow it because it is for healing and even one BITE of food can cause the stomach to churn and THAT can rip the old stitches and band loose. Most of us grow up occasionally cheating on diets...it's a way of life for many obese. I had to learn (and will always share) that the preop one is important to follow but the post op one is almost IMPERTIVE to follow. They shouldn't call it a "diet" They should call it "your post op healing prescription" or something. :crying: If I hadn't done my own diet I probably would have lost more, lost it from my liver, and gotten the band the first time. BUT I did what he told me post op and am glad of that; it was a hard lesson I learned but I think (hope) I learned it.

YES! YES! YES! Studies are showing that there are hormonal influences etc that impact loss. There are some supplements (like chromium piccolinate, or the substance in uncut green tea who's name i forget, ecgc or something like that) that helps you lose more quickly...and things that tend to retard the process. Metabolic syndrom/insulin resistance can keep your body from losing, for example. And people on those EXTREME low calorie diets who are doing it to live longer....adapt their BMR to low low LOW calories. They'll probably get it all figured out in another 100 years or so. It's tied to many factors. As I've often said, if it were easy we'd all be thin. I might add if it were really as logical as they think MORE of us would be thin. It's not; they don't really understand it yet.

I always have to think (LOL bad I know)...11/25/83 That's right I wanted it to be 11/23/83 but that was the Weds before Thanksgiving. So we got married the friday after. :crying: You have a sweet romantic take on it! :frown: