txdresser

hey sweety , I was banded on 7/18 . The port is the only place I really had pain also . But once i went back to work on tuesday 7/22 . I started feeling better .I do believe it is from sitting and not walkin around. Im a hairstylist so i stand allday . and have had a great week at work. But find myself over compensating and not standing up straight from the the port and incisions. so by the end of the day my back starts to hurt pretty good. I believe when they say walk as much as u can . They mean exactly that !!! If u would try at least once a hr for about 10 to 15 mins to get up and walk around im sure it would help not only the gas but stretch that area were the band is so u will get more comfort. People ak me does it hurt and the only thing i can say is the area where the port is attached is uncomfortable i think bc it is so close to ur skin . so u feel it more . But i hope u get to feeling better and wish u great sucess !! another suggestion is when u get up in the am go for a short walk get ur day started and stretch that area. then again lunch and after work . try and get up as much as u can . i have felt uncomfortable if i sit to long . Plus it helps get that dang gas out of u . That is so aggrevating to me !! Best of luck !!:thumbup:

I feel great is the first thing I wanna say! I had surgery on friday (july 18). I was walking 2 hrs after I had surgery. The experience was wonderful. from the nurses to the hospital ,the accomidations . It was like Iwas in a hotel not a hospital. My surgery was done by Dr. Felix Speigel. The hospital was University General Hospital( best hospital ever).They never made u wait on anything . if i asked for something off the wall they made it happen . never told me no . did the best they could . I swear they went to the store to accomidate me ! LOL The experience alone at the hospital made it all worth the tiny bit of uncomfortableness from surgery. The kitchen folks even gave me extra stuff for my caretaker . telling u props to the hospital. Now about my surgery like i said I was walkin after 2 hrs and it felt good . they took me for a scan 2 hrs after to make sure the band was good and in place no probs. the guy that did it was great helped me up and down . told me the easiest way to do stuff . very up beat !! then after that i was good to go . after they got back the results then i could have liquids . brought me lunch . consisted of broth u cld have chicken,beef or veg. jello (was the best) propel , ozarka, tea. So that was my meal for bfast lunch and diner . but it worked because u dont eat much . i got some popsicles during the day because i asked for them my throat was already scratchy when we went in but after they do the tube thing it was a lil more sore. so pop sicle was great. now the only thing i cansay for my experience was they were giving me morphine. which would totally wipe me out . so after the 2 nd dose. i asked can u give me something else . i dont wanna feel so out of it . i was ready to run the halls and felt to groggy to do it. so they put me on my pain med that i was gonna be takin at home. worked out better. then by that night i had the iv still in my hand that was hard to find a vein on me so it was buried deep. i asked my 2nd shift nurse if he loved me and would please take it out . i didnt need it anymore. he checked what meds i was gonna have to get in it if need be and gave me the option that if i got nauseas i would have to have that iv for meds . but i had been drinkin and such and had no nausea. so i opted toget it out . he accomidated and life was really good after that . ( it was in my right hand so everything i did it would get bent ) In the night that night they checked me and everything was good . I even got up a few times in the night to walk the halls and then at 7 am i got bfast went and asked if i could have a shower . they brough me everything . i got cleanded up and by 9 am i was leaving the hospital. headed home to rest in my own place . i pretty much slept alot yesterday because of the broke up sleep in hospital. but in the late after noon i did go walkin to a friends house who is about 4 blocks away and back . felt great . came in took a shower and relaxed went to bed and here is another day . and i am wel rested to day and ready to go . i think we r gonna go see bat man today with my kids . should b fun. FYI: my care taker made me weigh b4 i left the hospital and from wednesday at the dr till sat morning i lost 11 lbs( im sure fluid but still weight) have any questions i am here to answer its a learning experience for me but will love to share my so far with u ! good luck to all!!:thumbup:

yeah the pain meds were killing me . i have takinghalf doses at night so i can sleep all night . bc i like to sleep on my tummy so i have been on my side with pillows . but meds help me pass out.

hey sweety .Its been 4days since i had my surgery and im feelin much better . headed to work for a bit today . Im a hairstylist and not sure how long i will make it but i am going to try. i went to the gym yesterday and walked on the treadmill a bit. as far as bowel movements i had my 1st today after all these days and it was solid .. must drink more water! I went to movies on sunday and walked mall . ran errands yesterday and did gym . so a lil moe each day . But im ready to get back to normal life.The protein really makes a diference in how u feel.

I had surgery yesterday ! feel great ! was practically running laps around the hospital looseing my mind wannting to go home . I was also c-sectioned 3 times . So all i could think was it cant possibly as bad and it hasnt been . plus let me tell u the incisions r higher so u dont feel it eveytime u move or try and get up . the c-section stuff is the area u use so much more. they tell u to get up with ur hips and knees . witht this surgery . so good luck. so far piece of cake.

I am getting the lap band surgery.whoo hoo! I have always been over weight all my life and have fought to get some sort of surgery for years thinkin it was the only answer. My husband even became apart of the isurance bored at his job to educate them on the benfits of the surgery . But being that i had no health problems at that present time they continued to say we are lookin into it . Only to be turned down several times b4 from other insurance companies. Well in Feb.2007 on my birthday I went to the dr. right after me and my girlfriend from work decided we were gonna go do weight watchers together . She had never done it and was scared but i had made my mind up it wasnt going to fall off by its self . so we started and each others support and the groups were great . we both were hand and hand for a good while . we were looseing pretty good together .The support groups were great but after about 6 months we were getting bored and stuck in a rut . We both had lost about 50 lbs and people were really starting to notice and we were really feeling great . Then she went and got pregant on me .So I lost my partner . SO i kinda eased off and decided to take a break but still try and do it on my own . i did pretty good for awhile but there were alot of changes going on in my life at this point .I had turned 35 in feb and that day i went to the dr he told me i was borderline diabetic and had a thyroid prob. My blood pressure was always good but that day it was elevated probably because of all the "great" news he was giving me .So needless to say i left with many prescriptions and diabtiec poke ur finger machine 3 times aday and much more . well bull crap was i living like that. He decided that he needed to change insurance. He had pretty much always supported my decision but thought i didn't need the surgery even though he had went to the seminars with me.But as my husband he supported me either way . i had often thought of ways to self pay but there was just no money fallin out of the sky for me . So finally .... I said what the heck . let me go one more time on this new insurance and see what they have to say . Supposeably they were going to cover it when he decided to change to the military insurance ( in which he is just a reservist). So in june i made a appt to listen to the seminar and to talk to Dr. Spiegel. Been there and done that so i was just there half hearted . Just going thru the process yet again to see what the insurance would say . Of course at this point i had takeing other messures to contorl my weight . i started to work out at our local gym and after a few weeks i decided to go to a dr and get the growth hormone shots. had been doing that for about 4 months .so lost about another 20 lbs, which when i had stopped weight watchers i had gained a few lbs back so i was back tracking also.So as of my time to go see Dr. speigel i had lost about 70 lbs since feb 2007. pretty good i thought but now i am at this point i felt like i still needed a life change . i knew what to eat and how to exercise but still need to control the amount . so thats where i come in to the band at . Back to the seminar went and listened loved the attitude the staff had and the statistics they gave on past clients and his surgery rates and such . left there haveing mixed emotions . I felt like oh here we go again and how long is the process gonna be before they say no again. So went home saying well i have done my part now lets just wait. Then the office calls me and says we need a referral from ur dr. I was like here we go . But i had talked to my obgyn b4 and she said she would gladly do that for me. so i got her email and emailed her with what i needed and she got right back to me asking me to list all my diets and what i was doing at the present time to control my weight . She wrote a fabulous referal listing my weight b4 i started weight watchers and my current weight when i had just saw her. and all the iets i had tried and what i was doing at the present time. i couldnt have asked for her to be more prompt with it and more efficent . Well i had to go to my reg dr also for script refills so i went ahead and had him right one also. Figured it cant hurt . Well after i talked to him he had said he was impressed i had lost so much weight on my own but both dr's knew that it is only a temporary fix and both stated it. So i had stayed on the lap band office to make sure they were getting the communications and such with ins and my dr office to know they were sending in the referals to the ins co. My reg dr even went ahead and did blood work because he said there gonna want updated blood work . makeing sure ur thyroid and such is all good. went straight from there and did that and so now just wait till they tell me at the drs off ice what to do next . According to them i was gonna have ab0out 4 or 5 things to accomplish b4 i could have the surgery if they approved it. I went the last week of june to listen to the seminar and as of sat july 12 .i had a approval! She called me from the office and said i have a approval for u ! i thought she was joking . I said ok what do i have to do now. She said schedule ur appt and u can have this friday . I was like WHAT! r u kidding me ? I have waited so long to hear those words and now it was reality and i was going to have this life change . I could not believe it So i called her back monday and said ok lets schedule well by then the dr wasnt going to be there this friday but she would make me for next friday . i was like omg ur really gonna make me wait after getting me all worked up and decided that was fine it would give me time to take care of some things and to eat all i wanted b4 the surgery. LOL well then today she calls and says ok he has changed his schedule again we can either do it this friday or aug 1st . well heck yeah bring it on . so this friday it is . i go for my pre-op tommorrow and surgery on friday at 5:30 am . I cant wait and i intend to keep the progress up so i can track for anyone in my same situations . Not very good at bragging about myself . But guess what i am about to get better. LOL FYI ... as of feb 2007 my peak weight was 398 as of july 2008 I am 330. Can't wait till i am 230!