mgmagnolia

My band was done on 7/27/09. I was so nervous that I had an upset stomach and the runs that morning. It is nerve-racking. But it really wasn't too bad. When I got there I told the nurse about my stomach issues and she gave me something to calm it down. The anesthesia really didn't bother me at all. When I woke up they gave me some ice chips. That really hurt my tummy so they gave me some pain meds and that controlled it pretty quick. I was really sleepy though and they told me not to go back to sleep. I had surgery at 8:30 and was home by 12:30 the same day. My nurse told me the best instructions for what to do when I got home. He told me that even though I would want to go home and sleep for a few hours to not do it. He told me to lie down, then about every half hour or so to get up and walk around in the house. He said that if I didn't that the gas they used to inflate my abdomen to put the band in would build up and I would have alot of pain from it. So I did what he said. Sometimes it was just a trip around the kitchen table and through the living and then back to bed. I did have some pain but nothing like what I see posted on here. That evening I was outside walking around in the yard a little bit. Just make sure you get a little bit of Fluid in you and try to follow your doctor's nutritional guidelines for the post surgery eating. It's scary at first. I was really worried about how to eat and drink. But you learn as you go and now it's not hard to do at all. Good luck to you. I hope your experience is as good as mine was!

I have no idea about the shots but I can tell you that walking is the best thing that you can do for the gas. Even if it's just a trip from the living room to the bedroom and back a few times, it will help. I walked every hour or so and it really made a difference. Good luck!

Yes that is a disgusting topic I know. Sorry :-) As much as I try not for it to happen, it does get me every once in a while. Yesterday it happened because I ate too much too fast and while I was driving home. I was juggling a bunch of things and trying to save time. The next thing I know, I had to pull over on the 4 lane highway I was driving on and let 'er rip along the side of the road. I wondered to myself as it was happening about how many other lap band patients find themselves along side a road every now "sliming." Then I wondered about unusual places it's happened at so I posted this thread. This is meant as way to deal with the unpleasant part of it in a humorous way. I hope I don't offend anyone by posting this.

Hi Everyone, I know how scary this surgery is to all of you. This morning lying in pre-op I contemplated making a run for it and not getting it done. But I just want to let all of you know that it's not that bad. I'm sore but not too bad. When I went to post-op, the pain was about a 3 on a scale of 1-10 and 10 being the worst pain ever. They gave me some pain meds in my IV. I wasn't nauseated but thought it wouldn't take much so they gave me something for that in the IV too. I think that helped more than the pain meds really. Ice was a little tough because the cold hurt my belly. So I've stayed with warm or lukewarm things. I've even managed a walk to the neighbors and back. So keep your spirits up. So far the waiting for it to happen is worse than the actual surgery. I'm glad it's over and I know that you will be too. You can do this and it will be so worth it!

I'm dieting per se. I don't take diet pills. I am trying to go sugar free and low fat as much as possible. The nutritionist at the surgeon's office gave me a set of guidelines to follow on how much protein, fat and carbs to take in each day so that I know not to go over any of them. It's a lifestyle change. the Lap Band helps me tremendously, but I still have to be disciplined about eating the right things and exercising. Talk to your nutritionist. They can help you.

Before I had my second fill I was able to eat like that too! But trust me it, that won't happen once the restriction starts happening. All you can do is try your best to eat the best that you can every day. We all fail on that once in a while. You just have to have more good days than bad and forgive yourself for it and start over again the next day. You'll do fine! Don't worry!

Thanks so much for these responses. I was banded July 27th of this year and I haven't lost anything for 3 weeks. I am dieting like was said on here. I've had the 1st fill but it's not nearly enough. I don't feel the restriction at all and am struggling to stay within the food guidelines right now. I'm so relieved to hear that I'm in Bandster Hell right now and need to be patient. I sure needed to hear that!

I'm still a newbie being just a hair under 6 weeks post op. The one thing I'm having the hardest time with is staying at 25 grams of fat per day or less. I try to follow it but never seem to stay within that limit. Hopefully as I get farther out I'll get better about doing it but right now I'm breaking that one a lot.

I was banded a month ago. I've eaten out a few times since I've been back to work with co-workers. Luckily we've usually eaten at places that I can get healthy food and know how to count the carbs, fats and Proteins. But today my boss wanted to eat at a Chinese place. I don't want anyone to feel like we have to eat only in the places I feel like I can eat. I want to learn how to live as normally as I can with the band. I have to learn how to adapt to situations like this. There were only two Entrees for kids. I ate 1/2 of the sweet and sour chicken entree. I brought the rest home and gave it to a family member to eat. Obviously it was high in fat and carbs (and tasted so good). I've been religiously counting my grams of Protein, carbs and fat. I could only guess at what was in my lunch. It will be rare that I eat something this bad when I eat out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to navigate the eating out situations? What kind of guidelines do you use to estimate the protein, carbs and fat if there's no nutritional info at the restaurant?

I have 5 incisions and all of them were stitched.

You have to know that this is without a doubt what you want to do. The lap band works but it is only part of the equation. You have to work at it for the rest of your life. Everyone is different. Some people have problems with bread, some don't. There's no way to know. But more importantly, you have to be willing to accept the possibility that you might not be able to eat bread or rice or Pasta. Can you live with that? You have to be ready to eat and measure the way the dietician teaches you and you have to be willing to put some time in at the gym. The lap band is a wonderful tool and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. But it is not magic. It's not the easy way out. It's still hard work. Good luck and HUGS. I don't know if this helps or not. I don't mean to sound negative. I just want you to be sure this is really, really right for you before you commit to it. None of us on here can tell you that.

I used the same surgeon as Unforgettable. In their pre-op class the nutritionist taught us newbies how to eat with the band. In my notes I have written down that she wants us to count grams, not calories. This is the guidelines for what we are supposed to have: Carbs: 45-60 grams per day Protein: 60-80 grams per day fats: less than 25 grams per day. I've been using the online diet tracker called Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople. It is free to join. All you have to do is put in the amounts you are supposed to stay within. It does require you to put in a calorie amount for the day too because it's not set up for lap bands. But I just ignore that part and let it set it's own calorie for me on that. All you have to do is log what you eat and it automatically computes everything for you: the carbs, Protein, and fat. It will also track your sodium and Calcium and exercising. They have a little thing on there called spark points where you earn little trophies for your progress. You don't get anything. It's just to help keep you motivated. They even have a little wheel you can spin to earn extra points. :w00t:

I've only had my band 2 weeks so I know exactly how you feel! My experience wasn't bad at all and I bet yours won't be either. Tell them that you're nervous when you get there. They are used to having patients who are nervous and hopefully they will make your experience less stressful. The days before it are much worse than going through the surgery itself. BIG HUGS You can do it!

My surgeon gave me a dietary guideline for each stage after surgery. There are sample menus in it. I use it more for following how many meals I'm allowed to have every day and how much food at each meal. I measure everything that I eat. I know that it's a pain to do, but it's so important at this stage. Your pouch is new and you don't want to slip your band and you sure don't want to stretch out your pouch. You are still healing from surgery. Also, do you have your first fill yet? If not, then you don't have any restriction in your band yet to slow you down. Once you get that, you will have do that. Have you tried to eat with baby spoons? My surgeon told me that half a baby spoon full of food is the proper bite size. Even though you don't have a restriction yet, it's important to train your mind to do this. The band is only a tool. It only works as well as you let it.

My sister inadvertently helped me with that. About 3 days post op she drove me to some errands. She is a good driver but she has the habit of taking off at lights and stopping hard when she needs to stop. Then she turn the corners kind of hard too. I had never noticed it before surgery but it was little tough on my belly! She probably didn't drive that hard I was just very sensitive to it. But having her take off like that and stop made my body move back and forth in the seat and it did start me burping. I was sitting in the back seat so I wasn't able to brace myself as quick as I could in the front. I wouldn't recommend this unless you are desperate though. I was ready to get home and was hurting enough to take the pain medicine. So if you do have someone drive you take the pain medicine before you go. I'm glad she didn't drive me home from surgery! :cool:

I'm on the puree stage diet too. I was banded 7/27. My surgeon told me to eat food that are baby food consistency. I have tried the canned chicken and that works really well. I've also mushed up green beans and peas with my spoon. I don't always use a blender but I always use a baby spoon to eat with. The portion is 1/2 of a baby spoon. If you don't have a baby spoon but had an idea of how much that is then you should be fine.

I was just posted this past Monday so I don't have much experience yet. But I think the advice my post-op nurse gave me saved me alot of discomfort and pain from the gas that I've read so much about on here. When he was getting ready to discharge me after surgery he said, "I know that you are going to want to go home and sleep for a couple hours. Don't do it! Lay down for 30 minutes and then get back up and walk around in your house. Keep doing that every hour. Otherwise the gas will build in pressure and you will be in alot of pain." So I did exactly that. Sometimes it was only a couple trips around the kitchen table but I did it. I think he was right. I still had gas pains but nothing some folks on here are experiencing. I hope that helps.

Hi Greg, I'm not a guy but I have heard of guys in my area that have had the surgery. My surgeon has testimonials on his website. There are 5 men on there. I'm not trying to promote my surgeon or anything but if you'd like to read what they had to say you can go to the site. It's www.journeylite.com Good luck to you. Mgmagnolia

The first week after surgery is the hardest I think. I was banded on the 27th. I'm starting to get hungry too but I keep to the schedule the nutritionist laid out for me. Are you eating 6 mini-meals a day? I'm supposed to eat 2-3 oz of mushies 6 times a day. I found that Egg Beaters with a little bit of chicken broth is a good source of Protein and that seems to stick in there longer. I also bought a can of that chicken that comes in a can like tuna packed in Water. It is very soft and easy to much up. I mixed 1 1/2 oz of it with 1 1/2 oz of cream of chicken Soup and it was good. My sister bought me one of those little boxes of dinners for toddlers. I can't think what it is called but it's in a yellow box and it's on the shelf with the baby food. It looks like a lunchable. This one had mashed potatoes, gravy and chicken in it. I mushed it up with some chicken broth to thin it out and that really kept me full, plus it had flavor. I mean, mashed potatoes and gravy who can go wrong! I had 3 oz of that it was filling. Maybe try some of these to see if you fill up more.

Momwifelove, Walk walk walk is the best thing for that gas. It is aggravating I know but it helps. I made countless trips through my kitchen, dining room and living room and back. Congratulations on your surgery! :crying:

Biggest Loser you are so welcome! Waiting was the worst part of this and ThinAli the burping is an experience you are right about that! It's a scary thing. Not only is surgery scary but starting a whole new life is scary too. My friend Ray, who had gastric bypass 3 years ago, told me that Monday was my new birthday. And he's right it was like a new birthday. Just take a day at a time. It's hard to get away from that stress I know. I am so relieved that it's over now. And you will be too.

Newmaude, I know exactly how you feel. For me the waiting to get to the surgery was much worse than going through it. I was banded this past Monday July 27. I was very scared but it hasn't been bad at all. It's a big change but think of all the positive things this will do for your health. My surgeon said that the health benefits add 7 years to your life. You can do it! Nothing in this life comes easy and Girl, I know that you are so worth this. It's all new and that is scary too. You don't know what will happen. But so far, none of my worst case scenarios have come around. I'm feeling good and moving good too. You will come out just fine. Try not to scare yourself to death. :crying:

Hi, I'm Maggie from Cincinnati. Dr. Trace Curry is doing my band on July 20th. I meet with his office on June 29 to do the pre-op tests and get the liquid diet supplies to use for the 2 weeks before the surgery. Anyone else getting ready for surgery in July? Are you nervous? I'm actually not. I feel really great about this decision and have no second thoughts. I'd love to hear from you!:blushing: