Biglilmama75

Wow! I can't believe the day has come. By this time tomorrow I should be in recovery. My surgery is set for 11:30. I never thought I would be so excited about having surgery. I hope to do well. I plan on taking it easy and I took a week off from work. I hope that's enough. Then next time I post I will be banded!!! Good luck to all of you =)

I was banded March 23, 2009. My first adjustment was in July after having no restriction the months following surgery. I was filled to 2cc and had some restriction. My surgeon and I decided not to be too aggressive because my esophagus had expanded to nearly 3x its regular size. Apparently, I had not been following any warning signs and was "overeating the band". I wasn't chewing properly and still taking huge gulps of fluids. With the 2cc restriction I listened to my body and the sensation of satisfaction rather than fullness and by November, I was back in for another fill. My doc went up 1.5cc and based on the fluoroscopy and my sensation. In addition, my esophagus was practically back to its normal shape, but not at 100%. I was fine for about 18 hours but by the next day I couldn't PB and I slimed more than I could drink. I couldn't sip even a teaspoon of Water. By day 4 I was dehydrated, weak, dizzy, pissed and frantic! It was a Sunday when I finally called my doc. I drove 3 1/2 hrs to NY where he happened to be doing emergency surgery - all the way from the poconos where I live. He removed an entire cc and I drank... I drank like I've never drank in my life. I had lost over 15 lbs in those 4 days just in fluids alone. I kept drinking and then eating and eating. The holidays were upon us and I just kept eating back the 15+ lbs. Ok, so here I am. I had another adjustment done exactly 1 week ago. I'm at 4cc now, which surprises me because I was stuck and miserable with less than that. The first 2 days were fine. I took it slowly as I always do after adjustments, and it seemed to be ok. However, once again, come Saturday... 1 lousy tsp of fluid- warm, cold, hot, tepid, clear... it didn't matter. I couldn't tolerate it. At first I thought it was because my tea had milk. My sliming was out of control. I was heaving all day. By Sunday I was back to small sips of clears. By Monday I was sipping broth and by Tuedsay, small sips of creamed Soups... but not much! 1/2 cup in an hour with having to reheat it several times. On Wednesday I was able to have warm and cold liquids, but tightened up by the evening. Today is Thursday. I woke up and started my day with clear hot tea. I couldn't tolerated it and started to heave. I tried cold apple juice. More sliming and heaving. It is now Thursday night and I have not had anything to drink at all and the sensation of dehydration is beginning to kick in. Mind you, I have not had any solid foods at all and I have lost 15 lbs. I was so freaked out about the last episode so I came here to read blogs and have read over and over again that everyone is different and the way everyone adjusts to fills is different. How much longer should I wait before I allow myself and my body to get used to the new fill? I don't know if its normal to wait this long or longer, but DAMN am I thirsty!!!

This is the surgeon who changed my life. I went to a seminar of his and the entire staff was introduced to us. Great doctor! What impressed me the most is the staff...what a group of wonderful, caring people!!! They guided me through the entire process. Sheryl the nutritionist kicks my ass when I need kicking. Harriet the office manager is my love :biggrin:. They are always there when I need them. They answered all of my questions. Their response time is excellent. I highly recommend the entire package... Be warned though. Dr. Nick does have an office in Far Rockaway, but his main practice is in Smithtown, at St. Catherine's Hospital where he also performs bariatric surgery. Definitely worth the trip.... I come from Pennsylvania to see him!

Hi, Ocotillo! Excellent advice. It's sad to me. The first two days following my fill I thought I hit my sweet spot. I had to follow clears for 48 hours and I was doing quite well but when day 3 hit and incorporated a splash of milk in my tea and the tea didn't sit well at all, I knew it wasn't the right restriction. I was hoping over the week that it would improve. Trust me, I am not trying to deliberately injure myself. I have come too far to lose my common sense. Though I did have a few moments of feeling defeated. I will be seeing my doctor first thing in the morning. Hopefully I will find my sweet spot then! Thank you!:confused:

I'm sooo happy for you! It sounds like your recovery is happening very slowly but surely! I hadn't been able to go to the gym for a week and a half because I was too weak from not being able to drink. I don't think I answered your question before. This is my third fill. My first one was uneventful, as I thought they all would be. I hope he doesn't take out much, but I will deal if he does. I've lost 20 lbs these last 2 week; that's the only good thing in all this. But I feel sick and run down and irritable and it's also messing with my cycle and my attitude . Oh, my poor family! MY KINGDOM FOR AN Optifast PROTEIN SHAKE!!!:thumbup:. I went to shop rite today and they are having a big sale on anything drinkable... I bought tons of diet snapples and sobe water and waters to bathe my mouth in after the unfill. How pathetic am I???:thumbup:

You have no idea how glad I am that he is coming back. Tonight, actually... I am on the road first thing in the morning to get unfilled. I can't chat with you on fb. Can you believe NO ONE but my husband, and 2 coworkers know about my surgery? It's my best kept secret!!! I'm also glad that we have the same dr in common! I haven't been able to connect with anyone else who uses him (and mean Sheryl! lol... j/k).

Hi, Bonnie. You are absolutely right. Today is actually a good day. It is now noon. I woke up today and the first thing I do is try to sip some hot tea. This morning I let it go because I was heaving liquids I could only consume 1 teaspoon at a time. This morning I waited until I was absolutely starving and I had and entire 1/2 cup of tea over 45 minutes. WOOHOO! My dh is under the impression that this is a good sign and maybe I don't need the unfill. I'm trying to explain to him that the ability to eat should not be a crap shoot lol. I should be able to eat comfortably every day, any meal and in small portions. Am I right or wrong? I shouldn't have to worry if my food is hot or cold or tepid. I can't afford to wonder how my band is going to treat me from day to day. I am going for an unfill this week and hopefully it will be enough for me to get fluids down. It's not a good feeling to be obsessed about drinking all day. It's just as bad as how I was prior to being banded and obsessing about dieting. Thank you for the advice!:thumbup:

Hi, dream- Even that seems too tight to me. You should be able to eat comfortable in very small increments, like 1/2-3/4 cups, chewing thoroughly of course. A month seems to be a long time to feel it in your chest with just fluids. I'm jealous! Today I was only able to tolerate 1/4 cup of fluids with lots of sliming. I'm calling the office on Monday first thing to go back to unfill a little :biggrin:

Speedy recovery to you and thank you for sharing your story!

I burp tons more now. Sadly I pass gas even more than that!!! :crying: My children think there is something wrong with me. I have to laugh :thumbup:

Hi, Wendy! I was banded on 3/23 as well. How are you feeling? I found this website very helpful and informative too. Best of luck to you in your journey

My one week anniversary! Woohoo! I'll never forget March 23rd. That day didn't come off without a hitch. I travelled from a Northeastern point of PA to Smithtown, LI, NY. Mapquest and GPS speaking , it's a 2hr 30min drive. In reality, it's about a 3-4 hour trip and I don't know what I was thinking. I had to make sure that our 5 children were secured in school and daycare before we headed out. 3 of my children were dropped off at a neighbor's house at 6:45 am. They don't normally wake up until 7. My 2 babies were safe and secure at daycare by 7. They had no idea why they were so tired, bless their hearts. No one knew about my surgery, except my hubby and 2 of my friends. Everyone thought I was at court as a witness for a medical case.... I've even had to write down my stories on my iphone calendar to keep track of what I told who. I've worked so hard at keeping my secret because I come from a long line of judgemental family members and a circle of friends who like to talk. I don't like to be the object of anyones stories. Besides, this is for me, not for them. My appointment was set for 10:30 arrival with an 11:30 scheduled surgery. HA! Have you ever driven into NYC on a Monday morning during rush hour??? Needless to say, I got there late, cursing my head off the whole way, hitting traffic in place I NEVER hit traffic in the entire 6 months I was going for consults and tests and appointments and procedures and appointments... you get the picture. Poor planning on my part. What I should have done was left the night before, spent the night at my parents house in Brooklyn and drove from there. The problem was that I needed a driver for the ride home, and there was no one to watch my children but my DH. I couldn't ask anyone to take the kids earlier than 6:45, because it would have been asking for too much. I did what I had to do! I got to ambulatory surgery at nearly 11 and I was all freaked out that they would turn me away. Dr. Nick even had one of the nurses call me at 8:30 to find out if I could come in earlier because he was running early. DAMN! I could have gone in earlier. They were so nice in ambulatory. They took me in and did all the pre-op stuff they were supposed to do. I saw nurses and techs and support group leaders and nutritionists and the nurse anethesist and anethesiologist.

My one week anniversary! Woohoo! I'll never forget March 23rd. That day didn't come off without a hitch. I travelled from a Northeastern point of PA to Smithtown, LI, NY. Mapquest and GPS speaking , it's a 2hr 30min drive. In reality, it's about a 3-4 hour trip and I don't know what I was thinking. I had to make sure that our 5 children were secured in school and daycare before we headed out. 3 of my children were dropped off at a neighbor's house at 6:45 am. They don't normally wake up until 7. My 2 babies were safe and secure at daycare by 7. They had no idea why they were so tired, bless their hearts. No one knew about my surgery, except my hubby and 2 of my friends. Everyone thought I was at court as a witness for a medical case.... I've even had to write down my stories on my iphone calendar to keep track of what I told who. I've worked so hard at keeping my secret because I come from a long line of judgemental family members and a circle of friends who like to talk. I don't like to be the object of anyones stories. Besides, this is for me, not for them. My appointment was set for 10:30 arrival with an 11:30 scheduled surgery. HA! Have you ever driven into NYC on a Monday morning during rush hour??? Needless to say, I got there late, cursing my head off the whole way, hitting traffic in place I NEVER hit traffic in the entire 6 months I was going for consults and tests and appointments and procedures and appointments... you get the picture. Poor planning on my part. What I should have done was left the night before, spent the night at my parents house in Brooklyn and drove from there. The problem was that I needed a driver for the ride home, and there was no one to watch my children but my DH. I couldn't ask anyone to take the kids earlier than 6:45, because it would have been asking for too much. I did what I had to do! I got to ambulatory surgery at nearly 11 and I was all freaked out that they would turn me away. Dr. Nick even had one of the nurses call me at 8:30 to find out if I could come in earlier because he was running early. DAMN! I could have gone in earlier. They were so nice in ambulatory. They took me in and did all the pre-op stuff they were supposed to do. I saw nurses and techs and support group leaders and nutritionists and the nurse anethesist and anethesiologist.

Didn't mean to freak you out, Pezo. Deep breathing is more to encourage you to expand your lungs while you are in post-op stages, for a couple of days, to avoid pneumonia. Especially for those who've had major surgery that has them laid up in the hospital for a couple of days. My surgery required me to stay over night. I also had a complication of a hiatal hernia that needed repair and taking deep breaths for the night was sore at first, but now I'm better and I'm 4 days post. You will do fine!!!

Hey, there! I was banded on Monday, March 23rd. The first night post-op I HAD to sleep upright in the hospital bed! I was given some really good post-op meds but after they wore off all the pain kicked in. Unfortunately, the dr ordered Dilaudid for my pain and Dilaudid, from what I recall in past experience, made me dizzy and vomit. The only other option was having Tylenol suppository and I wasn't in the mood for any further bariatric invasion at that point. I toughed it all out thru the night... gas pain, shoulder pain, pulling pain, soreness... you name it, I had it. Sitting upright was the only way I could get myself up to go to the bathroom with the least amount of pain. Thank God I have a high threshold for pain! Despite all of that, my biggest fear for some reason is flipping my port. I've read a lot about all of that, so it's sticks out in my head. The soreness is subsiding and the gas and shoulder pain is gone, but because I am still guarding my abdominal muscles, I need to hold on to something to pull myself upright. I have been sleeping on my sofa, leaning on 2 pillows and the armrest. I am able to crush 1/2 my percocet or extra strength tylenol and mix it with my unsweetened apple juice to help me settle comfortably for the night. I'm noticing that it's getting easier and I'm making a conscious effort to "straighten up". Keep working through the discomfort and don't forget to do your deep breathing exercises. I have to believe that it's going to get so much easier - for both you and me! In a few weeks all this pain will be a distant memory and it will all have been worth it!!! Best of luck to you

It's been quiet. I'm just checking in to see if anything is new with all you March Bandsters??? I'm just waiting to hear from my insurance now. Keeping my fingers crossed and making sure all systems go! Is everyone set with all their stuff??? I'd love to hear from all of you... good bad or ugly!