Elisabethsew

I felt worse on days 6-8 than I did immediately post-op but then it got better. Call your MD and tell him/her how you're feeling. They will either advance you to full fluids or a soft diet. Make sure you drink water all day long to keep from dehydrating and try and force yourself to go outside and walk a little and get some fresh air. Once you go to a soft diet, you only have to drink 1-2 protein shakes a day. I hope you feel better soon.

Have a wonderful birthday!

Byetta is a Rx drug that is injected for the treatment of type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. http://www.byetta.com/index.jsp

Welcome home and have a speedy recovery. You'll be feeling better and better in a few days time.

You can REALLY see a BIG difference in the 2 pictures and you're looking great. Congratulations on your milestone.

Congratulations on your loss. That's wonderful and it's great to have a personal goal to work towards. Best of luck to you.

I had surgery 2.5 weeks ago and have 6 incisions. Four are tiny (about half an inch) and 2 are about an inch to an inch and a quarter long. All are healing nicely. I had my gallbladder out a few years ago and had 4 incisions from that surgery. Today, I can't see 3 of them and one is VERY faint.

I am on a soft diet so I had a little macaroni and cheese, soft vegies and some frozen yogurt for dessert. I make a cheese cake to die for but resisted the temptation to "dive in." LOL.

You all convinced me... I'm going to see it.

Pre-op worries and nervousness are normal. If you're keeping your surgery a secret from your friends (I did) and are worried about eating smaller portions just be honest and tell them you are dieting. My friends know that I have a life long weight battle and that I am periodically on a strict diet to lose. They respect me for not giving up and the conversations at luncheons and dinners is far more interesting that what I am or am not eating. I will say that you should try and have a positive attitude about the surgery and your success. If you go in thinking you're a failure and that you will not lose, chances are you'll be correct.

What do you mean by compulsive overeater? Are you a person who is a junk food addict (empty carbs) or are you a volume overeater? My surgeon told me that people who are volume overeaters do better with lapbanding that junk food overeaters. Carbohydrates begin to be digested in the mouth while fats and proteins begin to be digested in the stomach. It's very easy to get chocolate, cookies, cake, donuts, chips, dips, etc. "past" the band. Because I was basicially a "healthy" food eater who ate waaaaaaaaaay to much, lapband surgery was considered a good choice for me. However, if I were a junk food eater, my surgeon was pushing more for gastric bypass (RNY) surgery. Talk with your surgeon and be honest so you get ALL the options available and learn as much as possible before making a decision.

WOW! You look GREAT and deserve to be out front in all the pictures. Congratulations on your success.

Hi Angie, I was banded 2.5 weeks ago and have no restriction. Had I not had the operation and still feel twinges of pain, I would not even know I had a band! Because I have to wait 6-8 weeks to have my first fill, I am using this time as a challenge to eat according to the post-op plan and "learn" hunger satisfaction and how that feels. Since you have had 2 fills already and you're doing well with your weight loss, keep doing what you're doing and pay attention to the subtle changes you're feeling now. For some people who have posted here, it seems it can take a week or more before a fill "kicks in" and you feel restriction.

Since you can't measure your urine output at home like we do in the hospital (I'm an RN), go with the color. What you want to see is a light amber color. If you see bright yellow, dark yellow, or an orange tinge to it, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!

Hi Mickie, You've had some very difficult stressors in your life and we're conditioned to make ourselves feel better with food. It's only natural for you to turn to what's familiar and makes us feel GOOD. That said, I think you need to stop dwelling on whatever mistakes you made in the past and concentrate on focusing on your truly WONDERFUL weight loss success. Go back to a "one day at a time attitude" and take some time to plan your meals. You can have what your family has but set a SMALL plate at the table for yourself and don't go back for seconds. Water loading can also help. While you're preparing dinner, grab a bottle of water and start drinking to fill yourself up before you sit down to eat. Remember to eat slowly and stop eating when you're satisfied and NOT stuffed. My dietician says to have 2 ounces of protein to one ounce of a carbohydrate. If, after getting "back on the wagon" you find that you're not feeling restricted, you should consider another fill. Finally, come here and read the posts for support. Happy Easter. Since it's the season of New Beginnings, your return to the board was very timely. Best of luck to you.

Happy Easter! I hope to resist the temptation of the food and candy and concentrate on the meaning of the holiday. Have a wonderful celebration!

I had my IV in the same place as you did and have the same symptoms but they are improving everyday (surgery date was 3/30). I still have a faint black and blue area that tracts the line of the vein and get twinges in the wrist. Some of the IV medications that are given are caustic to the vein and can cause inflammation or a chemical phlebitis. Sometimes the IV infiltrates when it slips out of the vein. If the pain becomes progressively worse as opposed to gradually better, it's time to see an MD.

Four years ago I lost nearly 250 pounds through diet and exercise and only kept 90 off. Now that I am banded, I hope to lose and maintain the loss. I know there are MANY big weight losers here.

The first 3 days are the worse and then you leave "withdrawal" and it gets better. What else are you allowed to have? I was on full fluids but hate yogurt so the dietician allowed to have lite ricotta cheese (4 oz) once a day. Good luck. Drink, drink, drink....

Try sipping SLOWLY a cup of warm liquids and see if that eases the discomfort.

It sounds like you just need to go slower or maybe start with an "easier" solid food. My surgeon told me today that it's not until you begin eating solids that you experience what having a small pouch does. I had complained that I did not feel full and had no problems getting anything down (started on soft diet 2 days ago). He told me what I am experiencing now is right on tract and that when I start solids (just under 3 weeks from now), I will feel resistance. Here's hoping! LOL.

I went for my 2 week post-op visit today and, after the surgeon weighed me (yes, HE weighed me) he said, "Down 30 pounds already." Apparantly, he uses the weight that he records at the consultation meeting as the starting weight. Not me, I used the weight I was just prior to going into the OR as my starting weight so I lost 13.6 pounds in 2 weeks... NOT 30!

As a health care professional, I am surprised (and annoyed) that an RN would try and sabotage your decision. Her (or his) job is to support the decision you and your MD have made and to educate you on what you might need to know concerning pre-operative and post-operative management. All people who elect to have weight loss surgery have to weigh (no pun untended) the pros and cons of which one is best for THEM given all the facts. Regardless of the type of surgery, we all share a common goal of wanting to lose weight so we can live a healthy life.

I had surgery on 3/30/06 and I STILL cannot sleep on my left side (my favorite position). On about Day 10, I could sleep on my right side but, even now, that is not very comfortable. I had my post-op visit with the surgeon today and commented to him that my stomach/abdominal area was still swollen and that I really could only sleep comfortably on my back. He replied that some people can take up to 4-5 weeks before the swelling is down completely and, at that time, can sleep in all positions. So............ I wait......

For people, like me, who have a lot of weight to lose, looking to the finish line can be overwhelming. Therefore, it makes sense to set short term, achievable goals. I look at weight loss in terms of small goals of 10 pound blocks and that's also how I look at clothes sizes. Rather that dreaming about what it would be like to fit into a bikini, I concentrate on just being able to fit back into the clothes I have that are several sizes too small. My ultimate goal is to get to a healthy weight. Perhaps when I get THERE, I'll make a new goal of being able to one day wear a bikini in public. For now, that thought is too scary. LOL.