bethm

I feel your pain. If you're going to do something so drastic as this you really need to follow your doctors advice. It's important. Even if all opinions differ between doctors. It's very very hard but the 3rd or 4th day you go without cheating it gets easier. Otherwise you're torturing yourself.

I plan on doing this as soon as I'm fully recovered from surgery but wow you guys.. running. I haven't ran since I was like 8. lol

Try not to get discouraged. It takes time to get to the sweet spot (I've learned this by reading tons of threads here). I told everyone it would take up to 2 years for me to lose the weight and if anyone made any comments about what I eat or how I exercise I would club them like a baby seal (no offense intended towards baby seals).

We've all been there. On day 2 and 3 I was literally crying in my room. But this is a lifechanging thing (for the better I believe!) and it takes a few weeks of willpower. It was worth it to me. So I cried. I freaked out. I bitched about food until my friends were ready to come knock me out and stick me in a shed somewhere til surgery. Then I decided bitching and moaning were probably not helping so I sucked it up. (as best I could.. course it was a rollercoaster lol) I can tell you day 4 will start getting better. You will occasionally all of a sudden see dancing cheeseburgers in your head but nothing like day 1 -3. Also.. anytime you are STARVING drink a Protein shake. It fills you up. It stopped my tears. chicken noodle soup unless it's fat free has lots o fat and tastes basically the same as fat free broth in my opinion. I'm on day 9 after surgery. Yesterday was my big positive day. I'm really happy I got this done right now. I am on the same diet I was on for the 10 days prior to surgery. Lots less hungry. I've lost 25 pounds. You will be on a rollercoaster of emotions and such for a few weeks I'm willing to bet. Find support people or post like nuts here (like I've been doing!) and it will help you get through it. Don't cheat. What RestlessMonkey went through would have broke me. No way I could wake up without a band then do it again. Good luck! And check out the chat at night. it can be a lot of fun and informational.

I'm too new to this to be a mentor but I'm happy to help as much as I know how. Your doctor should have given you a perscrip for anti-nausea medicine. (I got something or other in suppository form). Call and request it, you want to avoid throwing up. Have on hand at home Zantac (for acid reflux), gas-x (for you know...). Is the nausea coating your mouth with a fine film? Because I confused acid reflux with neasea. I had it 1 day in the past 9, called doc in a panic. He said to get some zantac. Don't hesitate calling your doctor any time during your healing phase. Anyone reputable probably won't mind since you (or your insurance) paid so much for this and they want you to heal well. In the meantime maybe try to sit up straight as you can and sip Water (making sure you aren't going to huck it up) and try to relax. It will pass.

Day 9 after surgery. Feeling pretty good today. Very positive. Tonight I noticed one of my little incisions.. the lower right one was red and puffy under the guaze and seethrough tape. Panicked. Called surgeon. He said it's fine.. that some people get irritated from the dressing. So I'm going to try not to worry. My appointment with him is Monday when he removed the staples. Scary!

Day 9 after surgery. Feeling pretty good today. Very positive. Tonight I noticed one of my little incisions.. the lower right one was red and puffy under the guaze and seethrough tape. Panicked. Called surgeon. He said it's fine.. that some people get irritated from the dressing. So I'm going to try not to worry. My appointment with him is Monday when he removed the staples. Scary!

I got one! Is the eroscillator worth the money? :huh2:

I don't work for them but www.bodymint.com makes you smell fine. I've taken it for years.. love the stuff.

Thanks Jodi :ohmy:

It's day 8 in my life as a bandster and I'm HUNGRY!!! Also worrying that my pretty face is going to melt like a candle because I've smoked and I'm 41 People always tell me I look like I'm 21 so I'm going to cry if I all of a sudden look 60.

It's day 8 in my life as a bandster and I'm HUNGRY!!! Also worrying that my pretty face is going to melt like a candle because I've smoked and I'm 41 :biggrin: People always tell me I look like I'm 21 so I'm going to cry if I all of a sudden look 60.

Yay Pete! You're being so good :ohmy: Eggsalad must be considered a mushy too right? hmmm

I'm 41. I know it's totally vain and dumb of me to be but I've always thought my face was really pretty and I'm so afraid it's going to just get saggy or jowly or something awful when Ilose weight. :ohmy:

Glad you're okay! That sounds like it must have been so scary for you!

lol :shades_smile: Gas-x yay! I am *so* hungry. *flop*

Thanks Jachut. When i got my band I was roomed with a woman who's band had slipped then had a major organ knicked and almost bled out when they tried to fix it. My doctor has a good track record and I trust their expertise I guess that experience just made me more nervous then I thought.

What does this mean? Does this mean that basically we're screwed and/or going to die from stomach rot at some point? Because it seems a rather drastic statement to me and it makes me super nervous. If anything went wrong with the band I would hope I can have it removed and my stomach may not be pristine but I wouldn't be totally gimped and ill the rest of my life. Is that is what your'e saying when you have scarring and adhesions? I don't understand this? Are you saying it is possible to get the band removed but if you don't get a sleeve or gastric you're damaged? Sorry.. litle confused. I did tons of research. Spoke to lots of happy people and felt I was honest with myself on the risks but they were very slim and far less then me dying from diabetes etc. But now this makes me feel ilke it's a done deal I'm going to be sickly and axed my lifespan because of the lapband. Dramatic I know.. but i'm 7 days out so cut me a little slack. I'm kinda all over the place emotionally right now. It'll settle soon I'm sure. lol

sugar free popsicle (the lifesaver ones taste good like italian ice) and sf fudgesicles were on my clear liquid diet and I could bite into those.

Sometimes reading stuff here is scary with all the absolutes and restrictions people think there are depending on doctor. My doctor scoffed at the whole carbonation making your pouch swell thing, Said it was a myth with no evidence. I haven't tried it (I'm only 7 days post-band) and probably won't because I think diet soda is gross and my "poison" of choice was mountain dew and that's offlimits for obvious reasons. Obviously follow the advice of your doctor. It gets so hard seperating fact from fiction sometimes and my psych test even said that I dont react well to being told stuff just to manipulate my behavior. I appreciate the straight out truth. I told my doctor that. He seemed to understand and appreciate that and I chose him because I can work with that.

I'm getting so hungry too. It's a little depressing. Been having nothing but protein shakes and water basically since the 1st. :smile2:

My doc allows coffee and tea. I've been alternating between decaf and christmas blend black with non fat milk and splenda. Yumm.. I know the skinny lattes are like 90 calories each. I think just black with non fat and splenda is less. Not sure though.

There are threads around here that have people's stories of their surgery days that might be interesting to you. Everyone's experience is different. I'm 6 days past surgery and happily banded. My 10 day liquid diet was pretty difficult the first 3-4 days.. it because tolerable after that. (by tolerable I mean I wasn't ready to go on a rampage through my town like Foodzilla) I showed up for my surgery a nervous wreck last Thursday. I had my parents drop me off so it was just me. The nurses in the first room who put my iv in were very very sweet. I had gotten permission from my doctor to take 2 xanax that morning to calm me. I remember a young guy orderly coming down and wheeling me up to surgery prep area. People came and talked to me. My doctor came and talked to me, said he wanted to verify there'd be no observers since there were official type people walking through the hospital that day. I talked to the anesthesiologist. Then *lights out*. I came to in a room with 2 little old women across from me who had some other surgery. I had a very cool morphine pump. A male nurse (which I was ready to take exception to but he turned out to be a nice guy) was assigned to me at first. He asked me what my pain level was. I kept saying about a 6. He notched up the morphine allowance and I began my happy button pressing. I made sure that I got out of bed probably a half hour after I woke up or so. I had lots of energy for some reason so I was motoring along. It's all a blur to me now because of the drugs but I don't remember being uncomfortable at all. I remember the bed was really cozy actually and I could make it sit up and slide right out and I was off in my trust llbean slippers doing laps around the hospital. I remember thinking it was a bummer it wasn't near the maternity ward because it'd be neat to see babies. lol I was moved that night to another room because one of the little old ladies escaped her bed and came over and whipped the sheet down when my incision was being checked and I wanted privacy. My male nurse moved me over one to a room with a really cool girl who had just had her band fixed (it slipped and her internal organ got nicked and ya.. I know scary stuff but super rare). I enjoyed her company a lot. I did a lot of drifting in and out on happy clouds with my pain meds and did lots of walking. Barium drink around 730 am when myself, another girl who had the surgery and my roomate were rolled down. I was released around 9ish on a super rainy new england day to my aunt who drove me home. We swung by cvs, picked up liquid tylenol. The night I was in the hospital I made sure I had a note written out to give my doctor asking for my pain and nausea meds that night so my parents could get them filled and have them waiting for me at home. I was full of energy day 2, my first day home. Pain started creeping in. It hit me my HAPPY BUTTON WAS GONE. *panic* I started taking my perscip pain med (liquid oxy) and tylenol. It took the edge off but owwwwwwwwww.. my incision hurt. I'm a huge baby and I was afraid I was going to bend wrong and my stomach would come flying out onto the ground. I took the nausea suppository that knocks me out and slept on my back that night. My daughter helped me by pulling me straight up to a sitting position when I woke up. (Good Daughter) Day 3.. OW. Incision pain and gas. Lovely. Couple people came to visit. I looked like a chia pet at this point because my hair was sticking straight up and I looked like I got run over by a truck. They made me laugh and I started crying because the port pain hurt. Let's fast forward through this day. It was my worse. Day 4... improving pain! I walked a lot around the house in laps and had my daughter get me gas-x ( no clue why I hadn't gotten it before doh!). It still hurt but not as much as day 3. Day 5.. Neat.. I can sit and sorta bend and I'm not afraid of being a human pinata. Much more manageable. I went for a ride with my stepdad to get decaf coffee from starbucks.. the bumps still bugged me in the road but not horrible. Day 6.. today! I feel better. Yesterday and today I figured out how to do the infamous log roll and get myself out of bed. (told you I'm a big wimp) I am only taking liquid tylenol. I can still feel the port place but it's not as sore (it felt like a bad bad sunburn yesterday). I have a sour taste in my mouth and called my doc. He said it's acid reflux. So I got zantac and that seems solved. He said it will resolve itself as I lose weight most likely and to take 2 a day of these til then. Hope this helps. I tend towards the theatrical :thumbup: Around day 3 emotionally I was really emotionally strongarming myself not to let myself go down the "WHY DID I DO THIS!" path. Today I'm happy with my decision. It's a little bit a rollercoaster as I heal and I hear that's normal. Hunger is almost non existant still. I take sips of Water through out the day.

I'm on day 6 after being banded. Periodically I get a little nauseaus or dizzy and then it passes. Earlier I got a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth.. then it passed after a bit. It's random and not really tied to what I've drank or eaten. I know that the band is empty. I saw the liquid pass through on the swallow as well. I am terrified of vomiting because my biggest fear is slippage/erosion. Anyone who was recently banded experiencing anything like this?

I gained about 7 (I stayed overnight). Doc said it's all the fluids they give you. It will drop away as soona as your body is over the trauma of surgery.