THE FOX

hey gillian and big sis, soz just realised ive got you both mixed up,meant to say about the shouting,just give them that look ,you know the one your mother used to do to you,and you swore that you would never useyeh thats right the one that shows you are having homicidal thoughts,and watch the room clear,or get one of those big fog horn thingys( see and i thought i was prepared) that should have them running,just dont let them get a hold of it,cos running for you is not good at the early stages,wonder how this weeks bandsters are getting on ,cant wait to read their replies,:biggrin:

hey gillian ( soz cant call you big sister as i have one and shes a right b***ch)anyway, stitches out today, PAINLESS !! was feeling really scared to cough etc, but left the docs went shopping for xmas pressies ,(ended up with a 3 k leather suite !!!!!!!) no difference then,forgot my painkillers and thought my pain was down to doc fiddling with me !!! but then realised id been lying ,sitting,bouncing on various sofas for about 2 hours,( hows that for coming on from surgery, never thought a week ago id ever bounce again,so there you go):biggrin: anyway it really is amazing just how good you can feel just10 days after surgery,im going to try a glass of wine or two before xmas,purely for you guys of course in the name of medical science:sneaky:, has anyone whose been banded recently, had a drink yet and what happened, did you get the hangover from hell? im glad i decided to get my band when i did as i will be healed enough to have xmas dinner and some fun at ne"erday,then i will get a fill in january and the real work will begin the fox:thumbup:

Ah ha ,miss flump good to have you back,no to the catheter,that was one i asked ( tho they do call the shunt in your arm for liquids a catheter) dr chris will advise a liquid diet for 10 days. but after 7 days i was eating small children i was soooo hungry !!! im waiting for frederik to contact me with a date for mid january for 1st fill,and im really glad cos my weight loss has all but stopped,hardly any restriction :w00t:,at the mo i had my husband do my bikini line the night before we left,and it really wasnt nesesary cos you have your drawers on the whole time,the incisions are above what was once my waistline,so if your wearing a bra after the op ,say for travelling,make sure its an underwire free, been to gps about the pain in my port, there is no infection tho the port is stitched onto a muscle,ive changed my co-codamol dispersible for diclofenac and oh my god ,wish id done it days ago and for the bandsters out there,who have kids who like to argue or scrap,dont get invoved, and stay away from people who irritate you as shouting is VERY painful and it causes your stitches to throb for some time afterwards,so not worth it, anyway hope this has answered some more questions for you and good luck to the bandsters for friday, this time next week,you will be ova the worst,but please experiment with pain relief,as i wish someone had told me this,i could have saved myself a lot of pain,feel da love,the fox:thumbup::cursing:

Hey Miss Flump Hope your not checking our grammar !!!!!,( or our grampa for that matter ) listen all you will need for the hospital is knickers,cos they give you a gown,there is a hand towel in the washroom,and they will clean your stitches while you are there, you will need toothbrush ,toothpaste,deodorant,hair brush and if hairs long a scrunchie or hair clip to tie it up, i took loose joggers and a dark t shirt with a pattern on the front,trainers and a plain black hoody,i couldnt have possible worn a bra if my life was dependant on it,and im a 46ff,!!!!!! Before you leave you will pick up a pack at the nurses station which contains, painkillers,anti nausea tabs( 3 of ,so use sparingly)pink antiseptic wash ( to use when changing dressings on day 3, tho i had to do mine sooner,cos of a reaction to the dressing )and your lovely last but not least injections for preventing blood clots,the needle is very sharp so very little pain there,small sting for a second,thats all your wounds will be covered,oh and you will also get anti embolism stockings,so leave yours at home,im just mentally trying to tick off your list what you said you are taking,and as this is not a regular holiday where we all take loads of stuff we dont need or even use,leave as much as you can at home!!!!!! any way good luck and any more questions ,just ask,

dear miss flump cant remember if i said,i wasnt offered a shower at the hospital,but neither did i feel like one,and i was going home to my hotel,but maybe if you ask, there will be facilities,there is a bathroom which you and your roommates share,well not really a bathroom,more of a large toilet with sinks for washing,in the ward/room,but if you really want a shower just ask,if you dont ask you wont get, good luck and remember to log on and let us know how you get on,our thoughts will be will you,love from the fox:thumbup:

Hi mmm, no i didnt drive home from the airport ,had a friend pick me up,im still not driving,thats 5 days after the op,im having a bit of a problem with one of the sites of the stitches,right next to the port,so im off to the docs in the morn,wish me luck,love from the fox:sad:

Hi there,if you feel you could cope,then go for it,you could always ask for help at the airport when you check in ,just tell them you are feeling unwell( but be aware,we flew from brussels to london,then london to glasgow,but the eagle eyed hostess on the london to glasgow flight,followed us down the aisle to ask my husband if i was ok as i looked terrible,we then said we had flown from brussels and i would manage,she then asked did i have a letter from my surgeon permitting me to fly !!!!!!! well i almost died of fright,:sad:i gave her the gastric band info and she took it to the captain where,they all had a huge conflab about the fat bird in agony in seat 12a,and whether she should be allowed to fly, in the end( after i had lost about 6lbs worrying) they decided it would be ok:cursing: and off we went, Let me guess are you a teacher,the girl in the hospital room wif me was a teacher and someone else on here is a teacher and are travelling back the next day also, brave bunch you lot, but thenou would only need to go into a classroom to know that !!!!! going for ANOTHER SHOWER it helps me to feel better:smile2: so till next time bandsters,take care,love from the fox

Hey Wishfull glad my posts are helping,you will be nervous ,excited,frightened, and a whole lot more, all i wished for was that i was back safe with my wee family and was 5 or 6 days post op ( forgot to add with no pain to the wish, so perhaps you could add it to yours !!!!!)cant believe im going to say this but,,,,,,,,,,,its hard to remember, even 5 days post op how bad the pain was !!!!!!!!! what i will say tho is when lying on your side,( i found it easier to lie on my left side)PUT A PILLOW UNDER YOUR TUMMY AND WOUNDS TO SUPPORT THEM,and you might get a better sleep,worked for me, can miss flump let me know how she is getting on, And can i just say i almost burst my stitches laughing at gillian and co about running for the wheelchairs at the airport,ive got a picture in my mind:laugh::laugh:it will b like a wheelchair convention,good luck the fox

Hi Garry dr chris and frederik do the op together, so it doesnt really matter who you speak to, ive spoken to both and was told the same by them both,they are both very nice, Chris on the other hand is frederiks partner in ecfs, the after care service,confusing i know dr chris, a guy called chris and a guy called frederik chris and frederik founded the ecfs company and run it with dr chris as far as i was led to believe, i had my first consultation in brussels the night before my op,found most of my questions answered right here on this forum, the people here are fab,so good luck in your quest and just keep logging on the info is sure to just keep coming,as more of us are banded,and dont forget everyones experience is different,but much the same,:thumbup:its all good,love from the fox,ps feeling better again,thanx to the wonder of chicken soup and a caring husband,

OMG Miss flump,sorry to scare you,have you already booked your flights,the campanile will provide towels, if you book the frederik package it takes into account that you will have someone with you ,the only other expense you will have is the flight(which i would say was very worth it !) the frederik package ,you have one night pre op in hotel,one night in hosp then the next night in the hotel again,can i just ask who advised you to travel the day after surgery as my room mate in the hospital did just that and both frederik and dr chris were very angry,because they would not advise travel the day after surgery and you wont feel like it either,(sorry to be the one to tell you this,but this forum is about supporting each other,and id hate to see any one suffer if they dont have to)i used wheelchair at the airport because i felt really wobbly on my feet and lightheaded( no wonder, when all i had was the lovely !!! pea soup they give you at the hosp) oh before i forget,stock up on the dutch crispbakes,asda do them,soups and sugar free jelly,for afterwards ans even if not hungry try to eat a little to keep your strength up,( though my appetites just fine, NOTHING like it was,but enough to get by) im now 4 days post op and i cant believe when i look at it like that,the small amount of pain im in in relation to just after,so no pain no gain girls,(how many times we heard that before) but seriously i feel it really is worth it soooooo far and im still in a little pain,unfortunetly for me a stone (although faboulous)is nothing on the scale of things for me ,but better off than on oh before i forget,in the campanile provide shampoo,towels soap,facecloths, handtowels,coffee, herbal teabags ( so if you dont like herbal,best take your own)sugar kettle,i took cupasoup and im glad i did,cos the painkillers were making me feel sick on an empty stomach,so if you can manage even a half a cupasoup it may prevent this,maid service will change towels make up bed replace toilet rolls ect,and there are shops nearby, which your companion could find quite easily should you need anything, im far from being an expert ,but i can answer any questions if i experienced it,i will try my best anyway,this forum was an absolute lifeline for me, miss flump when are you going to brussels? will sign off now, bowl of tomato soup waiting for me,feel the love,the fox:thumbup::cursing:

Hi guys,starting to feel a bit better again,but strangely enough the better i feel the hungrier i get !!! tomato soup ,chicken soup and dilute juice is starting already to loose its appeal,so if anyone has any ideas just to jolly me alone ,they would be really appreciated,oh i almost forgot the most important thing, today i weighed myself, and bearing in mind that my pre op diet wasnt fab, ive lost........wait for it......... one stone,yes one stone,in about 10 days,so its definately been worth it,and im sorry if i scared anyone with the pain description,but i thought it only fair i should give an accurate account of MY experience,in my room was a lovely young girl called saira,who travelled home on the eurotrain to london the day after the op, tho having spoken to her since she wished she hadnt,i left on the thurs,banded on the tues and needed a wheelchair at the airport as i felt really wobbly but on the up side we didnt have to wait in any queues,and received first class treatment at the airport ,so dont try to be brave girls,take any help you can ,you wouldnt have teeth pulled with no aneasthetic,there are no prizes for bravery,oh and i meant to mention i had a filling fall out while waiting to go to theatre,spooky eh,but overall, the best advice i would give would be to check your package before you go i had the frederik package for 4070,hotel,taxis,band,everything but flights,so no worries in a strange land,and can i just say the hotel do a fab steak dinner,the other girl in my room, her mum booked it all herself which is why she went home one day early ,and can i just say ,frederik was not amused,he was worried for her, but they booked the night before the op in the hotel before they arrived,then went to the hospital with all the luggage,and there is nowhere for your companion to sleep,so her mum then tried to rebook hotel for the night of the op and they were fully booked,so had to hunt for another hotel and they booked thro bridget who apparently told them they could leave the day after the op and dr chris was horrified, but they did indeed leave ,and when i left the hospital the poor girl was still vomiting and unable to tolerate even water,so just please be careful, check everything before you go and check again,well going back to bed now,but promise my updates will be happier the better i fell, tonight i actually fell not to bad,still painfull at the site of the stitches,as expected,but it will only get better from now on,roll on the big weight loss,(although ive got lots to lose)enjoy your xmas dinner girls:tt1: you deserve it,love from the fox

HEY TC27 AND GILLIAN AND ALL THE BANDSTERS, ITS THE FOX !!!! ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, CAN I JUST EXPLAIN TO ANYONE NOT DONE YET OR NOT EVEN CLOSE THIS WAS JUST HOW I FELT,AND SO AS NOT TO UPSET ANYONE, I WAS SHOUTING !!.anyway calmer now, i chickened out !!!! JOKING, and banded and dusted,back home had a fab sleep in my own bed,and im feeling like ive been hit by a bus,it now feels like a small bus granted, in comparison to an aeroplane,its amazing what a difference a few days can make, ive just come downstairs for some painkillers and couldnt resist signing in although sitting at comp not recommended this early on!!!!!!!!! juast wanted to say thank you for the support girls,everything went fine.except that i had a crazy belgian gereatric patient in my room,but before you panic aparently this is not normal !well gotta go will leave much more details when i feel better, any questions just ask, good night and god bless you all,the fox:thumbup: