ALuv82

Week two has been an eventful one—though sad to say, not on the scale. In fact, the scale didn’t move at all for 5 days. Luckily it started up again and I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last 2 days. Now, I know I need to get out of this pesky habit of weighing myself everyday. I certainly can’t expect to keep up the rate of loss I have for the weeks pre and post op, but it’s hard not to expect big changes when you’re eating 600 Calories a day. Anyhow, I’m down a total of 24 pounds in 3 weeks and still going in the right direction plus you can already see a change in the way I look—especially in my face—so I’m pretty happy with that. But what else has been happening in the week since my last blog? Well, for starters I went back to work. My first day back was Wednesday. Now normally I work a 4 day work week which means I work 12 hour days during the week. That meant 12 hours Wednesday and 12 hours Thursday. Luckily Friday is my day off, though I did have to work a 6 hour shift yesterday. It actually wasn’t too bad. We were pretty dead on Wednesday so I got to do nothing most of the day, and Thursday wasn’t particularly hectic either. Of course I’m told it was a zoo all last week, but of course that’s what happens every time one of the doctors is off. My biggest concern has been evenings. For night hours there’s only me, one assistant and one receptionist so it’s harder for me to go without lifting. I definitely feel bad when a big dog comes in and I have to just stand there and watch while my assistant and the client do all the hard work (well, physically hard anyway). But, I’ve been managing. One day soon I’ll get to stop feeling like an invalid and start lifting things again. Saturday was more hectic but I have lots of help and the assistant who was assigned to me was a big, manly man who works out everyday. It made me feel less bad about not participating in the physical labor part of the job. Tomorrow starts my first full week, but I’m pretty much feeling back to my normal self, so I’m not too worried about it. Other news pertaining to my work—right before I left someone managed to abandon their dog in our waiting room. We’re not sure how they got the pup in there without anyone seeing, but low and behold, there she was. She’s a cute little schnoodle (poodle/schnauzer.) The poor thing was completely matted with fur, covered in fleas and emaciated. She also had some mammary masses. Well despite the sorry state she was in (or perhaps partly because of it—I am a vet after all) I decided to keep her. While I was off, the other doctors took care of her for me. They cleaned her teeth and biopsied the masses (we almost had surgery on the same day ). Luckily the masses were benign—no breast cancer for my little pooch. She still needs to be spayed and she’s still very weak and has a bad hip, but she could be a lot worse off right now. I’ve decided to name her Maddie (which kind of sounds like “matt-y” which is what she was when she came to us.) I brought her home on Thursday night and she’s been attached to my hip ever since, although today she spent a little time with my parents. My other dog is tolerating her well, but you can tell she’s jealous. Oh well, she’ll get used to her eventually. So how’s the post op diet going, you ask? Well tomorrow I’m scheduled to start mushies—yay! Though I must admit that I’ve been a bad girl and taken a couple of liberties this week with the liquid diet. I had scrambled eggs twice, though they were really runny and it took me about 45 minutes to finish them. I also ate a few tiny bites of matzo ball out of the soup I got for lunch one day. I didn’t have any problems with that or the eggs. Tonight however, I took my mother out for Mother’s Day and decided to move on to mushies—for real—one meal early. Bad me, I know. I had ~1 tablespoonful of chicken salad and ~2 tablespoonfuls of my father’s chopped steak. I also had some chicken broth with a couple of bites of matzo ball. It took me a long time to get it down as I was taking exceptionally small bites and chewing like crazy. I was still feeling a little hungry in my stomach but I started to feel a little bit of pressure in my esophagus so I stopped before I had the last little bit of chopped steak (my nutritionist through my surgeon recommends 2 oz (~4 tbsp) of protein and 1 oz of carbs per mushie meal for a total of 6 meals a day so I was just about on target.) I don’t think it was stuck, though I haven’t experienced that yet so I don’t know for sure. But I didn’t feel like regurgitating and didn’t start sliming up or anything. It’s pretty much settled now. Anyhoo—Tuesday is my first post-op check up. I’m excited. I hope I get clearance to go back to the gym, at least for cardio, plus I’d like to get permission to swim/bathe—then I can follow up my work-out with a soak in the hot tub. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Or maybe I just need to get a life.

It's strange because right after surgery I was still losing really fast. lost 10# before during my 1 week pre-op diet, 10# During the 6 adys post-op and then bam! I haven't lost anything in the week since. It's a bit of a bummer to me as well. I understand some people not losing before their fill because they have no restriction, but I still ahve great restriction and am on liquids only consuming about 500-600cals per day. I think the problem is that my body is actually going into starvation mode. I know I shouldn't get my expectations up too hight but it's hard not to expect to lose weight when you're hardly eating anything.

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after a couple of tries. The first few days all the pain was from the incisions, especially around the port that sits under my skin and connects to the band. On Thursday I experienced my first, real gas pains. Some of the gas they use to blow up the abdomen with at surgery gets stuck in there and can irritate the phrenic nerve which runs up towards the shoulder. As a result after surgery a lot of people experience pain in their shoulder. By Thursday my incisions were starting to be tolerable and then all of a sudden I started getting these gas pains. They gave me a horrible headache too. I had them to a lesser degree Friday and a little last night as well. But overall it’s getting much better. Yesterday all I had to take for pain was 1 extra strength Tylenol. The incision where they placed my port is still sore if I bend a certain way and it’s very black and blue, but other than that the pain seems to have mostly passed. I do still have to deal with these little hiccup-y burp things that are very uncomfortable. I think it’s because any little bit of air that I suck in takes up such a large portion of the new stomach that I have to burp it up, but because of the restriction to my stomach and the trauma to my abdominal muscles I can’t really burp properly. Whatever the reason, they’re annoying as heck. I’ve also been a lot more tired all week, probably as a result of the general anesthetic they put me under. I’d wake up at a normal hour and feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed (like a squirrel on crack :biggrin:) but I’d be wiped out by mid afternoon and have to take a nap even though I hadn’t done much except take a couple of short walks. The last two days have been the only two where I haven’t needed a nap and by the end of the night I’d felt like I’d been working all day. Hopefully by the time I actually go back to work on Wednesday, that will have passed as well—especially since I work 12 hour days. It’s going to be hard for me at work knowing that I can’t help lift and restrain animals. I mean, that’s what the techs and assistants are hired for, but they’re all so much littler than me I always wind up jumping in and helping. It’s going to be especially tough at night when there’s only 1 tech. If we get a really big dog she won’t be able to lift it by herself. I guess either the owners will have to help or I’ll have to get down on the floor to examine them. As long as I stick to actually doing my job—examining, diagnosing and prescribing—I should be OK at work. Although if there are any surgeries I should probably let the other doctors take them for the first week back. The good news is that so far this really seems to be working. I’ve lost 20# since I started the pre-op diet not even 2 weeks ago. It’s amazing how easy it is to lose weight when you can’t fit anything into your stomach. I’m still on the liquid diet and will be for another week. Right now I’m supposed to be eating (or more accurately, drinking) 4 of my Medifast protein shakes and 2 other liquid meals (soup without chunks, yogurt without chunks, pudding, jello, ices, etc) a day along with 6-8 glasses of water. Right now I can’t even eat that. I think yesterday I came the closest. I had 4 Medifasts and 1 6oz light, fat-free key lime pie yogurt and 7 glasses of water. By the end of the night I felt completely bloated. I could feel the liquid splashing around in my new, bite-sized belly. The total was 460 calories. I’m actually worried about my body going into starvation mode. I know that next week when I start mushy foods I’ll be able to get more calories and nutrients in and I’m sure that will help me feel better. Plus mentally it will be a lot easier as well. Friday was really tough for me to get through the mental need for real food even though the physical need wasn’t there. Also, as the swelling goes down from the surgery I’ll be able to fit more volume in. I’ve actually read some other bandsters say that they wind up feeling no restriction at all for a while before they are able to go in and get their band filled with saline for the first time (usually 6 weeks post-op). I’m told that’s bandster hell. Hopefully the swelling doesn’t go down that much. I have to keep on track if I want to get to 225# by my sister’s wedding in October. I just have to keep on plugging away and before I know it I’ll be back to my normal self—only skinnier and less hungry all the time. Just 1 more week until I can eat that egg I’ve been dreaming about. Yippie!

Well, I don't have a spouse and I've been lucky enough to have the support of my family, but I hope your husband comes around. I think it might be a good idea to gently remind him that this isn't about "lazy" or "easy" it's about your health and you have to choose the path that's going to work not the one that's the "hardest" just because--why? Because it's harder? Because you will then somehow have "earned" it? Because that will somehow result in a more satisfaction or a greater sense of achievement from your weight loss? There won't be any satisfaction or sense of achievement if you continue on the same path you've been on. If this is something you've been struggling with for a long time and nothing else has worked remind him of that and let him know that you want to be the healthiest you that you can be, not only for you but for him as well as any family or potential family you might have with him if you're planning on it. I also suggest educating him. Take him to an info session with a Dr., show him articles about the surgery and why it's important. Let him see the statistics of weight loss success with "traditional methods" vs. WLS. Here are a few sites you can get started with. The Risks and Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery Weight Loss Surgery Helps Moderately Obese Lapband.com - Weight Loss Surgery and Other Treatment Options http://www.asbs.org/Newsite07/resources/press_release_8202007.pdf

Hi guys. Just got banded by Dr. G last week. So far I'm doing good. Still very sore around my port site. I have to admit that I gave in to temptation today and ate something non-liquid even though I'm only a week out. I had an egg but I made it really runny and took about 40 minutes to get it down. I didn't have any problems tolerating it but it wasn't nearly good as I expected. My heads back in the game now though and it's back to full liquids for 1 more week.

My doc will use both but only of someone really insists on the Realize. his default is the Lap-band. He feels they're just made better. He showed me both of them and just looking at them I could see the difference. The inflatable part on the realize didn't look as sturdy to me at all. But he will use it as will a lot of other docs so it must still be a good choice. He just felt that the lap-band was a better one and I could see why.

Wow, 30 lbs already. You're doing great. If you're not even supposed to have protien shakes right now, what are you supposed to eat during your liquid phase. Good luck getting through the weekend undetected. I've told everyone about my band so I don't know what it's like trying to hide it. I do however know that if my mother asks me one more time if my pants feel any loser yet, I'm going to scream. She literally asks me every day. It may not be hell, but it's annoying as hell. Keep up the good work. -Lauren

I'll remind you. And I'll try and catch the show as well. Sounds interesting.

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after a couple of tries. The first few days all the pain was from the incisions, especially around the port that sits under my skin and connects to the band. On Thursday I experienced my first, real gas pains. Some of the gas they use to blow up the abdomen with at surgery gets stuck in there and can irritate the phrenic nerve which runs up towards the shoulder. As a result after surgery a lot of people experience pain in their shoulder. By Thursday my incisions were starting to be tolerable and then all of a sudden I started getting these gas pains. They gave me a horrible headache too. I had them to a lesser degree Friday and a little last night as well. But overall it’s getting much better. Yesterday all I had to take for pain was 1 extra strength Tylenol. The incision where they placed my port is still sore if I bend a certain way and it’s very black and blue, but other than that the pain seems to have mostly passed. I do still have to deal with these little hiccup-y burp things that are very uncomfortable. I think it’s because any little bit of air that I suck in takes up such a large portion of the new stomach that I have to burp it up, but because of the restriction to my stomach and the trauma to my abdominal muscles I can’t really burp properly. Whatever the reason, they’re annoying as heck. I’ve also been a lot more tired all week, probably as a result of the general anesthetic they put me under. I’d wake up at a normal hour and feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed (like a squirrel on crack :wink:) but I’d be wiped out by mid afternoon and have to take a nap even though I hadn’t done much except take a couple of short walks. The last two days have been the only two where I haven’t needed a nap and by the end of the night I’d felt like I’d been working all day. Hopefully by the time I actually go back to work on Wednesday, that will have passed as well—especially since I work 12 hour days. It’s going to be hard for me at work knowing that I can’t help lift and restrain animals. I mean, that’s what the techs and assistants are hired for, but they’re all so much littler than me I always wind up jumping in and helping. It’s going to be especially tough at night when there’s only 1 tech. If we get a really big dog she won’t be able to lift it by herself. I guess either the owners will have to help or I’ll have to get down on the floor to examine them. As long as I stick to actually doing my job—examining, diagnosing and prescribing—I should be OK at work. Although if there are any surgeries I should probably let the other doctors take them for the first week back. The good news is that so far this really seems to be working. I’ve lost 20# since I started the pre-op diet not even 2 weeks ago. It’s amazing how easy it is to lose weight when you can’t fit anything into your stomach. I’m still on the liquid diet and will be for another week. Right now I’m supposed to be eating (or more accurately, drinking) 4 of my Medifast protein shakes and 2 other liquid meals (soup without chunks, yogurt without chunks, pudding, jello, ices, etc) a day along with 6-8 glasses of water. Right now I can’t even eat that. I think yesterday I came the closest. I had 4 Medifasts and 1 6oz light, fat-free key lime pie yogurt and 7 glasses of water. By the end of the night I felt completely bloated. I could feel the liquid splashing around in my new, bite-sized belly. The total was 460 calories. I’m actually worried about my body going into starvation mode. I know that next week when I start mushy foods I’ll be able to get more calories and nutrients in and I’m sure that will help me feel better. Plus mentally it will be a lot easier as well. Friday was really tough for me to get through the mental need for real food even though the physical need wasn’t there. Also, as the swelling goes down from the surgery I’ll be able to fit more volume in. I’ve actually read some other bandsters say that they wind up feeling no restriction at all for a while before they are able to go in and get their band filled with saline for the first time (usually 6 weeks post-op). I’m told that’s bandster hell. Hopefully the swelling doesn’t go down that much. I have to keep on track if I want to get to 225# by my sister’s wedding in October. I just have to keep on plugging away and before I know it I’ll be back to my normal self—only skinnier and less hungry all the time. Just 1 more week until I can eat that egg I’ve been dreaming about. Yippie!

So I had my surgery yesterday. Everything went well. In fact, the doctor told my parents it went "perfectly." Recovery wasn't too bad either, once I got over the crying thing I was doing as I woke up. I was walking laps around the unit less than 2 hours after I finished surgery and I'm sure I could have done it sooner, if I didn't have a bunch of visitors. I wrote a detailed blog about the experince if there are any April bandsters left out there still to be banded and the want to read it, or even if you've already been banded and just want to compare experiences. I've been in bed since I got home this afternoon, so I think it's time to take the doggy for a short walk. Hope everyone's doing well with their new bands. -Lauren

Here wer go...My first weight loss challenge since being banded. I decided to be a rebel and set m sights high. I raised my goal from 30 to 35# :thumbup: Bunny Banster's July 4th Challenge Bunny's name ------ Bunny's target loss --- Bunny's start weight --- Current date --- Bunny's Current weight --- Bunny's target July 4 weight PharmaGirl ----------------- 20lb --------------------- 276lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 276lb ---------------------- 256lb NY Lady -------------------- 20lb --------------------- 253lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 253lb ---------------------- 233lb Lingling--------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JayTee---------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? MrsMitch -------------------- 20lb -------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? ALuv82---------------------- 35lb ------------------ 297.5 -------------------- 1 May ------------------- 297.5 ------------------------ 262.5 Band_Groupie -------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Kaner ----------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Scoobydoo ------------------ 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? TerriLynne ------------------ 15lb --------------------- 296 -------------------- 1 May --------------------- 296 -------------------------- 281 Hopeful41411 --------------- 18lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? IsabellaP84 ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Hannah Jay ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JWL08 ---------------------- 18lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Abbie-pie ------------------- 30lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Poconomom -----------------20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? myturn2Bhappy ------------- 30lb --------------------288 ------------------ 1 May --------------------288--------------------258 DMChef --------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? FutureSize10 ---------------- 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Doodlebug11 ---------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? tcbgirl ----------------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? twinmamma1130 ------------ 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? mi_illusion_st ----------------15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? kittygirl --------------------- 22lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JukeBox81782 -------------- 40lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Losing for me -------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Early ----------------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? labbandgirl2009 ------------ 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Pottergirl------------------- 20lb--------------------- 280lb ----------------- 30 April------------------- 280lb ------------------- 260lb shakia90 ------------------ 20lb --------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? txdj ----------------------- 20lb---------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? ThinWithin ------------------20lb---------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? Help1977-----------------20lb----------------------251.8-------------------1 May----------------------251.8-------------------231.8

I was only banded Monday, so so far I haven't done too much. My street goes in a circle and one lap is just under 3/4 of a mile. I walked in once lsat night and twice so far today. Before surgery I worked out at the gym with a trainer 2x/week plus tried to do cardio at least 1 additional time. I hope to get back to that soon. They told me after my 2 week check up I could probably get back to the gym for cardio but I couldn't start lifting for 4-6 weeks.

The water weight isn't from drinking water, it's from IV fluids in the hospital. I understand your frustration though. Where did you get banded? I was banded by Dr. Geiss in Syosset.

Hey. Glad to hear everything turned out OK. 1 week already--yippee. Keep going strong.

I'm glad to hear things are going well so far. I was also banded Monday. I'm doing pretty good but I'm rpetty sore around my port which gave me trouble tring to sleep last night. There is some gas pain but it's minimal. I am also not interested in food at all. The nurse told me I could start full liquids the first day I woke up in my own bed which was today, but the dietician who spoke to me before discharge yesterday said 24-48 hours on clear liquids, which means today or tomorrow. I'm not quite feeling up to full liquids yet. I had to force myself to eat my Italian ice this morning. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel more up to putting stuff in my stomach. As for not losing any weight the last couple of days, how long were you in the hospital for? I was over night and got at least a few liters of fluids during that time which could add some weight. I also noticed some differences between different scales I was on. The scale at the hospital was more than 5 pounds less than my scale at home. I wouldn't worry about it took much. The weight will come back off in no time.

Yep, mine was laproscopic. I have a little big of gas discomfort, but mostly m pain is from the incisions and ports. Last night trying to sleep was the worst, then I read someone suggest sleeping in a reclining chair and that helped a lot.

Hey guys! I finally got my band yesterday. Everything went pretty smoothly. In fact, the Dr. said I did "perfectly." My surgeon has everyone spend one night in hospital. He banded 4 other patients yesterday and it looked like I had the easiest immediate recovery of all of them. I hope the rest o my recovery period goes as smoothly. I'm feeling a little blah today. Tired, and my incisions and port site hurt. But I was able to walk my dog almost 3/4 of a mile, so I can't be doing too badly. If any of you out there are interested, I wrote an in depth blog entry on exactly what the whole experince was like from getting to the hospital yesterday until I left today. I know everyone's experiences are different and each surgeon does it a little differently but might be helpful to those of you who are yet to be banded so you have an idea of what willl happen. Hope all of you who are banded are doing well and good luck to those of you still waiting. -Lauren

I was only banded yesterday but I'm still in quite a bit of pain. I am considering myself lucky; 4 other patients were banded by my surgeon yesterday and I was doing the best of any of them in the hosp. I was able to walk almost 3/4 of a mile today, albeit very slowly. But I can't see myself off the pain pills by tomorrow. I hope I'm as lucky as you've been, but if not, I'm still happy with where I am.

Hey. I'm sorry to hear about your scare, but it wounds like everything is going to be alright. That's a relief. Here's wishing you feel better soon. -Lauren

Well, it’s official; I’m in band land. I went to the hospital yesterday, around 2PM (I was the last of the five surgeries Dr. G did yesterday). After checking in, I was taken to the surgery waiting room which was filled with cookies and the not-so-faint aroma of brewing coffee. Now, I don’t drink coffee too frequently, but man did that stuff smell good. Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be bad? Anyhow, I went to the bathroom and then noticed there was a computer with internet access in the room. I sat down and promptly signed on to give you all an update but as soon as I typed in my username and password, the nurse came for me. She handed me a gown, a garment bag and some wipes and directed me to the bathroom to change. I was instructed to take off all my clothing, jewelry, hair pins, etc., wipe my abdomen thoroughly with the wipes, and the put the gown on, open to the back. After I finished changing I went into the prep room where the nurse took my weight. According to that scale I was 297.7. That scale is a little off from my scale at home which told me I was 303 that morning, but I definitely like the Dr.’s scale better. If that’s compatible with the scale at the gym, it means I lost 15.7# on the pre-op diet alone. Although I have a feeling that my bathroom scale is more compatible to the gym scale, that would still mean I lost 10.4# in a week. Pretty nice, huh? Anyhow, the nurse proceeded to ask me a ton of health history questions that I’d already answered twelve hundred times in the last week. Next she hooked me up to an IV in my left hand with lactated ringers solution and an IV antibiotic drip of Cefazolin. I was given an injection of Lovenox in my stomach to prevent clot formation. Around this time Dr. G popped his head in to say hi. Once I was done getting prepped, my parents were brought in to sit with me while I waited for my surgery. The anesthesiologist popped by as well and asked me a bunch of the same questions about my history again. Finally just before 3PM, it was time. I was given an injection of some “happy juice” to relax me. I forget the exact name of the medication, but it’s in the valium family. I was told that after the injection I might not remember anything, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. I remember being rolled into the OR. Some good song was playing, though I can’t remember which one and I started singing along as I sometimes have a tendency to do. I remember the nurse joking with me asking how I new it was karaoke day at the hospital. I was moved from the gurney to the operating table and strapped on. It was, of course, as soon as my arms were strapped down that I got an itch on my nose. The nurse kindly scratched it for me before placing the mask over my face and telling me to take deep breaths. I could hear stuff around me and I was crying. I heard someone jokingly tell me I was making them sad, but I couldn’t stop. I could feel myself being wheeled out of the room towards recovery and I tried to open my eyes and focus on what was going on around me. I knew where I was and what was happening and I wasn’t sad or frightened and while it hurt, the pain was hardly unbearable, but still I wouldn’t stop crying. After a little while my eyes were able to focus better and my tears calmed down. I could see the clock across from me and it was 4:30 pm. My mouth was completely parched and the pain was definitely there. The guy who was with me in the recovery room asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. I told him I was a 6, and he gave me a nice shot of some happy, happy pain meds into my catheter. This brought me down to a 4 so he gave me one more shot and got me down to about a 2, which was nice. He also gave me some ice chips which were just about the best thing in the world by that time. At this point I was awake enough and they brought my parents in to see me. We talked for a little while and I realized I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t until I voiced this concern out loud that I found out I had a Foley catheter in, so apparently I didn’t have to go after all. After a little time spent with my parents, my sister and grandparents showed up. My sister brought me a nice care package with a couple of magazines and some beauty products—and best of all a pin wheel. I haven’t had a pin wheel since I was like, 11. It was purple and silver and not only was it fun to blow on, but it helped me take deep breaths which was good for me. At around 6:30 the pulmonologist showed up to check me out (Dr. G had been by sometime earlier, though I can’t remember when so it must have been shortly after surgery when I was still all doozey-bots) My family left and the pulmonologist checked me out. He told me that someone would be by later in the evening to set up my CPAP for me, but I didn’t have to use it if I didn’t want to. Instead they could give me a nasal cannula with oxygen as long as I didn’t have any problems over night. He also showed me how to use a device called an incentive spirometer to help me take good deep breaths. I was actually feeling pretty good although the pain was starting to come back so I got a shot of Demerol in my arm. Once the doctor was gone I got up and walked a few laps around the unit. I passed by the rooms of some of the other patients and I have to say, I was definitely recovering much better than any of the others. One of the other patients was a girl a little younger than me and she asked me what my trick was for recovering so well. I’m not sure I had one but I think maybe the fact that I worked out regularly before this helped me have more energy, plus the extra muscle mass I had because of it probably helped me metabolize the anesthesia better. After about 5 laps around the wing I sat down in a chair in my room for a little while and tried to read the Self magazine my sister gave me. Just before 8PM I took a couple more laps around the ward then settled into bed to watch House and One Tree Hill. After that I dozed for a while and at around midnight they came to take out my Foley catheter and I was able to put on some real pajamas. They had me walk some more and then I got to go to sleep. In the morning they came down and took us one by one to radiology for our post-op video esophagram. I had to drink a couple of sips of barium which shows up bright white on an x-ray. They used fluoroscopy (a real time video x-ray) to watch the barium go down my esophagus into my new stomach pouch and then through the band into the rest of my stomach. The point of this was to check the placement of the band and to make sure it wasn’t too tight. As it turns out Dr. G. does put a little bit of saline in the bands to begin with, but if the esophagram showed it was too tight they would have had to take some out. Everything must have been good with my esophagram because I got a few more meds and a platter of water and fruit ice. The dietician came by and gave me a brief review of the post-op diet plan I’m going to have to follow and instructed me on how slow I was supposed to eat and drink. The fruit ice went down without a problem and I was discharged around 11AM. And now I’m back home and sharing the experience with you guys. I feel alright so far. My belly definitely hurts, especially in the area where the port is. Dr. G placed my port on the left just below my rib cage. I have a few pictures up of my battle scars, and I labeled one of them so you could see where all the incisions were and where the port lies. And that’s about it. It’s done now. There’s no turning back, only moving forward. Today’s the first day of the rest of my life and I plan on making the most out of it.