johnna

Remember this whole thing is a process and you are just experiencing part of it now. when I get anxious, I go crazy with food. So, it was very difficult to do the preop diet being anxious about surgery and the whole idea of giving up my food.

isn't the port stitched into your muscle? how would it flip? I'm almost 4 weeks post op and still struggling to sleep on my sides. I've had a hard time with this as I hate to sleep on my back and especially my stomach. Just hanging in there till the pain passes hopefully some time soon.

the pharmacist I contacted said that the prilosec in tablet form should not be crushed. so, my pc prescribed me prevacid that melts under the tongue.

I've had reflux for years. Since being banded I've only had it two or three times (since May 31, 2006). I was a lucky one I guess. I have no idea if there is a relation to acid reflux or erosion.

magic bullet from Walgreens. Don't go there and buy it though. I paid $60.00 for mine. Looks like others have found it much cheaper at other places.

my children's doctor recommends room temperature flat sprite. take sips over time, no gulps. if can't keep that down she then moves onto phenegran so they don't get dehydrated.

Could you be ovulating? Another thread is talking about how their periods, hormones, etc. is changing since they've been banded. So, you may have a different sensation than previous to surgery.

Think of all the weight you have lost and don't focus on the one week you didn't lose. Your accumulative action over weeks is what counts. When I have extra people around I get stressed out and tend to over eat/graze. I don't know if this is the case with you. Actually I had a bad day today, myself. It was an especially stressful day and I took in probably about 500+ extra calories, I'm sure. I'm going to give myself the same advise i'm giving you. We all know what to do, it's just hard to do sometimes.

The fact that you can set up and type on the computer says you are doing pretty good. Congratulations!!

Sherri, I AM a mental health therapist and the above people ARE giving you great advise. It's so weird how unexpressed feelings can show themselves. If this is not his typical mode of operation try not to take it personally. Obviously, something else is going on with him. We often lash out on those who we feel the most comfortable and safest with. Also, don't be willing to toss out 25 years of marriage because of some out of character behavior. Validate your hurt feelings (have a blubbering crying party with yourself), say this sucks that it is happening right now, don't personalize it and move ahead strong (as you can). I've been there, we've all been there where we are so hurt and discouraged we can't function. Keep life simple as possible right now, make sure you are taking care of yourself both physically and mentally. Exercise. It can really help to relieve the stress. Hang in there!!

hey julie. i don't have an answer for you. i have the same question. i clicked on your thread to see the answers. i haven't gotten my first fill yet and am on solid foods now and the scales are no longer moving. It's frustrating. i hadn't done very well at keeping track of my calories so today I began to do that again just to see if that is the problem. i'll check back to see if anyone replies.

i was nervous too because 10 days before my surgery i still didn't know what type of diet i was to be on. I was "antsy" about that. do you have to meet with a nutritionist or have an appointment in the next few days? If you were to do something before that appointment, i'm sure they would tell you. I had to do 8 days of instant carnation breakfast. I'd just call and ask tomorrow for your own peace of mind.

i was the same way. i did liquid for 2-3 days as directed by my doctor. moved onto pureed for about 3 days. Then onto mushies for about 3 days and then started on solid food that i chew to death. When I initially started the solid foods I drank at the same time so it was like I was eating soup. Now I just eat it and chew very thoroughly without drinking. I emailed my doctor yesterday to tell him what point that I had gotten to and that I was feeling fine. I've never pb???is that what it's called or vomited or been nauseated. He said it was fine if I felt good. However, I think it is important to follow your doctors recomendation. I didn't want to keep doing it without him knowing it at least. FYI I was banded May 31, 2006. I'm going to say be careful about the calorie content in the french fries, but I'm sure you already know that. It's hard when you're out and hungry. I also had french fries one day.

thanks for sharing. very interesting. it matches fairly well what education i received from the clinic that i went through. they must have good updated information.

same as me. as soon i i started mushies/solids, it changed to normal.

i have my masters degree in mental health counseling. i have worked with both children,adolescents and adults in therapy for about 15 years now.

well, once it was presented to the insurance company, it took about 3 weeks for verbal approvala two more for the doc to have a hard copy. i don't have anthem.

you are doing awesome. i can't believe how much you are doing and how quickly. Between the pain and being knocked out from the pain killers, i didn't know life exsisted for about 3 or 4 days. different people experience different things. you got lucky.

I was so concerned about the "ripping" feeling that I went to the ER (that and I was dehydrated). They x rayed me and assurred me that everything was in the correct place and that I was feeling normal post op pain. i wasn't prepared for the level of pain that I did feel. I am 2 1/2 weeks out and I still am tender around and inside port area. i am functioning at fairly normal level though feel quite fatigued. i just have been able to sleep on port side of side in last few nights. i still get the pulling sensation a little but bearable. i have placed pillows around and underneath port to give support. i thought i'd go crazy till i was able to get on my side again. it's going to get better.

good for you and WELCOME!!

it will. it will. i was on the high end of pain too like you. i've heard some people experience relatively little pain. Not me. about the second day, i was ready to get it out of my body. have you asked your doctor to change pain meds for you? also, there is an adult liquid tylenol. i got mine at walgreens. i've read on this sight that a lot of people use heating pads. i stopped my prescription pain killers on day 5 and switched to tylenol. not because my pain was less, but because i wanted to drive. i was going crazy!! i stopped everything about day 8. i was still experiencing a low level of pain but the tylenol tasted so nasty (pills). i personally didn't like the liquid tylenol because it was so sweet and made me a little nauseated. i'm two and 1/2 weeks out and am functioning almost at normal level. bending all the way over to floor still causes a little pain so i keep it to a minimum. hang in there. it will get better.

i have two children, one ten and one six. i was nervous about the surgery even knowing the rate of death was very low. however, it was a time for me to think about death and as a result have gotten my spiritual prioritites straight which has helped me out in life in general. good luck.

I get blurry vision when my blood pressure is up. Regardless, i'd call doc. i had head hunger the first week after my surgery really bad. i couldn't sleep for a week because i'd lay down and get very antsy?? my legs and arms would be restless. i realized finally that the problem was I wasn't loading up on food before bed. when i was anxious before, i'd load up on food. i was pretty anxious after surgery about different pains, etc. when i'd go to bed i'd think about all of it, get very anxious and couldn't sleep. I didn't have my numbing drugs (food) to fill up on. as soon as i realized what was going i was able to talk myself through it and i'm sleeping pretty well for the last week or so.

ditto to almost all above stories. a couple different things though. i have never been in touch with my body. always put taking care of othes needs first and didn't see that i had/have needs to take care of on myself. add that to eating for for numbing purposes and gives you a recipe for "fat". began putting weight on after marriage. my self esteem has always been low and i have always interpreted affection/conversation from men as interest in me sexually. Though sometimes I'm sure there was a two way intrest. I wasn't very tame and responded on impulses frequently. when i got married i had made a committment. i became worried that i would mess up (affair) and began packing weight on as a way to protect myself from anybody being interested in me sexually and thus I would not screw up my marriage. I've only come to realize this when my shrink and I have talked about me getting the band. This is a new revelation to me and I am worried about how I will behave if I am approached sexually by another male when I lose weight. I'm very different than I was when I married 13 years ago. I believe I've matured in many areas and the struggle won't be as intense. If for no other reason, my libido is different. Just FYI I have been faithful to my husband throughout our entire marriage. This is probably TMI but I'm guessing that I'm not the only one out there who has had a struggle with weight for a similar reason. Take what you can, leave the rest.

wow. i thought i was the only one who wasn't telling a lot of people about it. i haven't told but a few people and asked them not to tell anyone (i can trust that). i told my boss i was taking a weeks vacation. when it went into two weeks (because of dehydration) he questioned me. I told him i had some medical problems that were personal but they were coming along very well (they were at that point). he asked me if it were something that was going to interfere with working such as cervical cancer? i assurred him that it didn't and that if i was just given a few more days i'd be back at it going strong. he accepted it fine. i think if you leave it vague people will assume it is some type of female surgery/problem.