GonnaRide

Ann, not sure if this will help you feel any better or not, but this is in my post-op information from my doc's office. "Some patients will feel tired, depressed, tearful, irritable and not like their normal self following surgery. They may also have problems with sleeping at night. These things are normal following surgery. They are related to you receiving anesthesia and medications that your body is not use to receiving. It will take several weeks for you to start feeling more like yourself." *hugs* You're definitely not alone there.

Just a quick note to say I'm home. I came home Saturday early afternoon, and started vomiting severely. I ended up back in the hospital via ambulance and had a really rough few days. Extreme nausea and vomiting, and was on nothing-by-mouth for Saturday and most of Sunday. They did the barium test (but it wasn't barium, it was some other kind of liquid stuff) Sunday early afternoon, and that came back normal. But I didn't find that out until I finally asked a nurse about 9pm Sunday night. The doc on call never came back in to let us know. I was finally able to have liquids again around 9:30pm and have been doing okay so far keeping things down. I've only thrown up once since I've been home. But the pain was nothing like I expected. Really intense pain (and I'm NOT a wimp about pain) and I've been doing a lot of kicking myself for doing this electively.

Thank you so much for all the stories! Even the less pleasant ones. I think that really helps to give a realistic idea of what can happen. I also didn't know about the shot first, so this at least prepares me for that. One thing I've definitely learned from reading all these posts is that I'm going to ask for a high port. I do not want it on my waistline. I live in jeans, and I can just see that being completely irritating, especially while horseback riding. I'm starting to feel a little nervous, and I'm hungry! But I know it's because I "can't" eat anything lol. Congrats to all of you for doing so well and for being so strong!

Well I don't have to be into the hospital until 11:30, and probably not into surgery till 1pm. I believe I will be staying overnight because of the lateness of my surgery time. So I'll see y'all in a few days! Best wishes to the rest of my fellow May 8ths!

David, so many people here share your journey. You are NOT alone! It takes courage to say these things, and your words brought tears to my eyes. You will be a better person, a stronger person, and you're already a more determined person than you have been. We're all rooting WITH you! Thank you for sharing your story with us. It is echoed by many of us here.

For some reason this totally made me laugh. :thumbup: Glad to hear you're feeling okay, Naynay. I'm also having a hernia repair, so it's especially nice to hear from you guys who had both at the same time. Everyone seems to be having a fairly easy time, which is fabulous!

I'm so glad to hear everything went so well. Reading about everyone's is really helping me feel less anxious. Keep us posted how you're doing.

One way to tell if it's gallbladder, is if it's on the left side instead of the right. I had mine out a few months ago after dealing with it for over a year. I had a 0% ejection fraction, so my doc had said it wasn't an urgent removal and I put it off a while. I finally had one attack in the middle of the night that was excruciating, and I called and set up surgery the next day. The left side pain isn't always a give-away, but it might help narrow it down.

My pre-op diet is no more than 40g of carbs per day. No dairy, no fruit. But after that, I can have anything. I've had a lot more meat than I usually do, and cheese, eggs, etc. I definitely had a LOT of carb cravings for the first few days to week, but since then it's seemed to settle down. I do miss my morning cereal though, still. I was on a no-chew diet for a year after TMJ surgery, so even the 2 week post-surgery liquid diet won't be a huge deal for me. Just remember this is temporary, and not forever! It makes it a whole lot easier to stick with it if you keep remembering that. You can do this!!!

I would love to have one of those cards! Is there any info on there stating who made it so we could possibly order one if our doc doesn't have them? I can see how that would be a really helpful tool.

Hey everyone. I've been lurking a month or so, reading lots and learning even more. This is a wonderful resource, and my heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you for sharing your journeys! I'm scheduled for surgery this Friday with Dr. Johnson of Carteret Surgical Center. I'm excited, and a tad nervous at the same time. It's all happened so fast, less than a month. From the time my doc said okay, to insurance approval was 4 days. Then surgery could have been 4 days after that, but I opted to move it to this week instead. I had my gallbladder out in Feb, and I'm having the hardest time with this no carb/high Protein pre-op diet. The lack of gallbladder is making this much high-fat content really difficult on me. I just wanted to say hi, and again give my thanks to all of you! :thumbdown:

New Beginnings, there is a monthly Lap-band support group in Morehead City at the Crystal Coast Civic Center. I've got the dates written down through August if you're interested. The next one is May 18th, at 7pm. They do the lap-band seminar first where the docs talk at 6pm and then go right into the support group. If you want more specifics, shoot me a PM :smile: I'd considered Greenville last summer, but we just couldn't make the 2 hour drive both ways that often. Especially with one car. I'm glad now that I waited. I'm much more mentally ready now, and it being so close to home has made a huge difference! I've heard great things about Greenville though, and sounds like yours went well, too!

Thank you so much, Doug! That's a relief to hear. I think it's starting to hit home that it's really real, and really going to happen now! It's all gone so fast it's been sort of surreal until now. I'm glad to hear yours went so well, and hope you continue to have a fabulous recovery. :smile:

Everything will be fine! It's my birthday, and I'll definitely be keeping all of you May 4th's guys and gals in my prayers. :thumbdown:

May 8th for me. It's a late birthday present (my birthday is the 4th) to myself.

Howdy! May 8th here. I see I've got company on Friday, too! It's exciting to see this many people doing it at the same time. I suddenly feel a LOT less alone.:thumbdown:

I've had Dr Bell for a gastric issue just over a year ago, and Dr Johnson for gallbladder surgery in March. Dr Johnson is also doing my lap band next week. I'm completely confident in both Dr Bell and Dr Johnson. They're easy to talk to, and I feel like they both *really* listen me. I had the "yep all the paperwork is in, let's do this" visit on April 20, the insurance approval on the 23rd, and we're picking a date probably the first week of May because next week doesn't work with my work schedule. But I *could* be doing it next week if I wanted to! Big props all around for Carteret Surgical's team.