drjohnnm

I expected to my blood sugars go down after surgery (banded on May 27, 2009). My sugars are dropping way too much. My fasting glucose came in at 130 before surgery. That was with 2000mg daily of meformin, 100mg daily of Januvia, and 5mg daily of glipizide. Since the surgery I have lost 32 pounds. I have cut my metformin and glipizide dosage in half and my morning glucose readings have been between 90 an 100. Late afternoon before dinner my glucose has been in the 80s. Anything below 80 is bad news for me and my co-workers. I will be seeing my primary care doc again tomorrow, and I think it is going to be important to work with him.

I was banded on May 27. I will see my surgeon on June 15, and my primary care doctor on June 10. Still on the liquid diet, and tomorrow will be the first time I have been on a scale since surgery day. I got the realize band because of the web site. I have not registered yet. My surgeon did not provide the 9-digit number for pre-surgery registration and I will be calling this week to get signed up using the 12-digit number on my card. Looking forward to some good recipes on the site. I am still on the liquid diet and I have had an excellent variety of Soups, both home made and store bought. If you have access to Trader Joe's, mixing their essential greens smoothie with carrot juice makes for a highly nutrional drink.

Actually, my story includes my immediate post banding experience. I was banded on May 27, 2009 by Dr. Hilario Juarez at St. Luke's Hospital in Phoenix. Things went very smoothly, from admission to pre-op prep to surgery. The hours after the surgery were the hardest. Perhaps because the doctor repaired a hiatal hernia during the surgery. I remember being wheeled into the operationg room and thinking what an impressive place. Within 10 seconds of being put on the operating table I was out cold. I woke up the recovery room and asked where I was at. Someone said the recovery room and I was out cold again. I came to in my hospital room with family nearby. I asked if my sister was able to get ahold of my girlfriend and update her. She said yes, and I passed out again until about 10:30 p.m. My vitals were monitored often during the night so someone was constantly waking me up to put in a new anti-biotic on the IV or to take my blood pressure and test my blood surgar. Finally, by 10:30, I was in pain, not a lot, but it was pain, from the incision where the port was installed. Getting up was difficult at best. Finally, around 4 a.m. in the morning, one of the night nurses came in and told me to get up and start walking. That actually felt good and I made several trips around the floor. My medications were cut into small pieces and I was told to take one at a time, wait 3 or 4 minutes, then take another one. That amounted to a long and tedious time to take my meds. I was discharged by mid-afternoon. It is now Saturday evening, about 7 pm. I am at home and the cat does not understand why standing on the port is not allowed. Ouch! My girlfriend helped stock up on healthy liquids at Trader Joe's after she picked me up at the airport in Albuquerque. I had Cream of Wheat (very liquidy with soy milk) for breakfast. I ate slowly and realized when I was full and had to stop. The discharge instructions said to take two tums daily, so I took the tums and the gas gone down a bit. Had a bowl of cream of tomato soup for dinner. Beats the splash of apple juice at the hospital. So, all in all, making adjustments to how I eat, and I am feeling better each day. John Starting weight of 303, BMI of 43.

This is an interesting forum. I am agnostic/atheist. Depends on how I am asked the question. I go in for the banding on May 27, and on the hospital form I listed Unitarian for religious preference. I do have great support from the church family which will be important after I get back home.

Best wishes to you Julie! Definitely a small world. John

I will having my surgery on May 27 in Phoenix. Dr. Hilario Juarez is my surgeon on this. Fortunately, I will have family around for the first few days after surgery before I return home to Santa Fe. I feel I have good support from friends which will be important. I am supposed to go in for pre-op testing on May 19. I am not sure what is involved with this. I have had the cardio stress test and echo cardiogram. I suppose this may involve some x-rays, just not sure what else is involved. The postings here in the introductions reflect some of my concerns going into this. I have had weight problems most of my life. Even at my best weight (I was 15 lbs over the "ideal" weight on the weight chart, people still thought I was fat. I see the band as a tool to more or less force me into portion control. I do eat healthy food as a type 2 diabetic. Portion control has been my biggest problem along with some issues around eating when depressed or anxious. I am being treated for the depression and anxiety. Also, I am looking for any support groups in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area. I am also interested in finding out if there is anyone in the area that does lap band adjustments.

Thank you Brandy. There is a fill center usa in Albuquerque. John

I am scheduled for banding on May 27 with Dr. Juarez. I am going in for my pre-op testing on May 19. Can anyone share with me information about the pre-op testing? Also, is there anyone out there who had Juarez or Fang do their surgery and now in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area? Thanks, John