macleay

Congrats on being banded! Sorry your gas pains are bad--mine lasted about 2-3 weeks, but each day got better. I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow and hopefully better every day after. Take care and let us know how you're doing.

It also took me about 3 weeks to feel totally normal again, but really, after the first week, I felt better every day. My port is located right under my largest incision. I've got 5 incisions, 4 of them very small, and one about 1-1/2 inches long--it's under there according to my doctor.

It took about 2 weeks for me to get rid of the gas. The shoulder pain didn't start until 5-6 days out, for some reason. Gas S strips didn't help me much, but I know they work for a lot of people. Wasn't OCC fabulous? I was very happy with Dr Ortiz and his staff.

I had my eyes and eyebrows done and love it. My eyeliner was done the first time about 10 years ago and I had it redone about 2 years ago. At that time, she talked me into having my eyebrows done. I didn't want Bette Davis eyebrows, but she did a really subtle job--I'm extremely happy with both. I live in Oregon--the cost was $100 per lid to retouch ($400 total). The eyebrow cost was about $250 I think. She used a numbing agent with me as well. It's difficult to lay there while she does the eyes, but it doesn't really hurt, more like a pinch feeling over and over again. I've heard lips are very painful. Lipliner not as painful as filling in the entire lip and worse at your TOM.

I was banded Jan 7, 2010. I felt pretty great until about Day 4, which is coincidentally when my pain meds ran out! At that point, I really didn't feel too bad, but it hurt to bend over, my incisions were tender, and then the left shoulder pain started about 5 days out, which I found really strange. It got better and better. The worst during Day 6 through about Day 10-12 was the fatigue. If you can, give your body a break--after all, you DID just have surgery! I'm three weeks out now and feel totally normal, except I'm still having intermittent shoulder pain, but nothing I can't handle. I'm on no pain medications and haven't been since Day 4, except for a couple of days of Advil because of the shoulder pain. What I'm getting from all of these posts is that everyone is different--some recover more quickly than others and we all have different symptoms that bother us more. You are still way within the boundaries of "normal", so I wouldn't worry, unless you don't keep improving.

I also love spicy foods--the medium enchilada sauce didn't bother me at all, and my doc didn't tell me I couldn't spice foods up. I really love this soup when I'm forced to eat nothing but cream soups!

I was banded Jan 7, 2010 by Dr Ortiz in Tijuana. Highly recommend him and his staff. Out of the four prior surguries I've had, this one was by far the best. I had very manageable soreness, really not painful at all except the dang gas! PM me if you have any questions. I wouldn't hesitate to consider surgery in Mexico, many of the doctors there have been doing the surgery longer than the surgeons in the US.

chicken Tortilla Soup 1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup 1 can cream of cheddar soup 5 oz enchilada sauce (probably should use mild but I used med) 1 can fat-free or 2% milk Heat and eat! This got me through my 2nd and 3rd week of my liquid diet--I was to only eat cream Soups, along with Protein drinks and drinkable yogurt. It's great--I just didn't eat the few little chicken chunks in the cream of chicken soup, but you could also strain it if you want.

My doctor says he puts a few small stiches in, which holds the band in place while the stomach heals and gives it a chance to build up scar tissue which will help hold the band in place. Drinking only clear liquids for the first week, and then slowly adding other liquids allows this healing to occur. If you eat regular food, your stomach is moving as it digests the food and it interrupts the healing process. My doctor has said that many people eat regular food immediately after surgery and have no problem, but they're not building a strong foundation and the damage usually isn't immediate, it's in six or more months when some have problems with band slippage. That is my understanding of why.

Wow, you guys have the hardest pre-op diets! I had to lose 12 pounds prior to surgery and was on two shakes and one lean cuisine a day, plus I could eat as much salad with green veggies (like cukes, and green onions) and salad spritz. It was hard, but not nearly as hard as I'm finding the 3-week post-op liquid diet. That's where my doc is very strict--no mushies, just clear liquid, drinkable yogurt, Protein drinks, and cream Soups. Hang in there--it won't be for long and then you'll be banded! Plus the longer you're on it, the more your stomach will get used to it.

First of all, my doctor is pretty conservative for the 3-week liquid phase. I was allowed broth, diluted fruit juice, sugar free popsicles, vitamin water, protein water and gatorade. At Day 7 (or Day 3 if I couldn't stand it any longer) I could add drinkable yogurt. I was pretty hungry for 5 days until I started drinking liquid yogurt. That really helped. A few days after that, I was allowed to add protein drinks, followed by cream soups. This is all I can eat for 21 days. I'm now on Day 16 and really haven't been super hungry since the first few days. I find that protein helps--the protein drinks stick with me longer, and I'm also drinking Special K20 protein water, which also helps. So based on my experience, you'll be feeling less hunger, especially if you can add more foods. From what I've read on this forum, lots of people are able to eat a lot more than I can, so hopefully, you'll feel less hunger than I did. Sorry I wrote a book!

I've told everybody, but know know others who haven't. It is embarrassing to some people, I think. For me, it's just easier to tell them what's happening so that I don't have to figure out how to answer their questions once I lose all the weight!