Sunshine79

My best advice is to sip slowly. It's a hard habit to break but most of us are used to gulping drinks down and that doesn't work real well with the band. And just try to pay really close attention to your body's reaction when you eat jello or popsicles. Go slowly and stop if it feels like it's not going down right. For the first couple days, I tried to avoid eating and drinking when I was doing other things (watching TV, doing stuff around the house) and just focused on how it felt going down. I know it sounds obvious but as multi-taskers, it's incredible how unaware we are of those little things.

Your experience sounds like my experience a week ago. I stayed the night at the hospital and the IV made me have to get up and pee about a million times. The first time getting up was pretty painful but every time after that it got easier and easier. By the time I got home the next morning, I felt completely fine. Never had gas pains, never had to take pain meds and every day it got better and better. Now one week later (and 13 lbs lighter), I almost forget I've gotten anything done.

If your lymph nodes are swollen, it definitely sounds like you have a cold or the flu, which is possible given that you were in a hospital with other infectious people. You may want to talk to your doc about getting on antibiotics. That sounds miserable to be going through surgery recovery and having all those issues. I wish you a speedy recovery!

A-Wenz, I had my gall bladder out about 5 years ago and I thought it was a really easy recovery, much easier than most people's lap band experiences. I had it done Friday, was a little sore for 1 1/2 days and was fine and back to work by Monday. Now I had a really easy lap band experience too but the difference was at least with the gall bladder you can eat normal food while you're recovering. I think that's key to regaining your energy and healing. The lap band post-op liquid diet zapped all my energy.

I really like the Unjury chocolate. It was way tastier and creamier than Muscle Milk light which does have a yucky aftertaste. I also mix the unflavored powder in stuff like mashed potatoes, soup, jello, pudding, etc and you can't really taste it at all.

Lace, I was also banded May 13. I posted my story already but I too am back at work as of this morning. I got lucky and had very little soreness and no gas pain to speak of. I could have gone back to work on Monday but I didn't have a lot of energy due to the liquid diet. I started mushies/soft foods yesterday so that helped a lot. I did go in for a post-op follow-up yesterday and I've already lost 13 lbs so hopefully you'll have similar good results. Hang in there!

I was banded on the 13th. I got really lucky with the pain and have had very little (gas or soreness) to speak of. So it's day 4 and I've been up and about since Friday and I feel fine and could probably go back to work tomorrow if I wanted although I'll take the 3 more sick days that I requested (why not?). The only problem is that I'm really hungry. I have the realize band which goes in unfilled and that's been really hard. I'm supposed to be on clear liquids until my follow-up appointment on Wednesday and then he'll probably move me to mushies and soft foods. I've added unjury Protein to my jellos and Soups so I'm definitely getting the recommended amount of protein and I'm keeping hydrated but it's definitely a challenge. I've added diluted tomato Soup to my diet, even though it's not clear, and that's made it a little bit better. I'd almost rather have the pain (at least you can take medicine) than being perfectly fine and hungry all the time. I probably won't get my first fill for a month or so so hopefully I'll make it through.

I'm so jealous of those of you that are already at the pureed or soft foods stage! I had my surgery yesterday and everything went great, I was in very little pain and didn't need meds. I felt alert and fine and can move around and walk just fine but the hunger set in this afternoon and just won't seem to go away. I had a protein shake earlier today and just had a popsicle followed by jello but I'm still hungry. My doc recommends a week on clear liquids, although I see him in 5 days and he says he'll probably let me move on to the next stage. I just don't know how I'm going to get through the next couple days if I'm this hungry.

I had my surgery yesterday morning and so far everything has been much easier than I expected. I went in for surgery around 11:20 and was in recovery by about 12:45. I woke up around 2 or so fully alert and coherent, no residual side effects of anesthesia like in past surgeries. I also had very little pain and didn't need any additional pain meds. Unfortunately my doc makes you stay the night in order to do a barium swallow the next day and that was the most annoying part of the whole procedure. I had to pee a million times because I was hooked up to an IV and although I had no problem physically getting in and out of bed, I had to call the nurses for assistance because I was hooked up in so many places (IV, leg compression sleeves, oxynet, etc.). I was wide awake until well in to the night and when I asked for a sleeping pill, the nurse said that hadn't been prescribed and that she'd have to call my doc. So I can have vicodin (lortab) but not tylenol pm? That's crazy. I was supposed to get into radiology early this morning for the barium swallow but they didn't end up taking me in until 11am but then of course I had to wait to get in and then wait to be transported back to my room. I was crawling the walls! I just wanted to go home!!!! So around 1:00 I was finally released from the frigging hospital, thank God!!!! I'm doing fine, still no pain other than soreness when I get up. I am experiencing a little bandster hell already but hopefully my protein powders will do the trick. Those of you that don't have to stay overnight are very lucky and if I can help it, I will only agree to outpatient procedures from here on out

Sydney, it looks like you and I will be on right about the same schedule. I'm being banded Thursday afternoon and I also have to stay through Friday morning to do the barium test.

6 weeks post-op on liquids only? I think I would go crazy!!! My doc says the progression is usually liquids for the first week, mushies in week 2, soft foods in week 3 and hopefully normal food by week 4. Of course that's all dependent on how you're handling the food. If it makes you sick then you're not ready for the next stage. You can also call and ask them post-op, my co-worker was miserable after 5 days of liquid and said she was so irritable she might have to kill her husband (jokingly of course) and the doctor's office said it was fine to move on. And yes, you should find all this out at your pre-op or nutritionist consult.

I have a small hiatal hernia as well, which my doc says he'll fix during surgery. Tums is my best friend. The good news, from what I've read on this site, is that if you had acid reflux before you probably won't have it after the LB. But then I've also read that people that never had it before now get it. Go figure. Hopefully we're in the former category.

Yeah every surgeon has a different preference. Mine doesn't require a pre-op diet at all. Your surgeon knows what he's doing and I'm sure he made the best recommendation for you. I'm scheduled for Thursday so we'll see if there are any issues with the ol' liver :scared2:

I am another May 13 bandster. I too am nervous and excited! I can't believe that in just 2 days, I'll be starting a whole new lifestyle. Although I have a feeling I'll be a little less prepared than most of you because my surgeon told me not to worry about a pre-op diet. So that post-surgery diet of chicken broth and SF Jello is going to be a quite a shock to my system. On the plus side, I'll get to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Carabbas. I figure it may be the last time I ever eat bread and Pasta again. Good luck to everyone and a speedy recovery!

Hey guys! I'm 30 in FL and just got approved. My surgery date is set for May 13. I'm excited and nervous!