vickyd

What you are going through is perfectly normal. Just listen to your body and do what you can do. As others have said, it is important to get up and moving as much as possible even if it is just walking around the house - it will help with the gas pains tremendously. Also, for those of you with steri-strips, I found that I was having a lot of soreness around the port incision (the other ones didn't bother me at all) but when I went in for my 2 week post surgical check up the surgeon removed the steri-strips and all of that soreness and pulling sensations went away

I had my first meal out last night (now that I am no longer on shakes). It seemed to take forever for me to go through the menu but in the end I had a crab cake appetizer (1 crab cake which was mainly crab, not much breading at all) and a side of steamed broccoli. I ate the entire crab cake and about 3 florets of the broccoli (without the stems because they were a little too tough) in the same amount of time it took my family to polish off their full sized meals and dessert. In the end, I was satisfied but not overly full...I am very proud of myself!

I had my 2 week post op appointment today and all is well. I have lost 23 lbs since I started my 2 week preop liquid diet and they said I was exactly where they wanted me to be. My incisions look great and over all I am very pleased,,the best part is that I can finally eat mushies!!! I am so excited to finally get off of the protein shakes - so does anyone have any good ideas for mushies?

I go for my 2 week post op appointment tomorrow...my incisions have steri strips over them and while the others have already come off, the ones over the large port incision are stuck on there...none of the small incisions had stitches in them and I really don't know if my port incision does so my question to each of you is whether or not you had stitches in your port incision. I am just trying to prepare myself for my appointment tomorrow and if there might be stitches then I know that they will have to remove the steri strips in order to remove the stitches (and I am not looking forward to that )

Hi Joan, I have no idea why my surgeon put my port at my waist but it is just to the left of my belly button - that was one question I never thought to ask . It does feel better today (the incisions are covered with steri strips)...I'm just wearing some soft draw string pants today - luckily my office has a relaxed dress code!

I'm glad everyone is doing so well. I am going back to work at the office on Monday (I worked from home this past week). So far, everything is going well for me. The only issue I am having is that my port incision is right at my waist line and it makes wearing pants (other than elastic or tie waist) difficult. Today I am wearing jeans but I have had to leave the button undone in order for the waistband not to rub my incision. I still have steri strips on all of my incisions and I go back to the Dr. on Wednesday. I was supposed to be on liquids until that time (2 weeks post op) but was having some issues with diarreha and my dietician said I could start some mushies to help with that. Right now, I am eating mushies for breakfast and dinner and then having a protein shake for lunch and I will continue that until Wednesday when I see the Dietician.

I can tell you that I didn't have much trouble getting the protein shakes down before surgery but now that I am banded I am having some trouble getting it all in. I do feel some restriction right now (it may be swelling) but where I used to drink a 10 oz shake in about 10 minutes or so, now I drink an 8 oz shake and take about 30-45 minutes to get it down. Since you will be on liquids after surgery you will definately need to find a couple of protein drinks that you can tolerate (trust me, you will need some variety). Good luck!

I, too, couldn't handle the unflavored Unjury. I did find something good to do with the strawberry Unjury. I mixed it with Crystal Light lemonade to make strawberry lemonade. It was very good and a nice break from all of the chocolate and vanilla shakes I was drinking.

Thanks for the info, Joan. I tried a small cup of hot tea (decaf) this morning to take my vitamins with and it did help. I didn't feel so full and was able to drink my protein shake earlier in the morning. I also talked to the dietician this morning and she thinks that part of the diarreha problem is related to my lactose intolerance. One of the protein mixes I have been using has a small amount of lactose in it and even though I mix it with soy milk she thinks that it could be the problem. So, I'm only drinking the lactose free shake today and am going to add some broth instead of just drinking water. Hopefully, this will take care of it. I do agree with you about wanting more than the shakes. I am definately considering doing the same thing with some soup for some variety. I know I'm not supposed to but I just want something to mix things up a bit.

A lot of people have posted that their gas pains settle in their shoulders but mine has been hanging out in my chest (around my diaphragm) since the day after surgery. There have been some times where I feel like I need to burp but it is just too painful to actually do it. I have been trying to walk a lot to help get it out and it does eventually come...that said, if you are having shortness of breath along with your chest pains or if you don't get relief from walking and/or taking pain meds then you might want to let your doctor know. I know it's scary whenever you feel chest pains of any sort - at least I know it freaks me out - but don't hesitate to call your doctor if you need reassurance...that's what they are there for and I'm sure they are used to it. Good luck!

Joan~ That is interesting about the warm water. I haven't heard that before. I haven't taken anything yet for the diarrhea but I called the Dr's office about 30 minutes ago about it and am waiting for someone to call me back. Regarding your issue, I had heard from many people that they were constipated after surgery and had actually mentioned this to my dietician to see if I should proactively take Metamucil or something like that to avoid that problem...I'm not sure whether I'm happy or not to have the opposite issue. I returned to work on Monday, but luckily I have a flexible job and have been able to work from home. I may try to go to the office for a while tomorrow but I will just have to see how I feel about it. I may just decided to be at home all week and go back to the office on Monday.

It sounds like you are doing great, Joan. I don't know about others who have already been banded but I am definately feeling some restriction (even though there is no fluid in my band). I am finding that it takes me so much longer to drink a protein shake (at least 30 minutes for an 8 oz shake) and in the morning when I take my vitamins (they are chewable but I drink some water afterwards) I have to wait several hours before I feel like I can even begin to drink a shake. I am happy about this because I am already starting to learn to listen to my body so that I don't feel over full...hopefully, this will help when I move to mushies next week. Also, I know this is TMI but is anyone else having trouble with diarreha? I don't know if it is just because I am on liquids but I feel like everything that I take in is just running right through me. On a positive note, I have lost 4.2 lbs since my surgery this past Thursday so I'm happy with that. Good luck to all of you being banded this week!

Good luck, Dave! You will do great! Please check in with us when you feel up to it to let us know how you are doing.

I was banded on 12/2/10 and my surgeon required an overnight stay in the hospital. I wasn't allowed any liquids at all the day of surgery and then the day after surgery I had an upper GI to make sure everything was in the right place and then had to drink some Water over time to make sure I could keep it down. Then I was released. So far, I don't have much pain other than at the port site and even then it is not extremely painful. I have had gas pains but they are hanging out in my stomach/diaphragm area. I have been walking several times a day to try to help get the gas out. I have to work on Monday but I can work from home if I want to and I will most likely do that.

I am having the same problem with getting in all of my liquids but the instructions that my surgeon's office gave me say that if you force protein shakes to keep your energy up you will make yourself feel sick and delay your recovery. But it also says to keep zero calorie fluids next to you at all times and try to sip on them as much as possible so that is what I am trying to do. I'm really trying to start listening to my body as far as the hunger goes...I am finding it hard to tell what is actually hunger and what is gas but hopefully the gas will go away soon so that won't be as much of an issue. So far, this has not been nearly as difficult as I expected. I haven't needed much pain medication at all and I am trying to walk as much as possible to help with the gas...all in all, I am so glad I did this!!

Hi all! Just popping in to tell you all that I Have joined the ranks of the newly banded!!! My surgery was this morning and I am still in the hospital (my Dr requires an overnight stay) but should be discharged tomorrow afternoon. The surgery went well and so far I'm not in too much pain. I did have anti nausea drugs after surgery and I have a morphine pump for pain if I need it -so far, I have only needed it a few times. Good luck to all of you having surgery tomorrow!

Thanks for all of the good wishes! I am getting nervous about tomorrow - not nervous in a bad way but nervous in that I can't wait to get this done!! The nurse I talked to this afternoon told me to get a good night's sleep and I was thinking "not very likely". LOL

I just got my surgery time - 7:00 am tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital at 5:00 - at least I will be finished early

Good luck Sal! I'm sure everything will go just fine for you - please let us know how you are doing after surgery and I will do the same. You and your family will be in my prayers.

Good luck, Renee! I'm sure you will do great! When you are able, please pop in and let us know how you are doing... I'm right behind you on Thursday...I'm excited and nervous but I can't wait to get it done and start this new path!

I know EXACTLY what you mean!! Thursday is getting closer and closer...I KNOW this is the right decision but I am getting more and more nervous as the days go by.

My surgery date is Dec 2nd and I didn't have any problems with the first week of my 2 week liquid pre-op diet but once I allowed myself to eat some food on Thanksgiving I have had a lot more trouble sticking to it. I have lost 12 lbs so far but it is getting more and more difficult to not eat solid food. I will say that as long as I keep my protein intake around 100g per day I don't feel hungry for the most part. I think what I am dealing with is more head hunger than physical hunger.

Welcome, Judy! There are several of us here who are going to be banded on the 2nd!

I'm on day 9 of my liquid diet and I did fine on the first 2 days but days 3 and 4 were a bit rough...I was feeling very weak. I'm happy to say that only lasted those 2 days. At this point I am pretty much used to it but my question to you is how much protein are you taking in each day? My dietician wants me to have 80-120 grams a day and I tend to end up with around 100 or so. I think everyone tolerates it differently - maybe I'm lucky but I haven't had too much trouble with the diet for the most part....