Hell began Day 3 Post Op I would not do this again

[project lisa 1]

Today I am 8 days post op-- If I had known it would be this bad I would not have chosen to have a lap band. I do believe it will get better and I may be glad at some point but not now. People considering this should know things can go wrong and do. I have lost 32 pounds in 21 days - this is not a healthy way to lose weight my expectation is to lose weight in a healthy manner.

I had a normal progression post op to Day 3 and lost 16 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet. Some gas pain and soreness. Then I developed pharyngitis - a very swollen sore throat with huge pus pockets down my throat and ears. This can be viral or bacterial - some refer to it as strep throat ( bacterial) Mine was viral and resulted in the inability to swallow due to throat swelling and pain. I was unable to take any liquids or medication by mouth. I called my doctor and was told to talk to my primary care physician.

After about 36 hours I was able to swallow sips of liquid with pain meeds. My stomach was so swollen and tight - it was miserable and each morning much worse. On day six I began to vomit with every sip of liquid. Lots of abdominal pressure and by this time very dehydrated. I went to my doctors office and was told to continue to sip gatorade about 10 cc hourly. With phenergan suppositories Today I made a decision something was going to be done. I went to my doctors office and requested immediate action. They accessed my port and removed the "prime" Fluid from the band- Immediate relief from the pressure in my chest -I can now sip Water and gatorade without vomiting. That was 10 hours ago and I feel 100 times better.

I am a Registered Nurse and I write all of this to say - if you are having problems - speak up and demand that something be done. Problems unrelated to the band such as pharyngitis can cause problems with the band that must be dealt with. Dehydration is dangerous.

[Carly246 0]

Thank you for sharing your experience. My surgery is set for next Tues.

I'm so glad you feel better and they finally took care of what was causing your problem. Scary!

Today I am 8 days post op-- If I had known it would be this bad I would not have chosen to have a lap band. I do believe it will get better and I may be glad at some point but not now. People considering this should know things can go wrong and do. I have lost 32 pounds in 21 days - this is not a healthy way to lose weight my expectation is to lose weight in a healthy manner.

I had a normal progression post op to Day 3 and lost 16 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet. Some gas pain and soreness. Then I developed pharyngitis - a very swollen sore throat with huge pus pockets down my throat and ears. This can be viral or bacterial - some refer to it as strep throat ( bacterial) Mine was viral and resulted in the inability to swallow due to throat swelling and pain. I was unable to take any liquids or medication by mouth. I called my doctor and was told to talk to my primary care physician.

After about 36 hours I was able to swallow sips of liquid with pain meeds. My stomach was so swollen and tight - it was miserable and each morning much worse. On day six I began to vomit with every sip of liquid. Lots of abdominal pressure and by this time very dehydrated. I went to my doctors office and was told to continue to sip gatorade about 10 cc hourly. With phenergan suppositories Today I made a decision something was going to be done. I went to my doctors office and requested immediate action. They accessed my port and removed the "prime" Fluid from the band- Immediate relief from the pressure in my chest -I can now sip Water and gatorade without vomiting. That was 10 hours ago and I feel 100 times better.

I am a Registered Nurse and I write all of this to say - if you are having problems - speak up and demand that something be done. Problems unrelated to the band such as pharyngitis can cause problems with the band that must be dealt with. Dehydration is dangerous.

[sassy k's mommy 1]

I had issues on day.three which happened to be my.birthday I had problems ridding in a car. Everytime I would go anywhere I would throw.up. I had this until I was eight days post op. I kept my doctor informed of everything I was experiencing. They did take actions especially when it happened for.several days.

[vlp1968 83]

That is great you were such a good advocate for yourself. I think people know there bodies well, and need to listen to that. Glad you are feeling better!

[suenan 0]

Today I am 8 days post op-- If I had known it would be this bad I would not have chosen to have a lap band. I do believe it will get better and I may be glad at some point but not now. People considering this should know things can go wrong and do. I have lost 32 pounds in 21 days - this is not a healthy way to lose weight my expectation is to lose weight in a healthy manner.

I had a normal progression post op to Day 3 and lost 16 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet. Some gas pain and soreness. Then I developed pharyngitis - a very swollen sore throat with huge pus pockets down my throat and ears. This can be viral or bacterial - some refer to it as strep throat ( bacterial) Mine was viral and resulted in the inability to swallow due to throat swelling and pain. I was unable to take any liquids or medication by mouth. I called my doctor and was told to talk to my primary care physician.

After about 36 hours I was able to swallow sips of liquid with pain meeds. My stomach was so swollen and tight - it was miserable and each morning much worse. On day six I began to vomit with every sip of liquid. Lots of abdominal pressure and by this time very dehydrated. I went to my doctors office and was told to continue to sip gatorade about 10 cc hourly. With phenergan suppositories Today I made a decision something was going to be done. I went to my doctors office and requested immediate action. They accessed my port and removed the "prime" Fluid from the band- Immediate relief from the pressure in my chest -I can now sip Water and gatorade without vomiting. That was 10 hours ago and I feel 100 times better.

I am a Registered Nurse and I write all of this to say - if you are having problems - speak up and demand that something be done. Problems unrelated to the band such as pharyngitis can cause problems with the band that must be dealt with. Dehydration is dangerous.

....

Glad to hear you are feeling better!! You are so right, we need to speak up when we think there is something wrong, and yes dehydration is dangerous.

Take care of yourself and I hope the rest of your journey goes smoothly!!

I have not been banded yet, am on the waiting list,so hopefully within the next 6-9 months I will have my surgery!!

[asksdf 5]

After I had first been banded and allowed to eat mushy foods, I started having problems. At night when trying to sleep I could actually feel intense pressure building up in my chest and in my stomach, making it difficult to breathe unless I forced myself to keep burping. No joke, this would go on for anywhere from four - five hours a night. The second time it happened, I called my doc and he unfilled all the Fluid and it was immediate relief. Up to that point (3 weeks after being banded, I think) I still had the constant shoulder pains, and it would tire me out just to talk regularly and do the simplest tasks. Luckily after the unfill I was able to get Fluid put back in and I'm doing good now.

I still haven't read anywhere else of people having that problem. I even made a topic on here about it at like 3am or something when it first happened. It's a scary thing.

[mauraclegg 29]

I feel so bad when I hear of someone having problems with their band. I have had 2 problems - an immediate slip the day it was implanted(?) and one overfill. Even though those things happened I wouldn't change a single thing (well except the NG tube I had to have inserted before the second band).

[sableonblond 1]

Today I am 8 days post op-- If I had known it would be this bad I would not have chosen to have a lap band. I do believe it will get better and I may be glad at some point but not now. People considering this should know things can go wrong and do. I have lost 32 pounds in 21 days - this is not a healthy way to lose weight my expectation is to lose weight in a healthy manner.

I had a normal progression post op to Day 3 and lost 16 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet. Some gas pain and soreness. Then I developed pharyngitis - a very swollen sore throat with huge pus pockets down my throat and ears. This can be viral or bacterial - some refer to it as strep throat ( bacterial) Mine was viral and resulted in the inability to swallow due to throat swelling and pain. I was unable to take any liquids or medication by mouth. I called my doctor and was told to talk to my primary care physician.

After about 36 hours I was able to swallow sips of liquid with pain meeds. My stomach was so swollen and tight - it was miserable and each morning much worse. On day six I began to vomit with every sip of liquid. Lots of abdominal pressure and by this time very dehydrated. I went to my doctors office and was told to continue to sip gatorade about 10 cc hourly. With phenergan suppositories Today I made a decision something was going to be done. I went to my doctors office and requested immediate action. They accessed my port and removed the "prime" Fluid from the band- Immediate relief from the pressure in my chest -I can now sip Water and gatorade without vomiting. That was 10 hours ago and I feel 100 times better.

I am a Registered Nurse and I write all of this to say - if you are having problems - speak up and demand that something be done. Problems unrelated to the band such as pharyngitis can cause problems with the band that must be dealt with. Dehydration is dangerous.

Oh wow.... these are the kinds of stories we would all fear but your message is important and I thank you for the reminder to self advocate. This kind of stuff can happen to anyone and you could "troubleshoot" to some degree due to your training.... THANKS!

I have surgery on MOnday!!!!!!

[Wheelchair 13]

So how are you feeling now?? Are things getting better for ya?

[ImNRN2012 0]

I am only 4 days post op, but I have been having horrible pain under my left rib. It will ease up with massage and laying on a heating pad, but it eventually comes back. I know what you mean about making yourself burp, I have to do that too. I have a hard time breathing and bending over. I know it can be gas but man this stuff hurts!! 2 days post op I thought I was having a heart attack . This stuff is gong to have to give in a few days or my Dr,. is going to have to do something. I have not even had my first fill yet either. Have you found anything that helps and does it go away? I can't live like this!! I am sucking on a ginger candy right now that I got at the herbal store, I have GasX'd myself to death already.....please share any advice TY

[project lisa 1]

Update: it's been almost 24 hours since I began this topic-

Thanks to so many of you for your kind words and encouragement!

No further vomiting - I've taken in 16 oz total in gatorade, 2 oz of chicken broth plus a snack size cup of strawberry Jello in the past 24 hours.

I still feel some pressure in my stomach and have been nauseated a couple of times. I am finding it very hard to SIP fluids - I am so thirsty I just want to gulp it down so I have been putting it in a very small measuring cup to learn SLOW sipping. There is a lot of gas still present and I am Coughing very frequently from a dry scratchy throat - sometimes this causes me to gag.

Today I was down a total of 34 pounds since May 12th. I suspect as I progress in fluids my weight will go up 3-4 pounds due to the dehydration being resolved.

Good luck to all of you with future surgery dates - for those of you still considering it -- do your research and put contingencies in place - I am single with grown children and have mostly done this on my own - I would not recommend doing it without a good support system in place for the first few days. Also you might try doing a diet with 800 calories daily (only liquids) for a couple of weeks and see if you can tolerate it. It would have been a lot easier to back out before surgery rather than after. I was a self pay and shelled out $16,000 last week - this has got to have some wonderful results at some point.

I'm still praying for a healthy weight loss outcome where I feel good, can tolerate regular food and maintain a regular work schedule.

[project lisa 1]

[i did not find anything that really "works" but some things that helped me with the gas were -

1. HOT Showers and put the hand held shower right at the pain point

2. Phazyme - 2 extra strength tabs ( very tiny red gel pills)

3. HOT Heating PAD - High heat

4. Lying on the bed and rolling from side to side very slowly- moves the gas around

Good Luck! I know it hurts.........