Need Serious Advice/Help!

[Crissy8705 0]

Bare with me! I have a lot going on. I was banded on November 2nd, tomorrow I will be 2 weeks post-op. I've been on a roller coaster of emotions. The first couple of days out of surgery I did great. Aside from pain and gas I didn't feel nauseous, never got sick, tolerated my sf Jello and chicken broth! I know for a fact I haven't been drinking as much as I should. I may have dehydrated myself, but have managed to drink 2 bottles of Water a day the past 2 days.My incisions have healed wonderfully, actually look really well compared to some of the pictures I've seen, and my pain is very minimal. Anyway, Here are my questions/concerns.

I've had a HORRIBLE rash since surgery. Saw my doctor, he said it isn't related to surgery. So now I have to see my primary care doctor. The rash isn't around the incisions at all. Mostly my sides and lower belly. Has anyone else had this problem?

The past 2 days I've had a strange pressure in my sternum area. Drinking water has become a little difficult. Almost feels as though it's sitting there a little bit before going down. Doctor says I may be a bit swollen, but why would I be swollen now, and not out of surgery. Any one else feel this strange pressure? Has it gone away?

I'm afraid that I'm freaking out and seeing and feeling things out of pure paranoia. I broke down and cried this morning just from nerves alone. Fear of something getting stuck, knowing if something is stuck, stretching my pouch, and even slippage have been hitting home. I knew of all this stuff prior to surgery, but now that I have had.. it has become so much more real. It's like a baby I want to protect, and now I'm not sure how to do that! My Doctor doesn't seem concerned, but I certainly am! I just need suggestions and help, calming words from long-term banders, or even if new banders are feeling the same.

Can I have suggestions on what you's ate in your mushy/pureed stage? I'm super nervous about getting stuck, or eating the wrong things.

What do you's think I will be able to eat for thanksgiving? I will be 3 weeks post-op, and definitely need suggestions.

What foods are you 100% not allowed to eat once at a normal diet? I know everyone tolerates certain foods differently. Some people can eat certain things that others cant, but are there things you can't eat at all?!

Any other friendly advice or help is appreciated! I'm just nervous all of the sudden. A little to late to be so haha.

[Fairone5 0]

Good Morning Crissy 8705, I was banded on OCT 7th. I think your feelings are normal. I too had the rash around my abdomen. Use some Benedryl spray or cream. My doc and nurse said some people are allergic to the stuff they use in surgery to clean your skin with i was also allergice to the bandages/and the steri-strips. Benedryl should help alot. and my rash was around my incisions. Secondly the pressure in your sternum will subside mine did after about 4 weeks and still once in a while i have it if i drink something to fast or if im full and the pressure starts with gas. At about 3 to 4 weeks i started getting the tingeling sensation behind my left shoulder blade..the pressure is your diaphragm which presses on the nerve that causes the sensation(something like that!). I also had all this nervousness about stuck/sick it will get better as the days go by. Dont think about that.. just concentrate on what you are drinking and eating just for today. At two weeks post-op i was eating realy watered grits(run off the back off a spoon thin), Soups and cornflakes..take SMALL bites and eat real slow. Dont worry about what you cant eat worry about what your eating for today. As for thanksgiving..you can eat mashed potatoes/gravy/sweet potatoes/yams, and very SMALL pieces of other soft foods like green beans/cranberry sauce. I did fine at three weeks with these mushies just made sure to eat real slow. As i suffered from excessive gas for weeks. I still cant hold very much at one time..2 to 4 ozs is it and im now 6 weeks post-op. it will get better with time..hang in there! Your frustration is normal.

[screeden 21]

well, congrats on your surgery. sounds like you are healing well. the rash i am not sure about,i had one around my incisions, but it was from the bandaid type Patches they placed over them that irritated my skin. are you drinking Protein shakes, if not you need to do so. just sip them slowly.

you are most likely still swollen, can last up to a month. that is why they don't want you to advance your diet too quickly so you don't do any damage or cause yourself problems.

my mushy stage, i ate small curd cottage cheese, apple sauce, pudding, creamy Soups yogurts. if you go to www.lapband.com, they have a ton of recipes people have submitted for all the stages, so things do not get so boring. try to drink as much Fluid as you can, getting dehydrated is not a good thing for your digestion. try the Crystal light packets in your Water.

thanksgiving might be a little tough. you could always puree everything i know does not sound appealing, but at least you could eat it all

I don't even try to eat white bread of any kind, i can eat whole wheat bread as long as it is small bites and i chew well. i don't have issues with Pasta, rice, or even popcorn. i chew it all up well. i can eat tortillas too, just don't do that often.

hope all goes well with you, and no question is too much. that is what we are all here for! to give and get advice.

Bare with me! I have a lot going on. I was banded on November 2nd, tomorrow I will be 2 weeks post-op. I've been on a roller coaster of emotions. The first couple of days out of surgery I did great. Aside from pain and gas I didn't feel nauseous, never got sick, tolerated my sf Jello and chicken broth! I know for a fact I haven't been drinking as much as I should. I may have dehydrated myself, but have managed to drink 2 bottles of Water a day the past 2 days.My incisions have healed wonderfully, actually look really well compared to some of the pictures I've seen, and my pain is very minimal. Anyway, Here are my questions/concerns.

I've had a HORRIBLE rash since surgery. Saw my doctor, he said it isn't related to surgery. So now I have to see my primary care doctor. The rash isn't around the incisions at all. Mostly my sides and lower belly. Has anyone else had this problem?

The past 2 days I've had a strange pressure in my sternum area. Drinking water has become a little difficult. Almost feels as though it's sitting there a little bit before going down. Doctor says I may be a bit swollen, but why would I be swollen now, and not out of surgery. Any one else feel this strange pressure? Has it gone away?

I'm afraid that I'm freaking out and seeing and feeling things out of pure paranoia. I broke down and cried this morning just from nerves alone. Fear of something getting stuck, knowing if something is stuck, stretching my pouch, and even slippage have been hitting home. I knew of all this stuff prior to surgery, but now that I have had.. it has become so much more real. It's like a baby I want to protect, and now I'm not sure how to do that! My Doctor doesn't seem concerned, but I certainly am! I just need suggestions and help, calming words from long-term banders, or even if new banders are feeling the same.

Can I have suggestions on what you's ate in your mushy/pureed stage? I'm super nervous about getting stuck, or eating the wrong things.

What do you's think I will be able to eat for thanksgiving? I will be 3 weeks post-op, and definitely need suggestions.

What foods are you 100% not allowed to eat once at a normal diet? I know everyone tolerates certain foods differently. Some people can eat certain things that others cant, but are there things you can't eat at all?!

Any other friendly advice or help is appreciated! I'm just nervous all of the sudden. A little to late to be so haha.

[lorena st 33]

Sorry to hear about the rashes...hopefully your doctor can sort that one out for you. I too, didn't have any trouble from the surgery and the incisions didn't hurt at all. But, where the bandaids were stuck, there were raw and sore spots. I just washed carefully and put polysporin on the red, raw Patches and they healed up nicely. Beyond that, my favorite mushie food wasJugo juice Protein Shakes (Tropical Mango was great). I could only drink about 1/2 of a shake, but they hit the spot. I really miss those, now that I am on solid food! Now that I am on solid foods, I can eat pretty much anything, but I can't eat a lot (about 1 cup per meal). I haven't had a fill yet, but I am steadily losing weight (about 3 pounds per week) and I am not hungry. I don't know what things will be like when/if I get a fill. Good luck with healing and try not to panic.

[54Shirley 105]

I would wash the area clean, rinse well, pat dry, and appy Caladryl. It helps the itchies. Don't but calamine lotion, it might not work. Th is has Benadryl in it.

Over the Counter Benadryl, or Zyrtec couldn't hurt either.

Pressure can always be normal, everyday is a different day with the Band ! So you might have a Fantastic Day or a little tight one,

Try letting some ice chips just melt in your mouth. A little at a time.

You will get your fluids, and it might take the swelling down.

Mushie stage is:

Cottage cheese, chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, anything that you can put in a food processor, and puree (keep it moist, and Low cal) applesauce,

Thicker Soups, S.F. pudding, Yogurt,. shakes. that's a start, I'm sure you will get more..

But try those ice chips.< /p>

Shirley.

[duhneese 0]

I had a rash post-op too! It was worse than any of discomfort from the surgery. It was mostly on my legs, thighs and arms and it was so itchy I thought I'd scratch my skin off. Six days post -op I saw my primary care doc who thought it might be an allergic reaction to the antibiotic I was given (for a secondary infection). She gave me a 4 day scrip for an antihistamine. No help. Went back 4 days later and got a scrip for steroids that finally did the trick after another 4 days of scratching. We still aren't sure what caused it.

You sound like me. I worry about things way too much before they even happen! We have to try to keep calm and know that things will be okay if we follow the rules. When my doctor gave me the okay to transition to soft foods last week, I started having tuna salad and cottage cheese with applesauce for lunches at work. Some days I mixed it up and had some vegetable Soup with lots of soft cooked veggies. For dinners I stuck to cooked fish like salmon and halibut and mashed potatoes. I'd add jarred peaches too. I even had edamame a couple times. Oh, and scrambled eggs and greek yogurt. Chobani has some good flavors. The key is really to eat slowly and just chew the hell out of your food until all you're swallowing is mush. No way that can get stuck. I probably chew way more than I need to, but I don't want find out the hard way that I swallowed too big a piece of food.< /span>

I'm looking forward to some of the Thanksgiving foods I love. I should be starting on some more solid foods by then, so I will try some turkey and green Beans. If you're still on the soft diet, mashed potatoes, yams and cranberry sauce shouldn't be a problem for you. Just chew, chew, chew! I think the thing I want the most is some stuffing, but it's the one thing I'm afraid might get stuck. I told my doctor that I was secretly bummed that I couldn't have a little popcorn at the movies anymore. She told me to get some Pirate Booty and take a small bag of that with me. I bought some and tried a couple pieces. It goes down very easily and I'm excited to take some with me to my first movie post-op this weekend.

Best of luck to you and try not to worry too much! Happy Thanksgiving.

Bare with me! I have a lot going on. I was banded on November 2nd, tomorrow I will be 2 weeks post-op. I've been on a roller coaster of emotions. The first couple of days out of surgery I did great. Aside from pain and gas I didn't feel nauseous, never got sick, tolerated my sf Jello and chicken broth! I know for a fact I haven't been drinking as much as I should. I may have dehydrated myself, but have managed to drink 2 bottles of Water a day the past 2 days.My incisions have healed wonderfully, actually look really well compared to some of the pictures I've seen, and my pain is very minimal. Anyway, Here are my questions/concerns.

I've had a HORRIBLE rash since surgery. Saw my doctor, he said it isn't related to surgery. So now I have to see my primary care doctor. The rash isn't around the incisions at all. Mostly my sides and lower belly. Has anyone else had this problem?

The past 2 days I've had a strange pressure in my sternum area. Drinking Water has become a little difficult. Almost feels as though it's sitting there a little bit before going down. Doctor says I may be a bit swollen, but why would I be swollen now, and not out of surgery. Any one else feel this strange pressure? Has it gone away?

I'm afraid that I'm freaking out and seeing and feeling things out of pure paranoia. I broke down and cried this morning just from nerves alone. Fear of something getting stuck, knowing if something is stuck, stretching my pouch, and even slippage have been hitting home. I knew of all this stuff prior to surgery, but now that I have had.. it has become so much more real. It's like a baby I want to protect, and now I'm not sure how to do that! My Doctor doesn't seem concerned, but I certainly am! I just need suggestions and help, calming words from long-term banders, or even if new banders are feeling the same.

Can I have suggestions on what you's ate in your mushy/pureed stage? I'm super nervous about getting stuck, or eating the wrong things.

What do you's think I will be able to eat for thanksgiving? I will be 3 weeks post-op, and definitely need suggestions.

What foods are you 100% not allowed to eat once at a normal diet? I know everyone tolerates certain foods differently. Some people can eat certain things that others cant, but are there things you can't eat at all?!

Any other friendly advice or help is appreciated! I'm just nervous all of the sudden. A little to late to be so haha.

[electronicart 120]

Like the others said, your rash sounds like its from something they swabbed you down with in surgery. powder with Zinc Oxide is great. I had a BAD reaction (rash & blisters) after a c-section years ago. After the doctor prescribed every ointment in the pharmacy, I put Ammons powder on my tummy when I got home and viola, the rash got better.

I was banded on September 29th and had many of the same concerns you have expressed. A few weeks after getting banded, you get hungry and want regular food. Well, I never thought I would puree vegetable Soup, but it was delicious. It wasn't pretty, ha, but, yummmmmmmmy.

My LapBand experience gets better every day. I have my down days, but, try and push through. Old habits, like eating at night, have been so hard for me to control. Last night, I wanted to eat SO badly. But, it was 9 o'clock. I had a sugar free popsicle and went to bed. This morning, I was so happy. It sure beats waking up and saying...why did I eat that.

Sorry, got off track a little. What i'm trying to say is it gets better