May 2006 Band Crew ~ June Chat

[TwinkleLiL_star 0]

First of all, I am really glad that the soreness has gone away. I was banded on May 10, and I just went back to work last Thursday. It took almost that long for me to be able to wear a bra because of the pain I had under my right breast from the muscle being sore. I have been doing well with eating, I haven’t had any problems with eating anything, as a matter of fact, I don’t even eat until I’m full because I don’t want to “PB” and I get tired of chewing! I will admit that I didn’t think I was ready to go out and eat in public. I attended a graduation two weeks ago, and of course when we Celebrate anything we Celebrate with food, so the decided to go out and eat Chinese food. I had already turned down a lunch date with a friend a couple of days before, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to go. Well I went after all, when we got to the restaurant I just ordered my food to go and ate from the container. Just as I expected there were a million and one questions, but I had no problem answering them. I just don’t want to have to explain myself all the time. This had proven to be an interesting experience and my roommate keeps saying “and you knew all this before you did it”. I never said it would be easy…but I’m willing to see it through!:nervous

MissNikki...Good for you and your will power:nervous

Sorry about your pain pray it get's better...

Myself there is an office picnic today will not attend I am drain out from people talking about food and asking so many freaking questions over and over again:heh: ...I wish to ask you and the board do u crush your pills ??..been crushing my advil for elbow pain test like hell:speechles

Will get my first fill on June 19th 38 days after my lapband..:clap2:

[CLOE 0]

Hey, I misplaced you guys. But I finally found ya'll!! I have been excellent since the surgery, feeling great, pain free, incisions looking good. Glad to hear everyone else is going great!!!..............Now, the bad news..I had the worst day, today! I typed my horrible day under "In Pain" in the Canadian section if you want to read the long version. To make a long story short. I PB'd today 4 times, the last 2 with blood! I was sooo scared. I hope never to do that again. Back on clear Soup for a few days. Tummy just a little tender now...LIVE AND LEARN!!

Really glad I found you guys again.

[justduckie 0]

:eek: :Banane13:

Went for my first fill today and the surgeon did it "under flouro". You know, I really didn't know what that meant.

The surgeon took me down to radiology and they mixed me a "nice" barium drink.:speechles Then they had me stand on this table thingy that tilted me back and swung a camera in front of my tummy. Then the surgeon and his nurse practitioner felt for my port, got the camera tuned in and asked me if I was ready.

Ready for what?

So they swab me up with betodine, push on my tummy a few more times and go, "here we go! 1 - 2 - 3...." and stick me with the needle. The NP did it. It was the first time she had done one under flouro. She found it on the first try but did't go deep enough. The surgeon was like, "here, push till you feel the pop." And he pushed till he felt the pop. :Banane03: It never hurt.

Then he put in 1 cc and then I got to drink the wonderful barium cocktail. :rolleyes Then a cup of Water. Then some more barium, then some more Water. He decided to go with another .5 cc, so now I have a first fill of 1.5 cc's.

Somewhere during this process, I looked down at my tummy. Talk about getting light headed!!!!!:faint: Seeing a syringe sticking out of your tummy, sank all the way up to the plastic part........that can take some getting used to.:omg: But still....it did not hurt!:clap2: During this whole process, they were taking pictures. Once they were done and the surgeon goes, "Ok, it's coming out......." POP! I felt that one. It was quite a weird feeling. :paranoid

So now I have a fill. And definitely have restriction. At least for now. I have my next fill on July 18th. But it will not be done under flouro. That one will just be done in the clinic.

If nothing else, this whole process has been a learning experience!:nervous

[Trip2bme 0]

Re; Rejection: The bands are made of silicone. According to studies, rejection is imposible. But if you have an infection, your body is fighting something. I'm sure your in touch w/ your surgeon by now.

Re; Vitamins: if you don't already know, Viactiv makes a multi-Vitamin in "chocolate cherry cordial", in a word, yummmmmy. Suck on this and let it gently go down, you shouldn't feel like you just ate a cow! Or a clump of grass! :cool:

Re; Potassium...good thought! I have a fiend who hs recently been suffering from severe leg cramps, I'll fill her in! Thanks!

Re; Feeling tired: Could it be a low Iron count? A different friend (wow! I have 2 friends!!!) Has to postpone her June 20 surgery because her Iron is a 6, and it should be in the 10-11 range. she is having to undergo 2 weeks of iron for 2 hours each day via IV. Yuck!!

Everyone sounds like you're doing great!! Keep up the work!! WTG!!

[lotsofkids 0]

Glad to see everyone is doing well and progressing nicely.

Well, for me.......I just spent 5 glorious days in the Cardiac Care Unit...for Pericarditis (imflamation and Fluid around the heart)

I went to the ER on Thursday night.....they wanted to admit me then...but I started feeling better and told them I would follow-up with the Cardiologist on Friday. Well, Friday I was 50/50.....but I started deteriorating by Saturday and ....by Sunday the pain and difficulty breathing was just unbearable. I woke up in tears....and went directly the the Hospital where the EKG and Echo showed significant increase in the Fluid around the heart and ALSO in my left lung!

They surgically put in a catheter to drain the fluid and removed 500cc (half a liter of fluid around my heart!!!!!) then I went into rapid heart beats so they put me on beta-blocker meds. I got 4 cortizone injections into the pericardial membrane and high doses of anti-inflamatory drugs. My Iron is low....my white count was over 23,000 .... my sed rate in the 130's and I had a high ANA) positive anti-nuclear marker. I also had a positive mycoplasma....so it could have been mycoplasma pericarditis?????

Not, that I really know or understand what I just wrote.....except...it was an acute inflamatory pericarditis.....either caused by a virus (I had a bad flu a week prior to my banding)...or....it could be a connective tissue disease....they are waiting for all the blood work to make a final decision. It is possible that it could be an inflamation from systemic lupus.

Well, I got home at 8pm thursday....(was admitted 11am on Sunday)...so a forced R+R was on my menu!

As for my lap-band....I am feeling great and I was eating and enjoying soft hospital food during my stay. The Bariatric Doc from the hospital I was in...came and visited me a couple of times and sent his nutritionalists in to visit me and see if I had any questions....all in all....everyone tried their best to keep me comfortable. I am very, very tired and will need to rest for a week or two....and just chill out for a while. It was too much drama for me....so now to slow down.....I even canceled my 1st fill date of June 19th....and pushed it later on.....for July 9th (I think)...figured...no reason to rush....my body doesn't need any more stresses or strains.

Sorry for the long soap box....but...this is an example that....if you feel something is not right.......regardless.....go and have it checked out professionally.

big hugs and smiles to you all.....Diane : )

[jcbydesign 0]

Must be normal because I've had the same thing...I am 17 days out and it's getting better but still happens if I have more than 1 cup of Soup at a time. I think these are all normal for the healing stages. :straight

[Trip2bme 0]

Diane, Glad you're back up and around..or relaxing and healing as it were!! Yup, you know you best.

[Mvpo8961 1]

Diane get all the rest and recovery that you need. The band will be there later. Wishing I was closer so I could bring you some chicken Soup.< /p>

Myra

[MarcyD 0]

Diane, I am glad to hear you're recovering. Take it easy and keep us posted!

I am doing well, 3 1/2 weeks post-op and down 23 pounds. I am on soft foods and find I can eat much more in the evenings (though I try not to do it).

I try to ride my exercise bike about 5 days a week, 4 to 6 miles at a time. Hurts my butt to sit that long! :cool:

Glad I found this thread. It's good to hear from everyone.

[chrisgtl 0]

Hi all, I was banded on May 31st, been on liquids since then, but finding a need to move on to mushy food just for the change of pace. I've had applesauce and yogurt with no problems.

Which side of the body is the port on? I too have a larger than expected incision on my right side. It's about 3-4 inches long. This is giving me the most problem as I'm constantly worrying that I'll rip it open.

I had a unexpected turn of events with my short-term disability company. They expect me to go back to work on June 14, when I left work for surgery my expected return date was July 13th. STD company is only giving me two weeks off because I had it done laproscopically even though my doctor requested me to be off 6-8 weeks. Not sure how I'm going to do going back to work - at this point I can't stand to have a bra on.

The last few days I've wished I didn't go through with the surgery. I guess I'm just tired, but I'm thinking this was a bad idea. I guess I'm just scared this won't work and here I've gone through this pain for nothing.

[3loves 0]

Diane ~ I agree with Myra....wished we were closer so we could bring you some goodies and pamper you. Bless your heart!! I'll have to admit I did get a bit lost when reading the technical part, but I am so glad you have gotten help and now on the road to recovery. Good idea on pushing the fill back.....it will always be there when your ready. Keep in touch!!

Marcy ~ Great job on the exercise bike!!! Keep up the good work!!!

:cool:

[kim2bhealthy 3]

Hey Everyone! Glad you are all doing okay.

Diane!! What an ordeal. I hope you will continue to feel better!

I'm doing okay.. I haven't weighed in the last few days cause I started my period(a week and a half early), and figure my weight is going crazy because of that. I'm still on mushies, and puree'd Soup until the 26th when I can venture into soft foods! I'm feeling better after having had my B-12 shot yesterday, but still a little light-headed.. I think I might get my Iron checked ( I have Iron Anemia and my surgeons office doesn't want me taking my iron supplement until I start more solid food - afraid the iron will make me sick and vomit). What foods are really rich and iron and can be eaten in the mushies stage? I have walked some, but I need to do more exercise... Later friends!

[Mvpo8961 1]

Added New Members

I will continue to update when we have new folks. If I miss you send me an email.

May 1st

sleepyjean

Hippo's Hope

LindaV

justduckie

txpeach

May 2nd

Velvetkiss

DrewsLou

May 3rd

kelli

louie

Judy Ann

Purple Weeble

May 4th

mychevygirl

TIDGE

lululacy

Angie71

Trip2bme

May 5th

Londoner

rockinrobyn

May 8th

Poster Child

laurapar

Sheryl Kay

May 9th

Seminole

Marianne TN

Stitchy

dawner119

slwc

lorri

debgogos247

May 10th

missnikki

JJinLA

trinsong

May 11th

babyjane

Karma2

michelletur (approved waiting for confirmation of surgery date)

bitteroldhag

papajoe

mama-anna

May 12th

heresdeb

TwinkleLiL Star

AMF101

wiggygiggy

4MyFuture

missyfan

Letty

christy668

May 15th

Scout

RmichaelsAZ

MarcyD

maebeth

BeeJay

AnneFanny

May 16th

JillN

Gettinghealthy

jewels411

tamt

Cinderella

May 17th

anewlife

cathmo

msj0028

MJK Media

Angelator

May 18th

marz88

jboy

medussa

ARVEL

May 19th

Mvpo8961

jessasband

May 22nd

taxgirl

Wannalosealot

Awasaf

meedy8r

tincat

towrecovery

May 23rd

jcbydesign

Mystijen

lotsofkids

Scully0325

Ev22

May 24th

dascjp1 & sister

Nala

AndreaE

faugrad

May 25th

junglejim

FREE-TO-BE

Murphles

Tracyd

cookinjillie

cookgal

macs99

May 26th

Kim2bhealthy

CLOE

3loves

GreatDame

sisterfunkhaus

lady29bug

May27th

CATCHUP

Kelly Girl

May30th

outdoorgrl

May 31st

escudero012004

kato

MarionJean

MiniMandy

ashagirl

christgtl

LJC

Laurie Jane

& brother

[lotsofkids 0]

And all those well wishes!

Trip2bme I have been following your posts and I am very proud of you.....you will be "looking good" wayyyyy ahead of us! Keep it up!

Mvpo8961 thanks so much for the soup.....I will have some in "your honor" today!

MarcyD Glad to hear all is going well.....excersising and down 23lbs....our next poster girl! LOL

chrisgtl get your physician's office involved.....they can petition the need for your rest as medically indicated do to other factors....then the insurance company can't bully you around. I hope you can get the extra rest. BTW....I am went from achy tummy to really not at all aware that I even had the surgery.....You will feel better soon..I hope.

3loves you seem to always be there for me! Big hugs....and eventually...down the line...WE Will hug each other ....or "less of each other" in a real place! Let's all recover and lose wt....so we'll make that a grand appearance and meet-up.

kim2bhealthy great to see you Kim....and glad you are OK.....not only the Iron rich foods...but do eat green veggies...like string Beans...etc....to help your body "absorb" the Iron from the iron rich foods. Of course....red meats and liver...come to mind...but not so much to be appetizing with a new band.....check with your Protein drinks and choose a brand with heavier iron content.

I too suffer Restless legs Syndrome......not only a lack of potassium...but low magnesium can trigger a worse episode for me. Try to add the both....and if you still suffer.....then I also take requip ....which really has helped me quite a bit. Ask your doc about the requip.....it has made a major difference for me.

justduckie Wow...your first fill....how exciting!...Guess it'll all be a piece of cake from now on. : )

CLOE so sorry to hear all your troubles......glad you know to slow down. It must be pretty frightening to be going through a pb.....I hope they will be your only ones! Each of us...need to be very intune with what our bodies need and not to be in a hurry to see the wt drop.....it will drop and we will get to where we want to be....but with patience and wisdom. It certainly took a lifetime to pack it all on!

Big hugs to all you Maysters! Happy to be associated with such a nice group.

Diane : )

[laurapar 0]

Hi all, I have a few friends that also have a restless leg and their doctors recommended quinine (sp?) Water. They both take it and they no longer have leg cramps.

Hope you guys find a cure that will work for you.