August Band Crew!!!!!

[bandedlady 0]

Joliesmom: Did the person that talked to you tell you what her symptoms were with the slipped band? I am just curious to know if it happened, would I know that it happened? I am paranoid of this or of having a leaky port because I paid for my surgury myself. I cannot afford for them to go back in. Yesterday I was reading about somebody's port flipping inside. My port hurts with a deep pain also, not just incisional so I am worried that might have happened to me because I am bending and lifting a lot for my kids.

Chrissie- I am so with you on those hunger pains. I am SOOOOOO hungry. I have not eaten any solids, but I have taken in some mushies a little early like cottage cheese, so this is why I am interested in the slippage issue. I did go to GNC to buy some Protein drinks to help with the hunger and hopefully help with the weight loss too, but they are just not too tasty. I don't think they do that well with the hunger either. They work for about an hour and they I am ravenous. I feel like I have a freakish enormous appetite because I don't read where too many people are having difficulty with hunger pains thru this liquid stage. I want to eat so bad!

[Andy Liz 0]

Hi Everyone!

Glad to see we're all doing so well! I feel fantanstic but am battling hunger too. I'm two weeks post op now and can graduate to mushies tommorrow. I've been pretty good the last two weeks and have lost 11 lbs since surgery but I've stayed at the same weight for 4 days now....? How can this be? I'm eating less than 1,500 cals a day and getting some mild exercise? I think I'm going to put off weighing again until next week so I don't get discouraged....

A girl that got banded the same day I did admitted to eating a McDonald's cheeseburger this week. She felt bad about it but had absolutely no trouble with it going down. I feel like I could probably handle something like that too, or maybe a slice of pizza but I'm too afraid to try. I'll keep plugging along with the mushies for the mandatory two weeks!

I think my port might be at my bra line too and if it is, I don't like it there. I wanted it in the center several inches below my bra line where a friend of mine has hers. I'm long waisted so there's plenty of room and this is what we discussed prior to surgery. I have a couple of lumps above my incision and one feels like it could be the port but it might just be inflammed tissue. It was very swollen right after surgery and is much smaller now but still "lumpy". I've e-mailed the doc some pictures and an explanation of what I'm feeling so I hope I have an answer soon!

Good luck to all of you newly banded or about to be banded! If you're like me you'll be glad to have the surgery out of the way!

Booda - about the milk of mag, I've taken it 3 times since surgery because I haven't been eating anything with any Fiber, mostly just Protein and carbs so I've been "bound up". This is not a typical problem for me but I'm glad I had it. It certainly helps with the bloating and "expulsion" of all the gas from surgery. Just stay near the potty after you take it! Another girl that was banded with me complained of not being able to sleep well, she said that has since resolved so just hang in there and keep yourself entertained. I think my mind worked overtime trying to figure out how I could make pizza into a palatable liquid (never did)..... I guess I should be grateful....?

Take care everyone and keep plugging away!

[msbug 0]

Booda, I also gained a lot from the fluids and it took a week to get back down to my presurg weight. Most of the swelling has gone down in the 2 weeks since surgery, but I asked my doc yesterday and he said it could take as much as 6 weeks for all the swelling to go down. :faint: That shocked me! I had problems sleeping the first few days too. Once I got back to my bed though I started sleeping like a log. Hang in there!

[joliesmom 0]

Kiarnold, she said she started vomiting and had bad pain. I don't think it's that common for a port to flip. The port pain on the other hand seems very common after surgery. I'm sure you're fine, just take it easy.

[libra 13]

I also wouldn't worry too much about port pain. I have some too. I've noticed that once I started to wear my jeans again, the port area started getting iritated and sore. Hoping that goes away because I really hate wearing sweatpants in public.

Andy Liz, if you figure out a way to make pizza into a liquid, let me know!!!:hungry:

And don't worry, I lost 13 pounds and gained one back...now I'm stalled too. Our bodies just don't always work consistently. I'm sure we'll see another drop soon.

[Kate27 0]

This forum is so helpful.....nice to know some other people have stalled out a little too. I am on mushies and when I weighed myself on Monday I was down a total of 14lbs., then Tues I was up 3 lbs, and today I was down 1 lb...so now I'm at a total of 12lbs. I keep telling myself that this is normal, but was a little discouraged Hopefully I'm back to losing. I think I need to make sure I only weigh myself once a week...I'm starting to get a scale addiction!

[mferra 0]

Hi August Bandsters!

I am headed to TJ for my surgery with Dr. Ortiz. Thanks for sharing your experiences here on the boards. I feel better informed to begin my journey into bandland. I did'nt do too well on my pre-op - only -4lbs. but I still have today with Protein shakes, so maybe I can make it 5 or 6lbs!

Looks like you are all doing pretty well. Keep up the good work!

I will post when I return from TJ.

Michelle

[lisah25 3]

Yay - we're down to the last bunch of August bandsters!:clap2: What's that about saving the best for last...

Good luck to all being banded today, and all of us going tomorrow.

I have all the stuff I think I'll need for the first few days, movies, book, a laptop with a wireless connection. Oh yeah, and broth and Soup and Isopure and Gas-X and all that stuff.

Working on making sure all the loose ends at work are tied up, I'm planning a week off.

[loriely 0]

Chrissie

Yes I also feel way better than expected. I was banded on the 28th and was able to sleep in bed all night from the first night I came home. My wife also had it done and she could not sleep all night in bed for 4 nights after she came home. I also had little problem getting up from a seated position unless I turned the wrong way. The only real discomfort that I have is the gas, but I take gas-ex and that seems to help.

I however, am not at the point where I am hungry yet. My wife makes sure I eat and take my Vitamins.

Congrats to the August bandsters.

[Surby 1]

Hi!

I was banded August 24, and I am MISERABLE!! Please let me know if any of you have experienced any of this!!! My surgery was last Thursday, and I did pretty well until Monday. I got really nauseated around 1 in the afternoon, but I didn't vomit. Yesterday and today I wasn't so lucky. It's this horrible "throwing up your toenails" vomiting, but NOTHING comes out. The doc called in a prescription for anti-nausea meds (at a cost of $714.99.........I had to pay only $158), but I still threw up. Has ANYONE out there had this?? I've lost 15 lbs since Thursday, but I feel horrible!

[bandedlady 0]

Surby: I am so sorry about your nausea. I was banded the day before you, but I have not had any experiences like you at all. Just hunger and pain. Are you taking your pain meds? I am wondering if you might be allergice to that? I am usually sick easily, in fact when I was pregnant last year I had to be put on a subucatenous zofran pump which cost $200 a day. That sounds like the same med you were given, I just had to have it in injectable form.

[GE Mom 0]

The pain meds are a real possibility -- vicodin and percocet both make me throw up. So I'd first consider that. You could ask the pharmacist if vomiting is a side effect of whatever you're taking.

Then I'd ask the doctor about a Transderm scope patch. This is what they use for seasickness, and it's a little patch behind your ear. They put one on me in the operating room (or someplace! -- maybe recovery) and it totally prevented nausea for three days. By then I was able to have liquids so something was in my stomach.

[WhimsicalClay 0]

Just wanted to give a brief update. I can finally say I feeling really pretty good. I have had the most excruiating gas pains of my life for the past 2 days. Keep trying to walk it off like most people suggested, so I went out shopping at Target. It was there that I realized that what I may have been experiencing was not only gas but extreme hunger as well! Since my surgery on Monday, I had not really eaten very much (liquid) food at all since Saturday - trying to get weight down before surgery.

After my trip to Target, I came home, had a large cup of Soup and a Protein drink. The gas started rumbling out of me! What relief. I felt great for the first time since surgery.

Thankfully, I have had no vomitting and very little nausea. I have stopped taking the oxycodene (as of yesterday) and am just using the gas x to continue to pass the gas.

On a more personal note, I have not had buy 2 BM's in the past 17 days of liquid dieting. Yes, I do feel extremely bloated. I only gained 2 lbs during surgery and have since had that to come off.

I have to remember to eat slowly, which is very hard for me to do. So I think I'm on track, feeling good and looking forward to a thinner new me.

Seems most folks banded in August are doing pretty well! Keep posting and keep up the great job.

[pbrown 0]

The pain medication like Vicodin usually makes me sick so I took only 2 one each night for two nights after I got home. They gave me a patch behind my ear for nausea right out of surgery. They also gave me phenegren during surgery for nausea. I did really well with not being sick I think because of these two drugs. My surgery was two weeks ago tomorrow. I am down 24 pounds I think 10 of it came off prior to surgery. Had my 2 week check up today and can eat anything you'd feed a baby, according to my doctor.( creamy and mushy) I will go back in two more weeks and then he said I probably could try solid foods. Hope your nausea is better soon. Try to get by on children's Extra strength Tylenol liquid.

[Happy2BMe 0]

Hi to All the August Bandsters!

I am back home, had my surgery 2day! Am tolerating liquid and have had small bites of Jello which is approved by my dr. The port site is definitely the most painful! I can't even tell anything was done at the other sites. (5 IN ALL) My dr also fixed the hiatal hernia I had and the first thing I noticed when I woke up was that it doesn't feel like my stomach is in my chest anymore! What a great feeling.

I had the scopolamine patch put behind my ear in preop and was told to take it off tomorrow.

I rec'd vancomycin in preop and developed severe itching and then they gave me benadryl and went ahead and finished the vanc.

I think the overall experience was pretty good and other than being sore and hard to move around hopefully I won't have any other problems.