June 2007 Bandsters

[toniteach 0]

Are you'll using anything on your incisions to hopefully not have scars?

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

Season, I'm 10 years older than you, so I'm not too worried about scarring and wearing that itsy bitsy teeny weenie bikini!!!!!!! :embarassed: J/K...haven't thought about the scars, but I do have 5 incisions total, and I just got up the nerve to TOUCH the port incision, and I can FEEL the port.....ewwwwwwwww! (can anyone else feel their port?) I was hoping it was really buried. Lord knows I have enough to bury it (right now, that is!!!)

Congrats on your Protein and blender shopping spree. I'm a little envious of your new blender, as I like to put ice in mine shakes, and I'm getting a little tired of washing that big ole sucker every time!

Cheers,

Toni <------- sorry I'm posting so much, but I LOVE this site and you all!

[lo2us 1]

All of you that have already been banded, where are your incisions and how big are they? How many do you have?

I have 5 incisions. The docs told me to use neosporan scar solutions for 4 months and mederma afterwords for the rst of the year or until they fade. I'm not supposed to put anything on them until they've closed up. I like where to doctor put then because almost all can be hidded by my bra! The only drawback is that I won't be wearing one for a while because I'm afraid it with rub them open!

I still fell pretty good tonight, but it is stinging a tiny bit. Still no pain meds or nausea. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes and so on if you want me to?

[lo2us 1]

I can FEEL my stomach pulled up and swen above the band, and that's weird. I also noticed that I can feel Water go down the stoma into the rest of my stomach, kind of like a slow moving drain when it hits a open spot or an hourglass. That's going to take some getting use to. I'm afraid of my port at the moment since I made it bleed with my struggle. I'll mess with it in a few days and let you know.

[hottytoddy 0]

MkU - I have 5 incisions. It's hard to say how big cause the steri-strips are still there. But 2 of them are less than 1/2 inch. 2 appear to be about 3/4 inch and the port site maybe and inch. I am bigtime bruised on my abd. Several bright shades of purple, yellow, green etc... I bruise just looking at a bed post. However I do see my surgeon tomorrow and am going to ask him if he took a coupla punches at me in the back! lol

lo2us - I'm assuming you meant when you woke up in the recovery room you fought the tube. That's very common. (I hope this is the case, cause I think you freaked TONI out..lol) I'm an RN in the recovery room and the vast majority of our patients wake up in the RR with the tube still in place. If you remove the tube too soon, you lose the airway and, well, that's a BAD thing! lol It's just that most don't remember it cause the drugs are still on board! Don't feel bad bout the *f* word... recovery room nurses have been clawed, punched, spit on, bit, cussed, slapped, and anything else you can imagine! Needless to say, my anesthesiologist kept me in the OR til I was ready to be extubated (tube removed) cause I was so scared of beating the crap out of my coworkers!!!! lol.

Good luck to tomorrow's bandsters! I'll see my surgeon tomorrow. It's a little early, but he's going out of town for a week. I'll let yall know what he says!!!

[lo2us 1]

Aww Toni, it was all worth it after I woke up! Don't freak out, I just wasn't expecting to wake up all crazy in the head! As soon as they calmed me down I was fine.

I was aware of nothing until the tube was pulled. I saw it and threw punches and then I heard the nurse say she's brething 50 times minute! Then I got the oxygen mask and faught that too. I wish I DIDN'T remember it! I'm glad I'm not a freak! Thanks for telling me what was going on in there. You made me feel less guilty and I hope y'all make BIG bucks for putting up with that stuff

Do you think I could have messed up my port if I punched myself? They didn't seem to concerned about the bleeding.

[insubordination 0]

Well you can put me in blue because I'm banded and back home. The operation was straight forward. It's a little painful when first waking up but improves overnight. I wasn't put into ICU after all. The only glitch was that I shared my room with two noisy patients...one of whom later died!!! Not of lapbanding, don't worry! I got up my stairs and showered OK. Standing up seems to be easier than sitting or lying. As people mention, it's the shoulder tip pain that hurts more than the stomach. Make sure you have a heat pack/hot water bottle. I hope everyone else (pre and post) is doing well. What a month we all have ahead of us!

[RitaMO 0]

Toniteach, Thanks for telling me my craving will be over for the diet coke. I practically live on them. At work we have a cafeteria and a store on one floor that has all good things to eat and vending machines all over. I have been smelling and seeing my co-workers eat all week. things I just would love to eat. I am going on 8 days of pre-op, I smell and see things I used to not like to eat and they are even looking good. I am off on Fridays and I get the band on June 12th. So maybe I can keep from knocking them out and taking their food for one more day. ha ha

Rita

[Laura55 0]

:)Hi Laura here I will be banded on the 26 of June wish me luck I can't wait. I live in Ireland ,and I keep getting lost on this site I think I have it now. Love to here from somebody . Laura out:)

[Suzzzie. 3]

Season, I'm 10 years older than you, so I'm not too worried about scarring and wearing that itsy bitsy teeny weenie bikini!!!!!!! :embarassed: J/K...haven't thought about the scars, but I do have 5 incisions total, and I just got up the nerve to TOUCH the port incision, and I can FEEL the port.....ewwwwwwwww! (can anyone else feel their port?) I was hoping it was really buried. Lord knows I have enough to bury it (right now, that is!!!)

Congrats on your Protein and blender shopping spree. I'm a little envious of your new blender, as I like to put ice in mine shakes, and I'm getting a little tired of washing that big ole sucker every time!

Cheers,

Toni <------- sorry I'm posting so much, but I LOVE this site and you all!

You don't want the port TOO buried! The docs still have to be able to feel/find it to do the fills!! I have heard, however, that once you are all skinny and stuff and if you choose to do plastic surgery that they have to move the port because of how much you've lost. ANyone know more about that?

:)Hi Laura here I will be banded on the 26 of June wish me luck I can't wait. I live in Ireland ,and I keep getting lost on this site I think I have it now. Love to here from somebody . Laura out:)

Welcome Laura!!

[bigsexy 0]

I may end up not being a June Bandster because my surgeon's office isn't going to have a Proctor there to help place the new bands until goodness knows when. I've already cancelled my May 31st surgery date so that I could get the AP, and I made the June 20th date based on what the clinic director told me to do so that I could have the AP. I'm soooo pissed and frustrated right now words cannot express. I really want the AP, after all, why would I buy a one year old car for the same price as a new one (providing that new one is available soon).

Faith MD - I wouldnt get too caught up in what type of band you may or may not get. It is all theoretical now on what the ap band can or cannot do. Yes it is built on years of experience of the other bands but all bands work and function the same way. In fact my dr said - that many of his collegues are not going to switch because they are comfortable with the original and the vg band. INAMED is not going to stop making the other options either. I'm getting an AP band because my dr happens to be a test surgeon, however he said most of the improvements are with the dr in mind, not necessarily with making the band work differently. I think if you are ready for the band then it doesnt matter which one you are getting. I would have proceeded either way. Good luck in your decision

[Lisa H 0]

Diet What???

A few weeks ago I posted my concerns about Diet Coke. I was an addict! Three days before for surgery I forced myself to give it up "cold turkey". Since surgery (6 days ago) I have thought about Diet Coke only a couple of times, and it definitelly was NOT a craving. I have replaced D.C. with sugar free Tropicana Orange Ade. No sugar, no caffiene, no carbonation, no bad stuff at all. I like Tropicana much better than the Minute Maid brand. So, if you're a Diet Coke like I was, dont worry-there is hope for you!!!

About the incision question-I have 5 (2 are about 1/2 inch, 2 are about an inch, and my port site is about 2-3 inches long). And I can definitely feel my port-I guess that is what it is. It is a large hard area about an inch under my port site.

And guess what??? I SLEPT ON MY SIDE LAST NIGHT!!!! I think the heating pad helped-don't forget to use it when you're feeling uncomfortable because of gas and soreness!

[Lucy 0]

I was never much of a soda drinker. About 2 years ago I started drinking Diet Coke and was pretty addicted -- at least one a day. I stopped drinking it about 6 months ago and cut a bunch of unhealthy things out of my diet (I was getting a lot of Migraines and I cut out all caffiene to see if that was the problem). So anyway, I ordered a diet coke about a week ago and when I took the first sip, I almost vomited. It was disgusting! My point is this -- your body is conditioned to crave it because it is a chemical, a drug. But after a while you won't want it anymore. You might find that if you ever drink it again that you won't like it. That doesn't necessarily make the time NOW when you want it go by faster, but it's a smidgen of encouragement

[reeburgdon 0]

I'm in bandland.

Things are going ok, vicodin is my new best friend. Didn't use it yesterday and couldn't sleep at all.

I have 5 incisions, the longest about an inch, I guess that's the port incision. The most botherson part is the ball they attached to me, it is working my last nerve.

Well, I just wanted to update everyone. Good luck to the next batch, I think the meds are starting to kick in now.

night night

[Dini 0]

Laura, you and i have the same dates and i also am in ireland. i'll probably see you in the hospital how you feeling

Faithmd thanks for posting that info on the band was a real help

hope everyone is keeping well

[huntersmom 0]

i have five incisions also. three are small about 1/2 inch and one is about a inch and the other is bigger than that. i am purple all over my stomach. I don't think I will ever wear a bikini anyway so i am not really concerned with the scars. I have too many stretch marks from either gaining too much weight or being pregnant twice.