June 2007 Bandsters

[TexasFire 84]

Here's question for ya...

I shower every day, wash my incisions with soap and Water without letting the shower spray hit them directly...but my steristrips look dirty and disgusting! I know it's because the blood they soaked up earlier, but I just wish they would come off already! I can't stand to look at them!

Can you buy this tape at the pharmacy and can we change them out at least?

I am a clean freak and they really gross me out.

[marylou 0]

I was banded on June 13 and got out of the hospital the afternoon of the 14th. A few days later I posted a message about how very well I was doing. No gas, not much pain, not hungery etc, etc. Then the s**t hit the fan yesterday! I've never been constupated (I'm not even sure how to spell it!) before, but now I have huge sympathy for anyone who is. I sat in the bathroom for about 3 hours, my DH was bringing me coffee to drink, a fan to cool me off, you name it! It was like something out of a sitcom. Finally, everything came out alright, :scared:but this plugged up experience is not something I want to do again anytime soon!

I called the nurse to ask for suggestions and one thing she said was that if I was going to be walking outside, I have to compensate by drinking even more Water because it is hot and I'll be sweating. Duh, good thought.

Cheers everyone!

ML

[kland 0]

I'm sorry you're not 100% yet Suzzie; you will be. Just give yourself a little more time to recover. I hear ya on those steaks. My brother brought over some BBQ for Father's Day and my mouth was watering. I did have a little bit of the mashed potatoes and they were soooo good! But you're right, a little pudding cup is very filling! Who'da thunk?

Stephanie, I don't think we're supposed to take these steri-strips off; they're supposed to come off by themselves. I have them too and they are pretty nasty, but it would flip me out to take them off before they were supposed to come off. What if you open up the incision by trying to replace them? **shudder**

[Nina_S 1]

Here's question for ya...

I shower every day, wash my incisions with soap and Water without letting the shower spray hit them directly...but my steristrips look dirty and disgusting! I know it's because the blood they soaked up earlier, but I just wish they would come off already! I can't stand to look at them!

Can you buy this tape at the pharmacy and can we change them out at least?

I am a clean freak and they really gross me out.

Stef,

I am no medical expert but my advice would be to be patient. I thought the same thing about mine but I believe that even removing them and re-taping would disrupt the healing process. It is kind of like a a cut that eventually "scabs" and you know that once the scab falls off it is healed.

Nina

[beckiet 0]

FarmerE: Glad you liked the smoothie! It's one of my favorites. I'm going to try it a little differently today...I received a sample of Green Apple nectar in the mail...Also, last night I took a High Protein vanilla Boost and added some No Sugar Added chocolate Fudge Ice Cream and made a shake for dinner. Was wonderful and had 20 g. of protein or so.

Insubordination:

Glad to see you're doing well. I had some fat free choc pudding for Breakfast, about 1/2 of one of those individule cups, and I am STUFFED! So weird.

When I had my barium swallow it showed a large area of gas, but it has stayed pretty low in my abdomen. Annoying as all get out!

Still most of my pain is left abdominal muscle. The muscle there is in a large knot. I haven't gone back to work yet - maybe tomorrow?!?

I made my post-op appontmnet with the doc for friday at 1pm, do you know when you're going yet?

I left a message to make my appointment, but haven't heard anything...hopefully they'll call back soon or I'll call them at 1. I'm having pain there too...really that and the shoulder pain is all the pain I'm having. And I'm still wanting to sleep.< /p>

You're courageous to be going back so early...I took this week off. I needed the time away from work but I wasn't sure how I'd do either.

Insubordination: Thanks! I hope it sticks as well. Breakfast this morning was some delicious Black Cherry yogurt...without the cherry pieces. I find that at "meal" times I'm only eating like 1/2 carton of yogurt or 1/2 serving of Soup and 1/2 serving pudding. If my mom's scales are equal to my house scales, then I've already lost 5 pounds...but I don't know...I'll weigh again on hers this Friday.

Suzzzie: Take it easy. You deserve the rest. I'm sure your work will understand if you take a few more days. I do deskwork...but I took the week off and I'm glad I did...plus it gave me some time with my munchkins and away from the hubub at the office. Keep your chin up and remember that we have a smoothie date sometime!

----

This is an amazing group....lots of support and I want to thank you all! My coworkers sent me some lovely flowers yesterday...they all know about the surgery and have all been very supportive. I may take a few more days off...not because of the surgery but to clean my house and stuff if I feel up to it (right before the surgery my husband and I found a house in the school district we prefer, in the town my mom lives in, and have put our house on the market yesterday and had a person come look at the filthy thing last night). I've got to get it cleaned...I've got some friends coming over this weekend to help do the "dumpster dance" and they told me I could coordinate (tell them what goes in the dumpster).

[TexasFire 84]

Thank y'all for the kind words and advice. I am too stubborn and independent for my own good a lot of times, but I usually find that if I want something done right and when I want it, that I usually have to do it myself! My mom gets sooooo upset with me over this, but it's just how I'm wired. It bothers me that I cannot physically do what I want and need to do at this point. I will do better, though. I will take it easier. I guess that means I can't haul a load of kitchen countertops today, huh? LOL

I hope everyone is having a good week so far and losing well. Does anyone know what is "typical" as far as weight loss stages? I'm losing like crazy right now and if it were to continue at this pace, I would be at goal in two months, so that can't be right. It would be so nice if that would happen, though! I have my follow-up with my doctor Thursday and I will ask him then. We are all pretty much in the same time frame and none of us may know yet!

HAPPY TUESDAY, EVERYBODY! IT'S GONNA BE A GOOD DAY!

Stef

[huntersmom 0]

Suzzzie, I totally understand the bbq thing. I swear I can smell a bbq from miles away. I just started on mushies and it was the best thing since being on liquids for 4 weeks.

[Pippz 0]

I shower every day, wash my incisions with soap and Water without letting the shower spray hit them directly...but my steristrips look dirty and disgusting!

That made me chuckle. I've been doing the same exact thing. Mine are gross too, and my post-op isn't until Friday (10 days instead of 7, ugh)

I just had my first Atkins shake. Yummiest things EVER. yay to no more clear liquids!!!!!!!! After the fills my doc only wants two days on a full-liquid diet. Soooo excited about not having to drink plain broth for a while!

[Nina_S 1]

Hi Nina :wave: No, I can eat any mushie my little heart desires! Now I REALLY have to be careful about keeping the calories low!

On another note...I wish I had told NO ONE about my surgery!!!!! I am SO frustrated! LOTS of people are asking me..."how much weight have you lost so far?" I snapped at a lady yesterday for it. Poor lady! I know it's because she's interested in the surgery, but DANG, I'm only two weeks out!!!! Give me a break!!! A few people have asked and then said, "it's just because I can SEE that you've lost..." Or something to that effect...but I've lost 40 pounds since JANUARY! Only 10 since surgery...why are they noticing NOW all of a sudden!? I just so wish I had kept it to myself. Today I get to go to church and be asked by many more people I'm sure!

Musical Momma,

On the food front, that's great. I haven't come across anything that didn't work well either, which is kinda scary. I cooked a beef roast for about 3 hours then put a piece of it in the food processor. I took a couple of spoons then waited for any reaction but all was well.

I know what you mean about sharing your surgery with people. I have had some interesting responses/reactions. Some people ask about the weight lost but then some don't mention anything at all surrounding the surgery. Some of it maybe jealousy but I'm thinking, why weren't you jealous when I was working my *ss off & getting crappy results.

Nina

[bcrazy7 0]

Well I'm officially banded! I am 1 day post op and feeling pretty good for the most part. I don't have too much gas thankfully. I do feel like I've been beaten by a baseball bat in the front. I cannot stay out of the bathroom, liquid BMs, anyone else have that problem? My tummy rumbles and then off we go. I am not hungry, just sipping on Water and a little Jello so far. I think I'll take a trip to Wal-mart later if i feel up to it.

[Lucy 0]

I'm a little confused on the food portions here --- I've been banded for 12 days and I'm on full liquids, but I can eat 8oz of creamy Soup in one sitting. I eat very slowly, but 2 - 4oz doesn't seem to be enough. Am I overdoing it? I have a VG band, if that makes a difference. Any thoughts here?

[LauraG. 0]

Well I'm officially banded! I am 1 day post op and feeling pretty good for the most part. I don't have too much gas thankfully. I do feel like I've been beaten by a baseball bat in the front. cannot stay out of the bathroom, liquid BMs, anyone else have that problem? My tummy rumbles and then off we go. I am not hungry,I just sipping on Water and a little Jello so far. I think I'll take a trip to Wal-mart later if i feel up to it.

Congrats on being banded! I am 4 days post op and I am the opposite i have not had a bowel movement since i drank the Magnesuim citrate before surgery. Guess I should call the Doc's office. I'm thinking because I am only drinking broth and Protein Shakes and sf popsicles and jello that might be why. But I am gonna call now.

However my tummy rumbles and grumbles all the time and feels like a big bowl of jello esp when I walk.

[Pippz 0]

Lucy, how long is very slowly? From what I was told, liquids pass MUCH faster than normal foods.

This morning, with all of my soreness/gas gone, I wanted to see how much I could drink at a time without feeling sick. I probably had 1/2 cup of Protein Shake in about 10 minutes. I got a little nasious and was full for about 45 minutes after that. I imagine now that the swelling is going down we can drink much more at a time than we will be able to after our first fill. That's just liquids though, I'm sure once we move onto solids the 2-4oz will be our limit!

Can anyone on solids (or almost solids) confirm that the "full" feeling returns once you start eating real food again?

[LauraG. 0]

I'm just curoius how many calories you all who have been banded in the last week are getting in a day. I'm barely getting in 350 a day.I am on a very limited clear liquid diet. I've read where others can eat oatmeal, pudding, yougart, and other things that I am not allowed during the stage I and 2 diets. It's amazing to me how each surgeon has different diets. I would so love to have a sf pudding. That would be heaven right now. It's not that I'm hungry because i really feel full all the time, but I would love to have something different to taste in my mouth.

[Lucy 0]

Pippz -- It probably takes me 30 minutes to an hour to eat 8 oz of creamy Soup. It makes sense that the liquids go down pretty quickly, I just want to make sure I'm not over-doing it.