My first week with the band...

[Cascavel 0]

Hi all! I was banded on 8/30 by Dr. Darrin Hansen in Salt Lake City. Since I was able to gleen so much help and support on these forums before and after that time I though it only fair that I post my experiences so far so that I can return the favor to those that follow...

My pre-op diet: Dr. Hansen put my on a 2 week pre-op diet. He didn't dictate any special diet, he just wanted me to 'lose some weight' to help with my liver size. I decided to stick to 1100 calories/day eating as much vegetables as possible. It wasn't easy and I was often very hungry, but I stuck it out and lost 35 pounds. :biggrin1:

Operation day: I had never had an operation before, so I had the normal fears and anxieties as everyone else on this board. As long as I didn't think about it I was ok. I managed to avoid the 'last meal' syndrome and tried to not eat much the day before just to make things easier post-op. Despite my worries they got an IV in me just fine. They didn't actually say 'we are going to put you under now' so I eventually woke up in recovery. Dr. Hansen said things went perfectly -- my liver wasn't a problem and I was only under for about 60 minutes. Hurray!

Post-op: It took my about 2 hours to clear away the haze from being put under. Due to my sleep apnea they had already planned to keep me in the hospital overnight so I was in my own room with my wife by my side. I ended up with 4 teeny incisions and one bigger one (which I still can't tell how big it is since it's covered in a mass of steri-strips). My pain level was ok until about 7pm (surgery was at 11am) -- they gave me some liquid Lortab and it helped. I was able to sleep off and on (with regular interruptions from the nurses for vital checking, etc.). Dr. Hansen called me that night to see how I was doing. He's a great doctor! He said he put in a 'bigger band' but I'm not sure exactly what that means -- I'll check at my follow-up next week.

Day 2: Dr. Hansen came by early in the morning to give me a final look-over and then he signed me out. I was ready to go home. I had a Lortab prescription but never used it. I did end up using Children's liquid Motrin about three times during recovery to take the edge off.

Day 3-5: Dr. Hansen had me on Clear liquids for this stage -- I drank as much as I could but only had about 100 calories a day in Special K Protein Water and Gatorade and broth a couple times. I had a little Jell-o for a treat but couldn't eat much (not from restriction, just lack of desire and hunger). I used Gas-X strips to try and head off the gas pains, but they hit bad on days 5 and 6. Seem to be a little better today (day 8).

Day 6-7: I moved to full liquids these days. I still didn't drink much though -- about 600 calories. I started my Protein shakes these days and had some yougurt. Still not too hungry, though I think my stomach growled a few times (it hard to tell exactly what it's doing nowadays). My muscles aren't sore anymore, but my port incision is, especially in certain postions. I still can't sleep on my side. Last night I was able to sleep all night for the first time -- that was nice! Before I was only getting 3-4 hours of sleep at a time, which precipitated lots of naps.

Day 8 (today): I'm on to mushies! So far I haven't had any yet though -- just my Protein shake. It's 2pm and I think I'm hungry now so I'll go see what I can rustle up. I started taking my Multivitamin today (Horray for Flintstones!). I'm aiming for 800 calories during the next week I'm on mushies. After that I'm on a special soft food/mushy diet for three weeks to promote healing. I have my followup appointment next week. No fills scheduled yet.

All-in-all it's been easier than I thought it would be so far, though defintely not easy. Including my pre-op diet I've lost over 50 pounds. For the first time in my life I have hope that I'll lose the remaining 250.:biggrin1:

Cascavel

[METALBAND 0]

Congratulations.....that is a great amount of weight for pre-op!!! Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Candle 11]

I was banded on the 27th and had a pretty easy time too.:clap2:

Does your doctor know you were taking the Motrin? I thought we weren't suppose to take NSAIDS. Tylentol makes an adult strength in liquid.

Good luck to you!

My appetite has returned full force

[tsunami1967 0]

cascavel:Wow thanks for sharing! Good luck you are doing wonderfully it sounds!

[Cascavel 0]

Does your doctor know you were taking the Motrin? I thought we weren't suppose to take NSAIDS. Tylentol makes an adult strength in liquid.

I had mentioned to him during my pre-op visit that I took Advil occasionally. He said that would be ok eventually as long as I took the Liqui-gels. I figured that since Motrin and Advil were essentially the same thing it would be ok, but I'll defintely ask him again next week. My wife said the only liquid pain medicine she could find at the store was the Children's Motrin -- maybe I'll have her look a little harder...

[Candle 11]

In my area, I can get the liquid Tylenol at CVS and Walmart.

Motrin is the same as Advil - it's not recommended we take either.

(do a search on this forum - you'll find many threads and explanations if your doctor didn't talk to you about it)

[blahblahblah 4]

Congratulations...looks like you are well on the way to success. I'm happy for you!

As for liquid tylenol...you can use the children's tylenol and just ask the pharmacist to figure out how much you should take. Just be warned....it is VERY sweet! VERY! No wonder my kids lick it up like it's the best stuff ever!

Congrats again!

Rain

[Cascavel 0]

Hi all -- I just got back from my 2-week post-op appointment with Dr. Hansen. Things are going great. I did ask him about the Motrin thing and he said that liquid Motrin and Gelcaps are just fine to take -- it's the solid pills that need to be avoided.

Now I'm not a doctor (nor do I even play one on TV) and your doctor may say differently, but I wanted to post what he said to follow-up on earlier posts in this thread...

Cascavel

[GayleTX 1]

Glad you are doing so well.....it gets you off to a good start when you don't have a lot of difficulties right away.

Just have to comment.....Flinstones??? You really need to invest in good quality grown-up Vitamins. They make some for wls patients that many people declare have helped them stay healthy and maintain good health.