Let us hear how you're feeling

[fatmom 0]

Those who have had their surgery, let us know how you're doing. How long was your hospital stay? What's it like being home now and knowing "this is it" you're truly, truly on your way! Anything you want to share that we who have yet to go forth should expect.

[Megan9463 0]

I'm 6 days post-op and so far so good. I had to spend 1 night in the hospital, it wasn't too bad. I'm sore at my port site, but the gas hasn't been too bad. I'm on Roxicet (TMI...that also means I'm on stool softeners, YUCK!). I've been trying to get out and about but I get pretty tired.

This whole process has been pretty surreal, but I'm glad to be almost 1/2 way through stage 2!

[Brighton Belle 0]

Well, I am now banded and feeling ok at last!

I went in on Wednesday at about 11 o’ clock in the morning and had been nil by mouth since 10 am. The Nuffield in Glasgow is quite a friendly hospital. I spent a lot of time reading and listening to my mp3 player and also met the dietician for a chat. Mr Galloway came in to see me and I signed the consent form. Also met the anaesthetist. Got weighed and I had lost three pounds on the week of low carb, low cal food.< /p>

At about 3pm I got into my gown and paper knickers and put on my anti-thrombo-embolic stockings and they came and got me about 3.30.

There was a bit of trouble putting in the venflon-he had to have several goes as my veins were playing up but then in went the stuff…felt very woozy…next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.

I was in quite a bit of pain and it was shoulder pain from the CO2 they put in the abdomen, so I think I got some more morphine. Then I got wheeled back up to my room and was very woozy.

My husband had come back to see me but he soon went because I was pretty out of it. The shoulder, upper chest and upper back pain were the worst because of the CO2 but during the night that eased off, but every time I went to the loo it came back as I moved around and I needed more painkillers in the night.

Early next morning I felt absolutely shattered and had a splitting headache but gradually I perked up, had some yoghurt and some coffee, then had a shower and got dressed. They had put local in the wounds (of which I have four) so the wounds were not sore. I felt pretty good considering!

We set off for home - a 5 hour drive. We stopped for a meal and I had some spoonfuls of broccoli Soup which was fine. The local anaesthetic wore off on the way home and I was pretty sore in the tum.

By the time we got home at 5ish I was really stiff all over as if I had run a marathon. That got steadily worse and in the night it was agony to turn over-all my abdominal muscles seized up. I reckoned this was due to a reaction to the suxamethonium which is the muscle relaxant they use. I checked the next day with the hospital and sure enough, that was what it was. It is now gradually wearing off. I suffered more with this than the pain from the wound and really had absolutely no problems with the band at all. Except for some gently hiccupping in the car, but that was not painful although took about half an hour to settle.

Food wise, well I am not really hungry. Today I had a weight-watchers yogurt mid-morning and one later in the afternoon and about 5 spoonfuls of home-made parsnip soup at dinner with a glass of wine (which I sipped v e r y s l o w l y). Also had some coffee and cups of tea. Have to watch myself as sometimes you just knock back the final bit of a cup of tea and I have to remind myself not to do that but take it slowly and steadily.

The family all had sausages, Pasta and Tomato sauce and it smelt delicious and I fleetingly thought – I’d like some of that! But it was a thought that was really more a memory of how I used to feel, kind of one step removed, and I said to myself-I’m really not that bothered. Which is weird but it is rather nice not to be at the mercy of this strong instinct to eat that was never easily satisfied.

[hmarko 0]

Hi I had my surgery yesterday. I got there late 11 am they took me in after all the paperwork, etc at 2pm. I went home at 10 pm. I agreed to a trial drug for the nausea that they use for chemotherapy as he last time i had general anesthesia I was very dizzy and nauseous. I am GLAD i did it. I came out alert was dozing but didn't have that knocked out feeling.... and NO nausea at all!

I too am very sore in my muscles my frd's hubby who is an anesthesiologist said its caused by one of the anesthetics that make ur muscles twitch while we are under.

I got some fill but I can't tell if I feel constriction. I am not hungry but that is probably due to feeling bloated and pain. I am on full liquids for the next 10 days. I was on liquids for 2 weeks prior to this but I was allowed two cups of veggies.

[srenee99 0]

Banded on 9/3 in TJ and had a wonderful experience. The care exceeded every expectation. My second postop week is being spent learning to pay attention to what my body is telling me after eating. I'm on thicker foods and am paranoid about overeating. It's not an easy habit to break. Today I started measuring to make sure I don't exceed 1/2 cup. No fill until 10/16.

I'm having some difficulty with dumping syndrome - the tiniest amount of sugar and carbs will result in hours of unpleasantness. liquid Imodium is always kept close by. I guess I should appreciate the need to stay clear of sugar and carbs. Fat free/sugar free pudding caused the worst reaction. Does anyone else have these issues?

[hmarko 0]

what does it feel like when u are full?

what is dumping i thought that was only for bypass?

[Brighton Belle 0]

Day 4 and today I am feeling pretty good compared to the first three days. Day 1 was not too bad but we were travelling home in the car for 5 hours and I slept a lot. Day 2 I was soooo stiff from the suxamethonium. Day 3 the stiffness was slightly better. But TODAY the stiffness is a whole lot better.

Today I got up after a lie in, took the dog for a gentle walk and felt much more normal. Still have a slight indigestion feeling at times if I take a deep breath, and I have still had a few left collar bone twinges but nothing to what it was.

I still have some pretty spectacular bruising round the scars and I still have the thin shiny plastic dressing on but can take it off tomorrow. They used superglue on the cuts-how cool is that!

food wise, I had a cup of tea in the morning, then a yogurt mid morning. Possible another one somewhere in the day. Some coffee in the afternoon. Tonight I was feeling a bit hungry and wanted something savoury so I had half a small tin of oxtail Soup, as my surgeon said no more than five tablespoons of food at a time and it has to be sloppy enough to be able to slip off the spoon.

Everyone else was having pizza but I was not tempted by the smell or the look. I ate my soup slowly and had rests inbetween mouthfuls and it was fine.

Tomorrow I might actually cook up something like some butternut squash soup and Magimix it and then freeze it in small batches. Also thinking of doing lamb in the slow cooker and I can puree some of that with the veggies and potato...

[srenee99 0]

Full feels like a huge Thanksgiving dinner and it doesn't take much to get that way.

[Brighton Belle 0]

Was not too bad at all.

Got up and took dog for a walk. Realised I am not that great with my morning tea - it has got cold the last couple of mornings and I have found a small glass of smoothie much more refreshing.

Watched a film, managed to do a few bits and pieces of computer stuff...played Farmsville on Facebook which is great fun if you have time for idling.

Decided to make some Butternut Squash Soup. Cut it in half, brushed with oil, set the timer and put in oven for 45 mins...

came back 45 mins later to find oven cold and butternut squash cold. I had not actually turned on the heat!

Said to myself "this sort of thing is why you planned to take two weeks off work!"

I made the soup in the end and it was lovely. My daughter had a tooth out so she had some later on and I had some for lunch today and froze a tiny portion for another day.

I am still getting this odd achey uncomfortable feeling in my chest when I take deep breaths and at other odd times but I think it is the band settling in.

Oh, yes, I peeled off the shiny plastic skin over my incisions and had a lovely bath, in which quite a lot of my superglue came off, too. The wounds feel much better without all that on. And I confess to picking off some of the superglue that seemed a bit superfluous. The rest seems to have fallen of in bed!

[Brighton Belle 0]

Day 6 yesterday and a bit tired.

Got a bit of brainwork done so that was good.

We did lamb in the slow cooker with fennel, potatoes and onions and when I had carved for everyone else I put some in the Magimix for me...which was fine until I chucked in some peas which did not really improve the appearance. Still it tasted good. I blitzed the remains of the meat and veg later in the evening and froze it in small amounts to take to work next week.

I got a bit worried and fed up with this pain/ache thing in my chest when I take deep breaths, stretch or just get it out of the blue. Not that bad but annoying.

Went on the post-op forum here and typed "chest pain" into the search field and read about a million posts describing exactly what I feel and that was really reassuring, to know that everyone else that has had it got better with time.

These forums are really a fantastic resource!

[Lula 0]

I was banded on 15 September and posted somewhere on this forum on 16 September to say I felt great. Well...I think when I said that maybe the pain killers might have still been working. The pain soon set in when I stopped taking the pain killers, mostly around the port site, and just a gassy bloated feeling and all the discomfort that brings. But it's okay. I am back to crushing the pain killers and taking them and that's working well.

Other than the discomfort and pain around the port site, I'm on day two now, and am mostly on clear fluids, but am finding that I need more. Really hungry. So I am having cups of Soup, which are thin liquids, just not clear. They are doing the trick. Also had a fresh vegetable juice this morning (carrot, cucumber, beetroot and capsicum) and that went down fine. I feel like everything is going down really well and if I could just get past the discomfort in my stomach region, that would be great.

I know it's early days though, so happy to stick it out. Might try a walk tomorrow as everyone seems to think it helps with the gassy bloatedness.

How's everyone else feeling? Anyone else banded on 15 September? Bestest to all!

Edited September 17, 2009 by Lula

[Brighton Belle 0]

Day 7 and Day 8 for me have seen a huge improvement.

That funny heavy uncomfortable feeling in my chest has gone and I am pretty much feeling back to normal. I have not been lifting up anything heavy and have been resting quite a bit as I am on leave, but I do feel ready for work next Monday.

food wise I am doing fine. We had spare ribs last night so I ripped the meat off the bones, put in some sauce and some of the noodles and blitzed it all in the magimix. Had to add quite a bit of Water to get it too the sloppy-enough-to-fall-off-a-spoon state. Also I realise I could eat more than I really need so I think the trick is to eat slowly, put the spoon down between mouthfuls as well. I am afraid of eating too much at this stage as I don't want to stretch the pouch.

Tonight I am making the roasted butternut squash Soup and will freeze some as well.

[topspinner 0]

Just banded yesterday, 17th at 10:00 a.m. in my room and talking to family around 2:00 p.m. To my great surprise I had no gas or gas issues. No nausea. A little pain while getting up to an upright position to use the bathroom, but on a scale of 1 to 10 about a 2. I also had a hernia repaired, which talking to my nurses, this seems to be par for the course with many of the procedures. Maybe my Dr. is very conservative and choses to do these just in case, but in view of the little pain and gas I have had, I believe in Dr. Boone.

Today, I was released at about 9:00 a.m. and have no pain or nauseu, and just a little gas, (not painful). I am not talking anyother pills because I have no pain, and just 1 pill 2 a day for acid reflux.

I went 2 a couple of malls with my wife and granddaughter just to get exercise and prepare for my granddaughter's 3rd birthday. I also babysat her for about an hour, while the rest of the family went to get something to eat.

Just broth, Jello and Water for the past 2 days and probably until next Wed. at my first checkup. My stomach feel full, even though I can hear it growling. But food sure smells good!!! Must be that head hunger I have been reading about.

I hope this continues so well and painless as I am kind of a wimp in regards to pain (according to my wife).

Good luck to the rest of you future bandsters!!!

[nailpro00 71]

Hi all. I was banded on Sept 4th and just started soft foods yesterday. I was so so so nervous for my surgery that I could not wait that morning for them to put me to sleep. I was suppose to have it done at 11:30 but something happened and they did not take me till 1:00. When I woke up I had a worse than a Migraine headache and I don't know if they put me back to sleep or i passed out but before i knew it I was waking up again in recovery for the second time with considerably less of a headache. I opted to spend a night in the hospital. I was in a lot of pain and very Dizzy and even a little nauseous. I got no sleep. 10 min here and 15 min there.

I left the hospital about 4pm with my family. I don't think I ate anything for 2 days. When I did start to eat I stuck with lemon Jello, and chicken broth. Maybe 1 oz if that at a time.

Now here I am 16 days out and still doing good. I had a bit of a down day yesterday. I did not loose anything for 3 days and that was paying a toll on me. But I stuck with the program and I woke up this morning down 2 pounds. Today was a good day. I even walked 8000 steps today. That is huge for me. I am going to try to do that again tomorrow and hopefully one day soon get up to 10000 steps a day.

Congrats to all Sept Bander's

[dratdee 0]

hello all,

Well, I was officially banded on Fri, Sept 18 (whoch I am considering my new birthday!!). I went to the hospital at 6:30 and my surgery was at 8:30 in the am. it only took about 35 min and then I went to recovery. Things were ok. I was a bit nauseaous from the gas, but was thankfully able to burp alot, which helped. I stayed until around 330 because I had trouble drinking the required 8 ounces of Water. finally did and got to go home. Ive been felling ok. Been pretty sore, but am managing well. Havnet been hungy AT ALL. I have to make myself sip on gatorade and water. My MD doesnt put in any fill until 2 months to let the swelling go down so things must be pretty swollen in there because I feel full. I have lost about 4 pounds since friday (this is now sun night), which makes me very happy. I will be glad when the gas reabsorbes from my chest. it seems to get worse after I drink something. I have another 2 weeks of liquid diet to do now, which suits me fine because I could not imagine eating any solid food.

Hoping that things get better day by day. My hubby goes back to work tomorrow and I will have to take care of my 19-month old all alone, which makes me a little nervous. she likes to crawl all over me. thankfully, my mom will have her until late afternoon so we will see how it goes! Hope everyone else is doing great! Im so glad that this is the beginning of my new life!!!

d:thumbup: