agdunkle

That's really a good question for your doctor because I'm only 3 weeks out and I can begin lifting weights again and I've been able to do high impact Zumba as my body allows in the past 3 weeks.. call your doc!

I've got a desk job as well that does not involve heavy lifting or bending. My surgery was on a Thursday and I returned to work on Monday. HOWEVER, the Friday after I was out with my gym friends for dinner (they were eating... i was drinking a protein shake lol) and the Saturday after I was doing light Zumba for 50 minutes. It depends on how you feel! Don't push it, but don't lay around either. Luckily my co-workers were very understanding because the first few days back to work i was very burpy and had to get up and walk frequently to get the air out!

Normally, my husband helps me take my measurements every Wednesday (because I started my pre-op diet on a Thursday) but I was too excited today after teaching all three of my Zumba classes this week to see if I had shrunk any. I'm excited to say the results are...... BEGINNING (2/20/11)/CURRENT(3/13/11) Neck 15.75 14.25 Arm 14.75 13.5 Elbow 12.75 11.5 Chest 48 44.75 Waist (narrowest part) 42.75 38 Waist (belly button) 50.25 45 Hips 52 48.5 Thigh 25.25 23.5 Calf 19.25 18.12 Total inches lost: 23.5

Right now i'm 11 days post op and I can eat soft foods. My stomach does growl occasionally to say "hey put a little fuel in here!" but I never feel "hungry". I've read on this forum that people often don't feel hungry at first because their actual stomach is swollen and once the swelling goes down they are hungry unil they get their first fill. Could my stomach still be swollen? My doctor doesn't fill the band during surgery, so right now I have nothing in my band... I would LOVE to think i'm one of those people that can feel restriction with no fill but I don't want to get my hopes up.

congrats!! I'm sure you will think of something to reply with :-)

wouldn't that be wonderful if I was one of the bandsters that was satisfied with no fill.... one can dream right? hehe keep the personal stories coming please it's very helpful!

Ask your doctor because they all have different plans! The day I was discharged from the hospital my doctor told me resume normal activity (knowing what my "normal activity" was). That meant that I could go back to my 4 Zumba classes a week with light/minimal ab work. To some people, that would have been too much. It's best to ask your doctor when you should start exercising and how much exertion it should be.

Thanks Kelley :-) I am following my doctor's guidlines with food, he has no pureed stage and I've had 0 pain since an hour after I woke up! Others will very much like your advise no worries!

I didn't have any gas pains, but I attribute that to walking. As soon as i woke up in recovery i told the nurses i had to go to the bathroom just so they would get me up and moving. Every hour, on the hour, i would get up and walk around the nursing unit. The doctor said that the NO2 they use to inflate your abdomin for surgery is absorbed into your body, but until then can cause you pain. Walking helps the gas absorb quicker. The gas should actually only take 6-8 hours to absorb but if you're not up and moving then it's just going to hang out in your body. Gas x doesn't help because this isn't intestinal, but heating pads do. The biggest thing is to WALK no matter how much you feel like not walking. Just WALK WALK WALK WALK and you will have minimal gas pain!!!

I'm officially one week (and one day) post op and for some odd reason I feel the need to share this journey with the world lap band world. I'm having an extremely difficult time relating to people on lapbandtalk only because i can't seem to find many that are my age actively posting. I'm hiding this surgery from the big world for now for a few reasons: 1) I don't need unsolicited advice 2) if you don't want someone's opinion, don't ask..and i'm not! 3) I'm afraid it's not going to be well received in the fitness community. Let me tell you about me: I'm 26 and I've been a Zumba instructor for 2.5 years. I've been a personal trainer for 3 years... yes, I could melt the weight off of clients, but not myself. I also work for a childhood obesity grant. hmmm what does a fat chick know about how to get skinny?! I'm recently married (November 2010) to a husband who must have cataracts because he always tells me he doesn't know when I gain weight. The people that do know I've had this surgery don't know what to do with me! This week while in a long meeting I asked my boss if i needed to cancel my lunch plans because the meeting was going to run over. Her response was, "You can't go to lunch!! You can't eat yet!" I calmly told her i was going to meet some friends and drink my shake while they ate, lunch isn't always about chewing. My family cooks a big Sunday dinner and my husband and I usually join them after church.. last Sunday (3 days post op) we walked in to the smell of my favorite foods. I was informed to go get my shake and my husband could eat sigh I'm also having trouble relating on the boards because.... I don't have any problems with my band yet. Immediately after I woke up from surgery I made the nurses get me up so I could walk, and i walked around the wing every hour there after. The pain pressure I felt in my abdomin felt like i had just completed P90X ab ripper x, so it wasn't unbearable and there was no way I was taking a narcotic pain reliever for something as miniscule as that. I didn't take any pain medicine after surgery, and I haven't taken any at all. My surgeon doesn't fill bands during surgery, so I'm able to: take pills, drink 4 oz water/15 minutes, eat pudding/jello/yogurt, and i've tried my luck with a few more substantial things with no problem. I've been able to sleep on my stomach, sides, and back since I came home the day after surgery and I only felt one instance of pain trying to stretch after Zumba. I'm also not hungry. I'm not sure if this is because my stomach is still swollen from the surgery creating restriction, or my band alone is enough restriction. Why do so many people have so many problems and why don't I have those problems? So here I go into the weekend, -8lbs from surgery and -18 lbs from pre op diet, ready to live my life outdoors with my husband and dog enjoying our March heatwave.

Walk Kelli walk! I know that seems simple, but it helps ALOT! A heating pad helps too but walking will help the gas absorb faster. Walk about 5-10 minutes every hour to two hours.

make yourself walk! Even if you just walk around your living room for about 5 minutes every hour/2 hours it will help TREMENDOUSLY. Walk the gas out, it's not in your guts it's NO2 in your abdomen from the surgery. Walk walk walk walk walk and a heating pad helps! I had no nausea or gas pains: no magic trick just lots of walking.

That's awesome Babe!

doodlebugsmom i'm so happy for you! See not so bad :-) just keep walking!! Walk every hour or two it will help with the NO2 gas that tries to settle in your shoulders. I kept that little patch behind my ear the full 72 hours just in case i was feeling "false" good lol

I had to have pre admission testing which was blood work..maybe it's the same thing?