agdunkle

really am I the only one on this site who has had to have a port revision?

I was banded on 3/3 and i had my first fill on 3/25 with no problems. When i went for my second fill on 4/27 my doctor couldn't find the opening to my port... he kept digging around and i could hear the syringe scraping the port, but no dice so i was scheduled for a flouroscopy on the 29th and the determination was that my port had flipped. My doctor used "hooks" to anchor the port. Now I'm having port revision surgery on 5/5 and he promises me that he will suture the port this time... i'm so frustrated :-/ Has anyone else had to deal with a port revision surgery?

i didn't weigh myself for two weeks after and i was so swollen around my midsection that a size XL t-shirt wouldn't fit..and I normally wore a large. That's how I knew I was swollen and didn't even attempt to take measurements or my weight. Sometimes it's good to rest, but sometimes it's good to get up and walk around to get the soreness out. Everyone is different and it seems that some people take the surgery easier than others. You have to relax, focus on healing, and try and keep your mind off of food. Make sure you drink enough also, sometimes "hunger" is mistaken for dehydration.

Do you have any food restrictions? i'm 6 weeks post op and can eat anything, i have trouble with hamburger though. I eat: salmon cups (in the same area as the tuna) lots and lots of white fish (orange roughy, tilapia) and sometimes swordfish although only once a week pork chops chicken greek yogurt Protein shakes (normally for breakfast) center cut lean bacon weight watchers string cheese and if I'm really feeling carbtastic i eat: thomas bagel thin (only 100 calories!) frozen yogurt fat free pudding a slice of pizza (totallllly my weakness haha) I need to work on the veggie intake, i don't like them so much :-/

Hey Gingy! It would be best to consult a registered dietician, but in my experience you're not eating enough protein, nor are you eating enough calories. Your body is a machine and it needs gas to run! Even though we have a band around our bellies we need to make sure we have enough fuel to get us through the day. I'm also going to the low carb route, with my daily intake between 50-75g (more on days i have resistance training). I keep my fat low (under 30g) and my protein at least 100g. When trying to burn fat, your protein intake should be 10% of your calories. I eat 1000-1200 calories per day=100-120 grams of protein. When you can begin exercising it will help tremendously. When I was immediately post op until 4 weeks, my physician said 60-80g/protein per day. Just like someone else said.. we didn't put this weight on overnight, and we can't blink it off! Don't get frustrated you can do it!

I don't have a kinect, but I do have a Wii and I've got Just Dance, Just Dance II, and Zumba. I like these games and I do work up a "sweat" but I don't think that it compares to taking a live class. I also have Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatim and I like it as well.

hey there! You can't "spot reduce" and cellulite is within the skin ..not the muscle. Your thigh is actually made up of quite a few muscles: the quadriceps are on the front and your hamstrings are on the back and they have little parts within them. It's not good to over work one muscle, it could potentially strain the other. Some great lower body exercises that will work your thighs and booty are: squats lunges using resistance bands step on one end with one foot, and secure the other end to your other foot. From there you can bring your leg straight forward, to the side, and straight back and it will work ALL of your leg muscles With squats and lunges BE VERY CONSCIOUS ABOUT YOUR KNEES. Do NOT let your knees go past your toes as it will easily cause knee injuries. A combination of resistance training and cardio vascular training should help!

very interesting! Are you trying to stay low carb low fat? maybe that's what it is!

I know I should be happy, thank you all.. it's just frustrating. I don't want to be a 5'3" female that weighs 250 and wears a size 16. I know what the scale says and I want it to decrease!! lol

I started my pre-op diet 2/17 and was banded on 3/3. Since 2/17 I have lost 20lbs..up until about two weeks ago. However, since 2/17 i've lost a nearly 40 inches from my body..10 inches being from the past two weeks. What gives? Anyone else experience anything similar?

Belly jiggle is attributed to your diet. Less sugars and low carb will help "deflate your belly" until then you're keeping your strong abs warm :-P If you never work the other parts of your core you could cause injury because the other muscles are weaker than your "abs". Your core muscles act as a "girdle" around your middle, so there are muscles in the front, sides and back so you need to do exercises that engage all muscles.

I eat out on occasion..maybe once every few weeks. Some of my faves are: crab cakes and grilled fish from a local seafood restaurant, "grilled" fish from long john silvers, mac and cheese from panera bread. I'm not one that has problems with food except beef tends to disagree a little.

That's great!!! I'm so glad that you're having such a wonderful experience. I had my surgery on 3/3. When I woke up I did not need the morphine and refused pain meds. They gave me a prescription for lortabs when I left the hospital, but I didn't have it filled. I have ZERO pain. CONGRATS to you and good luck!

My doc told me to return to normal life and i was determined to not get the NO2 gas pains and heal quickly. I think by moving around all the time it helped me recouperate much faster! YOU COULD BE THE NEXT INSTRUCTOR AT YOUR GYM! Give it a shot :-)

I think that's definitely a question for your doctor. When i left the hospital 1 day post op he told me to continue life as normal..and he knew what my normal was. I did my zumba class 2 days post op with minimal abdominal movement and overall i had only missed 1 class. After about a week I felt awesome, better than I did before surgery! Ask your doc, and try and see what happens! I also found a compression garment helped a lot in zumba because it held my belly still when i jumped around.

it's so awesome to finally see some positive stuff on here rather than a gazillion struggles! I have to agree with you. I' was banded 3/3 and it's been easy so far. I teach Zumba Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and I only missed one class because that was the acutal date of my surgery! I feel like my doctor is so knowledgable and I try to do everything he says. I've have great results so far and this is the best decision i have ever made!!

that's awesome :-) just keep moving you can do it!!

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!

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!

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.

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!!!