Day Dreamer

The gas is a result of having a gas pumped into the abdominal cavity to make room for the laparoscopic tools during surgery. When you're closed up, the gas gets absorbed into the body and must come out one way or another - top or bottom . Until then, the gas bubbles and pressure hits a nerve in the ab area that sends a painful signal to the left shoulder. It's very weird, but that's how the body works.
Maalox and GasX can help get rid of the gas.. burping and farting helps too. Sorry to be so graphic. Burping can hurt because of the tubes inserted into the trach and esophagus during surgery.
After a few days, the gas dissipates. I used thermacare heat pads on my should to help dull the pain. The pain med you get after surgery helps too if only to make you sleepy and high enough not to care about the pain

Be careful of thinking that high calorie days have you losing. It's hard to imagine but it can take a few days for the effects of what you are doing to show on the scale. Sometimes you do need to shock the body a little and two or three days of increased calories are fine to break a plateau but then you need to get right back to the good you were doing before. Be careful of weighing everyday too, it's not a good thing. It can fool you into thinking that the bad stuff you ate the day before wasn't so bad...when actually the two pounds down you see was the week beforee of being good and following your plan. Losing a pound is a cumulative effect of eating less over several days....keep that in mind.
Weight loss and changes is hard and confusing especially with the enourmous train wreck of information out there, just stick to your plan, get back on track and you will continue to do great!

You can try the gas-x strips.. since you can't have pills, but for me, walking was the most effective. The strips didn't do much. It's not really gas.. it's the air they use to blow up your stomach during surgery.

Funny, but this is my main goal. I will be so thrilled the first time I can buy clothes at a normal store and not in the "plus" section....seriously why do they make such ugly clothes for "women" sizes? Maybe it is to encourge us to lose weight lol.
A size 16 in the 'Normal" section will be amazing......my ultimate goal is to be a 10/12. I'm not looking for "skinny" and considering that a size 10 is considered a "PLUS SIZE" model in the modeling industry, I'll be happy with that.

I'm still a "newbie", but could not believe it when I tried on a pair of jeans at Academy...and they actually fit! I haven't been able to buy clothes from there in YEARS because they don't carry women's sizes, so I definitely had to buy myself a pair. The added bonus? "Normal" size jeans sure cost a lot less than my regular Lane Bryant Right Fit brand!!!
Loving my band!

I second upping your Protein. Grilled chicken breast strips are great for that. Before I had got closer to restriction I would have it as a snack.< /p>
Also, I swim every day which is a great for those of us who are over weight. No joint issues. I use a Water proof MP3 player. I was the same bmi as you when I started the lap band journey. HOWEVER. I had already lost 30 pounds from swimming. It was and continues to be quite a sight at my gym. Me in my fat lady swim suit and the high school swim teams (a different town everynight). Oh and the 20 parents sitting in the bleachers.

I have less than a week to go now. I am so excited. I started doing everything I can to prepare myself for success. I tell myself daily affirmations of how well this IS going to work this time. I have been working out and trying to loose as much as I can pre-op. I figure it has to come off some time. It may as well start now. I walked 30,000 steps today, drank my Protein Shakes, had a couple of bites of home made beef Jerky with no sugar and I feel so excited. Hope everyone else is as excited as me. I have been overweight since I was 16 (40) now and my wonderful (skinny butt) husband has promised me a whole new wardrobe when I reach a place where I am comfortable. Shopping trip, here I come.

Hi, Courtney!
First, I am with Maryanne regarding your husband. . .what is it EXACTLY that he is opposing? Is he maybe afraid you might not make it through the surgery and fears losing you? There is something else there- it isn't just the 'diet and exercise' thing.
Secondly, you have taken your first step for support by joining here. Next, your Dr. should have supplied you with some support group locations and times- you need to get in there and join right away.
Thirdly, your Dr. should have made you sit through LOTS of education (seminars, web education, reading materials, etc) to make sure you FULLY understand what the lap-band is, the surgery, how it works, etc., etc. THIS is the type of information to be shared with those who are not supporting your choice. It is usually ignorance of the device that causes people to oppose it. I had quite a few 'enlightened' friends after I educated them and now they are considering having it done.
Education is power. Once you FULLY understand everything there is to know, you can help stave off nay sayers by educating them. Of course, there will be those die hards and you just have to 'live and let live' with them, but educate yourself so that you can educate them instead of feeling like you're defending your decision.
We are all here to support you, so if you ever need us, just let us know!!!!
Good luck to you, Courtney!

USMC Wife, I am sorry for your employment problems. However, what a great and empowering victory for you to be able to beat the food monster. Congrats! and a job well done!

I believe doctors use your original weigh in since they know people will lose weight during the pre op diet. The only reason I could see for waiting is making yourself mentally prepared. This is not a miracle cure. I did not get restriction from fills for 6 months. During that time frame and now it is still about will power. Also you need to create new eating habits. Some of them truely are easy. Have a baked potato instead of french fries; eat grilled chicken instead of fried. While they are easy to do the hard part is following through. Also anything that is either liquid or crunchy starches slide right through the band pouch. After banding you can still eat a whole carton of ice cream or a large McDonald shake. You need to decide not to have them.
I wish I'd had surgery years ago so I'm not saying to wait. I'm just saying to prepare yourself that your relationship with food will be different.

I should have called days ago. I called my doctors office this morning after having been done with all my appointments for about 8 days now and the insurance person said she thought she sent it out last week but she would be happy to double check. Turns out she never did and my call reminded her. I called my insurance a couple hours later and they confirmed they just got it. I guess I will be waiting another week. This process has tought me a couple things.........to be proactive and not assume and since I am the person most invested in me getting a lapband installed I have to be persistent.

I think what we're dealing with is because we are trying to not only improve our health but because we want to feel good about ourselves and look good too..people are going to compare WLS to cosmetic surgery. They think it's a selfish act on our part and that we don't need it and throw all these risks out to make us feel guilty. I really do believe that's the issue. Society looks at fat people as if we did it to ourself, that we are lazy. I think I would tell them, on top of the physical and mental health problems that being overweight has caused, the stress of not having family to give support is a big disappointment but..I'm going to do it anyway and they'd have to deal with it. This is a life or death decision and it's a shame they can't be there to help support you for wanting to live! I've only told a few people and I've told them my doctors have recommended it for me. I have a large list of health problems and I tell them I don't have a choice and so far, I've either gotten silence or support. Good luck sweetie, you have support here!