Rachel412

I had to do a true/false quiz in the surgeon's office as part of my final pre-op appointment and this was one of the questions on the test. The answer was false, you couldn't get an unfill before a wedding. vacation, etc. It made me laugh! I mean, I guess it doesn't hurt to ask, every surgeon is different... I think that any enjoyment you'd get out of it during the vacation would just be turned to misery when you got home and realized you'd gained, and you had to work back to find a "sweet spot".

Gosh, what a great thread. I guess most of mine are "normal" things I've just never felt comfortable doing. 1. Wear shorts in the summer (without them immediately riding up!) 2. Wear a bathing suit in public 3. Sexy boots and high heels! 4. Be able to squat, like, ever. 5. Jump rope! 6. Go on bike rides with my family.

There were a ton of us who got banded on 4/12, huh? I'm doing well! My incisions are still sore, but no need for painkillers and I've been out & about and gone back to normal life. Today is my first day on full liquids so I got to have herbal tea, then 6 oz. of yogurt, then a Protein shake, then some Soup, then a 4 oz. sugar-free pudding... and now it's almost dinner time The hunger has been under control a lot better with the full liquids than it was under Clear Liquids, and I *think* I'm getting the hang of the new sensations. "Full" is no longer a thanksgiving stuffed turkey feeling, it's more like pressure in my chest/almost my throat... and I'd best not try to push that. I'm finding it amazing how quickly I go from "full" to "starving" though... anyone else? Oh and I lost 8 pounds in the last week

whoops, double post!

I've only tried a couple of kinds so far, but my favorite chocolate is Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard in Double Rich Chocolate. No funky aftertaste, 24g protein per scoop. I ordered it from Amazon. Good luck finding one you like! I also seem to hear a lot of good things about Unjury but I haven't tried it.

Hi Carol, thanks for the welcome! All 5 of my incisions are still sore, you're lucky Thanks so much Spot I'm sorry your whole surgery and trip experience was so miserable. Are you feeling OK now?

Welcome to the other side! I stayed 1 night in the hospital and that was the only day I slept upright. I'm now 8 days post-op and can easily sleep on my side, though I haven't tried sleeping on my stomach yet

Thanks for the welcome Brenda- so far so good! The incision sites are sore still but today was my first day on "full liquids" and I lost 8 pounds last week. I'm AMAZED that I managed to live for a week on protein shakes, broth, and jell-o but now I'm glad to move on!

Hi guys! Hope you don't mind me joining you. I'm Rachel, I'm 32, and I was banded on April 12th with a Realize band. I have 2 daughters (3 and 6) and a husband and we live in sunny (HA!) Massachusetts. I had started the lap-band process in 2006, but ended up getting pregnant while on my pre-op diet. Fine by me, as we'd been trying for 2 years and had had 2 miscarriages and had pretty much given up on having another child. Once she turned 2.5, we'd moved close to Boston and I decided to look into banding again. I was 282 at my first appointment. I went down to 271 at my last pre-surgery weigh in. I'm 5'7". So there's all my random personal info for ya I feel like I've been on this site 24/7 since I had the surgery!

awesome, congrats!!

I'm sorry that it slipped, but I'm glad it's been such a success for you and that you'll be getting a shiny new one

I didn't drive until 6 days post-o because you're not supposed to drive if you're still taking the pain meds. Can anyone drive the two of you there?

I had wanted to tell as few people as possible so I started with just my best friend, then my husband (and yes, I was really nervous about telling him). Later I told my parents and brother. I had my band surgery last Tuesday and now it's a little frustrating that nobody knows- because I have so few people to tell about my experience in the past week I was so worried people would accuse me of taking the easy way out, but man, the last week has taught me there's NOTING easy about this and I deserve to be proud of what *I'M* doing! So I totally understand your reluctance to tell him but you're not going to be able to hide it from him unless you live in separate houses. Tell him, the sooner the better, so he can help you

congrats, I hope this is it for you!

Hiya! My surgery was on Tuesday afternoon, April 12, 2011. I arrived at Emerson Hospital at 12:15 and was immediately brought back to be prepped. I heard my surgeon, Dr. Jiser, talking to another patient as I changed into my johnny, got my IV placed, and had blood thinners shot into my belly (tiny needle, no pain). He came in to check with me, as well as his surgical P.A. and the anesthesiologist, and chatted with me and my husband to make sure we had no more questions before the surgery began. Right around 2:45 I was told it was time. They put some medication in my IV so I would relax and I kissed my husband goodbye. I was calm and comfortable as I was rolled back to the OR. I remember watching the surgical team buzzing around me as the anesthesiologist put the mask on me. I didn't even know they were knocking me out yet, so I remember trying to keep my eyes open and failing Next thing I knew, I heard a nurse saying my name. I woke up in the recovery room and my breathing tube was already out. I was a little groggy but I felt just fine, no nausea. My throat didn't hurt at all from the breathing tube. My pain level was about a 4. There were no other patients in recovery so the nurse went and got my husband and brought him in to be with me (so kind of her!) Once I got situated in my room with the pain pump (I don't know the name but it's the one where you push a button and you can have another gush of pain meds every 6 minutes) it became apparent that the morphine wasn't helping at all. The incisions didn't hurt too bad, but my back/shoulders hurt a lot. The nurse said I might do better on Dilaudin (sp?). It took 2 hours to get switched over from the morphine pump to the Dilaudin pump, but it was MUCH better, and I was no longer trying to itch my nose off my face! I settled in for the night after doing a few laps of the hospital wing. I felt bad about asking the nurses to unplug the IV/pump every time I needed to pee, but they were very nice to me No hunger, though I did get the mouth swabs and I did swallow a few sips of the Water that I sucked off of them! At 7 the next morning I was told I'd be sent for my x-ray and upper GI before they could clear me to drink anything. The x-ray was easy, and the upper GI was just 3 sips of orange-y flavored contrast fluid- NOT the silly putty like liquid I had to drink for my first upper GI. I was relieved that I didn't need to choke that down! I passed both tests, so my surgeon came in and told me that I was clear to "eat" (ha!). The hospital gave me a small bowl of beef broth, a cup of orange jell-o, and water. My lovely nutritionist Courtney came in to check on me (which I was SO touched by) and soon after the nurses asked if I felt ready to leave. I sure did, and I was released and home by noon. Once I got home, things pretty much went as I expected. Sore, sleepy, gassy, etc. My voice was raspy for a few days from the breathing tube, but it didn't hurt. I did develop a rash which was an allergic reaction to the iodine sheeting they stick all over your belly before they do the surgery- it's still broken out a week later, but barely itches. The doctor told me to just take Benadryl to handle it. I've been taking less of the pain meds each day, and today (day 6) I've only had it once. Hunger only came back today, too, which made it easy to keep to my clear liquid diet. All in all... a success and because my WLS program prepped me so well for what to expect, it was all just as I thought it'd be!

I wouldn't even say that you need to go that far. I'll tell you what my practice says: days 1-6: 60 oz. Water or clear, non-caffeinated, non-carbonated, sugar-free liquids per day 60 g. Protein per day (protein shakes- powder mixed w/ water) clear broth, sugar-free Jello days 7-13: stage 2: full liquids continue 48-60 oz. Clear Liquids daily continue protein drinks- can be mixed with skim or 1% milk now- aim for 60g. protein/day light yogurt low-fat cream Soups sugar-free custard/pudding NO LUMPS OR CHUNKS!! no need to separate fluids & foods at this point Days 14-21: stage 3: mushy foods So really, I think you're FINE with the jell-o and yogurt you've had. I've seen plenty of other people who were allowed to start on "full liquids" on day 3 after surgery. Don't beat yourself up!

I was banded 4/12 too! Relax Follow what you were told to eat. After surgery your body panics and tries to hold on to fat stores at all cost, so the weight doesn't drop off immediately. Also, you probably gained 5-10 pounds of fluids in the hospital during the surgery. Keep doing what you were told and the weight WILL start coming off. (and in case your wondering, my ticker includes my pre-band weight loss, it's not all in the past 6 days!)

It's true, this is insurance's way of saying "I bet you can't do it, not for 6 months, so we won't have to pay for you to have surgery." Prove them wrong! And yes you can fudge a lot of what you write but you'll still need to lose SOME weight. If you fudge the whole 6 months the only person you'll be hurting is you, because the early time after your band is on but before you get a good fill-- that's all you, baby.

No pre-op diet here either, consider yourself lucky My post-op instructions are different, though.

I was banded 2 days before you, and today is the first time I've been hungry- 1 week out from surgery. So Ill say just enjoy it while you can, make sure you get down your Water and your Protein, and if you're not getting them down, call your surgeon- you don't want to end up back in the hospital for IVs! Collister- you didn't know you could have protein shakes? Seems to me like they're the only thing that remains constant from doctor to doctor- everyone says to make sure to get enough protein

I don't know if this will help or aggravate you, but my doctor didn't have any sort of pre-surgery diet. I was told not to gain any weight, but that was it. The reason I'm saying this is I've been on Clear liquids for the past week and I've really done fine, I haven't messed up even once. So it wasn't like I was used to clear liquids before I had the surgery, kwim? In general after surgery you don't WANT to eat because your innards are so sore and swollen.

I have the same post-op directions as you- clear liquids for 7 days, full liquids 7 days, mushy foods 7 days. I am fine with being overly cautious with my diet- better safe than sorry IMO. Call your doctor if you're worried!

Yep, you'll need to take small sips and space them out, it's because your stomach is irritated and swollen. Make sure you're drinking enough liquids every day!

Yep, the runs are totally normal- don't take anything for them! I agree with diaper cream, or if you have Aquaphor, that works well too.

Thank you so much everyone!! I've realized that first thing in the morning is the most painful for me- I haven't been taking meds in the middle of the night so when I wake up I may have laid on my incisions, and man, it HURTS to get out of bed and down to where the drugs are I'm having 15 people over today who don't know about the surgery (well, I finally told them I had surgery, but not what kind) so it'll be interesting to watch them all eat junk food and pizza while I sip my broth Saundra- it does seem that a lot of people have a hard time getting down cold things, but it's much easier to swallow warm/hot things. Seems like that's the case for you too! My 6 year old told me yesterday that I look smaller. I thought that was really sweet, considering there's no way I do- she must have said it to be nice, and it WAS nice.