CarynW

My surgeon says NO carbonation, pretty much ever again after surgery because it wears the stitches out that keep the band in place. I love beer. LOVE beer. And I LOVE smirnoff ice flavored drinks. Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! But I also love some mixed drinks like Sex on the Beach and other drinks mixed with juices, so i guess i'll be switching to those when I want to drink.

I have my date Aug 11th and I haven't given myself the "go ahead" yet because i'm terrified to gain more. I've gained 10lbs since I started working nights back in Jan and that has been brutal for me to deal with. I mean i've been overweight forever but I was stuck at a certain weight for over 2 years and then all of a sudden, with zero effort, bam 10lbs. My liquid diet starts on the 28, so i'm making sure I stay "good" until at least the 26th! Then i'll give myself permission to splurge until the 28th when I have to start liquids. I'm terrified of it!

Jess55, I had to laugh, of course I can't sit back and watch an emergency go down and most of that stuff isn't lifing, so much as bending twisting, running around, etc, that's why I wanted to know if I COULD after only a 4 day recovery. I had no idea about the gas problems and pain and all that stuff, i'm very much a novice to surgery and other then my c-sections, i've never had surgery for anything. I thought laproscopy was much more of a breeze, but I guess it's not THAT much easier of a recovery, lol!

Thank you all so much, I was only curious! After reading these and going to the seminar I totally understand I need to take 2 weeks off. They said my insurance is great, only requires the minimum of time, like 1-2 months, so that is good. I am thinking that if it all goes through and i'm approved and everything, then i'll take 2 weeks off before I go to school. I can't take the time off once i'm in school and i'll be doing hands on skills and stuff so I want to be as close to 100 percent as possible for that. The reason I don't want to tell my employers is because I don't want them getting their panties all in a bunch and making me retake our lift-test that we have to take when we get hired and then after any injury. It blows, it's torture and it's way beyond what I need to do on a day to day basis at my job, it includes a cardio test too and it just sucks. I had to retake it after I had my last baby and I just don't want to do it again! Plus I don't think it's any of their business.

Sorry, if everyone has answered these before. I have my seminar tomorrow but I need some real life advice on some questions I have. First: I am an EMT and work on an ambulance, I do heavy lifting, moving patients, etc, every shift. I have 4 days off every other week and can't take time off right now. I can get away with having my partner lift the gurney in and out of the rig (it's hydraulic so we don't have to lift it with a patient on it, except for getting it in the rig), but helping move patients and other unforseen things can happen where I will HAVE to do my job (so to speak, lol), and even if I can get away with not lifting as much, my regular job entails carrying things, squatting, bending, twisting, etc. Is 4 days enough recovery to be able to go back do you think? How long until you resumed totally normal acitvities (picking up your kids, carrying groceries, picking up heavy objects, etc)? I do not want to tell my work about me doing this. Second: The REASON I can't take off much, if any, time right now, is because I am starting paramedic school (it's the next step up from Emt) in mid Aug. From aug until sept, i'll be taking as much time off as possible and then in mid september, i'll be taking 3 months off, which is the remainder of the first part of my schooling. I can take up to 12 weeks personal LOA per year, and the first part of the school, which is full time hours basically, is about 4 months, so for the first month-ish, I have to kind of creatively schedule until I can take my leave. Sorry if none of this is making sense, but it DOES have a point, I swear! What i'm worried about is that if I have the procedure done, is it stressful and do you feel sick until you get the fill level just right? I will already be under a ton of stress with school because it's an extremely stressful program and I am afraid of two being too stressful put together. My hope is that I can have the procedure done, and basically get right back to living without having to think too much about it. I already eat healthy and run for exercise. I know my weaknessess for sure and the areas in which I can improve (like portion, I can eat WAY too much at one time!), and I will absolutely make whatever changes I need to in the diet and exercise department, but other then that, I am hoping this won't be too much of a "thing" in my life. Does that make sense??? Probably not, haha. Third: What should I expect at the seminar tomorrow? Is there a lot of people at one time or is it a one on one thing? My stats: 5'1 236lbs, size 20 pants, 2x shirts. My "ideal" weight is 122, which is totally bogus for me. Even in high school, when I was doing drugs, I was 140 and that was about a size 8. Gawd, to have THAT back (the size, not the drugs!), so really, I think 150 is a perfect weight for me. I am physically strong, doing manual labor at work and ride horses so I have always had a ton of muscle. At my heaviest, one year after my son was born, I was 158, size 24 pants. Through Weight watchers, I got down to 230, where I remained for freakin EVER no matter what I did , and then in Jan I started working nights. No big changes in diet and BAM 6-10lb gain. Which I learned is normal for people starting nights because of the lack of "down" time and non-eating time (seriously, I don't get much sleep during the week) so my metabolism is all screwed up. Anyways, just looking for some answers!