ukgrad89

I know, I was surprised when they told me that they were putting in a catheter in pre-op. I guess it was to dehydrate me thoroughly for the surgery. I hadn't had a catheter before, and hope a long time goes by before I have another. I thought a colonscopy was bad, but heck, that was a picnic compared to the catheter. With the suppository, it isn't fun, but I'll admit, it works fast. I called the doc's office today just to be sure there wasn't an alternative, and they said no. I'm thinking at some point I'll get Pepcid chewables or just crush something and add to Water. Thanks for the well wishes!

I can only echo some of the other comments. One thing I would add is to find a Protein drink you like, because you will be drinking it often. I had to experiment. I like Muscle Milk light myself, but I don't want to sound like a paid spokesman. It works for me, you have to find what works for you. As was said, you should get off the carbs in advance. You want to help your surgeon, right? Shrink your liver by reducing/eliminating carbs before surgery. As they say, no soda/beer. I do like to drink on occasion, and I've already decided that once the dust settles after surgery, I'm drinking cranberry and vodka and bloody mary's, and maybe a bourbon and Water. But realize, these are not going to help you lose any weight.

Best of luck to you, I had my surgery yesterday (7/28), you will do great! See my blog for my recollections about my surgery, and feel free to ask me anything

Ooops, I also want to give a shout-out to Dr. Minkin, he ROCKS! If you are in the St Louis, MO area, he is the man with the plan for lap-band. And Des Peres Hospital is pretty darn good too. Thanks guys!

Rather than write a book here, I wrote a blog about my recollections from yesterday AGB surgery. Bottom line, it went off without a hitch. Worst complaint I have is the damn catheter. It hurt like hell whenever I finally urinated. It still does today, but its a much easier to deal with now. I was as thirsty as the desert when I got back to my room, sucked on ice chips and sipped some water, that mucho helped. And walk guys, walk, walk, walk....and walk. I think this is the key to not having gas issues, the more you walk, the better your respiration, the better your gas. I'm an open book, if I can help anyone, just ask!

Hello, sorry to say, I do not think Gas-X will help you. That is for intestinal gas; unfortunately, you don't have that type of gas. Besides, how are you swallowing it? Hope it isn't solid, you should be crushing it or drinking it if anything. The best thing I think that will help you is walk, walk, walk, and make sure you are taking little sips, not gulping when you drink something. Hope that helps Alan NOTE: I'm not going to change my original post, but I will say that I have been taking Gas-X strips, and they DO work for me. I'm not sure why, maybe its mental, but I do not have the bloated feeling I had yesterday. I do feel more nausea this morning, but I took my nausea med and I feel better since I had some Muscle Milk Light.

I had my AGB surgery yesterday. Whew, what a day! I wanted to document my experiences for others and myself when I reflect back on the day I got banded. The surgery went well according to my doctor, Dr. Minkin. The pain was not as bad as I expected. Noticeable-yes. Unbearable with massive pain killers-no. The last thing I remembered as I was being wheeled into the operating room was looking up at the big light and how it felt like being in a mad scientist laboratory, then....nothing.....until I was in the recovery room. One thing they keep telling you is to take deep breaths. My throat was a little sore because of the breathing tube. I didn't feel hot or cold. I remember just looking at the wall clock and doing deep breaths in time. Inhale for 15 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, release slowly for 15 seconds. Did that I think for about an hour. I felt a sense of relief when they were ready to wheel me up to my room, meant to me that things were going good. I don't like IVs. And I hate catheters. More about catheters later. They had trouble getting an IV started in me in admitting and later in pre-op, but I noticed I had two IVs started, but only one was connected when I got back to my room. The whole concept of being forced to ingest stuff just doesn't sit well with me, but I understand why it is necessary. I knew it was important to get up and walking. So, I was constantly monitoring myself for when I felt okay to get up and start walking. I asked the nurse for something for nausea, and once I got that, I think it was around 4 or 5 hours later that I was asked to be helped up so I could walk around. No ill effects, I was able to walk pretty easily. A word to the wise: make sure you bring someone with you to the hospital that will help you. I brought my mom, and she was a tremendous help. For example, shortly after I got back to my room, I wanted to start sucking on some ice chips. Obviously I couldn't ask a nurse to do this. My mom did a fine job helping me do that. You need to start taking in fluids. One, because your throat will be dry from the breathing tube. Two, because you need fluids in order to urinate, since you are essentially dehydrated. If I have a a hate in my life, something I despise, its catheters. I don't think its as bad for women as it is for men. The fires of Hell were felt when I tried to urinate. I screamed like a little girl, I'll admit it. I think its because you are dehydrated as much as the fact that something foreign got inserted where nothing should be inserted. Men, you will know pain. I can tell you it will get better once you start urinating semi-regularly. Just go to that spot that tells you you are a man and by God you will take the pain, and go ahead and scream like a banshee. It will get better I had five incisions. I think they're all healing well, no discharge. I took photos of mine. I've heard some comments about the gas pain. And to be sure, it exists. I think the sure fire cure for this is to get walking. And walk. And walk. That's what worked for me. The more you walk, the less you'll have an issue. Crushing pills is disgusting, they taste like crap. Have some decaf tea or protein shake while you are sipping them down, it won't be as bad. My doc gave me suppository for nausea. I am not a fan of suppositories either, same as catheters, without the pain. Not fun sticking them in, but they work. Well, that's about all I can think of for now, feel pretty darn good for having had a surgery under GA less than 24 hours ago. Isn't modern medicine great or what?

I'm wondering how I'm going to do with the whole concept of small bites whenever I go back to eating after the surgery. I've read that your bite sizes should generally be no larger than the tip of your index finger. I've even gone and bought baby spoons. But, to be honest, in the past, I ate huge bite sizes, and pretty fast too. I know I have to slow down and chew forever, but with just a baby-spoon size, it must take forever just to eat a scoop of something. I know I'll just have to do it, but I think I'll need a couple of PB's to keep me in line. Old habits die hard. We'll see.

Its all over the place in terms of length of pre-op diet. Mine is only 4 days, but 100% Protein shakes/clear liquids. Not sure why. I'm having headaches, too, but they're manageable.

I wanted to document some thoughts/feelings I have in these days before my AGB surgery. I've been researching the heck out of this since January, but I still find myself going back and reading some of my books. I have some concerns about the procedure itself. It worries me somewhat that my pre-op diet is significantly shorter than others on here. My doc's pre-op diet starts only 3 days before the surgery, with 100% liquids. Is that enough? I have full faith and trust in my surgeon, I probably should have started it sooner though just to be on the safe side. We'll see how it works out. Its interesting also that I didn't have any real issues with my health insurance (BC/BS). I did the 3 months of nutritional counseling and weight monitoring, no problem. I didn't have to lose any weight, just maintenance. I guess the biggest thing that's bothered me is some headaches since I started the liquid diet, but I try not to think about or dwell on them. I took some profile photos today, for comparisons. I have no idea how this will all work out, but I'm 100% dedicated to the goal and, if I can quit smoking after 20 years, I can do this too. I quit smoking in July 2001, and I quit being overweight in July 2011.

One idea might be to drink some no sugar added 100% juice.

My last regular meal was a German all-you-can-eat, I know, not the healthiest choice, but it was nice. Been on 100% liquids since, surgery is 7/28 so almost there.

Good luck, dude, my day is Thursday 7/28, see you on the other side

One protein option I found today was unflavored. I added it to chicken broth, and didn't notice anything distasteful or nasty. No artificial flavor, no sugar, no sweetener, and not bad. I reached my limit on chocolate flavored stuff and needed some alternatives.