FFPM Eric

popcorn, apparently, is a slider food for me too... I like the Smart Pop bags of microwave popcorn... much lower calories & fat than the regular bags out there.

Here's a tip !

Keep that card with you all the time, and invest in a Medical I.D. Bracelet or Necklace.

If anything ever happened even fainted. Emergency would come to rescue, and shove a tube down for breathing.

That would tear everything up.

If they see I.D. Like the Lapband card they won't do it, but that's where the jewelry comes in handy. they see that read it, and will not put the tube in.

Now with just the card,,, they could do it while someone else looks for ID, by the time they find it, the damage has been done.

So please consider a piece of Jewelry, and keep that card with your License.

As a firefighter & paramedic I have to agree with the others that posted noting that this is not correct. The only time that they might shove a tube down your throat & into your stomach is if they are going to pump your stomach (WAY to intoxicated, poisoned, etc) Before they do that they automatically check their computer systems (almost all are interconnected in some sort of way) sharing your past medical history with the docs when they are treating you. And even if they don't see anything in the computer, they will call your personal MD to gather your medical information/

I'm a firefighter/paramedic & was back to work in 3 1/2 weeks. I was ready a week before that, but decided to take a 3,000 mile motorcycle trip before going back to work! No pains, no nausea, no complaints in the least bit after about 10 days post-op.

Congratulations on your weights loss so far. I know you havent had a fill yet, but do you get hungry?

I have been hungry a couple times so far. For some reason on the evening of night 5/morning of day 6 I was hungry, but nothing much since then.

Getting ready for the big day tomorrow..... I had me one beer last night, just for old time sakes! Hope I didnt screw anyting up, just needed to chug one since that will be a thing of the past.

I had my 1 week post-op follow up yesterday & they told me that I'm ok to drink alcohol again. They even said an occasional beer here or there is ok, but did highly discourage it because of it being empty calories. So, I had a small glass of scotch last night instead! It was so nice!

Congrats Eric, that is awesome! Can't wait till my post-op next week to see how I am doing. Did they advance your diet stage?

No, they didn't - I asked if I could & they encouraged me not to as the diet stages are set for healing, not for increasing weight loss

That's awesome Eric, congrats!! I have a 2 week post op next week. I've been weighing at home and looks like 7 lbs down, but I have a ton of swelling still. What's your daily diet? Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I'm on low cal, low carb, high Protein. I can't wait to have that awesome feeling next week at my appointment.

My first week was a liquid diet. Protein Shakes, sugar free Jello & low fat cream Soups.< /p>

I have also been very active, walking about an hour a day, in addition to my being a very high strung, active person.

Don't be the least bit disappointed if you don't lose as much as me - any doctor or employee at weight watchers, jenny craig, etc will tell you that men lose weight much, much quicker than women.

I wish you all could see this huge smile on my face tight now!!!

I just left my docs office for my 1 week post-op check-up... They had me weigh in & I'm down 13.4 pounds in my first week!!!!!

I wish you all could see this huge smile on my face tight now!!!

I just left my docs office for my 1 week post-op check-up... They had me weigh in & I'm down 13.4 pounds in my first week!!!!!

Good luck to everyone getting banded today & the rest of the week! My biggest recommendation - get up & walk as much as you can, as quick as you can after surgery.

Thanks for the reassurance. I guess I am just freaking out a little because I expected to be less sore and I am not pushing it either. I hate feeling out of commission. My husband is going back to work tomorrow and has duty (he is in the Navy) so I guess I am just sort of stressing about doing it on my own with 4 kids. I thought I would feel a lot better by now . Thanks for your help! Are you still sore some? I know we were banded the same day or a day apart right? I was last Monday.

Dawn

Mine was Tuesday morning. I am still sore for sure.... I wouldn't really call it pain though. It hurts if I cough or sneeze (or laugh).

Hi all- Okay for those of you banded more than a week ago did you still have some pain? I am still sore up under my ribs. I don't know if this is normal or if something could have gone wrong. I don't know if I am just being paranoid and thought I would feel better quicker. Don't get me wrong, I am feeling better day by day but thought I would feel better sooner. Thanks!

Dawn

You have to realize that they cut thru your abdominal muscles. Those take time to heal (which is why you're not allowed to lift anything heavy for so long). It will take time to heal... As long as it keeps getting better every day, you have nothing to worry about. I would guess you should barely notice the pain after about 2 weeks

don't fret! you can do it! I'm on my way now. The doctor is running ahead of schedule so I'm now at 12:15.

We'll get thru this together!

Best of luck to ya... Hope to hear from you later tonight or tomorrow morning telling us how good things went for ya!!!

Hope you're feeling better my friend. Good info re the gas situation, I can warn the wife to expect much farting! Gary

Feeling SO MUCH better!!! I have been up & about and basically living my life normally since about 72 hours post-op.

I actually decided to weigh in today (5 days post-op) & I have lost just under 6 pounds since my surgery

So, I decided to stop by the firehouse today and visit with my co-workers for a little bit this morning. I decided to weigh in on the scale at work (don't have a scale at home) even though I'm only 5 days post-op. I'm down 6.9 pounds since the morning of my surgery!!! I love it!!!!

I know I shouldn't have weighed in this soon, but I was so interested to know where I was at so far.

Well... I was out visiting the guys at the fire house this morning & decided to check the scale while I was there (i don't have a scale at home). I'm down almost 7 pounds since my surgery just 5 days ago! It was great to see!!!

I finally have my hunger back. Last night I thought i was beginning to feel hungry, and I confirmed that when I woke up this morning with a growling stomach. I can't wait to be able to start eating oatmeal beginning tuesday!

Thanks! It is hard to tell what is normal healing process and what is something going wrong. I think it is just weird to me that there is something foreign in me and I want to make sure that port stays right where it should, lol. The surgeon did say that he found a perfectly flat spot in my ab muscles that the port just settled perfectly into and he couldn't have found a better spot for it. It is just a weird feeling, I can totally feel it. How are you feeling?

Feeling great!!! Only took pain meds for first 36 hours. Little soreness in my belly, especially when contracting my abdominal muscles (it's good to know that I do have muscles underneath all this fat!)

Still not eating enough calories, but Fluid intake is right up to par!

Hi all- I am now 4 days days post op and have a question. Yesterday I was feeling pretty good and ran a couple errands wiith my husband, nothing big. We went to the tool store and I waited in the car and then we went to the store and got literally like 10 things, I didn't lift anything, push the cart, nothing. Last night the spot where my port is had a sort of burning feeling. I was just wondering if anyone else has had sort of a burning feeling when healing. I don't have a fever or anything that would indicate an infection but just wondering if anyone else has experienced that. Thanks for any help

Dawn

I wouldn't worry about it at all, especially if the sensation is now gone. Getting feelings like that from wounds as they heal is not unusual at all. (trust me, I laid down my motorcycle back in may & was covered in road rash & had lacerations with stitches all over - I felt that all the time)

I had my surgery Tuesday morning. For me the gas pains were bad for the first 36 hours. After that, they really subsided & are now (72 hours post-op) only a slight nuisance.

How are your incisions?

They are fine - 6 incisions (don't know why so many) Very little pain from the incisions.

I last took pain meds last night to help me sleep, & haven't taken any today.

The best thing about today though - taking a shower!!! It felt so good!

Im home and doing well. I remeber fom my previous surgeries that there is a huge difference the second day. I'm still glad I. Got this done. And am so happy to have this part done. Everyone's posts have been dead on, about how I. Feel. I did tell the anesthesiologist to give me plenty of anti nausea meds and she did. I also got a patch behind my ear and hva no problems. I would recommend everyone to do the same!

I've been very lucky - no nausea yet... 60+ hours post surgery

Thank you all. Surgery went well after a long day of waiting.. Long story short I was supposed to go in at 11am but did not until 8pm! Hospitals fault.. I had surgery tuesday, my question is,is when does this nausea stop?

I've been very lucky - I haven't had any nausea at all.

Hmmm.. I have 6 incisions. I wonder why?

I'm only 2 gays out fro surgery, I'll ask my doc why 6 when I see him on Tuesday

Wow.... Yesterday evening/night wasn't what I would consider a good one for me. Last night (about 30-36 hours post surgery) I started experiencing some pretty severe abdominal pain & cramping. I felt like I had diarrhea, but nothing would 'move'. I figured it was just some gas in my intestines wanting to get out because I hadn't passed gas even once since the surgery. I was suffering for a good 2-3 hours before I finally was able to pass gas - OH MY GOODNESS - it felt SO GOOD!!!! I have been a farting machine even since then... I feel like almost all of the air that was pumped into me is basically gone. I finally feel so much closer to normal. Still not hungry, but able to finally drink enough fluids! Only consumed about 500 calories yesterday, only about 200 so far today.

Ok, maybe some of that was a little TMI...

Eric I see you posting, how are you doing?

Doing pretty good. Doing lots of little walks today to get that air moving around inside me. It's pretty uncomfortable. But I keep looking at the silver lining in this... A few days of pain/being uncomfortable is what I have to go thru to lead a healthier life - I'm so very good with that!