Fenton

Hey, guys - congrats on all your upcoming bandings! Over in the Master Thread, a bunch of us have been talking about our experiences on the run-up to the procedure, what the surgery is like and how we're doing afterwards. You might want to check it out for an idea of what to expect, and to shout out any particular questions you might have to people who did it just last week! Yay us!

Hey, Tanya - get used to it, at least for a while! When you feel it, it helps to walk for a while. It jiggles the bubbles or something, which lets you burp, et voila! No more shoulder tip pain!

And Christine: it's good that you have a very limited wardrobe right now - you're not going to need those big clothes for much longer.

Let's face it, no matter how you slice it, getting a lap band installed is not "fun". But this is a decision we've made, and it's an incredibly great decision. I think that I posted that when I went for my cardiology clearance, the cardiologist congratulated me, and told me it was the best decision I've ever made. And I think it will be. All of us who've come to this board have struggled with our weight for a long time. We've allowed our eating habits to control our lives, to derail our lives, to threaten our lives. And we've decided that now is the time for that to stop. It took us years of sick indulgence to get us to the desperate place we've reached now; a couple of days feeling under the weather isn't a bad price to pay for getting brought back to life...

Hahaha, Amanda! Sounds like you had even more of a rough ride than I did! The important thing is, though, you're through on the other side, and feeling OK - plus you have a couple of tales to tell! And don't worry - as you probably suspect, everyone in bed in the Recovery Room is so zonked out that being flashed didn't register at all, and all the Recovery Room staff have seen it all before. I'd like to stress that I had absolutely NO nausea. I'm told they give you three anti-nausea meds while you're out, and when I came to, they gave me a shot of another one. It really wasn't a problem for me; when I talk about nausea in the post-op period, it's mostly my innards waking up and going, "Hey??? What the...???" You'll have a chance to speak with the anesthesiologist. Tell him or her you've had bad problems with nausea post-anesthesia in the past, and ask them to make sure you don't this time - you don't want to be disturbing that band. My money says they'll already be on top of that problem.

I'm hoping that you guys will talk more about what's going on with you - your fears going in, your experiences of the surgery, and how things are going post-op. I think we can all learn from each other! At NYU, the liquid diet is 2 weeks after banding (oh, and two weeks before). I see that, at Columbia (NYC), they try you on mushies while still in the hospital, if I'm following their website correctly. If you can't manage mushies, you're on liquids for a while before switching to mushies. I'm going to go read the link Whimsy posted - sounds interesting. You're five weeks are you, Whimsy?

Welcome aboard, Jen!

On the subject of post-op fluids, the reason I'm giving the thumbs up to the iSopure is that it contains protein, which is one of the harder things to get in when you're doing liquids. Next time I venture out, I'll have a peak at the Gatorades - I could do with an electrolyte or two!

Oh, great! I've now entered the realm of bowel habit one-upsmanship! I salute you, pipinje, the Better Pooper... On the subject of Wait, that would be too unappetizing. I'll start a new post.

I'm realizing that the way Dr. Fielding at NYU manages the post-op diet thing is set up to bolster the New Approach to Eating thing that you guys are talking about. It's liquids for two weeks, then mushies, then inflation at the fourth week. After inflation, back on liquids for a day or two, then forward with solid food, but restricted. I wonder how long the liquid diet is safe. I've done pretty well on it, and I don't yet feel the need to move forward, but I'm banded now, and I don't know how I'll feel once my guts settle down and get used to the noose...

Oh yes 4. Amend my signature file to show I'm the proud owner of a band! DONE!!!

So: post-operative day 3 I feel like myself again! I slept pretty well, despite having to constantly fend off cats wanting to climb on my belly (I only have two, but they are persistent). I woke up, the nausea/funny feeling in my stomach had eased a bit - it's still there, but now it's not coloring the way I see the day. Last night, in the shower, I took off the clear plastic film dressings covering my incisions, according to instructions from the surgical team. The steristrips underneath look OK, a bit icky/blood-stained, a bit of visible bruising around the wounds. According to the surgeons, the steristrips will fall off when they're good and ready. I'm worried I'm showering too much - I love a long soak in a hot bath, and that's not allowed by my surgeon for two weeks (for FOUR weeks on the Columbia web site!). I think I may be cheating by standing in the shower so long - it's almost the same as a vertical bath. But the muscle aches have eased, so I'll cut down on that. I wasn't taking enough Fluid in yesterday - (excuse me, this next bit is going to be a bit explicit) - I want to be peeing paler, as it were. I'm going to concentrate on keeping well-hydrated, and also try to raise my calories and Protein with iSopure. And have some broth. Although I'm not really hungry, not really wanting anything. Also - explicit again - I finally went to the toilet. Not very much, but the thing is working! It's been three days since the last time. Pain/discomfort is now minimal. I feel a slight tugging when I stand or lean over, but that's about it. So, today, my POD3 plan is: 1. Increase fluids 2. Add iSopure (which I should have done yesterday, but I didn't have any) 3. Walk, walk, walk

Hell no! I was asleep for the tubing! Most people are; in a small number of people, they sometimes need to put the tube down before they put you out to sleep, but: 1. You're sedated and don't care about anything in the world 2. They spray an anesthetic in the back of your throat, so even if you DID care about anything in the world, you wouldn't even notice it 3. You're asleep within a few seconds of the tube going down. Relax, the anesthesia is a piece of cake. A friend of mine who's had that kind of intubation said it was about as bad as that suction thing the dentist puts into your mouth. I took a bunch of stuff to the hospital, but really didn't use any of it. They know the issues with which you're dealing, and are prepared for them. At home, I've used: liquid Tylenol - definitely get this! It's more expensive than crushing up a couple of acetaminophen tablets, but it tastes far better and is far more convenient - you don't want to be messing with crushing pills while you're feeling a bit icky post-op. Gas-X strips - not as helpful as walking, but in the middle of the night, they'll do Prilosec 20 mg tabs - my doctor didn't specifically recommend these, but these acid-reducing tablets seem like a good idea to me. I saw them recommended on the web site for another Lap Banding center, and went for it. You can find cheaper generics under the name Omeprazole; the dose recommended was 20 mg per day for four weeks. I bought a two week supply, and am not sure whether I'm going to get another pack; we'll see, depending on how my gut is feeling when this pack runs out. The Prilosec is a pain in the butt to crush, but I suspect it's worth it. Flintstones Chewables iSopure clear Protein drink - there are four flavors in Zero Carb, and then a Fruit PUnch with sugar. Each 20 oz bottle gives you a decent amount of Fluid, plus 40 mg of protein. Post-op, I've not been taking in much in the way of protein or calories - I'm going to start working on that today. I think the iSopure is an easy way to do it. Plus I don't know if I'm ready for the thickness of the SLimfast Optima on which I was living before surgery. HEATING PAD! I don't know if it makes much of a difference, but the cats seem to like it. I guess my stomach does too. The shower! I'm probably showering too much. Again, I came out of the hospital all exhausted and sleep-deprived, slept too much and too hard on the night of my first post-op day, awoke all achey and painy. Time under the hot Water helps the knots dissolve. I was careful not to get my incisions too wet, but I don't know how much of a difference that makes. And, of course, walking. Walking walking walking. It really makes all the difference in the world.

Oh, one other thing. You might also have a slight sore throat from the tube, and be a bit phlegmy - it's to be expected. I like Cepaclor lozenges, which take the edge off it, but whatever you like for a sore throat will be fine, I'm sure. And mine only lasted one night. Also, I think it's key to get up and get walking right away!

One thing about protein drinks, btw: you might want to check out Isopure for your final clear fluid days. 40 grams of protein in a clear fruit-flavored drink. 20 ounces, I think they run about $4 at GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe and whatnot.

Pipes - if you're going to a place that does lap banding, don't worry, they'll have gowns and a wide enough table! They didn't have my size gown because I went to a special monitoring room, which I thoroughly regret. And seriously, the surgery went just as I wrote it, the anesthesiologist putting the mask to my face, and then me waking up in the recovery room breathing room air. This is the 21st Century, man! No choking, no gasping, just asleep and awake before you know it, surgery all finished. YOU'LL BE FINE, my friend! And on your way to being even finer... Pipinje! Hi-five to my freshly-banded sister!

Hey, guys. Thanks for all the input. I now have my own experiences to go by - I'm now a full-on, certified Grade A bandster. I had a bit of a bumpy ride; because I'm a heft fellow, I insisted that they keep me overnight in a monitored room, with constant nursing supervision. BIG mistake! I was up all night, got one hour of sleep, and left the hospital weak and exhausted, feeling like crap. Last night, I got a pretty solid 12 hours, but woke up with all sorts of muscle aches. I've been pretty mobile - largely because of the examples you guys have provided; I thank you for that, because I've found that when I feel crappy, moving makes me feel better. But I still have a grumbling queasiness, a sense that all my innards have been rearranged. Which they kinda have. Anyway, I'm up, drinking, peeing, belching and farting like a windtunnel; I can tolerate a bit of queasiness. Thanks for the support, lads. F.

I hope I didn't make this seem too horrible! It really wasn't so bad! The hard part was the hospital stay, and the lack of sleep. But I'm banded now!

It was GREAT to be home! Although I felt appalling, I was pretty happy. The weird tummy feeling has continued, but is gradually diminishing. I'm finding it gets better when I walk and get rid of some gas. ONe of the big challenges, actually, is keeping the cats from hopping on pop - they love to sleep on my belly, which I've suspended for a little while. Yesterday passed in a haze. I finally went to bed at 10PM, and slept, with a couple of bathroom breaks, until 10:30AM - a near-record for me. I felt a bit better when I woke, although now i have all sorts of muscle stiffness - there's no winning for me! Today, the stomach feeling is bit better, discomfort is minimal, and I just got back from a 20 minute walk with my girlfriend, belching and farting whimsically along the way. I feel much better after my walk. I'm going to try walking a few more times today. I'm hoping my stomach will have got back to normal tomorrow. And I'm going to do my best to bump up my activity. And that's my story...

The hospital stay was a bit of ordeal - the staff was great, but I was in a room with three people and a nurse. Again, it was what I'd asked for. But the other three had had REAL surgery - a kidney removed, neck arteries replumbed, stuff like that, so they needed constant attention. Me I just wanted to get some SLEEP!!! And it was impossible. I got, honestly, a total of just over one hour of sleep. I did well on my Fluid intake, so I was peeing pretty quickly. That was great from a health standpoint, but when you're supposed to be lying in bed with your legs sheathed with pumps to keep clots from forming, every time you get up to pee is a major event. So, yeah, I had a miserable hospital stay - next time I get banded, I'm staying on the bariatric floor, in an unmonitored room! No problems, though. No pain, just a little soreness. I've had a constant feeling of low grade nausea - not actually nausea, just a funny feeling, like my guts aren't happy. And why should they be? THey've been on Spring Break for the last 30 years, and now the discipline is being laid down. The dietitian and surgeon and PA visited me in the morning, checked me out, pronounced themselves satsified with me, and said I could go. They' d also taken the time, while doing the band, to fix a hiatal hernia; the theory is that as you lose weight, the part where your esophagus goes through the diaphragm into the chest and up to the mouth, that area becomes loosened. When that area is loose, the stomach can slip up into the chest - which is a hiatal hernia. I apparently had a small hiatal hernia, so they did a couple of stitches to fix that, and to stop it recurring. Apparently, they've done some research that indicates that this simple step drastically improves the outcome. Anyway! So I got sprung. I was told I should make an appointment for a follow-up esophagogram and appointment in the clinic within a week to 10 days.

The nothing by mouth thing wasn't too bad - I wasn't as miserable as I thought I would be. My girlfriend stayed with me until they took me into surgery; we both talked with the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. Then I was in the OR - God that was impressively fast! I felt like a car on one of those robotic assembly lines, hands belting me down to the table, other hands fixing an IV, the anesthetist putting the mask on my face and then I woke up in the recovery room. I didn't feel any pain, but they gave me some morphine and something for nausea. I was a bit muzzy, and wanted to get up to my room to relax. But there wasn't a monitored room available - and, at a spit away from 500 pounds and a bit of a coward, I really wanted to be carefully monitored post-op. I had to wait down in the recovery room for four hours before they finally transfered me. The ride up to the ward was only uncomfortable when we hit bumps. I wasn't on the regular bariatric ward - again, my fault - so they didn't have things like a bariatric-sized gown, or a bariatric chair, about which I was underwhelmed. They got me walking - at my insistence. REally, I haven't suffered anything I'd call "pain"; it's more like soreness, as if you'd overdone it on the yardwork. But I have felt under the weather. I've had plenty of shoulder tip pain and rib cage ache.

Hey, guys. I'm back! Banded! Not ecstatically happy, but... BANDED! First off, pipes: I think it's natural to be scared. Anyone who isn't scared going in is either ignorant or an idiot. Surgery is a scary business! That said, your surgery is a simple one - a very minor surgery indeed. Here's how mine went: I arrived in the hospital at 7:30AM. There was a fair amount of "hurry up and wait", but everyone was really nice, and it was obvious they'd done this many times before. Indeed, I think that one of the pros AND the cons of getting the procedure at NYU is that it's a bit of a factory - you WANT that experienced team working on you, but I think it gets a bit rough around the edges, and there may be a bit less personal attention than in other programs. Anyway:

Thanks! I'm on my way to the hospital in 20 minutes. I'll post as soon as I can - probably tomorrow, since NYU doesn't have internet access in its wards... You guys take care, now.

OK! I'm off to the hospital in 20 minutes! I'll see you all on the other side...

Hey, Frankie! Snowflake, have you melted? I'm just washing my Hospital Clothes, and having some soup. Waiting for Admitting to call to tell me when I have to be there.... I'm not too freaked out, just a bit anxious under the calm. I've been posting mostly in the March MASTER THREAD - that way I can see how others have done, how it was like, how they're doing etc. But I'll post here too. Nice meeting you! 3/6/08 4 Evuh!