FreeToBMe

I am allergic to medical tape. When I awakened after surgery, I had a perfect rectangle of blistered skin on my belly from where the adhesive sterile draping enclosed their work area. Paper tape works somewhat, but more often, I just need to put gauze compresses over wound sites and wrap it with some of that stretchy self adhering bandage material. It works kind of like an ace bandage, can be reused a few times and sticks to itself, but not to the skin. Every time regular medical adhesive is used, I form blisters and the wound area grows, rather than heals. The brand name is Coban. Another product that works for me is Tegaderm.

I was colonized with MRSA during my UCSF surgery 4/11/13. The wounds took over a month to close but no flags went off in all my calls despite my saying it seemed like they were taking too long to close. In late June, I had 2 new wounds open that started with spider bites, the cultures came back and they said it cultured as the hospital variety. I was undermedicated but those wounds healed. I had a new wound appear in a different location one week after the first two closed in late July. It resulted in 3 ER visits, surgery, hospitalization, a systemic infection, huge bills and I am still healing. You are lucky you can take Bactrim. I am allergic to that medicine and it is the most effective against MRSA. Good luck to you.

23 lbs in 43 days. 10# in the first 2 weeks

I had fever that went above 101. They sent me for labs, no infection, it was just my body reacting to all the stress

I had to keep replacing mine, my surgery was 4/11, I finally have wounds closed enough to leave them off

My NUT diet said move to soft and blenderized at 3 days. My MD at my 2 week check up, moved me back to liquids for a full 4 weeks.

Mine was coming out in clumps. The daily heartbreak was killing me. I was horrified at the handfuls of hair every time I brushed or showered. I had my head shaved bald last Sunday. My friend who did it for me took a clump of hair, pulled to check how bad it was....it ALL came out. So I am getting free air conditioning for the summer, my hair will grow back when my body recovers from all the trauma and stabilizes. The forums seem to put hair loss at 3-6 months. Mine did this in a big way at 3 weeks. I am gaining health and my beauty is not my hair

I am losing so much that I am going to cut it all off. Living with short or bald is better than the horror of a hairball like that coming out every day. My hair was long healthy and with beautiful goldilocks. It will grow back. I have an emotional breakdown every time I brush or shower and gather up the hair to throw it away. I need to remove the torment and I know it will grow back later

My surgery was April 11, I only quit having the stabbing pains April 30. MD said it was from the sphincter stitches of the larger incisions through my ab muscles deep inside. I took my last Rx pain meds May 2. Now just aching in the 6 places they had to go in for my surgery. I can almost sit up now without pain

I have a job with heavy lifting and right now at 16 days, I still cannot lift a gallon of milk without it being shaky tiring. Knocks me down for quite awhile. Saw my MD for the 2 week check up 4/25 and the normal he approves for disability time out is 3 weeks and told me 4 weeks would be better for me since mine was a revision lapband removal and VSG in the same procedure. Today is my first day I have been able to back off on the pain meds. And I still have leaky incisions...that would not be good at work

All my meds changed. I was sent home with a pill crusher and I was taught how to use it in the hospital

With a documented history of rashes and stabilized weight loss for app 1 year, most ins companies will cover a panniculectomy...stomach skin removal. I am documenting rashes like crazy. Should not be too tough since in hospital for the revision, they thought the scars I have below the belly were surgical. Nope, those are from healed rashes!

The MD that did the endo had me get on prilosec for the 1 month prior to the surgery to help heal the ulcers. My post care is extra conservative. My NUT recommended soft mushies from day 3. At the 2 week checkup, the MD told me to go back to liquids only for the next 2 weeks to allow that tissue in my stomach to heal thin and smooth. I have been on liquids for a year, what is another 2 weeks??

My revision was 4/11/13. What they found was that the stitches failed when the band was put in 3/05/12. I never had a working pouch, it was <1 cm from the esophagus and I vomited daily from when I moved from liquids to food at 2 months post band insertion. I had ulcers from the chronic vomiting visible on the upper endo prior to my revision surgery 2 weeks ago. My pain has been significant. I am still on Lortab. Today is the first day I was not feeling fire stabbing in my abs to get out of bed. Pain IS decreasing, I have real nervous energy and my hunger is little to none. I did have a fever that went to 100.2 in the first week, labs came back normal. It was just my body reacting to the trauma of surgery and that I have an allergy to morphine which we discovered while I was in the hospital 2 days. I have dropped 11 lbs and 1 pant size already. Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I feel so blessed to have not vomited since 4/09/13 after a year of it being my norm.

I am at day 15, aching soreness and deep pain in the abs on left side. The MD yesterday said this is normal and should subside by 6 weeks. I am free to return to work between 3 and 4 weeks and he suggested I wait until closer to the 4 week time frame. Since mine was a revision from lapband, I have a bit more to heal inside