Duhs9919

Well my recovery has been going quite well. I haven't experienced the severe gas pain that some others have talked about, I have had zero shoulder gas pain. I have been walking a lot and taking my Gas-X strips every 4 hours. It seems to help. I also have been swigging a diet ginger ale here and there to help me burp which seems to relieve most of my gas pain. I have been able to climb out of my drug induced coma long enough to update everyone and post some pictures as promised in my last post. The first day home after surgery I woke up in quite a bit of pain. I was concerned that the pain meds prescribed weren't strong enough. My nurse practitioner told me to take Advil in between pain meds. So I began taking them 2 hours after taking pain meds and it made a world of difference. I tried to tell myself it was time to start getting myself off pain meds last night. I slept through when my 4 hours would have been to take it, I woke up 2 hours past med time. And needless to say I was in excruciating pain. So back on the pain meds I went. I don't know why I have to try to be such a toughy. Day 2 of Post-Op, I was exhausted and spent most of the time asleep. I think I walked too much day 1 and didn't sleep enough. So most of Day 2 and Day 3 were spent asleep or sipping on a shake or broth. I will say that I had read that most people didn't even want to eat the first couple of days after surgery. Well that didn't apply to this fat girl, I wasn't ravenous starving, but I wanted to eat. I have discovered though that I can't eat a whole lot before I feel satisfied. Like I am talking 1- cup of soup broth or half of a 12 ounce shake. Its been hard to make sure I get all my water in because I have spent the vast majority of my time asleep. Its funny, because I will be in the middle of typing a text and then the next thing I know I am waking up and the whole thing is gibberish. I feel like I have narcolepsy. I do have to shout out to my family for making some wonderful soup options. They are giving me lots of variety in the food area so I am not getting bored with broth. Anyways, I came home from the hospital on Monday 6 lbs heavier than when I went into surgery. I know that I have a ton of air inside of me, a lot of fluids floating around, and my organs are extremely bloated. But it just messes with your mind. I went to have this surgery to lose weight yet here I gained. I figured that as time progressed and the air and swelling went down I would lose weight. And I have, I am now down 4 lbs since when I got home from the hospital. But as my family has pointed out, I haven't had anything to eat besides protein shakes and soup broth I should be losing weight faster. Anyways, it's starting to get to me. So this is why I will not be getting back on the scale until next Tuesday. At that point I will be weighing only on Tuesdays Chin up! I have finally had the surgery and am on the road to recovery. I know this ramble is more like a rant and I am sure not very well thought out, but these meds kinda inhibit better writing. In fact it is about time to go crawl back into bed for my mid-morning nap. Here are the pics: 1- Me right after surgery, extremely drugged up giving the thumbs up sign 2- My incisions the day of surgery, you can see how bloated my stomach is, I look pregnant 3- My liver picture, my surgeon just thought it was hilarious I kept asking for the picture 4- The flowers my wonderful sister in law, Carrie brought me 5- My incisions as of today, you can see the bruise coming in between them, but that my stomach is a lot less bloated. Anyways, until tomorrow, Amanda

It all depends but if your doctor is going to require one it won't be until about 2 weeks before surgery.

Banded same day as y'all. Have you tried the gas-x strips they work great for gas. A s I've taken a small sip of diet ginger ale to help me burp. Felt much better.

I had surgery Monday. I two have found it easier to stand instead of sit in a chair. It took me all day yesterday to get 2 shakes down. I've been having about 6-8 oz of broth. Also taking my gas-x strips every 3-4 hours has helped with gas. I walked for about 20 mins. Do you have any neck pain?

I had surgery on Monday 9/10. When I weighed myself yesterday I had gained 5 lbs according to my scale. I've hardly consumed anything just some broth and protein shakes. I weighed this morning I was down a lb from the day before but still up 4 from surgery. Could it be my excessive bloating from surgery causing the weight gain?

My email is Amanda.schul@yahoo.com

This will be short and sweet since I am really pretty out of it still. But surgery went well. I made it out of surgery about 2:30 p.m. woke up in recovery about 3:15, then went and did the swallow test. I got back to my room about 5:30 and was in the car going home by 7:30. Yesterday I was sore but nothing bad. Got home and even had some chicken broth. No pain, until 0400 this morning. I had slept for 6 hours since meds and woke up in a considerable amount of pain. The nurse practitioner told me to take advil in between pain meds. I started that about 6 this morning. That combo of meds is working currently. I feel better, sore but nothing I can't stand right now. I have had some discomfort with gas, not shoulder pain, but it does make my stomach hurt from sitting up in the same position (such as right now in this chair). I have been taking my gas-x strips every 3 hours or so and see to be combating that. Last night I had about 1.5 cups of broth, which was too much, I had some discomfort after. This morning I made a protein shake to avoid being sick from the pain meds and only got a few ounces of it down. And a little bit ago I had about 1 cup of broth. I am glad I am feeling some resistance in what I am consuming. Anyways, I want to wish a big good luck to all my LBT friends who are having surgery today, good luck!! I am falling asleep in this chair, so I will chat more later and upload some funny pics from yesterday. Until later, Amanda

Good luck to you too!! I'm here I'm my room

Friday I had one of the most stressful days in a long time and a mini melt down. I had a lot of loose ends to tie up at work and it just seemed like every time I got one thing handled another thing popped up. I thought there was no way I was going to be able to take a week off from work without the world ending. But a good work friend talked me off the ledge and told me it would be fine. I made a list of things to do and instructions to leave, the last of which I plan on implementing in the morning. Payroll is due tomorrow I have a lot of it done but I will be going in tomorrow morning to complete the last of it. I plan on being out of the office no later than 0900. We will see if that happens. I managed to stick to my diet all weekend to a T! I even had only fish or chicken. I was in Dallas where Taco Bueno is, my favorite place, I nearly had myself talked into having a bean burrito but I stuck to my guns and had a shake!! I am officially down 16 lbs for surgery. And if that isn't enough of the dietician then I don't know what else to tell her. I can honestly say I have done everything I can possibly do to make sure my liver is tiny for surgery tomorrow. So if he opens me up and its huge I don't know what else I could have done. No regrets. Zero. So tomorrow is the big day... I don't have a lot to say, because I am really kinda nervous and I am really kinda worried I wont finish everything at work. And I'll be late and then I will miss surgery. LOL. No, can't happen. I will be there on time and have the surgery and wake up with the lap band and start my new journey. I have followed the yellow brick road, survived the wicked witch and her flying monkey's (taco bueno), and have finally reached OZ. I am ready to see the man behind the curtain! Wish me luck, Until tomorrow, Amanda

Congrats!!

I'd be interested in pics of them. That would be an awesome goal to get into. I am currently a 20/22 pants size, but getting banded Monday.

So today I had my pre-op appointment at the hospital. All and all it went well, had a really nice nurse who I know will take really good care of me after surgery. Had the usual blood taken and signed paperwork. Also had to have a chest x-ray done. Got the low-down from the nurse about where to go, what to expect, and what my well wishers are to do while I am in surgery. I have to admit I was really pretty nervous sitting in the hospital, I guess just ready for this to happen. After that I went to the surgeon's office to turn in my food logs and meet with the dietitian (who is very skinny). I started my pre-op diet per their orders on 8/27, but I didn't get weighed by them until 8/28. I had already lost 2 lbs by the time I got there on 8/28, but since my "official" weight was at their office I didn't get those 2 lbs credited to me. Anyways today according to them I was just down 10 lbs (my count is 12 lbs). The dietitian told me that neither the surgeon or the nurse practitioner would be very happy with only losing 10 lbs. True results told me that I had to lose at least 10. Yes I know, I am going to lose a few more before surgery and in the weight loss game, more lost the better, but I just felt defeated. I felt like if they expected more than they should have told me from the get go. But then again, I have been doing really pretty well on the diet. Then she threatened me with my current biggest fear...my liver might not be small enough!! I nearly cried. I am just about convinced this is a scare tactic, I am just going to have faith that my diligent diet will pay off and my liver will be tinny tiny come surgery. Kinda a non scale victory, normally after a meeting like I had today at the surgeon's office, I would have ran to the nearest McDonalds and although I wanted to really bad, I didn't. Woo hoo!! I have mentioned these super yummy shakes, Pure Protein with 35g of protein, they taste amazing!! Well I asked her about them, they have milk protein concentrate instead of whey protein. She said that I was to have ZERO dairy until after surgery and that might have been why I saw such a sluggish response this weekend. But previously I had consulted one of my trainer friends who said that there wasn't much difference with the proteins. However, I had a feeling on Monday those shakes might have been hurting me, so I had switched back to whey. I bought their Barriatric Advantage shakes today, which were not cheap, but they have like 27g of protein in them. I got the banana flavor, (DYING for a banana) and it was really good. This morning I did not eat (eat = have shake) as I was in a hurry and didn't want the extra "weight," for the scale. I didn't have my first shake until I got to work at about 1:30 p.m. I know, I know, bad for my metabolism. I never have the 2nd shake, just had grilled chicken and salad for dinner. Now its all I can think about it wanting to eat anything and everything. I am currently drinking a big glass of water and chewing gum. Have to get my mind off of this. Anyways, I am extra motivated this week to be extra good on my diet. I will drop those 6 lbs and prove to that dietitian that I can do it and that I have a skinny liver. Makes me wonder what HER liver looks like. LOL. Tomorrow I fly to Dallas after work. I am going to dinner with my BFF, must eat chicken or fish. Then Sunday I am driving my mom and her 3 dogs down to Houston. They will be staying with me until Thursday. I can't believe that my surgery is that close, seems like just yesterday I was on my 3rd appointment for my weight loss monitoring. I am a work-a- holic and haven't taken a whole week off of work in a long time. So I must get to bed, because I will be up at work early tomorrow to cram in everything I have to get done before I leave. I will be in the office Monday until 0900 but that is only to do payroll. So must cram cram cram!! I fully plan on finishing the edits on my first novel while I am "laid" up and working on my second and keeping my work phone turned off!! Anyways, sorry tonight was about 90% rambles. Just a jittery mess. Until tomorrow, Amanda

I have heard from several people to invest in a great lotion to help with my skin bouncing back. Any of you expert banders out there have any suggestions or lotions that are tried and true? Thanks. Amanda

Good luck!!

So I have spent most of my day obsessed with my liver...or quite frankly its size. It is driving me insane that I don't have a clue what size it is or most importantly if it has shrank enough for surgery! Really, I think our bodies should have a peep hole so during times like these we could see inside. I've mentioned before I have to shrink my liver for surgery. My surgeon has said that if he gets in there and its too large he will not do the surgery. At this point, aside from me dropping dead or aliens abducting me that could be the only thing standing in my way. I even tried to get my Ob-gyn to ultra sound my liver. He informed me that I would be fine and that really wasn't his area of expertise. LOL! Many people have told me that about half of the doctors out there do not require pre-op diets and some others have told me its just a tool to motivate people to start losing weight. Either way, still would like to know what size it is! Tonight I went out to dinner and I managed to look the food monster in the eye and be good. I ate my lean meat and broccoli and it was actually really tasty. I am getting stronger and stronger in these types of situations which gives me hope that I am really making very good changes that will help me to continue to be successful with my weight loss. Hooray for a non-scale victory!! Tomorrow I am to be at the hospital at 0830 for my pre-op appointment, which I am assuming consists of them taking blood out of me and I am sure signing some kind of paperwork. I've never had surgery before so I am not all that clear on what that entails but I will find out. I am so freaking nervous/excited that I don't know what to think/do. It will be surreal to be in the hospital where in a few days I'll be in for my life changing surgery. I just hope I can navigate where to go without getting lost or looking like an idiot. Following the blood giving event (I DO NOT give blood well), I will drive to the surgeon's office and meet with the dietitian. I will have to turn in more of my food log (sent some in last Friday) and they will weigh me for the last time before surgery. Every time I went to True Results for my appointments I wore the same outfit, I am torn between wearing my tried and true good luck outfit or winging it. I am usually pretty superstitious so we will see what I decide on in the am. I just hope that the scale numbers are on my side tomorrow. I've lost 11 lbs total so far but I would like to lose another 6 lbs for a total loss of 17 lbs by surgery. We shall see. Anyways, I am going to sign off now and hopefully get some sleep. Although I am sure I will end up staring at the ceiling most of the night. I also hurt my back today fiddling with the window on my truck. I hope that goes away soon too. Sweet dreams y'all. Until tomorrow, Amanda

Well I have decided I am just going to try and ignore worryiing. I am sticking to the diet. I have actually found the liquid diet to be working really well. I would never have said that a week ago, but it does get easier.

Thanks Visionary!!

I can have a protein shake (20 g of protein or more each) for breakfast and lunch. Then I can have a small dinner, 3 oz lean meat, 1 cup green veggies, 1 cup of fruit.

Banderama, I would absolutely die if I could only drink protein shakes. I'm on 2 diets a day and then 1 meal at dinner. Dinner is 3 oz of lean meat, 1 cup of green veggies and 1 cup of fruit.

Yes Fostermomma!!! We have to think positively!! But I agree, I will be beyond disappointed if I wake up and no band. I'm super jealous that your surgery is Friday. Please let me know how it goes and how you feel!! I am also True Results!! Good luck.

Thank you guys! I am just a worry wart and freaking out. I have followed the diet perfectly. Just want this so bad, I dont want anything to stop it from happening. And as of this morning I am down another lb for a total of 11!!

Been following them to a T. Just nervous, its not like I can take a peek and see if it's getting small. Just worried that this might be the last road block to the band.

I have been following the diet to a T but I am still really nervous about making sure my liver has "shrank" enough. I'm just terrified that my surgeon will open me up and find a big fat liver and close me up. Anyone have any tips/pointers/advice? Thanks. Surgery is Sept. 10.

I really hope so!! Thanks LiveStrong!

Sounds amazing!!!