babykins529

I have a 13 year old son and 6 year old daughter. I showed them on YouTube what the surgery is (the animated video) and then I showed them other peoples journey. I told them I was going to start making my life healthy and happy. They were totally cool with it and it really helped my son understand better what was done to my body and why I can't eat like I used to. My daughter is young and doesn't quite understand but that is okay. Kids roll with the punches.

Interesting...I was allowed protein shakes for my clear liquids and regular liquids. They made it a point to say, oh yeah and protein shakes are okay that way you get some protein in.

Had my post op appointments today with the nutritionist, physical therapist, surgeon (for a fill) and did the barium swallow. Didn't really need the fill as I already have decent restriction however, I felt it could be a bit more. So far so good. Down 18 pounds and not hungry.

Kidney infections suck (i had one 5 years ago and it almost killed me) and you will be sore for a while but sounds like you caught it in time. Hope you feel better and get out of the hospital soon!

I didn't either. It was outpatient same day for me. But surgeon's and/or insurance might require a night stay, which if under 23 hours is still considered outpatient.

I take regular sized pills every day and I'm post op 3 weeks. I never take them with water since I tend to gag at the pill taste when it starts to dissolve so I take them with juice and no prolems. But that is me. I say try it and see what happens.

Hang in there guys! You can do this.

Awesome! Keep up the good work! And yes, losing weight is easiest in short term, but we always fall back into old routines telling ourselves, oh I'll go back tomorrow or I'll make up for this later...never works.

No you can't feel the band. My port is on the right and yes I can feel it but that's cuz I'm three weeks post op and its still a lil swollen.

I think there is a big difference when it comes to dieting and then a pre-op diet. You're kinda forced to do it. You know its short term. If you don't do it, you might not get what you worked so hard for, and thats surgery. Plus, if you're put on a liquid diet for 10 days or whatever and stick to it, chances are, you're gonna lose a bunch of weight. So, the majority of us failed at dieting. Hence why we are here. No need to be jealous of that person. We are all in the same boat.

May I ask which surgeon in Portland?

Not always.

I'm almost 3 weeks out and can't eat soft foods yet. Even some pureed foods don't go well. I've had two days where I tried to eat the things I was told I could now from my nutritionist but it wasn't happening. So I'm going to stick to the lighter easier things for a bit longer. Good luck.

Could be you eating too fast, too big of bites or what you are eating or eating too much. You will have to dissect that issue. I had that happen today and I'm sure it was a combination of the above things.

Could be you eating too fast, too big of bites or what you are eating or eating too much. You will have to dissect that issue. I had that happen today and I'm sure it was a combination of the above things.

What did they say? When was your surgery?

Mine was day outpatient. Some insurance or surgeons require it, especially if the patient lives far away and if something went wrong, it would take a long time to get back to the hospital. Sometimes if your pain isn't managed well they will keep you. I had that happen when I had surgery to remove a tumor in my leg. I actually went home the day after, had so much pain a few hours after going home that I had to be rushed back to the hospital in the ambulance and they kept me on a pain pump of hydromorphone for 5 days. Not fun. I honestly don't even really remember much of that stay. But the pain wasn't too bad for me at all with the lap band so I had no issue going home.

Dang that is aggressive. Make sure to follow your bodys instincts too though if you feel like something isn't right or your too tight.

The referral will go something like this: Disharge paperwork: patient was seen in the ED, please see your bariatric surgeon for follow up. That is what the ED doc will do. I code for the ED (I say ED 'emergency department' cuz thats what its referred to now I guess instead of 'room') so I see it on bariatric patients discharge paperwork. I don't think anyone is being rude, just more concerened. If I have an issue and its band related, I have to go to the ED in the hospital that banded me. I have to pass 3 other large hospitalals because they aren't trained in dealing with bariatrics. Its not a part of their training. One day it should be.

I took two weeks off from work. I think two weeks was good for me. I have a very sedentary job. I literally sit at my desk for 7 hours out of 8. I'm a coder and have production to meet. The other hour is my 30 min lunch and two 15 min breaks. If I have to go to the bathroom, I better hurry. So no, I don't get to walk unless its on break or my lunch which is why I stand for a lot of those hours. I found that out the hard way when the pain in my shoulder brought me near to tears by the end of my work day first day back. But I learned and had only one tiny tinge of pain and then I moved till it went away. But this is me. I went to my support group last night where only half of us had gas pains. And some took only a week off some took 4. It all depends on you and your surgeon.

You're welcome. The pain was manageable the next day. It hurt to get out of bed. Mostly at the port site. I got up and walked every couple hours. Stayed on top of my pain and anti nausea meds. Those helped. Set my alarm on my phone for every 4 hours. My husband helped bring me broth water and juice. If I was down stairs, I made it all. By day 5 I was painting the trim for my daughter's room remodel so it does get better. The gas pains would come and go. I sipped water but really just tried to sip anything. I wasnt worried about how much just that I had something to keep me hydrated. I couldn't lay on my right side for a week since thats my port side but I'm laying on it now and writing this. I still get gas pain in my shoulder if I sit too long like at work. So I stand at my desk and I've had no pain.

Oh I did too! One time, at my heaviest, I almost got stuck. I went to get out of the booth, and I coudn't move. I had to try to wiggle my way out. Luckily it was in the back and no one saw me, but my husband was there and that is bad enough.

It was 4am, and super cold outside (like it usually is in the winter...) and I woke right up when the alarm went off. I wasn't allowed to shower that morning, but I had to wipe my abdomen with this weird sticky wipes..gross. We had to take our 6 year old daughter with us because our babysitter caught the flu at the last minute. She had to miss school that day because no one was going to be home to get her up and ready. Her and I had packed a bag of her toys, and made sure the DS and iPad were fully charged to keep her occupied. 4:30am, we were off. Stopped by to pick up my best friend who wanted to see me off before she had to go to work. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am on the dot. Checked in and waited. They called me back and took two tries to get the IV started. I knew this would happen and warned them when they called to do my pre-op registration. I still have the bruise over two weeks later from the first failed try. The next two hours went by super quick. The surgeon showed up and made sure I didn't have any last minute questions. The anesthesia team came in and asked me a million more questions and then gave me some meds to help me relax. Not that I really needed it. This was going to be my 8th surgery, 6th one on my abdomen. They wheeled me in to the OR, and it is all a blur after that. Woke up in recovery with some pain and nausea. They had given me a 72 hour nausea patch prior because I knew I get nauseated after anesthesia. It hurt to take a deep breath, and I asked for pain meds. The only pain I had in my abdomen was from the port. The pain in my chest was from gas as was the pain in my left shoulder. I knew this would happen as well thanks to this forum. I kep falling asleep, and every time I did, I de-sated so they kept waking me up and put me on oxygen. Once I finally got my pain under control and started breathing okay (about a few hours) they moved me to short stay. The whole time I was in recovery, this guy came in and had surgery on his leg, but kept complaining about his stomach hurting, and was cussing up a storm. I asked them to give him pain meds so he would shut up lol. They did, and they he was quiet. After resting in short stay, they wanted me to try taking deep breaths and using this device (can't remember the name of it) but it's to help prevent pneumonia. It hurt SO bad to do that, but I kept trying. They also set a 15 min timer, and I was in charge of re-setting it, and every time, I had to take a cap full of water. My pain came back, and they gave me liquid lortab, man that stuff was nasty! I asked for pills after that. Then it was time to go to the bathroom. I felt like I had to go, so they slowly helped me sit up which was painful. Then I slowly walked to the bathroom. Only I couldn't go. Turned the water on and everything. So after a bit, I walked back to my bed. Sat for another hour and tried it again. This time my nurse gave me a cup full of warm water, and told me to pour it over my private area and that might help to stimulate me to go. Sure enough, it worked! Felt much better after that. My daughter came back to visit me not long after I was moved to short stay. She did so good the whole time! She was asking the nurse all these questions about mommy. When it was time to go, she asked if she could watch them take out my IV and then help wheel me to the car. The nurse thought my daughter was very caring and had a great time showing her everything she asked. She has always been fascinated with the body and health. I see health care in her future like her mama! At 1:30pm, it was time to go home. I was very excited to get home and rest. The drive home was fine. I like about an hour from the hospital. That was my day. I'd do it all over again in a heart beat.

I've gone twice since surgery (01/30/13) and I had a great time! It was weird to hear everyone else making a bunch of noise with their snacks, and for like the first time, I didn't have any so it was more aparent to me. I was still a wee bit sore at the time, and medicated. I am excited to go again and see if I fit in the seats better. It was starting to get to the point where I was going to have to put the arm rests up...but I don't have to worry about that ever again!

Gas pain that is trapped from the CO2 they put in your abdomen to inflate it so they can see what they are doing better. I'm 2 weeks post op today and have to sit at my desk for 7 hours out of 8 and the pain in my left shoulder from the gas is insane right now! Im trying EVERYTHING that worked for me in the past but nothing is helping. Still hours away from going home.