ljuht115

Hi Michelle - I too had shortness of breath on the third morning after my surgery. Did you get one of those breathing apparatuses to test your breathing at home to prevent pneumonia? Work on that and walk around. For me the problem was the gas and the pain in my shoulders. I called the dr and they made me to go the ER for a bunch of tests that came bac negative. if it does persist after some time (walking and breathing exercises) I would call your dr. office just to make sure everything is good. I hope this helps.... keep me posted.

Hi Sue an Wendy - Thank you for the information on my PM. Unfortunately I am in South Belllevue/Renton Highlands area and work during the week. BUMMER... Well - I can still enjoy all the posts by everyone. The helped me get through this even more than I thought they would. I woke up and weighed myself this am and gained back .06 oz =-(. Guess I shouldn't weight myself every day. Other than that i am healing well, port side is feeling better every day, I even slept on that side last night wth NO PAIN!!!! It is gorgeous outside today so I might try and find something easy to do like read a book!!! Take care everyone

question.. I was told that drinking is empty calories, but also have read on some of these posts that wine does help with digetion. I do plan on re-introducing wine and the occasional social drink back into my circle of life just as i would with all the other changes I am making in my life. Right now i am only 10 days post op so it is not even an option for me (nor do I miss it like I thought I would). MY MOTTO is moderation and smart choices for my life. Just be smart about those choices. Good luck!!!!! This is just my 2 cents worth..

Wenjea - How close are you to Renton and how often do y'all go walking? I would like to find some fellow local bandtster walkers for every once in a while. Once I am approved for weigt, I can take my mal pup walking again. Too much for me right now though.

hello - The preop testing procedure found a small hiatal hernia in me but it was too small for the dr to want to rid. it all depends, each situation is different...

Renton here. Just found this site tonight and have already learned so much. My husband and I are both looking at the lapband. We are scheduled for a seminar w/the Franciscan Hospitial in Federal Way on June 7th. We are pretty excited to get the ball rolling. Hope everyone had a nice Memorial weekend. Hi Renton Here- I just was banded at st francis with Dr Srikanth. He is a wonderful surgeon and is part of the circle of excellence. I am on day 8 post op and so far this is my best day! Any questions - just private message me. http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/clap2.gif

Hi Wenjea - I am having issues to - Went to my gp this am for my 1 week follow up. she didn't like the way the port looked ( gave me antibiotics but told me to hold off on taking thme unil I could see someome at dr Srikanth's office. It is red and sore, but not necesarilly oozing and there is healing. I really need some one to change the steristrips there and clean it out . I was told not to do it myself. Last thing I want is an infectiom in my incisionm. once you look online you see how many people have issues with a portion of the lap band and now I am really scared. Tje dr is in surgery all day and his nurse is not in until later today! I wish I could help you but I am scared out of my witts right now =-) I would definitely call the dr to fimd out about the accumulation of fluid asap. UPDATE 5:00 - Saw the Dr - All is okay

Sue11 - Take care of yourself. I have been taking it really easy and am starting to feel better since surgery. I just started back on my protein drnks and thought I would never miss those from the pre op diet, but i do have to say yummy. I am still on a small portion of vicadin to help with the residual pain and help me sleep some. I am down 15. since the preop diet and about 5 or so since surgery. I don't get the fullness golfball feeling but neither am I that hungry yet. My port is REALLY sore especially if I move the wrong way. I was supposed to return to work tomorrow, but think i will put it off until wed or thurs. I don't want to hurt my port for any reason, i do have a desk job but it is really stressfull. I do miss my ergonomic keyboard, this laptop keyboard sucks. Once I can stand in the shower and dry my hair - I will go back and do what I can. I truly hope everyone is healing as they should. How are my may 22 (23rd ) band mates doing? I highly recommend if you go to St Francis for a lap band bring books and your lap top if you can - My wait (which i am told is unusual was 24 hours). Of which I did not agree wiht but everthing went excellent afterwards, so far... Normal wait can last 6-8 hours...

Let's just say this pure liquid diet after surgery, I understtand why, but 5 days post of (SHOULD HAVE BEEN 6). I am really hungry and got my period today which doesn;t help with the cramps and gas. Suture wise - I am ok unless I move around the wrong way. I am exausted from lack of protein and food. I am taking my vitamins, etc and will not talke anything to sabbotage my band, but cmon. How much longer do I have to wait to feel better? I was gonna go back to work on Tues, but I don't think I will make it... Whew - pooped reading some more - any help appreciated

Hello everyone i- I am starting to feel much better - The gas sound remind me of aliens 1. The person that I got bumped for surger was not a bariatric paitien,bue someome that was bleeding in their colon. My typing sucks on little keyboards and will for the next fews days. Gas pain hit this am in the morning. heating pads - and more heating pads. I am hoping o get out for a good walk tomorrow with hubby. Today was too gassy for me to do much of anything. I still havent weighed mself yet. Once tje gas stops moving around and i am not so bloated. Anhow - I thought I would be conribuing more post op but perhaps this weekend when I can type better! Sweet dream everyone Laura

Ljuht115- I'm glad that you're finally done but sorry that you had such the delay. I'm a little concerned because we have the same dr. and I'm a self pay. Did they make you pay for the extra night?? Hi Dawn i am not certainabout that but i do know but i do kmow that Dr Srakanith had do some checking because of such an unusual situaion. If thwy do make me pay - I will contest bill. I found out you can call to see how many patients the doctor has and where you land in them. I did as to see of this is something that happens all the time and was told no, but the wait part, yes, which is why I recommemd bringing your laptop to chat and watch movies. I don't have any shoulder pain yet, (sorry but the gas is moving and is turning to liquid squirts on it's way out) is that normal? I just need to make sure I drink tons of Water because of this.... Other than that, am getiimg real tired. Regrd

Talk about an experinece. i arrived at the hospital on Tuesday morning at 5:38am. Therewere 6 p3ople aheadd of me then. Well, the first three were Gastric Bypasses and too the doctor much longer to do than he had planned for. So by 6:00 pm I am still waiting. I loose my patience then and ask for a valium to calm myself down and something in my IV for my stomach acids were starting to act upand bothering my esophagus. well I finally was goven my heparin shot on the 22nd at 8:15 pm, brought back to the anesthesia room by 8:45. By 9:45 I had been spoken to by the anesthesioloogst about what was going to happen. THEN - A DOCTOR CAME RUNNING IN SAYING HE HAD TO PERFORM AN EMERGENCY SURGERY ON ANOTHER PATIENT - NOT A BARIATRIC PATIENT THOUGHT THAT WAS LIFE THREATENING. So afther this long I was needlless to say, ver frustrated. So - Dr Srikanth came in and felt horrible that we had to postpone my surgery, so they "put me up in the recovery room I would have been in any how, fed me gave me apple juice and Jello and broth untill midnight. Thebest part thoug is tat my band partner whom I had met a few times before was reeled into mu room. The rescheduled me for YESTERDAY morning so the doctor bumped his GBP's and did mine first so i was taken back up to anesthesia around 6:30 am and was back in my room by 9:30ish. I ended up stayng the night and got home around 12:0 ish. I slept - went for a walk outside and have just enough energy to let you all know there was a reason I did not post until now. No major pain of any kind yet. Stayinmg prrettu drugged up and waling lot. No gas pains yet either. This has postponed my return to work but that is all. How bout themm apples fom Washingtom State.. Surgery went beautifully! Barim drink afterward showed everthjing in place looking great!! http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/clap2.gif

Hi Sue11 - YES - I would definitely bet on a wait - The dr has 7 surgeries today and I am the last at 6-7 pm. I found out you can try and call the day before to see where you are in the line up (although you still have to be here around 5:30 am. Do you have a lap top - if so bring it - they have wireles. Hubby brought me a ton of movies to watch as well... The cardio info DID show up this morning, thank god I didn't call a bunch of people and throw a stink a bout it since it wasn' delaying anything!!!!! All is well right now. I am also going to ask dr srikanth if pureeing food that fits through a straw like soup qualifies as a clear liquid!!! 3-4 more hours and counting.

Hello everyone - I am waiting in the hospital for my surgery - turns out my cardiologist did not send in my approval yet to this doctor... they were supposed to fax it in last friday so now I have to wait until their office opens at 9:00 am to get my go ahead! A little frustrating, but not the end of the worlde - think I am gonna watch a movie on my lap top for now to pass the time.

Hi everyone - Well - I am off tomorrow to get banded and just wanted to say congrats to today's bandsters and GOOD LUCK to tomorrow's (including me) bandmates!!! I am exausted from cleaning and packing and am going to bed now. I will be back in touch on Wednesday. P.S. I really like all the posts from the day of or day after bandsters with all the mispellings =-;.. That will be me on Wednesday!

Hi Evilah - Kind of a good a good question. Dr Srikanth has been in the bariatric profession for over 10 years, he has been published and has done over 1800 lap band and GPS surgeries. My understanding is that he and Dr. Oh used to work together and has recently spun off on his own. Have you heard anything about him I should be worried about? I like his credentials and I like his honesty.***Dr. Srikanth is a a Board Certified Bariatric Surgeon (has been for 3 years) and is a designated ASBS Center of Excellence surgeon. He has performed over 1,600 Bariatric surgical procedures and over 800 laparoscopic Bariatric surgical procedures***. I searched the web and only found good things about him. It is hard to pick the right doctor, I think things are going to go very well. Does that help answer your questions?? Regards -

[quote name= Enough of that, I'm just going to keep thinking positive. A few of you were talking about hernias. Do you know if they find and repair one, does that add to the cost?? Maybe it just depends on your dr? Just curious since I'm trying to account for every penny. I'm trying out my ticker - hopefully it works. Thanks for the help with that.:clap2:[/quote] Hello - My Dr. told me that if he repairs my hernia which i am going to ask him to do, that insurance does pick up certain charges after the surgery if extra care is needed. He told me it was not very big so he wasn;t sure if he was going to fix it, I just think he books himself too tightly. I want it done if the are gonne open me up wide. Talk to your doctor about it to get the specifics so that you are prepared beforehand. Good luck

Hi Dawneb - go to tickerfactory.com... Pick your options and fill it out (it is very easy).. then cut and paste the first link option you see below your choice (there are 3) and cut and past it right in your signature section where you put your name etc so that is shows up each time you post. Good luck... Yeah - my surgery is tuesday so I am cleaning the house and getting it ready, being passive aggressive with hubby cause he is taking yet another nap, but I guess after I get surgery, he wil need all the energy he has to help take care of me cause it kills him to miss work. I am on my 8th day of my pre-op and am about 10 lbs down so far. I am only really hungry at night I found, so I have to keep my mind on the goal. I truly thought the liquid diet would be a lot worse than it really is but I have a while to go after my surgery as well so my band can heal. Nice to meet you. I will be keeping everyone posted as to how tues goes. Reading all the posts, I have learned a lot (especially the ispure protein drinks post surgery since protein is what helps you heal). Good luck with your labs ( mine found a hiatal hernia they are not certain they want to fix, but if they are going to be in there, why not is my question! I did do all my labs at st fracis and so far everything has been submitted to insurance at this point.

Evilah ljut, post the "cc" code (i think that's it) Evilah Hello Evilah - Thank - I figured it out and now it is on!!! Yay - for some reason I feel "official" now that I am on the calendar AND have my ticker!!!!! Having "dinner now"- Thanks again - I know I am gonna get thinner but I guess I will never get taller =-)... 5'.05"

Oh My gosh - I have been following your journey on the may band month. You might want to call the dr and let them know what happened once the shock wears off from the accident. I am glad that no one was hurt. Remember - Accidents happen like that - The very same thing happened to my husband and all worked out well - Let insurance take care of it and make sure you are ok with your port and the band. Are you bruised from the seatbelt??? Caring in Seattle...

Hello Everyone - I am from NW Wa as well getting banded on the 22nd. I am trying to get my ticker to work on the website but it is not working. I cut and pasted the html link into the signature section but it just says bad url or invalid.. Any ideas