NurseGrace

Maybe more Protein Shakes isn't the answer? If you are not having any trouble eating you probably don't need those anymore. Sometimes drinking our calories is bad news, no matter what it is. More lean protein might be the key.

Scar treatment of any type is usually good stuff. I have a huge scar on my wrist from an injury back when I was in 6th grade that always looked horrible until I started using Mederma on it years ago. I've switched now because I like the feel of the bio oil more but yeah, good stuff too.

Different things work differently for different skin types. Oils are mostly innert except to act as a carrior for whatever is in them, so I find it hard to believe that oil itself would cause any problems but what do I know. I'm just posting this for anyone interested in what I did, because it did help my skin stay soft, which kept the incision together and less red

If I know bariatric patients, where there is a will, there is a way! lol

That sounds terrible but keep it in perspective - it could be a LOT worse than 15 pounds. What matters is you are catching it, and your are not going to gain any more. Even if you need to just focus on maintaining the 230 pounds before you dive into a calorie deficit again you are on the right track. Sometimes you just need a break, just make sure you STOP gaining.

If I'm being completely honest, I thought getting my wisdom teeth out was worse than the VSG but that is NOT to say that I was without pain, because right when I came to in the recover room a remember crying and being a little bit frantic because the pain in my shoulder was pretty severe. But that being said, They gave me something right away and after that I never rated my pain higher than about a 4 or 5. I think part of the reason I did so well was because as soon as I was awake enough to kind of be with it and know what was going on I was up with the nurse walking. I didn't go far the first time but I did take probably 50 steps and becoming mobile helped the gas pain in my shoulder and it also helped me sleep once I got back to bed - it sounds silly but that little bit of activity was enough to tire me out. There was only one time that I was nauseated and it was not severe - the night after surgery the nurse gave me ice chips and those didn't go down well. Nothing cold went down well for me.

I dont know, I had never thought about that. It's certainly an interesting question.

Yeah, different things work for different people, it is a fact that some people are more pron to scaring than others. My ancestry is such that I am prone to getting keloids which is basically an overgrowth of scar tissue, some white folks like me get it but its typically people of darker skin types that get those and it but I can already see the difference in how much is building up, but some of it could be from the massaging too. I'm not going to claim that it works miracles or anything because I am just one person sitting at home testing something out as best I can. What I can say without a doubt is that my acne scarring that I have had for years improved 10 fold in about a month of using bio oil.

I started putting it on and massaging it in as soon as it looked like it wasn't going to come open on me - your steri strips will likely fall off before that date but I dont think its too late, I waited about a week, maybe a week and a half

This is sold in the bandaid section next to mederma, it comes in white boxes

I am a woman of science and a seeker of the truth, and since I have no hope of ever becoming a bikini model, I decided to do a top secret experiment on myself with some scar treatment business to see if it would do anything good, or anything at all and I have interesting results to report. Here is how this all started, I have had acne my whole life, thanks to PCOS, so I do weekly facials and whatnot - and I use products to improve the texture of my skin. I stumbled across a product I have seen FOR YEARS but never purchased because I didn't like the idea of putting oil on my face. Little did I know, I was missing out. The product is called Bio-Oil and just for the record I have not been given anything for free, or paid by this company, however I wouldn't be totally opposed to it if they offered It did wonders for my skin on my face, so I decided that as soon as my incisions were closed and/or mostly crusted over I was going to treat one of the sites with Bio-Oil, and leave the other one to heal on its own, and I would let you guys know how its going. I'm six weeks post op and the difference is pretty significant so I thought I would share. Here is the product in question, and clearly, there is no hope of a modeling contract in my future Clearly you can see that the site that got the treatment came together much better and has also lost a lot of the redness. Overall, at six weeks both look fine, but there is clearly a difference so if anyone is actually concerned about scars, they might want to check this out. I've Included pictures both as hyperlinks and attachments for ease of viewing. I will answer all questions in the comments section.

Thank you so much for that. I really needed it. I don't come here to be some kind of self proclaimed hard ass but the truth is that I love this site, I got a lot of good out of it while I was brand new and learning because the sleeve was sort of thrust on me out of the blue, I was really looking for a bypass truth be told and so when I joined this site I really didn't know a lot about this surgery and its been an invaluable resource. That being said, I have been post op lap band for about 6 years now and I know the ropes of weight loss surgery and the type of intestinal fortitude it takes to get serious. All these people on here crying because someone told them to get real about it already are doomed, and I don't mean doomed in the sense that they are going to fail to lose weight, but they are dooming themselves in that they will never fully appreciate what they have been given. All of us here have a second chance at getting our lives back, and for some like me, a third chance but I just do not want people to go through the pain I went through when what they need to do is right in front of their faces. And you know what, SassySenior? I might just make that group, but it won't be called "Ranters" because I'm not one for complaining. No, nooooo, that title should be reserved for people who make post after post about their miserable f-ups that refuse to make a change. The difference is this, making mistakes is fine, I do it, you do it, we all do it, and always will, but it takes a special type of person to long on to the internet, complain about it, do nothing less than request to be coddled, rinse, and repeat. This is such a common thing here and it drags the whole community down.

It totally happens, I'm not here to breath down anyones shirt collar about things like this, but what I am saying is that we have to take responsibility for what we do and get real about it.

This is my personal blog, not a community thread, I can say what I like here.

And you also sell them - so there is that. I would never sit here and call you a liar but as a health care professional I can tell you there are zero products short of lasers and surgery that can remove inches permanently along with scars and strechmarks over the course of a few hours/uses. I have no dobt that your marks may have gone away, but what people need to understand is that your marks and lumps and bumps may have gone away anyway, my marks are nearly gone as well but its just from passage of time and good skincare. Numerous organizations have named these wraps one of the biggest dieting and fitness scams of the year (last year)

Peas are a perfectly acceptable and good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin and Manganese.

Yep, see my latest blog entry. Lots of people get wrapped up in Protein this, low carb that, and we forget to eat like normal human beings, Now, I will admit that as a college student and a nurse I am not picture perfect and some of the things I have still come out of a can but I do avoid it as best I can.

Yeah, I won't say its right or wrong, I'm just saying thats the reason - they also do this with knee replacements and other operations after a certain age. at some point the cons don't outweigh the pros

If you had more time I would tell you to check out a product called the spibelt, it was meant for people out of jogs to put their keys and whatever else they want to carry and basically its a stretchable pouch on an elastic band that you snap around your waist. I put my drain in mine so it wouldnt hang because that hanging/pulling was really painful for me. Also sometimes if you let a little bit of the pressure off by not compressing it all the way it's less bothersome. http://www.amazon.com/SPIbelt-Small-Personal-Great-Runners/dp/B0021WW2WY It might be too late for you but if anyone else sees this and wants to take a look that is the link to the amazon store.

mine hurt pretty bad, when I went for my checkup 2 days after surgery I was told to not compress the JP quite as much as I had been because it might be causing a little irritation, and sure enough, when he pulled the little plug and let some of the pressure off, it did feel marginally better. I wasn't totally happy till I got the darn thing pulled out though.

I don't believe in "bariatric food" Power crunch bars, chocolate covered whatever, powdered peanut butter, protein puffs that look like some kind of bad bastardization of cheetos, protein cheerios, the list goes on and on and on and I think that is garbage, and make no mistake about it, it IS garbage, is one of the many reasons why so many bariatric patients never EVER make the leap from the SAD (Standard American Diet) to a reasonably normal lifestyle free from slavery to food and obsession with snacks. You just don't need it. The egg, for instance, takes about 2 minutes to prepare, refrigerates and reheats well and is the perfect protein. If your really feeling wild throw some cheese in there - still a respectable meal. Unless you are a power lifter and I do know there are a few of you out there - you don't need protein this, protein that. You don't need to be sucking down chocolate protein shakes at 6 months post op, you need to be learning how to eat real food in a manner that doesn't destroy your health, because sooner or later guess what - You are going to get sick of that **** and you are going to have to join the rest of society and if you never did the real work of learning to cook a respectable meal, eat like a person who isn't obsessed you will never reap the full benefit of your surgery. Now, know this, all of the above are general statements, and I am not perfect. I have Atkins bars sitting on my futon and ready to drink protein in my fridge because like everyone else, I get busy too, but in my opinion these should not be an every day thing after a certain amount of time has passed since surgery. I'm even considering buying a big ass tub of protein powder from costco to make some bars at home, because then at least it's not so processed and I have some control over what goes in it and the size of the thing. We need to see these things for what they are though - once in a while indulgences, not staples in our diets. Staples in your diet should be things like peas, chicken, tofu, salad, fish.... You get the idea.

There are a lot of methods like using rogaine and all that but really, you are losing your hair because of a stressful traumatic event in your life, and it WILL pass. All the Vitamins in the world probably won't prevent this so I wouldn't get too worked up over it. This is really common after surgery, huge losses, weight loss even without surgery, even life events like moving to a new area can induce hair loss. Just ride it out, try a new style maybe and go easy on heat tools and don't over wash it.

I got mine the morning of surgery. It was really no big deal, one of two things will happen, or both. They will either tell you to use a new tampon right before surgery OR they will give you a pair of mesh panties that have HUGE pads in them like what you are given after you give birth. A lot of women worry about dealing with it post op but its really not a big deal, if you have you pain under control you won't need help or anything and if you pain is not under control you need to be speaking with someone because there is really no reason for that. Just take plenty of supplies with you and maybe some flush-able wipes and you will be A OK Just as a side note, if you bleed extremely heavy ask the OR nurse to place a chucks pad on the bed you are going to be transferred to after surgery, its really no big deal as the nurses deal with this all the time.

It's just because of statistical data.

well, at least it was just an egg, you could do a lot worse than that. Perspective is important.