Jonathan

=) Yeah, when things were really bad, there was like a 20 minute period when sex never even crossed my mind. No wonder I was depressed. Seriously though, I just had another 6 ounces of tea. I feel SO much better than I did yesterday. I really appreciate everyone's support... I really needed it.

I probably have no right posting a NSV right now, since I realize my weightloss is primarily a factor of dehydration, but it's a funny story... First, 3 weeks ago I weighed 340 lbs and had a 54" waist. I now weigh 301 lbs and I was looking for some pants to wear to go to my son's indoor soccer game... ... and I found a 50x30 pair of jeans I'd never worn. I put them on, and they fit! Then I grabbed a 3x shirt (which is *almost* biggish on me) and put it on, and I looked really good =) I said to my wife "Man, I think I could go downtown tonight and get laid in this!" (Jokingly, of course.) She replied, "You could, honey, except for your belly." I stared at her, mouth agape, and she said "NO NO NO NO NO! I meant because of your incisions!!!!!!" Classic...

He's local.. I'll definitely ask him on Monday... I was just curious. =) I will probably wait until he SEES them and gives me the "ok". I'm just really looking forward to it.

I just drank 6 ounces of tea!! And the sun is shining... ... inside and out.

There is one. drinks like that scare me, though. When I was in 6th grade, my parents put me on Optifast. The first morning I had a shake was a school day, and I almost missed the bus because it tasted so bad, and my mom forced me to drink it, through my tears. I gagged, then vomited, and she still made me finish it. Because of that, to this day, a chocolate shake can make me gag, unless it's a REALLY good one. (Nevermind SlimFast.. that's not even an option.) I know Jamba juice is different... I'll give it a try... as long as it's not chocolate flavored =) Any suggestions on something I can get there that's as far away from "slim fast/optifast" as you can get?

I'm with you, Leatha. I'd like to take advantage of this and just get off of the anti-depressant, and I probably will. My mood is much better today. And it's 2:00 PM and I haven't PB'd once. I had about 15 teaspoons of coffee earlier, and I'm on about my 20th teaspoon of beef broth right now, and I have NO pain in my chest. About the tea, do you have to buy it online, or do they sell it at the grocery store? I'll try it for sure. I wish I could drink fast enough to keep things warm. I'm gonna have to put a microwave on my desk soon =)

I was staring to swim some before I had surgery, and now, maybe because of the dehydration, I am CRAVING getting into the pool. I'll ask my doctor on Monday, but I'm just curious, how long was it until you guys were "cleared for swimming" (or baths, etc.).

It's listed in my diet information as a "Stage One" food. (All of them are: water, tea, broth, gealtin, popsicles, juice, milk, coffee). I'm just wondering how soon you guys were able to eat Jello? I'm *finally* keeping down sips of broth, tea, and coffee. I'm not ready to try Jello yet, but I'm wondering when I should be so brave?

My doctor doesn't really put a time limit on it... he said it's just a matter of what you can handle and when you can handle it. On average, he said I should be able to go to mushy foods by week 3. I'm craving cottage cheese already =)

Well, dare I get truly hopefuly, and though my coffee is now cold (thank God for microwaves) I've had 12-13 teaspoons of it and although I feel pretty tight, nothing's coming up, and every now and then I can hear it gurgle down. Maybe things are turning around. Hey, since coffee is going down, do you guys think I could try some rib-eye now? Jonathan (Yes, that was a joke.)

I got the 10 cm/4cc band.

Can you describe to me what it felt like when you tried to sip it too fast, or what happened as a result? I'm taking this coffee very slowly, but I've had 6 or 7 teaspoons already.. easily twice what I've tolerated without pb'ing up to this point. I'm starting to feel tight in my chest, but I can "hear" something happening there, which I'm hoping is the liquid passing through the band... I'm starting to get a little hopeful... =)

No, no fill. Should be completely empty.

Thank you, I kept meaning to ask whether hot or cold was better. Think a heating pad might be useful too? I'm sipping coffee right now. So far 3 teaspoons and I'm not dying... there's hope yet...

Oh hell no! I can put up with this maybe another day... *maybe* another week. 4-6 weeks? No, that's not gonna happen. Even if I could handle it physically, I couldn't mentally. I'm gonna go try to drink a little Water and see what happens.. but I feel tighter today than ever.

I saw him yesterday. He said the only thing we can do is keep giving me saline when I need it and wait it out. I *could* go in the hospital, get my saline there, and they could give me steroids too to help reduce the swelling, and I might finally get some pain medication too, but since insurance won't pay for it, and I spent every last dime I had (and borrowed from my mom) for the surgery in the first place, I'm really afraid to. If I still can't keep anything down when I wake up tomorrow, I'll call him again and see if he has any other ideas...

It really is a phenominal achievment. Congratulations.

Nothing's changed really. I still can't swallow liquids, including my own saliva. I've "thrown up" (I don't know if you call it a PB when it's only your own saliva, or a bit of water) well over 100 times now, and am scared that doing so might effect my band position, but my doctor says that it won't, since I'm not throwing up food. I weigh 306 lbs now. I was 327 on the morning of surgery, 4 days ago, and 340 lbs two weeks before that. Obviously, I've lost an unhealthy amount of Water. I spent 6 hours at home yesterday on an IV getting 2 liters of saline (one of the benefits of having an RN for a wife is not needed to spend those 6 hours at the doctor's office or ER). Because I'm unable to take any liquids (or, of course, solids, such as pills), I've not had my anti-depressant for 5 days now, nor have I had *any* pain medication. (Well, I did submit to a tylenol suppository a couple of days ago, but it did nothing for me.) I wake up several times a night choking on my own "vomit". (Fortunately it's not enough to actually asphixiate me.) And all day, I have the "golf ball" feeling in my esophogeal tube. I was addicted to food, no doubt. You guys understand what that's like. So I've been 5 days without my "vice", and 5 days "cold-turkey" off my anti-depressant, and I can't even take ice chips -- you probably have a good idea of how I feel. Instead of focusing on the things I *can* have, because I just can't have *anything* right now, all I can focus on is the things I'll never have again. I'm just not in a good place right now, emotionally or physically. Others have said that this is "so normal I'd be disappointed". If that's the case, believe me when I tell you I'm not disappointed. I'm scared to death that something's really wrong. If this is just the normal way of things, I'd love to hear some stories about how you all thought you'd made the biggest mistake of your life, but that now the band is the "best thing ever". And I know when I posted before, several people had suggestions about eating ice chips, etc. -- believe me when I tell you, I can't keep *anything* down. If I *sip* a tiny sip of water, it comes up within 60 seconds. I may not be at 100% restriction, but whatever level it is it is such that it can't keep up with normal saliva production. I would *kill* to be able to chug down a 16 oz glass of Ice Tea. Please please please someone tell me there's an ice-tea-chugging in my future? Please?

He's called me every day. He says that if it persists, I'll have to come in and get rehydrated, but that he and everyone in his practice have had at least a few patients who take up to a week for the swelling to go down enough to get liquids down. He'd be happy to admit me to the hospital now and get me hydrated and run some steriods through me to help with the swelling, but I was self-pay, and I really can't afford it unless it's critical. So for now, I just have to wait it out. :-/

I still feel the same I had 3 teaspoons of chicken broth this morning, and it came up within 2 minutes. I'm miserable and I hurt. :clap: Even this shall pass...

There's an outpatient center in Richardson (Dallas suburb) where the doctors in the Austin office go to do self-pays, because it's $2000 cheaper than having it done in the hospital in Austin. So, as part of the package, they put you up in a hotel room for 2 nights in Dallas so you can recover some before driving home.

I know it should have, but believe me when I tell you that yesterday, nothing was going down. My saliva was being created at a rate faster than anything could get through my stoma. I took the liquid lortab (which is clear and as thin as water) and) invariably regurgiated it. However, here's the good news... I slept through the night without PBing/vomiting/regurgitating once, so I think that means that my swelling must have gone down. We're about to take the 4 hour drive home, so I'm going to try the lortab again and see if it'll do something for me. Thanks for all the well-wishes, everyone. Jonathan

Ugh... this is miserable... I'm PBing saliva. I'm a little nervous about tonight... I have to sleep on my back, of course, which is something I haven't done in years. I'll prop myself up, but I'm afraid that I might PB in my sleep and choke. I guess that's why the wife is here, huh? Now, I would say the worst thing about not being able to get ANY liquid down (or, at least, a very very very small amount, going down very very very slowly) is that I haven't been able to keep my pain medicine (lortab) down at all. I said I *would* say that, but in fact, I'm not in any pain at all, other than the knot in my stomach. No gas yet, either, but I'm walking quite a bit, hoping to avoid the worst of it. Anyway, as time permits, and as I feel up to it, I'll be updating my website: http://www.waistingaway.com Feel free to check it out, should you ever find yourself bored enough to =) Jonathan

Well, I'm here.. in bandland. So far, it's pretty uncomfortable. Water barely pass through my band. I even had my first PB... mmm barium... better tasting coming up than going down. *sigh* I'm fine, other than the feeling of water just sitting there in my esophagus. The doctor said there's nothing we can really do other than to hope that the swelling goes down enough for me to be able to drink liquids before I need to go to the hospital to be hydrated. So, keep your fingers crossed. Now... must... sleep...

We're driving up to Dallas tonight. I go in tomorrow morning at 8:45 AM. I'll post again on Tuesday night, likely. Jonathan