ShannonRT

The sutures on the stomach that prevent the band from slipping are permanent. However the subcutaneous ones in each incision are not. Even if they close the skin with staples or Dermabond, there are still absorbable sutures under the skin.

I hope you get the surgery you need. Maybe you need to find another surgeon. If he didn't require a pre-op diet, then why is he shocked you gained weight? If you didn't have a problem with eating/weight, you wouldn't be there!!! Also, from my own experience, I WOULD NOT recommend having surgery on Friday and going back to work on Monday. Even if only for the anesthesia. It takes at least 5 days for your body to recover from anesthesia. I do not have a desk job (hospital), I'm on my feet and do some fairly strenuous work, but there is NO WAY I could've gone back to work even after 1 week. I had surgery on a Monday and didn't really even feel like myself until the following Monday. IMO, even a desk job would require a week off from work. Good luck. You will find all the support you need on this site. These folks are wonderful!

Yvonne, I am so sorry about your marriage. I, too, was married at a young age and divorced 5 years ago. I have the same feelings as you about dating. It's very scary. But don't worry, 90 pounds is a wonderful achievement and I'm sure you look a whole lot better than you think you do! There are men out there who will love you for you. Besides, if they were only interested in body image, would you really want to be with them anyway? Even if you don't find someone else, we are STRONG, INDEPENDENT women and we don't need a man to make us feel happy or complete, right? Right now is the time to concentrate on yourself and your children and making sure they adjust to the separation as well as possible. Good luck and please keep us updated.

KristiB, are you an RT? I can't think of anyone having such knowledge of fluoroscopy and barium who isn't! I've been an RT for 14 years, but the last 12 have been in interventional radiology. BTW, I just found this thread and cannot read all those pages, but am a happily divorced 34 year old white female from Knoxville, TN with one 11-year-old daughter, 2 cats and a puppy!

Dr. Boyce "did" me 2 weeks ago. Looks like the OP went with the guy in Memphis. But I'm very pleased with Dr. Boyce and the hospital. I work there (Parkwest Hospital) so I guess I'm a little biased, but I've known Dr. Boyce for probably 13 years and he is an excellent surgeon with a great bedside manner.

I don't have any experience with UT, but I live in Knoxville and work at Parkwest Medical Center. Dr. Boyce did my surgery 2 weeks ago and was absolutely WONDERFUL! I have worked at Parkwest for 15 years and have personally known Dr. Boyce for probably 13 of them. Parkwest is also accredited as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, which is a very prestigious distinction. That's my $.02. Good luck with whatever you decide!

The larger of the 2 incisions on the left side of my belly has opened back up. Well, really only half of it. Tomorrow I will be 2 weeks post op. My Dr. uses Dermabond to close the incisions and all the Dermabond was gone. Everything's been fine and they looked great. Well, today I went swimming (well, more like floating) in our community pool and when I got home and took my swimsuit off I noticed the opening in the incision. It's really weird and actually kind-of gross. If I weren't in the medical field, I would probably freak out. You can see a little pocket in there, but it doesn't look infected. I put Neosporin on it and tried to hold it together and while I put a Band-Aid over it. I called the nurse and my Dr. isn't in the office tomorrow but she wants me to come by so she can look at it. So much for being on time for my first day back at work! Anybody else experienced this?

duplicate sorry

That's where the camera goes, so they can angle it "up" towards the stomach and see everything. Mine is actually above my belly button, not right in it. I have seen laparoscopic cholecystectomies (gall bladder removal) and the camera WAS in the belly button. But it's been several years, so I'm not sure if it's surgeon preference or what.

Welcome Paul, from a fellow Tennessean! Right down the road in Knoxville. I am also self-pay. Good luck to you with the surgery. I am 12 days post-op am SOOOOO sick of liquids!

I'm divorced and not in a relationship so we don't have to worry about that!!! Thank goodness.

I did call the nurse at the surgeon's office today. She said it does happen sometimes. She mentioned just the shock to your body from any kind of surgery, but she also mentioned the antibiotics I got while in the hospital. I'm not sure what that has to do with it.

Yeah...and to beat it all, my daughter accidently closed the feet of the recliner on our puppy last night and she's got a dislocated hip. She's at the vet hopefully getting it put back in but she'll probably have to be in some sort of sling for a month. At least that's taking my mind off these yucky liquids.

You didn't have to spend the night in the hospital?

Dang...I can't believe I forgot to watch Big Medicine last night! I love that show! Need to set my DVR to record it every time it comes on, that way I'll never miss it!

Hi Caroline. I also lost 12 pounds in one week! I agree liquids are soooo hard. I will glad when this point is behind me! Just keep remembering it's only temporary and well worth it.

Good luck BigHarleyGuy. I'm 8 days post-op. So far, so good. Welcome to band life.

Hi all! I was banded on 7-30. Today is exactly 1 week and I've lost 12 pounds so far. But I'm HATING the liquids. I'm not starving, I just hate drinking all my meals. I miss chewing! And I don't particularly care for protein shakes. But I keep reminding myself that it's only temporary and the payoff will be sweet. I just joined this site yesterday and you guys are helping me soooo much.

I wish I could have yogurt. It's not till stage 2 (pureed). Not sure what the difference is between yogurt and sugar-free Jello. I may e-mail the dietician at my drs tomorrow and tell her how I'm struggling. She told us in pre-op diet class to let her know if we are having a hard time. I've already figured out I need my alloted amount of carbs. I get really shaky and yucky feeling like my blood sugar is low. I don't have very much energy, but the hard part is knowing whether it's because of what I'm eating (or not eating) or just because I'm still recovering from surgery.

Hi everybody! I'm so glad I found this site. Let me introduce myself. I am a 34-year-old divorced mom of an 11-year-old girl, 2 cats and a puppy. I have around 100 pounds to lose, give or take a few. My surgery was almost a week ago, Monday July 30th. All went extremely well. Incisions are healing nicely, but it took about 4 days to get the anesthesia out of my system. I am apparently very sensitive to anesthesia. Spent 1 night in the hospital. Pain has been bearable, but liquid Hydrocodone tastes AWFUL!!! So I'm pretty much off meds now. I wasn't going to weigh until I went back for my first post-op visit, but I broke down and weighed yesterday morning. I really felt like I needed some encouragement from seeing results. I was shocked...I had lost 11 pounds!!! But I am REALLY struggling with the liquid diet. My dr. does 2 full weeks of liquids and then 2 weeks of pureed Protein before graduating to "real" food. The list they gave me includes: Water, broth, sugar-free Jello, Protein shakes, juice (diluted 50:50), sugar-free popsicles, and any flavoring for water that is sugar and caffeine-free. Also, no carbonation. I am allowed 60 grams of carbs and 30 grams of fat per day. I am required to consume 60 grams of protein and 64 ounces of Fluid per day. I started drinking Soup at Hands even though it's not on the list. I can't see that there should be a difference as long as I'm within my limits. No chunky stuff of course. What suggestions and/or comments do you guys have?

Wow, I should consider myself lucky to only have liquids for 2 weeks! Good luck to you.

Ok....I get how to make the ticker and paste it into my signature. But how do you update it? Do you have to paste it again every time you update it?