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Hey guys, I haven't been on for a few weeks and I apologize for that. I was banded 9/28 and since then, my life has gone through several twists and turns. I would say the 2 weeks after banding went as smoothly as possible. My band was a little tight the first couple days, had my first "unfill" on day 3 and from then on was pretty good. I took about 8 days off of work. Then it turns upside down. I returned to work on 10/8 only to be fired on 10/10 (really out of the blue, too.) I've been working with a lawyer to get a settlement on my contract and looking for new jobs. Frankly, the past 2 weeks have been the worst of my life and they have NOTHING to do with my band. In fact, I'm so stressed out, it's kind of good that I haven't had a fill yet because I'm really eating at a pre-surgery pace. I have always been a stress eater and I've never experienced as much stress as I have in the past couple of weeks. I was self-pay, the first credit payment is now overdue (will they repo my lap band? <grin>) I talked my wife into quitting her job to stay home with our 5 year old about 2 months ago. I tell ya, it's been about one Chevy truck and a dog away from a country music song. The good news is that I'm still losing a little bit of weight. I may grab for the chips or fast food, but it's WAY less frequent than the old days. This still has very little to do with the band. I'm feeling little to no restriction unless I eat really fast. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and those of you that are of that Faith if you could say a few words for me and my family to see us through the next couple of weeks as I attempt to rebuild my life. Plus, my first fill is on Nov 2. So I'm not really sure how that will factor into all of this... I'm still really struggling sleeping and having any energy, I'm falling into a little more depression after really feeling that I was coming out of it after the surgery. All I wanted was a "normal" weight loss surgery (if there is such a thing) but I got way more than I bargained for. I am still excited about the band, but it's just way on the back burner right now. But this, too, shall pass.

Wow... with a title like that, I am sure this will be the most popular thread EVER!!! Actually, I have a semi-serious question. I'm 2 weeks post-op and about 5 weeks into losing some weight. I've lost about 22 pounds so far. Which is great. Here's my problem... my fatty-guy stretch marks itch like HELL. They itch under my armpits and around my belly. (Gotta be careful cuz of the scars...) Is there a proven method to relieve these and possibly heal these stretch marks or at least make them better as my body begins to snap back to its "normal" size??

DW is something you'll see on a lot of different forums if you happen on communities like this. In my case Dim witt is pretty close - but it stands for most people for "Darling Wife" - others are DH - Darling Husband DS - Darling Son DD - Darling Daughter Just a quickie way to refer to your family - plus some might have problems with them having their names on the Internet.

Crap - it's only been 5 days and this is already my second "complication" - I went walking this morning (thank GOD my DW was there with me) and got about 1/4 of a mile when I felt this stabbing pain about 1" above my port incision - I doubled over and I got really sweaty and weak. I just about called an ambulance and if my DW wasn't there I would've. But I made it home and called the doctor. They said that it was too low to be my band slipping - what I had done was probably popped a stitch in my port incision. OUCH. Anyway, they told me to take some motrin and chill... which really sucks because today was going to be the day I started being more active. It hurts like HELL but nothing urgent. I go see the surgeon for a follow up on Friday. Anyway, just wanted to chime in. --Chris

You might make sure there's not a fill in your band. This was my problem. I was terribly bloated - gas pain - couldn't keep even water down. Turns out it had 1.5 cc filled and that was too much considering the swelling around it. So they took it out and it was IMMEDIATE relief. This is day 5 for me and I feel WAY better than day 4.

Could we have a "Money Matters" sub-forum added to the board? Since I'm "self-pay" and suddenly have this $17,000 Cheerio around my stomach, I'm trying to find some frugal ways to make this work. I think it'd be nice to have a forum where we can throw ideas on: Money saving food tips Online coupons Money-Making ideas (spam-free of course...) Just better fiscal responsibility ideas Here are 2 I'm willing to throw into the hat. My dietitian at our grocery store started suggesting 8th Continent Soy Milk to keep up my Protein. There's an online $1 coupon on their website: 8th Continent Soymilk - Light Soymilks (Click the $1 icon at the top) Also, I've been liquidating many of the things I've collected over the years that aren't as important as my lap band. One of them, has been my collection of over 1,000 CD's and DVD's. Rather than sell them individually at a garage sale or on eBay, I found two places that you can just put the UPC codes in and they'll buy them from you - as long as they're in relatively good shape. Those sites are: www.mx123.com - They do DVD's only Newtownvideo.com - Buy & Sell Your Used CDs, DVDs, and Games For Cash - They do DVD's, CD's and Video Games I've used them both and have made almost $300 just selling crap that was clogging up the corner of my office! Hope this helps some of you. What are YOUR suggestions for raising a little scratch while you're losing a little weight!?????

Hot drinks - yes. I tried Hot Cocoa and that made me fell "fuller." Remember, the first few weeks aren't about losing weight, they're about healing on the inside. So if you put on a pound or two, that's okay in the bigger picture. You do want to start some of those good habits, but it's hard to turn a boat on a dime. Give yourself a break - your body's gone through a bunch!! You'll be fine. Just don't make a habit of it.

Hey Cajun, Like I said, It's not something I'd want to do every day, but even after 5 days, I KNOW this was the right decision and I feel better already. (Still a bit weak, but that's because I'm hard headed and don't know when to quit...)

Thanks everyone for your responses - it is a 10cc band. I honestly didn't know there were different ones. I am not feeling as restricted today but am still sipping liquids. Might try a milkshake tomorrow. I'm betting I"m still really swollen - I've been fairly active, walking, etc. That's not going to help the swelling - but I'd rather be active than the other way around.

You'll do fine!! The pain is only temporary and the drugs they give you are good!!!

I finally found out why I felt like crap the past few days. It's day 3 since my surgery and I had lots of energy, but just couldn't keep anything more than about 2 sips of Water down. When I did take a big gulp of water, it felt like my sternum had a blimp underneath it. When I tried to drink/eat something else (pill, medicine, popsicle) I got the whole PB experience. Well, turns out, my band was "filled" with 1.5cc of Fluid immediately following my procedure. The nurse practitioner says that some surgeons like to do that and that the manufacturer recommends to put a little into the band when it's installed. However, it turned out that it was WAY too much restriction for me with all the post-op swelling. The nurses at the clinic, however, say that they get those folks right back and are advising their surgeons to just leave them unfilled. It's just too much restriction. I had a barium swallow today and it was just a swimming pool above the band. "Gee, let's try to take that fill out" the nurse said. Immediately she drew all 1.5 cc's out and it sounded like someone had popped a cork that barium swirled down so fast. I felt SOOOOOOOOO good. I didn't really have much to compare it to, but knew something wasn't totally right the first few days. I had gotten dehydrated and lost 13 pounds since Friday. That's nice, of course, but WAY too much to lose post-op. So, now I'm rehydrating myself and can actually get some non-clear liquid down and even feasted on sugar-free pudding this afternoon. Just an FYI to anyone to let them know that there's still some confusion on the surgeon's part. They let me go home Friday without a barium swallow which is the surgeon's preference also. While I appreciated getting out of there a little faster, it would have saved me some pain and some potential serious complications. So, after a nap, I"m happy to report I'm starting to feel alive again. Day 4 is going to really be great!!! (Plus, I'll still take the 13 pound drop... not the healthiest way to do it, but I'll take it!!)

Yep - turns out there WAS something wrong. This afternoon, after my scale said I dropped 13 pounds in 3 days, I called and they saw me. Did a barium swallow and it turns out they did a fill during my surgery. That's why I haven't been able to swallow anything. They took all 1.5 cc's out and that barium immediately swirled down into my real stomach like someone pulled the plunger. Amazing. My entire body reduced to the first two pages of a plumbing textbook. Immediately following, I feel AMAZING. I can finally take a REAL deep breath and a real drink of water. So... next couple of days, I need to rehydrate myself, but it's going to be a piece of cake!!!