Ellisa

No problems with spasming. My mother had stomach spasms a few weeks after lapband, but medication stopped that. Not ongoing, medication, just something she used short term that stopped it and it didn't return. Sorry I don't know what it was. My biggest issues with eating and drinking are that absolutely nothing tastes very good, every swallow is... what? noticed? Not really uncomfortable, just an awareness that's annoying. Very little food is... how do I say... doesn't feel filling, but feels like I've had enough without really feeling any enjoyment/satisfaction. But then I really don't have any hunger, I just eat because I should. I don't look forward to meals, even social meals. There's absolutely nothing that I enjoy eating. I can have soft foods. I always thought that would be a dream come true, but I miss enjoying meals. Even on the strictest of diets I've always enjoyed meals. When I first had pureed, food did taste good. But now nothing does. Hopefully this will pass. It's not a pleasant thing.

Yeah... the minute you say "low carb" (or refuse desert/white bread...whatever) all the veggies and berries you are eating disappear from their vision. And of course that grilled chicken or fish is suddenly full of unhealthy fat because a low carber is eating it. But their chickens strips (coated with heaven only knows what) is going to save their kidneys. LOL

I have not experienced any burning. Have you called your doctor's office?

Mu drain was in for over a week. I didn't have any shoulder pain or gas pain. I had both after my lapband without a drain. Have no idea if the drain helped with that or not. It did not hurt coming out. I put the drain into a small nylon fanny pack around my waist. That was better than pinning it to my clothes as they did in the hospital. I could go out without it being seen. When I showered I attached it to a lanyard around my neck. Wish I could take credit for that idea, but actually my husband dealt with his drains after his tummy tuck that way.

It's a new beginning for your health. It can be a huge boost for your self esteem. You'll have increased energy. You'll likely be more motivated because of the above. So I think it's fair to say it's going to give you a new beginning. The journey and the ending is up to you. :thumbup:

I don't know if everyone needs a drain. Mine was put in because of a revision from band to sleeve. My doc said you could tell if there was a leak that way. How I asked? Eat a purple popsickle and if there's purple in the drainage, you'll know. LOL

Yeah... I was told to empty mine every 4 to 6 hours, measure and record. Of course the total each day went down. I was diligent about doing all that. When I went in to have it removed, the NP just looked at the drainage that was in it and said... "yep this can come out," didn't even peek at my carefully kept records. LOL I suppose that would be useful if you thought there was a huge increase, you could accurately tell what the amounts had been for the previous day. I did find that there was usually more in the morning.

Thinking of you today. You are on your way!

75 lbs since APRIL! That's nearly 20 lbs per month! WOW!!!!!!!!!

I was 54, my DH 50, my sister 46, my mother 76. We ALL wish WLS had been available to us years ago.

My band was removed, hiatal hernia repaired, and sleeve all on 7/6/10. I was in more discomfort with this surgery than the original band and hiatal hernia repair. I was actually kept in hospital an extra night (2 total). I went back to work 2 weeks following surgery this time and only worked 1/2 days because I was so tired. This just seemed to take more out of me. Yesterday was the first that I really started having energy and could work the entire day. Following my band I was up walking within a few hours. It was the next day with this surgery. I was back to my normal activities in one week with the band. I'm still not quite there yet. Not trying to be discouraging, but the point is everyone is different and the length of time your surgery takes can very depending on the damage that has to be repaired. The longer you are "under" the longer it takes to bounce back. I was under 3 hours. I think that was a record for my surgeon. He's known for being very fast so the repairs were extensive.

Lynn, Don't fret about the 25 lbs. I had gained 22 lbs. from the time my band had to be unfilled until the day before my surgery. They are all gone now, and I was "sleeved" on 7/6/10. I still have some swelling and tenderness in my stomach area, which is normal for this stage. But I'm back in the clothes I was wearing back in October, though my jeans aren't very comfortable yet due to the swelling. I'm so glad things are working out for you. And it sounds like you have a good surgeon. After all, they all had their first few surgeries, even mine with over 300 sleeves. I don't think he tells his first 10 sleeves that they were in a more dangerous situation than his last 10. LOL Like yours he'd done thousands of RNYs and bands before doing his first sleeve. No doubt he was properly trained before doing his first solo.

There are requirements, for example some require minimum 100 lb weight loss maintained 1 year. Documentation of rashes/boils, limited mobility. As far as I know, BC/BS only covers the excess stomach and breast reduction. Could be wrong, have been before. LOL Start with a good plastic surgeon who is in network, their staff should be able to assist you with the process.

Not to mention the Vitamins that are fat soluable, A, D, E, & K.

AMEN to the benefits of eating enough healthy fats. And with our small stomachs we really don't have to worry about over doing it unless we are drinking Olive Oil straight from the bottle. LOL

I think some of us speak different languages when we use the terms "carb" or "low carb." For example I consider what Jackut recommends to be low carb. She is describing the Adkins "Ongoing Weight Loss" plan to a T not to mention other low carb diets. The language barrier seems to be that some see "low carb" and think "NO carb" huge difference. Most of us are told following WLS to concentrate mainly on Protein for the first few weeks. Much like Atkins "induction phase" (which is a two week plan according to the book). Then we gradually add low glycemic carbs. We need to avoid EXCESS/empty carbs. Our bodies can do only two things with carbs, burn them for fuel immediately or store them as fat for later use. Our carb intake has to be lower than our energy needs to force it to give up those fat cells which it converts to carb (sugar) and keeps our blood sugar levels where they need to be. Once we run out of excess fat cells our need for carbs increases or we would begin breaking down muscle to meet our energy needs. Not good. We need carbs that are high in nutrition, they contain Vitamins, minerals, Fiber that aren't available in protein/dairy alone. Though I eat what I call low carb, MOST of the time, (hey if I were perfect I wouldn't have needed WLS) I don't concern myself with counting them with WLS, it's not hard to keep them under control if you eat your protein/dairy and high nutrient carbs. Eating the same number of carbs in a sweet potato as a small serving of cake, is not the same thing. LOL

AmaZing! Nuff said.

Congratulations! I know the feeling when you have to try on several pairs just to be sure there wasn't a mistake! The size difference thing is frustrating too. I had to weigh under 120 to wear size 10 years ago. I can wear some 10s now. Of course there were no size zero or 00, back in the day. But fret not 8 is an 8 is an 8 is an 8 today, and that’s where you are now. Hope you shed many more such tears!

Don't worry about that 7 lbs. It will go more quickly than it came. Thanks for posting this. And keep us posted on your recovery. Your overall experience though should make everyone realize going in that this is a major major surgery and there are risks. The day before my surgery I actually made sure my DH knew where my will was, who to contact in my HR department, who to contact for my life insurance policies and retirement plan and so forth. I wasn't upset, just matter of fact. Though HE was having doubts about the whole thing. I wasn't sure I would be sleeved, if my band could have stayed in place, that was the plan. But if not, I opted to be sleeved. Still I understood it was more invasive and risks higher. Not to say there aren't risks with ANY surgery and what happened to you might have happened with a band, I don't know. But this, like RNY is more invasive.

My band was removed due to a hiatal hernia that made it impossible to properly adjust the band. So after going with it unfilled and gaining weight for months I opted to have the hiatal hernia repaired. The repair was extremely extensive requiring much mesh to fix. My surgeon didn't feel that it would hold with the band in place. We discussed beforehand that if that were the case I wanted to be sleeved (VGS). July 6th the band was removed, hiatal hernia repaired, and VSG. I went back to work partial days this week. Just not quite up to full days. Yesterday was two weeks from my surgery date. I know this isn't the same thing, but might give you some idea.

A straw? I was told not to use straws because you get too much air and that can cause problems (like drinking soda). Tell me it's a myth. I hate not using them.

You might consider waiting just in case there are any set backs. I'm two weeks out today. Went to work for the first time and made it only a few hours. I'm very tired. Probably because it's difficult to get enough food and liquid in at this stage. I'm not hungry so I'm having to remind myself to eat. I don't have any pain or other issues. But I wouldn't want to be taking a trip this week. BTW, I just got my drain out yesterday. If it had more drainage, it wouldn't have come out then. Not everyone gets a drain... I didn't know I would. But my hiatal hernia repair, band removal, and sleeved ended up taking 3 hours. Sleeve alone would be far less surgery/recovery time though.

Crystal, Your weight loss is awesome!

Probably not much help, but I didn't have to be concerned with Protein my first two weeks. Just making sure I got enough fluids and tolerating pureed the second week. This week I begin Vitamins and increasing protein. It's hard to get enough in when I'm only able to eat less than 1/4 c at a time. It's not like you can mix a scoop of Protein powder in that little bit of food. There are some clear Isopure products, but I doubt you will like them better than the bullets.

By the way Tiffykins, I love your passion and can see you are a very caring person. I lurked here for a long time before posting. Your posts are always informative. I will be long gone very soon and probably won't even peek in for months at a time. You will still be here helping people through the process. (I was amazed by the people who were still posting on a daily basis on lapband.com and OH. I hadn't been there for 2 years and they were still faithfully encouraging others.)