Bobalooey

Do NOT rule out the fact that you're probably experiencing a very heightened sense of smell right now. I've observed this phenomenon every time I've gone on a serious diet, the first two weeks of being banded has been no exception. It seems that my hearing and eyesight have improved as well, anything to improve the odds of me finding food. I opened a can of dog food two days ago (not for me....for the dog) and although I had always found the smell distasteful, I found myself reeling from the stench.

So take heart, you may have stunk all of the time and just now are noticing it!!!

Kathy,

They put the Fluid in to make it sure it doesn't leak. Then they back off on the amount of Fluid. It is my understanding that there is saline in the tube at all times, just not enough to make it constrict until your first fill. Do you believe otherwise?

Seeing them right after surgery really made me sick, and the smell of the Barium as the first thing I'd tasted since the operation made me wretch. So I hid the pictures and I only pulled them back out today to really examine closely. I'm glad now the SurgiCenter offered them. As you say, what other proof would I have. And knowing how the thing actually works beats letting the imagination run the whole show. Such simple yet amazing technology, makes me grateful to be living in this day and age.

I posted the Laporoscopic & Flouroscopic pictures that were given to me post-op. You can find them at the bottom of the following thread:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=87581&postcount=22

If anybody finds them distasteful, I can remove them.

Oddly enough, this is the first time I've allowed myself to be photographed in years!

I thought some of you might find the pictures that were given to me in post-op interesting.

If you find them distasteful, I will remove them.

Picture 1. This is the Lap-Band now firmly around my stomach.

Picture 2. If you look closely you can see that the Lap-Band is now filled

Picture 3. This is the picture from the Barium/Flouroscope procedure and shows the Lap-Band in action.

I was scared too. Almost backed out three times before getting to the surgery center and once while I was on the gurney getting wheeled into surgery. Fortunately, the anesthesia kicked in and its been one week today. The fear and anxiety were worse than the actual procedure trust me. I felt better afterwards than some times when I've been to the oral surgeon for a tooth extraction. The team of people that will be there for you pre and post op will put you at ease as well.

Scarier for me now would be if I hadn't gone through with it and being faced with dealing with the anguish of the weight problem and no incentive to try to defeat it on my own again....and fail.....again.

This tool called the Lap-Band kicks ass! It will help you fight off the fat and start living the life you must have wanted or you wouldn't have registered for the procedure. Imagine being full....I mean really really full after a few glugs of Soup and pushing the rest of it away.

And when you finally weigh in after a week and see that you've knocked off 10 pounds or more, come back to this message board and tell me if I wasn't right.

Be more afraid NOT to do it!

Well........okay then.

Where did they put your band? In your throat?

Porclndoll,

In case you weren't aware, they keep EKG equipment attached to your chest throughout the whole surgical procedure to monitor all of your vital signs.

During my pre-op EKG the little suction cup electrodes kept popping off of my chest because of all the hair and it took the nurse 4 attempts to get a good reading. After they popped off the first time and she replaced them all I started laughing which made them pop off again. She got nasty with me while placing the electrodes on the second time and told me to stop laughing. Yeah, like that always worked in the past. I broke out nearly crying with laughter and all the wires popped off a third time. She asked a male attendant to come in and assist for the 4th time and the two of them had to hold all of the suction cups in place until the EKG was complete. She warned me right then and there that if I didn't shave before the surgery, "they" would have to. In my haste to get out the door the morning of the surgery I completely forgot. My guess is she's the one laughing now.

Nipple ring indeed! And all of these years I've been bemoaning the fact that my nipples are not sensitive. Aside from a few "nurples" I received in high school, I'd never have imagined that this could hurt so bad. How's about a little sympathy wise ass???

daisydoodle,

I just finished telling you I'm not interested in sex right now and you proposition me!!!

Pigs I tell you.....every last one of you! And now you refer to us guys as "bandboys"???? A sexist comment if ever I heard one.

What am I saying??????

I know this sounds strange coming from a guy, but......sex is the last thing on my mind right now. And believe me it used to consume my thoughts all day. Now I'm too busy watching the clock for when I can have another can of broth or a popsicle.

Sheesh....you women......you're all pigs!

I just got out of my first follow-up visit since the surgery last Thursday. Aside from being down 14 pounds, they removed all of my staples. It didn't hurt much until the nurse sprayed some kind of disinfectant on all the incisions. I now have a whole new set of bandages to remove again in two days. The nurse had the nerve to ask me what happened to my right nipple. I think she was the one that "nicked" me during the surgery. I didn't think it was that serious until she sprayed the nipple and put another bandage on that as well and then she wrote something down on my chart. I now have an appointment for my first fill in 3 weeks. Hopefully the nipple will be healed by then!

giveyouthe moon,

Liquid Vicoden????? And you think I received more than you during the procedure?

Soonergirl, you refer to your DH in a previous message. My wife calls me this all the time but it s pretty derogatory. Can you tell me what it means in your household?

They gave you hydrocodone???? You haven't lived until you've yakked up one of those little plastic cups of Liquid Tylenol!!!! New improved orange taste indeed.

Now you've got me going back through all of the spam I've received telling me how I can order hydrocodone without a Rx.

I was banded last Thursday, June 30th 2005. I feel compelled to share a whole list of personal observations regarding pre and post surgery. In some cases these end up being recommendations. If they don't help maybe they will at least raise a smile or two. I should qualify all of this in advance though by saying that this was the smartest decision I've ever made.

--------------------- Pre/Post Surgery ----------------------------------

1.) Hairy Chest - If you are a man (or ....gulp....maybe even a woman) with a hairy chest, shave the damn thing yourself before surgery. The rat bastard who shaved me during the procedure nicked my right nipple so bad to where I have more discomfort there then in all my incisions put together. I should have suspected something was wrong when I discovered a bandage over the nipple as well as the incisions.

2.) Urinating Right After Surgery - Do it! Even if you have to fake it. The nurse standing there with a catheter in her hand had a real sadistic look in her eye and something told me she was hoping I'd fail. As fate would have it, its hardest to go when threatened like that. Don't panic and don't watch the nurse with the catheter!

3.) Barium Drink After Surgery - Don't smell it first! Just swallow the damn thing or you'll really piss off the orderly when they have to mop the floor and clean off the Flouroscope before they can take the X-Ray of the crap dripping down into your "real" stomach. Plus they'll make you drink a second one. Definitely don't smell the second one!!!!

4.) Pictures of Your Lap-Band - If you hurled during the Barium Drink episode (see 3. above), don't dwell on the color photos of the Lap-Band attached to your belly that they'll hand you in the recovery room. Especially avoid looking at the photos that the other patients (and their proud family members) will want to show you as well. Seems sadistic people come out of the woodwork when they know you are close to blowing chow, and they'll start talking about things like the "hair in their eggs" they found that morning at breakfast!

5.) Wheel Chair - When they bring the wheel chair out to take you out to your car, examine it closely first to make sure you can fit in it. The one my nurse brought was ridiculously too small and I had to endure the embarrasment of having to be wedged free from it in front of all the other patients.

--------------------- At Home, liquid Diet ------------------------------

1.) Your First Sip of Liquid - Make sure its Water, something with NO smell! Drink it while kneeling in front of the toilet, it will save time. IMPORTANT NOTE: Beg spouse to clean toilet well before kneeling in front of it!!!! Be prepared to also beg spouse to clean toilet again after.

2.) Day 2 at Home, Removing Bandages - Do NOT ask spouse to rip off bandages real fast so you won't feel it! These wounds ain't raspberries you got on your knees from falling down in the driveway!!! SLOWLY remove the 3 - 4 small ones first. If there is a bandage over one or more of your nipples, save those for last! You should probably do this while standing in a warm shower. DO NOT try to scrub off the yellow iodine stain from your belly, give it a few days to wear off! IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure you've waited a while after drinking liquid before attempting this. Make sure your spouse hasn't eaten recently before showing him/her your "staples".

3.) Gas - Nothing can prepare you for the amount of methane you are going to release into the atmosphere on the first 2 - 3 days at home. Because you'll probably be pretty bored by now, try timing the duration of the releases to see if you can beat your "personal best"! My record holds firm at 40 seconds today. IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't have blind faith that a gas release won't be "productive". Wear old underwear the entire first week.

4.) Your First BM - Unless this already happened by accident (see 3. above), you may start feeling a little apprehensive about your first BM since the surgery. Fear not! But there are some things you should be aware of. Barium glows in the dark after being exposed to the Flouroscope. Make sure lights in the bathroom are on at all times unless you want to freak out your spouse.

Also, Barium does NOT flush well. It may require 10 - 15 flushes before all traces are gone. IMPORTANT NOTE: Examine toilet paper roll first to make sure adequate quantity of paper is available before commencing.

5.) Your Sense Of Smell - In case you didn't have a real strong sense of smell before surgery, prepare yourself. Your body seems to know that its not going to get food and will improve your sense of smell ten-fold to try to find it. I made the mistake on day 4 of going grocery shopping with my spouse and was able to tell the person behind the deli counter which of their meats had met their expiration date. I was even able to point out to the lady in the bakery that the spinach she was adding to the dough (for the batch of spinach bread she was making) was grown in the Phillipines...in 2003....before the monsoons! And I was right!

6.) TV Commercials - You will become more aware of food oriented TV commercials than ever before. IMPORTANT NOTE: Refrain from throwing can of Ensure (chocolate Royale) at TV when Taco Bell commercial introducing NEW Crunchwrap Supreme comes on. IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure young family members are not present when giving middle finger to Jarred in the Subway commercials.

That's it for now, I'll write more as the days progress. I think I'm really looking forward to starting in on the solid foods again. Did I already state that this was the best decision I ever made in my life?