Lynn B

I can see IT in the bathroom mirror if I lift and twist but hubby keeps track of it for me so I don't look often. Shaving BAD .. stubble and ingrowns .. owwww. Dont even get me started about the waxing incident!

Keri - AWESOME - you are kicking butt!

Thank you all for your support. I got the idea to take measurement from people on this site. I also took front/back/side pics but I cant see a big difference in them yet (my hubby does though)

My only recomendation when taking pics is to take them in the same spot every time and mark when the camera needs to be. My afters are from a slightly different angle and the camera was closer to me so there is a size difference just between the actual photos - makes it a little harder to compare.

OK so I am one month post op today - boy how time just goes flitting by. I thought I would post my info just to share - feel free to post your also if you would like

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 align=center border=8>

<TBODY><TR><TD>Weights and Measures<TD>275<TD>266<TD>-9</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Parts<TD>9/11/05<TD>10/11/05<TD>Difference</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Bust<TD>49<TD>48<TD>-1</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Waist<TD>45<TD>43.5<TD>-1.5</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Hips<TD>56.5<TD>53<TD>-3.5</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Bicep<TD>19/19<TD>18.5/18.5<TD>-1</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Thigh<TD>31.5/31.5<TD>31/30.5<TD>-1.5</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Calf<TD>22/23<TD>21.5/22<TD>-1.5</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Ankle<TD>12/12<TD>12/11.75<TD>-.25</TD></TR>

<TR><TD>Wrist<TD>7.5/7.5<TD>7/7<TD>-1</TD></TR>

</TABLE>

Go to the ER for IV fluids if you must - dont get dehydrated. I wasn't allowed to drink anything for almost a full 24 hours after my surgery (I was on IV fluids), so enough of the swelling had gone down that when I started drinking everything went down fine. Maybe your doctor roughed you up a bit inside and caused some extra swelling (I would hate to think he put a band on you that was to small - do you know what size band you have?).

I would push for some help/resolution from the doctor - recovering from surgery is hard enough with out extra problems.

Good luck,

Laura - My port location is not hard but it was placed right at my waistband so after a full day of sitting and standing at work (having my pants bump my port on the way up - press against it while I'm sitting - and bump it on the way up) I am pretty sore. I hope that yours resolves itself and you feel better soon.

My expierience was the same as Michaelann's and my doctor gave me the same reasons for doing them at different times. He also said that the trocar placement for the band is not ideal for removing the gallbladder (gallbladder is on the right, stomach on the left). I didn't need to postpone my band date. They got me in for the gallbladder the very next week and had my band done 3 1/2 weeks later. Everything has gone fine.

Good luck,

Hi, at the bottom of my siggy there is a link to page that contains all of the most common board terms in use - Look for "Do you want to know what PB means?".

Hope this helps,

Just in need of some clarification - are you saying that these doctors are re-using "disposable" Trocars? I guess the easiest way around that is to find out if your surgeon uses (used) disposable trocars instead of stainless steel (which can be autoclaved very effectively). I would probably limit myself to a surgeon that could afford to buy the real tools. JMO. DeLarla - I know that you have had a rough go of it and I hope things get better for you soon.

Laura - don't panic until you talk to the doc. I am 4 weeks out and the port site is still sore, even more near the end of the day from sitting and stretching and just living life. Navel piercing are totally different than your port. I have several "skin" piercing (when the jewelry goes through skin only not cartilage) and was told that eventually in some people the body rejects the foreign object and will slowly push the jewelry out. Your port is sewed to muscle under you skin so it shouldn't react the same as a piercing - this does not mean that you cant reject the port but your not at any higher risk than the rest of us.

Good luck at the docs - keep us posted,

step away from the scale before someone gets hurt! are you coming upon that time of the month? I will stall or gain right before and when its over whoosh I drop right back down. I have been a bit of scale junkie lately and have noticed that I can fluctuate up to 5 lbs in a day - don't let it get you down. I saw someone post that 16 oz of Water weighs over 1lb so that Water weight (or if you have been drinking a lot during the day) can really get you.

Good luck,

Buyers remorse - ROFLMA. I woke up in recovery and thought "Oh no, what I have done" and then fell right back to sleep. I was fine the next time I woke up - so I do think it happens to us all even if it is only a brief moment.

I would check on the 0 calorie thing - that is no way to help your body heal.

For me day 5 was the turning point and by day 10 I could get out of bed on my own (nothing like being home alone and realizing that you can't sit up or roll over and you are trapped in your waterbed!)

This to shall pass and every day gets better than the one before.

Good luck,

My doctor recomends no pregnancy for 2 years. I have a 13 and 15 year old and have no plans to ever get preggers again. Hubby had the snip snip and would be very unhappy if I did!

But from what I have read the band does not interfere with pregnancy or visa versa.

My port location is also more sore in the evening - probably all the reaching and bending through out the day that does it. I had my 3 week check up last monday and asked the doctor if all the bending and streching (reaching for things) would hurt anything inside and he said that once my incisions are healed (which they are quite nicely) that I should not worry about hurting anything inside with normal physical activity. He did state that because I now have a lump of hard plastic in me that if I lay on it while exercising or lean against it that it is going to hurt - after all it is a lump of hard plastic. So I think this evening soreness is normal and as long as your incisions are healed well you should be fine to. If it eases your mind call the doc and ask him - that's what we pay them the big bucks for.

Hope your pain free soon!

2 weeks here but I had to keep his weight off of my stomach - I think someone else mentioned missionary but with him kneeling. My doc recommends 6 weeks but hey I'm only human.

1. What was your pre-op diet? my doctor did not require a pre-op diet.

2. What was your post op diet? Liquids for how long? Post-op full liquids for 3 weeks, soft/mushies for 4 weeks then on to regular food.

3. When do you get a fill? I am scheduled for my first fill at 7 weeks

4. How much does it hold? That depends on which band you are fitted with. Mine will hold a total of 4cc of saline.

5. What happens if it slips? I believe the current treatment for slips is to unfill the band and see if it resolves on its own. If not it would require an additional surgery to reposition the band.

6. How commons are slips? I believe that current statistics show the chance of slippage at under 5%.

7. How do you determine if you need a fill? My doctor has a preset schedule but normally if you are not losing 1-2 lbs per week and are hungry in less than 3-4 hours when eating as recomended then you need a fill.

8. How do you determine if you need to unfill? If you are unable to keep down solid protiens and in the severe case liquids then you might be to tight and need to have some fill removed

9. What happens if your port flips? From what I have heard on the board port flips are corrected easily under local anesthesia.

Hope this helps,

I am 4 weeks out and I will have between 1/2 & 1 cup of food per sitting depending on what it is. Do you have a calorie mark that you have to hit? I was given a list of appropriate mushie food and these goals. Calories 800, Fat 22 grams, protien 68 grams. I haven't been able to meet them with what I am eating (I run out of time during the day) but am getting real close. This is my normal day

8oz protien shake 8am

4 oz carb countdown yogurt 10:30ish

1/2 cup tuna w/mayo and 2 saltines 1pm

4 oz applesauce or Jello 4pm

8 oz Soup or 2 oz meat and some vegtables 7pm

I sneak in 1 cup of coffee some days and lots of Water everyday (except weekends - I am not on schedule then and do rather poorly at getting half of what I need)

I should throw in another protien shake after dinner but I don't usually get hungry before bed (WOW, isn't that a change)

Hope this helps,

Congrats! The time will fly by and you will banded before you know it.

Internal stiches and steri strips on the outside...seems to have worked just fine (I must have sticky skin because after 3 weeks I had to remove my steri strips as not one of them budged on their own). I did have staples with both of my C-sections and they were a breese to have removed (they made me feel a little more held together also).

Good luck,

Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center -

http://bidmc.harvard.edu/display.asp?leaf_id=10577

I can not say enough good things about this program. Good luck to your friend.

Congratulations and welcome to bandland

Congratulations and welcome to bandland!

Congratulations!! Welcome to bandland.

Keri, you could just keep editing the first post as new info comes along - that would keep it at the top.

Well, I just got back from the Doc's and my official weight is 266 (my scale says 260 first thing in the morning half nekid). That is 34 lbs down since my first consult in June. Yay for me!!

Just a note of caution - not to be a party pooper but I also had my gallblader out about a month before surgery and was under the impression that the surgeries were similar. Personally I was in a lot more pain with the band surgery (not extreme pain but more than my gallbladder) I went back to work 4 days after my gallbladder and was fine but I could have never done that after my band surgery - I went back at 9 days and wished that I had a few more to rest.

I know everyone is different and this surgery was something I would do over a hundred times if needed but to me it was harder on my body. I went through gallbladder so easily that I figured I would be up and running around after my band and was surprised that I wasn't - my expectations were not realistic based on my assumption that the surgeries are similar. Just wanted to let you know how I felt so you aren't surprised also.

Good luck,