Elisabethsew

I only get that feeling with the lemonade. The others go down just fine with no adverse feelings.

You need to ask these questions to a surgeon. A forceful blow to the abdominal area MIGHT injure your port so I would check it out with your surgeon and see what restrictions, if any, are imposed. I have a male friend who was banded on July 1, 2005. He was 350 pounds and now weighs 180 and is 43 years old. Men lose faster than women and heaven knows this guy did NOT do a lot in the way of exercise. Look at ALL forms of weight loss surgery and choose the one that's right for you.

Two drugs that help stones turn to sludge are actigal and urso.

Drink LOTS of water to move the food down. Heartburn is caused by a reflux of gastric acids back up into the esophagus. Try eating 6 small meals a day instead of three and drink lots of water after and inbetween eating. Your MD should put you on an H2 blocker (nexium, previcid, etc.) for a trial period. Feel better!

I was told I could swim 2 weeks after surgery and do any kind of strenous exercise 4 weeks post-op. The only limit was not lifting anything over 25 pounds for 6 weeks.

While an inconvenience, having your period at the time of surgery won't interfere with a thing. On the pre-op instructions it should say no tampons.

I got "proper" restriction with the 3rd fill and am now at 6.5 cc's. I am not hungry inbetween meals.

My surgeon required an endoscopy before surgery and it seems like more and more are. I was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight the night before the endoscopy. On the morning of the procedure, I went into the room and an anesthesiologist started an IV. He gave me a medication called propofol through the IV and I woke up a few minutes later in the recovery area and then went home. The whole thing took about an hour.

I was told that the hospitalization would be overnight. I went to the hospital at 2 PM, was in surgery at 4 PM and was in my room at 8 PM. In the AM, I had an esphagram and then was seen by the surgeon and discharged at 11 AM. In the hospital I was at, all lapbanding patients are observed on a telemetry floor for the night. My advice is to not rush things and follow whatever your surgeon thinks is best for you.

I've used the salt and it DOES work well. LOL.

The water bearer... Aquarius!

LOL. Thanks, I needed a laugh!

Hair loss can be heredity and/or due to a vitamin/mineral deficiency. You can have a normal hemaglobin and hematocrit and still have iron deficiency anemia. Ask your MD to do an iron panel on you (iron, ferritin, total iron binding capacity, iron saturation). Also, a lack of B vitamins and not enough protein intake can lead to hair loss. A simple blood test will give you some answers and the appropriate treatment.

What you describe in your post are the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety disorder. Paxil has been shown to treat panic attacks but you need professional help (medication and therapy) to deal with the depression. I would caution you NOT to say you have feelings of suicide if, in fact, you don't. I am an RN and, if a person is expressing suicidal ideation, there is something called "2 PC." What 2 PC means is the hospital gets 2 physicians to consent to involuntary hospitalization in a psych unit. Therefore, it doesn't matter what your wishes are. You are deemed not competent and others will make medical decisions for you. In writing your post, you cried out for help. Realizing you have a problem and realizing you need help are two big steps to wellness. For now, make a list of "have to do's" and "would like to do's." Involve your kids and hubby in cleaning the house but do it one room at a time. At work, don't try and do it all. No one can EVER do it all and you're doomed to failure if that's how you begin the day. Make a work priority list and do what's important first. When you look at the big picture you can become paralyzed. Instead, break the big picture down into manageable parts and set mini-goals. Once you make progress on mini-goals, life seems a bit less unfair.

[ame= ] [/ame] Someone emailed this to me... funny.

OK, I've heard that vinegar kills the grass that grows inbetween bricks (and doesn't harm pets) and it worked when I tried it. Now THIS is something new to me. Before anyone goes on the offensive, I drink products with aspartame but found this interesting (and yes, a bit distressing). I plan on giving it a try outside the house where I saw carpenter ants. From the June 2006 Idaho Observer: http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20060612.htm</B> Aspartame - The World's Best Ant Poison contributed by Jan Jensen of WELLthy Choices We live in the woods and carpenter ants are a huge problem. We have spent thousands of dollars with Orkin and on ant poisons trying to keep them under control but nothing has helped. So when I read somewhere that aspartame (Nutrasweet) was actually developed as an ant poison and only changed to being considered non-poisonous after it was realized that a lot more money could be made on it as a sweetener than as an ant poison, I decided to give it a try. I opened two packets of aspartame sweetener, and dumped one in a corner of each of our bathrooms. That was about 2 years ago and I have not seen any carpenter ants for about 9 to 12 months. It works better than the most deadly poisons I have tried. Any time they show up again, I simply dump another package of Nutrasweet in a corner, and they will be gone for a year or so again. Since posting this information I have had many people tell me of their success solving ant problems with this substance, when nothing else worked. We found later that small black ants would not eat the aspartame. It was determined that if you mixed it with apple juice, they would quickly take it back to the nest, and all would be dead within 24 hours, usually. I have found that sometimes it will kill them, and sometimes it does not. Not sure why, may be slightly different species of ants or something. Fire Ants: We got our first fire ant hill about 2 weeks ago. Poison did not work. We tried aspartame and the ants ignored it until we got a light rain. It was just a sprinkle, enough to moisten the Nutrasweet and ground, but not enough to wash it away. They went crazy, hundreds of them grabbing it and taking it back into the mound. When I checked the mound 2 days later, there was no sign of the fire ants. I even dug the mound up some, and still saw none of them. How does it Work: Aspartame is a neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interfering with their nervous system. It could be direct, like stopping their heart, or something more subtle like killing their sense of taste so they can't figure out what is eatable, or smell, so they can't follow their trails, or mis-identify their colonies members, so they start fighting each other. Not sure what causes them to end up dying, just know that for many species of ants it will kill them quickly and effectively. As with any poison I recommend wearing gloves and washing any skin areas that come in contact with this poison, and avoid getting it in your mouth, despite anything the labeling may indicate. I suspect it will work for other insects such as yellow jackets as well, but have not tested that yet. More information on this fantastic poison can be found at: http://www.dorway.com/</B>

I chew a piece of pretzel until it's a mushy consistency, put the pill in the center, and down it goes without a problem.

I don't think you'll have any problem going on your vacation and you can certainly go swimming. The incisions heal over in 1-2 weeks. I did 2 weeks of full fluids post-op followed by 2 weeks of a soft diet and then went to regular food on week 5. Talk to your dietician about your vacation plans and she can plan a week's worth of meals for you.

I was on clear liquids before surgery and full liquids post-op. Full liquids included soup broths, fat-free, sugar-free pudding, yogurt (regular and frozen), italian ices, lite ricotta cheese and protein shakes.

My surgeon said no lifting of more than 25 pounds for the first six weeks after surgery. I went back to work after 8 days.

I haven't had any unfills but it sounds like you might be one of the few, but fortunate, people who gets restriction with very little fill amounts. Since you've been dealing with this problem on and off for several months now, it might be a good idea to have an esophogram and then, if all is OK, have a fill under floroscopy.

I had a routine of taking cup-a-soup packets, a ready to drink protein shake, 4 oz of tuna or chicken salad and a fat free, sugar free pudding. I never ate all I brought but had a "selection" to choose from.

I would not call myself "seasoned" but I am a critical care RN and can address the liver issue. As long as you're taking in low fat (<10% of total calories) and low sugar and getting in enough protein, you will shrink your liver and lose weight. From what you posted, it appears you're 100% on track!

The antibiotic will do the trick for the cellulitis. I'm sorry you had a rocky start and I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's smooth sailing from now on.

Congratulations and best of luck with an uneventful recovery. Get a lot of rest, get up and walk, and stay hydrated.