ALuv82

For me, it was easy right after surgery. I had specific rules I had to follow and I followed them. I didn't suffer from too much head hunger because I knew I had no choice. Once I was able to start eating real food again was when I started having trouble. Obviously we all got to the point where we need surgery for a reason. We have trouble managing our diets. That's not going to change after surgery, the band is just one thing to help us deal with that struggle.

I will be banding on July 22, 2009. Is it really that hard to manage your diet?

Hey, don't get discouraged. I did manage to lose a good amount of weight my first week but I have heard from many people who didn't. There's a lot of swelling, plus you were on an IV in the hospital so it sometimes takes some time for your body to get rid of the fluid it's holding onto. Some people even gain right after surgery for this reason. Just keep doing what you're doing and the weight will come off.

Hello, I'm new to this whole thing. I had the lap band surgery on June 8th. I'm a week post op and I think the scale should be going down. Seems it hasn't moved at all... maybe 2lbs. I'm getting discouraged already. I have a 1 week follow-up appoint. tomorrow. Should I be seeing faster results? I did slip and eat like 3 fried mushrooms and ice cream. I just couldn't stand the thought of another shake or chicken soup!!! Yuck!! Is the protein that makes you lose weight? Please, I need some help!

I’ve been a bad, bad girl…abandoning my blog for almost 3 weeks. I’ve been busy trying to get everything in order with the bank to buy my co-op apartment which I will hopefully be getting in the next week or two. I also have my sister’s wedding and have been doing some stuff with her as well as getting started on plans for her shower. Then of course there’s just the fact that I’m a lazy bum. I’ve spent much of my free time the last week or two catching up on episodes of Doogie Howser, M.D. courtesy of Hulu. I used to love that show and apparently I don’t remember a single episode of it. I’ve also been reading a lot. I’m on my forth book this past month. So you can clearly see why I’ve had no time to write.

Despite my lack of updating, a lot has been going on. I believe the last time I wrote was just after I got my unfill and the first day I started solid food. Well, for a day or two there I was feeling great. The unfill was a very welcome—I could finally drink water without chest pain. And for a few days there I felt great restriction. But the sweet spot did not last. Eventually my appetite returned full force and as I realized that not only was I hungry, but I could eat anything, I started making some bad choices again. I tried a slice of pizza. It went down great. On the bright side, I only had 1. I was still hungry, but I ate some good healthy chicken afterwards to fill me up. I also tried bagels. I scooped out the insides to help me out. One day at work someone brought in some left over candy from Easter (how on earth anyone could have Easter candy left over a month later is beyond my comprehension, but I digress). I learned a very valuable lesson that day—I can NOT eat just 1 or 2 pieces of candy. No, as soon as I have one bite, I am overcome with the need to stuff my face with it. Now at least I know that I can only have a taste of candy if a taste is all that’s available to me. And then of course there was the donut that the pharmaceutical rep brought in one day. I also started eating faster and faster as the days went by.

Now I know all of this sounds bad—I was definitely straying from the guidelines my nutritionist gave me, but I was still keeping my calories down to around 1200-1300 calories most days. Of course since my body was in starvation mode from over a month of 600 calorie a day liquids and mushies, my weight loss stalled but I did manage to lose almost 3 pounds between the time of my unfill and last Tuesday when I went back to Dr. G’s for my 6 week post-op appointment.

The appointment went well. I called ahead to make sure I didn’t have to fast or go on liquids prior to the appointment and was assured that it wasn’t necessary. I ate a reasonable breakfast (whole wheat English muffin, 1 egg and a slice of American cheese) and got there in the early afternoon. Dr. G asked me how I was doing and I told him that I was doing alright but I was hungry again after the unfill. He asked me how I was doing keeping my meals to 20 minutes and how my food choices were. I admitted that I had had a few indiscretions and that I was afraid I was starting to eat too quickly but that overall I was managing okay. He agreed to give me a fill but made me promise to take my time and chew well. I agreed and he sent the PA in to do the fill. The PA came in and asked me some of the same questions, then prepped my stomach over my port, filled a syringe, and stuck me with a big needle. It was a quick pinch, but hurt less than giving blood and it didn’t bother me at all. She filled me with 2.5ccs (they had previously removed 3.2ccs) so that I know have a total of 3ccs in my 10 cc band. She gave me my post fill instructions—24-48 hours of liquids followed by 24-48 hours of mushies. All of Tuesday and Wednesday I stuck to my liquids and Thursday and half of Friday I was on mushies before reverting back to solids at dinner time Friday.

The fill was good for me, although it’s still too early for me to tell if it worked. I do think I’m feeling less hungry and the post adjustment diet got me back on track. It was long enough to get my mind back to where it needs to be but not so long that I feel the deprivation that I felt from the post-op diet. I’m definitely making better choices, watching my speed and making sure to chew to goo.

The only thing I didn’t have to get back on track after the fill was my exercise regime. I’ve been going to the gym at least 3 times a week for cardio and I’ve started working out with my trainer, J, again. I can now run on the treadmill for an hour starting at a 4.0 mph pace and working my way up to a 5.0 mph. If I can keep that up I definitely think I should be able to meet my goal of running a half marathon by the end of September. Of course this weekend I didn’t get to the gym since I hurt my back at work yesterday. Well, technically it’s not my back so much as my butt—I apparently have a weak gluteus medius muscle. That’s the muscle that’s just below the small of your back. The left one seems to be my bad one. I’ve had trouble with it several times in the past. Usually some pain meds and rest and I’m feeling better in a week but it’s pure agony in the mean time. I think I might give in and go to a chiropractor this time. Hopefully I’ll be back to the gym before long.

Anyhow, after the fill Tuesday, I’ve lost another 6.5 pounds for a total of 40.5 pounds since I started the pre-op diet 8 weeks ago. Also, this past week at work one of my clients noticed that I’d lost weight and told me how good I looked. This was the first person who didn’t know about my surgery to mention that they noticed a difference in me.

Things definitely aren’t as simple as they were when I was on liquids and mushies. Back then it all seemed so easy and I started getting complacent. I was starting to think that this was going to be cake but the truth is, this is something that I’m going to be working at every day for the rest of my life. This isn’t news, I’ve always known that the lap-band was just a tool to help me get where I need to go—that the real work was up to me. And since I’m only human, there are going to be slip ups along the way. There will be days when I’m less dedicated than I should be. There will be days when I look at a donut or an ice cream sundae or some pizza and I don’t even have the will to try and fight the desire to eat it. Those days will happen and it’s not going to be a straight shot to victory here. All I can do is remember what I’ve gone through to get here, remember what I’m trying to achieve and take it one bite at a time. If I do that then hopefully the good days will be more frequent and the bad days won’t really be so bad—after all, we all need a little indulgence sometimes and accepting that doesn’t automatically equal failure.

i know what you mean about diet coke!!!! im totally addicted to it....so im starting now(during my pre approval phase) to try to get myself off of it. It is really hard though....some days i just want the fizzy! Keep up the good work

It was hard for me to give up when I didn't have to give it up. But once I started the pre-op diet it was so much easier. I think it's because I was so focused on my new diet that the diet soda was just trivial. But now that I've settled into my post-band life the cravings are starting to return.

It wasn't bad for me during the pre-op and first 1-2 weeks post op but now I'm starting to crave it big time.

It’s officially been 4 weeks since my surgery and 5 weeks since I started my pre-op diet. I figured this would make as good a time for an official weigh-in as any. I took some 1 month post-op pictures which can be viewed below if you’re interested. It’s actually pretty cool to see how much can change in a month. In addition I also took my measurements again. Of course they’re probably completely meaningless since the first time I had them professionally done by my personal trainer, J and this time I had to do them myself since I haven’t been cleared my Dr. G. yet for PT level working out. I hope it’s at least somewhat accurate. So here goes…

Post-op pictures: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/members/54524-albums3098.html

Before

Weight: 313.4#

Chest: 52.5”

Waist: 51.5”

Hips: 59.5”

Thigh: 29.5”

Calf: 20”

Arm: 21.5”

Now

Weight: 281.0#

Chest: 51”

Waist: 45”

Hips: 58”

Thigh: 29.25”

Calf: 19.75”

Arm: 20”

My weight was actually down to 279.5 a few days ago but it seems to have gone back up a tad. I was really happy being out of the 280’s. It meant less than 10# until my BMI was below 40. Oh well; before I had my unfill I could barely even drink water so I was dehydrated. I know this has to be it because now I’m drinking more but still haven’t been peeing much the last couple of days. A 32# loss is still pretty damn good for 5 weeks.

In other news, I get to start real food today—woohoo! I’m excited to get off munchies. So far I haven’t been having trouble tolerating my food, but I definitely still feel restricted. I had 3 oz of Tyson steak strips and half a baked potato for lunch and was stuffed. Also, I’ve been looking for alternatives to Diet Coke since I’ve really been missing it lately and water is getting boring. The Crystal Light and Diet Snapples are just too aspartame-y for me now. Well, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve discovered a new Snapple—Noni Berry Juice—10 calories per 8 oz serving and super yummy. I’m loving it. I also tried a Tropical Punch Fuze yesterday, also 10 calories per 8oz serving. Not bad either. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over the Diet Coke but these might ease my pain a little. The only think I have to do is make sure I don’t start drinking just that. I still need my H20 goodness, even if I don’t like it.

Yay! Glad to hear you're getting started on the path to health. Get that 4 month supervised diet going ASAP. I was lucky and didn't need a Dr. supervised diet at all but I hear a lot of people need 6 months, so 4 isn't too bad. Plus you'll have that much less to lose when you finally do get your band.

Well, last week I know I was all gung-ho about my super-duper restriction. Yippee, I was hardly eating and I was losing weight fast. What more could a lap-bander want? Well I’ve got to tell you, it got old quickly. You see, this past week I actually started to experience some hunger. Only problem was—I couldn’t eat…or drink. Maybe it was just because I was actually hungry that I noticed it more, but my band actually seemed tighter this week than it was last week. Looking back at some of my MyFitnessPal daily food logs, this seemed to be supported by the fact that I started out eating about 800-900 Calories a day on mushies and was down to less than 600 Calories a day. Not only that, but I was hardly getting any water in. Even drinking gave me chest pain. It wasn’t good.

So Tuesday night was the monthly support group meeting for patients of Dr. G. and associates. I made my way down to the hospital and met with several other patients as well as one of the PAs and the psychiatrist that works with the program. I sat through several recently banded patient’s descriptions of bandster hell before finally getting to express my (opposite) concerns.

The PA, Deirdre agreed that I was too tight and told me to make an appointment to come in to the office. It was nice to have someone agree with my worries. It seemed that everyone else I told was like—“GREAT! You should be happy. Isn’t this what you wanted?” Well no, not exactly. I didn’t really go into this aiming to become practically anorexic, experience chest pain constantly, suffer from dehydration, send my body into starvation mode and totally screw up my metabolism. That’s not really what I wanted. But alas, while everyone I know has been very supportive, it doesn’t mean they understand what I’m going through. Deirdre however was much more appreciative of my predicament. She shared the same concerns about my lack of nutrition, and while I stated that I was afraid of going into starvation mode and seeing my wonderful weight-loss stall, she added the concern of losing weight too quickly. I can’t really say that I was too worried about that one, but still…at least she acknowledged that there was a problem.

So Wednesday I called the office and set up an appointment for first thing Thursday morning. I went in as scheduled and met with the same PA. She explained that Dr. G. fills each band to capacity to ensure there are no leaks and then takes out enough fluid to get rid of all the air/air bubbles and equalize the pressure. This leaves a slightly different amount of fluid in each person’s band post-op. Sometimes there is as little as 0.5ccs, in one patient she saw recently, there was 5ccs left in their 14cc band. Anyhow, I lay back on the table and she stuck and big needle into my port. No local anesthesia or anything, but I prefer it that way. I hardly felt the needle at all whereas lidocaine burns like a mother effer. She attached a syringe and aspirated the fluid from my 10cc band. For some reason Dr. G. puts a dye called methylene blue into the saline so the fluid that came out was bright blue. She aspirated until no more fluid came out. Deirdre told me there was still about a half a cc left. In the end she wound up removing 3.2ccs. She had me take a few sips of water and it seemed to go down smoothly this time. We said our good-byes and I left.

I subsequently spent the next 15 minutes looking for the valet ticket I got when I pulled up to the hospital. I never did find it but it turns out it didn’t matter anyway; the valet was happy to take my word for it. Apparently I have an honest face or something:devil:. I got in my car and drove to work while sipping happily, pain-free, on a Medifast protein shake as I was instructed to stick to fluids and really soft foods for a couple of days.

It’s definitely a relief to have all that restriction gone. I know I’ll probably be in bandster hell soon, but to me that’s better than chest pain every time I swallow. I’ve definitely been hungrier the last 2 days but it has hardly been unbearable. I still do seem to have some restriction and am mostly satisfied after a meal. If it stays this way I think I should do alright moving on to solids on Monday. And if worse comes to worst, I go back for what was supposed to be my first fill (and may technically still be, I suppose) in just over 2 weeks. I can suffer through some hunger pains until then.

On a completely unrelated note I would just like to quickly tell you about the extreme shopping high I am currently riding. You see, a few years ago I received a Coach purse as a Christmas gift. Sadly, earlier this year the leather strap began to tear. Well, for those of you who don’t know, Coach has a life-time guarantee. I sent the bag back and received a voucher for the full retail price of the bag—over $320. I took my voucher to the outlets today where they had sales galore. I bought a large purse, a wristlet purse, sunglasses, a key chain and an umbrella. Actual retail value—over $1000. Actual price I charged to my credit card--$51. If I could get deals like this all the time, I would have been a shopping addict over a food addict long ago. Hmm, maybe outlet shopping will be my new vice after all.

If I were you, I'd be proud of myself, not disappointed. The band is not meant to prevent you from ever eating anything tasty ever again. I'm still on mushies but I look forward the the day when I can eat the foods I like again. I expect to be able to eat things that are "bad for me" on occasion. It's nothing to be disappointed about. And here's what you should be proud of--you had 1/2 a burger a 8 fries. How long ago was it that you would ahve eaten the whole burger, a huge serving of fries, sugary soda, dessert and want more? I know for me it wasn't very long ago. Don't be so hard on yourself or you will never be happy with your success.

Famotidine isn't similar to Pepcid--it actually IS Pepcid, so if it worked before, you can certainly try it again. Although I'm not sure why it would help since it's an antacid and the acid shouldn't prevent you from getting food down. It's a pretty benign drug though, so it doesn't hurt to give it a shot. To me it sounds more like you're too tight, although you've already been to your Dr. and I'm sure he would have known if that was the case.

Well I'm only 3 weeks out and I stil have a ton of restriction so I haven't gone through this bandster hell yet, but from what I've read it's completely normal to feel really hungry after a few weeks until you start getting fills. A lot of people who have posted here have not lost or even gained weight during this period. It doesn't soudn like you're doing anything wrong. Just keep sticking with it and the weight will come off eventually.

Keep up the good work. You've made it so far already I know you won't give in now. And in three days you'll have your new smaller stomach and you want want to eat for a few weeks. I'm 3 weeks out now and I can't even consume all the mushies the nutritionist reccommended to me. It will get easier. Just stick with it.

So I finally got a chance to sit down and watch my DVRed episode of The Biggest Loser finale. I have to say, for a show that promotes losing weight and getting in shape, they make you sit in front of the TV for an awfully long time to find out who won. That aside, those contestants are damn motivational. Seriously, Mike lost over 200 lbs in 6 months, and that 64 year old guy who won the at home prize lost nearly as much and he was only on the Ranch for 2 weeks. If these guys can do it without surgery, surely I can be as successful with the help of my new, super, duper band.

Personally, I wanted Tara to win. I think because I related the most to her. Sure, she’s a little younger than me, but only by 4 years. We’re still both in our twenties—the prime of our lives. She’s my height and was close to my weight when she started out—her just under 300lbs and me just over. She never fell below the dreaded yellow line and she won challenge after challenge. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. I hope that I can be half as successful as she has been.

And speaking of the challenges, I come to the real point of this blog. By week 11, the remaining contestants were all confronted with a true test of how far they’d come in less than 3 months—they ran a half-marathon. Then, 2 months later they were faced with a doubly difficult challenge—a full marathon. Every remaining player completed a full 26.2 miles, even Ron—the 54 year old father with a multitude of health problems.

If they can accomplish such a feat, in such a short time, I certainly can as well. And so I will. I have set a goal for myself. We all look for those NSVs that keep us motivated, and so I am setting myself a NSG—non scale goal. I am going to run a half marathon. A little bit of research on my part has informed me that there is one in Queens on September 20th and another in the Hamptons on September 26th. I will be at one of those two races and I will make it to the finish line.

Okay, here's the summary of a journal article that reviewed data from studies that compared the "medium" term effectivness of the two procedures. For those of you who don't speak medical-ese like me, here's what it says--

In the short term (1 year out a 2 years out) there is a higher percentage of loss of extra weight (67 vs 42% and 67 vs 53% respecitvely--notice that the bypass number remains the same while the band number continues to increase) however from 3-7 years out the numbers are comparable. at 8 years (probably the longest out any band studies go) the percentage of extra weight lost is 59% in the band, At 10 years out the percent of extra weight lost is 52%.

Basically, it takes longer to lose the weight with the band but it tends to stay off more than it does with the bypass.

BACKGROUND: Although bariatric surgery is known to be effective in the short term, the durability of that effect has not been convincingly demonstrated over the medium term (> 3 years) and the long term (> 10 years). The authors studied the durability of weight loss after bariatric surgery based on a systematic review of the published literature. METHODS: All reports published up to September, 2005 were included if they were full papers in refereed journals published in English, of outcomes after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP), and its hybrid procedures of banded bypass (Banded RYGBP) and longlimb bypass (LL-RYGBP), biliopancreatic diversion with or without duodenal switch (BPD+/-DS) or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). All reports that had at least 100 patients at commencement, and provided > or = 3 years of follow-up data were included. RESULTS: From a total of 1,703 reports extracted, 43 reports fulfilled the entry criteria (18 RYGBP; 18 LAGB; 7 BPD). Pooled data from all the bariatric operations showed effective and durable weight loss to 10 years. Mean %EWL for standard RYGBP was higher than for LAGB at years 1 and 2 (67 vs 42; 67 vs 53) but not different at 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 years (62 vs 55; 58 vs 55; 58 vs 55; 53 vs 50; and 55 vs 51). There was 59 %EWL for LAGB at 8 years, and 52 %EWL for RYGBP at 10 years. Both the BPD+/-DS and the Banded RYGBP appeared to show better weight loss than standard RYGBP and LAGB, but with statistically significant differences present at year 5 alone. The LL-RYGBP was not associated with improved %EWL. Important limitations include lack of data on loss to follow-up, failure to identify numbers of patients measured at each data point and lack of data beyond 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: All current bariatric operations lead to major weight loss in the medium term. BPD and Banded RYGBP appear to be more effective than both RYGBP and LAGB which are equal in the medium term.

That's funny--my doctor said that while the studies comparing the long term effectiveness between the two procedures are still fairly new since the band hasn't been around as long, that iit looks as though the band is more effective 5 years or more out. He says it's because people who have the bypass tend to rely on the surgery to lose weight--their bodies stop absorbing nutrients so they lose weight no matter what. Eventually their bodies adapt and learn how to be more efficient. However, since the band forces you to learn behavior modification there is a better long term success rate.

Also, the band has so many more complications and is irreversible. It can't be adjusted like the band can. The only reason I could see for going for the bypass is if someone has already been unsuccessful with the band or if they are so heavy it is life threatening and they need to lose weight much moe rapidly. Also, it seems that people with diabetes who have the bypass can often stop or greatly reduce their medications almost immediately, so if you have severe diabetes that might be another reason to opt for the bypass.

Man I love mushies. My protein shakes were tolerable, but this is definitely better. Right now I’m perfectly fine with my new diet. The portions (2 oz protein, 1 oz carb 6 times a day) are more than adequate for me. I’m still feeling plenty of restriction and sometimes I’m not even eating my entire meals. I do feel hunger, usually if I haven’t eaten in 3 hours or more, but otherwise I’m fine. I’m thrilled with my progress so far but I’m waiting on this bandster hell I hear about to hit. The way I feel right now, I can’t imagine it happening to me, although I know it’s still early and it might.

I had my first follow up with Dr. G on Tuesday, 1 day after I started mushies, so I was able to discuss how my body is reacting to the beginning of this new stage in my diet. I do sometimes feel that pressure in my chest but it’s been less often as the week has gone by. He said that’s fine, but that I should try and slow down my eating. Of course I feel like I’m eating really slowly already—I usually take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to eat my designated portions. Since my post op instructions said to aim for 5 minutes per ounce of protein/carb, 15 minutes is the right time frame. But I guess my body just needs even more time right now. I also explained that even when I felt “full” up in my chest area, I still could feel my tummy rumbling—like I could tell the difference between my pouch and the rest of my stomach which was still empty. He said that the mushies shouldn’t necessarily fill me up at this stage and that it was fine that I was feeling that way. I think it might have just been psychological though. I’m not really having problems with that anymore.

Even more exciting than the fact that I am not hungry physically, is how little head hunger I’ve been suffering from. I can only think of 1 day, the first week after surgery when I had really bad head hunger. Otherwise I’ve been OK. Sure, I’ll see commercial with some yummy looking food, or see what someone else is eating and I’ll want it, but it’s not the same as it was before. Just yesterday the people at my office went on a Friendly’s run for ice cream sundaes. I was able to sit with them while they were eating it and not have any problems. Sure, they looked nice and tasty, but that was it. It’s almost how I’ve always imagined it must feel to be a “normal” person without an eating disorder—to see food and to want it a little, but not to be consumed with that desire. To be able to say no and move on without this obsessive nagging in my head reminding me of how good it will taste and how much I want it. Okay, I’m seriously tearing up right now because I’m so happy about this. Anyhow, Dr. G explained that because the band presses on the Vagus nerve—a nerve which runs directly to your brain and has effects on hunger and satiety—that there is actually a neurological component to the band as well that will often make patients want to eat less. I’m thinking this is my favorite part of the band so far.

And last but not least, I got clearance to go back to the gym. When I had my appointment Tuesday, I had my gym bag packed and in the car with me so I could go straight there after I got the okay. Dr. G said I was allowed to do very light lifting and cardio, but warned me not to do the cardio machines on an incline or with too much resistance. He doesn’t want me grunting and groaning and getting my intra-abdominal pressure up yet because he said that it can make the band go from being arranged in a 2 o’clock to7 o’clock direction to a 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock direction which will screw me up. So I headed to the gym and got on the elliptical—no incline or resistance. I tried to go slow which was the hardest part since I very carefully selected my gym music to be songs that motivate me to work out hard. Since I had to hold back I tried to make up for it in length and did a full hour. I skipped Wed, and Thurs as I work 12 hour days and spend most of that on my feet, but I headed back today and repeated my work out from Tues. It felt great. Plus I think it stimulated my weight loss again. I slowed down last week on the last week of fluids but the weight seems to be melting off again now that I’m on mushies and exercising. I think my metabolism just needed a boost.

I’m so happy with how everything is going so far. I'm feeling good and I'm down 26.4 pounds. This band kicks ass. Dr. G was pleased with my progress as well. I also met with my psychiatrist today—the one who cleared me for surgery—and he also says it seems like I’m doing great. So basically everything is great. I truly and completely believe that I made the right decision getting my band and that I’m going to be so successful with this. It’s a great feeling to have. Alright, I’m tearing up again it’s time for me to get my ass up and go get a tissue. Hasta la vista, amigos.

Thanks for the post. Some interesting thoughts to ponder. I hope the shoe thing turns out to be true for me too. I'm a size 11 and finding decent shoes in my size is almost as hard as finding decent clothes in my size. If I could just shrink my foot down 1 size shoe shopping would be such a pleasure. As for the journaling--well I've been blogging a couple of times a week. I definitely want to chronicle this entire experience, for myself as well as to hopefully help others who might be going through it later on.

Week two has been an eventful one—though sad to say, not on the scale. In fact, the scale didn’t move at all for 5 days. Luckily it started up again and I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last 2 days. Now, I know I need to get out of this pesky habit of weighing myself everyday. I certainly can’t expect to keep up the rate of loss I have for the weeks pre and post op, but it’s hard not to expect big changes when you’re eating 600 Calories a day. Anyhow, I’m down a total of 24 pounds in 3 weeks and still going in the right direction plus you can already see a change in the way I look—especially in my face—so I’m pretty happy with that.

But what else has been happening in the week since my last blog? Well, for starters I went back to work. My first day back was Wednesday. Now normally I work a 4 day work week which means I work 12 hour days during the week. That meant 12 hours Wednesday and 12 hours Thursday. Luckily Friday is my day off, though I did have to work a 6 hour shift yesterday. It actually wasn’t too bad. We were pretty dead on Wednesday so I got to do nothing most of the day, and Thursday wasn’t particularly hectic either. Of course I’m told it was a zoo all last week, but of course that’s what happens every time one of the doctors is off. My biggest concern has been evenings. For night hours there’s only me, one assistant and one receptionist so it’s harder for me to go without lifting. I definitely feel bad when a big dog comes in and I have to just stand there and watch while my assistant and the client do all the hard work (well, physically hard anyway). But, I’ve been managing. One day soon I’ll get to stop feeling like an invalid and start lifting things again. Saturday was more hectic but I have lots of help and the assistant who was assigned to me was a big, manly man who works out everyday. It made me feel less bad about not participating in the physical labor part of the job. Tomorrow starts my first full week, but I’m pretty much feeling back to my normal self, so I’m not too worried about it.

Other news pertaining to my work—right before I left someone managed to abandon their dog in our waiting room. We’re not sure how they got the pup in there without anyone seeing, but low and behold, there she was. She’s a cute little schnoodle (poodle/schnauzer.) The poor thing was completely matted with fur, covered in fleas and emaciated. She also had some mammary masses. Well despite the sorry state she was in (or perhaps partly because of it—I am a vet after all) I decided to keep her. While I was off, the other doctors took care of her for me. They cleaned her teeth and biopsied the masses (we almost had surgery on the same day ). Luckily the masses were benign—no breast cancer for my little pooch. She still needs to be spayed and she’s still very weak and has a bad hip, but she could be a lot worse off right now. I’ve decided to name her Maddie (which kind of sounds like “matt-y” which is what she was when she came to us.) I brought her home on Thursday night and she’s been attached to my hip ever since, although today she spent a little time with my parents. My other dog is tolerating her well, but you can tell she’s jealous. Oh well, she’ll get used to her eventually.

So how’s the post op diet going, you ask? Well tomorrow I’m scheduled to start mushies—yay! Though I must admit that I’ve been a bad girl and taken a couple of liberties this week with the liquid diet. I had scrambled eggs twice, though they were really runny and it took me about 45 minutes to finish them. I also ate a few tiny bites of matzo ball out of the soup I got for lunch one day. I didn’t have any problems with that or the eggs. Tonight however, I took my mother out for Mother’s Day and decided to move on to mushies—for real—one meal early. Bad me, I know. I had ~1 tablespoonful of chicken salad and ~2 tablespoonfuls of my father’s chopped steak. I also had some chicken broth with a couple of bites of matzo ball. It took me a long time to get it down as I was taking exceptionally small bites and chewing like crazy. I was still feeling a little hungry in my stomach but I started to feel a little bit of pressure in my esophagus so I stopped before I had the last little bit of chopped steak (my nutritionist through my surgeon recommends 2 oz (~4 tbsp) of protein and 1 oz of carbs per mushie meal for a total of 6 meals a day so I was just about on target.) I don’t think it was stuck, though I haven’t experienced that yet so I don’t know for sure. But I didn’t feel like regurgitating and didn’t start sliming up or anything. It’s pretty much settled now.

Anyhoo—Tuesday is my first post-op check up. I’m excited. I hope I get clearance to go back to the gym, at least for cardio, plus I’d like to get permission to swim/bathe—then I can follow up my work-out with a soak in the hot tub. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Or maybe I just need to get a life.

Well, I don't have a spouse and I've been lucky enough to have the support of my family, but I hope your husband comes around. I think it might be a good idea to gently remind him that this isn't about "lazy" or "easy" it's about your health and you have to choose the path that's going to work not the one that's the "hardest" just because--why? Because it's harder? Because you will then somehow have "earned" it? Because that will somehow result in a more satisfaction or a greater sense of achievement from your weight loss? There won't be any satisfaction or sense of achievement if you continue on the same path you've been on. If this is something you've been struggling with for a long time and nothing else has worked remind him of that and let him know that you want to be the healthiest you that you can be, not only for you but for him as well as any family or potential family you might have with him if you're planning on it.

I also suggest educating him. Take him to an info session with a Dr., show him articles about the surgery and why it's important. Let him see the statistics of weight loss success with "traditional methods" vs. WLS.

Here are a few sites you can get started with.

The Risks and Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery

Weight Loss Surgery Helps Moderately Obese

Lapband.com - Weight Loss Surgery and Other Treatment Options

http://www.asbs.org/Newsite07/resources/press_release_8202007.pdf

Wow, 30 lbs already. You're doing great. If you're not even supposed to have protien shakes right now, what are you supposed to eat during your liquid phase.

Good luck getting through the weekend undetected. I've told everyone about my band so I don't know what it's like trying to hide it. I do however know that if my mother asks me one more time if my pants feel any loser yet, I'm going to scream. She literally asks me every day. It may not be hell, but it's annoying as hell. Keep up the good work.

-Lauren

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after a couple of tries. The first few days all the pain was from the incisions, especially around the port that sits under my skin and connects to the band. On Thursday I experienced my first, real gas pains. Some of the gas they use to blow up the abdomen with at surgery gets stuck in there and can irritate the phrenic nerve which runs up towards the shoulder. As a result after surgery a lot of people experience pain in their shoulder. By Thursday my incisions were starting to be tolerable and then all of a sudden I started getting these gas pains. They gave me a horrible headache too. I had them to a lesser degree Friday and a little last night as well. But overall it’s getting much better. Yesterday all I had to take for pain was 1 extra strength Tylenol. The incision where they placed my port is still sore if I bend a certain way and it’s very black and blue, but other than that the pain seems to have mostly passed. I do still have to deal with these little hiccup-y burp things that are very uncomfortable. I think it’s because any little bit of air that I suck in takes up such a large portion of the new stomach that I have to burp it up, but because of the restriction to my stomach and the trauma to my abdominal muscles I can’t really burp properly. Whatever the reason, they’re annoying as heck.

I’ve also been a lot more tired all week, probably as a result of the general anesthetic they put me under. I’d wake up at a normal hour and feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed (like a squirrel on crack :wink:) but I’d be wiped out by mid afternoon and have to take a nap even though I hadn’t done much except take a couple of short walks. The last two days have been the only two where I haven’t needed a nap and by the end of the night I’d felt like I’d been working all day. Hopefully by the time I actually go back to work on Wednesday, that will have passed as well—especially since I work 12 hour days. It’s going to be hard for me at work knowing that I can’t help lift and restrain animals. I mean, that’s what the techs and assistants are hired for, but they’re all so much littler than me I always wind up jumping in and helping. It’s going to be especially tough at night when there’s only 1 tech. If we get a really big dog she won’t be able to lift it by herself. I guess either the owners will have to help or I’ll have to get down on the floor to examine them. As long as I stick to actually doing my job—examining, diagnosing and prescribing—I should be OK at work. Although if there are any surgeries I should probably let the other doctors take them for the first week back.

The good news is that so far this really seems to be working. I’ve lost 20# since I started the pre-op diet not even 2 weeks ago. It’s amazing how easy it is to lose weight when you can’t fit anything into your stomach. I’m still on the liquid diet and will be for another week. Right now I’m supposed to be eating (or more accurately, drinking) 4 of my Medifast protein shakes and 2 other liquid meals (soup without chunks, yogurt without chunks, pudding, jello, ices, etc) a day along with 6-8 glasses of water. Right now I can’t even eat that. I think yesterday I came the closest. I had 4 Medifasts and 1 6oz light, fat-free key lime pie yogurt and 7 glasses of water. By the end of the night I felt completely bloated. I could feel the liquid splashing around in my new, bite-sized belly. The total was 460 calories. I’m actually worried about my body going into starvation mode. I know that next week when I start mushy foods I’ll be able to get more calories and nutrients in and I’m sure that will help me feel better. Plus mentally it will be a lot easier as well. Friday was really tough for me to get through the mental need for real food even though the physical need wasn’t there. Also, as the swelling goes down from the surgery I’ll be able to fit more volume in. I’ve actually read some other bandsters say that they wind up feeling no restriction at all for a while before they are able to go in and get their band filled with saline for the first time (usually 6 weeks post-op). I’m told that’s bandster hell. Hopefully the swelling doesn’t go down that much. I have to keep on track if I want to get to 225# by my sister’s wedding in October. I just have to keep on plugging away and before I know it I’ll be back to my normal self—only skinnier and less hungry all the time.

Just 1 more week until I can eat that egg I’ve been dreaming about. Yippie!

Glad to hear you are doing so well! I hope the next few weeks go smoothly too! Does this mean you are missing the heartworm season craziness at work (or do you have heartworm season stuff where you live?).

Take care' date='

Anne[/quote']

Oh, we have heartworm, but no HW season craziness. It's pretty sporadic here. I've been at my practice almost a year and I'd say we've seen about a half dozen cases or so spread out through out the year. I bet I'm missing hot spot/ear infection craziness from the beginning of allergy season though.

Hey. Glad to hear everything turned out OK. 1 week already--yippee. Keep going strong.

It looks like we were banded the same day...congrats to you!! I had a fairly similar experience...didn't stay overnight though. So far, so good...I am very hungary too and the broth, popsicles, and jello isn't quite doing it, but it is all worth it! Did you have laporoscopic surgery? I ask because the most discomort I hae been having is from leftover gas that hasn't worked it's way out yet...

Yep, mine was laproscopic. I have a little big of gas discomfort, but mostly m pain is from the incisions and ports. Last night trying to sleep was the worst, then I read someone suggest sleeping in a reclining chair and that helped a lot.

Well, it’s official; I’m in band land. I went to the hospital yesterday, around 2PM (I was the last of the five surgeries Dr. G did yesterday). After checking in, I was taken to the surgery waiting room which was filled with cookies and the not-so-faint aroma of brewing coffee. Now, I don’t drink coffee too frequently, but man did that stuff smell good. Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be bad? Anyhow, I went to the bathroom and then noticed there was a computer with internet access in the room. I sat down and promptly signed on to give you all an update but as soon as I typed in my username and password, the nurse came for me.

She handed me a gown, a garment bag and some wipes and directed me to the bathroom to change. I was instructed to take off all my clothing, jewelry, hair pins, etc., wipe my abdomen thoroughly with the wipes, and the put the gown on, open to the back. After I finished changing I went into the prep room where the nurse took my weight. According to that scale I was 297.7. That scale is a little off from my scale at home which told me I was 303 that morning, but I definitely like the Dr.’s scale better. If that’s compatible with the scale at the gym, it means I lost 15.7# on the pre-op diet alone. Although I have a feeling that my bathroom scale is more compatible to the gym scale, that would still mean I lost 10.4# in a week. Pretty nice, huh? Anyhow, the nurse proceeded to ask me a ton of health history questions that I’d already answered twelve hundred times in the last week. Next she hooked me up to an IV in my left hand with lactated ringers solution and an IV antibiotic drip of Cefazolin. I was given an injection of Lovenox in my stomach to prevent clot formation. Around this time Dr. G popped his head in to say hi. Once I was done getting prepped, my parents were brought in to sit with me while I waited for my surgery. The anesthesiologist popped by as well and asked me a bunch of the same questions about my history again.

Finally just before 3PM, it was time. I was given an injection of some “happy juice” to relax me. I forget the exact name of the medication, but it’s in the valium family. I was told that after the injection I might not remember anything, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. I remember being rolled into the OR. Some good song was playing, though I can’t remember which one and I started singing along as I sometimes have a tendency to do. I remember the nurse joking with me asking how I new it was karaoke day at the hospital. I was moved from the gurney to the operating table and strapped on. It was, of course, as soon as my arms were strapped down that I got an itch on my nose. The nurse kindly scratched it for me before placing the mask over my face and telling me to take deep breaths.

I could hear stuff around me and I was crying. I heard someone jokingly tell me I was making them sad, but I couldn’t stop. I could feel myself being wheeled out of the room towards recovery and I tried to open my eyes and focus on what was going on around me. I knew where I was and what was happening and I wasn’t sad or frightened and while it hurt, the pain was hardly unbearable, but still I wouldn’t stop crying. After a little while my eyes were able to focus better and my tears calmed down. I could see the clock across from me and it was 4:30 pm. My mouth was completely parched and the pain was definitely there. The guy who was with me in the recovery room asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. I told him I was a 6, and he gave me a nice shot of some happy, happy pain meds into my catheter. This brought me down to a 4 so he gave me one more shot and got me down to about a 2, which was nice. He also gave me some ice chips which were just about the best thing in the world by that time.

At this point I was awake enough and they brought my parents in to see me. We talked for a little while and I realized I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t until I voiced this concern out loud that I found out I had a Foley catheter in, so apparently I didn’t have to go after all. After a little time spent with my parents, my sister and grandparents showed up. My sister brought me a nice care package with a couple of magazines and some beauty products—and best of all a pin wheel. I haven’t had a pin wheel since I was like, 11. It was purple and silver and not only was it fun to blow on, but it helped me take deep breaths which was good for me.

At around 6:30 the pulmonologist showed up to check me out (Dr. G had been by sometime earlier, though I can’t remember when so it must have been shortly after surgery when I was still all doozey-bots) My family left and the pulmonologist checked me out. He told me that someone would be by later in the evening to set up my CPAP for me, but I didn’t have to use it if I didn’t want to. Instead they could give me a nasal cannula with oxygen as long as I didn’t have any problems over night. He also showed me how to use a device called an incentive spirometer to help me take good deep breaths. I was actually feeling pretty good although the pain was starting to come back so I got a shot of Demerol in my arm.

Once the doctor was gone I got up and walked a few laps around the unit. I passed by the rooms of some of the other patients and I have to say, I was definitely recovering much better than any of the others. One of the other patients was a girl a little younger than me and she asked me what my trick was for recovering so well. I’m not sure I had one but I think maybe the fact that I worked out regularly before this helped me have more energy, plus the extra muscle mass I had because of it probably helped me metabolize the anesthesia better. After about 5 laps around the wing I sat down in a chair in my room for a little while and tried to read the Self magazine my sister gave me. Just before 8PM I took a couple more laps around the ward then settled into bed to watch House and One Tree Hill. After that I dozed for a while and at around midnight they came to take out my Foley catheter and I was able to put on some real pajamas. They had me walk some more and then I got to go to sleep.

In the morning they came down and took us one by one to radiology for our post-op video esophagram. I had to drink a couple of sips of barium which shows up bright white on an x-ray. They used fluoroscopy (a real time video x-ray) to watch the barium go down my esophagus into my new stomach pouch and then through the band into the rest of my stomach. The point of this was to check the placement of the band and to make sure it wasn’t too tight. As it turns out Dr. G. does put a little bit of saline in the bands to begin with, but if the esophagram showed it was too tight they would have had to take some out.

Everything must have been good with my esophagram because I got a few more meds and a platter of water and fruit ice. The dietician came by and gave me a brief review of the post-op diet plan I’m going to have to follow and instructed me on how slow I was supposed to eat and drink. The fruit ice went down without a problem and I was discharged around 11AM.

And now I’m back home and sharing the experience with you guys. I feel alright so far. My belly definitely hurts, especially in the area where the port is. Dr. G placed my port on the left just below my rib cage. I have a few pictures up of my battle scars, and I labeled one of them so you could see where all the incisions were and where the port lies.

And that’s about it. It’s done now. There’s no turning back, only moving forward. Today’s the first day of the rest of my life and I plan on making the most out of it.