TSB

My surgery was Tuesday 8/11/09. I originally planned to return to work on Monday 8/17/09. I ended up taking two more days and returned to work on Wednesday 8/19/09. I extended it because I was feeling fatigued still and a bit emotional. I have a desk job, but have to deal with some high conflict situations with people, so wanted to make sure I was feeling okay mentally/emotionally. My surgeon recommended 4 to 6 weeks off of work.

What does your doctor say about this. Lilke others here, I have had no problem sleeping on my side. Slept on my left side (non-port side) since the 1st night. Within 4 or 5 days I was able to sleep on my right side as well. Sometimes it was uncomfortable to change position but once in a position I felt fine.

I worked at it for a few days. I soaped up in the shower and gently rubbed the adhesive with a washcloth. I also used some alcohol swabs. It took me a few days of doing this before i got it all off.

Don't mean to sound harsh or condescending..............but I notice you are only 18 years old. I am assuming you still live at home. Where is your mother? Why is she permitting you to so flagrantly disregard your post-op instructions? You are putting your health at risk by doing so. So as a mom of 3 and step mom of two, ranging in age from 23 to 13 I say this with the utmost care and concern.....CUT IT OUT!

I'm with you. It will be 2 weeks since surgery for me on Tuesday and I can't imagine eating "regular" food yet. Shoot, I am a little worried about moving on to pureed food this coming Wednesday.

Uh....... your sister's friend is a dumb ass :thumbup: I don't blame you for going off on her.

My doc won't do a fill until I am 8 weeks post-op and will use no more than 1cc. At this point I am still not hungry, so am not too worried about it.

All I know for sure is that I have staples that will be removed on 8/25. I don't know whether stitches and/or glue were used in addition to the staples.

If my home scale is to be trusted, I was down to 191 this morning, which means a 9lb loss :w00t: since my surgery on 8/11. I go for my post op appt (can't wait to get all these staples out) so I will get and "official" weight then. The 192 on my ticker is from yesterday. I figure I will make Tuesdays my official weigh day, since that is the day I had surgery :biggrin: Needless to say that I am quite pleased. But I also know it will slow down. On average I am only consuming between 500 & 600 calories a day at the moment.

Okay the emotional side of being post op has taken me by surprise these last couple of days. I am generally a fairly stoic person. However, I found myself crying over the silliest little things on saturday and sunday. For example, DH left a basket of clean laundry on the bed and I wanted to take a nap, and I am sobbing as I ask him to please come lift it off the bed. WTH, that's not me, I am not the cry-baby, whine-ass sort. So, on Sunday when I was still feeling weepy I decided I would not be going back to work Monday as I had planned. I took 2 more days and will go back tomorrow. Anyway, while on the phone with the doctor's office about another issue, I mentioned being uncharacteristically emotional. The PA told me that when you burn fat you release hormones that were stored in the fat and that if you are burning fat rapidly you release a lot of hormones that can affect your emotions. She told me this was a fairly common occurence w/ WLS patients. Anyway, I didn't know this little tidbit of info, or if I did learn about it pre-op, I forgot. So just sharing the info. Has anyone else experienced anything like this post-op?

Yesterday afternoon was the 1st day since my aug. 11 surgery that I have not had diarrhea. I called my doctor's office yesterday to ask if I could take a chewable fiber supplement figuring it would help "solidify" things and they said that I could and that it should help.

I'd be careful about a seroma. I had one after my hysterectomy in 2005 and my doc had a home health care nurse coming to visit me daily to clean and pack it. The way it was explained to me at the time was that the wound needed to be kept open so that it could heal from the inside out instead of healing on the outside before the inside was healed. Maybe one of the nurses around here can speak more intelligently than I on the topic.

I'd ask your doc or nutritionist. Per my nutritionist scrambled eggs are in diet stage 4 - soft food which I am not supposed to start until week 5 post op. I do stage 4 for 1 week and then in week 6 can start incorporating regular foods.

I had surgery on Tuesday and could have nothing by mouth until after I had my barium swallow on wednesday.......all they would let me do is suck on a wet wash cloth. That was pretty miserable. After the barium swallow I was on clear liquids for the remainder of the day. On Thursday I started full liquids. I was not really hungry on Thursday, but managed to get in the requisite grams of Protein and ounces of Fluid. I really would not describe anything I've experienced as really painful. I have been uncomfortable to varying degrees, but not in pain. On Friday I felt very hungry and was starting to worry that I was going to remain feeling that way until I get my 1st fill which is not until 8 weeks out. Today, though, I really have no appetite and I feel tightness that I have not previously felt. I don't know if it has to do with the weather......it is beastly hot here today and I have no ac at my house. It is strange how things change so quickly with the band. Yesterday I had all kinds of energy (even took my daughter shopping for school supplies --dh did the driving), and could not get enough of my Protein shakes down. Today I feel like I have hit the wall, I have no energy and am forcing myself to drink my shakes and g2. Not whining :biggrin: just observing how strange the journey can be. I know I am in the healing phase of things One other thing: I know we are all dealing with gas....but holy cow, If I feel the need to pass gas I have to be sure I am on the toilet, because that fart has company! For those that have been through this, when do things start to get "solid" again? I am going to try to go back to work monday and don't want to have to run to the potty every 5 minutes. The productive fart and diarrhea has by far been the must unpleasant post-op symptom for me!

My Doc advised that a 14cc would typically be used in a very large male, not just in terms of weight, but in terms of frame size. I was told prior to surgery they would likely install the 10cc for me, but that they make that call during surgery.

Welcome! I hope your surgery goes well today.

When I first met with my surgeon, I felt as if he was steering me toward by-pass surgery. In retrospect, I now feel that he was just ensuring that I was well-informed. I went into my surgeon's office only wanting the band and only having read about the band. I really did not know much about the by-pass option. So it was his job to educate me. Once I made a well-informed decision, my surgeon and his staff have been behind me 100%. I am really grateful for the amount of patient education I have received. That along with incredible support from the staff at the bariatric center. I think part of the reason I initially felt I was being "steered" is because the surgeon and his staff didn't just tell me what I "wanted" hear. So, yes, be wary if you truly believe your surgeon is steering you toward by-pass strictly for monetary reasons or even because he/she has a lack of experience. But also be open-minded enough to listen to other options that may be more appropriate for your situation. As far as the GERD, I have suffered from it since I was a teenager. I have taken medication for the condition for many years. In the process of getting the band it was discovered that I had a pretty significant sliding hiatal hernia. My surgeon attributed my GERD to that condition and repaired it at the same time as he installed my band. Granted I am still on a liquid diet and am only 3 days post-op, but I have had no issues with reflux and have had no need to take my prilosec since surgery.

I only had to do clear liquids for 2 days pre-op.....but I have to say the sf popsicles and sf jello really helped get me through without feeling like I was starving to death. Just keep your eye on the prize. You can do this!!!!

WOW, Jason, 82 pounds in 15 weeks. That is just AMAZING! Congratulations and I wish you the best of luck as you continue on this journey!

My surgery was Aug. 11. I also took the 10th off because I had to do bowel prep. I plan to go back to work on Monday 8/17. If I am not feeling 100% by then I may just do a couple of 1/2 days until I am back into the swing of things. I have a desk job in the social services field, so other than going up and down the stairs to see clients it is a fairly sedentary job. Truthfully, my post op experience is going pretty darn smoothly. i do have some intermittent discomfort in my right shoulder, but it is not excruciating. Once in awhile I will get the hiccups, and that does hurt. And I also find I can't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. Don't know why, because I am not really in pain.

I am on full liquids for 2 weeks. This includes Protein shakes, yogurt ( with no fruit pieces & thinned to milk shake consistency), pudding also thinned, and cream based STRAINED soups. I can also have all the Clear Liquids I was on for 2 days prior and 1 day post surgery. I stocked up on cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of asparagus, cream of broccli and butternut squash soups. The only one I have tried so far is the cream of chicken and I made it with milk vs. Water to add some extra protein. After I cook it I strain it to get rid of any chunks, per my nutritionist's instructions. I have been advised to stay away from tomato soups/sauces.

I was sent home with two good sized bottles of hydrocodone. I believe that is generic percocet. It takes the edge off, but I kinda miss the morphine drip I had in the hospital! Today is my first full day home so I am being generous with myself and taking the pain med every 4-5hrs. Think I will try to start weaning myself off of it tomorrow. I hope to be in good enough shape to go back to work on monday.

I was commando......hell the minute they gave me the Versed I really did not care about too much :drool:

LOL....kids these days:wink2: Good for you for showing her what you're made of!

Seems as though it has taken a long time to get here, but today is the day!I have to be at the hospital at 9:15am for an 11:15 surgery. I'll be staying overnight. I've been on clear liquids since sunday....so with this being the start of day 3 with no food I am not as hungry as I thought I would be. So, hopefully the 2 weeks post-op on full liquids won't be so bad. The worst part of the pre-op for me has been the bowel prep. Not feeling too awfully nervous about surgery, just anxious to get moving and wishing they had scheduled me earlier. Had to stop all liquids at midnight, so am a bit thirsty this morning. So, wish me luck and hopefully I will feel well enough on wednesday when I get home to post a message. The web-site has been such a great source of information over the last several months! Good luck to all you other August Bandits!