Kristine73

Lap-band ports are sewn into the muscle. I think the the realize band clamps onto the muscle wall. I would call your doctor. I was told that sometimes a port can come lose or 'flip' and if I feel any pain "out of the ordinary" to call. SO CALL, that's just my humble opinion.

I was hungry, as well. Try and drink warm broth. It'll help you stay hydrated and help curb your hunger. Good luck!

Call your surgeon's office first thing in the morning. I had the band w/a hernia repair on 6/08. I had a lot of the same symptoms as you. But, 4 days after the surgery, I started dry heaving. It was very painful. I called my surgeon, they wanted me in that day. Turns out that when they put the band in, they prime it w/a fill to make sure it works properly. Well, the surgeon left me w/a partial fill. Between the swelling and the partial fill, my stoma completely closed up. Once the nurse unfilled it, I had almost instant relief. They made me drink 8 oz of Water there, over 45 mins. I was able to hold it down, no dry heaving of slimeing (excess saliva production or drool). In the mean time, I hope you start to feel better. Try and drink luke warm, NOT hot, fluids. Warmth will relax your esophagus and tummy. Put a heating pad on your back and/or shoulder to help gas pains. I had gas so bad it hurt to breath. The heating pad really helped. WALK WALK WALK. Just do a walk-about of your house every 30 mins or hour. Try and move your shoulders to get the gas loosened up. Also try and get gas x to help w/the intestinal gas. It comes in chewables and strips that disolve on your tongue. Good luck Hope some of this info helps.

My husband smoked over 30 years. He quit w/chantix. He's been smoke free for 1 1/2 years, now. My surgeon requires we are smoke free for 1 month (at the minimum) prior to surgery. I quit smoking over 10 years ago. Now I'm addicted to gum at least it's sugar free! Surgeons not to trilled about that, lol Good luck

Remember it's a tool, not a magic bullet. You get out of it what you put into it. I was banded 6/08 and am slowly loosing weight. I drink 2 soy Protein shakes a day. I use the powder and instead of ice, I use frozen fruit when I blend the shake for added nutrition. For a snack I use either ff yogurt or sf pudding. I also drink low sodium v8 juice for the added nutrition. If I'm still hungry, then I do scrambled eggs, 1 part egg product w/1 real egg (I like the taste that way). Oh, and I did have about 1/4 of egg salad today (no scrambled eggs) made w/ff mayo. Notice, I'm not eating ice cream, full fat dairy products and I am putting and emphasis on protein, not carbs. Remember it takes time to learn how to use a tool. There will be set back, but the object is to learn from them, modify your diet and move on. Good luck

I had to break off ties w/my father and his family. I didn't tell them I was 'breaking up' with them. Hell, simply thinking about talking to any of them induces a migraine. I simply stopped talking to them. I didn't answer the phone, gotta love caller id. I haven't spoken to him in years and I am better off for it. You have to do what you have to do for your survival.

I had to do it 5 x/day 1 week prior and 1 week post surgery. Post surgery is the reduce risk is pneumonia. With gas pain, or just surgery pain, and sleeping a lot, people tend to breathe shallow. This allows stuff to 'accumulate' at the bottom of our lungs. This leads to infections and pneumonia. Deep breaths keep our lungs 'clean.'

I have tricare, so I am not knowledgeable with yours. But, it seems to me that you may want to look for another surgeon. If they show you respect when you start the process, you sure aren't going to get any post-op. Ask your primary care doc to recommend a surgeon, ask around or call your ins co. Good luck

Well, I'd be a bit ticked, too. But, maybe you can look into it and see if they'll cover your fills. Then you can put that money back into your savings.

Hubs ran by walmart last night and grabbed himself one of thos take-and-bake pizzas. I'm still in the mushies stage of post-op recovery. That pizza smelled soooo fregging good. I don't be grudge his skinny butt for eating what he wants. But, lsat night I almost cried, which made him feel so bad. Not, my intention. I was goof and ate a vanilla pudding

I wanted to add that you should take something for the gas. Prior to surgery, the surgeons nurse told me to get liquid mylanta. OMG, that made it soooo much worse. I think that's because of the thick consistency. Hubs ran to CVS and got me some Gas X chewables. With in minutes, I started with small burps ... oh the relief! It took a day for a good fart :biggrin: to work up ... and that was a huge relief They also have the Gas X strips that disolve in the mouth. CVS only had mint flavored. I had a hiatal hernia (which they repaired during surgery) and I had learned to stear clear of mint. That's why hubs got me the chewables, which basically began to disolve the minute that hit my mouth. Last time I was at walmart I looked and they had the strips in cherry ... :thumbup: Do small walks, get something for the gas and do your best to keep as hydrated as possible

I was banded 6/08 and sounds like you are having some of the same experiences I had, sorry you are having a hard recovery :tongue: Did they give you anything for the nausea? If not, insist that they call something into to your pharmacy. Try drinking room temp liquids and/or warm (NOT HOT) liquids. It will help to sooth the muscles of your esophagus and your tummy. Also, try putting a heating pad on your back to help get rid of some of the gas. If it get worse ... dry heaving, vomiting, ect ... insist that someone see you. Keep us posted and try to rest

woo-hoo ... good for you! Mine took about 36 hours w/tricare. Will you be going through a base hospital or off-base?

Woo-Hoo! Welcome to the first step to the new you!x:thumbup: I was nervous and anxious, too. I got banded 6/08 .... I had a rough first week. But, I'm totally happy I made the decision now. I LOVE my band :tongue: Good luck

Yes, you do look beautiful! And Kudos to you. I can't see your face clearly in the pic, but from what I can tell, yes you are model gorgeous! I think part of the problem with me is that where I work, they've seen me lose the weight once before. I was a size 7/8 when Hurricane Katrina hit. All the weight I've gained since is not the fault of the Hurricane. After all, Katrina DID NOT force food in my mouth. When I was skinny before, I'd wear short skirt and sexy tops and go have lunch with my hubs during his break at work. He loved it! Of course, then I only worked part-time and wasn't in school, so I had time to pop-in here and there, LOL! Right now, I'd feel sexy in a size 13/14! I am also not content just to bob around in my life like a buoy on the Water. I am 35 years old, I work full time and I am also a full-time student. I am studying biology, which I think I'd like to teach. Maybe some of the hostility comes from the fact that they've seen me go from a size 24 to a size 7, once before. I gained the weight back. Weight has been a life long battle for me. Here I am fighting the fight a second time and many of them complain they can't begin to stick to a diet.

I don't think I imagined what I experienced. I've gone through some of the treatment before when I lost 100 lbs. Then two catastrophic things happened that triggered 'uncontrolled emotional eating:' 1) *Mother-in-law moving in and 2) Hurricane Katrina. *M-I-L and I DID NOT get along. I don't work in the office, I work out in the field. So I can go for weeks w/o running into certain people. As far as the band being available to everyone, well there's an price for it. Where we work, there is no health insurance. I get my health ins through my husband, who retired from the military. If I didn't have the ins, I wouldn't have been able to do this. I am not ashamed of the band or embarrassed that I got. I am proud that I was strong enough to start this journey.

I was told it's be about 6 months months. Well, 3 months later, here I am banded, LOL Good luck

Ok, so today I had to go to mandatory training for my job. I had my surgery 6/08. I walked in and I knew word about the surgery had gotten round, as the people who usually say hi to me suddenly vanished. I'd say half the room is obese. Half of those glared at me most of the meeting. They were serving doughnuts and orange juice. I saw some of the 'glaring obese' go back for seconds and thirds. At break, I went out to my car and got my thing of SF vanilla pudding. As I sat there and ate it, I received some of the dirtiest looks I've received in a long time .... and why? Because I chose to take my health into my own hands? Am I upset by my treatment today? No! I expected in, in an age where people sue mcdonnalds for their being obese, when someone takes responsibility, it threatens others that maybe their weight IS their fault and not mdonnalds. Ok, so I'm a bit irritated. Oh well, At least I knew I am getting healthier and I did NOT nibble even so much as a doughnut crumb, today. :thumbup:

If you go back now, you will be in more danger than ever before. I grew up w/an abusive father. It took my mom years to finally break free of him. At first she'd take him back believing he meant what he was saying "This time." Or, so thought two parents were better than 1. Well, the last time she took him back, lets just say that he brought out the guns, literally. We got away. I was 16 when we finally got away, so I am old enough to remember a lot of the crap that he pulled. I haven't spoke to him in years and plan on keeping it that way. No matter how well parents think they 'shield' the kids from what's going on, trust me, kids know. Stay strong, stay safe and protect both yourself and your children. I don't know their ages, they may not understand everything, right now. But down the line, they will know mom fought tooth and nail to protect them! :thumbup: Hugs

I have tricare prime. I don't know which tricare you have. But, yes you need authorization. I find dealing w/the people over the phone aren't as 'educated' on all matters. Most just have a basic knowledge to pick up key words and transfer you to this department or that one. I don't know about tricare, but I do know w/another health ins co, phone reps were trained to keep phone calls under a certain time. Fast call-turnovers translate into 'effenciency' on paper. I think there is a dept you can call about trouble logging on. Ask if they have 'on-line assistance.' Most places do. Maybe you can call them and say you are on vacation and need to print a temporary ins card (wink wink) and they can give you your code. Good luck and try to enjoy your vay-cay

I am so sorry you had to go through this! :smile: If I were you, I'd be on my computer writing a letter of complaint to the ins co, hospital the surgeon is associated with and the surgeons office. I hate doctor w/a "God Complex." :wink: My doctor's office is very supportive. We had to go to a nutrition class pre-op. It was made clear that after the band was put in, we will have weight roller-coaster. Sometimes the scale will go up. Also, sometimes the scale may NOT move for months, AKA the dreaded plateau. The key is to NOT get down on ourselves. But, rather try and identify any thing we may be doing different. Did we go to a wedding and go through the buffet line twice and have 3 slices of cake? Did we not exercize as usual? Are we NOT eating enough? We need support in all areas. Is there a 'fill center' in your area? Someplace that takes out-of-town banders? One thimg doctor's seem to forget is that they work for US! Even if you have ins, you pay your premiums and co-pays. So, yes you are still paying for the doctor. Would you take that behavior from anyone else you hired to do a job for you? Keep your chin up and tell the surgeon where he can put himself and his 'opinion'!

I'm a vegetarian and I don't drink a lot of dairy. The shakes the doc wanted me to drink where based on whey (dairy) protein. I actually got thrush (yeast infection) from the shakes. Look in the mirror, do you have a whitish film on your tongue? If not, most likely not thrush. May just be pre-surgery stress. Hope you feel better

I joined WW for a few moths last year. I live in a small town. So, people believe all business is their business. I got sick and tired of the pettiness of some of the WW members that had been their the longest and had met their goal. Those of us that came in to lose weight were treated like lepers for being 'fat.' If I had met my goal via WW, I'd try to inspire people rather than putting them down. Needless to say, I quit going. I lost 20 lbs while on WW and every time I tried to get the 5lb star for my bookmark, I was told wait till next meeting. I went to a meeting in another town and people there were more supportive. But, I don't have the time or the gas to drive an hour (one-way) to get to WW meeting. Just keep in mind you made the best decision for you. No one should make you feel down for doing what you deem best for your well-being

I was given about 3 days worth of liquid loritab and anti-nausea meds. I bought some liquid Tylenol for adults at wal-mart and use it as needed. My surgery was 9 days ago I haven't used the tylenol on 2 days. But, at least I have it. You'll also need multi-vits, chewable or liquid.

My DH wasn't all that happy about the surgery, didn't want to talk about it. I'm only 35, but weight has been a life long battle for me. He wasn't thrilled the day of the surgery, 6/08. But, he was there and took 3 days off of work to be with me. Turns out that while I was having surgery, a co-workers 55 year-old sister was having a triple by-pass. She didn't make it. That shook him up alot. He came home, gave me a hug and just said, "I finally understand why you chose this." You need to do what is best for you. It would be better if he was with you, both for support and stress relief. Hopefully he'll come around! Sending positive thoughts and hugs :wink: