GE Mom

Since I got the band a week ago today, I've had a drippy nose. Doesn't seem to be a real cold, just allergic type drippy nose. Now today, I'm coughing uncontrollably. It's really rough. Am I going to hurt the band? Or my incisions? I just took some nose spray to try to dry it up, and some tylenol with codeine to try to calm my chest down. Any other advice?

Well, that's good to hear. I took the tylenol with codeine because the codeine is a cough suppressant. The promethazine (phenergan) is used as a multi purpose anti nauseant/antihistamine etc. I actually have some if I need it -- but it makes me very sleepy so I'll wait. The T+C did help with the cough.

THanks -- I'm really not eating/drinking anything because I'm coughing all the time. I'm afraid I'll upchuck. I'm hoping the medication will dry up the nose so I can try to eat. But I'll watch for what you're describing. I appreciate the ideas.

Oh! Thanks@!

Wazzat? Huh?

Can't hurt!

Just for the sake of thoroughness, is there anything you can do to revisit the insurance issue? If not, then you have to go ahead, knowing that MO is more life threatening than many other illnesses and you're doing what you have to do. Sorry about the tooth -- and the timing.

Well, tomorrow it will be a week since I was banded. I am 14 pounds down from my pre-op visit!!! And I'm off pain meds. I'm still a little tired, and this liquid diet is getting old. I feel as though I could eat anything. For dinner, DH had a steak and I had some fancy mushroom soup from the deli, diluted with skim milk and blended. It was ok. I'm not hungry. I'll go back to work tomorrow... SO FAR, SO GOOD!

Thanks for the response, Dr. C. I haven't departed from my instructions -- but it would sure be easier to comply if I understood the reasons for them. It's clear that bandsters need to start on clear liquids, then progress to pureed/mushy foods, then to small portions of regular foods. But how fast to make that progression, and how long to spend at each step, seems to be so variable. Does it depend on, say, how obese you were to start with, or some other factor? Thanks for any clarity you can bring to this question.

We used to live in Phoenix, and had them all over our house. When my oldest son (now 23) was a newborn, I went in one morning to pick him up and found a nest with a mama BW spider and multiple egg sacs on the undercarriage of his crib. He really could have become very ill or died from it. Also, I have been bitten and it's no fun-- weak, thready pulse, sweaty, nausea etc.

I'm really puzzled at the differences among doctors regarding the post op diet. Some of us are on clear liquids for one week, some for two, some on full liquids for one or two weeks, etc. Since we're all having the same procedure, how do you account for the wide variations in instructions. It sort of says to me that there is no single right answer. For those in the medical field, can you help me understand this?

Today I awakened with left shoulder pain, which surprized me as I didn't experience it earlier. The incision pain is lessening but still noticeable. I'm starting to taper off the pain meds the doctor gave me when I left the hospital, largely because they make me sleepy. But I'm still tired, so I think maybe I should take 'em and rest. You know, listen to my body... I attended a meeting for work this afternoon, and did fine, but came home afterward and dropped into bed. I got a co-worker to pick me up, so I don't yet have to drive. I'm belching a fair amount, but at least I can do that. I'm not yet hungry, though I eat because it's time to eat. Today I had a Protein shake for Breakfast, a small cup of low fat yogurt for lunch and a bowl of egg drop soup for dinner. A can of 5 calorie lemonade for snack. If I can keep this up, I should definitely lose.

I'm now finishing day three since I was banded on Monday and I'm still in quite a bit of pain at the largest incision, which I suppose is the port site. I'm still taking both tylenol with codeine and ultram, every 4 hours and when it's time for more, I know it. Am I doing something wrong? Moving about too much? Or is this simply part of the normal range?

I was in the same state before the surgery. Once I got to the hospital, I realized that these people really do know what they're doing, and they did a great job for me. I think I'll go back to work tomorrow at least for half a day. (Surgery was Monday.) Even if there were complications, the medical staff know how to deal with them and get you out of there in one piece. To allay your anxieties, I'd suggest that you look at the before and after photos!

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea about 2 weeks prior to my lap band surgery, and was using an auto-pap machine for a week before. While in the hospital, they had me connected to a cpap machine with a pulse oximeter. The night of the surgery, I couldn't seem to keep my oxygen levels high enough -- as soon as I'd drift off to sleep, my sats would plummet to the low 80's. Then the alarm on the pulse ox would go off and I'd wake up. Finally, after this happened at least a dozen times, the nurse decided to take me off the cpap and use pure oxygen. I imagine that this resulted from the lingering effects of general anesthesia and/or pain meds (Dilaudid) But what concerns me is that now I'm home, using different pain meds but still a bit groggy. So is my CPAP machine keeping me adequately oxygenated? I'm thinking I should call the pulmonary doc...

Dody, thanks go to you for calm and complete information. It really helps.

I, too, was just banded on August 7. I have several markings of purple magic marker, which don't seem to want to come off. In addition, I have several small betadine stains. (I think he marked because I didn't wantmy port to be underneath my bra.) Any hints as to how to get them out?

LOL. I've been saying for some time that I'm not overweight, I'm underheight. If I were7'5", I'd be just fine.!

My surgeon told me he's only done 30 lap bands because his program just started doing them in the past year. However, he's an accomplished general surgeon, and he's done hundreds of RNY and similar operations for stomach cancer. He is moving toward doing more and more lap bands because his patients are losing almost as much total on the band as they do on RNY, and he likes the less invasive procedure. He's also meticulous about after care. I think because the program is new they're being very, very careful. I've checked him out with a number of people who know him, and his reputation is that he's extremely careful and won't take risks. My primary care doc says he's the one she'd choose for any surgery for herself or her family. So anyway, I'm two days post banding and so far, so good.

My instructions are not to lift more than 10 pounds. Is there any way you could quickly teach your toddler to climb into the car seat without being lifted? The thought of lifting a 38 pound child makes me wince.

I came home yesterday, and got a good night's sleep last night. I'm still taking pain meds, and they make me sleepy. So I'm going to take a good nap today. The pain is fine as long as I'm sitting still, but getting out of bed or off the couch hurts. I'm sticking to the liquid diet. Yesterday, my sister brought me some egg drop soup, which I blenderized into a pure liquid. I've also been consuming the Carnation instant Breakfast with some protien powder added. I genuinely do not mind that. I've been splitting my pills, which seems to be working fine. So far, it's going better than I expected. The discomfort is similar to that of a C-section, which I survived just fine. And each day, it'll get less. At least I don't have a baby to take care of right now. The hospital people were great. I was really impressed with them. (But I'm glad I'll probably never need this particular operation again.)

You guys are sharp! Yes, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea after my sleep study on July 14. I now have an autopap machine. The machine is not making a major difference in my quality of life but I'll give it time. Hopefully, I'll lose enough weight that I won't need it forever. Last night when I was having trouble with my Oxygen levels, I was on the hospital's cpap machine which seemed to be working fine. Every time I started to drift off to sleep, this obnoxious alarm would go off. Finally, the nurse stopped the CPAP machine and put me on pure oxygen by nasal prongs. That worked, but I didn't get to sleep until 4am. So today I'm grumpy -- but very glad the surgery is over, went well etc. The people at the hospital were just great.

This is off task but I don't want us to mix up a c-section under epidural anesthesia with lap band surgery under general. It's not common (except in certain circumstances) for a hospital that has anesthesia coverage to use general for a c-section. Certainly, it happens but not often. Whereas lap band surgery is most often done with general anesthesia, which raises the possibility of awakening. Yesterday, I asked my anesthesiologist about wakening and he said, yes, it can rarely happen but most often with much longer procedures, like hip replacements and coronary bypass surgeries. My own anesthesia went just fine, and I'm home today with my spanking new lap band.

My banding surgery was yesterday. It went very well. I spent several hours in intensive care until they figured out that I was too alert to be in the ICU, whereupon I was transferred to a single regular room. I had some trouble overnight in keeping my oxygen levels in the right range, probable due to the dilaudid and/or general anesthesia. Every time I'd drift off to sleep, the oxyen levels would drop and a loud alarm would go off. This happened at least a dozen times. But I'm home now and doing fine.

Most of the time, C-sections are done with epidural anesthesia. They only use general anesthesia when it's a crash emergency. You are expected to be awake with epidural, in fact, it's one of the advantages of epidural anesthesia in that you get to witness your baby's birth. So if the daughter was using epidural, being awake is not a problem. If she was using general, it is a problem!