bestbette

Hi Everyone- I just went to my 2 week follow up appointment after work today. I have been having some bleeding from my port site yesterday and today so I pulled up my shirt and the Dr said, "Wow, you've got a pretty big hematoma, don't you!" I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do with this information. :biggrin: It's not infected so no antibiotics. He just told me to "keep it covered" and put a bandaid over it. It sort of feels like I have a grapefruit sitting underneath my port incision and the blood that has come out of it is not fresh and red, it's old and brown and gooey. Does anyone else have anything like this? Does anyone know what I can do to make it resolve in a faster manner than the two weeks the Dr. said it would resolve in? Many thanks!!!

Greetings! I am happy to say that my wt loss is continuing to progress. I've lost 110lb since my surgery 7/20/09 (actually, that includes pre-op diet), but regardless, I'm only 20lb away from my goal. I'm really finding that sugar impedes my wt loss dramatically, so am re-focusing on whole foods, veggies and meats mostly. I will say that over the last few months I have become a HUGE fan of Muscle Milk and have at least one per day, two if I'm being good. No PBing and sometimes band irritation, but it passes in a day or two. I can't expect to have zero pain with a plastic zip tie cinched around my stomach. My only other real news is that I was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the end of Feb 2010, related to my previous obesity and PCOS. A shock really (esp at 31yo) and very sad as I have not yet had any children. But I'm working through it and doing my best to remain positive. I'm also trying to stay away from refined foods for cancer health. It's finally warm here again, 95 degrees I think and I have to say I'm ok to say goodbye to the snow for now. So hope you are all doing well out there in the interweb. Until next time.

Greetings! I am happy to say that my wt loss is continuing to progress. I've lost 110lb since my surgery 7/20/09 (actually, that includes pre-op diet), but regardless, I'm only 20lb away from my goal. I'm really finding that sugar impedes my wt loss dramatically, so am re-focusing on whole foods, veggies and meats mostly. I will say that over the last few months I have become a HUGE fan of Muscle Milk and have at least one per day, two if I'm being good. No PBing and sometimes band irritation, but it passes in a day or two. I can't expect to have zero pain with a plastic zip tie cinched around my stomach. My only other real news is that I was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the end of Feb 2010, related to my previous obesity and PCOS. A shock really (esp at 31yo) and very sad as I have not yet had any children. But I'm working through it and doing my best to remain positive. I'm also trying to stay away from refined foods for cancer health. It's finally warm here again, 95 degrees I think and I have to say I'm ok to say goodbye to the snow for now. So hope you are all doing well out there in the interweb. Until next time.

Hello - Is there anyone else out there who's scheduled for surgery in July 2009? My date is 7/20 with Dr. Schroder at St. Mary's and I'm looking for anyone else around the same stage. Would love to talk!

I'm very tight along with you all. I have not been able to get that much in today and am worried that I am not meeting my daily water and protien intake requirements. I don't know what else to do than ride it out. I know I don't want an un-fill.

I went to the hospital and received my third fill today; .5 ccs. I thought I needed .2 or .3 but got .5, under flouro. The PA and tech said that I have a "cute pouch." What does that mean I wonder? I guess that it means that it's really small. :wink: That makes me happy. So I'm on liquids then mushies until the weekend. I'm really hoping to kick this next 20-30 lbs in the butt and thus far I haven't failed to loose after getting a fill. I'm about to go and make my breakfast, which will consist of 8oz skim milk, one scoop vanilla unjury protien powder, and 1/2 cup of blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry mixture. I'm eating some protien pudding as well. Although now that I'm thinking about it, some tomato soup sounds great for lunch tomorrow. Anyway, wish me luck in adjusting to my new adjustment, lol.

I went to the hospital and received my third fill today; .5 ccs. I thought I needed .2 or .3 but got .5, under flouro. The PA and tech said that I have a "cute pouch." What does that mean I wonder? I guess that it means that it's really small. That makes me happy. So I'm on liquids then mushies until the weekend. I'm really hoping to kick this next 20-30 lbs in the butt and thus far I haven't failed to loose after getting a fill. I'm about to go and make my breakfast, which will consist of 8oz skim milk, one scoop vanilla unjury protien powder, and 1/2 cup of blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry mixture. I'm eating some protien pudding as well. Although now that I'm thinking about it, some tomato soup sounds great for lunch tomorrow. Anyway, wish me luck in adjusting to my new adjustment, lol.

Greetings. This has not been a wonderful week for me. I started a new job and have made some really crappy food/eating choices and as a result have gained 1 lb. My first non weight loss week since starting this journey. A combination of lack of protien rich foods and eating more than three times a day is *not* good! Also, I pb'd last night for the first time since getting the band. It was weird, the milk I'd just sipped to get it to go down was still cold. Gross. So I'm about to get up and start my exercise regimine, which up until now has been ignored. My dog will be so excited. It's a beautiful time of year here in Richmond and absolutely zero reason why I should not go walk/jog around. I'm extremely optimistic that next week will be a loss and Monday after the holiday I have an appointment for my second fill! Warm wishes to you all.

Greetings! I thought I would do a post since I'm at the three month post op mark and a couple of different things are happening. I'm down a total of 62lbs already, which seems to be a little fast and I'm experiencing the repercussions of that, for sure. Most notably headaches and hair loss. I'm going to have the last bit of my hair cut off tomorrow. Eating is going ok. I really need to add a protein shake to my daily intake and increase my water. I just have, at this point, no hunger. And no real anything to put anything in my mouth or down the hatch. I'm going in on Monday for a review under xray, to make sure that the positioning is still good and that the pouch looks ok. May get a smidge more of a fill but not over .2 cc I'm quite sure. As I feel quite snug as it is. I guess my only other real complaint is occasional pain. But this isn't serious pain at all...more transient really. I'm not taking Tylenol for it or anything. Plus I'm doing ok with my exercising. I went for a run tonight but with the seasonal weather etc, it's not happening as regularly as it should. But I'm not experiencing any of the things I was worried about pre-op, like port torsion or band slippage, PBs etc. So I hope that everyone else out there is doing equally well, and that a few of your can attest that hair will grow back after weight loss stabilizes. Regards, :huh2:

I'm experiencing hair loss as well. My hair is already short but tomorrow I'm having it cut even shorter because it is so thin. I can run my hand threw it and come out with chucks between my fingers. It's disgusting. I'm still waiting for the chin thing. I would love not to have to worry about that one any more!

Greetings! I thought I would do a post since I'm at the three month post op mark and a couple of different things are happening. I'm down a total of 62lbs already, which seems to be a little fast and I'm experiencing the repercussions of that, for sure. Most notably headaches and hair loss. I'm going to have the last bit of my hair cut off tomorrow. Eating is going ok. I really need to add a protein shake to my daily intake and increase my water. I just have, at this point, no hunger. And no real anything to put anything in my mouth or down the hatch. I'm going in on Monday for a review under xray, to make sure that the positioning is still good and that the pouch looks ok. May get a smidge more of a fill but not over .2 cc I'm quite sure. As I feel quite snug as it is. I guess my only other real complaint is occasional pain. But this isn't serious pain at all...more transient really. I'm not taking Tylenol for it or anything. Plus I'm doing ok with my exercising. I went for a run tonight but with the seasonal weather etc, it's not happening as regularly as it should. But I'm not experiencing any of the things I was worried about pre-op, like port torsion or band slippage, PBs etc. So I hope that everyone else out there is doing equally well, and that a few of your can attest that hair will grow back after weight loss stabilizes. Regards, :huh2:

Well I went into the office and got my second fill today. Not nearly as traumatic as the first one, not as painful and not so much bleeding everywhere. I saw the NP and she only gave me a touch of a fill, .6cc. That seems small to me since my first fill was a full 2.6cc. She told me to wait 2 weeks and then touch base with how it was going. Since I'm self pay all visits are free for me for the first year, so I don't mind going in again if need be. The second fill puts me at a total of 6.2cc in the AP band. My Dr office has me fill out a diet summary and the NP was pretty stern with me saying that I was eating too much soft foods and that I need to eat a more substantative fare. I guess this will commence after my two days of liquids and two days of solids... I was pretty unhappy since I've only lost 5lbs in the last 3 weeks. The NP said that too much soft/mushy food = weight gain. I'm syncing up my i pod right now as I've started to jog around the neighborhood pretty successfully. My neighbors think I'm a riot. Until later!

Well I went into the office and got my second fill today. Not nearly as traumatic as the first one, not as painful and not so much bleeding everywhere. I saw the NP and she only gave me a touch of a fill, .6cc. That seems small to me since my first fill was a full 2.6cc. She told me to wait 2 weeks and then touch base with how it was going. Since I'm self pay all visits are free for me for the first year, so I don't mind going in again if need be. The second fill puts me at a total of 6.2cc in the AP band. My Dr office has me fill out a diet summary and the NP was pretty stern with me saying that I was eating too much soft foods and that I need to eat a more substantative fare. I guess this will commence after my two days of liquids and two days of solids... I was pretty unhappy since I've only lost 5lbs in the last 3 weeks. The NP said that too much soft/mushy food = weight gain. I'm syncing up my i pod right now as I've started to jog around the neighborhood pretty successfully. My neighbors think I'm a riot. Until later!

I'm 7 weeks post op and haven't lost any weight over the last two weeks. I've tried to fix this by paying more attention to portion control and I have an appt to go in for my 2nd fill next Monday. I've recently discovered 5 bean salad at Sams, in a large jar, it's a cold vinegary grean been, kidney bean, onion, etc salad. For some reason my pouch really likes it and it's got good protien but low cal. I also finally feel like I can start to exercise now, which I hope will help with the weight pause. P.s.- exercise will also help with other kinds of movements :thumbup:

Greetings. This has not been a wonderful week for me. I started a new job and have made some really crappy food/eating choices and as a result have gained 1 lb. My first non weight loss week since starting this journey. A combination of lack of protien rich foods and eating more than three times a day is *not* good! Also, I pb'd last night for the first time since getting the band. It was weird, the milk I'd just sipped to get it to go down was still cold. Gross. So I'm about to get up and start my exercise regimine, which up until now has been ignored. My dog will be so excited. It's a beautiful time of year here in Richmond and absolutely zero reason why I should not go walk/jog around. I'm extremely optimistic that next week will be a loss and Monday after the holiday I have an appointment for my second fill! Warm wishes to you all.

Dang. It's been quite a while since I've posted here. I'll proceed with the short version. Surgery was very good, post-op recovery was awesome. Writing on my forearms with the Sharpie was definately a score. Post surgery, at home recovery sucked and was very very painful. Not a fun time. It took for freaking ever to heal and is much more of a "deal" than I anticipated. I had my first fill 5 weeks post-op. They took out and measured the 3ccs in my band (unbeknownst to me) and then added 2.6cc more for a totall of 5.6cc for all of you math whizzes out there. 10cc AP Band. My weight loss is hopping at 40lbs down as of today. And, I just made and ate the famed ricotta bake for my dinner and damn does it sit well in my stomach. So things are going well now that most of the recovery is over. Worth it? Definately! Pain-free? That's a no. Well wishes to all of you floating around out there. I will try to post more frequently.

Hi Kathy, good question! I've read through a lot of folks mentioning a ricotta bake and pieced together what is a very easy and low cal recipe. I take skim ricotta in the bottom of a bowl, sprinkle with garlic salt, top with spaghetti sauce of choice (some folks make their own and/or add TVP or protien powder) then just microwave or actually bake if you're in to turning the oven on, sprinkle with some parmesean cheese and enjoy. Obviously make sure your sauce doesn't have anything too chunky for mushy stage, I read someone who makes her own sauce with pureed sausage that sounded really good.

Dang. It's been quite a while since I've posted here. I'll proceed with the short version. Surgery was very good, post-op recovery was awesome. Writing on my forearms with the Sharpie was definately a score. Post surgery, at home recovery sucked and was very very painful. :smile2: Not a fun time. It took for freaking ever to heal and is much more of a "deal" than I anticipated. I had my first fill 5 weeks post-op. They took out and measured the 3ccs in my band (unbeknownst to me) and then added 2.6cc more for a totall of 5.6cc for all of you math whizzes out there. 10cc AP Band. My weight loss is hopping at 40lbs down as of today. And, I just made and ate the famed ricotta bake for my dinner and damn does it sit well in my stomach. So things are going well now that most of the recovery is over. Worth it? Definately! Pain-free? That's a no. Well wishes to all of you floating around out there. I will try to post more frequently. :crying:

Thanks for your response. Glad that doesn't sound completely off. I'm going to prop myself up tonight for sleeping to try to avoid any heartburn issues.

Hello, I am five weeks from surgery today and had my first fill today under x-ray. It was painful and I bled everywhere...no hint of lidocane... She first took out everything I had to measure and I was surprised it was 3ccs, she then put all of that back in, added 2ccs, had me swallow contrast and then added .6cc more. So I have a total of 5.6cc in my AP band after my first fill. Does that seem high to anyone else? I expected the band to be "primed" but 3ccs seemed high to be in there initially. How much does it take to prime the band? Also, I was surprised to see that my band was at an angle as I thought it was supposed to be perfectly horizontal. She assured me that it looked perfect and that my surgeon put it in that way...anyone else? liquids are going down fine so I don't think I'm too tight but it definately feels different. Restriction I guess. Anyway, here's to keeping up the loosing streak!

Hi~ I'm three weeks post op and am eating a lot of FF turkey bologna and 2% sliced cheese roll ups with a tiny bit of mayo for my dinner meals. It seems low carb and it feels good in my stomach. Does anyone else ever eat anything like this? Any unforseen problems with this type of meal? Thanks!

I agree. I was also self pay and had hernia repair during surgery that was just rolled in. My Dr. did require a pre-op psych visit, but oddly enough my insurance did pick up that with only a $20 co-pay. I had to go through the pre-op diet along with everyone else but I think that's pretty standard. If you're worried about the psych piece seek out someone independently that does weight loss or body image counseling and go...couldn't hurt.

I was able to sleep on my side about a week after surgery, but only my right side, never my left (to this day). I also agree with the person who said to try to prop a pillow up under your stomach, it really helps.

I'm in my third week now and am also experiencing a stablization of the scale. I've not lost anything since mid last week. I have a large hematoma around my port site and so my first fill isn't scheduled until 8/24. I'm just keeping portion sizes low and trying not to stress.

Wow, thanks so much for your response... I have had a very difficult recovery and am still having pain and taking some pain meds. I didn't wake up in a pool of blood but have bled through a couple of shirts and last night used about 1/2 a roll of paper towels because it kept streaming out. Please let me know how it turns out for you! Looks like we were banded only a couple of days apart.