flowerchild

I think you should do what you feel most comfortable with. I know my surgeon is very careful to not influence his patient's decision on which surgery to have. He gives you the facts on all the surgeries he does and let's you make that decision. I don't think anyone on your medical team should be trying to influence you. I am newly banded so I am no expert on it, but I think you can gain weight back with the band or gastric either one. It is going to take a lifestyle change for both of these to work long term. It will be different than trying to do it on your own because you will have a tool to help you. I chose the band because I didn't like the idea of having anything changed permanatly in my body. I had a hard enough time convincing my DH and two grown sons that the band was safe. They would have never been supportive of the bypass. What ever you decide to do I wish you the best.

My surgeon requires all his patients to do self injections of lovenox for 10 post op. This creeped me out too but they showed me how to do it before I left the hospital. The needles are really small and they have me do it in the belly where there is not as much feeling. I am still in the process of doing it and it has not been as bad as I thought it would be. They don't hurt at all. My insurance did pay for the prescription than goodness because it was over $300.

I can understand why you are nervous about the pre-op diet. It was probably the hardest part for me. But you can do it. Just do what your surgeon tells you to do and you will be fine. The staying busy and getting out of the house really did help me. For me the day I had to start it I got in to the right state of mind and was so determined. I am sure you will too. My surgery day I was really nervous. When I got there though they gave me a sedative and that helped a great deal. I was expecting to wake up in a lot of pain after surgery but I did not. It kinda felt like I had been hit in the stomoch at first but in a matter of minutes the pain was gone. The pain meds through the IV work quick. I think I went back to sleep and the next time I woke up in recovery I was fine and had no pain. They took me up to a room. I spent the night because I have sleep apnea. A little while later they took me down to x-ray and took a x-ray of my stomach. When I got back to my room they brought my dinner. Soup, protien drink, and Jello. After I ate I got up and walked the halls. I no longer needed pain meds and was wide awake. I was really shocked that I have not had any more pain than I have. I was a little sore but not very much. I have been up and going since the day after surgery. I know everyone has a different experience with the surgery and some people have a much harder time recovering than others. You will probably do fine after surgery but I would have a back up plan for getting your kids to school just in case. I wish you the best.

You will definatly be in my prayers tonight! Congratulations and you will be just fine.

Hi Maria, Congratulations on your surgery! The preop liquid diet is not easy but it is doable. The first couple of days are the hardest then it starts getting easier. I ate soup (broth only) i just used a strainer, juice 100% fruit, sf jello, sf pudding, popcicles and sf fudgcicles. I used the slim fast low carb shakes for my protien. They have 20 grams in 1 can. I bought the pre mixed cans. The chocolate is really good. Try to eat or drink every hour or two and stay busy. Believe me, if I could do it then you can do it! Waiting for the surgery is harder than the surgery itself.

I am 5 days post op and my discharge instructions were to get 64 oz if hydrating liqueds in a day, but I just can't do it. I am getting probably 45 oz including all liqueds. My stomoch just feels too full and I have to sip slowly. I feel great otherwise. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't feel dehydrated or anything but I sure don't want to get that way. I am trying to decide whether to call my surgeon? I know it is normal to have restriction even without a fill, but should I be able to get in more fluids than this?

Thanks for your responses girls! I just remembered my dietition from my surgeons office gave me her e-mail address at the hospital. I just shot her a e-mail.

I was prescribed liquid loritab. It works really well, better than the pill form I think. I am sure there are others but that is the only one I know of. I believe they usually prescribe a liquid.

lisa, I agree with the othr posters. When you go in start with less of a fill. You obviously are over filled a 5cc. Start slowly and I bet you will do great. You have a great start already. I can't wait until I have lost 50 lbs! I can't even imagine what it will feel like. You are doing great!

The pre-op diet is not easy. I was on a 10 day liqued and had to get 40 to 50 protien and 130 carbs a day. I got really hungry too. What helped me was to stay busy. I would get out of the house and go shopping or visit someone. I didn't think about food as much if I wasn't at home. I also went to bed early. I know you are probably looking more for some food to fill you up but I really couldn't find any. I ate a lot of sugar free popcicles and fudgecicles. I do think that helped. It will be over before you know it. You can do it! Hang in there!

I wish I had known how easy the recovery was going to be. I wouldn't have worried so much. I know it isn't easy for everyone though.

I have a great deal of anxiety too. My surgeons staff told me if I have anxiety when I get to the hospital to let them know and they would give me somthing to help relax me. Well I didn't have to tell them, I guesss they could tell by looking at me because they did give me somthing. I am sure they will do the same for you. As far as the anasthesia, it feels like you close your eyes and open them. Like restlessmonkey says there is no feeling of time passing. It feels like it's over in an instant. To me that was the best part. When you get to the hospital, just ask for somthing to help you relax and let your medical team take over. You won't have to do anything else. I was just banded 4 days ago. I know everyone is different but I really didn't feel much pain. Mabye a little when I first woke up in recovery. After that I was just a little sore. I was really suprized because I thought it would be much worse than it was. Just relax and you will be just fine.

RestlessMonkey, It sounds like your healthy eating and living is your norm now since you resorted back to it without even thinking about it. That is where I hope to be one day. I am only 3 days post op so I am just starting out on this journey and have alot to learn. I find myself searching for your posts because they are always uplifting and you have such great advise. I have gone through so many emotions in this process as I am sure many of us have. All of the pre op testing, the many Dr. appts., getting health problems under control, and for me another gallbladder surgery with complications. I have been nervous, anxious, frustrated, excited, angry and many more. My point is today I have felt so happy. I feel happier than I have in a long time. I know I made the right decision getting banded. All the things I have went through are worth it. I have hope again and to read a post like yours is reassuring. Thank you.

Well I was banded just 2 days ago and my surgeon said when he got in there there was alot of scar tissue and my stomoch and liver were stuck togather with scar tissue. He seperated them and put some mesh or somthing between them to keep them from growing togather again. He said he wasn't going to put the band on but after seperating them the stomoch looked fine so he went ahead and put it on. He doesn't really know what caused the scarring but thinks it has to do with gallbladder surgery I had 2 months ago. While doing a liver ultrisound to prepare for lapband surgery they discovered gallstones so I had surgery. I had alot of pain after gallbladder surgery and ended up in the ER the evening of surgery and they did a ct scan and abdomen xray but did not see anything. He says it coud have been caused from infection or a bile leak or a number of other things. I am so worried about this I havn't been able to be excited about my lapband. My surgeon says he has never seen this before in any of his surgeries. He said though he would not be releasing me from the hospital if he were too worried about it. I was wondering if anyone has heard of anything like this before or if it has happened to any of you? On the upside of the story I had very little pain after the lap band surgery. I have a little soreness and just a little gas but I feel great! I was expecting it to be like my gallbladder surgery and I am so greatful it is not!

Thanks for your responses. You are absolutely right. I need to quit worrying about this. I have complete faith in my surgeon. He has a reputation for being one of the best and most cautious in this area. He definatly takes a great deal of precautions before surgery. I didn't know adhesions were common after a surgery. That makes me feel much better. I need to let this go and get on to losing weight with my new band!

I have been worried about the same thing even though I have followed my 10 day liqued diet perfectly. My surgeon told me the same story of the women waking up without her band. He said that has only happened a couple of times to him so I don't think it is very common. The surgeon also told me if the liver is a little larger he may have to do more incisions. I'm sure you will be fine if you have done well on your pre-op diet. Good luck to you!

I am having surgery tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. I am also pretty nervous. I wanna thank all of you that are saying the waiting is worse than the surgery. I really need to hear that tonight! Good luck to all of you. We will all be just fine!

I am having my surgery on Tuesday 7/28 and I feel exactly like you do. I almost backed out a couple of times. Once I found out my insurance approved me I made up my mind I was going to do it. I know this surgery is the only hope I have of getting all of my weight off. It is just scary because we are heading in to the unknown. We don't know what being banded is going to be like for us. We can read all the posts we want to and we will not know until we are living it. I went to my surgeon with my concerns and he said " I am not going to talk you into surgery. All I can do is give you statistics and anyone can lose weight with diet and excersise but only 5% will be succesful at keeping it off." With the band we have a very good chance of losing weight and keeping it off. I have a good friend that decided to get lapband and she never read a message board, never did any research she just decided to have surgery and she knew it was going to work. She never had a doubt. Since January she has lost almost 100 lbs. I know you and I will be succesful. We just need to get this surgery over with so we can get on to losing weight!

I was wondering how many of you had this filter put in before surgery? I am having surgery 7/28 and yesterday my surgeon offered me the option of having the filter. Apparently they insist you get it if your bmi is over 50 or you are over 50 years old or you have a history of blood clots. I am 46 years old, bmi 43 and no history of blood clots so I reused the filter but now am worried about it and wondering if I made a mistake. They will put the cuffs on my legs to help with circulation and will prescribe lovenex for 10 days after surgery.

I have not been banded yet but I had gallbladder surgery a couple of months ago and had terrible gas pains for a week. It is also a laproscopic surgery and they blow you up with gas. I know this is going to sound wierd but the only relief I could find was to sit at my computer desk with my arms on desk and to lean forward. I don't know why this worked but when the gas pain would get unbearable if I would sit like this it would go away. I even slept like this sometimes. I sat like this so much my back went out but it was still better than the gas pains. This may not be the best answer but it worked for me.

Thank you so much for your response. I am feeling better about it now. I think I keep having little panick attacks as the day draws closer. I am just going to walk as much as possible and use the lovenex.

I just want to introduce myself. I have been reading these boards for a couple of weeks but this is my first post. I am having surgery on July 28th finally. I started this process on april 1st and I thought it wouldn't take long for surgery since my insurance didn't require a diet history. All they required was a letter from pcp stating I need the surgery. In the process of getting all the pre op testing I discovered that I have sleep apnea. I ended up having to go for 3 sleep studies. The first time I never went to sleep. The 2nd time they discovered the apnea and had to go back again for titration. That took a while. Then I was told I have a fatty liver and they discovered gallstones during my ultrusound. So then I had to have gallbladder surgery. This was in May and almost made me back out of the lap band because I didn't want to go through another surgery. When I started feeling better I came back to my senses. Then I had an endoscope and they discovered a hiatal hernia and a little erosion of the esophougus so I am taking medication for the erosion. I also had h-pylori and had to take medicaton for that. Now everything is done and I am 4 days in to my 10 day liqued preop diet. I can't believe surgery is almost here! I feel like I have went through so much to get this surgery. I quit smoking also which may have been the hardest thing I went through. With this said I feel I am so much healthier since when I started this process. I have taken care of many medical problems I didn't know I had and I am smoke free! I need to lose 120 lbs and I think I am actually going to do it this time! I am sorry for the rambling but I just wanted to tell about my journey.