abbylamb

Hi all! I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist in the Cleveland area. Been doing it for 9 years, will likely be doing it for another 29!

I have 5 incisions. All of them are above the belly button. 3 are small puncture type (less than 1/4 inch), one is about an inch and the one where my port is about 1 and 1/2 inches. It's not bad if you ask me. My incisions from my laprascopic gallbladder removal are bigger.

You know what? I can admit it. I am vain. I am doing this because I want to be pretty. That's the long and short of it. I don't want my daughter to feel like she has the fat mom. I want my husband's friends to think he has a good looking wife. And I want to feel attractive. I'm lucky that I have no health problems (yet). Yes, I recognize that by staying the size I am I very very likely would develop them, but I don't have any now. So the reason for me comes down to looks. Not the best or altruistic reason perhaps, but the honest one.

I had to have an upper GI before my doc would give me a date (just to check for any hiatal hernia problems or esophageal dysmotility issues. As much as I griped about it, since I had no symptoms at all, it turned out I had a huge hiatal hernia he had to fix while he was in there.) And I had to pass the psych eval. After I passed that, I had to have a PFT (breathing test), EKG, and some blood work at my pre-op testing day, and a pregnancy test the day of surgery.

I was told that Crystal Light, Diet Snapple, unsweetened iced tea, etc all count towards my water requirements for the day. As for food, I can't really help you yet, since I'm still on soft foods and have to plan carefully and set aside time to eat still.

of course i didn't take it the wrong way! it's always nice to know when you aren't in something alone! i'm going to the doc today for my 2 week incision check, and i'm going to ask about it then. i'll let you know what they tell me.

you know, you aren't alone on this one! while i'm not nearly so obsessive about my teeth (just twice a day, thanks!) i too have noticed bleeding gums when i brush my teeth. this started post op, so i definitely think it's got to be nutrient linked. (and my doc has me on two children's vitamins too! curious.) but my dic did give me script for vitamin d capsules, but i'm not supposed to start taking them until 6 weeks post op!

Whether or not you have to stay depends on your insurance and your physician's preference. For me, both required an overnight stay, and I am so glad they did. I was there about 36 hours, and honestly, I think I probably should have stayed a second night when I was offered the chance. I was in a lot of pain, and needed so much help. But I missed my little one (who is 4) and I wanted to go home. But at home, there isn't the help that there is at the hospital, and the pain meds don't work as fast! So if you are given the opportunity, stay overnight. Your kids might miss you, but you'll be so glad you did!

I have great insurance and was very lucky-from seminar to surgery was three months.

I am very lucky-I have BCBS for Federal Employees and they approved me on the first attempt, within 2 days. I know how good I have it though. I feel so bad for everyone that has to fight to get the surgery they need.

I'm in! Goal is 12, which will put me at 210.

I'm probably not the best, but I'm cheating like a dog on my post op diet. My doc is VERY strict, and has me on a 2 week liquid, 2 week puree, 2 week soft diet. Well, it's day 14 now, and I've been eating soft foods for about 3 days now. By day 5 or 6 I just couldn't take it anymore! I'm a very picky eater, and purees just aren't cutting it for me, with the exception of applesauce. So, I did a whole lot of looking around here on this site, and it seemed that most people were moving on to real food faster than I was supposed to so I moved myself on. Do I recommend it? Not necessarily, but it saved me from drinking 6000 calories a day in milk and juice. I'm actually satisfied on about 1100 and I'm able to get the protein in so much easier. But just so you know, I totally understand where you are coming from. Maybe call your doc and see if he/she will advance you a little faster?

Mine is on the right side, about 3 1/2 inches below my right breast. According to my doc, unless I get skeletal, I'll never see it when I'm standing up.

hey all! just checking in-so here's my update: went in for surgery on the 21st, found out i had a haital hernia they were also repairing (surprise!). woke up after surgery on a freaking ventilator! (turns out the anesthesiologist thought-MISTAKENLY-that i had sleep apnea and was being overly cautious. NOT COOL, lemme tell you!) turns out the hernia repair was bigger than the doctor was expecting, so i'm having a lot of pain from that. spent a little over a day and a half in the hospital-thank god for morphine, since the pain pump i was allegedly promised never materialized (they changed the rule to only give pain pumps to gastric bypasses and not bands just recently, and i wasn't told of it. boo.) got home a couple days ago, and honestly, today is the first day that i don't feel miserable. i ended up throwing up the day i got home, due to nausea from the pain meds they sent me home on, so i was in a lot a lot of pain, but scared to take anything for fear i'd throw it up again, and risk a slip. but thankfully, i got through it just fine, and today the biggest pain i'm having is muscle pain. gas pain is pretty much gone and the incisions aren't hurting too bad now. so that's my update. hope everyone else is doing well and on the fast road to recovery! have a merry christmas everyone!

Okay, everyone. This is it-I'm off to be banded in just a couple short hours! :ohmy: Good luck to my fellow December 21 bandsters, and I'll check in with everyone when I get home tomorrow evening!:thumbup:

good luck to you tomorrow!

Mariposa- So sorry to hear you got bumped! That totally sucks, especially since you've been prepping yourself for it this whole time. But hopefully your fiancee will land a job that will pay for the procedure and then you won't end up paying out of pocket, so while it totally stinks you have to wait, maybe at least there is a silver lining!

Trust me, there are days I don't think I'm going to make it. I did cave the other day and allowed myself a slice of 2% cheese just because I NEEDED some kind of real food. But it could have been a giant plate of cookies and it wasn't, so I'm not being too hard on myself. Besides, a lot of people on here are allowed lots of real food as long as it's low carb, so I figure of all the things to give in to, that wasn't so bad. But in only 18 shakes I will be having surgery, so I'm finally beginning to see that light at the end of this verrrrrrry long tunnel! I can't wait to get some sugar-free jello and applesauce!

I'm on day 13 of 16 on the Optifast nightmare. :biggrin: (the shakes taste okay, the bars suck, but it doesn't matter because all I want is some REAL FOOD!!!) All I can say is that I feel your pain! Especially since some people are allowed to eat all solid foods. I do admit that I have allowed myself a slice of 2% cheese every day simply because I need to chew on something that actually resembles food, and if I didn't, I know full well, I'd have caved and eaten half a refrigerator by now! I just keep telling myself, 18 more shakes till surgery, 18 more shakes till surgery..... Moral of the story is, stick with it the best you can. This is tough. On the bright side, it seems like a lot of people drop a ton of weight with the pre-op diet (except me-5 pounds in 13 days is not what I'd call crazy success or anything. I am hoping it picks up once I've got that band in!) so you always have that to look forward to! Good luck!

Thanks! I definitely will :biggrin:

Hope everyone is doing well! Can't wait to be right there with you this Monday! Congrats and good luck to everyone being banded today and this weekend.