dontgoggilme

i think for me it's a pain in the chest area. i'm still on liquids but i can tell when i'm drinking too fast because i feel a pain in the chest like it's hard to get all the way down. a friend of mine (who was banded almost two years ago) has been kinda "coaching" me on the feelings of things and she says the pain in the chest is the restriction and the sign that you are filling up. lol

ok.... i have a question about the gummy vitamins. i was originally taking those pre band but after i got my band i read on here that some folks were told they could be "bad" as far going through the new pouch. so i stopped taking mine and have been taking flintstones. have any of you experienced issues with gummies? i'd love to start taking my gummies again as they did taste much better than the flintstones!

taylor... good to hear you are doing better each day. i think i am, too. :scared2:

my doc gave me prevacid in something called a "solutab" that dissolves on your tongue. maybe you can call your doc and see if they can give you the meds in a different form since it is available in such.

i agree. this recovery is "hard". i've had a c-section and a rough VBAC before and this was almost as bad as either of those! i thought it would be so much easier but boy was i wrong! and i was thinking that maybe it's just me. like maybe i just handle surgeries and medical procedures harder than anyone else. it's so nice to know i'm not the only one who didn't just breeze through it! i'm not "wierd" after all and neither are you!!!! =)

wow! i had that patch, too. a nurse put it on me while we were waiting for me to go in the or. she just said it was something for nausea and that it would last about three days. so left it on for three days then pulled it off the second day i was home. the spot where it was has been a little itchy (that's finally subsided now) but no one ever told me anything about possible side effects. i went and looked at my eyes and they are fine. at least for now. i hope nothing wierd happens. i'm about to go see my eye doc for a new contact prescription though and now i'm wondering if i should wait as maybe the patch has somehow effected my vision and i could end up getting the wrong prescription right now if i'm still effected by it. hmmmm..... either way... thank you so much for sharing your story. i'm glad you are ok.

i'm four days out and still very sore. my port is right above my belly button and that incision hurts a bit still. i also have a small incision under the center of my breasts that hurst a lot, too. the others don't really bother me. but my whole body feels sore in general and sitting or standing in certain positions for too long hurts. last night was the first night i slept without the pain meds and i think they help alot as i tossed and turned all night without them. i guess i didn't realize how very uncomfortable i still really am. i had a hernia repair, too, so i think maybe that's part of it as well. i hope i start feeling better soon!

i miss food so much, too. i can't imagine going out to eat right now. i'd prolly have a breakdown.

wow. ya'll have some great ideas. i'm only three days banded and haven't really thought about what reward i will give myself other than new clothes as i shrink outta my old ones. i love the eternity band idea and the roll of quarters thing. i will have to think on this and decide what i wanna do.

i thought viactive, too, and a friend of mine who is almost two years post banding takes viactive. but that's calcium carbonate and they say we are supposed to take calcium citrate. too much confusion!!! lol :wub:

i have that hamilton beach mini blender thing and it's still sitting in it's box. sadly, i'm not much of a smoothie person. but i did just place two online orders for some new protein powders for me to try. i ordered some from bariatriceating.com and some from unjury. hopefully i'll find something new in all those that i like. i'm looking forward to trying unflavored ones that i can mix in with other foods and the chicken soup one from unjury.

my doc wants his patients to get everything from Bariatric Advantage. and i mean everything. shakes, Vitamins, etc. i tried their shakes and they are horrible. i have not tried the vitamins but after my bad experience with the shakes (that cost me $120 by the way) i'm not too keen on the idea of forking out more money to try their vitamins and have those be horrible as well. my doc said it was fine for me to do Centrum chewables or flintstones chewables. i tried the centrum ones and at first they weren't that bad but by a week or two of taking them (i started taking them about a month pre op to get acclimated to a chewable vitamin) they were so bad i would almost gag getting them down. i have now started the flintstones chewables and they taste much better! as far as calcium goes... i was told that we are to get calcium citrate instead of calcium carbonate. not really sure what the difference is there but ok. i was taking citrical chewables (they are huge) but have since ordered some Calcet creamy calcium bites from bariatriceating.com. they are supposed to be like a tiny piece of lemon pound cake that tastes great and has 500 mg of calcium citrate in each one. and they promise your money back if you don't like them. so i figure i can't go wrong with that. i can't wait to try them. i also ordered some sample packs of their Protein shake powders as i've heard those are great, too. you could try ordered a sample Vitamin pack from bariatric advantage, but as for me, i think i'm sticking with other stuff. good luck though and let us know if you find a great one. =)

my doc's post op diet is this: 2oz of Protein Shake every 15 minutes which equals up to one 8oz Protein shake over one hour and they want 4 of these per day. they also add in 64oz of other Clear Liquids throughout the day that are supposed to also be done on 2oz per 15 minute increments just like the shakes. obviously this seems almost impossible unless you are up for 12 hours a day drinking non stop. so far i've been able to get in maybe one protein shake a day and one bottle of Water and maybe 4oz of juice. i like the idea of just drinking what i can and putting the rest in the fridge til i'm ready to drink more. it sounds much easier and accommodating than carrying around these tiny plastic cups they sent me home from the hospital with. i'm constantly having to fill them up. sigh!

i think both spartan and elfiepoo make very good points. i agree with spartan on the fact that it is important to follow doctors orders, make sure we are using a surgeon we can trust, and etc. however, i also agree with elfie in the fact that it's obvious how varied different surgeons instructions are for both pre op and post op diets for the same procedure: lap band. with that knowledge, i think it's up to the particular person to decide whether or not they want to totally stick to their doctor's orders or take the knowledge they have and slightly veer from the orders to something they feel suits them better all the while keeping in mind the possible effects it might have whether those would be good or bad. i don't think elfie was trying to tell people not to follow thier doctors orders but rather that each person should be informed enough about their own surgeon's orders and the procedure they had to make their own choices and decide what's best. as adults, we all know all our actions have consequences and we should all keep that in mind no matter what we do. =)

i'm three days post op, too. i'm not having any trouble keeping liquids or meds down, but i have noticed that the protein shakes make me feel tight in the chest and almost sick like when i try to drink them. and i'm drinking slow. i noticed that is the same problem catalyst is having so i'm glad to know i'm not the only one. i hope you did call your doc though to see what the problem is with not being able to keep anything down.

hey taylor! i had my surgery on friday, too! and i had to stay overnight, too! only my overnight was required by insurance. they didn't test my "flow" of liquids so to speak until the next day before discharging me. things have been fine so far but i'm finally starting to feel hunger pains and it's awful!!! i wanna eat something!!!! not sure how you are feeling physically but i still feel pretty sore. i'd recommend taking it easy before jumping back into work. but that's just me.

today is my third day post op and i am dying. i'm so tired of the shakes, too, and am not getting in all the other liquids (water,broth, etc.) that they want me to be getting in. today i gave in and had 2.5 oz of gerber 1st foods organic applesauce. nothing bad happening and it did give me a little bit of a fuller feeling as i feel as if i'm starving. it was pretty liquidy to begin with and i made it moreso by swishing it all around in my mouth before swallowing. i cannot wait til my follow up appt on the 24th when they finally move me to mushies. it will be like heaven!!!!

That is awesome!!! Congrats!!!!

i'm glad to hear i'm not the only one with a grumbly monster in my tummy. it's loud and obnoxious. especially at night. i was starting to worry something might be wrong in there but from all the posts it sounds pretty much the norm with the band.

i'm two days post op. the day before surgery i was on all clear liquids. then npo the night before surgery and all day the day of surgery. after the recovery room they gave me ice chips and then switched me to tepid water. my doc wants me doing 4 8oz protein shakes a day and also 64 oz of other liquids, too. i don't see how i'll ever get all that in. today i've gotten in one protein shake and maybe half a bottle of water. i just start feeling full and feeling pain in the chest if i drink too much. they say they want you drinking 2oz every 15 minutes equaling to 8 oz an hour. so it would essentially take me 4 hours to do the four protein shakes and then another 8 hours to get in the rest of the 64oz liquids they want me taking. that would mean i have to be up non stop for 12 hours and drinking every minute that i'm awake. this sounds insane to me! but i'm trying.

i'm two days post op and things have been going alright. i'm not really having pains when drinking anymore but i'm still having a hard time getting down all the protein shakes my doc wants me to be drinking. i'm trying though. i've had a lot of gas which i know is normal and it's been coming out alright. but i've also noticed that my stomach/lower abdomen is making a lot of funny noises. i guess maybe they are digestion noises but they are sometimes loud and gurgly sounding. it's wierd. is anyone else experiencing this? is it normal?

my port is about an inch above my belly button and about a half inch to the left (my left).

i'm not sure when the time of being free and clear of risk for clots is. i had to stay in the hospital overnight and they had this massaging air things hooked up around my calves to minimize clotting risks. they also gave me a shot in my stomach of a blood thinner. they said the shot was standard. but i was told that blood clots usually don't happen and that as long as i'm moving around and walking i should be fine. they even told me i didn't have to wear the massasger things if i was walking. so just keep walking. =)

hey ya'll. i got my band yesterday. today was my first day post op. they kept me in the hospital overnight givng me round the clock pain meds, digestion meds, nausea meds, and etc. now i'm home and am taking liquid lortab for, reglan for digestion, and zyrtec for mucous drainage in my throat. i've noticed that of my five incisions, only two hurt real bad. one is the port so i know that's expected, but the other is a small one with hard dark stiches that is right under the middle of my breasts. i've also got red bloody fluid that is pooled in the plastic covering of one of the other incisions. the nurse said that was fine and that incision doesnt' hurt at all. i've noticed i get chest pains when i drink my proten shakes and water and it really hurts. is any of this normal? when will it go away. should i be worried that those two incisions hurt so much worse than the others and that there's fluid under the bandage? should i be worried that my chest hurts so bad when i drink?

i had my surgery yesterday and i, too, am having the pains that pmommy complained of. i'm glad to hear that it will hopefully go away. my doc did instruct me to be drinking 2oz of shake or water every 15 minutes. i don't know howi i'll ever get four eight ounce shakes and 64 oz of water down in a day. it took me three hours to do one shake.i just kept feeling soooo full.