kurby

I know it's still a couple of months away but i just found this site last week and have been reading threads from people who were banded august and sept of last year. I'm happy i've finally made the decision after thinking about it for a couple of years (could actually kick myself for not acting sooner) I'll be filling out the paperwork this week and sending it in. Nothing is covered here in Canada so it's 100% out of pocket for me which is a HUGE amount of money but they way i figure it is that we don't need another car new or used, we aren't buying a house (live with my parents who are in and near their 80's) and even though we have credit cards and take vacations i'd like to be able to do it and not be exhausted after an hour of walking through Disney World or fit in to the seat of the plane next year when we fly to England. so i'm here and thought we could support each other through our decision, preop, post up and through the months ahead of us. i also thought i'd keep track of all our stats if everyone's ok with that. i'll do it in the second post and we'll take it from there :cursing: Congrats to us all for making the decision to get and stay healthy for whatever our reasons are we've done it. I'm 42, married, have a beautiful 4.5 year old daughter who has more energy then she even knows what to do with and i'd love to even keep up with half her day. 5'8, 320lbs and would love to see myself at 165 but would be thrilled with 175. I don't have a surgery date yet until i submit the deposit of $3000 but it will be sometime in the second week of Aug.

has anyone gone through pregnancy being banded and going to a midwife? are they ok with having the band? i've lost about 40lb since AUG and am NOT looking forward to gaining any weight. I lost 35 through morning sickness with dd but gained it all back and then some after about 6 months. can having the band help keep weight gain to an absolute minimum or do they want you to gain like everyone else? i don't even want to step on a scale anymore.

I just found out today that i have 7cc's in a 10cc band. It sounds like a lot but the dr told me he's been filling them with help from something to get as close to the "sweet spot" right from the start rather then the multi fills and unfills that have been done in the past he said he's been doing it this way for months now and has a lot of success. what i'm wondering is what is your total fill. i know when you lose a lot of weight then you may need to have it adjusted but lets go with 6 months. what was your total fill for the first 6-12 months?

i haven't heard the term fluro fill. apparently there is a new device that when during the op he can measure the optimum fill. Another person who was banded the morning of me got 6.5cc's

Hi Laura, I did get a call this morning and yes i did have the hernia op and i did get 7cc's. it was confirmed with the op nurses hand written notes. I'm actually self pay as Canadian's aren't covered for this. i also do know the diff between carbs and Protein i just don't have knowledge of food in general. no there wasn't a preop course but i am seeing the dietitian week after next and will continue to see her until i'm comfortable with my food knowledge (which could be years) my choices over the adult life has sucked - or i wouldn't be in this mess i have a HUGE sweet tooth and even sore i'm craving sweets like chocolate and Snacks like chips - those were and i guess still are my down fall. i do have a lot to learn.

i just got off the phone with the post op lady. i told her i've very concerned about the mix up in paperwork with what i have re: hernia vs what she has in her computer. she tried to call the or nurse but she had already left and said she would call tomorrow morning and get back to me. she said may have just been an error in the quick notes the or nurse typed after surgery and that her official hand written notes taken during would have all the details. that still concerns me though. my fist appointment is with the dietitian - i don't think i see the dr again. i'm seeing the dietitian on the 31st in the afternoon. i could have done it on the phone but i think i need to see her face to face - i have zero willpower and knowledge of food since we live in the basement apartment of my parents house mom and dh cook all the meals. i couldn't tell you carbs from protein (ok i could but you know what i mean)

good afternoon all. i'm 5 days post op and starting to feel better. my post op care coordinator did call me back and now i'm confused about other things. she did tell me that i could swim this weekend as long as my cuts were healed over which they are now. but she said "oh good thing you didn't have a hernia" this is the confusing thing. i received a paper that stated that i did indeed have one and that he repaired a med. size one. but her info in the computer states i didn't have one. did i receive someone else's paper work? when she told me i have 7cc's is that correct or do i have 4 or 5?? i don't like the mix up in information and i don't know how i can know if i did have the hernia or not is the dr really going to remember 4 days later what he did? how do i know if i really have 7cc's? agrrrr -

Hi Renee, there are more then a few of us who where scared of the actual surgery, self included. you'll be fine. i'm 5 days post op and starting to feel myself. chin up and we'll see you on the other side

i was banded on aug 12 - too soon to be thinking about getting pg. infact i've told dh not to come near mean until jan - he's none too pleased i'm already 42 and running out of time for a second child. dd is going to be 5 in october and we have wanted a sibling for her since 6 months after she was born. those who have been pg on the band, did morning sickness effect the band? i had morning sickness from 6 weeks to the day dd was born every day. if i had that much morning sickness while banded would that shift the band or cause problems?

how is the band effected with morning sickness? i was just banded on thursday partly because i can't lose weight to get pg with our second child. however i had morning sickness from 6 weeks to the day dd was born every day. would that much throwing up shift the band?

i just got off the phone with the post op care coordinater and i'm a little surprised to find out that my dr had put 7cc's in my band. he told me that he helped design or found a company who designed (sorry i was a little nervous to remember which one) that could tell the "sweet spot" of the fills and he had been filling them right from the start. 7 sounds a lot doesn't it?? i guess we'll have to see how much i can eat when i get to that stage.

i've got a couple of questions for post op care but i can't get them to call me back. i left a message on saturday which hasn't been returned i know they were closed but i did expect a call some time this morning. i left another message for the head of post op care around 10.30ish but still no call. so i'm going to ask you guys my questions. 1 - how long does it take until the gas pains stop? i don't have them often but when i do - boy they hurt. 2 - my breathing still hasn't returned to normal and yawning or taking a deap breath is very difficult (as is sneezing) is there anything i can do to speed up this recovery? 3 - and a very important one. - we have a swimming pool - how long until i can go in again? 4 - it's very hard to get comfortable - moving is hard and i'm assuming thats the case with most surgeries but how long does it last? i'm not getting much sleep at night and i'm exhausted because i'm waking up a lot at night to move, twitch and or shift.

what are you guys allowed to have during your clear liquid phase? my mother is freaking out on me because i added some crystal light or koolaid stuff to water. it's the first time i've done it i've had chicken soup broth jello water apple juice cranberry juice what have you been told you can have?

what are you guys allowed to have during your clear liquid phase? my mother is freaking out on me because i added some crystal light or koolaid stuff to water. it's the first time i've done it i've had chicken soup broth jello water apple juice cranberry juice what have you been told you can have?

i'm day 3 post op ohhhhh i'm sore. still can't take deep breaths have some gas pains but not in my shoulders like most have said. more in my chest. and it seems to just come and go not constant. how many more days until i can breath again. talking is a bit hard because i have to take a few breaths to finish a sentence i can't feel my port - is that normal. is it buried under the fat or is it just that i'm so swollen?

i'm on day 3 post op and can't wait to have a shower it's hard to get on and off the bed - and the gas pains are still here but it's getting a bit easier i was given an rx for Demerol but it didn't help.

i was banded last night (6pm) and i`m having a hard time breathing normal. i know the pain is the surgery and gas but i can`t yawn or take a deep breath without being in a lot of pain. is this normal

i`m finding it hard to breath deep -or normal actually. anyone else feeling it difficult

hi everyone. i'm banded. i was to stop eating and drinking by midning wed which i did (actually i stopped just afer 10) and be at the clinic at 2pm my dad was driving me and we left home just after 1pm. starving and already with a headache from not eating. the usual 30-40 minute trip took just over an hour. this city will never be construction free. i checked in and was met a few minutes later to have the "before" pictures taken. yuck. then i was met by Lori for the final paperwork and to pay for having to sleep over. After that was all done i was directed to the waiting room until the nurse would be ready for me. I brought Twilight with me not thinking i`d have any time to read it and it`s a good thing i did. just abuot 3pm the nurse came out - but not for me. she brought in the appointment before me. apparently the first appointment of the day was almost an hour late which pushed everyone back. So i sat and read. at least having that time calmed me down becuase i was shaking and my heart was going to pop right out of my chest. just before 4.30 the nurse came to get me. blood preasure, weight, height and temp then sit and wait some more. i was given the tv remote so i sat and watched young and restless - the whole show. when it was over and the news came on i started looking for someone - anyone. i was starting to think they forgot about me. 10 minutes later someone walked by ( she had been in a meeting and just returning to her office beside the room i was in. I knocked and asked her if she could find out how much longer i was going to have to wait. apparently there was a problem with the lady before me and they were just finishing up so it wouldn`t be too much longer. nothing about the surgery itself but something about her not being able to handle the mends or something. a few minutes went by and the Dr came in. Very nice and comforting. Mater of fact and confident. but not ì`m better then you confident`` at 2 minutes to 6 i was on the table being hooked up and that was the last time i saw a clock. a few minutes of being talked to, poked and wrapped and then i was waking up in recovery. when i could focus i found the clock on the wall. 8.30 I was brought into my night room and promply fell asleep. sometime near 11 the nurse woke me up to go to the bathroom and walk a bit then it was lights out again for me. the patient in the bed beside me was up and out by 5am for a flight - i can`t imagine getting on a plane just after having surgery - koodos to her i couldn`t get back to sleep so i asked for my book which i didn`t read and my cell and called my mom and text my dh who was at work that i was fine and up. my brother picked me up just before 7 and seemed to take every single bumpy road home. not his fault, our city doesn`t know how to make smooth roads when we got home my dd was standing in the door - she had just got up and was so happy to see me. i don`t have the gas pains that a lot of you have been talking about but getting on and off my bed is quite painful. just when i think i`m ok i twitch and set off some huge pains i`ve been sleeping on and off since getting home and don`t expect to be getting a good night sleep anytime soon. while the dr was working he fixed a med size hernia for me - guess that`s why i`ve been having heart burn and small pains lately. so that`s me - i`ve now joined the banded club.

i'm back - it's done. it went well and they fixed a hiatus hernia and something called crus of the diaphragm. i'll have to look those up later. my surgery was delayed 3 hours and my emotions ran the gammit from panic to sitting reading a book and back to panic again. at 2 minutes to 6 i was on the table in the OR and that's the last time i saw the clock. they did there stuff for a few minutes then i was waking up around 8.30 they moved me into a simi private room and i was sleeping again. sometime around 10.30 they got me up to walk a bit and go to the washroom then i was back to bed until about 5am when the person beside me was woken up to leave. she had a flight to get to (i can't imagine flying today right after this.) i couldn't get back to sleep so i asked for my book (twilight) but couldn't concentrate so i called my mom and told her i wa fine. by 6.30 my brother was there to pick me up and when i got home my dd (4yrs) was meeting me at the door. mom and dad are taking her out today so i can rest. i don't have the gas pain you guys are talking about which is a very good thing

I'm sitting in the waiting room. They are running 1 surgery behind. I'm very light heeded and feeling sick since I haven't eaten since 10 last night

originally it was the route my mil said they used to take when they drove to florida in the 70's to avoid the mountians in the winter but i don't think we were on the right route. we thought we'd head over there and check out the route in the summer. so we spent 4 days in richmond 2 in savannah and a week in disney world. i think if we drive to florida in the winter we'll stick with our regular 77/79 route and just go straight down

3pm is my time and i'm getting nervous. i didn't sleep much last night and it's after midnight and i'm still up tonight. i have to spend the night so i've already packed - too much i'm guessing lol what do you bring for an over night in the clinic? i know they'll have me up and walking so i'm bringing my comfy pj bottoms but will sleep in shorts i'll be glad when it's all over and i'm bitching about the pain. at least i'll know that my new life has begun and i'm leaving my old life behind.:thumbup::thumbup:

i didn't get to sleep until after 5 this morning. tossing and turning, watch tv then turn it off go online the back to bed agrrrr i hate this feeling. now i'm starting to shake. and my stomache is soooooooo hungry it's yelling at me 3 more hours before i leave. should have left the packing until today to keep busy my dad is playing with my dd right now and i'm finding myself very cranky. she took my cell becuse the alarm was going off then forgot where she put it. she's only 4. i snapped at her and now i feel like a schmuck. agrrr i can't wait until i'm back home tomorrow.

good advice. thanks. you're from richmond? we just got back from 2 weeks in the states with 4 days in richmond. hot as hell but nice place.