Tsaleen

Hey, I don't blame you at all. I am 1 week post-op and I am so hungry and fatigued, I was dreaming about a chicken quesedilla this morning and my husband called me and woke me up! For me the surgery and this process is pretty brutal, but I know it will be worth it. I agree with the previous poster that I want to do everything by the book. I risked my life to have this band put in me and as much as it hurts to be on liquids with the crap white tongue taste, ketosis or thrush or whatever it is, and all the burping, being unable to sleep comfortably, in a couple weeks I will be on my way to something bigger and better (actually smaller and better!) Just try and limit your bad foods and of course chew thouroughly if necessary!

Lovesmygt, I think you miss the point about the mushie stage. Your stomach has to work harder to digest the more solid foods you may be eating, regardless of how well you chew. The churning and contractions of your stomach working harder can cause the problem. You are on a specific diet progress to allow time for your sutures to heal where the band is stitched in place. Just keep that in mind, and limit your bad choices if you can!

This response seems the most logical, the surgery is very traumatic, and could have triggered a rapid onset of your already existing disease that has been incubating. Either way I hope you are able to get this figured out and possibly fixed. Keep your head up!

Thanks for all of the advice guys, both arms are still sore but not so bad, it's the muscle on the back of the forearm (where your arm hair grows). My upper arms or shoulders do not really hurt so it seems like it could be anesthesia related. I also have fybromyalgia which hasn't flared up in a few years, it could be the trauma from surgery. If they start hurting bad again I will take your advice and contact my surgeon right away!

Hey guys! I understand the gas pain and where it comes from as I can feel it pass and then the pain/pressure is gone. But I a m having extreme forearm pain in both arms. Is this gas pain or just stress pain? Normal? Thanks!

Melissa, I understand exactly how you feel. Keep in mind your body just went through the trauma of surgery, you are on restricted amount of calories and although this will be a tough journey, you did it for a reason. For a better quality of life. I understand your mourning of food, I was very conscious of EVERYTHING I ate up to my last meal, and thought about how I would never be able to eat this again. Then reality kicked in, of course I will be able to eat this again, just in much smaller portions. Just think of how happy and healthy you will be with your decision. This is a commitment to yourself, you can do it!

Yep, sounds like it. This morning I woke up (off a very mildly sedated sleep) feeling GREAT, NO GAS PAIN! I was so excited. Then I went to the grocery store to do some walking and I was exhausted after 5 minutes and the gas pains were back! :biggrin: They seem to creep up on me just when I think I am getting some relief. My system is also so sensitive, and I am lactose intolerant so taking my galbladder medicine has been a challenge. First I opened the capsule into soy milk, YUCK, then I mixed a capsule into some yogurt, BLECH! I am going to try a shot of juice this time!

It sounds like gas. I have been sipping everything, the most I have been able to eat is about 3oz of soy yogurt today for lunch. Even when I sip, the pressure of the Fluid passing through my band causes gas pressure and it is uncomfortable, but I have been PBing and walking to get that gas to move. You should be okay if it seems like gas, and occasionally shifts and you feel relief from the gas moving. I hope you are okay!

I was banded too yesterday, doing well but had a rough night. Glad to see you are both doing well. I will catch up soon still in the hospital on my mobile. Xoxo

Hi guys, I have been browsing the forums for a few months, I started my lap band journey in April. I am 36 years old and still have not been able to conceive and want to be able to have a child naturally, and the clock is ticking hard! I have been overweight since I was about 6 years old, I have always been athletic but my body just carries a ton of weight in the middle. I am also very top-heavy even when I was in the best shape of my life I still had to carry around these huge breasts and my back hates me for it! I started my lapband Quest in April, and was shooting for a July band date but I experienced failure delays. For me what took the longest is getting the pre-op weight loss of a measly 15 pounds. I have PCOS, insulin resistance, pre-diabetic, and very sensitive to carbohydrates. It is so hard for me to control my portions when I am hungry but I generally make good food choices when I do not indulge in sweets. Anyways I am very nervous, my surgery date is in 12 days. My surgeon has done over 300 RNY surgeries and about 14 lapband surgeries. The weight loss center kept trying to preach RNY surgery but I don't feel it is the right surgery for me. Good luck to everyone pursuing and currently banded. I hope to be contributing to discussions going forward!

I am being banded tomorrow as well, I am scared, nervous, excited, anxious! I will be thinking about everyone who is going on this journey yesterday, today, tomorrow, and beyond! Good luck!

Are you taking alot of artificial sweetener like Splenda? I found out that I am extra sensitive to Splenda, it gives me real bad muscle cramps, I thought I had MS. One day I was making coffee and I was pouring in Splenda and bunch came out, I thought "oh well it will be extra sweet" Twenty minutes later my hands and neck would cramp with every movement, it scared the heck out of me. I try and alternate between the artificial sweeteners so I do not get to much in one day. The protien nectar I picked up are the two flavors that are sweetened with Stevia.

Kat & Chrissy, Sorry I haven't been able to post, I have been so busy trying to cram in work related tasks for my two jobs and writing a paper for my Master's. Today I am working from home and at my liesure, on Clear liquids and this morning I was getting the grumbly tummy so I am going to get some sf Jello and maybe have a decaf coffee from sbux and pretend it is the real thing :thumbup: Kat, I am so happy you enjoyed your camping trip with the family and were able to control your temptations! That is great! I think that is someone telling you that you are ready to do this. Chrissy, so sorry to hear about your neighbor assaulting you, are you doing better? Will you be safe for recovery? Tomorrow is the big day, last night was rough. We went to costco this weekend and I picked out what I wanted to have for dinner last night, Jack Daniels shredded chicken sandwiches. The sugar content wasn't too bad for the BBQ sauce and I was going to have it on wheat bread. I was starting to get frustrated as all of the food at costco I wouldn't be able to eat for at least 4 weeks so I was very careful with my selection. I told my husband that was what we would have for my last dinner. Well I get home from work and for some reason he put it in the freezer and it needs to be defrosted for 6 hours or so so I got SO PISSED. I started crying because he said what's the big deal and I said It's not a big deal to you because your not the one who will be on liquids and soft foods for FOUR WEEKS. My husband is having more anxiety than I am, he was tossing and turning all night long. I think he was having nightmares. He keeps saying he is worried something may go wrong or I am going to get skinny and leave him. I looked at my hospital admit papers and although I have had some slightly cold feet over the past few days, I read the ONE thing that finalized the fact that I need this surgery: Diagnosis: MORBID obesity I am tired of being fat, I am tired of being tired and in pain every day struggling just to work, walk, sleep, enjoy myself. I am TIRED of being in the WAY, I feel like I am always in someone's way. I am tired of having trouble breathing, over-eating, and not being taken SERIOUS because I am overweight. I want a better quality of life, I WANT to be a normal sized person, I WANT to be healthy and I WANT to live, not die, from being overweight! No backing out now! Ladies, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Remember if things are bad, if you are in pain, it will be temporary and it WILL BE FOR THE DAMNED BEST!! SUPER BIG HUGS! HIGH FIVE. BANDEDED LAND in less than 30 hours!! Tricia

Chrissy, Awesome, there are 3 of us now :thumbup: I just got a call from the hospital. My insurance is covering my surgery, but I have a high deductible. My portion of just the hospital bill is almost $6K. I still should expect separate bills from the surgeon, anesthesiologist and who knows else! My husband told me last night we are going to go to costco tomorrow and spend all this money on food for the next 3 weeks to help out with my surgery. I said I only need popsicles, broth and Jello for the first one to two weeks. He then replied "I meant for me and Jake" his brother who lives with us. LOL This is because I usually do most of the shopping, so he wants to help me out by stocking a ton of food in the house that I won't be able to eat. Some help!

KittyKat, My appointments went really well today. In fact much better and I am feeling less nervous. I had many questions and received the answers candidly. First off I found that I have a mild haitial hernia, which my surgeon will repair if it is noticable. He said it is not critical, but if is not repaired it could potentially get bigger, but can always be fixed later. If it is noticable he said might as well tackle it while he is in there. I am getting the Realize-C band. My surgeon says it is the way to go. I trust him with his decision on this one. I do not have to have a liquid diet, just all clear liquids for Tuesday before the surgery, so pretty much Monday night at midnight is the last time I can have anything other than the "Clear liquids" My surgery is scheduled for 1pm, I am to arrive and be admitted at 11am. If there are delays my family could be waiting for up to 4-5 hours for word, but the surgery will only take 60-90 minutes if everything goes well. I went to OR lab and had my pre lab testing. The OR nurse asks me right off "why did you decide to get gastric banding over RnY surgery (bypass). I told her I had problems with portion control and I felt this would be the best surgery for me. She was shocked and said this is the first time a patient said that to her and she had RnY 5 years ago. She is sooooo petite and showed me her pictures from when she was heavy and she was my size a little shorter but 275lbs. She was soooo cool, and she is much older. She told me at the time she elected surgery, she didnt think she had a portion control problem, but that she ate the wrong foods and too many sweets. After surgery she slowly realized that portion control was her biggest problem. I think she was hinting that the gastric band may have been the better surgery for her without saying it. I have more details but it's late and I have been rambling! Keep me updtated with your progress too!!!! :wub: Your band-day buddie - Tricia

I am really sorry to hear of your complications, these are the things I dread for this surgery. From what I understand, when you get laprascopic surgery they puff you with gas so they have more room to operate and you can also be swollen with fluids. Secondly, with the lap band surgery (that I watched on you tube) they can actually sew your band into place by sewing a portion of your stomach over it. This I am sure must cause pain and discomfort, and maybe you are just swollen and healing? I hope it resolves itself soon and is not serious. Please keep us posted! Also never hesitate to reach out for help when you have a problem, that is what this support forum is for.

You are going to have to find more activities to enjoy together besides eating, and you can always still go to a nice restaurant, just you will be sharing some of his meal instead. Tell him how much of a cheap date you will become! I am more fortunate as my husband, although he loves to eat, is an encourager. He just called me and said he was grilling some chicken breast and cooking some brown rice (and he does NOT like brown rice). He even offered to get the lap-band surgery so we can both live the same lifestyle, which says a lot because he LOVES food!

I am being banded on 9/22, starting to get excited but at the same time I am nervous! Pooky -As for your question, I have this concern too. Eating meals and enjoying foods, sweets, etc, is a big part of many relationships. My husband has an eating problem but he is younger than me and can exercise it off easily. Does your husband have a relationship with you and food too?

Kathi- Today is good, I am weaning off my espresso habit. My drink of choice at SBux used to be a triple grande soy mocha, in effort to drop some calories I switched to a triple grande soy vanilla latte, then I changed to a grande soy latte with two equals to give up the added sugar. Today I had a tall soy latte with artificial sweetner. My surgeon does not require a pre-op diet, only Clear liquids for the full day before surgery and nothing after midnight. I was told I MUST meet my weight loss requirement so if I still have weight to lose when I go on Wednesday I will be doing a liquid diet for the next week I assume. I am starting to get nervous but I do not want to grow old, being obese and having pain all over my body from carrying this excess weight any longer! Keep me informed of your progress too. Are you nervous? Excited?

Erick, I love your story, thanks for sharing, and good luck! I had that happen to me about 4 years ago, I was so embarassed, I cried and haven't been on a roller coaster since. When I went to the emergency with kidney stones (my first time, I didn't know what they were) the EMT's had to struggle to get me out of the house on the guerney, and I live on a hill so they were using much energy to keep me from falling off the damn thing! Best of luck, seriously! I am being banded on the 22nd.