Ajh

Well all I can do for exercise right now is walk and just barely since I'm just a little more than a week out of the surgery and I've had a bad time of it but I do have a bike in the shed and was wondering if there was anyone in the Dover/Camden area that wanted to meet up and walk since walking alone gets incredibly boring.

I was told I can start testing slightly more solid foods. Right now my favorite thing to eat is rice with curry sauce. It's spicy and not bad on my stomach at all. It's good you're not in pain! The port site still aches some for me, but other than that I'm great.

I've had a horrible time of it since I got the surgery on the 11th. They also repaired a hernia. It started with my doctor telling me to take some tylenol if I felt pain. I called a few hours after I got home asking if there was anything at all they could do, because I couldn't breathe it hurt so bad. Most movement left me trying not to cry because even that hurt. After some debate they finally called me back at noon the next day and gave me some painkillers. (Four days worth) The painkillers worked okay. I still couldn't drink anything thicker than the chocolate milk consistency Protein drink I have. I can't do yogurt at all, and my medications for narcolepsy and allergies are almost intolerable. I have to swallow them and wait 15 minutes for the chest pain and discomfort to go away. I had my follow up appointment on Tuesday and told him this and they prescribed me an anti-anxiety medication and told me it was all in my head! :thumbup: Today's followup had them order an upper gi for tomorrow morning because apparently my esophagus didn't get the memo that it was all in my mind that this was happening and I still couldn't swallow. And he made a face when I gave the sarcastic line about my esophagus, but seriously, the moment he told me my pain was only anxiety he lost my respect completely. I'm not in pain anymore unless I try to take a pill or have yogurt or anything like that or if like today I get cheer at someone and move my arms too fast and pull at the large scar a bit I registered here because I've been searching through this site for ideas and trying to figure out stuff that's going on since my doctor's been less than helpful over this past week, and a lot of the advice here has helped me. Stories of people who made it through help when I'm sitting here with chest pain from taking cut up Tylenol. My friends have also given interesting advice but not quite as helpful (Though I liked the one that told me to kick the doctor in the knees and tell him the pain was in his head.) Anyway that's how I found my way here. Hi!

I'm just glad I'm NOT in pain now. I have a high pain tolerance. I'm not sure what would have happened if I didn't. It hurts if I move too fast or twist wrong. Right where the port is, but other than that I'm good to go. I did take liquid tylenol for awhile. I'm perfectly fine with the crushed/cut up variety now. I was shocked that they could take out 3cc of liquid because I read everywhere that it wasn't filled at first. I'd be more surprised if this wasn't how healthcare usually worked around here. With a huge dose of stupid.

The advice I can give about this is be patient. All the clearances and insurance approval processes take a long time.

Thank you for all the responses! I've gotten the liquid Tylenol before but I have to shop around to find it (and it's insanely expensive!) and this doctor treated me like I was a pain killer addict when I asked for something. I'm good on crushed pills now but Friday was an adventure. I used yogurt as an example as the drinkable yogurt I had was the same consistency as my Protein shakes they told me to take. I have been walking as much as I can since the start but it was hard when I was so dizzy. I wasn't given pain or anti nausea medicines after my surgery, I was told to cut up a tylenol and have that. So friday: They found on the upper GI that my band is constricted to the point where anything thicker than Water has great great difficulty even getting through. Milk even isn't possible, which is why I couldn't drink the Protein Shakes they told me to drink. I called them about it and they told me that the band comes slightly filled and they can remove some of that liquid. I can make an appointment, how's Tuesday. I asked her if I should check myself into the hospital since I can't eat. She suggested I try the bottled Isopure because it's very similar to water. Thankfully the people over at MDI called them and reported their findings immediately, so they had them on the other side making noises. The surgery center called me back and had me come in that day. The Physicians Assistant removed 3cc from the band. I didn't think it was supposed to be filled in the first place?! (She said it comes a little filled.) She missed the port and jammed a needle into the muscle the ports attached on though. It hurt so bad I screamed without sound even, because I couldn't take in a breath. I was crying very hard and she told my stepmother this happens sometimes and apologized to me. So now I just have the pain of that. I can take my medications one pill at a time on the ones I can't cut up. I'm feeling a lot better than I have since I got this surgery. Night and day. Since I could "eat" and take my rather important medications, I felt up to walking around more and doing stuff. I'm still supposed to go back on Tuesday.