I had my lap band surgery yesterday. I am excited to start transforming. The first 24 hours have not been fun. Nausated, sore, nothing sounds good or taste good. So full of gas it hurts, Is this all normal and does it get better? Please help!

I had my lap band surgery yesterday. I am excited to start transforming. The first 24 hours have not been fun. Nausated, sore, nothing sounds good or taste good. So full of gas it hurts, Is this all normal and does it get better? Please help!

Trust me it does get better. We are the unfortunate ones that have more post surgery side affects that "yes" hurts like hell!!! You will see that every day gets a little better. Keep walking around as much as you can. The walking helps the body absorb the gas quicker. Rest as needed and remember you just had surgery. Even though lapband surgery is not as invasive it is still surgery and you did go under anesthesia. Take it easy. Also, sip as much Water as you can. food will not appeal to you for probably another couple of weeks or less, but, once the swelling on your insides goes down (stomach), you will taste and hunger again. Oh trust me on that one. You will be ready for your first fill. Again, rest assured that it does get better day by day. Hang in there. jake

I know on regular dieting it takes longer for woman to lose weight, but what about the Lap-Band, because Bandaid you are down ALOT of weight in that little ammount of time! Awesome.. I'm getting banded on the 31st, and I want to be like you. Any tips would be great!

Trust me it does get better. We are the unfortunate ones that have more post surgery side affects that "yes" hurts like hell!!! You will see that every day gets a little better. Keep walking around as much as you can. The walking helps the body absorb the gas quicker. Rest as needed and remember you just had surgery. Even though lapband surgery is not as invasive it is still surgery and you did go under anesthesia. Take it easy. Also, sip as much water as you can. Food will not appeal to you for probably another couple of weeks or less, but, once the swelling on your insides goes down (stomach), you will taste and hunger again. Oh trust me on that one. You will be ready for your first fill. Again, rest assured that it does get better day by day. Hang in there. jake

Thanks Jake. I like thsi fourm. It's nice to talk to others that have been in your shoes. You have done great, almost to your goal. Your so lucky, I wish I was there. I know I will ge there. I am only having liquids now, and it scares me to have to eat and actually chew and swallow food. I am so afraid it will get stuck!

I know on regular dieting it takes longer for woman to lose weight, but what about the Lap-Band, because Bandaid you are down ALOT of weight in that little ammount of time! Awesome.. I'm getting banded on the 31st, and I want to be like you. Any tips would be great!

MissSammyD,

First of all congratulations on your decision. You will not regret it.

My success is due to multiple events that worked in my favor. First, I was falling apart medically. I had or had been recently diagnosed with multiple co-morbitities before banding and I was starting to feel the impact. I just could not go on living with all the pain and suffering. When my grandaughter was born I made up my mind that I wanted to be around for her and of course my family also. My doctor advised weight loss surgery. I was so serious about changing my life that I quit smoking the day after the lapband seminar.

I was scheduled for surgery in September, but a few days before my surgery the hospital called and said that I was to be re-scheduled because there was a shortage of a drug used in surgery and all non urgent surgeries had been cancelled. I was already 12 days into the liquid diet. My next scheduled date was 2 weeks away and I had to continue the Protein diet. This diet consisted of 2 low cal Protein drinks, one for Breakfast the other for lunch, then 1 can of Soup at night with all the sugar free popcicles and sugar free pudding(s). I was on the required protein diet for 1 month. I lost at least 30 lbs. on the protein diet alone. I cringe with the thought of drinking another shake. lol

When I went in for my first fill I ended up getting an unfill because I was way too tight. I'm one that needs very little in my band for restriction. They had put in 3cc's in the 10cc band during surgery and unfilled me down to 2cc's. I'm doing great with 2cc's. I started losing immediatley after surgery. Remember that it could take several fills at 6 weeks apart before you have restriction. We are all different. I was just lucky to get restriction right a way. On the other side of the coin, was that I was losing too quickly, I was getting too weak and was looking rather sickly. I know this because I had only told a few people at work about my surgery. I was approached by a couple of very concerned co-workers who thought I had cancer or a very serious illness due to the amount of weight I had lost and how I looked. I then decided to announce the lapband. They have all been very supportive.

I started exercising as much as I could handle at first. I started with small walks around the block, at the school track, riding my bike on low gears, started walking in the pool, walking on a treadmill, 10 minutes of step aerobics. I have built up to working out 40 minutes a day at 1or 2 activities mentioned. I can now jog 2 miles. I can swim 40 minutes. Last weekend I did a 20 mile bike ride. Its awesome!!

Most importantly, all of my blood work has come back normal (diabetes, gout, cholesterol). I am off 5 different medications, off my CPAP machine. I am normal medically except for high blood pressure which will be evaluated in july.

Take it one day at a time. There is no big race to lose so fast! Also, keep in mind that fast weight loss can lead to gall bladder problems and require surgery. In addition, you want your skin to tighten/tone up as you go. You also want to keep your hair from falling off. In my case, I'm a bald male so I'm ok with it falling off. lol In all seriousness, I now eat properly and even if I did have hair I'm sure it will not fall off. I have never eaten properly in all my life, so this has been a win win situation for me. As I said, you will not regret doing this for yourself. Yes, the journey get difficult at times, but, you get back on the wagon, especially when you start seeing the results. Keep me posted on how you do please.

Thanks Jake. I like thsi fourm. It's nice to talk to others that have been in your shoes. You have done great, almost to your goal. Your so lucky, I wish I was there. I know I will ge there. I am only having liquids now, and it scares me to have to eat and actually chew and swallow food. I am so afraid it will get stuck!

jamiesdoingit,

You WILL get there. Be patient. Once you start feeling more energetic and especially when you start feeling good about your weight loss, you will be on such a natural high!!!!

Don't worry so much on getting stuck. It is a learning process and you will get it. For now concentrate on eating slowly, small bites and chewing very well (after your liquid stage of course). Stuck episodes will come and I promise that after a few you will learn how to not get them. I used to think that if I had one stuck episode I would harm my band. The only thing that can happen with being stuck is that can make your stomach swollen and will have to go on liquids and then mushie foods for a couple of days. You will know if this happens. I advice to keep pineapple juice always handy. The acid from the pineapple juice will get whatever is stuck down. As of yesterday I also found out that meat tenderizer also gets stuck food down. I also use it to get my sinus drainage out of the upper stomach. Man it acts like Draino. Just a couple of shakes into some warm Water and wow!!!

BTW jamie, how are you feeling today?