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I was banded on the 10th, doing great, went back to work yesterday- doing great until about 1130, I stood up to go check on one of my nursing units and my port site got huge. It looked like a full-term baby's head was trying to come through my abdomen. I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and thought I was going to faint. I called my husband, who works in the same facility to come quick. He called Dr. Miles' office and they had me come in immediately. His Nurse Practitioner and Sonographer immediately tried to see if if was a seroma, Dr. Miles viewed the echo, and didn't really see Fluid so he thought I had a hernia- which he has never had before. He sent me for a CT which showed fluid. They tried to aspirate it in the office(don't want to know how many needle sticks are in my belly) and they could only get small amts of thick, bloody fluid. Upon seeing that, Dr. Miles decided to take me back to surgery. He was hesitant to open up the port site due to increasing the chance of infection but felt he had no choice. I went into surgery around 5. According to my husband last night, he evacuated a 200cc hematoma and put a drain in. We got home around 9 p.m. with very little instructions so I called the office this morning. I have to keep the drain for a week- it's still draining and can't go back to work until it's out. I could shower today- yay! I hurt a lot worse at the port site than I did last week. My son stayed home with me today and my husband is tomorrow. They're having to help me get up and down. The site is very bruised all the way over to my belly button and is still pretty swollen due to the tissue trauma. I had to be on liquids for 24 hrs- I can go back to fulls tomorrow. Really had no appetite today. Had to force fluids down. On a humorous note, I watched Bones twice. According to my son, I watched it when I got home last night but I don't remember a thing. I watched it again tonight despite him teasing me about it.

I really hope this is the end of complications. Anyone who prays, please pray that I do not develop an infection of any kind. If I do, I'll have to have the band removed. and then I don't know what I'll do.

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I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time! I can't even imagine. How did you get the hematoma? Hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out. So scary!

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All the best in your recovery...i will remember you in my prayers.

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so sorry to hear of your problems ... you are in my thoughts and i hope u have a speedy and successful recovery :)

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So sorry about your complication!! How frightening that must have been initially. Glad you are on the mend. I hope everything is smooth sailing from here on out!!!

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Best wishes and prayers for you! Karen

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Thank y'all for your well wishes and prayers.

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Glad see u doing better ive never heard if that.. i will say prayers ive caught staph ibfection after a back surgery so i know how it is to have2 surgeries.. goid luck

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Quick update- I'm improving every day. No sign of infection. Belly still pretty bruised- my son says it looks like a bag of skittles. He thinks he's soooo funny. I only got 15cc from the drain today so hopefully it will come out Monday. This is post-op day 9 for me from the original lap band procedure. I am still having difficulty getting more than 4oz of a Protein Shake down. Is this normal?

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Quick update- I'm improving every day. No sign of infection. Belly still pretty bruised- my son says it looks like a bag of skittles. He thinks he's soooo funny. I only got 15cc from the drain today so hopefully it will come out Monday. This is post-op day 9 for me from the original lap band procedure. I am still having difficulty getting more than 4oz of a Protein shake down. Is this normal?

I don't think there will be a "normal" for you. You just had two back to back abdominal surgeries. Just keep sipping and stay as hydrated as you can.

Glad to hear you are improving and there is no sign of infection. Yay!! Soon this will all be a distant memory.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

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      · 1 reply
      1. Selina333

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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