So week 1 is behind me, I guess the most painful part should be over then. The surgery was fairly uneventfull. I woke up pretty sore and have remained sore since, although it is nothing compared to the first couple of days. My bruises are healing and I hope that the scaring will be minimal.

I have had tremendous problems with my left shoulder. Many people seem to reporting the same, which is supposedly a result of the diaphagm aggravation and having been "inflated" in order to perform the surgery. My pain has been really severe on occasion. I suggested to my dr. that maybe I have low pain treshold, he disagreed since I nver once complained about the cuts and stitches. Vicoddin hasn't helped, so he prescribed Neurontin, which helps with nerve pain. I feel a bit of a difference, but the pain is still there. (Gas-X and walking didn't help either).

Just hoping it will go away soon, but it has taken my mind of off my other pains definitely.

With regards to eating, or shall we call it drinking for now, I have done ok. Clear liquids are pretty hard to live on, so I introduced

go-ghurt (really runny yoghurt) to my diet. My dr. doesn't have a problem with it and told me to move to the next stage (pureed veggies, mashed potatoes, etc.) Very happily I did.

I haven't been able to tell if I'm hungry, since my tummy is still sore. I started knitting at night when I watch TV. I was a snacker at night and this really keeps my hands occupied. Tomorrow I'm going back to to the gym for the first time since the surgery. I'm really excited, even though I'm not yet able to go back to the classes. I'd like to walk a couple of miles and see how that goes.

Well, I'm rambling. Hope all of you are doing great and thanks so much for your support.

Renata

banded 02/06 Dr. Artuso

205/192/135

Hi Renata,

I am glad to hear you are feeling a little better. I too had the shoulder pain, but it doesn't sound like it was nearly as intense as yours. Most of my pain was and still is in the port area. I am nearing the end of week 2 and the shoulder pain comes for a few minutes about 1x per day. The port pain is weird... one day no pain, the next day an aching kind of throbbing pain. Today I am feeling pain, so I am taking adult liquid Tylenol.

I am on pureed foods now and the clear Fluid stage during week 1 just about killed me. I was very very hungry with my stomach growling most of the day. Now on pureed foods it is better, but I do notice a difference that is hard to describe. Some things go down just fine and others cause a kind of pressure/slight pain in the middle of my chest. I am taking this as a sign to stop eating even though my lower stomach is still growling and churning with hunger pains. After about 10-20 mins the pressure/pain seems to subside and my stomach stops sending signals of hunger. I am assuming that this is going to be my new form of hunger/fullness. Nothing like it use to be, but I am sure after a while I will get use to it.

I have decided to only weigh 1x per week from now on. I was weighing everyday, but I notice that the weight loss has slowed now that I am on pureed foods even though I am not eating nearly what I was... I am using Fitday.com and eating an average of about 1000-1200 calories a day. Hormel Turkey Chili pureed with a hand blender has been helping a lot. It is very tasty and satisfying.

If you are anything like me, you will feel better with each passing day. You may feel more pain on some days than others, but I am trying to remain positive and know that eventually I will feel like my old self again.

Take Care,

Renata,

I'm sorry to hear you're so uncomfortable.

I've also just entered my second week. I've been having a lot of discomfort in my lower back and left shoulder sort of under the shoulder blade. but its been getting exponeitially better with each day. Its comforting to know that our general pains are similar.

j

It is good that when you feel the pain in your chest to stop eating. Wait a few minutes for it to subside, this usually means something is getting stuck. Sometimes, it will go down on its own otherwise you will have to get rid of it. I find when something is stuck and I need to get rid of it a sip of water will bring it back up. The first time I felt the pain I thought I was having a heart attack, because my husband had the surgery too, and he said when his food got stuck he felt like he couldn't breathe. I never feel that way, it feels like heavy heartburn with a sorta gas feeling in my throat and chest. I guess different people experience it differently. Again, don't continue to eat after you feel the pain, it will make it worse instead of better in my opinion.

I've read that its good to drink a glass of something before you eat so that the bottom portion of your stomach will be full and it won't gurgle as much. I'm only post-op 12 days so I don't know it all by far...not from experience anway...but I have read tons of stuff....you can try it and see if that helps any.

Linda