So excited. Finally have my surgery date! June 6th! Super excited and scared and nervous. Any advice tips or anyone looking for a bandbuddy please hit me up

I'm 4 days post-op today.

The gas pain...OH THE GAS PAIIIIIN!!!!! Can't desribe how awful it was when I woke up in the recovery room. It's gotten better, and it is still the only heavy pain I've had.

Everytime I move too much, getting in/out of bed I do get that burning pain on the lower left side of my stomach, but it goes away quickly.

Good luck to all of you getting banded this week!!!

I'm 4 days post-op today.

The gas pain...OH THE GAS PAIIIIIN!!!!! Can't desribe how awful it was when I woke up in the recovery room. It's gotten better' date=' and it is still the only heavy pain I've had.

Everytime I move too much, getting in/out of bed I do get that burning pain on the lower left side of my stomach, but it goes away quickly.

Good luck to all of you getting banded this week!!![/quote']

Today is my day 10, I lost 20 pounds so far since my pre op diet. I started at 210 and I am know 190. My goal is 130. Hope I see that number again in my life. Good luck to all

About 40 hours away from surgery now (Tues am). Can hardly wait. 9th day of Pre-op diet which hasn't been too tough overall, except to say I really miss chewing! I'm anxious somewhat about post - op issues I've seen from various posts. I still can't figure out why people say they have shoulder pain for days/weeks due to anesthesia, and why even after a wk post-op people can barely swallow sips of water. I'd say that last one is my biggest fear, not being able to swallow/gag. WHY does that happen when the band isn't even filled at first, nor is it in your throat??? Has anyone out there had a fairly smooth post-op in the first week or two?

About 40 hours away from surgery now (Tues am). Can hardly wait. 9th day of Pre-op diet which hasn't been too tough overall, except to say I really miss chewing! I'm anxious somewhat about post - op issues I've seen from various posts. I still can't figure out why people say they have shoulder pain for days/weeks due to anesthesia, and why even after a wk post-op people can barely swallow sips of Water. I'd say that last one is my biggest fear, not being able to swallow/gag. WHY does that happen when the band isn't even filled at first, nor is it in your throat??? Has anyone out there had a fairly smooth post-op in the first week or two?

The shoulder pain is due to the trapped gas from surgery. I still don't know why it only travels up to the left shoulder, but honestly, I never had too much of an issue with that. Just a slight aching, like I slept wrong the night before, for one or two days. People not being able to swallow after surgery happens for a number of reasons. I know there's a condition some patients have where the esophagus forgets how to swallow or something like that... (someone back me up here...)

I'd like to think I had a really smooth recovery period. I was banded on the 15th, so today is what, day 9 for me? I swear to you I'm at nearly 100%. My gas pain went away after two days, so I stopped my pain meds after two days. My appetite returned after 4 days (that's not necessarily a good thing since I'm starving all the time now). The rest of the week, I just had to deal with some soreness around my port area from standing up/sitting down. The worst part was getting out of bed because of the stinging sensation from bending my torso, but even that's gone away now. Honestly, I could have went back to work on Thursday and been totally fine.

I really do agree with all the other Bandsters out there who say that walking, walking, walking after surgery is the key to a speedy recovery. And water. I had trouble getting all my water down due to the swelling in my tummy making me full so fast, but that goes away too.

Now, on a different note, who here is comfortable talking about BMs? Because I had my first one today, and I thought I was going to die.

Now' date=' on a different note, who here is comfortable talking about BMs? Because I had my first one today, and I thought I was going to die.[/quote']

me too! But this is only day 3 and it was soft.

I had surgery last Thursday 6/21 and am back at work today. I used ice packs on my shoulder and abdomen all weekend when I wasn't walking and that helped tremendously with gas pains and swelling. I'm feeling good today. Not having any issues drinking and go for follow up appointment tomorrow with Surgeon. I am getting kind of hungry especially when I fix meals for my husband and kids but once I eat my liquid regimen I'm fine, real food just smells so good!

Anyone else given a blood thinner and bleeding though? I take depo-provera and dont have periods but have been bleeding since right after surgery. They said it was because of a blood thinner shot they gave to me in my stomach. Anyone else experiencing this?

I love reading all of these stories. Seems almost every in June is done. I still have one whole day to go before I am banded!

One very long day.

On a side note I have to go out of town on my day 10 so I hope I am almost to 100% by then too!

On a side note I have to go out of town on my day 10 so I hope I am almost to 100% by then too!

Today is my day 10, and I'm completely ready to go back to work. I go back on Wednesday. Also, good luck with your surgery. I hope all goes well.

So, nothing new to report, guys. I'm still starving, and I'm still frustrated about it, but eh... I can't really do much about it. I e-mailed my doctor about starting mushies and some other questions, but he hasn't got back to me yet. I hope he's not on vacay yet.

So, I have a question. Have any of you started exercising yet? Even if it's just a walking routine. I'm still dreading walking. I went up some stairs on Friday (it wasn't even a lot), and I almost died. My quads were killing me and my knees felt like they were going to give out by the top step. Then, going down the stairs, my knees were wobbly. Can you say severely out of shape? I guess my real question is, how did you get yourself up and moving? I'm terrified of working out because, well, it hurts.

uiwleelee,

I am starving too! But this is just the beginning of our "hell" till our first fill! my doc said i need to get off the couch and walk around the house as much as possible. I have to stop thinking of myself as a patient. I am on day 13, and I start mushies tomorrow (technically) even though I am having some creamy/mushy things already. (Doc is fully aware). I go up and down three flights of stairs everyday atleast once a day (to go to my cousins in the building next to ours) and it hurts, mostly my belly but just take it one flight of stairs at a time or a few steps at a time, don't rush yourself. It is important to start moving around though. My doctor said no exercising (even brisk walking) until 1 month post op. And then very light exercises. And to be mindful of my belly since it will still be healing. So don't worry to much about the exercise part yet!

Anyone have to have their stitches removed (and not have the dissolve away ones). My incision area is all tender now, it actually felt good while the stitches were still in. Now i'm using neosporin powder as the doctor recommended. When he removed them they were bleeding a tad bit.

I'm banded!!!!! My surgery went really well. It was scheduled for 2pm, and was told to arrive at the hospital at noon. I got there at about 11:50 and there was a very short wait. I was taken back and weighed, and I had lost 15 pounds on my 10 day liquid diet!

I was put in a gown, gave a urine sample had blood drawn and was ready for my surgery to happen. Then they told me that my surgeon was slightly delayed from his previous surgery but to just hang tight. He ended up coming in to talk to me at about 2:30 and I was wheeled into the OR at about 2:45-3.

The only thing I remember was being given an oxygen mask and then I was in the recovery room. I asked the nurse if we would be starting soon. She laughed and told me that they were done and I had already been in recovery for 30 minutes. At that point I recall feeling some pressure in my chest and the need to cough. The nurses sat me up so I was able to cough better.

She asked me if I was planning to be an inpatient or an outpatient. I told her I preferred to go home. She checked with my surgeon who said that if I could drink a cup of Water and keep it down, and felt good enough to leave then he would clear it.

They gave me a cup of ice water to sip, and felt soooooo good on my very very dry mouth. I did end up keeping it down, so they cleared me go home.

I got home last night at around 7:30. I'm feeling pretty good overall. sleep was a bit uncomfortable but I managed. I don't seem to have much gas because of all the suggestions here for the gas x strips, those are amazing! Thank you all for that!

As of now the only pain I'm having is just some tenderness in my port area and my very dry throat.

I've been able to keep down water, a Protein shake and some broth. I'm going to try to purée some Soup in a bit and see how well that does.

Overall this has been an amazing experience so far!

I am banded!

I feel like hell. The gas pain reaches from one sholder to another and makes it hard to breathe.

Hi my name is Jennifer and I just had my lap band Surgery June 11,2012! I'm brand new here today and am excited to have found this site because i feel a bit scared and I'm about to start eating real food and could use some advice from new friends on how to get started!! I'm looking forward to getting to know as many of you as I can !!

Banded today!

I had a very smooth surgery, no hernias, and a teensy fat-free liver. I dont have any gas pain at all really. Ive been pretty free and easy with the gas-x. I have been walking up and down the hotel hallways every hour. I even had some of the nurses say I was looking really good for someone who just had surgery. That made me feel nice. Im on Water until tomorrow morning.

They weighed me right before the surgery and I guess that despite all my griping about a 3 week liquid diet it did me good! I was down 26 pounds. I wont be able to weigh myself now until I get home which is not until Saturday morning.

I want to say thanks for all the help and support you all gave me. Also I want to thank my Mom and Sister who are minding my 7 month old baby back home.

I better stop, I am so excited I am running long on my emmy acceptance speech! :wub:

Two more days for me - the rest of you, it's SO great to hear what you're experiencing, good and bad. Get well soon and keep up the good work!!!