Recovery Stories :)

[Momto1plus1 0]

For me, the third morning after surgery was the worst, enough that I started feeling a little down about it. But by afternoon I started feeling better and noticeably improved day by day. I hope you're already over the roughest part!

Oh, gosh today is my 3rd day. I'm feeling great. I --knock on wood--haven't had any of the pains that you all have described. My DH had terrible shoulder pains.

I'm actually heading out to WW and then off to the chriopractors.

[Kristin1031 0]

Hi Everyone! I'm back! I haven't been on the chat forum for a while - life stuff, recovery, blah, blah, blah. So far, my recovery has been "OK". I say that in quotes because I've had some minor ups and downs. The pain in my shoulder got to the point of being almost unbearable. I'm not sure why it was so bad for me, but truly the only thing I could do was lay in bed, propped up on pillows, heating pad over my shoulder and good pain meds going down my gullet. That all seems to have subsided and I'm actually feeling pretty great now. By Day 4, I graduated out of Clear Liquids and ventured into the world of "anything pourable" like Tomato Soup, runny mashed potatoes, runny (blended) oatmeal. I've been able to tolerate *everything* I've consumed so far which is SO encouraging!! I've lost 10 lbs since my surgery on 11/9 which is AMAZING!!!

I was able to be off all of last week. I have the best boss ever!! I went back to work yesterday and that was a little tough. I was so exhausted at the end of the day, but I made it through. I slept like the dead, though. Unfortunately, I think I'm coming down with my toddler's nasty cold. On Thursday, almost a week after my surgery, I felt a sneeze coming on and went into a bit of panic. The thought of sneezing after abdominal surgery - not cool!! But I'm flushing so much Water through my system, I think I'm gonna breeze through the cold with minimal suffering. :-)

So, I made a completely WONDERFUL discovery over the weekend. I had made my husband some of my fabulous beef stew and GEEZ!! By the time it had finished its little crockpot cycle 8 hours later, it smelled SOOOOOO good! So I thought, 'Ok. I can enjoy this too. I'm gonna run a couple of cups of this stuff through the food processor <so that I have some for dinner now and some for meals later> and I'll pour it over mashed potatoes - like gravy!' It - was - THE BEST MEAL EVER! And it was so nutritious because it was everything in the stew - the beef, carrots, onions, mushrooms, etc! I'm telling you guys this because it's a great solution for Thanksgiving! For those of you that are eating mushy foods now, you don't have to be deprived on one of the best eating holidays known to man!! You can blend together some turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, yams, green bean casserole or whatever you usually like to have on your plate - pour a little gravy over it and enjoy a little hodge-podge bowl of mashed Thanksgiving! You can even put a small amount of your blended YUMMY on a small amount of mashed potatoes, pour a little gravy over that and VOILA! Thanksgiving in a bowl!!!!

Anyway, sorry I've been away for a bit but I'm feeling somewhat human again and can tolerate sitting at my computer. So glad to see that everyone else is doing so well!!!!!

Hi Andie:

Glad to see you are doing well, I did miss you on the board was worried you might not be recovering as well. Glad you are over the worst of it. Be careful with that cold though...ouch!!!

I am feeling super really just tired with my work schedule. I am off now for the holiday til on Monday back to it. I am not nearly as sore, it is like it took at turn for the better over night.

Your meal sounds delicious, I am going to make a pot roast for my hubby and I will have to try this.

I am trying to stay away from the scale as suggested. I just don't see the movement that I hoped, but I know it is because I am still having trouble getting in all the liquid, even sipping constantly just seems so hard. Because my tummy is full.....LOL No hunger hear at all yet.

[Carsons_Mommy 0]

Hey Kristin! Be glad the hunger hasn't come back yet. It's a struggle at first, but then, just when you think, "If I don't eat a Big Mac, Large Fry and a chocolate shake soon I'll die!!!" the feeling passes and you're back to your 'normal' self. LOL! I tried some Maple/Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat for Breakfast this morning... um... YUCK!! Unless you had a taste for the disgusting nerdlies known as "wheat hearts" before your surgery, don't do it!! It's so grody!! I'm sticking with my oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple sauce for breakfast. Good grief!!

I hope you have a TERRIFIC

[Carsons_Mommy 0]

Hey Kristin! Be glad the hunger hasn't come back yet. It's a struggle at first, but then, just when you think, "If I don't eat a Big Mac, Large Fry and a chocolate shake soon I'll die!!!" the feeling passes and you're back to your 'normal' self. LOL! I tried some Maple/Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat for breakfast this morning... um... YUCK!! Unless you had a taste for the disgusting nerdlies known as "wheat hearts" before your surgery, don't do it!! It's so grody!! I'm sticking with my oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple sauce for breakfast. Good grief!!

I hope you have a TERRIFIC holiday. Be sure and tell me how it goes with trying a "bowl of blended Thanksgiving", or in your case "blended pot roast". Sounds FABULOUS, actually!!!

Happy Holidays! Hugs!! ~ Andie

[Kristin1031 0]

Hey Kristin! Be glad the hunger hasn't come back yet. It's a struggle at first, but then, just when you think, "If I don't eat a Big Mac, Large Fry and a chocolate shake soon I'll die!!!" the feeling passes and you're back to your 'normal' self. LOL! I tried some Maple/Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat for breakfast this morning... um... YUCK!! Unless you had a taste for the disgusting nerdlies known as "wheat hearts" before your surgery, don't do it!! It's so grody!! I'm sticking with my oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple sauce for breakfast. Good grief!!

I hope you have a TERRIFIC holiday. Be sure and tell me how it goes with trying a "bowl of blended Thanksgiving", or in your case "blended pot roast". Sounds FABULOUS, actually!!!

Happy Holidays! Hugs!! ~ Andie

Hey Andie!!

We are having Turkey tomorrow the pot roast will be sometime this weekend. Well I hate Creme of Wheat so no worries there girlfriend....LOL

I have been having my cottage cheese and yogurt mixed together for breakfast this week. I have not tried any oatmeal just yet. I did have some runny scrambled eggs with fat free cheese for dinner last night that was awesome. I love eggs and forgot what they tasted like...LOL

I have no desire for any of the bad food YET!! Thank the Lord.....I am blessed by that I know. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and take care and stay in touch!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours...Hugz back at ya!!

[Skinny_Jill 36]

Hi Everyone,

I am doing pretty well after surgery on Tuesday. My port incision hurts worse than anything else. I have some pain in my shoulder but not to bad. The heating pad really helps with it. Getting up and down off the couch is very painful but is much better today.

Have a happy Thanksgiving! We don't have to worry about gaining weight this year!

Jill

[JennJenn92 0]

Hi all! Banded 2.5 weeks ago and already "hunting" for food. I'm tossing around getting a fill on my first appointment 12/10. Right before Christmas...blah blah blah. My old self coming back to haunt me already! It's tough because I'm still losing weight pretty good, but I'm relying on Jenn-power to do it, we all know how long that will last don't we!

[DDFran 0]

I'm new at posting, this is my first; but I had to express my gratitude to all of you responding to this thread. This has been my source to expectations and recovery. Everything that I've experienced has been shared by you and happily reinforced just how normal and on track my progress has been. Thanks so much and I look forward to learning how to post and communicate here. I hope I can give as much as I've received.

[Cherlita 0]

I was banded on Tuesday, 11.27.07 by Dr. Michael Roller at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, CO. I checked in at 830a and arrived in the OR at 1027a, anesthesia was quite quick and the procedure was fast. I woke up in Recovery, no problems. Procedure went very well, no hernias. I arrived in my room at 1215p. I got a little nauseous while being wheeled to my room, but thankfully that was the only time I experienced nausea. I had a PCA for pain control and used it about once per hour. I was up and walking after I slept off the anesthesia. My first walk was at 4P and then every hour after that until 10P when I went to sleep for the night. Pain was localized in the upper abdominal area. I kept pressure on it with my hand, which helped. I didn't get too much rest thru the night because they took my vitals every 2 hours. I had leg compression pumps that were going off too, so that kept waking me up too.

This morning I had some SF Jello for breakfast and a small amount of crystal light. For lunch I had some chicken broth and more crystal light and SF banana popsicle (yum!). I was discharged at 130p and home by 2p.

This afternoon I've experienced pretty severe gas pains (a 5 on the 1-10 scale), with the pain radiating up thru my mid chest, like really bad pressure. I've been taking the Gas-X strips, which have helped.

Oh, and I gained 10 lbs from being admitted to weighing when I got home. I was given a lot of IV fluids and wasn't putting out a lot of Fluid. My legs were also swelling some, so I was definitely retaining the Water.

Tomorrow I get to start full liquids. I just hope the gas subsides.

Cherlita

Loveland, Colorado

379/366/200

pre-op/current/goal

10.5.07: 379 (1st Surgical appt)

11.16.07: 366 (Pre-op appt)

11.27.07: Banded :clap2:

[Carsons_Mommy 0]

Hi Everyone! I went in for my 2-week post-op appointment yesterday. I'm down 14 lb since my surgery finally feeling HUMAN again. My surgeon, dietician & fitness guy were all very pleased with my progress. I'm SO proud of myself for doing so well WITHOUT any restriction. Although, I have to say, maybe it's just how I'm built but I swear I feel some restriction if I try to eat too much or too fast.

I go in for my first fill on 12/28/07 <Merry Christmas to me!>. I'm excited but a little nervous to experience what it's like to truly have my stomach pouch begin to be the "size of an egg".

So proud of us all for doing this! Yay!!!!

[admarino2001 0]

Try The Dry Soups From "maggy" The Come In A Small Packet. The Are Next To The Condiments. You Just Put Some Water To Boil For 4 Minutes, Then Mix It And You Are Done. The Taste Is Super!!

[admarino2001 0]

I had my surgery on 11-15 and I was on pain mainly because of the gas.

I remeber when I was I kid back home the grandmother used to remove the air from the adults by using a canddle an a glass. Well, I did it and it helped my a lot.

I you think about it, fire needs air to be alive. Well, you light the canddle the you covered with a glass, you will see and feel how the combustion looks for air and it get it from inside you body. Try it and if you have question call me 702-3284455.

Alicia