I was banded on 12/29 and all went very well. Came home an afternoon early on Sunday (wasn't resting well since I couldn't sleep in the bed).

Well, yesterday was my no good, very bad, horrible day. I ended up being tested for DVT - the blood test was positive, but the resulting ultrasound was negative. Then had an EKG cuz my doctor (not my surgeon) didn't like the sound of me still having shoulder pain. After 4 attempts, they got a reading which was okay. I was either at my doctors, or traveling to and from the hospital for tests, and then back to my doctor until 4pm last night. All I had available to me was a bottle of Protein Water I had taken with me. I was an emotional mess and physically just done.

Tonight, finally feeling the cloud of "why the heck did I do this" slightly lift off me, I noticed my port is a little red so I'm going to urgent care tonight just as soon as my hubby gets home. Our threatened rain storm has begun and I just feel safer on the road with him driving.

As someone has previously said, I just want the feeling of being un-normal to go away so I can move forward with this thing.

I would check out any redness since it could be infection. But it takes time to get back to "normal." Hang in there, you will be fine.

I had my surgery on 12/27 and had no problems at all until today when I had a lot of gas in my abdomen. It hurt and I thought it might be something bad. We'll see in the a.m. I took gas-X and some pain meds so it is better now.

Why did the doctor consider "shoulder pain" abnormal? If you read the posts of post-ops, you'll find probably 80+% of us were in dire distress with shoulder pain for at least a week or more. Shoulder, under the shoulder blade, up the neck, in the back....

Do you have an aftercare doctor who is closer than Mexico?

I think a lot of doctors respond to shoulder pain as if it could be a possible heart attack. I knew what the shoulder pain felt like because I had had laparoscopic surgery before, so I didn't panic and call the doctor but another lady who had surgery the same day as me called and they made her go in for testing. Now I tell everyone "You are going to have shoulder pain, it most likely is NOT a heart attack, don't call unless you really think you are dying or they WILL make you go in to cover their butts!"

Do you have an aftercare doctor who is closer than Mexico?

Unfortunately no. My Kaiser primary care doctor is great, but is unfamiliar with lapband recovery. I had a HORRIBLE visit at Kaiser Urgent Care with an RNP who basically told me that Kaiser (So. Cal) won't do a thing to support my lapband in any way except to remove it. There was more (questioned why I had it done, etc. - after all SHE lost her weight the old fashioned way, etc.). My primary care doctor never told me that Kaiser was THAT against the lapband to the point of not supporting it (they will only support the gastric bypass which they provide).

Now I'd like to find a local lapband doctor who would be open to being there for me (willing to pay out of pocket) if I need it, but I'm not sure where to look or how to even ask.