I have a couple of weeks off after my surgery, and I'm hoping to recover a bit from a killer year as well as my surgery. I'm not going to overexert myself, but I'm wondering, how quickly after surgery were people able to DO stuff? Like, go downstairs, walk for a block without trouble, put my clothes on without discomfort, and, most importantly - go to the movies.

Seriously. I want to be able to walk the three city blocks from my house, sit down and enjoy a two hour movie. Would I be able to do that a couple days after surgery, or more like a week?

I know we're all different, but it seems to me that the surgery isn't a big deal, just small incisions and a lot of air in the belly, and I have no real sense of how long it takes to get back to a normal life...

Thanks,

F.

Hey, Rick - good to hear things are progressing towards your winning that band!

I'm pretty good. I have my follow-up today, so I'll be weighed. I'm not expecting to have lost a lot, though - while my intake since banding has been of the order of 1000 calories a day, I've been more sedentary than I should have been. I've gone out every day, but I've been a bit of a wuss, haven't felt like dealing with bundling up to go into the cold, or walking long distances once I'm out there.

There's no pain; I can even bend pretty comfortably - although I do it gingerly, with visions in my head of sutures tearing out or some damn thing! So far, the only one of my wounds I can see is my port incision, which looks clean and pink and flaky - the others are all still hidden with steristrips, which I suspect will be rudely yanked off today by the doc.

I'm still not 100% used to the Alien in my belly, but getting there. I'm not as low grade queasy as I used to be. The only thing is that I wake up each morning feeling pretty inflated, and have to let off a salvo before I get up....

:mad2:

And that's me. I'm glad I took the time off - I've taken almost two weeks. It's a slightly luxurious convalescence, but I've found I spent it... convalescing. I'd hoped to get some things done around the house, catch up on some stuff that I'd been meaning to do, but I found myself a bit bushed, and grateful for an opportunity to just relax.

I did, however, make it to the movies last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, which was great.

Back to work Wednesday - my face lighs up with naked joy!

Uh :cool:

And there you have it: my first and last post with emoticons...

Good luck with the hoop-jumping, Rick - it's really worth it, as I'm sure you know.

I attended my first of 2 required group meetings last night and my Wife came with me even though she is having a rough time since her Mom passed away a little over a week ago. She is very supportive about all this.

Glad to hear you are recovering well and managed to get out to the Movies. I am a Huge movie fan myself but prefer to view them in the comfort of my own home.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to being great gains for you going forward.

Rick - I'm glad to hear your wife is there for you, even with what she's going through. SHe clearly understands that what'll be great for you will be great for her too.

And don't worry: I've been doing plenty of TV watching, too!

Rick - you got your date yet?

I'm a couple of weeks out. I managed liquids pretty well, and the doc graduated me to pureed foods at my 10 day follow-up visit. I must admit, I've been pushing the definition of "pureed foods" a little - I've had things like pork carnitas, basically braised shredded pork. I have been pretty good at avoiding things with real texture. I've done a pretty good job, too, at staying within the 1300 - 1600 calorie a day range.

I had my weigh-in at my followup on Monday, where I found I was down a total of 38 pounds. I weighed myself today at work (don't ask), and found I hadn't lost anything further. But I think I have - I'm able to buckle my belt one notch tighter; it may just be that the scale at work is set slightly differently to the doctor's office one. Since I'm going to be following my progress on the work scales, that's the one I'm going to refer to from now on.

Anyway, I feel good. My scars are looking good - I finally have scars! I feel a lot more rugged now - previously all I had was a scar on my knee where I gashed myself falling while snow camping as a boy scout, and a scar where I'd hacked open my thumb while having a brandy fight at college.

And I'm back at work. Uh, :shades_smile: So, fully functional, I guess!

Oh, one not quite functional thing - I'm having to increase the Benefiber in my diet, if you know what I mean...

How're all the other recent bandsters doing?

And Neal, you going to put a more recent TT photo up?

Hey Fenton;

I only have one more group session to attend and then I will get my date. I will keep you posted as things progress. Glad to hear you have a manly scarred physique now. I myself am fairly macho with many scars on various areas as a true testament to my misspent and wreckless youth. I actually wish I could go back and not get a few!

I had my Pysch eval yesterday and she said she had cleared me to go ahead so everything should happen soon. Keep up the good work and keep me appraised of your progress!

Later------

bigrick