starting a new thread for anyone who has or is considering surgery thru the Brigham/Falkner program.

~Mel

surgery 11/13/07 Dr Vernon

-35lbs

wow! congrats to bostonlady and thinking! I am juuuuust starting this process and revel in the fact that you guys have now started this new life! I have a question tho'....I called to attend an informational session at the Faulkner...and I was wondering is that different from the meeting you all are talking about? I am assuming so.....yours is most likely a support group and mine is probably for the new and bewildered! LOL.....

Keep me posted on your progress! And, may I ask you.....how long did it take to have the surgery since you started this process? I am trying to wrap my head around when this *could* possibly happen......

wow! congrats to bostonlady and thinking! I am juuuuust starting this process and revel in the fact that you guys have now started this new life! I have a question tho'....I called to attend an informational session at the Faulkner...and I was wondering is that different from the meeting you all are talking about? I am assuming so.....yours is most likely a support group and mine is probably for the new and bewildered! LOL.....

Keep me posted on your progress! And, may I ask you.....how long did it take to have the surgery since you started this process? I am trying to wrap my head around when this *could* possibly happen......

Hi There Bostonmomma, everyone is different in regards to their insurance. Some insurance will make you go to a nutrionist and do the 6 month thing, while others like my insurance didn't, I have Harvard Pilgrim. I started in June and was banded in September. I also did my psyche and sleep study prior to meeting my surgeon. For me the best thing was making the appt with the surgeon the day after the info meeting and having my pcp schedule the other tests. Remember I'm a newbie and the are far more experienced people here, however thats my story. If you have questions about my specific surgeon or my process just let me know, it was really a breeze and not stress at all.

Thanks, My surgeon is Dr. Robinson! Not thinking too much. Told my 4 yr. old that I'm going in to have the doctor look at my belly and that I'll see him tomorrow afternoon. He didn't seem concerned nor did he ask anymore questions. I feel bad for my 2yr old as she is sick and really wants her mommy, so hoping she will do well w/o me for the night.

Suppose I should go pack a little bag or something right? It still doesn't feel real. My surgery time is 7:30 I'll post again when it's all done!

Thanks everyone for your support. Excited about joining you all. :mad:

Can someone please tell me how to post a ticker for weight loss. I made it, but pasting the link isn't working. Any suggestions?

Oh I feel bad about your little one being sick. I totally understand. She will be ok & so will you. :biggrin:

Hi Everyone, I hope those going into, or coming out of their surgery and recovery phases, are all doing well, and those continuing on in their journey are all healthy and happy still.

I had my 3rd fill last Tuesday morning, and wow, I got restriction. wow. It is good, I figured it out when it did not go well on Friday at lunch after I let myself get too hungry, on an already bad tense day. (***GROSSNESS ALERT*** It really is PB and Slime! Their is no stomach acid, just a lot of gunk from the mucous membranes whose job it is to start the food on it's way into the stomach. So, well well chewed food and saliva). Anyhow, wow. yuck. I think the food, and maybe eating too fast. too much. ? It was mindless eating, thoughts a million miles from what I was doing, eating, so warning, do not take your mind off safe healthy band-aware eating, just sayin' ya know, I share so people can know.

phew. yuck, sorry :biggrin:

I have dropped 9 lbs since Tuesday ~ so on Dr R scale, that is 5. :mad:

1. now am learning that if I eat too little, it is better than figuring out too late I ate too much. It is not taking much at all. Does that stop so you need another fill? (I am going to milk this one, I need results ~ now).

LOL! I thought I was the only one who gains 4 pounds on Dr. Robinson's scale!

So I'm now 3 weeks and 1 day out of surgery! I've been bad about posting, but have loved to read all about what everyone's been doing! I'm on week 2 of the mushies and so far, so good!

My main problem is that I don't really "feel" banded. Is that just because I haven't had a fill yet? I get my first fill on 10/19. I've been SUPER strict on all phases of the diet (pre-op, liquids now mushies) and haven't cheated but I don't really feel full. Then again, I don't really feel hungry either. The only thing restricting how much & what kind of food I'm eating is the diet instructions. Should I feel different?

I lost 2-3 pounds per day (I know I probably should stop weighing every day, but bad habits die hard!) for the liquid phase but not much since then. In fact, I've been flat for the last 5 days. Is this normal?

Also, for those of you that have gotten fills, do you need to have an x-ray of the band after the fill? What's that appointment like?

Although I'm happy with Dr. R and his staff at Brigham & Womens, I feel like I haven't gotten a lot of direction. Any advise would be great!!

Oh I feel bad about your little one being sick. I totally understand. She will be ok & so will you. :mad:

Thanks Heidi

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet as I only have my phone to respond. Got my band but feeling horrible. Nausea all day long and want to throw up when I sip water. They got me some jello and I'm afraid to even look at it. I know it will get easier but sitting here alone and really sad. My nurse has been wonderful though. Ill post tomorrow

Thanks Heidi

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet as I only have my phone to respond. Got my band but feeling horrible. Nausea all day long and want to throw up when I sip water. They got me some jello and I'm afraid to even look at it. I know it will get easier but sitting here alone and really sad. My nurse has been wonderful though. Ill post tomorrow

oh Im so sorry it didn't go smoothly, I will keep you in my prayers..........you need to get some protein in but you dont want to throw up..........feel better and I'll read from you tomororw

Well I'm home. I'm in a fair amount of pain which is to be expected. I have a total of 5 incisions and the port incision is the most painful. Darling Daughter got me good twice tonight, she was just trying to cuddle with me on the couch.

I tolerated 2 shakes today and some water. Did the swallow study which was ok, not as bad as I expected. I just took some pain med and am sipping my water.

Tomorrow will be my first day of really trying to get in all my liquids and protein. Does the sugarfree CIB make anyone else gassy? The pain from that isn't helping me any.

I'm going to attempt the brigham meeting next month.

Bostonlady I did want to ask you about how they covered your incisions though. I just have gauze and tegaderm over them. I was told to not take those off for 2 weeks. Which means showering will be tricky!

I had my nurse ask me today why they chose to do this to me as she said I wasn't that big. That was a compliment but I told her it was my decision. Made me think after that, but not too much cuz there isn't going back.. ha ha

Happy Friday!

Well I'm home. I'm in a fair amount of pain which is to be expected. I have a total of 5 incisions and the port incision is the most painful. Darling Daughter got me good twice tonight, she was just trying to cuddle with me on the couch.

I tolerated 2 shakes today and some water. Did the swallow study which was ok, not as bad as I expected. I just took some pain med and am sipping my water.

Tomorrow will be my first day of really trying to get in all my liquids and protein. Does the sugarfree CIB make anyone else gassy? The pain from that isn't helping me any.

I'm going to attempt the brigham meeting next month.

Bostonlady I did want to ask you about how they covered your incisions though. I just have gauze and tegaderm over them. I was told to not take those off for 2 weeks. Which means showering will be tricky!

I had my nurse ask me today why they chose to do this to me as she said I wasn't that big. That was a compliment but I told her it was my decision. Made me think after that, but not too much cuz there isn't going back.. ha ha

Happy Friday!

Hello Thinkingaboutit, well I have surgi strips across my incisions no guaze. I"m still relatively pain free except for "the crunch" feeling and not nausau. I found these shakes pre mixed called Mix1, the Mango is great and the blueberry vanilla is good too. For me I get bored eaisly so I had to make sure I had variety on hand, after all its only for 2 weeks so we can all suck it up for that long. I dont have the gas, but they say walking helps, I'm so sorry your in pain. They told me the surgi strips will fall off when they are ready just dont scrub in that area, let me correct myself I just picked up the packages its called steri strips. I believe someone on the boards said nexcare at cvs has a brand you can use to put over the wounds if they fall off too soon. I also heard that anything with sucralose in it can make you gassy. Keep positive thoughts and think by SUnday how much better you will be.

Hello Thinkingaboutit, well I have surgi strips across my incisions no guaze. I"m still relatively pain free except for "the crunch" feeling and not nausau. I found these shakes pre mixed called Mix1, the Mango is great and the blueberry vanilla is good too. For me I get bored eaisly so I had to make sure I had variety on hand, after all its only for 2 weeks so we can all suck it up for that long. I dont have the gas, but they say walking helps, I'm so sorry your in pain. They told me the surgi strips will fall off when they are ready just dont scrub in that area, let me correct myself I just picked up the packages its called steri strips. I believe someone on the boards said nexcare at cvs has a brand you can use to put over the wounds if they fall off too soon. I also heard that anything with sucralose in it can make you gassy. Keep positive thoughts and think by SUnday how much better you will be.

well I"m gonna make it to the meeting ont he 19th at the faulkner too, what room , is it at 6 too? I look forward to meeting you. Are you going to be joining a gym? I've even been able to walk a block today.

Just checking in day 4 after band and doing well. I feel like could go back to work with no issue, but I'm not gonna push it,I'm going to work with my band and get used it to so when I go back most issues will be dealt with. I'm out for 3 weeks. This fall weather feels good, but what a drastic change, but thats new england. So, how is everyone doing? I've been drinking this protein drinks called Mix1 I LOVE THEM, they have antioxidants in them as well, taste like a smoothy but definite whey isolate. I also have the chocolate protein pudding which is pretty good to, if anything its a nice change. I'm not crazy about he 50 grand slam protein from GNC, but its one of those suck it up and drink it, I need the protein this first couple of weeks. Anyone has suggestions on the soup? I'm going out shopping tomorrow and looking forward to it. Like otheres the muscle milk light is pretty good I think too, I had the banana cream and chocolate.

quite a few questions here....Yes the groups most mentioned here are the monthly support groups. All are welcome pre and post ops. The information session is a requirement for any WLS at B+W/Faulkner.

The total process varies from person to person depending on things like your insurance and surgeons schedule. If I were to guess the average time span from info session to surgery is around 5 months

Congrats to the newly banded!!! Take time to rest and yes the milk based shakes (and the large quantity of it) can produce gas. Some folks (ahem me) became temporary lactose intolerant after surgery. Thankfully this resolved for me over time and lots of Lactaid pills. There is a Lactose Free Slimfast available...keep in mind that SF CIB has dried milk in it.

I never touched my incision and was told not to cover it and leave it be to let the strips fall off on their own. I too had a stitch poke through like L2T...what a weird sensation.

On a personal note: not much new for me...still up in weight (+6lbs) and still struggling with portion control and pbing too much. I would get an unfill but Im not so sure that its not mostly user error vs the band being tight. I know if I get any fluid out I will lose any and all restriction.

Wish I could have back those few times when my hunger was gone and it was easy to stick to a plan. Now almost 2 years out its seems like a distant memory. Dont get me wrong I am VERY grateful that I had this surgery esp today when I found some old pictures of myself. It was a shocker to see just how big I really was.

Sorry for the babble but I know you are the ones who understand the most.

Mel

Edited September 27, 200916 yr by tinywishes123

Hi guys,

Tiny thanks for the info on the CIB. I think I need to look for something new. My stomach is yelling out, please stop! ha ha.

I'm feeling better today. I wasn't able to tolerate all my shakes or water yesterday. Had a little nausea, feeling much better today. I did 10 min. on the treadmill and hoping to get 2 more shots in today.

The pain is better, but the port area as expected is still hurting. I haven't taken any pain meds today, so that's good.

I don't have steri strips that I know of, just gauze and tegaderm. I may buy some more tegaderm to cover it up as they get loose, I didn't really soak them in the shower and they still feel pretty good. I do get pain when I feel like I have to burp, weird, shooting pain which feels like it goes all the way up my esophagus. Nothing happens. Then it goes away. Could be me drinking too fast.

Hope everyone is enjoying this lazy sunday!

wow TinyWishes, sorry you are struggling still... and I know what you mean, I am wondering if I should cancel the next fill appt. since I am quite restricted at this time, or if I should work it some more.

I am thinking I should delay it until I need, better a little under filled, cuz a little overfill would mean some or even all unfilled and start again. But then I think, if I get even more restriction, and figure out diet to work it, will I still have a dietitian based on the BWH issue with keeping their dietitians around. I really hope they get that one under control ASAP. Raise their pay, whatever, keep the dietitians there, and available for us.

Hi guys,

Tiny thanks for the info on the CIB. I think I need to look for something new. My stomach is yelling out, please stop! ha ha.

I'm feeling better today. I wasn't able to tolerate all my shakes or water yesterday. Had a little nausea, feeling much better today. I did 10 min. on the treadmill and hoping to get 2 more shots in today.

The pain is better, but the port area as expected is still hurting. I haven't taken any pain meds today, so that's good.

I don't have steri strips that I know of, just gauze and tegaderm. I may buy some more tegaderm to cover it up as they get loose, I didn't really soak them in the shower and they still feel pretty good. I do get pain when I feel like I have to burp, weird, shooting pain which feels like it goes all the way up my esophagus. Nothing happens. Then it goes away. Could be me drinking too fast.

Hope everyone is enjoying this lazy sunday!

WOW! tredmill already?!?!? Glad your feeling better!

:tongue2: