Hi Everyone,

I finally had my surgery on June 16th, and what an experience it was!! I had several procedures done at once, which included a DNC & ablation on my uterus, pelvic exploratory to look at my reproductive stuff and an unexpected hiatal hernia repair(so they could properly place the band). Well, the hernia repair, come to find out, is VERY painful to recover from(apparently the damn night nurse was oblivious to this) so the first 16 hours post op my pain was at at 10 PLUS due to this nurse who refused to give me morphine(so that I would not be sleepy and get up and walk, etc)!!! When the morning nurse came in, I was crying and in out of control pain and it took 6 morphine pushes along with other drugs to get it under control! Needless to say, she was ticked because she had left me the night before and had just begun to get the pain under control when there was a shift change. It was a living nightmare, to say the least! And to put it into perspective, I have given birth to four 9 lb sons(not all at the same time of course,,,,winks) without any drugs!! And this pain was about as bad!!! Apparently when they stich your diaphragm, it's don't like it!! Go figure!! I ended up staying an extra night just for pain control and have been home two nights now.

I feel a lot better, but am STARVING!! This clear broth thing just is not cutting it and I know my blood sugar is freaked out. My doctor said I could start my Protein shakes this week if I want, so I am going to today, but man, I AM DREAMING OF food at night! Kinda funny, huh? LOL!! I'm still taking my pain meds, but I think most of the pain is just coming from the incisions and from the hernia repair. It hurts to take a big breath and I have gas out the *****,,,so to speak!! LOL!! It's great when it finally starts to break up and get out. My sister stayed with me in the hospital, THANK the LORD, so anyone who is going to have this done, needs to have someone with them in the hospital. Hospital care is not what it used to be 10 years ago trust me!!

What I have noticed from this forum, is that the post op diet varies GREATLY between docs, what's the deal with that anyway? I would love to just have a little mashed taters or oatmeal or SOMETHING to take the edge off. I noticed some people are eating soft foods 4 days out, what's up with the two weeks liquids only diet my doc wants me to do? Yuk, to tell you the truth, there is so much cheating on this thing, because IMO, it's impossible to do, your body is STARVING, and I don't think that is good for weight loss either! Anyways, enough ranting and raving on my end, hope all is going well for everyone!! Have a super weekend all!!!

Darie

P.S. I have seen where people have gained weight during the surgery and just to let you know, they pumped me full of almost 11 LBS!!! of Fluid, just overnight, it was awful being that bloated and swollen, but it's all coming out now!!

Hi Darie,

Well you certainly went through a lot. I know you're glad it's behind you. I stuggled a lot with the post op diet too. I wound up eating early but of course I don't recommend being non compliant like me. Forturnately, I was none the worse for wear. The doctor told me that the main thing that is a concern is vomiting so near after surgery because retching can cause the stitches on your band to come loose and can also cause the band to slip since it has to "settle" and heal. Also the liquids helps to rest the stomach so I've heard. In the beginning I was getting so little calories that I was getting very dizzy but I've heard that happens to many people. The protein shakes should help a lot. This time will soon be a memory. I wish you all the best on your journey!!

Try to stick to the liquid diet. I was on Clear Liquids plus 2 Protein shakes a day for two weeks. I is really hard but very important for your stomach to heal, especially since yours had a little extra stress with the hernia repair. Getting the Protein Shakes in and taking your Vitamins will help with the dizziness and weakness. Just take it easy and go slow.

It is terrible that the nurse treated you so badly in the hospital. I hope you reported this to the hospital and your doctor. Pain management is the main reason you are in the hospital the night after the surgery and that kind of treatment is unacceptable. Your body can't heal if you are in pain.

Hang in there. You will be feeling better in a couple of weeks and back to your old self. You had a little more going on than most band patients so give yourself some time.

Take care of yourself!

Thanks St Louis Gal,,,,and I was actually in there TWO nights because of the pain,,,,but I will stick to the diet,,thanks so much for the encouragement!!!

Darie

Wow.... I am sorry to hear about your experience. I am also having a lapband plus a hernia repair (hiatal if I have one...if not, I'll have a umbillical one repaired) The doctor DID tell me the hernia repair is much more painfull than the lapband (Oh yay :rolleyes2:

julie

Hi Everyone,

I finally had my surgery on June 16th, and what an experience it was!! I had several procedures done at once, which included a DNC & ablation on my uterus, pelvic exploratory to look at my reproductive stuff and an unexpected hiatal hernia repair(so they could properly place the band). Well, the hernia repair, come to find out, is VERY painful to recover from(apparently the damn night nurse was oblivious to this) so the first 16 hours post op my pain was at at 10 PLUS due to this nurse who refused to give me morphine(so that I would not be sleepy and get up and walk, etc)!!! When the morning nurse came in, I was crying and in out of control pain and it took 6 morphine pushes along with other drugs to get it under control! Needless to say, she was ticked because she had left me the night before and had just begun to get the pain under control when there was a shift change. It was a living nightmare, to say the least! And to put it into perspective, I have given birth to four 9 lb sons(not all at the same time of course,,,,winks) without any drugs!! And this pain was about as bad!!! Apparently when they stich your diaphragm, it's don't like it!! Go figure!! I ended up staying an extra night just for pain control and have been home two nights now.

I feel a lot better, but am STARVING!! This clear broth thing just is not cutting it and I know my blood sugar is freaked out. My doctor said I could start my Protein shakes this week if I want, so I am going to today, but man, I AM DREAMING OF food at night! Kinda funny, huh? LOL!! I'm still taking my pain meds, but I think most of the pain is just coming from the incisions and from the hernia repair. It hurts to take a big breath and I have gas out the *****,,,so to speak!! LOL!! It's great when it finally starts to break up and get out. My sister stayed with me in the hospital, THANK the LORD, so anyone who is going to have this done, needs to have someone with them in the hospital. Hospital care is not what it used to be 10 years ago trust me!!

What I have noticed from this forum, is that the post op diet varies GREATLY between docs, what's the deal with that anyway? I would love to just have a little mashed taters or oatmeal or SOMETHING to take the edge off. I noticed some people are eating soft foods 4 days out, what's up with the two weeks liquids only diet my doc wants me to do? Yuk, to tell you the truth, there is so much cheating on this thing, because IMO, it's impossible to do, your body is STARVING, and I don't think that is good for weight loss either! Anyways, enough ranting and raving on my end, hope all is going well for everyone!! Have a super weekend all!!!

Darie

P.S. I have seen where people have gained weight during the surgery and just to let you know, they pumped me full of almost 11 LBS!!! of Fluid, just overnight, it was awful being that bloated and swollen, but it's all coming out now!!

I also had a hernia repair and was in a lot of pain. It took a lot to get it under control. I also did not have the best nurses so getting the pain meds was a bit difficult also. So I literally feel your pain! They ended up alternating me with morphine every 3 hours and dilaudid every 4. It still didn't completely kill the pain, but it made it tolerable.

Sorry you have such a bad time. But I hope you're doing better now. I definitely think having the hernia repair at the same time makes it considerably worse!

Take care of yourself!

Hey there,

Thanks for the response, now I don't feel like such a woose over it all!! Because everyone else goes home the same day and the pain is minimal,,,etc., etc!! I am so hungry right now and I am only 5 days out, it's been really hard not to eat something!!! How did you handle it?

Thanks,

Darie

Hey Julie,

Good luck with your surgery, just please please have someone with you, hopefully someone familiar with the hospital bull crap and let your surgeon know ahead of time that you expect your pain to be kept in check!!! Be aggressive about it, because it is painful with the hernia repair, but if they do the medicines correctly, it does not have to be what I went through!! Let me know how it goes!

Darie

There is no way I could have went home the day of, I was in too much pain. I'm beginning day 5 and am still just kind of uncomfortable if you know what I mean?

As far as being hungry, I am getting hungrier, but nothing too bad, thank god! I'm lucky if I'm getting in 300 calories a day. I've eyeballed the chips & cake sitting on the kitchen counter a few times, but then I think about all the pain I've went thru this week. It's just not worth it. I've got to do this. I can do this! Since my surgery I have thought about how ridiculous it is that I had to go to this extreme measure to lose weight! What is wrong with me???? Why couldn't I do it on my own? Well, because it is so extreme, I am going to succeed, plain and simple! I have to keep this attitude or else I will fail!

Hey there,

Thanks for the response, now I don't feel like such a woose over it all!! Because everyone else goes home the same day and the pain is minimal,,,etc., etc!! I am so hungry right now and I am only 5 days out, it's been really hard not to eat something!!! How did you handle it?

Thanks,

Darie