Hey everyone going through Kaiser Richmond!!

Where are you in the process?

I just read under the Sacramento Area thread that there is a Bariatric Support Group meeting this Saturday at 11 am at the Point West Kaiser (by Arden Fair) - it is a mixed group (gastric and banding). I am planning on going.

That's so funny Pam. I called on Monday to Point West and got the info for the support group and will be there too. From talking to Angel (the gal that organizes it) there is a good handful of lapbanders there and she said they're all doing amazingly well. I'll see you there!

I will join you both next month. I cant go this Sat, i have a party i will be getting ready for:) Too bad I live over an hour away now:(

HOWLUCKYAMI, thanks for the info! I'm not sure if I can drive all the way out to Union City...do you ever meet in the East Bay? That would be more doable for me.

It sounds like a great support group and I hope to meet you all eventually!

Hey all, thanks for all of your thoughts & prayers! I didn't mean to worry anyone; I managed to post the surgery day story and then I could not get back on this website to post again! Let's hope this one makes it. I am doing great; only the port hurts and my body sure does make weird new noises!!! And lots of hiccups. Strange . . . . I am taking my pain meds so I'm not out driving around yet, but I walked to the store yesterday. I get dizzy easy from the meds, and tired . . .the more I do the more I hurt the more I need the meds . . but that's OK!

Here's the big news girls: I have had a total of < 2 minutes hunger since Monday. I am cleared to go from Stage 1 to Stage 2 today, and I don't even care - I'm not hungry! I sure hope that lasts!

Take care all!

Riley

Great to hear your doing so well!! I hope it goes as well for the rest of us. I can relax and breath now that I know it is not all that bad!! :-)

Riley I am so glad you are doing well:) Keep us updated!!!

I knew about the group at Kaiser I found out a couple of weeks ago but forgot about. I did tell Liz about it and she wrote it down in my file that I was going to go try it out. So.......I may be there this weekend. I probably would have my daughter who is 14 so I need to call and see if they would let her in..........

Tina have you checked your appts, if you were scheduled with the female preop nurse its cancelled.. If you were scheduled with Tom you are good to go:D

I'm sure it would be fine Tina.

TINA! Check on kp.org and see if your pre-op physical got cancelled. Mine and Nicole's both did and we had to call and reschedule, I just so happened to look it up to write it on my calendar and one of my appts was gone. I asked Nicole and hers was gone too. You might wanna check!

Hey all,

Well here I was sailing through post-op, happy as a clam, walking every day etc. when the area around my port incision became red and warm to the touch . . . just healing, right? But the area grew and by yesterday early afternoon it was about 3" x 4", Liz called twice the second time after she had talked to Dr. Baggs, and he said get down there NOW. So I spent last night at Kaiser Richmond in the ER hallway with IV antibiotics, and it is a darned good thing I went in because I could have lost the band if the skin infection (cellulitis) had spread. So I am home again now, on awful liquid antibiotics that make me sick but the redness and heat is gone . . we will not know for sure if the port has been infected and needs to be replaced for a couple of weeks, but Dr. Baggs is very positive that it won't, and assures me that it will be fine even if we do have to replace it!

The moral here is that if your skin turns red and gets warm around an incision, get to Kaiser RICHMOND (NOT local) right away. Dr. Baggs said that if someone not familiar with a port site at my local Kaiser had introduced anything into the site to drain it - which apparently they often do - I would have lost my band. SCARY!!!

I ate 4 baby spoons of split pea soup today, and was STUFFED for 4 hours! Like after thanksgiving stuffed. This is great! I am sorta feeling like I might be hungry enough to eat again now, but a diet jello will fill me up. I kid you not girls

Riley

OMG! Riley that is my worst fear, that you just lived. I was hospitalized a week after my C due to an infection... it is so not something I wanna deal with Did they tell you how often it happens??

I am so glad you are ok! And i love how fast u got full!!!

Please keep in touch!

Wow Riley, thank god you're okay. I'm so glad that you weren't stubborn about it and you called and went in. That could've been such a scary situation! Please rest up and get better and spoil, spoil spoil yourself!

That's crazy how quickly you're able to get full. I can't imagine that!

I hope your port is okay and doesn't need to be replaced. Take care!

Hi Riley, I'm glad you are doing better. Wow what a close call. I'm sure you wouldn't have lost your band :-). Did they give any reason why it became infected? Like Nicole said that is one of my biggest fears. But I won't trade LB for GB lol. Feel better and hope all is well.

I don't think that it happens very often - if it did, it would be in the binder - but Dr. Baggs had definitely seen it before. When he called me the day after surgery and I mentioned that it felt like he'd sewn a baseball in there, he specifically asked if the skin was red and warm to the touch. It wasn't at that point, but I'm glad he asked because of course when that happened later I knew to call. Here's to communicating with your surgeon!

How it happens - we will never know for sure, but I think I am predisposed to this kind of thing because I am allergic to iodine. The team was aware of this and did not use iodine or betadine or anything, but there are so many things in an ER that have it or some derivative of it on or in them - from instruments to sterile drapes - that it is impossible to avoid any contact whatsoever. And sometimes it just happens. Web MD has a good article on it. And I only needed the 1 round of IV antibiotics and 10 days of oral, and I never got a fever, so it was caught early and I did not have to stay in the hospital. In retrospect, no big deal - but it sure scared me at the time!! Glad it's over.

I started eating my jello and I forgot to finish. Sometimes I feel hungry, but it is different and it generally goes away. When I eat (full liquids), I really do have to stop and re-assess after 4 baby spoons. sometimes I can eat 4 more and them wait and eat 4 more (that's the most), but sometimes I am uncomfortable after the 1st 4 baby spoons. Stopping after 4 bites is very very new to me, but it is keeping me from getting sick. I am still hanging on to 5 lbs. of the 7-15 that you gain in surgery, boo hoo! I am going to stop the narcotic pain meds when I get some liquid tylenol tomorrow, and hopefully that will help wash out that swelling and I'll like my scale again.

Goodnight all! Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. Mine was a freak thing, and you will all do great!

Riley