Hey everyone, I saw a Jan. 12 group, so I thought I'd start a Jan. 13 group. Anyone out there getting banded on the 13th? I live in northern California and will be banded by Dr. Waldrep at Sutter Roseville. Send me a shout if you're scheduled for the 13th.

My port is about one inch to the left of my belly button. I think the picture of the band inside of me is fascinating. The port incision is by far the most tender of the five. Whichever one hurts the most is most likely your port.

Adamsmom, I was wondering why it was so hard to go to the bathroom! It takes much concentration and 5 minutes just to go potty I TRIED the liquid tylenol on the 1st night.. well kinda. My great helpful husband gave it to me and I was in pain HE then read the bottle and realized he gave me 1/2 the dose, and I have not tried it again! But maybe I should as I do not feel as though I am dying just the little aches and pains, and if the gas would go away that would be a huge plus.

AND do not sell yourself short, you are right behind me! AND have lost more weight CONGRATS on that!! This is hard work and we all deserve a great big round of applause.

Hey everyody...Well I am doing much better today. I am only doing the Vicodin at night, Tylenol every 6 hours. I almost feel like I get more relief from the Tylenol. I got me meds down today, 6oz of protein shake and some juice. I don't have any hunger pains at all.

I have been going to the bathroom ok. I am SO gassy. Coughing has been rough. My mouth is scraped also. I am hoping to go to my sons school for a book fair tonight and a half day at work tomorrow. We will see. I am not going to push it but I do feel better if I am moving around.

I won't see my Dr again until February 12. He showed my husband what to do with the bandages in a week. The lump in my throat seems to be going away. Although the Dr said no warm until Saturday, I took a sip of broth and I swear the lump relaxed almost immediatley. I am sticking to cold as much as I can. Since the preop I am down about 9 lbs!

I was not told that I could have warm items, and have been sipping soup everyday I know every Dr. is different, great job on the weight loss. You are all talking me in to just trying the Tylenol again! So are you on liquids only until 2 weeks out and then "baby stage food" ? That is what I am on and I go back to my Dr. on Mon. I will let you know if I hear anything then about what else can be done for gas. It has to go away right??

Baylee--I know you'll feel better of you get off the harder pain meds. As for cold fluids only, hmmmm. They gave me hot tea in the recovery room and it was so soothing to me as compared to the ice water, which hurt going down. I still cannot drink anything real cold. When I eat jello, it has to stand on the counter out of the fridge for a good 2 hours before I can touch it. After I mix my shakes in the blender, I pour them in a cup an put them in the microwave for a few seconds. The PA at my doctor's office called me yesterday morning and told me I could have warm broths and teas. I even had a cup of coffee this morning! Such a luxury! I had gone 2 whole days without coffee. I have been out and about. Couldn't stay home and sit any more. I drove to Walmart and got the 1/2 cup and 1-cup Glad and ZipLoc food containers for making my pudding, soup, and jello portions. I bought some Gerber baby food: pureed mangoes, pears, and yams--I'll get to eat those in a day or so. Also got some more Gas-x. It was good to get out of the house. I am in California, where the sun is shining and we have unseasonally warm weather in the 60s. It felt good to be out and feel the sun on my face. Now, I'm exhausted, so it must be nap time

Hi All,

My surgery did not seem to go as well as everyone else. Right afterhad this unbrarable pain between my shoulders.-This was the worst pain I have ever felt. It was so bad that my Doc was called back. He said it was the band rubbing against my diaphram. (sp) He got me up and walked me some and THANK GOD the pain did subside within about an hour. Today, I'm really dragging. Stil sore. I only have 3 incisions. I have no idea where my port is. One of my incisions is in my belly button, well a little off to the left. I'm making some tea now. Maybe sipping that will make me feel a little better. Maybe I just need a little caffeine.

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I envy you! I wish I felt well enough to get out.

WOW it seems like everybodys story is different! Even the # of incisions. I have 6 with one large one where the port is! I too think the extra strength liquid tylenol is almost better than the lortab. But the lortab helps me sleep at night! I called the dr office for a follow up apt and the nurse (who has had this done) said that the side that hurts the worst is where they put the "scope" in. Hope everyone continues to improve! I wonder if the gas pain will ever go away. And I too hope that the 3rd day is the better! What is everybody doing for work?? I am suppose to go back tomorrow night. Has anybody had any lifting limits? I have a 2 year old running around and have tried hard not to hold him.

Baylee - I am on full liquids for the next two weeks, mushy food for a week then transition to regular food. I am very sore tonight, but I was up around quite a bit today. I crushed my pills and took them with a little pudding...it was horrible. I think I am going to try to cut them in to tiny litlle pieces and take them with a protein shake.

Adamsmom - I envy your sunshine!! We are so cold right now! I did take a walk outside this afternoon, bundled up. The fresh air was so nice.

The gas from the surgery is doing great, I just continue to be gassy otherwise. I am so glad that you ladies told me about the Gas X. It has been a life saver...:wink:

Hey Maybell, I have my surgery Jan 21st with Dr. Lusco. I have been reading through this thread and enjoyed your posts as I am going through many of the same things since we go to the same surgery office. I am on day 2 of the pre-op diet and I am hungary but not too bad I just really want warm things. Sounds like the Aleve pain meds are not enough did you fill the perscription they gave your for Celebrex? Good luck to you, I'll be looking for your updates

Perfectforme, so sorry you're having a rough time. You're right, everyone's different.

I forgot to brag earlier: Did I tell you ladies that I also did 10 minutes on the stationary bike this morning?

Amymoe--I take BP medicines--2 kinds, plus my post-op antibiotic, which is a honking big capsule. I can swallow those with sips of water just fine. You may want to try taking them without crushing them.

Andy--I do not envy you gong back to work tomorrow. Even though I'm feeling pretty good, I still have a lot of gas, and I'm still trying to figure out how to eat, etc. Take care. Take more time off if you can. My plan is to return to work on Wednesday, or I may take more time if I need to.

Just had 1/2 cup of split pea soup YUM! Also had the pureed sweet potoatoes by Gerber baby foods. I have cgest pains and have to burp after I eat, even a part of a teaspoon. It's all a new learning curve.

Hey Maybell, I have my surgery Jan 21st with Dr. Lusco. I have been reading through this thread and enjoyed your posts as I am going through many of the same things since we go to the same surgery office. I am on day 2 of the pre-op diet and I am hungary but not too bad I just really want warm things. Sounds like the Aleve pain meds are not enough did you fill the perscription they gave your for Celebrex? Good luck to you, I'll be looking for your updates

Hello KyBandChick. I'm sure you'll do fine. I sent my husband to CVS to pick up my meds (he also dropped off my Rx for Celebrex), and they didn't fill it because insurance wouldn't cover it! I would have paid for it regardless, but my husband came back without it. So I have just gone without it. I'm really doing a lot better today. I think the group we're going with are great. St. Mary's staff was friendly, concerned, quick. I was really impressed. They all did an excellent job. And Debi (who's also had the surgery) in the bariatric office is wonderful.

Have you tried any broth? I don't know if you can get any, but Watkins brand chicken broth is really good. I ordered some from a lady I work with, but I know Watkins has a Website, and people at fleamarkets sometimes sell it. It is really tasty. Or Debi said you can drain the noodles & chicken out of chicken noodle soup and drink that. With it being so cold out, it is hard not to drink warm stuff. I've also sipped on hot tea a lot with a tiny bit of sweet-n-low in it.

My throat was very sore after the surgery, and I did have some mucus come up, but it is much better today. I've had two of those Campbell's Soup at Hand Creamy Chicken soups. I didn't drain anything out of it. I know you can't have that til 3rd day after surgery, but you might want to get some. It has really been great to get something different after a week and a half of the same old stuff.

The day of surgery and the day after I drank hot tea, chicken broth, apple juice, tomato juice. The apple & tomato juice didn't really sit very well, but I had to have something besides broth and tea. I also had popsicles. I have now been putting honey in my hot tea, which is what I've always drank in it. I think it also helps soothe an irritated throat.

Well, I'm kind of long-winded. Sorry. I know you'll do great. Keep us informed on how you're doing.

Maybell:smile:

I am doing good today. I still have some gas pain and my stomach churns a lot. I will be going back to work on Monday. I seen a few people had mentioned the # of their incisions i am wondering why there were different #'s? I had 5 and andylou had 6. Does any one know why that is?

adamsmom - That is awesome news. i am glad to hear your able to get some exercise in. I will be trying my tread mill on Sunday. I would like to join a gym. it's very cold here and when winter comes I stay indoors. so a gym would be very good for me.

Hi everyone! I am with you adamsmom, I am taking my pills

whole.. I do not know if I could get over the taste of crushing them up :yikes: I have stopped taking the pain meds and have decided to use the liquid tylenol today, feeling pretty good. The gas is getting better, god I love gas x strips!

It is freezing here in Md. about 19 degrees, guess I will not be going outside to get some fresh air. I really wanted to get up and get outside today to catch a nice walk... guess that will have to wait.

11 more days till I can have "baby food" AHH I never thought I would be so excited to eat mashed anything!:wink:

Good morning, ladies. It seems we are all going from strength to strength as each day goes by. I still have the gas pains, but it's not as bad as before. I agree--those Gas-X strips are a Godsend. I could not live without them! :yikes: I am down another pound today--it's averaging slightly more than a pound a day since I began the liquids-only diet on Sunday. So, the pain and suffering is showing an immediate payoff!

Last night, I slept better than I have since surgery, but I did wake up, coughing mucus again. That stuff is really gross!:w00t: I have had my morning cup of coffee and tried the Gerber pureed mangoes. OMG! It was so sweet to me that the first taste made me cringe. I cannot eat it! I had 1/2 a chocolate protein shake, and will venture onto other things today.

Tomorrow, I can advance to having bananas in my shakes, as well as mashed potatoes and stuff like that. I am famished! It was interesting cooking dinner for my family last night, though--I made them brown rice, with orange chicken and steamed broccoli and carrots. I had 1/2 a cup of split pea soup in a plastic Glad food storage container! My kids looked at me like I was crazy:lol: I reminded them that mommy had a hernia operation on her tummy and can't eat the same as everyone else for a while. I sure missed a good plate of chicken and rice and veggies, though! I am finding that I can consume about 1/2 a cup of anything at a time. If I go past that, the gas is ferocious! I need to wait a good 30 minutes before I try anything else.

Tonight will be my first time out around other people and food--My younger son is leading our synagogue services with his Hebrew school class tonight, and I plan to attend. With the exception of my inlaws, (who think I had hernia surgery) no one at my congregation knows I had surgery, not even the rabbis--I will tell them tonight. After the service, there's always a huge spread of desserts and coffee. Obviously, I won't able to partake, not even the obligatory eating of bread for the blessing. Come to think about it, I probably won't ever be able to that again!:crying: I'm sure all of you are also realizing some of the little things that will change forever--for me, it's a little bit of an emotional jolt each time I realize I'll never eat a certain food again. Yes, food is an addiction, isn't it?