Thank you to everyone for their support.

I took a 6 hour flight to CA on 3/31 and arrived in San Diego at 11:30 "their time". The driver, Ernesto, was waiting for me at the baggage area and put my luggage in the van and drove me, and another passenger, to Mexacali. This drive was about 2 hours long.

I was taken directly to the hospital where they were waiting for me and had blood work, urinalysis, EKG, chest x-ray, and then an esophagram to evaluate and completely unfil my band. The last stop was meeting with the coordinator to get pre and post-op instructions and to pay the balance for the surgery.

I was told I could have anything I wanted to eat (was on a 30 gram/day carb diet for the week prior to surgery) and driven to the Lucerna Resort which is beautiful. As I worked the night before, I elected to have the sandwich and protein bar I brought with me, showered, and fell asleep. I took the antibiotic they gave me before I went to sleep but did not take the ativan.

At 7 AM on 4/1, I was picked up and taken to my room in the hospital. I was seen by a medical internist who reviewed my tests (all good), an assistant surgeon (who was sleeved the day after me), an anesthesiologist, and finally, by the surgeon, Dr. Aceves. All questions were answered and I was the second sleeve of the day.

I got dramamine and versed to take 30 minutes prior to the OR and that knocked me out. LOL. My IV was inserted in the OR and I had spinal and general anesthesia. The spinal dramatically decreases the amount of general needed. Since I don't do well with general (severe nausea), I elected for the spinal too and had NO problems in the recovery room.

All I remember about the recovery room was being asked if I had pain... nope, and being told I was going back to my room. I got some IV pain medication at @ 4 AM and then had sublingual (under the tongue) toradol @ 1 PM. For me, this surgery was a lot less painful than the band.

At noon, I had to drink small sips of water. An hour after that I drank apple juice with a blue dye in it. This is the second test (first done in OR) for leaks. I have a drain near where the port was and the hope is that no blue color comes through to the bag. I passed. After that, I was brought hot tea, tang OJ, and apple juice. My IV was taken out this evening.

Tomorrow morning, I go for the last leak test and will have to drink a radiograffin substance. If I pass that test (and I have no doubt I will), the drain gets removed at noon. I will leave the hospital at 5:45 AM on Saturday to make my flight in San Diego for home. I have nothing but positive things to say about this experience. As a registered nurse I was very watchful and am impressed with the care, cleanliness, and professionalism I observed.

I gained 15 lbs when my band was loose but I could afford to lose more than that. I still had an overweight bmi so I am hoping I can lose 20 all together and the scale has been stuck for the last week.

I don't get why I can eat more though because our stomachs should both be the same size.

I have real trouble with diarrhea so I am glad to be moving to mushies. Even with mushies though I bet I have the same trouble because a lot of the foods like

cottage cheese are milk products. I should buy some

lactaid when I go out.

Edited May 22, 200917 yr by Oregondaisy

I don't get why I can eat more though because our stomachs should both be the same size.

In the early days, the size of your stomach is determined by how swollen it is. That's individual.

Why are you eating so much dairy? If you're on the soft diet, you can have pasta, meatballs, flounder, talapia, other soft fishes, tuna salad, chicken salad, omelettes, etc.

I gained 15 lbs when my band was loose but I could afford to lose more than that. I still had an overweight bmi so I am hoping I can lose 20 all together and the scale has been stuck for the last week.

I don't get why I can eat more though because our stomachs should both be the same size.

Not sure how to explain it differently than we have. You know the difference between soft slider foods and hard solids, it's still the same thing.

I don't get why I can eat more though because our stomachs should both be the same size.

Actually, the stomachs are not the same size. The amount of stomach that is removed can be anywhere from 60-90% depending on the surgeon and the patient's anatomy. Mac's point about the swelling on point. Some people don't have a lot of post-op swelling and heal quickly. With less swelling and more room, they can drink more easily and consume greater amounts of food. Remember, healing is generally complete at 6 weeks for the majority of patients.

The bottom line is that you're losing a lot of weight. You lost 13 and have 7 to go to get to your new goal and you're only a month out.

has anyone gained 20 lbs in one month w/the band? obviously i have been very bad but OMG! THAT is also w/the esophagitis, gastritis. just wondering........?

i am going staight to hell

I got the sleeve before I gained anymore weight from having a worthless band. I could see myself eating right back to where I started, since I felt like I had no band at all. Dr. said if I got anymore fills, I would go back to puking in my sleep.

I lost that 7 lbs when I was on clears for 10 days. I just started on soft/mushy food. I talked to Nina and she said that I should wait the full 10 days to start mushies so I did

you can have pasta, meatballs, flounder, talapia, other soft fishes, tuna salad, chicken salad, omelettes, etc.

I am not a fan of eggs at all but I just had some egg salad and I could not eat more than a couple of bites. It felt like when food is stuck with the band, so I stopped eating. I will not eat pasta at all because I am down on carbs. Carbs just make me crave more carbs. I did have that fish. I am not sure what kind it was because it was

in that Healthy Choice frozen meal. It was good though.

This is going to be interesting.

has anyone gained 20 lbs in one month w/the band? obviously i have been very bad but OMG! THAT is also w/the esophagitis, gastritis. just wondering........?

The band never gave me restriction so I fought to lose the weight on my own and fought everyday to keep it off. The problem was, the esophageal burning from the acid reflux and the not being able to get sleep was getting to me. If I slept in bed, I woke up choking on acid so I slept in a chair for a few hours.

With esophagitis and gastritis, you eat foods that kill the acid reflux and those are creamy, non-spicy, soft foods... packed with calories. I could have easily gained 20 pounds in a month. The reason I got the revision was firstly for my quality of living and secondly, to lose weight.

has anyone gained 20 lbs in one month w/the band? obviously i have been very bad but OMG! THAT is also w/the esophagitis, gastritis. just wondering........?

I am sure I could have done that. I gained 7 lbs one weekend,when I was under a huge amount of stress. I am a big stress eater so I am sure I could have easily gained 20 in one month eating ice cream and brownies if I let myself eat as much and as often as I wanted to.

The band and the sleeve both allow candy, sweets, and other empty calorie foods to slide right on down. Thankfully, those foods are not my problem. I could look at a dessert buffet and walk right on by. Hot bread and butter... not THAT I would have a real hard time with. LOL. Since I know what my trigger foods are, I keep them out of the house.

hi my name is violet and i have a fatass bc i am addicted to sugar

hi my name is violet and i have a fatass bc i am addicted to sugar

LOL. You crack me up! I'm fat all over... mine does not discriminate.

hi my name is violet and i have a fatass bc i am addicted to sugar

:thumbup: I'm only fat from my neck down to above my knees ... other than that, it's GREAT ... LOL and I love sweets AND bread and butter ... especially warm sourdough ... mmmmmmm

hi my name is violet and i have a fatass bc i am addicted to sugar

Hi, I'm WASa and I used to have a BubbleButt! HA! My thing has never really been sugar. If it's in front of me I'll eat it but I don't crave it. I just eat anything in front of me. ;o) So today I only keep good foods in front of me.

When it comes to trigger foods I learned a long time ago that if I eat it I crave it more. It's all or none for me. If I give myself an inch I take a mile. ;o) Anything with flour in it is a huge trigger food for me. Bread, Pasta, anything. If I take one bite that's it, the carb craving cycle begins. :thumbup:/