julieburns

Sorry you are struggling too. It does help to know though what others are going through. I too plan to hang in there because I can get water down. This morning as I maybe said already I am soooo tight. I have had 2 sips of warm water and am burping that. My whole esopheagus is on fire from all the pbing yesterday. I have 2.8 cc in the 4 cc band. I was surprised to get so much. Thanks for your input and keep in touch.

Update: I had a terrible night. I woke up 2 times choking on my own spit and left over smoothie from the day before at 4pm. I feel terrible today. My throat and stomach hurt so bad. I just heated up a cup of water and am going to sip it slowly so I can take my necessary pills this AM. I am trying to be optimistic and just play it safe for sure and only sip slowly on liquids for a few days. Even with each sip I burp and it hurts. I hope I can go to work tomorrow. That's 24 hours so maybe I'll turn around by then. On a bright note while I was in TJ I met some great folks. David aka Cujo aka Nicole"s husband was whom I met first at the OCC. We also rode in the van together back to the airport and ran into each other a few times at the hotel. OICU812 whose name is slipping my tired mind (sorry) I met also in the restaurant with his daughter. Each of the guys got their 1st fill. Both these guys were great to meet and have a chance to talk to. It's interesting to visit with men about the band and their perspective. In the van back I met Gwenda from Vancouver Washington (literally about 10 minutes from my house) and boy did we have fun at the airport. She has only posted a few times here. She had her first fill. We found out we have alot in common and just talked the whole 2 hours we waited. We even changed our seats so we could sit by each other on the flight home. We've exchanged info to keep in touch. She even called to check on me last night. So the trip was great except for the misery it has brought. I am really hoping this will just pass as the swelling goes down and to not give it too much power over me. I really want this to me my "sweet spot" even if it starts out "sour"!! I will let you know how the day goes. Thanks Dawn, Kim, and Cathy for your well wishes.

My last fill the port was accessed about 1 1/2 inches-2 inches below the large incision. Friday for my 2nd fill it was only about 1cm below the incision. I guess this means my stomach is shrinking with the weight loss? Just wanted to share this. Anyone else have this happen?

Comfy pj's are just fine. The largest incision is about 2 inches under your left breast. The others are scattered about the upper abdomen also. Nothing is at the waistline. Keep in mind you may have bloating though so the pj bottoms need to be loose elastic or better yet drawstring type to adjust as needed for bloating. Same thing goes for any pants/sweats you may bring.

I don't feel well enough to type too much. I havn't been able to keep much down since yesterday. Yes I can keep some liquids down, just barely sipping it though. I have tried 2 times to eat something solid and had maybe like 1-2 tsp. chewed thoroughly and to liquid form. I am miserable from sliming and Pbing from these 2 attempts. I feel terrible right now. My blood sugar is low and I need to take my medicine. I just took a few sips of juice with 1 pill at a time over like 30 minutes and feel like pbing again. I'm very worried I am too tight. Being saturday night back home in portland there's not much I can do yet except ride it out. I have a terrible headache also. I sure hope I am going to be ok. I hope this calms down tonight. I can't even lay down as stuff gurgles up right now. I was able to have a small smoothie from Jamba juice at the airport tonight, like 8 ounces of liquid so I know liquid will go down. I drank it over an hour very slowly. Now though I am sliming on water. Thanks for letting me vent a little and maybe there is something I am missing I could do to make this better. Maybe I should try the warm water, it helped this morning. I know if it stay like this I will have to call the clinic on Monday.

Well I am here at the Lucerna now. It's beautiful weather here...sunny and not too hot with a nice breeze. I got some time in out by the pool and now wanted to satisfy my "addiction" (to this forum of course) The handsome Dr. Acosta was doing fills today. Dr. Ortiz is out this week much to my dismay. I had all of my previous fill which was 2 cc when he pulled it out. He then added another .8 cc making my total 2.8 cc. Water is going down fine. I brought one of those ready to make tuna and crackers little thing with mayo and relish all in one kit to try and eat. I managed about 2-3 very small bites of tuna, no bigger than a pea size and 1/2 of 1 cracker. I went very slow like about 10 minutes just for that as I didn't want to have trouble. I got that almost overfull feeling on the last bite so I stopped. Over the next 30 minutes I slimed a few times just a little bit though. It then took about another 20 minutes and I felt fine, just full. Since I am here untill tomorrow I will test this thing a few more times before I go home. I think I am probably ok I just need to be very careful and go slow. Have a great friday night all...If it were me 10 years ago I'd be out partying untill all hours but instead I will go to bed early and read my book I brought to lull me to sleep.

Too funny....not for this girl though!! I hate needles!!

:lb10: I am happy for you. Are you doing better with being able to keep food down?

:lb24: :lb24: :lb21: :lb21: :lb21: :lb13: :lb10: You are truly an inspiration!!

Just wanted you all to know I am flying off tomorrow for my 2nd fill. I'll stay overnight and come back Saturday afternoon. As usual I will be traveling alone. I look at this as a mini, mini vacation. Time for just me to focus on me. I currently have 2.0 cc in the 4 cc band(10cm). I sure hope this one will be the one to give me good restriction. I had some restriction for maybe a week or so after the first. I hope I won't be disappointed this time. I'll let you all know how it goes. I hope to see Dr. Hottie roaming around, I don't have my own picture of him!!

Sounds pretty normal for post-op to me. Your body is going through a "detox" or "withdrawal" period from all the carbs and sugar and everything else that is bad for you we all ate before surgery. You also are sure to be dehydrated if you havn't drank any water and it's after noon. You must keep the fluids going almost non-stop. You MUST drink protein water to get some protein in. You must rest as you need it so your body will heal. Many of us started our cycles after surgery, it's a weird thing that happens. Use a heating pad on your tummy and wherever else you hurt. No reason to feel guilty, you just had surgery for heaven's sake. Our bodies take time to heal and sometimes it hits you more after several days. Especially since you are only having liquids. The coffee is not the best especially when that's all you had. Caffeine dehydrates you. Set a goal and for every hour get a glass of something to drink and make sure you drink at least 8 oz every hour while awake. Yes that sound like alot and is but even if you get 4 ounces an hour you need liquids. Your body needs fluids to make you feel better. You are past day 4 so you should get some drinkable yogurt smoothies and those will also make you feel better. They were a lifesaver for me. Hubby too on all the above mentioned things!! :lb4: If I remember and am counting right TOMORROW you get full liquids. Go to Safeway and buy some of their homemade soup it is the BEST. I lived on the Tuscan tomato basil bisque. It has no chunks and is devine!! Splurge on this and also get some puddings, frozen fudgesicles by skinny cow are also great. This is the time to try and be creative, don't worry about calories or anything else. You are in the most important phase of post-op so be good to yourself. Call me tonight I will be home and I would love to talk to you. I leave tomorrow for the OCC for my 2nd fill. Hugs to ya sweetie!!

Weighing everyday is TOXIC for women. Why would you expect to lose 1-2 pounds overnight? Did you not eat anything? As others have said women are notorious for gaining and losing 2-5 pounds overnight. If you stick to weighing once a week, same time (morning) and naked you will see more accurate results. Also your emotions won't be on the roller coaster with the scales!

:lb9: Hope you find lots of good info here, you should. Good luck with the ticker I am technically challenged and as you can see don't have one anymore.

I also found out there is a place in Tacoma that uses fluoro. Too late for me on the 2nd one. I'll check into that one Stormy and you find out about Olympia if you can and we can swap info. I am already going to OCC on friday for my 2nd fill. Why?? I was on the fence and couldn't decide which way to go...fluoro or blind? After careful consideration I just figured for me personally it was doable and it would give me 100% peace of mind if anything should happen to the band down the line. The OCC will perhaps not charge under some circumstances if you have problems if you've only been filled with them whereas if not they definitely will charge to fix things.

It's a mess in the finance world to put it mildly!! Sorry for your roller coaster ride for financing. What a wonderfol, supportive husband you have. Thank your lucky stars you have him!! :lb11:

It's the remains of the sterile soapy scrub betadine they use to cleanse your skin before they do the surgery. It doesn't come off easy and takes many, many washings to get off. Don't rub your skin off trying to wash it off, it will come off eventually.

I'll be there on friday also for my 2nd fill, in the afternoon. I am doing the same thing as Cujo and am paying the same price for the package deal with 1 night at the lucerna. That's what I did the first time also and it was great. Personally I want to spend the night to give the fill enough time and make sure it's ok. I think for me all in one day is too tiring and may not give me the time needed for the assurance I need that the fill is ok. Maybe I'll see ya around Cujo.

I am so glad you made it home safely and are now a banded couple!! How's your anxiety post-op? I hope now that the procedure is over you can take a nice breath and relax and have smooth sailing from here on out....All you need is wind and that will come!! Hope to talk to you soon. I go friday for my fill and will be home saturday night.

Most recent for me.... Getting totally off my diabetic meds Going shopping for clothes and every single time I chose sizes that were too big!!! I've gone from 3x to 1x tops, and from 2x or size 22-24 pants to 0x or 18-20 pants. I do need to clean out my closet and as suggested shop at home first. I have all sizes as most of us do and alot of great stuff just waiting for me to rediscover!!

:lb10: Arn't you glad you listened to your husband and then your own voice telling you to "weigh". What a great week. Keep up the great work.

:lb9: So glad you found this forum. As you may or may not know most here have had surgery in Mexico by Dr. Ortiz. We welcome those who got surgery elsewhere though as we are all in this together. How nice to only drive 10 minutes for surgery. Is this an outpatient procedure? The pre-op diet is hard. I think it's not so much how much you lose but that you've stuck to the recommended diet plan. Good luck. Keep us posted.

I remember clearly .......3 months before any abdominal work.

Just so you know "omeprazole" is the generic for "Prilosec" which used to be available by prescription only. It is not a new medication, it has been around for years but prescription only. It is now available to buy OTC. It did nothing for my reflux. I use "Prevacid" which is prescription only after banding and it works. There are so many different types of these meds and everyone responds to them differently it is more a case of trial and error until you get the right one for you.

I fixed fresh salmon my father in law had caught, broccoli and small red potatoes. I was drooling as I fixed it. Funny thing was after about 4 bites of salmon I was full and couldn't eat any more. I think your new "stomach" will dictate how much you can eat at the time. Some can eat more than others. I was in heaven and thought wow am I lucky. Slowly over maybe a week or so I began eating more and more and had to stop myself so I wouldn't eat too much. I remember having oatmeal for breakfast, like 1/4 cup and I was full all day!!

:lb10: Great job Jessica!!