Smiley

Dried fruits - I have not had a problem, maybe because they are a little chewy they are not recommended. Asparagus - I have not had a problem, but could see that if it wasn't tender where there might be a problem. I just spit out any that are stringy/woody. Pineapple - Have not tried this. Rhubarb - Have not tried this and won't unless it is mixed with something strawberry. Corn (especially popcorn) - I have not had a problem with it and could live on corn if it was allowed. The skin on the kernal could be the issue here. Grapes - I have not had a problem, once again, the skin could be an issue and I would definitely get seedless ones. Nuts and seeds (walnuts, whole peanuts, almonds) - I have not had a problem and cannot think of a good reason why there would be a problem. I would probably ask my doctor at the next appointment about these foods.

I went back to the doctor this morning, which was 2 days earlier than anticipated. Being that I am extra juicy they had to drain some fluid around the TT area, but no big deal. He did take the tape off of my arms so I can now see the entire incision. My right arm looks great, I have had cat scratches that looked worse than it does. The incision on my left arm looks the same as the one on my right arm, but there are more "dimples" on my left arm. I am thinking this is due to the swelling and will probably improve significantly over time. I did get in a little trouble for stopping wearing the compression garments on my arms, so I am going back to wearing them when I am at home. He said that would help with the swelling. I am kind of excited to see if there is a difference in the arms tomorrow morning when I take the compression garments off to take my shower. I am probably too eager and there won't be a difference that soon, but I can always hope. As a NSV, I saw a couple of my professors today. The first one I passed in the hall and he said I was looking well. He knows about the Lap Band, but I don't think he knows about the plastic surgery. My other professor had his back to me when I walked in his office. When he turned around the look on his face was priceless. He didn't say anything about how I looked at that point, but he did ask how I was doing as the doctoral staff had been praying for me because of some surgery I was having. I then told him about the Lap Band and the plastic surgery at which point he said that he had noticed a huge difference, but wasn't sure what the circumstances were. We then had a lengthy discussion about plastic surgery as his wife used to work for a plastic surgeon. He will be leaving the school this summer, but I will see him at a conference in October and he said he wanted to see the arm scars again at that point. Obviously he has not nor will he be seeing the TT scars. I am also going to e-mail him my pre lap band picture and a current picture of myself once I have someone take a good one next week.

I would think 1 to 2 weeks would be good, depending on the type of work you do. If you have a job that requires a lot of lifting, I would go with 3 weeks, but your PS can give you a better idea during the consult. As far as arm use, I have been using them to push myself up out of the chair the entire time. For arm movement, I was able to put my bra on myself the first time I tried, which was about 4 days post op. I was shopping and trying on clothes 6 days post op (I already made confession to the doctor and got a half smile half you better behave yourself look ). I took more care getting the clothes on and off, but it was very doable.

Dr. Joseph Barnthouse in Kansas City. For the TT, Arm Lift, anesthesia and one night hospital stay it was $13,000. I absolutely love him and would recommend him to anyone and would also offer up my home for hotel services and myself for taxi services. Any doctor who spends 2 hours in 2 separate consultations with you prior to your making any financial investment is at the top of my list.

There is the potential for it to come back, but I don't think it would be as bad as it was pre tummy tuck. Kind of like the people that had TT's before they gained weight and then once the weight started coming off they rediscovered their flat tummy. This was something I had to weigh for myself as I am single with no prospects in sight. My theory was that I couldn't wait around forever to see if I was going to get married and even if I did there wasn't any guarantee that we would have children. If at some point in the future I am blessed with a husband and children I will be ecstatic and if that diminishes the effect of the TT I just had done, so be it. I will be no different than so many other women who have great bodies up until they have children, except that I will have a band and should be able to lose my baby weight easier. I did have some questions to answer when my mother read thru some of my materials, but in the end it comes down me and my life, not her and the potential for more grandchildren - but don't tell her I said that.

Sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. The key for me is to nibble at them as even a small "bite" is too much.

I am starting to feel old by utilizing the term "spell" for a problem I had. On Friday, while getting ready to go to my dr. appt., I got to feeling kind of nauseous and dizzy. I have had this happen many times before, so I wasn't super concerned about it. Typically it happens when I have my arms up working on my hair or face and if I will just drop my arms I will recover. I dropped my arms this time, but didn't recover very well so I sat down for a minute. After still feeling like I was going to pass out I made a mad dash for my bed. After about 5 minutes I started feeling better and got up to finish getting ready. Then, it happened a second time and I went directly to my bed. It got worse while I was laying on the bed, but did eventually subside to the point that I could function. I was ready to call my plastic surgeon to say I would be late and then call my staff to come pick me up and take me to the doctor, but after a glass of milk and a little more time I felt like I could drive and get there. When I got to plastic surgeons office I had regained my color, but not my demeanor. They offered me some peanut butter crackers and Sprite, but I didn't want anything at all to eat. This had absolutely nothing to do with my plastic surgery, it was just their office I was going to. I told him I was going back home after the appointment and he felt like I was okay to drive so he did let me go, otherwise he said I would not have been going anywhere. When I got to my car I changed my mind and called my primary doctor and they worked me in. My primary doctor ran some blood pressure tests and also drew some blood (boy was that fun with cut up arms and no good veins in my hands). I have always had good blood pressure and pulse and still did even when it tested its worse at the office. The problem was that my heart rate had a 10 ?point? difference between when I was resting and when I was standing up, and there should have been no more than a 5 ?point? difference. My primary thinks that I may be low on sodium, which means I am kind of dehydrated. I have been drinking plenty of water, but if I do not have enough sodium in my body to retain that water and hydrate myself I just pee it out without getting much benefit from it. So, I was sent home and told to eat some sodium. I am not a salt eater, never have been and never will be (makes me nauseous thinking about eating it), but I am now paying attention to the amount of natural sodium in my food to make sure that I get enough. I have felt much better in the past couple of days and did not have a problem while getting ready at all this morning, and in the past few months I had most mornings. Sodium content in foods was in the news this past week so I did go on the Chili's web site and see how much sodium was in my favorite salad there. It has 2650 mg, which is a lot, but when it takes 4 meals to consume that entire salad I get about 650 mg per meal - which may be off a little because I get the grilled chicken instead of the fried. If I have that for 2 meals a day and then add in my milk and breakfast I will be getting less than 2000 mg for that day. I am supposed to try and get in between 2000 and 3000 mg. He did say something about putting me on blood pressure medicine to keep my heart rate steady. The problem is, that when I work out this will not allow my heart rate to go up. I don't like this idea and will fight it tooth and nail. If my heart rate doesn't go up when I exercise, will I be benefitting cardio wise from exercise? Right now I am just hoping it is the sodium issue and that I will be able to correct it by eating enough. The lap band is supposed to help people that have blood pressure issues, not create the problem in someone that doesn't - not that it is the fault of the lap band, I'm just saying. So, for now I have a privelege that many people only wish they could have, a directive from my physician to eat more sodium - who'd have thought this would ever be an issue?

Okay, as requested I have taken pictures of my TT and Arm Lift and have posted them in the gallery. The pictures aren't very good, but that's what happens when you are single and have to utilize the mirror to get them. Also, you will notice the mirror is kind of yucky. I do keep house better than that, but I have utilized the mirrored doors on my closet to keep track of my weight loss with a dry erase marker. Therefore, I have not cleaned them lately. Looks like I need to transfer that information to paper and get it cleaned up - after my arms heal. Didn't realize it would show up so clearly in the pictures - oops! Maybe I can get my plastic surgeon to e-mail me his pictures which are much better - I'll try to remember to ask the next time we take pictures, and if so I will replace what I put up with his. My side really doesn't have that roll anymore, except for when I twist to take a picture. All of my incisions are still taped up, so you cannot see the scars on my arm and I don't plan on showing the stomach one at this point. I still have some swelling so it will be awhile before we know what the final result looks like, but I am definitely happy happy happy!

Check out the goodwill stores. If you are choosy you can get some good clothes there for just a few dollars a piece. This is what I did while I was in the midst of changing sizes. I will always go back there to get my work out shirts. I got Eddie Bauer t-shirts that run about $20 brand new in the store for $1.99 and there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. I will also suggest shopping during the off season. Dress Barn and Kohl's both have clearance racks going at the present time. Some of the stuff Kohl's on clearance is short sleeved or 3/4 length. They sold this stuff all winter and now have it on clearance. I would have froze to death in it during the winter, but all about buying it now that I can get a brand new top for around $8. Dress Barn clearance items are 70% off. I got a short sleeved sweater there yesterday for $7.50. I will be feeling your pain when I get my credit card bills, but I did plan on spending part of my income tax refund on clothes, so at least I will be able to pull it out of savings. Normally I am excited to wear any new outfit I purchase, but I have purchased so much lately that I can't even remember what my new stuff looks like.

I had something similar to this in regards to radiating pain although my port site wasn't necessarily tender. For me it was a build up of scar tissue. It took a few months to figure out and then finally stopped a couple of weeks after we figured it out. I was told that scar tissue does this sometimes and also has the ability to decrease later and therefore provide relief. Maybe that is what you are experiencing. If so, I figured out that deep breaths were a no no so I learned to take shallow breaths when it was hurting. I am glad that you have peace of mind that it is not anything band threatening.

Didn't even think about the steroid eye drops I was on before my plastic surgery as maybe being part of the reason I didn't lose the last 2.5 pounds I was hoping to lose. Oh well, I am off of them now and waiting for the swelling to go down to see how much I really lost by way of the surgery.

SAAAWEET! T-7 days! The count down is on to the first day of the new you! You will do great!

Sounds like you might need to be on liquids for a few more days. I experienced something like this after my fill in January - that was when I realized I had restriction, but maybe a little too much. It eventually started to loosen up so I didn't go for an unfill because that was the first time I had really felt restriction. If it were me I would cut out solids for a few more days and go back to full liquids. As long as you can get liquids down you are not in major trouble, it is when liquids will not go thru the band that you cannot give it time and must go for an unfill immediately. I am by no means a doctor, but I think a few more days on liquids and then trying mushy/soft foods such as cottage cheese for a few more days should be okay. Let us know how it goes.

I have the large band as well. My surgery was 2/29/08. My first fill was the beginning of April and they put 4 cc's in my band. In May they put 2 cc's in. By June I was losing the typical 1-2 pounds a week, so she thought I was close to my sweet spot and just put a small fill in. In July the fill person changed (boy is he cute) and he was kind of under the same impression based on my weight loss so we went with another small fill. In August my grandmother passed away and I was honest with him in that I was keeping my food intake to a cup during that week, but the contents of the cup were questionable because we ate what we could when we could. We were also gearing up for the school year at work which meant I wasn't taking time to exercise like I should have and still eating what I could when I could, hence the reason I had only lost 3 lbs. that month, so we didn't do a fill that month. Beginning in September he changed the way he did my fill. We would do a barium swallow to make sure everything was okay and then he would put the needle in give me a little fill, and I would stand up and do a barium swallow. This allowed him to take the fill up or down until it looked like I had the proper amount of restriction. This is how we continued doing fills thru the end of Feb. 2009. I was told that most people with my band size hit I their sweet spot around the 7 cc level, but I guess I just required more. My fills and all follow up visits for the first year were included in the cost of my surgery. Even though it appeared that I had good restriction on the flouro I couldn't "feel it" in that I could not feel liquid or food in my pouch or when it went thru the band as some can, unless I didn't chew well. I limited my portion to one cup, so that may be why I never got the feeling that says "stop - you are full". My first pb came in January because I didn't chew something well enough. Some people think they have restriction when they pb, which may be true, but it isn't a good way to measure normal restriction, only restriction that has you too tight. It was the end of January when I could finally tell when things were going thru my band. I still couldn't feel them, but I could hear them. A noise that sounded like a semi-clogged drain draining would come from my chest as liquid and food went thru the band. I now get that feeling/thought, "if you eat another bite . . . ," which means stop eating because I don't want to find out what happens if I eat another bite. I have been eating an ear of corn while typing this and I now have that feeling - so no more corn for me. I will also go throw it away, otherwise I will be tempted to finish it when I know space has been made available. I would seriously suggest liquids for a few days after your fill. This allows your band to calm down if there has been any swelling and it also helps to mentally prepare you for the fact that you need to re-establish your relationship with your band. What you were able to do before the fill may be a thing of the past, so you have to learn the new set of rules that exist. There is a post on here about "You might be a bandster if . . ." and I probably need to make an addition to it, in that, "You might be a bandster if you eat cream of chicken soup for dinner one night just because it sounds good." I can honestly say I didn't know cream of chicken soup could be eaten any other way than in a casserole until I had my lap band put in. Hope some of this helps. Stay in touch with this forum and you will get the education and support that has not been given to you by your surgeon. As for the nutritionist, I didn't have one either, but after a lifetime of dieting and trying to lose weight I knew what proper nutrition was, I just needed to do it.

For most people they do, I guess I am just extra juicy. :-?