Dolittle

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It's been 4 weeks since my LBL surgery. Not much has changed, the healing process is very slow. I have been cutting and pulling stitches as my incision heals. I had to ask for help on a few of the stitches, my good friend and biking buddy used to be a nurse, she had to use her medical skills to remove several of my stitches that my wife couldn't get. It helped to share a bottle of white zin as we did this, it made it fun and she did a great job. I still have a couple stitches left in my incision on my right hip. That section is lagging behind the rest of my incision. I'm still swollen, the tops of my legs are still numb,, the left is worse than the right. My groin is still swollen and numb, but,, its all getting better,, slowly. I'll take and post pictures at the 2 month mark. If I did it now, you wouldn't see any difference.

Dr. Ortiz on the radio in a few minutes,, which would be 4:20pm west coast time zone. You can listen by going to this link. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bandbanter/20.../Dr-Ariel-Ortiz

Meet The People Of The OCC As patients or visitors of the OCC, we walk into the lobby and the first person we meet is Gloria Miranda. Gloria has been with us for just over 3 months now. Being the OCC receptionist, her daily duties consist of scheduling dental and fill appointments, preparing all the patients pre surgery paperwork and answering the phone. She's 23 years old and still attending school, majoring in business administration. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, friends and boyfriend. Gloria Miranda

I personally think its all in a patients mind. Some how they get the notion that after being banded they can't swallow a pill. Big vitamin pills never got stuck or backed up on me. I guess if your pills are the size of golfballs then I'd be concerned. The best rule of thumb is to swallow each pill one at a time over a period of time and see what happens. It's like eating with the band,, some things will go down real easy and some won't. It's just a learning curve thing. LOL.

I'd email your doctor about that.

It's been 21 days since my LBL, I still have the left drain inside of me, Dr. Quiroz wanted to keep it in me a little longer than normal. They come out real easy, just clip the stitches and pull, they slide right out. You can do this yourself. I'm glad the pictures are of some help to all of you that are looking into having a LBL. I still haven't decided if this is worth it or not. I guess as time goes by and I can see the results I'll have a better perspective.

I was off two weeks, then went back to work,, but I was wore out by the end of the day. Tomorrow will be the 3 week mark since my surgery and I'm still in some pain, drainage tubes, etc. Everyday gets better,, but its a slow process. I had this done at the Cosmed Clinic in TJ. Dr. Quiroz and Dr. Ortiz are buddies. While Dr. Quiroz was doing my LBL he buried my port, its not sticking out any more. Heck,, I don't know where its at,, I can't even feel it.

According to the "Doctor's" show website, the segment featuring the OCC will be aired on November 12th

Today I added some pre-op pictures and some post-op pictures of my Lower Body Lift at Cosmed. I need to remind everyone that I have a lot of post-op swelling. So it's hard to see the results.

Here are my 2 day pre-op and 10 day post-op pictures. I have a lot of swelling in the post-op pictures, so it's hard to tell what my results are going to be. They say it will take months for the swelling to go down. I'll add newer post-op pictures as time goes. Pre-op,,,,,,,,,,,,, 10 days Post-op,,,,,,,,, Pre-op,,,,,,,,, 10days Post-op

It's Thursday, November 6th. I had an issue develope concerning a small lump at the top of my left leg/groin crease. It's about the size of a small jaw breaker. I called Dr. Quiroz and he said it was common to have a drainage issue in the lymphoid in that area and not to mess with it, it should go down on its own over time. He decided I needed to pull the right tube out and reassemble the suction reservoir to do only one tube. I disassembled the tubing and pulled the right drainage tube, it slid out real easy. I could feel it slide along my scar line on my right side. There was probably 1 foot of tubing inside. I also started appling a lotion on my surgical tape. This will release the tape from the scab under the tape. You don't want the tape coming off and pulling the scab with it. You want the scab to fall off naturally. Today I will monitor the left drainage tube,, if there isn't much I'll call Dr. Quiroz and he may decide to pull the left tube too. We'll see, I'm hoping the left tube comes out soon, it's a pain in the butt dealing with the tubes and reservoir. Other than that, each day gets better,, less pain and feeling stonger.

I saw a promo this week and it showed some video footage with the OCC's own Manuel pushing a patient from the operating room to a private room. So its going to be aired sometime soon. We'll keep you posted on the date as soon as we know.

It's Monday,, November 3rd, I went back to work today and tested the waters. I retired young, a couple years back, from the trucking industry. I took this little part time job working at our county court house. I only work 15 to 20 hours a week. It's sort of like a hobby job. LOL. I had to go buy a new pair of pants to go with my suit coat. With being swollen and bruised really good, I had to buy a pair that was 2 sizes larger than what I worn before surgery. My biggest concern was hiding the drain resviour and standing on my feet for more than a few minutes. I only had to do court for a couple hours today,, I'm glad,, I was a lttle wore out from just that. I didn't have any leaks, so I must have done a good job with my bandages. So I concider this a good day. Tomorrow I'm off,, so its a R & R day. I can't wait to get rid of those drain tubes, Cosmed won't let you pull the tubes till you drain less than 25cc's in a day. I'm at 75cc's a day. After work I stopped by the local health store and picked up some Silver Nitrate spray, to spray into my belly button, I'm trying real hard to stay on top of that.

It's New Years Eve, you've just stepped on your scale and you're in shock. Thanksgiving,,,,, Christmas,,,,, everyone at your work place has brought in tons of holiday goodies, you've been to several holiday parties, the holiday foods are just awesome.... But, the scale doesn't lie,, you've put on more weight than ever.... You're pounding your head against the wall,, asking yourself,, what are we going to do? We go to the Internet, we go to our doctors, we know someone that's taken control of their weight problem, we ask for advise, we make a decision, we decide to be lapbanded. It's a new year,, It's a time to take control,, You've scheduled your lapband surgery,, YOU'RE NOT ALONE!! Here at the Lapband Forum you'll meet new freinds for life, all going through the same thing or have been in your shoes. This is the place to get support and advise from your new lapband friends. So don't be shy, you're always welcome here. So lets hear it from all of you that have scheduled your surgery or fill in the month of January.

It's been 10 days since my LBL, My body still feels like I've been run over by a truck,, I can say it's not as bad as those first few days after my surgery, but, it's a slow recovery. The tops of my legs are still numb and tingly. My belly button is still leaking,, it leaks the same fluid that is draining from my tubes, kind of a light red colored water. I'm keeping my new button cleaned out and watching it like a hawk,, they say the belly button is one of the hot spots for infection after surgery. During surgery they pump 2 very large bags of fluid into you and 1 small bag of antibiotics, so your full of fluids and swollen. Your so swollen that I had made a mistake of not taking along a pair of sweat pants for my return flight home. The day I left RBTS I had to wear my shorts home, my jeans wouldn't button, even though they were loose when I arrived in TJ. Mornings are tough,, I'm stiff and sore till I get up and move around a little, but everyday it gets easier to get out of bed. I've learned to hold the front of my stomach with my hands when coughing or sneezing. If you don't, your in for some severe pain. Today I think I'll have my wife take some 10 day post-op pictures. I haven't decided if I'm going to post them or not. I have the before pics stored on my computer. I don't know,, its not a pretty site looking at pics of someones hanging skin or their post-op pics. The problem with the post-op pics is that your so swollen, stitched and bandaged up, its hard to see any results. I'll think about it today.

It's a big day,, Today I head home. Staying a week in Mexico laying around a recovery house gets boring. It wasn't that I didn't like where I was or who was there with me, I was just ready to leave. I met some nice people while staying there. The staff at RBTS was very caring and loving. The girls that were there while I was there were very socialble. Kind of an everyone that's there is in the same boat as you thing. My last day was long. Breakfast at the RBTS and saying my goodbyes, then off to San Diego airport. by the time I hit home it was midnight. I'll have to work on a list of things I might have done different and things I'd recommend. Give me a couple days to think about it and I'll post it in this blog. I'd like to thank everyone who sent me email and well wishes. It ment a lot to me.

Hi Gang,, I wanted everyone to know that I'm back home now and feeling better. I'm going to try to update my blog some time today. There's nothing like being back home.

Hi everyone,, Tuesday was an exciding day,, everyone that was staying at RBTS went into town and visited Cosmed Clinic for their post op check ups. I'm telling you,, when you've been sitting and laying around for the last week,, this will make your day. LOL. Dr. Quiroz said everyone was doing fine. This would be my last visit before I head home on Wednesday. Dr. Quiroz gave me instructions on how to pull the drainage tubes and when the stitches come out. We have to email him with a record of how many CC's are draining, then he will decide for you when to pull the tubes. The stitches come out after rubbing your scar with this special cream he gives you, it will loosen up the tape and when the tape is gone,, you can cut and pull the stitches. Everyones biggest complaint is the lack of being able to have a bowel movement. We had to stop at the drug store for several patients to buy blasting stuff. So,, if your concidering going with a LBL,, bring movement drugs with you. I personally liked what Dr. Martinez suggested,, Milk of Mag. That worked for several of the patients,, but several had to buy the strong stuff. Back to RBTS and dinner with all "my" girls. During dinner, I was told that I was RBTS's first male patient,, so their all excided too.