I'm in TJ! - my experience so far

[sdalaq]

Hi Shelby. I sent the pictures and heard back from Dr Ortiz and Dr. Martinez today. Dr Martinez said that they have to make a little groove for the port to sit in and sometimes it bleeds a bit and then the blood is absorbed by the surrounding skin. He asked me if it was soft or I could feel anything hard. I told him it was soft and that the bruising was actually changing to yellow and green today. He thinks it is going to be fine. Dr Ortiz says that if it keeps on increasing and gets hard I need to go to my GP and get some antibiotics. He also said to use a heating pad for 15 minutes every 4 hours to help the blood absorb.

Other than the brusing I feel great. Have been walking and tolerating fluids with no problems.

I am glad to hear that you had bruising as well it makes me not feel like it is so strange. Dr. Martinez gave me his cell phone and told me to call with any concerns.

You sure don't get this kind of service in Canada.

Anyways thanks again for telling me about your bruising as it gave me some peace and helped me not to worry so much.

Debbie

Hello, glad to of met everyone. Its nice to put an actual face to the names. Anyways, I am bruised up too. But everything is healing fine. Im still very sore in the port incision area. I can almost sleep onmy stomache again. Im having a hard time to drink alot of fluids, it feels like each sip is a couple of glasses that I gulped down. Also today, I burped the first time and it was sooo painful. It hurt between my shoulder bldes, and Im thinking that cant be good for a band thats less than a week old. Anyone else experiance the same thing?

[sdalaq]

Glad all is going well! I had some really nasty bruises so don't worry they finally clear. I bruise easily though so it didn't surprise me. My bruises took a while to heal too. I took pics but ended up deleting them b/c they grossed me out so bad. They were nasty!

I noticed that we are both from the KC area, just wondering about something. I received a card that said I can purchase childrens meals, have you had any issues becouse you are not under 12? Just curious. Im not anywhere near eating solid foods yet.

[twistedsister]

I noticed that we are both from the KC area, just wondering about something. I received a card that said I can purchase childrens meals, have you had any issues becouse you are not under 12? Just curious. Im not anywhere near eating solid foods yet.

I am from KC area to i used my card at Zio's in Independence and had a childs meal. that is the first time i used it. Good Luck to you.

[RevyD]

Hello, glad to of met everyone. Its nice to put an actual face to the names. Anyways, I am bruised up too. But everything is healing fine. Im still very sore in the port incision area. I can almost sleep onmy stomache again. Im having a hard time to drink alot of fluids, it feels like each sip is a couple of glasses that I gulped down. Also today, I burped the first time and it was sooo painful. It hurt between my shoulder bldes, and Im thinking that cant be good for a band thats less than a week old. Anyone else experiance the same thing?

Hi it is good to hear from you. My bruising is starting to fade a bit but I still look like someone took the boots to me. I also am still sore around the port site. It is getting better daily and I can nearly sleep on my tummy again as well. Does anyone know how long it takes before that port pain dissappears all together?

I am having no problem drinking but I do feel full all the time and have to make myself get enough fluids in for the day.

About the burping. I was burping right from the moment I woke up after surgery and the pain was incredible. Now I can belch away and there is no pain with it. I would think you area just getting rid of gas. It is a horrible pain but it will subside.

Got to run to work now. I hope you have an awesome day.

Tomorrow I get to start liquid yogurt so that should be interesting.

Debbie

[DisasterWalking73]

It is really interesting to hear how different everyone's individual experiences have been - the amazing human body, huh? I don't have much bruising (the bruise from the heparin shot is way worse than on any of my incisions, they just each have a tiny little ring of what appears to be very old, almost-healed brown bruising around them - it extends out maybe 1/4 inch. I have been burping, too - and I'm right there with RevyD - it hurt like heck, at first! It's still a little uncomfortable, but not to bad. Port is still a little tender, but I can tell it's healing. My problem is that I've been starving, practically from the first day post-op. I feel like I could eat Thanksgiving dinner right now, if I wanted to (I'm on Day 7, post-op, and I've gotten permission to start drinkable yogurts and creamy soups, as well as protein shakes) - still nothing seems to be very satisfying - I can drink as much as I want - although I try not to drink huge volumes at a time for fear of stretching the pouch. I have PCOS with the accompanying insulin resistance - so I'm wondering if that's contributing to me being so hungry? I'm still sticking strictly to liquids, but it's a struggle. Ah, well - only 14 more days...

Hi it is good to hear from you. My bruising is starting to fade a bit but I still look like someone took the boots to me. I also am still sore around the port site. It is getting better daily and I can nearly sleep on my tummy again as well. Does anyone know how long it takes before that port pain dissappears all together?

I am having no problem drinking but I do feel full all the time and have to make myself get enough fluids in for the day.

About the burping. I was burping right from the moment I woke up after surgery and the pain was incredible. Now I can belch away and there is no pain with it. I would think you area just getting rid of gas. It is a horrible pain but it will subside.

Got to run to work now. I hope you have an awesome day.

Tomorrow I get to start liquid yogurt so that should be interesting.

Debbie

[jhawkchick75]

I am from KC area to i used my card at Zio's in Independence and had a childs meal. that is the first time i used it. Good Luck to you.

Woo Hoo KC!!! Me too!!! I've never used my card I have a 24 yr old brother that lives with me so he is always the recipient of my leftovers and loves it!! I'm a big fan of Mexican food and it is convenient since you can order a la carte. When I do need a fast food fix I also do the kids meals at Sonic or McD's.

[Holly]

I have never had to use my card and I order kids meals all the time. I have never had one person at a restaurant ever say anything! I live in AZ...but I have ordered kids meals off menu's in CA and OK as well.

[AmberStarrC]

I thought since we were all sharing I would add my experience. I had surgery on October 6th and unfortunately I have NO memory of Dr. Ortiz what so ever. NONE. I was the first surgery of the day and spoke at length with Dr. Martinez- who was very helpful and very charming and in my opinion also very good looking. LOL. They brought me into the OR where I talked with Dr. Martinez and the anesthesiologist ( I don't remember his name ). Then they gave me my meds, and while I talked with Dr. Martinez about how long it would take to knock me out, the light above the table started multiplying. Then my famous last words "I think the meds are kicking in." The next thing I know, I'm trying to call my husband to tell him I'm out of surgery. My mother told me later that Dr. Ortiz came in immediately after surgery to talk with me, but like I said NO memory of it. I was up and walking around quickly. Around and around and around. I didn't even wait for Carmelita to come get me. I got up with my little IV cart and took off. I wanted to get out of there so badly I hate hospitals. Hate them and I am a serious insomniac so I can't stand looking at the walls all night. I went in for surgery at about 730 am and we were back at the hotel by 230pm. Then the pain started. I had a really hard time sleeping. I was so mad at everyone who ever said it was "a piece of cake", because I was HURTING. I've been through natural child birth (with LOTS of stitches-TMI?) and this definitely hurt a lot worse. I laid there in pain all night and then finally decided to go back to the OCC in the morning. I actually laid there for a while with my mother getting ever so impatient. I can't speak Spanish but I can definitely understand some since my husband speaks Spanish and they were discussing with each other how it was just port soreness. Finally we left. And my mom wanted so badly to go shopping while we were there so we went and did a little shopping on Revolution (I was in pain the whole time). The whole time I was trying to make her think I was not in pain. I agree with everyone that the staff at the OCC is really professional , but I was really amazed at the fact that no one ever thought to give me anything for pain. They give you that Supradol stuff, but it didn't work for me at all. When we were leaving TJ in the van there were two girls- one who had just had surgery and her companion. After sitting there talking about how and why I was in so much pain, the driver stopped at a pharmacy on the way to the airport, and the companion whips out a prescription for pain killers and says "oh they didn't give you a prescription, they gave us one"... :-? . Then it took us about 2 hours to get over the border...(even the driver was sweating- he told us to run through customs lol) all that running through customs with luggage and literally being shoved around and hoofing it to the parking lot did not help the pain. Thank God the driver came running over from the parking lot to help drag our luggage. I asked the OCC if we could leave earlier because I was scared of missing my flight and they said no it was plenty of time. We had exactly 3 hours from the time the driver picked us up until our flight left. So with a stop at the OCC, pharmacy, and the 2 hour trip across the border, we were cutting it CLOSE. That was a little stressful.

With alllll that being said:

I stayed at the Lucerna- it was wonderful- the food was awesome and so was Alonso

I LOVED Carmelita, she was one of the most genuinely caring people I have ever met

Dr. Martinez was really great

Aside from the pain, there were no complications with the surgery for me

I am like 16 days post-op and still waiting for the port pain to go away

And YES just about every doctor there was good looking (I'm sure they thought I was too in my paper panties )

I just wish I had met Dr. Ortiz before surgery so I could remember him!!

[snoppy1]

I glad to hear that someone other than me had pain. I kept thinking I was a woose because like you said no one talked about pain. I was banded on the 13th and still have port pain at times. I do remember meeting Dr. Ortiz and believe me he is every bit as handsome as people say.

[TickerWatcher]

I have never had to use my card and I order kids meals all the time. I have never had one person at a restaurant ever say anything! I live in AZ...but I have ordered kids meals off menu's in CA and OK as well.

What is this "card" that you guys are referring to? I'm thinking there is some kind of lap band card that gives you access to kids meals, no questions asked. lol.

[macleay]

I think they're referring to the card they give you when you leave OCC after your surgery. It has your name and some details (including your starting weight, which I wasn't thrilled with--lol), along with details for the band, etc. I never thought about using it to get a kid's meal, but it's a great idea.

[B2010]

I think they're referring to the card they give you when you leave OCC after your surgery. It has your name and some details (including your starting weight, which I wasn't thrilled with--lol), along with details for the band, etc. I never thought about using it to get a kid's meal, but it's a great idea.

Question - if anyone knows - are we allowed to bring our own pain medication across the border if it is prescribed in our name? I have hydrocodone from a previous sinus surgery in December and they are still good.

[Zoey2]

Question - if anyone knows - are we allowed to bring our own pain medication across the border if it is prescribed in our name? I have hydrocodone from a previous sinus surgery in December and they are still good.

Just so you know, in Mexico you don't even need a prescription to buy prescription meds including Hydrocodone. I live in AZ and will be going to Mexico on Saturday to buy some. So in answer to your questions, it is no problem to take in your own meds.

Good luck with the pain. When I had my port put back in I had quite a bit of port pain for what seemed like a very long time. Maybe even a month. That wasn't the case with my original surgery, so you just never know.

[Zoey2]

Holly, where in AZ are you? I'm in Scottsdale and would love to have a fellow lapbander nearby. Let me know. Thanks