Getting better and better....

This morning I received a phone call from the insurance nurse. She asked how surgery day was and how I felt. I have to admit really like the fact that my insurance company offers that service. She answered my questions regarding the bowel movement and she said that I had no reason to worry since I do pass gas. She said that once you are able to pass gas it shows that everything is still working and that it is not unusual to not have any bowel movements after surgery.

I guess that's how life is because after I hanged up with her I had my first bowel movement ;-)

Unfortunately I forgot to ask her about the dry heaves. After reading Dr. Ortitz's book on lapbanding I am really worried that my almost-vomitting-attacks did cause damage. I hope not, but will ask my surgeon, just to make sure that everything is okay.

I am normally a very relaxed person and do not worry about things that cannot be changed anyway, but in this case I am worried because I really want my lap-band to work and of course want to lose weight :-)

Other than that I am doing fine. I have not needed any pain medications/anti-nausea medications since Sunday morning. I can move around, get up and down easily and still do very good on the liquid diet. I am cooking for my husband every day and it really is not hard at all, I do not even have an appetite.

My husband drove me around so I could run all my errands, I went to the bank, the supermarket, the post office, met with a client to hand out some paperwork and did not feel any negative side effects. It is really going good. Did not expect to feel that good after 3 days of surgery. (KnockOnWood3Times)

I am recovering very well from Lap-Band Surgery.... took the pain medications and nausea medications this morning and have not needed any more since then.

My husband takes me for little walks, I have almost no gas pain and my incisions do not hurt at all. I had a very pleasant night, I was able to sleep on the side (my preferred position) and could get in and out of bed much easier than the nights before.

I had an Atkins Vanilla Shake for Breakfast... drank a cup of tea and followed it up with some Isopure. I do not know about other bandsters, but I have no restrictions at all, I can drink and it goes down easily, I can drink as much as I want and as fast as I want. No pain and no discomfort of any kind. I hope this is not a bad sign because I read on Lapbandtalk.com that most bandsters feel restrictions after surgery and can take in only limited amounts of liquid.

For lunch I had a Tomato Soup and also took my liquid vitamins.

I have no hunger, have to force myself to drink and "eat" but have a strong urge to brush my teeth constantly.

The only thing that worries me a little is the fact that I have not had a bowel movement since 2 days prior to surgery. It would make me feel so much better if I had one because I would know that "everything" is still working.

Recovering from nausea and dry heaves

To my surprise surgery was not bad at all, the hospital and it's staff were great, they were all extremely friendly and professional. They cared and understood the worries a patient has before surgery. Most off all they really understood my phobia with needles that have to go into my veins. I thank them for that.

After I drank that apple juice in the hospital I started to get really nauseous. I have not felt that bad in a long time... It was a feeling of helplessness, it took over my entire body and I was unable to function. The anti-nausea medications did not work for me and I had to find ways to deal with it. My husband was even more worried than me, because I am normally a strong woman and I deal with things and do not whine about them. He wanted to help me so bad but I did not let him because I was unable to communicate with him. Talking made me even more nauseous so I kept it to a minimum. My husband is a wonderful man that truly loves me and for him just being there caressing my arm to relax me and help me fall asleep was more helpful than any medicine.

I had strong dry heaves. I could feel how my mouth filled up with saliva and my body gave me all the signs that vomiting was imminent.... but I could not vomit.... I was hoping I could... but I could not. I had the worst attack at 3 am... right after that I took more anti-nausea medications and also the pain medications and to my surprise they worked and I felt asleep and slept until 9 AM.

Since then I am feeling fine, I have very minor pain... a little gas pain in my left shoulder and do not have any hunger nor appetite. I take my anti-nausea and pain medications every 6 hours, read a lot, walk around in the backyard, watch tv, drink teas and nap a lot.

I would do this surgery again... it was not bad at all!

*giggle* *smilefromeartoear* I have a lap band *jump* *scream* *hugtheworld*



This is the bag they gave me right after surgery and it has been next to me ever since.

Surgery Day

Got up at 6 am, showered, put a little suitcase together just in case they needed me to stay overnight. Drove with my husband to Cedars Sinai Medical Center, parked the car and admitted myself into the hospital.

I was tired, calm and ready for surgery.

We were sent to the 5th floor, where a lot of people were waiting, some patients and lots of family members. After 30 minutes my name was called, I was promised that I would see my husband again before surgery so we did not say good bye. I was then brought to a little chamber to change. I was not allowed to wear anything but the fancy robe which again only came in XL and XXXXXXXXL sizes, this time I chose the smaller one because the huge one I wore at the upper gi endocopy made me feel very uncomfortable.

After I got dressed I had to walk to the other side of the room to get weighted. The scale showed 286.5 which surprised me because I weighted myself at home that morning and I was 290.

Then I was laying on the bed for some time, nurses stopped by, asked questions, made me sign paperwork, put a clip on my finger to monitor my pulse and on the other arm a blood pressure measuring device. The anesthesiologist came, introduced himself, asked more questions, informed me about the risks that were relevant to my case and put the IV in. He really did a good job and it was not painful at all.

At that point my husband was called to join me, which made me very happy. Shortly after my surgeon Dr. Feiz arrived which made me happy too because I had to see him before surgery just to be sure that it is really him performing the surgery. When I went for my lapband seminar he unfortunately had a flat tire and arrived several hours late. While laying in that bed and getting hooked up to everything I could not stop worrying that he may have another flat tire and that some intern could perform my surgery. No idea why I worried about something so unrealistic, but it felt really good to see him and took all my fears away.

Then everything went pretty fast, the nurse came, moved my rope up and gave me a shot into my belly.... It really burned... I have no idea what it was I think something that prevents blood clotting....but that was the moment from which on I lost track of time and events.

I do not remember how I said good bye to my husband, do not remember how my bed was moved to the operating room or what an American operating room looks like. I always wanted to see one. I remember that someone asked me what "NoIdeaWhat" is called in my native language and that I tried very hard to say it but felt that the part of my brain where my native language is stored was already under anesthesia. I have no idea if I was really asked to say something in my native language, what it was and if I was able to answer or not.... and I will most likely never know.

The next thing I remember is being blinded by a very bright light and Dr. Feiz standing on the right side of my bed talking to me. He wore something red on top of his head and I tried to figure out what it was and I couldn't. I think I asked him if I had a hernia and he said yes.... But did it really happened? I do not know... It feels very surreal.

The next thing I remember is the recovering area and another person screaming in severe pain waking me up. I felt so thirsty.... Extremely thirsty and I asked the nurse for something to drink but he only came back with a little pad on a stick (the size of half a square-inch) dipped in water. I sucked all I could out of that pad but was not able to quench my thirst.

According to my husband surgery was completed around 12:30 pm, and I must have slept a lot in the recovering area because I only remember being transported to another area around 3:00 pm. My husband was allowed to join me there... We did not talk much because I was still tired and slept on and off for several hours but it made me feel very good that my husband was there, I could feel his presence. In between I was finally offered something to drink... I was so excited because my mouth was still unbelievably dry and I was sooo looking forward to a big glass of ice cold water... but when the nurse returned with a mini 1 ounce cup (the ones you get with the over the counter cough syrup) of water I was truly disappointed.

Welcome to Lapband-Land I said to my husband... and we both had to laugh which made me feel my incisions for the first time. That was the first time when I uncovered myself and looked at my incisions, not too bad, 3 very tiny incisions and one a little bigger right by my belly button.

At 5:30 the nurse told me that if I could pee I could go home... so my dearest husband wrapped me in the sheet (he is creative isnt he?) and brought me to the rest room. I did not feel any pain and I was able to pee in the designated container. The nurse was very happy with the results, told me to get dressed and made me sign paperwork that explained what I could and could not do. One point I had to sign off was that I should not sign any documents so I was confused because why did she make me sign the paperwork when I was not allowed to sign paperwork? I signed it anyway because I really wanted to go home.

She gave me a small cup of apple juice and told me that I was allowed to drink... I drank it.. which was a big mistake... I will blog about it separately when I feel better... it is time for a nap :-)

Day 1 after Surgery Stats
Pain on a scale from 1 to 10: 4 (incisions hurt and I feel like somebody beat me up from the inside)
Discomfort on a scale from 1 to 10: 8 (only want to lay down and sleep, have to force myself to go for walks)
Overall Feeling: Okay and happy that I really did it!!!

The Day before surgery

I am not hungry, I am still following my clear liquid diet to the T.

Am I nervous? I don't know - not really
Excited? A little bit
Scared? Only of the IV ;-)

I just want to get it over with and I am trying not to dwell on it too much. I know everything will be fine and before I know it it will be all over.

I just had a Moroccan mint tea, sat by the pool, dipped my feet in the water and looked up in the sky and wished (not in a religious kind of way) that the lap band will really work for me, that it will really help to make me lose weight.

This is the only fear I am having, that it may not work and that is also the reason why I cannot allow myself to get too overexcited. I am a goal-setter kind of person, a risk taker, a fighter and a warrior but most off all an emotional dreamer... I will do all that is required of me to do, I will follow each and every guideline and rule to make this work. I am not looking for a quick fix, I am willing to work for it. I really am... But after all the weight loss failures I have endured over the last decade it is hard for me to still enthusiastically dream the dream of reaching my goal weight and being slim.

I want to dream the dream so badly and I know that once I lose some weight with the band I will learn to dream again and once I can dream I know that nothing will or can stop me from reaching my goal.

I do not even know anymore what I looked like and what it felt like to be slim. This is really sad and almost makes me cry because I cannot understand how I could have allowed myself to balloon into such a huge woman.

My only wish for this surgery is: Please do not disappoint me!