living with the lap band

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Hey Everyone
My name is Samantha. I am from Memphis Tennessee. I am a married mother of two wonderful sons (Isaiah and Kington). I am a graduate student and I work full time with the Department of Human Services. I was banded on 05 20 2008 at 7:30 a. m in the morning and this is a whole new world for me. What should I expect? I feel as if I am out of breath easily. Is this normal? I feel like just drinking a cup of tea fills me up. I am also still filled with gas from the surgery. My inscisions do not even really hurt. Is any of this happening for you all as well

hi - i am nikki from the uk - i was banded on the 15.5.08 .

the gas for me is the worst bit - i did not settle until 21.5.08 - what helped me is MINT TEA - a small cup of warm mint tea really helps .

I also feel out of breath - so maybe some one can ans this for me as well - so don't feel alone or scared i am the same .

I am drinking more now and it is a week since my banding . but watch the speed you drink and cold drinks don't help my wind .

hope this helps - to at least know that some one else is going throu the same x

Hello, My name is Kim need to update my signature I'm over 3 months post op. Like you for the first several days I felt winded. It is a normal occurance with being put to sleep. When you are put to sleep the machine breathes for you and your lungs don't expand like normal so for awhile you will get short of breath. Practice pursed lip breathing breath in your nose for 5 seconds, hold 5 seconds, then crunch your lips together and push the air out of your mouth for 5 seconds.
Do that over and over 4-5 times a day for a week you will feel better. I was nauseated after my surgery for a few weeks, I did feel full at first with just drinking water. As time passes you will not feel as full. You seem to be doing fine. Gas is expected and walking, lots of walking is the only cure I found to help.
I also got fed up of clear liquids and went to full liquids a little bit ahead of schedule. I was eating pudding by the 4th day and making yogurt smoothies, my tummy didn't like all the protein shakes I would throw them up!

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banded 2/5/08
1st fill 3/18/08
2nd fill 10/6/08

hi everyone my band date was 5/20/08 and this morning i am having constant pain in my chest im trying to walk it off but that is not helping i just feel like i have been ran over by a truck...............please somebody give me some input on this

Hello all newbies!

Samantha--how you are feeling is all normal. I felt overall yuck for several weeks after my banding, it will pass. Your tummy is still swollen alot from surgery so being filled up by liquids is to be expected. Take Mylanta strips for the gas, it really helped me. There are lots of things to expect as you go along, but the easiest way to deal with them is step by step.

If you are on just liquids right now as you progress to soft foods that full feeling becomes more. You will be amazed the amount you don't eat now.

Once you get your first fill the feeling will change again. For me it took 3 fills to get to really feel good restriction, and it never last more than 6-8 weeks. When I was getting fills I had a total of 9. I have a 4 cc band but I could never tolerate more than .10ccs at a time so it took a long time to build to my sweet spot.

It all takes time so just take everything day by day!

You will never be drinking when you eat anymore, and what you can eat will change. I can not eat bread, pasta or rice. They tend to expand and hurt my tummy. Otherwise I eat whatever I want in small amounts!

Good luck to all of you!

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Hi sunshine38. I do not have any chest or throat pains, But I do feel like I was run over by a truck. My stomach hurts awful and I have a lot of gas. It feels like it hurts the most where they put the band. I have to hold my stomach to walk around. I hope it feel better soon. Has anyone else had their stomach hurt like this? I was banded 5/20/08 in the afternoon. Hope everyone gets well.

I felt the same thing. I think it was because for the first 4 days my blood pressure was elevated big time do to the trauma of surgery, anesthesia, etc. I couldn't even drink a whole cup of broth till maybe the 3rd as well. This is all normal. Just try and relax and take things at your own pace. You had surgery and there is swelling, the swelling will go down lil' by lil' and you'll be able to tolerate more. Walking around helps get the gas out faster, if you can stand it. The gas really made me hurt so I didn't move around as much as I probably should have, but it really does help!!


Good tidings for your new life!!!!

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Banded 3-14-08
Saranac Lake, NY
by Dr. Michael Hill
9 day pre-op diet start 3-05-08, lost 9lbs.
1st fill- 1 cc on 4-16-08, total fill 3.4cc in APS band
2nd fill 7-25-08, 1cc, total 4.1 to 4.4, not an exact science for the reading

Oh yes! You had surgery, they had to cut thru muscle etc, so naturally your tummy is sore and likely very gassy. Going over bumps in the car on the way home really hurt but in just a few short day's it was amazing how much better my stomach felt. It felt like I did way too many situps and was so sore I couldn't move. Getting out of bed was a real treat, not! Just take it easy, I didn't even feel well enough to do anything but sit in the recliner for 4 days. In a week you'll feel like a new person

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Banded 3-14-08
Saranac Lake, NY
by Dr. Michael Hill
9 day pre-op diet start 3-05-08, lost 9lbs.
1st fill- 1 cc on 4-16-08, total fill 3.4cc in APS band
2nd fill 7-25-08, 1cc, total 4.1 to 4.4, not an exact science for the reading

I was banded on 5/13 and I had so much trouble with gas. Today I feel great and about 90% of the gas is gone. Try to walk and take the GasX your doctor prescribes. It will get better. So far I have lost 16 pounds and I start Phase 2 on Monday--pureed foods.

to help with the gas walking and a heating pad on your lower back worked the best for me.

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start preop diet 03/14/08 (265)
banded 5/16/08 (239)
currently (203)

I had my surgery yesterday and I am in a lot of pain as well, mostly where the insions are. I hope it goes away soon.

Hi Samantha, my name is Julie and I've been banded 2 years. At first you will not be able to consume much because you are swollen. Just sip as much during the day as possible. Your hunger will come back in a couple weeks. It is very important that you follow the doctors diet to a tee. It helps your sutures heal which make your Lap Band in place. Once you reach 6 weeks you will be able to get fills. You need to be patient during that time. It takes several fills to get full so you need to be patient. Good luck.

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Julie
banded 6/6/06
Dr. McKeen, San Jose CA

320/213/goal 199. Almost there!