Lap Band Surgery 7/9/08
I have my date for my surgery!!! Did anyone else feel like they won the lottery when they FINALLY had their surgery scheduled. I have my pre-op physical tomorrow. I have the pre op teaching for the liquid diet on Wed., June 25th. I start the liquid diet on that day for two weeks. I would appreciate any advice pre and post op as well as any questions that you suggest I ask. I appreciate any input. Thanks! Jean Mt. Iron, MN
Thanks :-)
Hi Jean! Congrats on the surgery date! There is no better feeling.... it's a sigh of relief to finally get that date and have something to look forward to.
I, too, had a liquid diet. Mine was for 10 days.
I am not sure if you've stopped by the LapBand Forum, but there is a ton of great info there for bandsters. Pre-op and Post-op...some of the RNYers basically went through the same thing in terms of prep and pain management.. so they can offer you a lot of advice locally too. Plus, there are some Lap-Banders on the MN forum besides me that are further out than me.
Pre-op:
--Follow the liquid diet... do your best not to stray from it. It helps shrink the liver and some doctors won't even operate if you don't stick to the diet.
--Prep yourself with a heating pad, Gas-X, and sugar-free popsicles (if your doc allows) for after surgery. I had a lot of gas pain the first few days. It gets better though!
Post-op:
--You'll hear it a thousand times. Sip, Walk, Sip, Walk, Rest. Don't forget to get in your water. It will help you heal. So will walking and sleeping of course.
-- It took me 10 days to feel like myself again. Feelings or 'buyer's remorse" and such are normal. Just ride it out... it will be better.
-- Follow post-op rules to a T. The point of them for LapBanders is that you need time for your stomach to heal and the body to get used to the band. Eating hard foods too early could cause problems in the future.
-- Realize that you may not lose much weight the first month. That's OK! The first month is all about healing. Once you get a fill... perhaps two or three, the weigh will come off.
I am a little over a month out and 36lbs down and feel great! (I lost about 15 of that the month before surgery).
If you already knew all this stuff...well... then have a great journey and we're all here for you for the ups and downs!!
