Listen to your body and other lessons learned

Day 8 of recovering from having my band replaced and with nothing but time on my hands while I recover a few things came to mind that may have prevented another surgery. I started writing them down and then thought perhaps sharing with this board might help someone else. 

1. Listen to your body! Your body gives you signals all day long; your cold - you shiver, your tired - you sleep, your hungry - you eat. I had awful reflux for 18 months before I decided to do something about it - my body was telling my something and I ignored. 
2. It's not a race! A healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week, just as overeating can cause weight gain, under-eating can cause issues as well. 
3. Too much is just as bad, or worse, than too little. I think about when my issue started, I was doing fantastic, it was Christmas time and I was worried I would gain, so I made an appointment and got an aggressive fill. I was miserable! I should have stayed at the level I was and used good old common sense to keep from gaining weight. 
4. Your doctor works for you! My surgeon is in and out of the treatment room in a flash, does not take much time with me and is always in a hurry. (I must of admit, I am the same way) I stood between him and the door a few weeks ago and told him I would not leave until we got to the bottom of this, when he saw I was serious he slowed down, talked to me and made an appointment for an UGI. (bad surgeon or bad patient, probably a bit of both) 
5. Nurses are your ally. The nurse in my Dr. office talked with my for quite a bit and was the one who told me to make the Dr. listen. She told me, "this is not normal, something is not quite right here". I am bringing her flowers on my next visit. 
6. Exercise and everything works better! I mean everything! The exercise bug bit me about a year ago, and since then, I sleep better,  I have more energy, I am regular (if you know what I mean). Find something that works for you, it does not have to be a slamming boot camp style class to be effective. 
7. Celebrate success! Buy yourself a book, a massage, a pedicure. Do something for yourself when you have a victory, which does not have to be a scale victory. After I finished my first 5****lebrated with new sneakers. 

I hope you found some of my observations helpful. Feel free to post your own! 

On to week two post op - every day is becoming a bit easier. 

God Bless. 

Boy do I agree with your observations. With this new insight you will do fantastic, but it is also important for us all. Newbies need to hear it and so do we who have been around longer. Make sure you get this into your blog so that others can read it as time goes on.

I hope the rest of your recuperation goes well and you get back to normal quickly.

Sue

I agree with Sue.  You have had some important light bulbs go off, and I agree with all of them!!  Congrats, and happy healing!

Excellent post! Sorry things went do wrong for you. This thread may help prevent serious problems or others.