10 days post Op!!

Well i think i am pretty much back to my normal self, apart from a few twinges around the port site here and there. I find bending over it still a bit restricting, but I'll get there. I am tossing up whether I should go the the gym or not. The NOT is looking like the winner at the moment!!

Last night we took the kids into Freo to have dinner and play some games at Timezone. We went to one of the restaurants on the strip, and the first thing I asked was "what's the soup of the day". The response I got was, we don't have any soup today!! Oh OK then. So I looked over the menu and though well if I can't have soup I'll try and have something mushy and really soft and easy to chew and break down. After all, I have been mixing in mushy things with my soup and am not completely just on liquids now. So I picked the beef ravioli. I did pick the main as I knew all the kids would eat it as and of course I was right!! Xander ended up having the most, and the other two had two helpings each and I think i has left with less than half and Entree sized meal. I was being very careful making sure that I was cutting the ravioli in half and then chew, chew chewing it as much as I could into tiny little pieces and trying so hard to resist the water on the table in front of me. DH and the kids also ordered a pizza, but that took a while to come out.

So all in all, I think I did pretty well with the ravioli last night. I didn't get an major sharp pains or anything like that. I think maybe I overate a bit as I was feeling pretty full and uncomfortable. I didn't even eat all on my plate. There were 3 left over!!!

So after dinner, we went and played games in timezone for about an hour and the kids went and had gelato. I had a little bit. I was feeling very full and didn't want to burst my bubble. Xander of course had the rest and enjoyed in greatly!! We did a fair bit of walking, the most I have done since having the band put in. It felt good, apart from the shoes I was wearing!! I could of done better in that department.

I had a great nights sleep last night. I slept right through until early hours of the morning. I was imagining I'd be in chronic pain from overeating!! hahaha

8 days post Op!!

YAY!!!! I did a poo!!! hahahaha!! I did one yesterday and i did one today!! WOO HOOO!! I know that might be too much information, but I feel great now!! Yes I was a little constipated, but hopefully with taking the Metamucil it will settle down really soon.

So far everything has been a dream with the band. I haven't had any problems with anything yet. I had a little solids yesterday of some fish and I just made sure I chewed, chewed and chewed. I am still having the soups, but not clear ones anymore. I am liking the pumpkin and potato and leek soups. I can feel that I am needing the mushies now as I am getting hungry allot quicker between meals. I am really only having 3 meals a day with no snacking in between. For breakfast I am alternating between the optifast shake and porridge. For lunch I normally have a cuppa soup and for dinner it's another soup. I am having the lots a noodle soups and they are doing quite well and are filling enough. I am finding each day I am eating that little bit more, so I think by the time I am due to see Dr Watson on the 24th April, I'll be ready for my first fill.

Yesterday and today I have felt really good in myself. I managed to spend most of the day working on my business without any problems and not feeling exhausted and tired. By the end of the day though I was ready for bed. But I'm not feeling sore anymore, unless I cough hard or sneeze. I don't really 'notice' the band otherwise. I just feel like my normal self, I don't really feel any different, apart from when I am eating. I can see that my stretch marks around my stomach are not red anymore. they are white now and fading, so I guess thats a good sign that I must have started the shrinking process.

I am looking forwards to hitting the gym again. I am thinking of going next week to just do some treadmill and bike exercise. I think I'll leave the weights for a couple of more weeks, or at least until I have seen Dr Watson and got the all clear. I'm not sure whether I should invest in a set of scales, or just rely on Dr Watson's or the gyms. I want to make sure that I use the same scales for my weigh ins all the time. So that way at least I know they are reliable. I did some walking around the shops yesterday and today and it felt really good. it will be interesting to see how much weight I have lost when I see Dr Watson. I don't think I am going to weigh myself before then. Still debating that one out in my head.

I can't wait until the 'bandit' meet at Burswood on Saturday night. It's going to be great to meet other bandits and share our stories. I have so much to learn and experience still and I am really looking forwards to it!!

6 days post op and slowly getting there!!!

Today I have felt pretty good. Still a bit sore, but not as much pulling and hurting from around the port site as there was yesterday. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night. I have no idea why, but I was just restless and I lay there with my eyes closed, but never went into any kind of deep sleep. I just kept opening my eyes every now and then. Probably the fact that i couldn't get comfortable might of had something to do with it as well. Hopefully tonight I'll sleep better. i am really tired at the moment, so lets hope so!!

I spent most of the morning at my mother in laws curled up on the lounge dozing in and out of consciousness!! She was taking care of Xander and then she had to go out for lunch, so she took him with her. I decided to then go home and take it easy. the house looks like a bomb hit it today. I really did not feel up to do anything. I was so drained and tired. I wish the magic vacuum fairies and mop fairies would come and clean for me!! that's all that needs to be done, oh and the washing to be folded and put away.

I am still eating / drinking clear fluids and mixing a little mushies in there. Not much, but a little. i don't seem to be having any problems with eating or drinking at all, which is great. I am loving my jellies.

I am still waiting for a bowel movement. I can feel it getting closer LOL, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have one. i have been keeping up with my Metamucil and vitamins.

Well that's about it for today. Not much to report. I'm getting boring now!! LOL

5 days post Op!!

WOO HOOO!! I got more drugs!! hahahaha I had my staples out today and everything is healing nicely. It's a little bit itchy but the Doctor said that's a good thing as it means it's healing. He was very surprised to see me doing as well as I am 5 days after the operation. I am my GP's first lapband patient. Feel honoured now I do!!

I have gone for some thicker soups today. I did really well last night with my mushy lasagna. Had no problems with that at all. mind you, it was well mushed!! I enjoyed some lovely home made pumpkin soup today. I also had some nice creamy honey porridge for breakfast. I still can't believe the small portions I am eating and it's making me full. i still have the 'eyes bigger then the belly' syndrome though. I'm not used to only having half a cup or less. I absolutely struggled to get through the porridge this morning. I only ended up eating half and it's a really small portion packet size already!! I had my first coffee today since before the Optifast stage. I wasn't craving one at all, just felt like something different from tea. I'm not a big coffee drinker anyways. I can go without it for weeks or have one or two a day for weeks and then nothing.

I bummed around for most of the day today. Still am pretty sore. I did a little bit of work in the business, but sitting at the computer is not that comfortable at the moment. I have this dreaded cough that is really driving me insane. It's from the tube the stick down your throat during the operation. they must have scraped the back of my throat, because it's all dry and scratchy and is really ticking me off!!

My bruises on my arms from the needles and drips are taking their sweet time to go away. People must think I am a drug addict!! LOL!! Wrong places I have been told. They don't look very pretty at all. And no, hubby didn't do them!! LOL

I am still waiting for my first bowel motion. The doctor said it should be too far away and I'm doing all he right things like moving around heaps, drinking lots and taking Metamucil. He said I should expect one really soon though. Anaesthetic does that to people he said, plus I'm not putting much into my system, so it doesn't have much to break down either.

I've had a few people comment about my face not looking at full as it used to. So I guess that's a good thing. I can feel my wedding and engagement rings getting looser and looser, so I know I must be losing weight!!

4 days post Op!!

I am starting to sleep better, but trying to turn over and change positions during the night still hurts like hell!! I have put it down to a fine art now though. If I want to change sides, i have so sit up first and then change to the other side. Maybe in a few more days I'll be able to do just the normal rolling over thing. My tummy is very sore and tender still. I think the sorest part is when the port site is. Although I can't be 100% sure it's there, I think that's where it is. I'm not game enough to press down hard on it just yet. Coughing is a real killer. I have this horrible tickle in my throat (probably the side affects from the anaesthetic) which is making me cough. I can't even try and stop myself from coughing. Even holding my wounds doesn't help!!

I haven't had any pain killers today, as I have run out, so it's just been normal pandaol, hence why I feel so sore today!! Maybe I'll ask the doctor this afternoon if I can get some more strong drugs!! I have to see the Doctor this afternoon as I am getting my staples out. YAY!! I can take those ugly white patches of my stomach!!

I spent most of the day on a lounge somewhere laying down. I did brave it for an hour or so to do a little bit of food shopping with mother in law. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it did take allot out of me. The walking itself felt good and didn't bother me, it was just the soreness and energy that it drained out of me.

I'm still having liquids, although I did try some blended lasagna last night as the soup just didn't seem to feel me up at dinner time. I think I had about 5 or 6 teaspoon fulls and I was full. I didn't seem to have any problems with it. I just took it nice and slowly and still chewed it, even though it was already baby mush!! I did think for a while that I may have over eaten, as I just felt full and really blah. no pain or anything coming back to haunt me, just uncomfortable feeling.

I've really noticed on how much I have slowed down on drinking. Everything is just little sips. I have heard storied where people can't drink like they used to, especially out of their water bottles at the gym. So I'm not really game enough to try more than little sips at the moment. It makes it hard when you are having your Metamucil and it tells you to drink rapidly. By the time I am finishing off the last 3 or 4 mouthfuls, it has gone really thick, so I have to add a bit more water. I still have allot to learn and allot to learn from!!

3 days post Op!!

I finally got some sleep last night. Although it still wasn't solid sleep, I managed to do more than just doze. I still couldn't get fully comfortable, but I guess I was so tired in the end I didn't really care how much it hurt, just the fact i wanted to sleep!! I'm still feeling pretty tired and warn out today. Today's the first day I've really felt my tummy hurting from all the incisions. I don't feel as full of wind today which is a great thing. I'm still getting an odd wind pain here and there, but nothing like I was getting in the first 2 days. I think I had a couple of good episodes of passing wind last night while I was sleeping!!

Last night I tried a little chicken noodle soup. not the creamy type. Just the plain chicken broth with some noodles. I only managed to have about 3 mouthfuls and I was full. I didn't seem to have any problems at all with them. I made sure I left the noodles to sit for about 10 minutes before I ate them so they were nice and soft. I didn't feel like anything much more than just broth this morning, so I just had my plain vegetable clear broth and a jelly. It's amazing how those two things are quite satisfying and fill you right up!!

I'm having no problems at all moving around. the only time I do cringe and feel it is when i am going from lying down to sitting up and trying to roll over in bed. Apart from that I don't feel anything. I think I was quite lucky as I haven't experienced hardly any pain in my shoulder. I know quite a few people have experiences the shoulder tip pain. I only got a couple of aches in the first day and they were more twinges than constant pain. The pain has been quite good, but in saying that I have made sure I have kept up with the pain killers and panadol as well. I finished off the anti nauseous tablets today, so I don't have to take them anymore. It wasn't the nicest thing to have to hold on your tongue. It was more of a wafer than a tablet that you swallowed.

Mother in law came to pick Sara up today and she commented on how much weight I have lost already. Mind you, i don't really feel as though I have lost any. My stomach is to bloated and full of wind to feel 'thin'!! LOL

2 days post Op!!

Today I feel as though I have been been 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and he won!! I am feeling so sore and stiff today. I hardly got any sleep at all last night. I didn't end up actually settling down to sleep until about midnight and by then I couldn't get comfortable. I tossed and turned for the next few hours. Well I didn't really toss and turn, but more like carefully moved and changed positions. by about 2.30am I had given up and took my pillow and retreated to the lounge room to the recliner chairs. This gave me a little more comfort, but not much more. I dozed on and off until about 7am. I was flicking the foxtel channels and found a couple of good movies to doze to.

Today i have been walking and moving around as much as I can to try and get that wind moving. I have chewed on a couple of the de-gas tablets but I am still waiting for a miracle fart to arrive. I think once I have a half decent fart I will feel normal again. It's just so uncomfortable.

Food wise i have been very satisfied with my vegetable and beef broth. I don't think i could really settle for anything more right now. I had some diet jelly today which was nice on my throat. I have been a bit croaky and horse, which is probably from the tubes I had down there.

I have felt pretty tired today. My wounds are a bit sore, but not extremely painful. I have kept on top of the pain killers and panadol today. I've had the heat pack out as well which has been a nice instant relief on my tummy area. I haven't felt much nauseous today, which is good. i still have to take anti-reflux tablets and the anti nauseous tablets for the next 7 days or until I feel i don't need them anymore.

I made my appointment with my GP for Monday afternoon at 2.15pm to have my staples removed. Hopefully this won't hurt too much!! I have to ring up and make my 3 appointments with Dr Watson. I have to have one at 1 month after surgery, 2 months and then at 3 months. I should go and do that right now while I remember!!