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MasterDragonfly

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cherri's LAP-band surgery
« on: July 27, 2007, 12:42:01 AM »
After various delays and setbacks, today (well, technically yesterday I suppose) cherri had LAP-band surgery.

The surgeon described her surgery after the fact as 'routine'.  Routine is good, as far as I'm concerned.

She's a little sore, which is understating it somewhat.  She had read from someone on another forum describing it as feeling as though you've done a million sit-ups, and she agrees, that's what it feels like.  That, and it felt like she'd landed on a rugby ball the wrong way, winding herself severely.

Aside from that, her throat is sore from having been intubated.  She said that at first that pain felt worse than her abs/lower chest.

We didn't mention anything before now because, well, best to be sure that it's a done deal before shouting from the rooftops, it seems.  (Corollary:  One way to turn a good opportunity into a missed opportunity is to tell your friends; the more friends you tell, the greater the chance that the opportunity vanishes.)

It's been a hectic day.  Even with all the planning, things were changing on the fly.  I'm relieved that the surgery was a non-event (although her pain would suggest otherwise).  I stayed with her until after 11pm, at which point they asked her whether she was in pain (that would be a 'yes') and whether she would like something for the pain (that would be another 'yes').  I expected the meds would mellow her out pretty quickly, and I needed to get home anyway.

First up in the morning:  Contrast swallow, check the imaging to make sure things are still good, then she can come home.  Here's hoping she sleeps better than I tonight.

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Juliekat

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2007, 07:22:07 AM »
Heal quickly, Cherri!

JK
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DruulEmpire

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2007, 07:29:44 AM »
I've been wondering a lot about this procedure.  Do keep us apprised, and all the best to her.

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homevintner

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2007, 12:55:59 PM »
Glad to hear all went well. All the best for a speedy recovery.
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Shara

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2007, 07:03:15 PM »
wish you well and get back here soon!

Shara 'or else' 1

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MasterDragonfly

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2007, 11:31:37 PM »
Thanks for the well wishes, folks.

This morning's contrast swallow test went well, everything checked out.  The surgeon swung by around noon, gave her his blessing, she was discharged and I brought her home.  The surgeon also told her she could drive in a few days; impressive, considering she doesn't know how to drive now (at least on the right side of the road).

Mind you, she **84** like crap last night.  As in, almost not at all.  Not till 6am when they gave her IV a shot of something (hydrocodone, I believe).  That took the edge off, and she was more or less asleep when I arrived.

Since getting home, she's managed to shower, then went straight to bed.  After a bit, she brought it to my attention that she needed her script filled.  As soon as possible.    So I dashed off and did that.  Got home, fixed her up, and she was able to relax and eventually **95** off again.  She's basically spent most of the day in bed, napping here and there, listening to her iPod (she downloaded some book from iTunes).

Today she's described the pain as feeling like there's a truck parked on her chest.  I've heard that sometimes boobjobs are described similarly, but I suspect this may edge out boobjobs in the pain department, considering what tender things have been poked in the process.  Check out the LAP-band surgery videos on Youtube to get an idea.

She's now managing to get out of bed on her own (albeit slowly and gingerly) and has managed to nuke some clear broth and have a half cup here and there.  As I write this, she's about 15 mins overdue on her next dose of pain meds, and she's actually up and about.  Slowly, but she's managing.

She's actually been a little surprised by the pain.  Some women over on the forum where they talk about such things didn't feel anything of the sort and were posting the same day as their surgery.  And yet, cherri's surgery was yesterday, and she's still not interested at sitting down at the computer.  She's jonesin' to stretch her arms up over her head, but is concerned that something might shift inappropriately.  Maybe I'll let her stretch on Sunday.  

Oh, one interesting twist is that they don't suture the cuts, or at least that's not what her surgeon does.  He basically paints this glue-like substance (similar to a liquid skin product) which seems to be doing an excellent job; none of the usual puckering you'd see from stitches, it's a nice straight seam.  Her longest cut is about 2 inches.

Took pics today and logged her weight.  Now we just need to remember to do this every week.  

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Shara

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2007, 04:40:42 AM »
we miss you cherry!

*brings on the meerkats and pancakes to lure her back to her comp*
"I don't always approve of coup d'état, but when I do, it's by Shara." -LuvDemWhoppers

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MasterDragonfly

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2007, 09:38:29 AM »
cherri was a little more mobile yesterday.  She's finding it a bit of a challenge to keep up with the volume of water she's supposed to be **94** (sipping?) over the course of the day.

Despite the pain (or perhaps with the assistance of the hydrocodone) she managed to get out a couple times yesterday.  Once was to go to the gym (I had to help her get her socks and shoes on) so she could do a half hour on the treadmill.  No running, she had it at a nice slow speed of "1.5".  (I believe that's rated in miles-per-hour, because when I set it at 4.0, it's a brisk walk for me.)

Besides the pain in the upper abdomen, she's experiencing pain in the region between her neck and left shoulder, which isn't uncommon for this surgery.  From what we were told and what I was able to find just now on Google, this has to do with the diaphragm; although the irritation is inside, the pain manifests itself as feeling like it is in/near the shoulder.  Apparently this has to do with embryological development, when the diaphragm and left shoulder share nerve pathways.  More a nuisance than anything.

She also said the pain had dropped down to about a 4 out of 10.  The day of surgery she said it was more like an 8 out of 10 (where the kidney stone she had a few years back was a 9).

Despite all the pain, she said she'd go through it again if she had to.

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pedonbio

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2007, 05:05:24 AM »
You're doing a fine job of keeping us posted, MD, for which I thank you. About once a year I wonder about this for myself, given the amount of attention I have to pay to my diet now.
Someday, chi1dren, this entire fuck-up will be yours.

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MasterDragonfly

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2007, 09:04:45 AM »
Today is of course better than yesterday.  She says the pain is about 2-3 out of 10, although she doesn't notice it while just walking around.  It's most noticeable when trying to get up from sitting down or after laying down for a while (eg, first thing in the morning), and if she has to bend over, the incision where the port is located is the most tender.

As for the type of pain, she reiterates that it's more like having done countless situps for the first time in ages and her muscles haven't recovered from the workout.

Yesterday she commented when she was making some broth that it smelled really good, the first spoonful tasted great, the 2nd spoonful was so-so, and by the 3rd spoonful she had pretty much lost interest.  She's read on the other forum that this is fairly common, and may actually be due to the anaesthesia still in one's system (needing quite some time to completely clear out).  Time will tell, I'm sure.

Two days post-op she weighed herself, and we were a little surprised that she was about 8-10 lbs over her previous weight.  We've learned that this is typical, resulting from the various fluids they pump into you at the hospital.  Today she's dropped those 10 lbs, so going forward from this point will be what to watch.

As for hunger, she really hasn't been hungry, although she's resumed watching the Food Network.  

Pedonbio, in cherri's case the original concern started a few years back, when she was diagnosed with PCOS.  It was subsequently confirmed that she had insulin resistance and high levels of free testosterone.  Earlier this year her most recent bloodwork confirmed those are under control, and as of the day of surgery her surgeon told her to discontinue the Metformin.  From all we've learned, our expectation is that the PCOS/insulin/etc concerns should become non-issues once the weight is down to something reasonable.  Neither of us want her to get down to a waifish size (eg, 115) because it would likely look all wrong on her.  She may not be tall, but she's hella strong.  

If it's something you're been considering, take another look at it.  It's reversible, it's adjustable, there's no re-routing of the plumbing.  About the only frightening thing (for me, anyway) is that they're working way up here behind the ribs, somewhat close to the heart but still separated by a wall of muscle.  If you have the constitution to watch it, there's a 10 min video on Youtube which shows what's going on; aside from cutting through the abdominal wall, it seems the remainder of the poking around is done with blunt instruments.  When you stop and think about it, it's freaking brilliant what they can do with keyhole surgery.  I'll post the link to it if anyone's interested.  There are other informational videos, including one animation which is almost too brief (for me, anyway).  Oh, and there's one surgeon who has posted numerous anti-LAP-band videos, saying they're all doomed to fail (and suggesting to come to him for his "mini-gastric bypass", whatever that is).  Seems that his opinion is somewhat unique, because there are lots of satisfied customers out there.

The surgery is no guarantee, of course.  Hell, I know someone who had the Roux-en-Y bypass, lost a chunk of weight, and has regained a chunk of weight.  I'm a little surprised that he managed to regain anything, but he did.  So part of the success will be to changing some other habits, like keeping the high glycemic index foods down to a minimum, try for moderate exercise (cherri walks everywhere), etc.  The band can almost be thought of as a behaviour modification system, in part because it regulates the intake, in part because it regulates the appetite.  And as I understand it, if you eat crap sugary foods or eat too much or too quickly, you'll get to enjoy "dumping syndrome".

That's it for today!

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notty

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2007, 03:07:26 PM »
Eep, I always forget to check this forum.

Nurse cherri, you'll be in my thoughts.  I hope this procedure is a great success!  I have many sexy outfits I insist you wear upon reaching your goal.  
To paraphrase Poul Anderson, "Intelligence is a wonderful thing. It provides us with reasons for doing what we were going to do anyway."

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MasterDragonfly

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2007, 10:07:02 PM »
Shanks, Notty!  I read your post to her which made her smile and giggle.  

There was another thread on the BEA that I read to her tonight.  While it made me chuckle, she was experiencing a sort of pain/pleasure thing.  Put another way, it was something like, "Waahahahahaa!  Stop, it hurts!  Aahahahahahaa!  Ow!"  She laughed, she hurt, she laughed some more.  Needless to say, I continued to read it aloud.  

Laughter really is the best medicine.  

Last night she spent 30 mins on the treadmill, kicking up to a blazing 3.0 when she realized she wasn't getting that one odd pain (she says it's like getting a stitch in your side).  Breakthrough, I suppose.

She's looking forward to getting back in the swimming pool, which should be a week from today.

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ROUNDandHEAVY

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2007, 06:38:32 PM »
Best wishes to Cheri!  
Call me Bob.

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pedonbio

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2007, 08:22:58 PM »
Quote:

 When you stop and think about it, it's freaking brilliant what they can do with keyhole surgery.  




Several years ago I had a laproscopic appendectomy; I'm sold on minimally-invasive surgery. Virtually no scar, very, very little pain or healing time, compared to other methods.
Someday, chi1dren, this entire fuck-up will be yours.

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Sandy_in_RI

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Re: cherri's LAP-band surgery
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2007, 05:02:34 AM »
Happy!  Happy!  Happy!  Happy!

Congrats!  

~Sandy