CincyBanded

no it's not my lungs or that little pain under my ribs. that pain has gone away finally. i haven't felt that in a while. this is dead in the center of my stomach about 4 or so inches above my belly button. I hope that's all it is Phoenix. I felt it also when I was walking as well. I'm able to take down food and water just fine so I don't think anything is terribly wrong. ::crosses fingers:: let's hope

Well I've been busy at work and looking for a house and such so i've been gone for a bit. But now I have a question. I'm 4 weeks post-op. Today when I yawn or take a deep breath i have a pain right in the center of my stomach about 4 or 5 inches above my belly button. anyone else ever have pain like this? it's not tremendous pain. it's very tolerable. i'm just worried about what it is. i've felt this before but it never lasted too long. this has been like this for a few hours now probably. i only feel it though when i'm yawning or taking a deep breath.

It's not painful to the touch or anything. I have the typical "stretching" feeling that hurts when I move a certain way. From what I hear it's pretty common to have that for a month after surgery. Yeah the swelling still looks like it hasn't gone down very much so that concerns me but the pain is common from what I hear.

my swelling is still up around the port site and i'm 3 weeks post-surgery. anyone else have swelling this long after surgery?

Yeah I just started watching it with my fiance this season. I saw the end of the season last season and I liked it so I got hooked on it. I'm so glad they got Brian out already. I couldn't believe they back doored him like that though but I'm glad. He started too strong, too early. So he deserved it. At first I wanted Renny gone but she calmed down and was more tolerable. lol But yeah, I'm now hooked. lol

I really appreciate everyone talking me through this. I understand what everyone is saying and I'm trying to keep that in my head. Well, today I got a little anxious to weigh myself b/c I normally wait until I go back to the weight management center where I go every other Tuesday. So I weighed myself here at work and according to our scale I've lost 9 more pounds since 2 tuesdays ago. Now I don't know how close this scale is compared to the scale at the WMC but I guess I must have lost something so that's encouraging. I'm now down below 300. Which is a huge step for me. I haven't been below 300 in 3 or 4 years probably. So that helped out a lot. Again, thank you to everyone who helped me out here. I really appreciate it.

Well I'd assume if you over stuff yourself, on top of getting sick and vomitting, you're stretching your pouch as well. Your stomach is rejecting all of the extra food you shouldn't have eaten but while it's in there it's stretching. So I'd say they happen simultaneously.

thanks for the replies. yeah i started at 324 pre-op. I'm down to 303 (as of last tuesday). i lost about 8lbs before operation and then the rest after. so i'm losing some but i just can't tell. everyone else can but i can't. lol

I was looking at pictures last night from my engagement party that I had this past Saturday. Well, according to the scale at the doctors office, I've lost 21lbs (as of a week ago yesterday). But I just don't see it in the pictures. Everyone keeps telling me how they can tell that I've lost some weight. Most of them who are saying that don't know I had the surgery done. But seeing those pictures still bummed me out I guess. I dunno why but I figured I'd be able to tell a difference and I couldn't. Also, my pants are getting so big on me. My belt is on my last hole. I mean they are falling down pretty bad, yet I went to the store to try on a pair of size 40 jeans (I have all 44's from pre-surgery), the 40's were tight still. I thought I lost enough weight to wear a 40 but I guess I didn't. I guess that was a little bit of a let down. I'm only 2 weeks into surgery so I can't expect much but losing 21lbs made me think that was a huge step but it just doesn't feel like it. Sorry for the rant. lol Just letting off some stress.

well the best part is that you're ok. but yeah, that's a big lesson to learn. luckily i haven't experienced that yet and will do everything in my power to not ever have to experience it. that doesn't sound like fun at all.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what is PB'ing?

I think mine has some restriction. I get full much faster than normal. Although I do eat slower so that may do it as well. I normally get hungry about 3 or so hours after I eat so that's pretty good. I have lost some weight but I dunno if it's b/c of the band or me being too scared to eat too much b/c of hurting myself though. lol

That's pretty much exactly what I said in my above post. I do get aggravated when some people think it's the insurance company instead of the employer who is carrying the insurance. But there are some times where it's the insurance company too. The insurance industry definitely isn't innocent with all of this either. lol Also, Anthem will pay for ONE tummy tuck but I have to wait for 2 years after my surgery has been complete before I get it. I guess that's to make sure I've lost pretty much all the weight I'm going to lose. Although they will not pay for any other cosmetic surgery b/c of the lap band. They will only pay for the tummy tuck and only one. So they are fairly cool about that. I mean they really don't have to pay for it but they do.

Today that pain in the port site is pretty bad. I called my surgeon's office and they don't seem too concerned. It just feels like a stretching and pulling in there. I hope this goes away soon.

Yeah basically. If that company chooses not to cover any weight loss surgeries then they don't have to. The insurance company can't tell them that they have to. I see a lot of companies now that are putting this rider on their insurance b/c this surgery is getting so popular. Luckily the company I work for (Anthem) still allows us to do it and people that work here are getting them done at alarming rates so I'm sure it's costing them a fortune. I can see them in the next year or two taking it off of our insurance. I dunno though. Sorry for the bad news.

Well I'm two weeks into my surgery now. I was up and walking the day of my surgery. My main problem was I had some serious gas pain from them expanding your skin during surgery. It was all in my chest. It subsided after 3 or so days but I still get it here and there right under my left rib. Now my worst pain is the port site. Every once in a while it feels like it's stretching. That hurts pretty bad so he may have issues with climbing up and down ladders or reaching up real high for a while. And certain ways you twist your body aggravates your port site and that hurts too. Once you aggravate it, it seems to hurt for quite some time through the day. If he has an extremely high tolerance of pain he should be able to handle it. But it hits so sudden that you don't expect it and it hurts pretty bad sometimes. So you'll have to baby it for a while before it'll go away. So he may have to take some time off work if he can't handle that pain. I know this sounds like bad news but I wasn't told of this on-going pain at the port site before surgery and now I have it and realize that it's fairly common with lap band surgery recipients. I wish I would have known ahead of time. But if he can handle that pain then more power to him. I wouldn't be able to do it and I have a pretty high tolerance to pain. I have multiple tattoos and I was able to do those w/o issue. lol So I guess that gives you and idea of how bad it can hurt. Luckily I work in an office so I'm ok for the most part.

Well, i work for a major health insurance company. first of all i can tell you that if your insurance company through work or your spouse's work denied you, it's more than likely not b/c they don't cover them at all. it's either b/c the company you are getting your insurance through has a rider on the insurance policy denying any weight loss surgery or that you don't meet the certain criteria that the insurance companies require. some make you go through a 12 week program for weight loss before you have the surgery. others make you do 6 months to a year worth of documented dieting with your personal physician. ok that's about all i had. sorry for the long winded post. lol

Congrats! Yeah there aren't too many guys on here. I'm fairly new myself and I've noticed that. There are just a few of us! Let me know if you have any questions. Rumor is guys lose the weight a lot easier and faster. So far that trend is staying true with me as far as what the women say at the local support meetings i have to go to. good luck!

thanks for the response. i'm hoping it'll go away soon. i hate having to deal with this.

I'm 2 weeks into my band today and I'm still having some port site pain. It feels like it's ripping open sometimes but it's really not ripping open. If I lean to my right in the car or something it hurts. Has anyone else experienced this within their first few weeks? My fiance is a nurse and she says everything looks fine on the incision itself but she's not sure where the pain is coming from. I'm going to call the doctor's office today but I didn't know if anyone else experienced this before.

I'm doing alright today. Thanks for asking. I feel a little weak though. Others say I look a little pale as well. I ate my lunch and that helped but I'm back to feeling weak again. I don't know what's wrong.

Yes I'm having the same problem. I hate not having a drink while I'm eating. I'm trying my hardest to get used to it though. I haven't found any easier way than good old will power. lol

Excellent. I knew someone on here would know about this! Thanks.

can you mix that in food or are you supposed to put it in water or something?

Anyone know anywhere to purchase this? I've heard of this to add to your food to help get your daily requirement for protein but I haven't been able to find it. I've only been able to find the flavored powder to make protein drinks. Any help on this would be appreciated.