I was going to go riding this afternoon but the weather is kind of iffy. Plus I forgot to do my blog yesterday so I'll do today what I had planned on doing yesterday.
Friday I had my first lap band fill, or as they say in lap band world, my first "adjustment". The only thing I knew about what was going to happen was that the area around the port would be numbed and then saline solution would be injected.
When the nurse took me into the room she said she'd be right back with "the water". I assumed she meant the saline solution. But then she came in with a styrofoam cup full of water and I began to really wonder at that. I never said I was thirsty... Was this for the doctor to drink? And surely they weren't going to inject the water from the cup; that would be unsterile!
There was an examination chair in the middle of the room, but it was set to a very high level. The nurse told me I would be standing up, leaning against it, while the doctor did the adjustment.
The doctor came in and asked how I was doing. He asked about what type of exercise I was doing and what I was currently eating. I gave him an example of what I had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and told him my exercise was basically horsebackriding, gardening, and working about the house. He said he couldn't really get on to me about anything since I was consistently losing weight, but reminded me if I did some aerobic type exercising the weight would come off a little faster and easier.
Then he had me lean back against the exam chair and I tucked my shirt up under my bra. He felt for the port and then gave me a quick little shot in that area. It didn't take long for it to get numb. In fact he then got the saline shot ready, which I was relieved to see came from a sterile container, and by then the area was already numb. Now the cup of water comes into play.
As he put the saline solution into the port I was to drink the water and let him know when it felt like nothing was going past the band. Then he slowly withdrew the solution until I told him it felt like it was going through again. He said he put about 3.6 ml's of solution in, which he said was very normal.
The big needle was withdrawn, a bandaid was placed over the site, and that was that. I was to go back to the liquid diet for the weekend and then resume my normal diet on Monday. And speaking of that, I'm now eating everything, just in smaller portions. I'm not allowed to eat anything fibrous (like pineapple), no uncooked fruits or vegetables, and no red meat for one year. I'm not supposed to eat anything more than one cup's worth, and no alcohol or carbonated drinks.
The only thing I have done that I'm not supposed to is have a small drinky poo. At the support group the doctor leading the group said he's seen patients at the grocery store loading up on the itty bitty bottles of booze, but he never says anything. So long as it isn't interfering with their nutritional intake and it isn't a "problem" in other aspects he says he doesn't really care.
Our tax preparer is supposed to come by tonight with our finished papers. I may have to have a little drink tonight!
3 comments:
Ok, so each meal or snack you can intake no more than one cup of food? I am hoping you are eating several times a day! So you can now have a small bowl of cereal in the morning with coffee, do you have to add the liquid amount into the 1 cup total? And would you have to cook a tomato? How often do you go in for an 'Adjustment'?
Ok that is my questions for now!
Kisses all around!!
Patti
That is correct, no more than one cup at a time, total. So that means whatever I can fit into a one cup measuring cup is my meal. That would be cereal and milk together, although I'm not supposed to eat anything crunchy or bready, like crackers or pasta, etc. I think that is more a precaution because of the possiblity of it mushing together getting plugged up, which could mean another surgery to undue! Certainly don't want that! Tomatoes would have to be cooked, or I would think at least peeled, though the seeds may become a problem too, unless well chewed. I certainly think differently about everything I eat these days! As for adjustments it all depends on the person. Some people go in up to six times in the first year, some people only need to go in 2 or three times. It just depends.
Oops, should have reread before hitting "publish your comment". Sorry about that.
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