I got all of my questions answered and I have to be there for 7 o'clock on Thursday. They had me scheduled for Wednesday by mistake, but my husband and I have already scheduled the days off from work, so Thursday it will be. Here are my questions and his answers.
1. What kind of band will I get? The Lap Band AP System.
2. How much saline does it hold? 10cc for the standard band.
3. Will I have any fluid in the band when it is placed? No, but the port will be primed, so there will be saline in the tube, meaning when I have my first fill, it will take less.
4. Why was a liquid pre-op diet not required? Their practice requires eating light for 7 days prior to surgery and liquids after midnight the night before, because, in his words..."Generally when someone is having weight loss surgery, they are not good at a very restrictive diet." He said only patients with very high BMI's are required to loose weight prior to surgery and the main reason is so if there were complications, they could get a cat scan or other test, that have a weight limit on the tables. Also, about the liver, he said my BMI was not high enough to cause concern.
5. Will I have liquid pain meds? No, small tablets will be fine for me to take.
6. Where will the port be placed and do I have a choice? Generally the port is placed on the left hand side about two inches above the belly button. He said he likes it there, because it doesn't interfere with the bra line and it is easy to access, but not very visible, when you lose weight.
7. Can I get a low profile port? The band I'm getting has one choice, but the standard port is relatively low in profile anyway.
8. How many incisions will I have? 4
9. How are the incisions closed? Staples
10. How long on liquids after? 1 week on full liquids, which includes pudding, jello and creamy soups. 1 week on mushies. 3rd week on to solids.
11. Will I have to do a barium swallow? No, unless there is a problem swallowing.
12. How long do I have to wait for my first fill? 6-7 weeks. He said the reason for this (I had never heard this explanation) is because your port is in an area that has a lot of swelling and trauma, before your first fill, he needs to be sure that all the swelling has subsided, you are completely healed and there is no infection, he said you want to avoid passing the needle through infection at all costs.
He did ask me if I was sure this was the surgery I wanted instead of Gastric Bypass or the gastric sleeve. I said yes, I'm sure. He said he was ready to see me succeed.
I'm ready to! Last night I took my measurements and my before pictures. I will get brave enough soon to post those.
Thank you all for your support. I'm ready and I feel very prepared, thanks to all of the information I've gotten from these great blogs. Have a great night.
Hugs.
Tess
13 comments:
Wow. You came up with some great questions there, and strange how some docs are different. My port is on the left but just above my belly button (think this has changed slightly since losing weight tho..) I had five incisions, and I wasn't allowed solid food for five whole weeks.. lucky you getting it by week three!
I'm so excited for you. I also do not have to do a pre-op diet because of a lower BMI. You asked some really great questions.
Great questions!! Very exciting!!
I was on a 1,500 calorie diet 2 weeks prior.
http://betterbanded.blogspot.com/
You are ready!
"Generally when someone is having weight loss surgery, they are not good at a very restrictive diet." TRUE THAT!
So excited that you are almost there. I agree with the swelling around the port after surgery. I had my first fill 4 weeks after surgery and the doc had a problem finding the port because of the swelling. I also had 3 cc in my band at surgery. On the fourth try he found it. Since then I am learning to eat because I am really restricted. Hope it lasts. Good luck on your last few days.
Awesome questions. I had a 3 week pre op diet and started with a BMI of 35.4, all doctors do it differently. Sounds like you are ready to go!
Great questions. My port is located higher on the left below the breast bone and I had to switch to wearing sport bras for the first few weeks post as my regular bras would rub on the port area. Hurt like heck. I like you're surgeon's thinking.
Only a few days to go, how exciting!
My Surgeon said that he would never do a first Fill until at least 6 weeks out for the same reasons.
He also said that ALL of his patients must do the pre-op diet. If they don't at least come close to losing the weight he set for us to lose, then he would cancel the Surgery until we did! But his reason he claimed was to shrink the Liver.
Glad to hear you are almost there!!
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're doc sounds great! Love your questions I'm going to use these. You are so close!!!
My port is in the middle, just under the bra, and probably a bit too close, but I've coped OK - it was the scar tissue building up that has caused more of a problem, because they have difficulty finding the port. Lots of luck to you Tessierose, and tell us all about it afterwards!
Caroline
Yay! You are on your way!
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