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MsAnn6550's Blog
 

Novembe 19, 2011

Not been a good week. Had a good time with daughter last weekend when we went to out of town wedding together. I looked forward to getting back home and returning to Curves workout. But I only went Monday and Tuesday. I have a darn toothache and have turned to pain medication to control it until I see dentist on Monday. Did make it to WalMart yesterday to start grocery buying for the holiday. I walked instead of using the old fart cart. You would have thought I went to the gym the way I was sweating when I got through. Daughter came home today and already she has gotten on my nerve. She made a comment about my computer use, playing games and just surfing, and how I make the computer slower. Blah, blah, blah. Gonna be a long week. Still have to go to store and buy food for Thanksgiving meal. Too many different diets to think about. Hubby wants all the traditional foods: turkey, dressing, Watergate salad, cranapple crunch, sweet potatoes. Daughter wants all low-cal. low-carb, no-additives foods. Son and DIL want ham, green beens. Granddaughters want chicken fingers and Kraft mac and cheese. To top it off, the Iron bowl is next weekend and hubby wants all the usual "football" foods to have during the game. You know, chips and dip, nachos, salsa, sandwiches. Me? I just want my tooth to quit hurting and to make it through this week with as little drama as possible. I am gonna try as hard as possible to stay true to my diet. I hope everybody will have a good Thanksgiving. Ya'll just pray mine is going to be better than this last week.
MsAnn6550

MsAnn6550

1
Sleeve For Me's Blog
 

What Is A Ppi?

Hi everyone. I'm brand new to the forum and was just sleeved this past Tuesday. I just got home from the hospital today. I was going to be banded last Thursday but on my 9th day of my preop diet I got a call from my Dr Office stating the insurance would not cover the hospital because it was not a center of excellence. I had to scramble at the last minute to find a doctor who did surgeries at this type of hospital and I went to his seminar and saw he did the sleeve as well as the band. I realized with this change I had options. So I opted for the sleeve instead. I keep seeing on different posts about how one gets help from a PPI. Sorry I don't have a clue what this is. Can someone please enlighten me on this matter..   Thanks in advance
100%Sleeved

100%Sleeved

7
MsKelly's Blog
 

24 Hours Post-op

I am writing from my hospital bed. My surgery was 24 hours ago. It has already been quite a journey and nothing has really even happened yet. I woke from surgery groggy, of course. Slipped in and out of sleep. Eventually I was taken to my room and left alone to recover. When I did wake up fully I remember thinking a few things...wow, the pain! and I have made a decision that I will never be able to reverse. Through the night the nurses would come and check on me. Taking my temperature and blood pressure. The pain, I finally realized, was not the incisions but the co2 trying to escape my body. That pain has slowly gone away but every so often I get a sharp sliver through my chest. None of it has been unbearable and all of it, I trust, will be worth it.   In and out of sleep. Little walks down the hall. Answering phone calls and text messages. Blood pressure and temperature check ups. Lots of trips to the bathroom. One leak test.   That's my 24 hours in a nutshell.   Kelly
MsKelly

MsKelly

1
Matt Z's Blog
 

Post Op Follow Up

Thanks for all the pre-op support all, I'm still feeling kinda icky, but I'm home and I wanted to provide a proper update.   Friday the 18th of 2011 at 6:30 am I was admitted into the Rhode Island Hospital Outpatient Surgery Center. The staff was nice for how early it was. I checked in and around 7:00 am I was taken back to the prep room. I geared down and johnny'd up, complete with the fantastic johnny socks compression socks and a fabulous blue hair net. I voided, and I will tell you this, if I had known that this was going to be my last easy void in the next few days, I would have taken the time to enjoy it a bit more. I was then paraded past other weary surgical travelers enduring what I was soon to as well, the slew of questions from the prep nurses, anesthesiologist, head anesthesiologist, attending nurses, supporting nurses, and finally my surgeon. Everyone was fantastic. My doctor signed off on my belly and at 8:10 I was wheeled into the OR. The OR was super bright, bustling with prep work, beeps and boops, motors pumping away at this and that, the whole time the surgery staff was light hearted and up beat, The slide me from my gurney onto the operating table, propped up my arms with arm boards, pluged in me and put the gas mask on. Within a few moments my ears started ringing, my vison got distorted and everthing stopped. I had a bit of a dream, about my dogs I think, but I don't fully recall.   With me out, the surgeon and her team started preping me and the equipment for use, I found out later that the laprascope was mis-behaving and not outputting video, so I waited in some undisclosed state of prep for 30 mins while they got it fixed or replaced.   I opened my eyes around 11 am, coughing, which I guess is a good thing. I was woozy and had a hard time focusing on what was going on around me, the place was simalar to the pre-op room, but was clearly not. Other post-op patients beeped, buzzed, whooshed and groaned around me. Again the staff here was very pleasent. I was checked and rechecked, told to sleep, but once I'm up, I'm up, and with all the noise and lights, going back to sleep again wasn't going to happen, even if I was as tried as I have ever been. I overheard several comments about me not having a bed to go to. I've got sleep apnea, so I was being admitted for overnight observation. I saw in the recovery room for several hours, I was visited by my lovely wife, my parents and my oldest son, who notedly did not want to be there, but that was ok, I understand why. I was in moderate amounts of pain, more discomfort than pain, slight burning pressure under my left clavicle, but nothing major. My incisions were tender, but I wasn't putting any strain on the abdominal muscles so the pain meds I was given control of did the trick at keeping everything to a decent ache.   5 pm came around I my doctor came back in to check in on me. I was upgraded from swabs to wet my mouth to ice chips and small sips of water, this was fantastic news! After 6 hours of narcotic added dry mouth, some cold water and ice was heavenly. I was sat up, walked around and allowed to void again, but this time with great amounts of trouble. The muscle groups just wouldn't work with me, it was all about the relax and let go, which is a LOT harder than it sounds.   6pm I had my room. A step down ICR shared room. But I had a bed now, not the 2 inch thick gurney pad that had be causing me tailbone pain for 6+ hours. I walked around a bit, attempted to void again, and watched some tv with the wife. All while enjoying this fantastic new discovery, ice water! I was cleared for an amazing 60ml per hour, so 2 of those little meds cups per hour, this was fine with me. We watched TV for a bit, talking with doctors and nurses that came in and out checking in on me. Tried to stay up to watch Fringe, but by then I just couldn't hang it. So I made my way to the bed. After some tweeking, a few extra pillows, a fan (it was VERY hot for some reason) I put my cpap on, grabbed my pain button, slid down my blindfold and drifted off. Most important thing to bring with you to a hospital if you are going to be there overnight, a good pair of blindfolds! Saved my night!   The night was oft interupted by the snoring of the woman that was my roomate, by nurses checking temps, iv amounts, my vitals, etc etc, understandable interuptions. These folks were taking care of me, so I was being extra nice back. Nothing can make their already stressful jobs worse than a pissy patient!   4am I was up again, the void at this point was much less stressful, and much more welcome. I stopped using my pain pump at this point. I guess that while I was sleeping, I pretty much just kept pressing the button, oops. At least it was set to lock out, so I got the max amount of meds. I fell back a sleep for a while.   6am rounding time for the doctors, I was visited, told that I was stable enough to go home once the orders were drafted, which take a while I guess. I amlessly watched tv for a few hours. At around 8 am a tray was brought in with apple juice, a bottle of water and a cup of broth, lol I'm on 60ml of fluids an hour and they bring a liters worth of liquid. The apple juice was FANTASTIC! The wife showed up at around 9:30 am, she helped clean up and pack things together to make it easier on everyone. I was then slowly removed from iv's and monitors, provided with my liquid pain meds, and started getting word of a potential release. I hurt, moreso now because of the lack of constant pain meds, but nothing super horrible. Just very uncomfortable to move certain ways, like sitting up, spinning around, leaning over, picking stuff up at arms length, putting my head over my head etc etc etc. All slow and deliberate movements from here on out I guess.   Shortly before Noon I was signed out, wheeled down and driven home. Ouch, bumps SUCK. I putted around a bit outside, working out some of this interesting pain which can only be described as a combination between gas pain and hunger, without the growling. It comes and goes. Gas-X doesn't seem to be doing much of anything, but I've been trying just in case. I slept a bit, had a bit of a fever spike 100.5 (still below what they said to come/call in with) fever is down into 99.0 right now, took some liquid tylenol to help with some slight pains and the fever. Still on clears until tomorrow, so once the Jello is done setting up, I'm going to break into some of that, the Isopure Zero Carb RTD's have been yummy, just enough flavor, and it's clear and full of protein!   So that is all for now bandsters/bandits and those starting out where I did. I'm offically banded with the realize band. The worst pain is behind me, now to just tough it out through the next few days of pain and discomfort.   Thanks for reading! Stay Strong!
Matt Z

Matt Z

4
emmy78's Blog
 

4 Days Post Op

ok so here I sit on my couch wondering if I have made the right decision. My emotions are all over the place, I cant have a conversation without crying, I snap at my kids every time the make a noise and my husband has been cowering in the other room most of the day.. Now except for the addition of the crying this is almost a normal day. I know I am only a few days out but is normal to question your decision at this point? Everything I "eat" makes me ill...the reflux is so bad it feels like I am drinking acid, I cry at the drop of a pin and I feel like I am lazy for laying around all day.   This is the path I have choosen.... is it the right one? Why the doubt now? I was so sure a few weeks ago....I did leave the house for a little while today ... it was nice to smell the fresh air... maybe I can convince my hubby to go for a walk .. .but if he says no I am afraid I willstart to cry ...
emmy78

emmy78

0
MrsBurn's Blog
 

Sleeved On November 9

Hello there. I am Gabrielle and I was sleeved on November 9, 2011. I've read lots of stuff about how wonderful people feel after the sleeve, but I am still wondering if I did the right thing. I started at 228 lbs. and was 215 on the day of surgery. I'm 5'6". No less then THREE people on the day of surgery (at the hospital) told me I was too small for the surgery. So, I lay on the bed telling myself to run while I still could. My surgery was scheduled for 1:45 p.m., and I got to the hospital at 11 a.m. The handsome young man that took me back and had me change into the gown expressed surprise that I was having the sleeve surgery. Then the young woman that came to scrub my tummy and add the plexi booties said the same thing. Then the RN that started the IV said it again! By then it was around noon, and I had to lay there for 1 hour and 45 minutes second guessing myself. Needless to say, I went through with it. When I woke up after the surgery, I was extremely nauseous and in pain only when I moved. The nausea lasted the rest of that day and most of the rest. I went home on the third day, and have not had any nausea since, except when I take the liquid vitamins. I have switched to gummy vitamins, although I'm sure I'll be scolded for it when I go for my post-op on Tuesday. What's strange is I was able to take the liquid vitamins without the nausea before the surgery, but not now. What gives?   So, other than some major pain upon trying to get out of bed, and having to choke down the horrible protein shakes, I guess I'm making a good recovery. On Wednesday (one week after surgery) and Thursday, I could not stop crying. I don't even know why I was crying. Is this normal?   Anyway...so far, I'm sort of regretting the surgery. I'm hoping this will pass and that I will feel better as I return toward a more normal life. I am hoping to return to work next week and I think that will help.
MrsBurn

MrsBurn

6
Glenda045's Blog
 

A Few Thousands Of Dollars For What.....

Well....where to begin.... I'll start by saying I'm a positive person. I hate negativity! However, I'm finding my thoughts to be NEGATIVE lately. I was banded on 9/21/11. The following week my weight was down 25lbs. About 2 weeks after surgery I began to get hungry and I seemingly lost any restriction I may have had. I didn't sweat it because I was scheduled for my first adjustment on 10/25, thinking I would surely have a successful fill w/ restriction. SURPRISE!!! I had a 3cc fill with absolutely no restriction. I haven't had a weight gain...on a positive note I have actually maintained my current loss at 25lbs. But, I can eat as much as I did before the band. I had this surgery so I would no longer have to fight the "diet" mentality but, instead could have the smaller portion meals, slim and healthy life-style everlasting. I hope I'm not one of those whom I've read about who wake up one year later still fighting to reach a sweet spot with the adjustments. My greatest fear is to put on the pounds verses losing them.   How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? How many adjustments does it take to get to your happy home? I'm scheduled to have my 2nd adjustment on Tuesday the 21st. I really don't know how I'll handle it if this adjustment doesn't give me some restriction. I don't care that Turkey Day is 2 days later, I'll forfeit all of it for the success of restriction. I hope I have exchanged a thousands of dollars for this worry .   Glenda045
Glenda045

Glenda045

8
Smaller Sox Girl 4 Next Season
 

What A Day Part 2

Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. Obviously, or I wouldn't have a problem with food. But today I realized something....I need to put myself first more often then I do.   Just a little background info.   I've been dating a guy since June, but its on and off all of the time. I'm stupid for allowing it to be that way, but thats another whole story. Today he worked from home while I'm at my sisters resting and relaxing on my one day off. We had agreed to see each other today, I'd come over to his place at some point.   He calls me at 6, I'm asleep but I was just waiting for him to call and let me know he was done with work. He says he's really tired, and he's just gonna go to bed. No problem, he has some health issues and just had a huge molar yanked out yesterday. So I say "Are you sure??" He says yes and I love you, talk to you later, etc. Ok no problem.   Then I get the nastygram text about how I chose to dump him off yesterday and not ask how he was doing all day. WTF? Seriously??? Yes, you took care of me all weekend, WHILE YOU WERE OFF; I had major surgery and was in pain and not feeling well and really couldn't afford to be alone all weekend. Fine, you took care me, that was awesome, I thanked you profusely.   His cracked tooth was bothering him to the point that Monday he was almost in tears about it. I called MY dentist since he doesn't have one in Maryland (he's from PA) and he got an appt for Wednesday afternoon. Then Tuesday, he was still in so much pain, I called again for him and got him in that day at 4. Meanwhile I'm still sore and recouping, went back to work, I'm running to the dr.'s office for the second time to pick up my corrected light duty note for my idiot staffing at my job, stopped by my parents house, cooked for my mom, helped my dad with some stuff, etc. (they're older and my mom has alzhiemers). I still made time to stop and hold his hand at the dentist. He is happy that he's got some pain medicine now; he is advised to go see an oral surgeon ASAP to get the root canal. Well turns out, a root canal would have cost him 1K out of pocket. So I said, why don't you get it pulled since its cracked all the way through and in the very back of your mouth. He agrees. I spend my entire lunch hour calling oral surgeons in Maryland to find one that could see him that day or Thursday. The entire time he's snapping at me because he's just like that when he's in pain or upset. (Another story.) Finally I find one, it won't cost anything out of pocket, and its Thursday at 730am. He's happier now. I spent the night with him Wednesday night so I could drive him and pick him up due to the anesthesia. He thanks me, he loves me, blah blah blah. Even though he thought he needed a referral and his previous X-rays and somehow that was my fault, and he was going to loose his job, and that was my fault. I told him to relax. This doesn't make it any better apparently. Well that afternoon he felt much better. I went and picked up his rx's and some other errands for him. Apparently, this isn't enough. I should stop and spend the rest of the week at his side, coddling him....if you know me, I don't coddle. I have no sympathy for sissy's or selfish people. And that is exactly what he acted like. "Give me attention" "you didn't blah blah blah!" "You don't do this blah blah and blah" and so on and so on...   I feel like he doesn't appreciate anything I do for him. Its never good enough; he's got a bottomless pit that can't be filled no matter what anyone does. This relationship, if you could call it that, is over in my book.   SO YAYYY, that was my day.     I had a tunafish sandwich for lunch and the rest of it for dinner, with some sugar free hot chocolate. Yah, not the bestest thing to choose, but there's not much in the house and I am not going grocery shopping until I get paid next week. Speaking of next week, I have a lot to do. Do ya think anyone will help me? Noooo, and when I say anyone I mean the BF. The BF is about to become the ex, or TX. I don't need that crap right now, I'm trying to start my life over after being unhappy for years. Don't f with that!!!!!!   I don't plan on writing like this all the time in my blog; I will probably just write about things pertaining to my lapbanding, but I needed to vent.   Cheers everyone...over and out good buddy! Bedtime for Sara.
SaraRedSoxRN

SaraRedSoxRN

3
Fit in my 60's' Blog
 

Am I Seriously Going To Do This?

I just turned in my information packet to the weight-loss clinic and I am week 4 of my 6-month doctor supervised diet. I've lost a whopping 4 1/2 lbs. That's pretty typical of me! I have tried so many methods and programs in the past I could write a book. I've spent thousands of dollars. The few times I lost weight, it always came back, with a vengance! And those times were done by pretty drastic measures. One was taking Phen-Fen back when it was legal. Yeah, I lost the weight! 70 lbs!! I looked the best I ever looked in my life. A size 8 for probably 2-3 weeks! Ha! But that doctor told me first of all to only eat when I was hungry. Well, those pills worked so well on me that I barely ate enough to get by! I kept a journal and the first 2 weeks I lost 20 lbs. But I told the doctor I was so weak and it was summer and I knew I would not be able to teach in that condition. When he looked in my journal, I was only getting about 300 calories a day! I was starving myself! Stupid, I know but I actually thought I was following the doctor's instructions. But then he said eat more, but don't go over 800! So that's what I did. For weeks and weeks, and the weight just fell off! Looking back I really think that's the point where I really messed up my metabolism because once that weight came back, and it did very easily even when I was eating what I thought was a moderate diet, I have struggled ever since. That was several years ago. And the weight just crept up and up. And my health just kept deteriorating. Bad knees, high cholesterol, hypertension, gastric reflux, plantar faciitis, blockage in my carotid artery, and added high risk to getting breast cancer when I was already in the high risk category just due to genes. I'm a mess....and I haven't even mentioned my self esteem. Don't get me started. It's in the pits.   So I arrived at this point as a last resort. My daughter, age 37 had it done back in March of last year and she's lost about 50 although she's not keeping up with it and I'm afraid she's going to gain it all back. But if I do decide to go through with this, I will keep up with it and follow the rules. My mom died when she was just 59 from heart disease. I had a harder time turning 59 last year than any year before. I think it was because I was scared all year that the same would happen to me. And now I am just a little more than a month away from turning 60. I will have outlived my mom. And if I am fortunate and healthy enough to make it past 62 I will also have outlived my dad who also died from heart disease. I have 5 grandkids and I want to do it for them. I have a wonderful husband of 41 years and I want to do it for him. But most of all I want to do it for myself. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.......and fat!!!!   So I have two more months to go. The next step is for the doctors to review my paperwork and then go for my assessments and medical tests and go from there. I am not 100% sure yet. I would estimate I am about 90% convinced. The other 10% is fear of surgeries. I have had a lot over the past ten years. Two knee replacements, gall bladder, and prophylactic bilaterial mastectomy and reconstruction due to the 87% the doctors calculated my risk for getting breast cancer due to family history. So you see I've had a lot. No real complications, but there's always that fear in the back of your mind. I think if I didn't have the weight problem I could have eliminated two of those surgeries. Plus I wouldn't worry about the 50-69% blockage in my right carotid artery. Told you I was a mess!!   So this blog is my introduction to my final journey to health. Just hoping this story has a positive ending!   Debbie 11/18/11
Fit in my 60's

Fit in my 60's

6
AmberDawn's Blog
 

Getting Closer

24 days out from surgery.   My first blog.   Figure I've lurked on this forum long enough. Time to actually get involved, maybe it will make this whole process seem more real. Right now it hasn't really sunk in yet that in less than a month my life will be changed forever.   I guess I've been on auto pilot since I took the next step and setup my psych eval and diet appointment.   I went to the mandatory seminar back on August 20th with my husband and had kind of decided on the band but was thinking about the sleeve also.   I then went to my consultation on August 26th and decided the sleeve would be a better option for me. My Husband expressed concerns over the risks of dying since there's a higher chance with the sleeve so I kind of backed off the idea and put it on the back burner for a month or two. Then I guess at some point we had another talk and he knows this is really what I want to do, so now he supports me 100%.   Now it's all been happening so fast. I had my upper endoscopy, diet consultation and psych eval all basically in the month of November. My preop appointment is November 28th and Surgery is set for December 12th.   I guess that's the only bright side of having shitty insurance and being cash pay is you don't have to wait on approval.   So now I'm just going through the motions trying to get everything lined up.   Today I was able to move enough money over to my savings account to cover the cost of surgery less 5000 which will be put on my Care Credit card, probably going with the no interest for 18 months route. Payments shouldn't be too bad then.   Also got my new "Blender Bottle" today and tried it out. I really like it, made mixing the powder in very easy. Also got a magic bullet type appliance. Figure I'll need it to get through the preop diet easier. Not looking forward to starting that on the 28th. I'm going to do my best and not pig out on Thanksgiving like its my last meal ever. lol   I did try another protein shake flavor today, Chike's Orange Creme with just water. Ugh definitely didn't like that. Going to try a few more flavors before I decide on which one I want to go with. The dietician recommended either Chike, Muscle Milk Light, EAS Myoplex, Adkins Advantage, or Body Fortress. So far I've only tried Chike.   On another note, my husband found a gym buddy and is going to start going to the gym 5 days a week next Monday. I think this will really help me with my process since we'll be able to motivate each other to stick with good habits.   Anyways this has become more of a book than a blog. lol We'll have to see if I can keep up with this blog thing.
AmberDawn

AmberDawn

3
MsDebi's Blog
 

Bump In The Road.

So today I find out that I can't get in to see my neurologist until Dec 5. That means I probably won't make the surgery date of Dec 12. O well. January is coming, and with that, a NEW ME!! So I am still excited! I'm sick with bronchitis right now and not really like feeling like blogging so that is all for tonight. Take care and God Bless.
MsDebi

MsDebi

0
Smaller Sox Girl 4 Next Season
 

P/O Week #1

One week gone already...man time flies when you're starving...   I am doing pretty well, little or no pain from the incision areas/abdomen. My left shoulder was killing me all week, I'm not sure if its a pinched nerve from the way I was sleeping the past month combined with the surgery position. Either way it hurt like woooahh. The Dr said I could take some Motrin every now and then but not to make it a habit. I even took a couple of Matt's (boyfriend) percocet from his cracked tooth stash. (He cracked his tooth last week and it we didn't realize it until this week. Talk about ouch.)   OK, OK, I cheated. I've been eating mashed potatoes, oatmeal, tuna salad, popsicles, Fudgecicles, Jello, soup. Sue me. I had VERY SMALL portions, like, palm of your hand or smaller. I tolerated them well, no issues. But I definitely know when I'm full!!   I saw Dr. Von Reuden Wednesday afternoon; I'm down 8 lbs already. I made an appt. with the SW in the group so I can talk to her about my still nagging desire to eat for pleasure rather than fuel. I'm there with that about 55%, which is bad news long term.   I plan on going to my old gym in Columbia, MD once I move back there next week. I am so excited!! No, you really did read that correctly...I am. No one gets excited to go to the gym. I want to try to start running/jogging again soon if my plantar fascia foot allows me. If not, I guess I'm going to find other things to do   Heading into a busy weekend followed by a busy week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly and wraps up quickly.
SaraRedSoxRN

SaraRedSoxRN

5
My journey to freedom! :)
 

18 Days Post Op!

It finally happend, I had my sleeve on halloween! Scary thought!   I had some trouble in the hospital, I could not keep the Loritab Elixer down, and it caused me to not be able to drink. So after 2 days they finally figured out this is what was causing me to not drink! New pain medication and drinking was a success... to the best of my ability anyways.   I went home on day 4 around noon. My first day home I felt amazing. I walked for about 20 minutes outside, and i was able to sleep on my side and get a full nights rest! It was amazing. I kept up the walking for the entire week, and went back for my post op appointment on day 9. I begged to go back to work becuase I was feeling so great and I do not like to sit around. I was able to go back to work on day 11!   Also, on day 14 I started with my new Personal Trainer. I know it seems soon, but we stayed away from any core and abdominal work. I did leg lifts, worked on my arms and walked of course!   So here it is, day 18 and i'm feeling like crap! I feel like I can't eat anything. I dont know if this is a normal feeling or if I am really feeling sick to my stomach. Yesterday I left work eary and did some R&R time for myself, thinking maybe I had overdone it the past few days But today I am not feeling any better.   I am trying my best to get my water in, but it is very difficult. I know I can get more in, and perhaps that is why I am feeling ill??   Just a rough day today....   Amandaleigh
Sleeving into success

Sleeving into success

1
Smaller Sox Girl 4 Next Season
 

11/11/11 Start Me Up!

Surgery was bright and early this past Friday. I was gung-ho and all ready to go...they took me back and before I could even blink, I was waking up in the recovery. When I woke up I was extremely uncomfortable! It was awful. I didn't have my glasses, so I couldn't see anyone. I was hurting because of how uncomfortable the stretcher/bed I was laying on was; my neck was all out of whack. Eventually I was able to wake up enough to talk to the nurses. They were awesome nurses, very sweet and caring. One of them was even a Steeler's fan!! So we joked about that. They helped me get up and thats when the gas pains kicked in. Holy hell, it was awful. I just couldn't get comfortable long enough to relax or get some rest. My throat was sooooo sore I wanted to cry; I couldn't pee, and then when I did it was only small amounts. Finally I just had to get out of there and get home. Terri (my sister) took me to Matt's house. Matt is my boyfriend, but we have a couple nasty fights that have left us in the "its complicated" column. He took such good care of me. He went all the way back to my apartment, picked up my stuff, bought me my rx from walmart for the zofran which saved my life!! I vomited in Terri's car (in my little pink puke pan) and then again after I got to Matt'shile he was out . He took my pulse, my temp, woke me up for my medicine, got me comfortable, helped me up to go pee, all those nice things a caring boyfriend nurse would do.   Passing gas and eventually having a BM was like heaven. That occurred today, Sunday. I was able to make it to the bathroom most of the time!!! My port site is the sorest. It kills me whenever I get up from a sitting or laying position. Its on the right side of my abdomen. Oh lord, its the sorest spot. The gas sometimes gets caught up in my chest area and it stings and burns. It hurts to cough too. It reminds me of when I was 6 and my dad had open heart surgery, where they crack your chest open. He had a little pillow that he carried around in case he had to cough. He would hold it up to his chest to ease the pain. I thought I'd be back to work Monday (tomorrow) but I need one more day to rest and poop. Plus I need to get a doctor's note to put me on light duty. I hope Springfield will work with me on this, because I'm trying to get it together.   I had to skip ahead a little and eat a small portion of tomato soup tonight and some popsicles. I was starving. I'm so sick of just drinking flavored water...eww. So I'm going lightly and slow with it, and I'm tolerating it well. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!
SaraRedSoxRN

SaraRedSoxRN

0
Maddy's Blog
 

Coming out of the closet

It isn’t easy coming out of the closet “so to speak”. When I decided to do the gastric sleeve the only two people who knew were my husband and daughter. It was the shame I felt to tell anyone else. The guilt I felt inside that I wasn’t able to take the weight off on my own. Recently, I ran into an old friend. Looking at me she said “Maddy you have lost so much weight how you did it?” I have to admit; I actually hesitated for a moment...and said nothing. Later, I thought to myself why did I hesitate to tell her? The only thing that came to mind was the simple word “fear”. Why do we feel the need to hide our decision to have bariatric surgery? Is it because of low self esteem? The urgency of keep this big dark secret private or is it due to the way society sees fat people? We live with the constant advertising campaigns flashing thin stick models while we the “fat people” struggle to keep the scale from tipping. The dying “to be thin attitude”. The Taboo word “bariatric” does not fit into this world… until now. Today, we have the means to achieve weight goals we never had before. Folks like me who have battled the scale for years now have alternatives. So why hide this amazing news? This week I did just that. I told my folks about my gastric sleeve. To my amazement they were supportive and very happy I took this journey. I cannot express to you how important it is to have family and friends to support you during your life changing weight loss. And it is indeed both mentally and physically a change. I now talk openly and candidly about my surgery. What amazing changes that has occurred over the last 5 months. Today, I am no longer on any medications to help me control my sugar, cholesterol or blood pressure. A MAJOR milestone in my life. I blog and chat with other people who have gone through bariatric surgery. I did an online survey asking three questions… how many people have you told? Did you tell your friends? Have you told your family? To my amazement, 73% told less than 5 people, 76% did not tell their friends and more than 79% did not tell their family. Its sad that we feel the need to hide from this. Today, bariatric surgery is a useful necessity for those like me who just could not lose the weight. It’s time we stood up and made our voices heard that bariatric surgery is no longer a shameful procedure and see it as an amazing tool to good health.  
Maddy

Maddy

6
Maddy's Blog
 

Eating our hearts out on our sleeve

Are we not emotional eaters? Do we not turn to food for comfort? Now, this time of year where stress and being overwhelmed goes hand in hand. We tend to go to our old ways and eat. I am learning to really stop and think before I want to eat something I shouldn't. I ask myself "is this worth it? Will it make me that much happier if I eat this"? Learning these tools has really helped me stop and think before I wear my heart out on my sleeve. What do you do to take the edge off of not binging?
Maddy

Maddy

2
To Live is to Expierence.
 

At the starting...line?

Alright, so it's been months since I made the decision to have WLS. I did all of my homework, researched as I've never researched before & went to the seminar at Unity Hospital. Now tomorrow is my initial visit, and I'm super excited to get this process started. I'm also nervous. I know, I know. It's just the first step in all of this but it's still a big step. I'm ready to upgrade my life and lifestyle, I guess I'm just afraid I might be rejected. There's a lot to do with the insurance criteria, and the program criteria. I knew this process isn't an easy one but when you're set and ready to change you want it now! Lol. At least that's how I am. I know I shouldn't stress about it at this point, it's just new and soooooooo exciting! Well I'll leave it there for now. Future starts tomorrow!!
Fireflyx

Fireflyx

1
ann_franc's Blog
 

The right choice for me

The sleeve is the right choice for me. I am currently 224 pounds, down from my highest weight of 265. I no longer have to take high blood pressure pills or the diuretic that went with it, I'm off Lipitor, I no longer need my cumbersome CPAP machine to sleep at night, my plantar fasciitis is resolving (no pain), and I don't believe I will be diagnosed with diabetes. Im staying focused on the right diet and I'm exercising on a regular basis.   When I first thought about surgery to lose weight I thought it was a bit of a cop out, but I don't believe that anymore. The choice to have the sleeve is an irreversible lifetime commitment and I'm learning how to live on this new journey everyday. I have no regrets and I'm looking forward to a healthier me. Godspeed to all of you.
ann_franc

ann_franc

4
CDox53207's Blog
 

YAY I got my date!!!!

Today I recieved the phone call!!! I am scheduled to be sleeved on 1/19/11 by Dr. Wallace in MKE! I am so excited to finally have a scheduled date. I cant believe its right around the corner. For like my whole life I have been dealing with being over weight and now its time for the confident, outgoing person that I am on the inside to match the person on the outside!!! I am kind of bummed tho, I really had my hopes to have this done prior to the new year. I am trying to be positive, I know I floated right through the appointments and with insurance, but man I really had my hopes on this year. But, I think having the surgery in 2012 will be better for me in the long run. I feel like it is the fresh start to the whole "NEW CHELSEA TRAIN" as I like to call it. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I could just scream I am so excited!!!!!!!!   Good Luck Y'all!!!
CDox53207

CDox53207

1
Matt Z's Blog
 

The pages of this chapter come down to their last.

I am to be admitted at 6:30 am tomorrow. Sigh. That's earlier than I would have hoped, not because it's early in the day, but because I have sleep apnea, that means I'm there all day, all night and part of Saturday. My poor wife is going to be sitting around doing not much of anything for hours on end until they kick her out for the night. At least by this time tomorrow I'll be banded.   Today has been ok, the emotional rollercoaster started off early, but right now, I'm 100% not phased at all. I know what's going to happen yesterday and I'm resolved to the fact that 1 of 3 options will occur tomorrow. Either A ) I get banded. B ) I die from complications or C ) They find something inside and are unable to complete surgery.   Either way, I know that this chapter of my life has come to a close. We'll see tomorrow if it was the last chapter of the book of Matt, or if there is another exciting adventure awaiting in the pages forthcoming.   Today I'm doing a clear liquid only pre-op diet and it's been a mixed bag. I've quelled most of the true hunger, but I've battled several brain hunger episodes, short lived as they were, they occured. But I won.   I'm going to weigh myself tonight, just an un-official pre-op weigh-in on a medical grade scale, just to see what the last week has done for me. I'm not sure if I'm down or up... I guess I'll see.   *update* Just weighed in, 335. So that's 1.8 lbs since the 10th and 15lbs total since I started the whole process. yay!   Thanks for reading all Stay Strong!
Matt Z

Matt Z

8
Maddy's Blog
 

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

It can be taxing on the brain when it comes to turkey time. Even more so now that you have been sleeved. One good tip that I learned this past week on how not to over eat during this holiday. Take a good 4 to 6oz's of water 30 mintues before you leave. Take the smaller plate size and use good judgement when it comes to choosing what foods you are going to eat.   Eat slow and enjoy your food. There is even room for a smalllllll taste of pumpkin pie.
Maddy

Maddy

0

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