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Certainly don't think less of you. This is major surgery. You are normal to be scared. Then again think of what life would be like long term if you didnt do this. Maybe that is more scary? I know at that time before I had my RNY I didnt want to go on living entombed in my own body. I had this surgery in May 2022 and the surgeon also repaired a hernia at the time. (A few years prior I had another hernia fixed and that was very painful on it's own). I woke up in lots of pain (so maybe some of the pain was from getting the hernia fixed) but I was given lots of pain medication. The staff dont want you to be in pain either. So yes it was very rough but pain meds and heat packs eased the intensity. High end pain killers were needed for the first few days and then less and less over the next few weeks. And for the record I would rather be a little sleepy if it eases the pain. I needed to remind myself that it would get better and it did. Short term pain for very long term gain. Truly your journey will be yours and your alone. You may be in pain or you may not. You may have complications or you may not. I would also hope that the medical profession have learned more in the time since your mom had this operation. You wont know how it will be for you until you do it. PS - I would go through this again in a heartbeat. There is freedom again,

Thank you for the great information- I did get to consult with dr before— and got the v-shape as that was what dr preferred as well. I had 4lbs of skin removed from my stomach, and they lipo scuplted arms, waist and back to get the 2lbs of fat to use for the tiny bbl they were able to complete. I am 3 weeks out (as of Wednesday April 10) and am very pleased with the results so far. The back side is not super dramatic, which I am happy about. Surgery went well, although i did have to have an iron treatment because my hemoglobin dropped 4 points ..but after that i felt great. Instead of general they used an epidural and exparel- so I didn't need any major pain meds after. Just had a headache for a couple of days, so Tylenol was solution. Staying in a recovery house for a week was THE best decision for me to not push it and to make sure i could recover well— at home I’d have been doing things when i should have been resting. No real pain to speak of from anything- sore and tight might describe it best—but that eased up at the end of the week. I admittedly have a high pain tolerance, and after previous breast reduction and hysterectomy knew some of what to expect. Now, Im just working from home and living a fairly normal life. Driving, walking, etc with ease. In a few weeks, I will be cleared to start exercising- which I have never done— so slow and steady will be course of action. Ill post some pics when things settle and i don't look too Frankenstein like. Thank you all for the kind words and support! Plastics is a game changer!

Wow, what a horrible experience for you! I'm sorry you went through all that. Hopefully you're doing better now.? Its amazing when you start putting things together despite knowing WLS is life changing - it is in more ways than we can imagine. Thank you for sharing!

The one thing I have encountered that I didn’t expect was how difficult it is to get pain relief. I have had two female procedures done that they typically have you take like 4 otc NSAIDs before and after but Since I wasn’t allowed to have them I was told it really wasn’t necessary anyways and just to tough it out. I contacted my surgeons office who said I was far enough out I could take the NSAIDs post sleeve on these rare occasion with food and my Omeprazole. I survived without pain relief afterwards but I was just led to believe that drs would be more accommodating than I experienced. Also I had sciatic pain and panicked a little when it recurred two more times right in a row and my dr did not want to give me any pain meds The third time when it was pretty bad I asked for something and He acted like I was an addict or something and actually told me he couldn’t treat me anymore. This kinda worked out because I like the NP I see now much better but I’ve not had any issues where I need pain meds with her so I guess we shall see what happens if I ever need them again. I understand that doctors have to be careful but I had been his patient for over 5 years and never asked for anything like that before my sleeve. Honestly it was all kinda weird. It did made me worry if I ever had a chronic issue like arthritis or something that you usually treat with NSAIDS what I would do. I guess a pain management clinic would help. Or maybe there are different meds. I honestly don’t know.

My maximum weight was 303 lbs. I am currently 133lbs. I got my gastric by pass on May 7th 2019 in Pennsylvania. Since then I have had so many issues and I do not know where to turn to anymore. I feel the dr and I have gone through every option there is to go through and it is still not enough. Immediately after surgery I was having issues with eating. I followed all the rules took all the vitamins and meds I was supposed to. Still could not keep food down. I ended up having to take my gallbladder out in Oct of 2019. I was with a horrible person and she left me because of my issues with my stomach. I moved back to my home town of Peoria Il. I had to go on a search to find a new Dr. that would take me as a patient. I found this to be a rather horrible task as some Drs do not like to do that because they don't know all that the previous Dr did with the surgery. I finally found one and he is a great Dr. He has kept me alive. After the gallbladder surg. I was still having issues with keeping food down. This started in February 2020. The only thing i could tolerate was broth. At this point I had to take all my meds in a liquid form. Finally The dr. sent me to a gastrologist for an endoscopy. It was shown that I had some scar tissue covering the entrance to my stomach so they did a dilation. There was also an ulcer found. I was put on 2 diff acid reducing meds to get rid of it along with nausea meds. To prevent a tear they had to do this several times. I had dropped down to 118lbs. very malnourished. My health was becoming a huge concern. One of the times that they went in to dilate the Dr ended up putting a hole in my intestine. I had to have an emergency surgery for repair. I spent 2 weeks in the hosp. When I woke up in recovery i had a wound vac, drains and a feeding tube. i went home with the feeding tube. This is now Sept 2020. My new Gastric bypass dr was trying to get me healthy enough to do a revision to help me tolerate food. I had a revision scheduled for Dec. 2020. Since this was during covid I had to be tested before surgery. Yes I tested positive. The surgery was postponed until Feb. Finally i had my surgery and was hoping that this was going to be the last and all would be good. The feeding tube was removed and I had to start over from scratch with eating. Clear liquid on up. At this point I am weak and thinking the worst that it is all over for me. I kept up the fight and it kept kicking me back. I was able to eat a little better for a few months after surgery. Then it all started over again. Every time I tried to eat i threw up. I called the dr. He said probably more scar tissue and that meant more dilation like before. So that was the plan more endoscopies. There was also another ulcer found. Upped the intake of the acid reducers and still not going away. I just kept dealing with this and eating what I could. I put up with this for a long time. Then in Oct. of 2022 it got really bad again. I was in and out of the ER for pain so many times I lost track. The dr. went in to check things out and the ulcer was back. There was no Rhyme or reason for this to keep coming back. I was referred to a Thoracic Surgeon in 2023. I finally was able to get in to see him. He scheduled me for a surgery to have my vagus nerve removed. (vagus nerves produce the acid in our stomach and mine was producing to much there fore causing the ulcer to never heal. When i came home I was still not able to eat food it made me sick. I wasn't in anymore pain but still could not tolerate food except for soft foods. Then it would be next to nothing. Somedays i could eat a bit more than others. I was released to go back to work on 4*12*24. I have been to the er once again for pain and not keeping food down. I was given a gi cocktail and felt better. I called the Dr and was told when it hurts drink Mylanta. I am now to the present day and have no answers. Please tell me there is solution for this. I cannot do this forever. I don't wish this on anyone but I hope someone else has been through this and can help.

Hi OP - are you vegan or just wanting to incorporate more plant based foods into your post surgery diet? If the latter I would recommend all sorts of veggie soups with added lentils or beans for protein. Tomato and basil. Carrot and coriander. Traditional vegetable soup. It has always been and will always be my go to when I can't decide what to cook. Super easy, super quick. 💪

I go on hikes with my son and I LOVE my treadmill. I go to incline 15 and speed 3.0, so fast walking basically up a steep hill on the treadmill. I also do the exercise bike up to resistance 16, I do weight training for my arms, and core/strength training. But cardio is my favorite.

I'm getting RNY March 19th. I'm mildly nervous just because of anesthetics, but I feel pretty prepped for the actual surgery-related hurdles.

Surgeons/teams have different plans. There is no right plan. Yes, a lot of us tend to go through a two week cycle through liquids, purée then soft. But there those who do 4 weeks liquids (2 of clear liquids) & then those like @BabySpoons who don’t have to follow every stage. Always best to follow the plan you’re given.

I had a VSG through Kaiser, and my partner had theirs through MBC tldr: MBC falls short in care and cleanliness, Kaiser is cheaper but takes 4-5 months. With Kaiser, I took 16 weeks worth of classes, did pre-op tests, EKG etc, waited a couple weeks and then had surgery for about $700. Kaiser is certainly the longer but cheaper pathway. I also think there is a lot of value in getting your head in the right place before surgery, and committing to 4+ months of pre-op does the job. It is annoying and hard to wrap your head around at the beginning but it went by quickly for me, even having to drive 1.5 hours each way to classes. I’m glad I used Kaiser so we have the resources given to me for him to use as well. MBC: Surgery is scheduled 2 weeks out from pre-approval (website form) and deposit, as thats the timeline required for the pre op diet. This is VERY fast and convenient. We paid about $5000. We are all familiar enough with US standards for hospitals, so here is where MBC falls short on that front: - his incisions bled through his gown after surgery, they would not give him a clean gown and told him he should just put on his street clothes. So, he wore a bloody gown for 2 days as the waist band on his sweat pants would’ve been super uncomfortable. - bandages/tape on floor of recovery room from previous patient. - Less than ideal bathroom cleanliness in room - Broken toilet for the entirety of his stay (he requested it to be looked at, at least 6 times before just pleading for it to be turned off at the water so it would stop running so he could sleep. There was urine and vomit in his toilet for his whole stay. Care comparison: Kaiser: I was on a morphine drip and could push the button every 10 minutes if I was experiencing pain. I was given injections for nausea. Lots of room to walk the halls. Attentive nursing staff. It was overall great. MBC: any time he asked for pain or nausea medication the nurse would say “I will check” and leave the room. Then, he’d wait an hour and have to ask again, only to hear the same response. You’re pretty on your own during recovery. He found that this was also the case for the other patients he drove back to San Diego with after surgery. It was not simply a bad experience, but the standard. Technically MBC contracts with the hospital to use their facility, and the nurses do not work for them directly. They have no skin in the MBC game when it comes to patient satisfaction and it shows. We hoped that tipping would help, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. My incisions with Kaiser were glued shut. His were open and we changed the gauze every day. It’s a little scary looking and you’re left wondering, “is this normal? Are these infected?” Kaiser: no drain, no leak test MBC: drain and leak test. Kaiser: you get a full binder of pre and post op instructions with diet guides for life. MBC: all of their instructions are on their website. What you see online before surgery is generally what you get in that regard. It is convenient to google quick answers to things like how many fluid ounces I should be having, etc and accessing the info easily on their website however it is no where near as comprehensive as Kaiser. Feel free to ask me anything, I’m sure there’s more for me to add and I will in comments. If you go with MBC, you should have low expectations and be willing and comfortable advocating for yourself. Ultimately, both work but the cleanliness and lack of care from MBC made me uneasy.