lkcraig316

I was very upfront at work about it, and I really did not get ANY rude comments at all. Most people are just very curious and ask about the surgery itself, the eating plan afterward, etc. Our youngest employee kept asking me during my pre-op liquid diet if I was OK. She even told her mom she was afraid that I would pass out. I laughed about it but found it very touching that she cared that much. I did get one of the weirdest, most ignorant comments one day. I NEVER saw this one coming. A coworker said she was very excited for me and that she needed the name of my doctor because she needed to get rid of her "chicken neck." WTF?????? I guess she thought I was having magical plastic surgery. She was SO SERIOUS I had a hard time not just dissolving into giggles right there. I think I eventually got through to her that she needed a plastic surgeon and not a bariatric surgeon. LOL.

Thanks for all the replies. My husband and youngest daughter are doing most of the laundry, but I just felt like I needed to get up and move around some. I feel like such a slug. I did let my daughter put the clothes up once I got them folded. I took a short walk down the street and other than my legs getting tired, I did well. I thought about going out to run an errand, but ended up taking a nap instead. I am so glad I took three full weeks off. There's no way I could go back to work Monday. Right now my scheduled return day is the day after Memorial Day, the same day I start mushies. Question: does strained soup count as a thin liquid? I was just thinking if I could strain some vegetable soup or something at least it would add a little flavor and some calories. I may send hubby to the store tomorrow to get some vegetable broth for a little variety

So happy for you meggiep. I know you would have been so disappointed if the surgery had to be put off. I will be waiting to hear from you when you feel like posting! See you on the loser's bench!

I am five days post-op and I don't think I can take the thin liquids much longer. I still have 9 more days of them. I'm doing better with my Water, but everything else just tastes disgusting. Everything has some sort of weird underlying taste that I can't really identify. Here goes the whining . . . I'm so freaking tired. I did some laundry today. Just lifting up my arms to fold towels made my muscles weak. I could barely hold them up to curl my hair. I walk a bit and then I have to go lay down. All I want is something that doesn't taste sickly sweet. But other than chicken broth there is NOTHING on my thin liquids list that is not sweet. I know what's done is done and I will be so thankful in about another month, but right now I'm grouchy and tired and never want to have a sugar free fruit jello/popsicle again. Anybody have any suggestions for getting through this period?

Yay, JoJo! I think I got much better mentally once I got home and had a good night's sleep. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night (although last night I slept all the way until 4:00 am) not in pain, but just because my sleep pattern got all messed up in the hospital. Be sure to walk, sip, and rest when your body tells you to. I think anesthesia takes a lot more out of us than we would think.

Congratulations, Connie!!! I'm so glad your surgery was successful and you are feeling better. I agree about the pain meds. I had a pump and whether I needed it or not, I pushed that sucker as often as it would let me. I figured I would have plenty of time at home to try to handle the pain on my own. If that stuff was available, I was using it!!! And it turns out I haven't had to take anything since I've been home. Keep hanging in there!

Just on the two-week pre-op diet I figured I saved anywhere between $50 and $80 per week on breakfast and lunch. I ALWAYS ate those out during the work week. It's amazing how much money obesity costs us individually, with food, meds, docs, etc. So not only are we becoming physically healthier, we are also becoming FINANCIALLY healthier!

Haha! Nobody saw but me. I see today is your 5K and I'm probably commenting too late, but Good Luck!

So today I wore a pair of jeans that were a bit loose before surgery, but I could still wear them in public. I figured they would not hurt my incisions. On my upstairs to get ready for bed I made it to the next to the top step when the jeans just slid right down around my ankles. I just stood there laughing for a few minutes and then hitched them up until I could get to my pjs. YAY!!!

Congrats on your new suit and your new love!

Yay Kristy! You joined the loser's bench a day after me. And I am positive that we are both going to be tres successful!!!! MeggieP--can't wait to hear about your successful surgery! And all the rest of the Red Velvet/May sleevers.

Yay for you!!! Keep on dancing that happy dance!

I'm having a hard time too. The first couple days every sip would have to stop at my diaphragm for a few seconds, make some gurgling sounds and then I could feel it go on down through my tube. For those few seconds I would have a very sharp pain that would almost make me gasp. Now at 4 days post-op, the pain has gone away, unless I take too large of a sip. I was trying really hard to get in the Protein shake yesterday, but then I realized that I was already getting protein in my multi-Vitamin and that I needed to focus more on the fluids. My tastes have changed greatly since pre-op and I can barely "stomach" the taste of SF Jello or SF popsicles. I'm hoping as time passes, this will change. The broth does feel good going down, though, and it's a nice change with the salty flavor.

Four days post-op and I am back to sleeping on my right side (my preferred position). I can lay on my left side IF I position myself very carefully and stay very still. Once I got back into my favorite sleeping position, my nights went so much better.

Congrats and welcome to the loser's bench!

So I am three days post-op and at home. I know what the requirements are for Water and Protein. However, I am not even coming close. Today I had 1/4 cup SF Jello, 1/2 cup water, 1/3 SF popsicle, and about 2 oz. of Protein shake. I will have more water tonight, but there is no way I'm going to make the requirements. Is this OK and will I be able to get more in as the days go by? I just have no appetite at all right now and I can only tolerate a tiny amount of something before I get sick of it. I had trouble keeping stuff down in the hospital, but that's not the issue anymore. I just don't want anything. (I shouldn't be complaining about that, should I?) Lisa

My surgery was supposed to be the second one of his day, but the surgery before me went over and I didn't get pushed into the OR until 11:30. I was fine in recovery, not hurting and not in pain. The first night I just used my pain pump every time it would let me. I was determined not to hurt. Tuesday was a bad day. Dry heaves, lots of gas pain and I think where he repaired my hernia was hurting too. The actually incisions felt fine. Wednesday I was able to drink without feeling nauseous so they let me come home. I am still sore from the dry heaves. Let me tell you THEY WERE STRONG! I was so afraid I was going to throw up a staple or too, but nothing ever came out. I slept so much better in my bed last night. So much more comfy cozy than a hospital bed. Today I still feel pretty wobbly when I move around, but I am determined to do my "downstairs laps" today. Not really any hunger. In fact, some food smells actually make me nauseous. I can tell, though, that my two week thin liquid post-op diet is going to get old quick. I'm already scrounging around for some Soup recipes that I can make for the fam and then puree for me. Anything that doesn't taste sweet. Dr. Spaw said he made my pouch really tight and that it will take a couple weeks for it to soften where I don't have that spasm pain every time I take a sip. Right now I have to wait for that pain to come and go before I can take another sip. I guess I will be happy with my very tight pouch once I can start eating real food. It will help keep me on track. I'll update either this weekend or the beginning of next week. I expect to feel MUCH better by then. Also, I got myself a present for getting through the surgery--tickets to Death Cab for Cutie in August. I'm SO EXCITED! And my cousin gave me the most awesome gift. It's a big gift bag full of wrapped presents. One said "Open Now" and one says "Open Last" and then the others I open one each day. The first one was a journal. I am going to go back to when I first started thinking about the Sleeve and catch up to now. Then today's gift was the cutest plastic margarita glass with a pink seahorse for a stem. I am sipping Water out of it now. I can't wait to see tomorrow's surprise!!!

Had my surgery Monday and did fine on the ice chips. I made sure they continued the zofran in my IV for the nausea. Tuesday was a completely different story. I dry heaved once that morning (after some water) and then again several times in the afternoon after the liquid Lortab. I will NOT take that stuff again.

Congratulations, chicadee! I was sleeved the day before you and it is my first full day at home. The liquid Lortab did the same thing to me. I had dry heaves for about 5minutes and I decided then I wouldn't be taking the Lortab anymore. Since I came home yesterday, I haven't taken anything for pain.

Walking has been pretty easy. But I had a real tough time with dry heaves yesterday. My little pouch feels more settled this morning. I will post more once. I get home today.

Thanks so much for the list. Since I probably won't remember who is next after me, I am going to send a prayer up right now for everybody on the list so far!

Congratulations to you! I'm so glad the surgery went well for you. Take care!

Start my 24 hour clears only. I cannot believe I am going to say this but I will really miss my protein shakes today. And nerves are starting to show up. This time tomorrow I will be in the holding room getting ready for my new start. When I started this process I guess I never fully believed it would really happen.

I will be fine until I go to the holding room. With all the other surgeries I've had, that's when I start to lose it. I hope they will give me something to relax me--especially if I have to wait in there very long. I think I can have two family members in there with me, so that will help. I'm planning on staying very busy this weekend so it doesn't just drag by. I thought my oldest daughter wasn't going to be able to be in town for the surgery; her car got trashed (windshield included) during a hailstorm in Knoxville Wednesday night. But fortunately she has found a ride home. YAY!!! Between classes and her job up there, I don't get to see her a whole lot so it was very important for her to be there.

One and a half days of Protein shakes, one day of clears and then SURGERY! I am so ready. I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck in the holding room, but I'm hoping for a little chemical help with that. I have lost about 15 pounds since I started the liquid diet. According to my scale this morning I lost 7 pounds in 24 hours, which is very hard to believe. I have done very well after the first two days, but I have noticed yesterday that my energy level has started to bottom out. I can see why they only do this for two weeks. Your body couldn't handle it for much longer. After the first couple days I also got to where I could see and smell food without it bothering me. TMI, but all the protein is giving me constipation. I'm going, but it's not too pleasant. I think I'm plenty hydrated because my urine is almost clear. I guess it's just the change in what I usually eat. My stomach hurts too. Not badly just kind of annoyingly. I figure if I can survive these two weeks with my large, insanely stretched stomach, I should be able to handle it fine for a couple of weeks after surgery. On week 3 I can at least start pureeing some Soups and stuff to get a flavor other than "sickly sweet." It's really great to have all this support here and to have so many people going through EXACTLY what I am right now.