mountain_lover

I thought that I had better update my story of my journey. Soon I will also put on some new photos. I have really been busy with christmas and I had to go into the hospital on Dec. 24 and the 25. I was having chest pains for 2 days and I had read that it could possibly be a blood clot in the lungs. The information said to call 911, which I did and I stayed in the ER for about 8 hours while they done tests on my heart, blood work and a CT scan. Thank God!! No heart attack, No blood clot in the lungs!! But I did find out that I have a hematoma on my spleen. As long as it does not burst or become infected, I guess all will be OK. I was given the OK to travel, so I traveled out of state the day after Christmas. I weighed myself on Dec. 30, the morning after I came back and I had a hard time believing that I had lost some weight. I had gained 3 pounds the two days I was in the hospital, I guess it might have been from the fluids they put in my IV. So I have lost almost 5 pounds while I was on my trip. I now weigh 214.4, only 15 more pounds and I will be in onederland!! I have not been at this weight for approximately 20 years. I hope the pounds keep coming off. For about a week I was stalled and gained that 3 lbs. I was a little discouraged, but I have read that is common for people to get stalled at 3 weeks out, and that was my situation also. I am getting ready to start eating regular foods. I have been on the soft foods for 2 weeks. I know that I was eating things that are not considered soft, but when I did I chewed, chewed and chewed some more so that it would be easier for my stomach to digest. I still have problems with some nausea, but I am doing OK. I just try not to overeat and I try to go slow and chew my food real good. While I was visiting for the holidays, I did have a few things that were sweet, but they were hard to tolerate with my nausea. I don't know if I will not be able to tolerate sweets or if it will go away. I hope I stay more like this, because before surgery, I was so addicted to sweets and I ate way too much of them. Whenever I do have sweets now, I will limit my intake. I do have bouts of head hunger, but no hunger like before surgery. I really am so happy that I had the Sleeve done. I do not regret having it at all. I did not have any pain from the incision. I only had the pain from the gas pains and bad nausea for one week after surgery. Now I am ready to get started on some serious exercising to try to firm and tone my body after losing some weight. I am looking forward to this journey and reaching my goal!!

Hello JudyJudyJudy, You are doing so good, I am so happy for you. You had your surgery the day before me and we were almost at the same weight. I was 232 the night before surgery and it looks like you were at 235. Now you are only 12 pounds away from being back in the one hundreds. I have 15 more pounds to lose to be in the one hundreds. I recently had to go into the hospital the morning of Dec.24 and got out on Christmas Day. I found out that I have a hematoma on my spleen. When I came out of the hospital I weighed 3 more pounds than I did before I went in. I was hoping it was because they put all those fluids into my IV. I made a trip out of state and just got back late last night. I got up this morning and weighed myself and I couldn't believe it, I only weighed 214.4, I had lost 5 pounds while I was gone those 4 days. I hope I am back on track. I had a stall with weight gain and even though I have read that it happens, it is still discouraging. Now my hope has been restored, especially after reading your post. It is so good to read what others are going through and to know that we are not alone. The concern, support and prayers from all the sleevers really help me alot on my journey. I am anxious to see some pictures of you soon, you are very beautiful on your profile picture. Good luck on reaching your goal!!

Hello kteacher, I was doing just fine until Dec.23. I woke up with some chest pains that continued throughout that day and I could not get to sleep. I called 911 at 3:30AM on Dec.24 and had to go to the ER. I was concerned about my heart or a blood clot in my lungs. They took some blood tests and one (D-DIMAR) came back positive so they had to do a CT skan. My heart test all came back OK and there was NO blood clot in my lungs. But they did find a large Hematoma on my spleen. I had to stay in the hospital until christmas day about noon. They said it could be causing the pain in my chest area. The spleen could have been bumped and bruised during surgery, but I am going to be ok as far as I know. It will be absorbed by the body. The only time it usually causes problems is when it is infected or if it bursts inside the body. The doctor said that it doesn't appear to be infected. I had plans to leave on christmas day, to go out of state to visit family for Christmas. I ask the surgeon if it was OK to travel and he said it would be OK. So I went to visit Family and I just now arrived back home from the visit. Other than that, I am doing Ok. I am on my three week stall or either things got messed up from me being in the hospital. Dr. Husted told me that I would only have 1 incision instead of 5. I found out that I was the 2nd patient that he had performed the one incision surgery on. You must have been his first one because you had surgery on 11/20 and I had surgery on Dec.2. I am so thankful that I only had one that had to heal. I do not regret having had the sleeve done. I am hoping that after this stall, I will get back to losing so I will be on my way to my goal weight. I hope that you had a Merry Christmas and that you are doing ok from your surgery. I only have lost 16 pounds since Dec.2. I am going to go back to the Y soon so that it will help to burn some calories. I went to the support group on Dec.14 and I hope I get to go in Jan. I hope to meet you at one of the support group meetings. I will be posting more in a few days after I rest up from my trip. Thank you for your reply and have a nice day!!

Hello Heftynetty, I am so glad to hear that you are doing better. I am really having a hard time post-op with the Milkshakes. Before surgery I was drinking 4 over a 24 hour period, but now I have a hard time getting 1 down in 24 hours. I finally got a liquid Protein down after not having one for 2-3 days. It was really difficult, I wish I could say the same thing about some of the things I have been eating. I am almost 3 weeks out and I can eat alot of different foods but I am trying not to eat alot of them. I am sure I am getting at least 3-5 ounces down in about 45 minutes-1 hour. The only thing that I make sure that I do is to eat slowly and chew, chew and chew some more before I try to swallow. If I swallow too fast or don't chew enough, I can tell real quick. I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year

Hello FrankMan, I read the title of this thread and when I did it took me back in time right before my surgery. If you read all of my postings, you will see that the closer I got to my surgery date the more nervous, anxious or whatever feelings it was, was really messing up my previous sanity. I said I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster ride!! I think because of all the risks that we are told that the surgerys have, we tend to get really scared about not making it through the surgery. I have had several major surgeries including a total knee replacement last year and this surgery still made me somewhat fearful of maybe dying on the operating table or dying from complications after surgery. I was so unhealthy before my surgery on Dec.2 and I was hoping and praying that God and My surgeon would help me get through it ok. I had alot of people on here supporting and praying for me. Now that I have had the surgery I cannot believe how well I came through it without hardly any pain. The only pain I had after surgery was some gas pain and some nausea. I only had one small incision about 2 inches long. It healed up in 2 weeks, and now I have the ok to go back to swim exercise classes. I feel so much better than I did before surgery. I know I still have a long way to go, but it was nothing that I expected. But I did go into it knowing what could be the worst to expect and HOPING for the best. I cannot tell you how your surgery will go, because we are all different and we all go by different but similar diets. I can ONLY tell you what my experience was and hope that you and others will also have a good recovery. Just don't back out, hang in there and hope for BIG changes to happen real soon. The most important thing is try to take good care of yourself and if you mess up as most of us do, just get right back on track and go ahead with a positive attitude to do better. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Hello JudyJudyJudy, I went through the same thing recently, at first I was losing real fast then it started going real slow. I was only losing about a half pound each day for the last few days. I finally reached 216.8 which was 50 pounds lost since my July weight of 266. Since the day before surgery at 232, I have now lost 16 pounds. It doesn't sound like much, but my pants are getting loose on me, so I can tell it is working. I hope to try some chili soon, it sounds good. You said you like shrimp, well I tried some Shrimp Scampi from Long John Silvers and I took them out of the sauce because it was so oily and I have not been able to handle greasy foods very well. They tasted so good, I am going to try to get me some more on Wednesday. It was only $1.99 for a side order of 4 shrimp scampi but the small cup had several shrimp in it, and it was very filling. The only thing I had to chew, chew and chew some more before I could swallow them. I had some after I was put on soft foods, which is suppose to be anything I can mash up with a fork. I too am having problems doing everything exactly right, but I am really trying to pay close attention to what is going on with my stomach. I read where if the stomach gets too full, you will start burping, belching or vomiting. I am still having a hard time knowing how much to put in at once, but I am trying to eat very slow and chew very well before swallowing. If I start having signs of fullness I stop eating for a few minutes and then continue when I feel better. I know all of this is not easy, but I am so sure it will all be worth it in the end. I don't feel much hunger at all. I have more head hunger than stomach hunger. I am so happy for you that you are losing the weight now. I can't wait to see some new pictures of you. Please post some new ones soon. I am going to try to post some new ones myself soon. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

I am so happy to see that you have made it to Onederland!! I have been reading several of posts and looking at your photos. You have been a great inspiration for me and I am now looking foward to reaching Onederland myself. I have a ways to go yet, I have 17 more pounds to lose before I get there, but after reading your post I feel that it will be a big event. I can feel your excitement. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

I am not a doctor, but it sounds like that may be what it is. I have a scale my daughter bought me and it measures Hydration. My percentage should be at 47% but it was only running about 33-35 % in the beginning. But now it is up to 38%. Still low but better. I also started feeling better the second week . I am suppose to drink 32- 64 oz of Water each day. I know I get over 32 but not sure if I am getting 64. I bought one of those aluminum water holders with the very small openings on the lid. I put Ice in them and water and it makes the water taste better and I don't have to smell the chlorine in the tap water. Those only cost 4 dollars at Wal-Mart in the kitchenware section where the water bottles are and they keep the water colder longer and it doesnt taste like the plastic either. I hope this helps. Have a better day. I wish you all the best. If it continues I would suggest contacting your surgeon.

Thank you! My doctor said liquids but the folder he gave me said that liquid pureed foods that you could pull up through a straw except not to use a straw with no lumps. It said tablefoods. Try to get Protein in first, vegatables next and fruit if possible or any room left after the daily protein. I used 1/2 or the pureed mixture in morning and other half in the evening. So each had about 1 egg, 1 piece of bacon or a little sausage and a little bit of gravy and 1/4 or a bisquik bisquit in each serving I ate it very slowly at first, it took about half an hour the first time to get it ate. I hope I have been doing ok with what he expects, I will find out tomorrow because I go to my 2 week check up. I hope he puts me on soft foods. Anything that I can mash up with a fork, keeping in mind protein first then vegatables and fruit. I have only had pureed foods the past 4-5 days or so. The first 2 days after surgery were to be clear liquid. The next 2 weeks pureed. The last 2 weeks soft foods. And after 4 weeks regular foods within reason.and do the same protein, veg. and fruits next.

My doctor prescribe me METOCLOPRAM 10 MG FOR NAUSEA AND VOMITING generic for REGLAN. I only had real bad nausea after surgery but no vomiting. I can take one tablet every 6 hours if needed but I only take 1 in morning and 1 at night. Also right before surgery he told me to get some RANITIDINE 150 mg for acid to take 2 tablets day before surgery and 1 the morning of surgery with a sip of Water. Now I have been taking them every day 1 in morning and 1 at night It must be helping because the nausea has let up some and still no vomiting. I get the Ranitidine off the shelf at Wal-Mart in the antiacid isle. It is generic for Zantac I think and it is Equate walmart Brand cheap.

I wish you both all the best!!

Hello Kteacher, By now you might have had your surgery. If you have, I hope everything is going well. Did you stay with the sleeve or change your mind. I hope I can meet you at one of the support group meetings that they have every month on the second Monday of each month. I am very pleased with the surgery and with Dr. Husted. I hope to talk to you again soon. Have a great day!!

Hello tiffykins, I alway look through the photo section of this forum and your picture always makes me look at the rest of your photos. You have always been a big inspiration for me to keep hanging in there and not give up on having the sleeve. I had the sleeve on Dec.2 and I hope that I reach my goal. I am 5' 4.5" tall and my goal is 145. On Dec.14 in the morning I weighed 220.6, so I have 75.6 pounds more pounds to lose to my goal of 145. Now whenever I look at all your picture updates, I get so inspired to try harder to do what I need to do to get to that goal. I am glad that you come on here to share often. I am so thankful that I saw this thread and clicked onto it. Have a great day and I wish you all the best on reaching your goal of 150!!!!

Hello, I found out after about a week that I was getting so tired of trying to swallow pills with Water and getting so full that I did not want to eat much of anything afterwards because of the bad taste of some of my pills that I had to do something different. So I decided to do it like I had to do working with the handicap people. We had to put there pills in a spoonful of pudding or applesauce. Well I decided to make one of my Protein chocolate or strawberry milkshakes and put my pill in a spoonful of the shake. And I have been doing it that way ever since, because I take 8 pills each morning that are not chewable. It helps so much, especially to take the bad taste out of my mouth much quicker. Water only makes a bad tasting pill taste worst. I hope this will help anyone that has not tried it. Have a great day!!

I only had the nausea and gas pains after surgery, no pain from the incision. It lasted a week and I am almost 2 weeks out and I still have small bouts of light pain from the gas. I have been taking since the night before surgery an acid reducer called Zanitidine 150 mg from Wal-Mart generic for Zantac I Think or whatever the brand name ones are beside the EQATE WAL-MART Brand. I take 1 in the morning and 1 at night. Dr. Husted prescribed me some pills for after surgery that I take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening and they are METOCLOPRAM 10 MG WHICH IS GENERIC FOR REGLAN 10 mg. They must be helping or either the pains gradually decrease after a week. I hope this helps if you are not taking anything for it, or maybe you can talk to your doctor about getting some for yourself instead of what you might be taking now if they are not helping. Have a good day!!

Hello everyone, I really enjoyed this thread, so much so that I added it to my favorites, that way when I do get to eat regular foods I can refer back to this. My daughter shot her first deer this season and her husband got on too. They are going to give us some ground up deer meat and I sure would like to look up some more receipes. Tiffykins you sure are a great inspiration for me. I have been wondering how spicy foods would be with the sleeve, and how much I might be able to eat. I have been trying different things pureed, but there is not much that really appeals to me. Yesterday I did have some egg, bacon, gravy and small bit of bisquit and it tasted so good. So today I pureed me some egg, sausage, gravy and 1/2 of a bisquit and divided into 2 meals, I liked it so much. I had my surgery on Dec. 2 and Wednesday I will have my 2 week check up. I am hoping that Dr. Husted gives me the ok to go on the soft food diet and the ok to go back to my swimming exercise classes. BOY AM I READY, WHETHER MY BODY IS READY OR NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really ready for this change. I weighed 266 back in July and today on my scales I weighed 220.6. My daughter gave me an early christmas present. A photo album with a beautiful note from her in it and a picture of me and her taken on July 4,2009 and I could not believe how big I looked at that time. I will try to post it in my photos soon if possible. Thank you for the recipes. Have a great day!!

Hello Heftynetty, Please don't stop checking in here to update us with your journey. Even though you had to have another revision, you are still welcome to come on here and let us know how you are doing. Everyone else has said so many nice comments to you. The only thing I would like to add, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Even though you may not think so, You are truly one tough lady. You inspire me to go on no matter what may come, the good or the bad. Hang in there, this too will pass and I am sure you will do what is best......

Hello mnb, Thank you for your comments! I am going to try to get more exercise in when I can go to the Y and go to my swimming exercise classes, they really make me feel much better and I am sure that they have helped me to get some of the pounds off pre-op. I started weighing my self when I weighed 239 when My daughter gave me my early christmas present, a Healthometer scales that measure several different things. I enjoy using it and I just started me a weight journal. I write down the date I weigh, how much so many days after surgery, Body fat %, Water mass%, and Bone Mass. I will be glad to start on my soft food diet after Wednesday after My 2 week check up. I should get in more calories then, and slow down my weight loss a little, but maybe by getting in more exercise it will all even out in the end. Have a great day!!

You are so right, sorry I messed up. I remember now that the lady that showed them to me worked in the pharmacy and she had the bypass surgery and she used them after surgery. I ask her what the differance was and she said that it might make me a little more gassy. I don't know if this is true. Do you happen to know what the differance from the citrate chews would be? And do you know if it is ok to take them in place of the citrate ones? I am going to ask my doctor when I see him on the 16th Wednesday. Thank you for correcting this error of mine. Have a great day!!

Hello tiffykins, No way!! You look terrific!! I have showed so many people in my family your photos, to encourage them even more that this is the right surgery over all the rest. I like to show them especially 2 of your photos, the before picture in the beginning and your last picture updates. My son ask me if I had read all your posts to see how you are getting it off so fast and doing so well. I came home to get on the forum and looked at photos and I clicked on yours first and WOW your picture is so nice. You look wonderful. I am going to read your posts and the first one I came to is this one. You DO NOT look sickly at all!! You are a big inspiration of mine. Your pictures have incouraged me to hang in there and not back out of having the surgery. I had my surgery Dec. 2 and in 10 days I have lost 10 pounds, which 6 pounds were in the last 4 days. It does come off fast. I am trying to stay on the pureed diet, having a hard time finding things to puree that sounds edible. If you can believe it, I ate some pureed pizza topping tonight which went down ok. That is only about the 4th or 5th thing that I have pureed since day 2 out after my Clear liquids. I try to get in 2 shakes and a liquid Protein vial each day if I can. I also eat sugar free Jello, I had a small amount of low-fat yogurt and some misc. But I am trying to stick with items that have lower fat and lower sugar content, so that it will be healtier. I will be reading more of your posts to see how you are doing such a great job at getting to your goal weight without looking like you are sickly!! Have a great day and keep letting us know how you are doing.

Hello VegasAngel, Thank you!! I have not went to a meeting in quite some time, but I know I need to go . I have not got a token in about 3 years since moving back to KY. I have been alcohol free since October 13, 1984. That was 25 years on October 13, 2009. You have a good day! I am doing ok with my sleeve so far, The weight is coming off each day or so.

Thank you! Have a nice day!!

Hello carlouv, I can't give you any advice on your pill intake, but I feel the same as you that it sound like way too many pills. I can only share with you what I did to help myself out, from all the information that was given to me from my doctor, and what I did after much questions and research. I take Centrum Multivitamin Orange flavored Chewable tablet.( that is much easier than swallowing it even if it is broken in pieces). Another thing I started doing was putting each pill in the spoon of milkshake and swallowing both at the same time, much easier and it makes the pills not taste so bad. If one gets a little stuck I hurry up and take in another spoonful of milkshake. By the way I need to let you know that I have some of those plastic mugs that have water inside them and I keep them up in the freezer until I make the shakes and that way when I pour my shake in them, they are sometimes like ice cream, and I can't drink it all at once so I put the left over in the freezer and have later. My Centrum Multivitamin has enough iron in it so I don't have to take any iron suppliments. I also read that you should not take your calcium at the same time as your Iron, because it can cause your body not to absorb the iron. Also I found some Spring Valley sugar-free chocolate Calcium Citrate with vitamin D and K Chews. They taste so good, almost like a toosie roll. The normal dose is 1 chew daily, but it advised not to chew more than 4 per day. I found them in a yellow bag of 90 chews for only about $6.00 in the vitamin section back by the Pharmacy at Wal-Mart. If they do not have them on the shelves, maybe they can order them for you. Also in the same area I found some sublingual Dots B-12 cherry flavored tiny tablets you put under your tongue and let dissolve for 30 seconds without swallowing. They taste very good, they never made me sick to my stomach. They are good for nerves, heart, lungs and other things. They were Spring Valley brand for under 6 dollars I think. I also found some complex B Vitamins, but they are large and taste funny, so it is a big help taking them with the spoonful of milkshake. I don't know if you can do any of the same things, but if you can than it should cut out many of your pills to be swallowed. Since the chews that I mentioned have Vitamin D and K, that might eliminate your 2 vitamin D pills. Like I said I can't give you advice on your pills because I am not a doctor, so please check with your Doctor or get a second opinion from another Qualified Doctor. Another thing that should help alot is getting those soft foods down, because they will contain alot of the vitamins you need if you choose the right foods. My doctor told me to eat Proteins first, then later I can have vegatables next and after that, later I can have fruits if I wish. I purchased some V-fusion in the V- 8 section of Wal-Mart. The can is 8 oz. so I have to drink it--- slowly----- and only drink half of the can at a time. It tastes very good, it is strawberry banana flavored and has a full serving of vegatables and a full serving of fruit in each can. This last thing has been a big help for me to get all my protein in too. I purchased several of the liquid Protein vials at Wal-Mart where the Protein Bars are at back by the pharmacy. They were only $1.97 each and they are loaded with vitamins and 26 grams of protein. They can actually be a Meal Replacement if needed. I hope this helps you or anyone else having some of the same problems with taking too many pills. I have several other pills I have to take besides the vitamins, so the spoonful of milkshake with each pill was a Godsend.(I used strawberry , and also chocolate flavored protein milkshakes from GNC at the Mall here in Somerset Ky. They tasted good separatly or mixed together. More expensive than Wal-Marts, but have a good flavor). I hope all goes well with you soon. Have a great day!!

My pre-op diet was set at between 700-1000. I could only have 4-5 milkshakes and Protein bar daily. The Protein shakes without anything else in them was about 200 each, so I only had 4 each day and 1 Protein Bar which was 210-240 each. I added nuts and pineapple to the shakes at times, which raised the calories up some. I exercised on the eliptical and went to swim exercise classes at the Y. I found out that those two things helped alot because they were the easiest for me to do. I only lost 8 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet, but I have lost 7 1/2 pounds in 9 days post-op. I wish you all the best.

Hello boredoncemore, It sounds like you have made the right decision and I hope and pray that all works out for you. I had my surgery done on Dec.2 and the first few days I had terrible nausea and gas pains, but that has eased up quite a bit. I am still having a hard time with the pureed diet, but I have tried 4 things so far. I am drinking 2 Protein milkshakes and drinking 1 liquid protein each day. That way I am getting enough protein and enough liquids. I also eat jello some days and Minute Maid Apple juice (only part of the 10 oz. bottle at a time). I mix skim milk in my milkshakes so that gives me some more protein and also put some walnuts or pecans which adds some protein and the good fats. My diet called for me to drink at least 32 oz. of water but try to get 64 if possible. Try to find something to drink out of that has a small opening so that you don't have to smell it and it makes it go down easier. Sometimes the water smells funny from too much chlorine in it. I hope this helps. I wish you all the best.