Nancy Rivers

I also haven't told my family and I have no plans to do so. Only my sister is online and she doesn't know I have a YouTube or Facebook accounts (I don't think she even knows what those are honestly). I know for a fact that if they knew, I would be hounded endlessly about not doing the surgery. She is a "retired" nurse who teaches nursing at a local community college and she is dead set against any type of weight loss surgery - saying that it's too new, not safe with too many complications, etc. She was also overweight and lost quite a bit of weight by dieting and thinks that I should be able to as well since she could. Well I am not her (thankfully). I am living with a couple in Ohio (renting a room from them for work) and they know. Primarily because I need a ride to/from the hospital. He had had Lapband surgery about 4 years ago and ended up having it taken out last year due to a massive erosion and is still having issues with his stomach from it. They are supportive of my decision. A few of my students also know (since I had to cancel class on Friday so I could go back to Michigan for some tests). My students are all adults - many older than me. I've had mixed reaction from them. Many will say "I hope it works out for you", but I know that there's a fair number that don't think I'm doing the right thing. But at least they have the decency to not try to talk me out of it. I am debating telling my boss at this point. I wasn't going to, but he may be planning to have me teach a class in another location - and if so, I may need to tell him then. I'm actually a contract employee - so it's not a typical work relationship. He's always been supportive of me taking time off when I want it, but I've also made sure that it wouldn't hurt his bottom line as it were when I take my time off. I believe he would be supportive of my decision to have surgery, but I just don't want to tell him if I don't have to at this point. If I do, I won't lie to him and tell him that it's a different surgery as that could hurt our working relationship.

Congratulations on the 50 pounds! That is a tremendous achievement!

Congratulations!

It will pass. From the information I've been reading, the stall is normal and can last for 3-4 weeks. It is just your body adjusting to the new you. While you may not be loosing pounds, there are other changes happening - like loosing inches. You have already lost 20+ pounds - that is GREAT! So, the sleeve is working for you. It's hard, but just be patient. It sounds like you are doing everything right, so this too shall pass. You just need to let your body get adjusted to the new you.

Wow, what a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!

You have done a great job! Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your story.

Renee, I'm glad you are home and feeling better. I'd like to thank both you and Lynn for sharing the your experience. Thankfully, I don't have the same conditions that Renee has, but I do know that I don't react to medications the same way that many others do and this reminds me that I need to tell that to my surgeon. So, thank you again.

Congrats! That is an awesome loss so far!

I'm so sorry you are having a hard time with the pre-op diet. The theory behind the pre-op diet is to reduce the fatty deposits around your liver so it is less likely to accidentally get nicked during the surgery (it's easier for the surgeon to keep it out of the way if it's not covered with slippery fat). I know others have had solid food up to the day before surgery because their doctor didn't tell them to use only liquids. I'm no expert, and probably will give the wrong advice here, but I would say go ahead and have a small amount of grilled chicken - if that will help satisfy your hunger. Just make sure that you chew, chew, chew it and don't "pig out" on it. Or try something like Jello (it's generally on the Clear Liquids list after surgery) to see if that would help.

Congratulations on getting the sleeve! From what others have said, getting everything in this soon after surgery is tough but it does get easier. Your stomach is rather irritated right now, so it takes time for it to settle down. Sorry you've been having pains from the gas, that should soon go away too.

You look awesome! Thanks for posting.

I hope everything went well with your surgery. Hoping to hear an update soon.

My surgeon said it really depends on the person and the type of job. He said that most take two weeks off, but he's had a few who go back after one week and a few who took 6 weeks off!

I haven't been sleeved yet, but based on what others have said on here, I wouldn't worry too much about not following the diet for 2 days. If you are really concerned about it, contact your surgeon and see what he says about it. Keep in mind some doctors don't have their patients follow a special diet before the surgery. Relax and think of the reasons why you made the decision to have this surgery. That will help calm you down I think. Also keep in mind that the rate of complications from the surgery is really rather low - especially compared to some of the other types of weight loss surgeries, and definitely lower than something like an open heart surgery for example. You will do fine with the surgery.

I don't think you are too eager. This is the beginning of a new life for you and you are just excited about it. Besides, starting the packing process now ensures that you won't forget anything like you might with a last minute packing.

I'm sure everything will go well for you. Congrats!

I really like my PCP - he's always been so good with my care. However, lately, I'm getting more and more frustrated with him. A week ago, I faxed him the orders from my surgeon for some pre-surgery testing as well as the request that the surgeon had for a letter of medical necessity from him. Most of it was for various blood tests - which he could have drawn in the office. There was also an order for the gallbladder ultrasound, which he does not do in the office. Since my PCP is in Michigan, and I'm working (and will have surgery in Ohio), I had faxed the paperwork to him along with my written request explaining my reasons for requesting that he order the gallbladder ultrasound so that I could get it completed on the same day that I would be seeing him and having the bloodwork done so that I wouldn't need to take another day off of work and drive 600+ mile round trip again. I also explained that I knew he wouldn't order it without seeing me (that's his policy), but I was hoping that if I explained my situation to him, he would be willing to make an exception just this one time. Well, when I showed up this morning - he had not even bothered to read my written letter or the surgeon's orders. He finally did so when he came in to see me. Grrr.... Of course he said that he would order the tests for me - which I knew he would. So, his vampire came in and took the 8 viles of blood necessary to cover all of the blood tests and gave me the urine cup for that sample. Then getting out to his receptionist, I find out that he did not put down the order for the gallbladder ultrasound to be done today. I explained to the receptionist my issues and indicated that the doctor told me he would order it. Of course, she had to double check that. Then it took another 10 minutes and several phone calls to find a place that would actually do the ultra sound this morning "on short notice". I really hoped it would be today, since I was already fasting for the blood tests. It would have been nice if he could have gotten it scheduled before today so there wouldn't be the last minute rush to find a place to do it. But I wasn't going to leave until I had the test scheduled for this weekend if not today. Oh, and he didn't do the letter of medical necessity. His nurse said that she would have him dictate it to her on Tuesday and she would get it sent off then to my surgeon. I plan to call them next week to make sure it gets done. I get to the place for the ultrasound, give them the doctor's order and request that a copy of the results also be sent to my surgeon, and have that done. The technician then tells me to wait in the waiting room for about 15 minutes and they would let me know the results. Nice - I wasn't really expecting that. Then about 1/2 hour later, I actually got the results (negative) after again giving the information to the nurse to send the copy of the results to the surgeon. So, there's the long story of my "first step" completed! Yay!!!!

Thanks. It's just a bit frustrating that he wouldn't even look at the information I sent to him until he was in the office with me. I knew he would support the decision as he did give me a referral to a bariatric surgeon in Michigan. I just couldn't go to that one because of my work situation (they see patients on Tuesdays - which would be impossible for me working in another state). He was also concerned about the after care - suggesting that I find a PCP down there as well since I potentially won't be in Michigan as much as he would like for the proper follow up care. I told him the surgeon had a pretty extensive after care program and he seemed satisfied with that. Of course, my surgeon had also asked me if I would be around for the aftercare when I first met with him. I'm glad they were both concerned with that to be honest. It helps put me at ease for choosing the surgeon that I did.

Congratulations on making the decision! It will be here before you know it! I don't have kids, but several on here have had children - some as young as yours and everything went fine for them. I'm sure it will for you as well. It can be difficult leaving your children for so long, but it is only temporary and it sure beats leaving them permanently!

Glad to hear sarsar made it home. Hope you are doing well. Renee, I hope you get feeling better soon.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on making your decision. You'll definitely find a lot of support here - I know I have. I'm just starting my WLS journey, but I am constantly having the second and third thoughts about my decision. When this happens, I just remind myself of the reasons why I want to loose the weight permanently and the reasons why I chose this surgery. It really does help. Keep researching and learning about your surgery choice. It's amazing what information is out there if you search for it.

Congratulations! I hope the call comes soon for the scheduled surgery!

The problem with that is it would require another day off of work and another 600+ mile trip. Not exactly convenient. I will call them daily if I need to next week to make sure it gets done.