Nancy Rivers

So sorry you had pain when he removed the drain. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with that as my doctor didn't use a drain. Take some pain medication and some rest and you will feel better. Try to walk around later today - that will help too.

It's probably the normal "3 week stall". A stall that happens around week 3 and can last a couple of weeks. Essentially, your body is still adjusting to the surgery - kind of re-arranging itself. So while you may not be noticing a decrease on the scale, I bet you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting any differently?

Ok, I've had 2 big "rolls" of fat - one above my waist (below breasts) and one below my waist. Today I just realized that the roll of fat above my waist is SMALLER! When I look down my front, I used to just see that roll of fat above my waist. Now, I can barely see it (past my breasts that is) and very obviously see the roll of fat below my waist. Strange I know to be excited to see a roll of fat - but I am! I never thought I would see a difference in my body so quickly! Woo Hoo!!!!

Good luck and remember to take it easy! Walking and sipping will need to be your mantra for a while.

Hydration is definitely more important. Try different temperatures of liquids. I found that plain ice cold water went down best at first - while others report that room temperature goes down best. I'm one of the lucky ones, 5 days after surgery I was able to get in all of my water and protein requirements. But I know that is more unusual.

I had 2 shots in the belly at the hospital (the 2nd one really hurt and is bruised bad - the nurse wasn't at all gentle with it) - although I don't think it was Heparin, but I was told it was a blood thinner. However, once I left the hospital, I didn't have to do any more injections.

Thanks klus - I'm still on purees, but I did sign up to get the recipes for when I do get to eat real food again. I have always found it hard to cook for just myself as most recipes are for 4+ people. That's part of the reason why I got to be so overweight - it was just easier for me to hit fast food than try to figure out how to cook for just me. This way, at least I'll have some ideas so that I can start cooking for myself and not fall back into my bad habits.

Yup, I can't stand most commercials for food now - although the Subway ones I still like because the sandwiches look appetizing. I go past fast food places every day and it just turns my stomach. I give full credit to my new sleeve!

The bad breath is probably a sign that your body has entered ketosis - the process of burning the fat stores for energy. As far as the liquids go - everyone is different, but I know I can drink that much too. I wouldn't worry about it much as liquids do tend to go right through your stomach and not sit there the way food does.

I had a hard time sleeping in the hospital too. The bed wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked, and then all of the various nurses coming in at different times to do different things. Ughh... Why couldn't they coordinate that a bit better to allow a patient to actually sleep? But I digress... I hope you get released soon - it's easier to recover at home. Have you tried moving your arm around a bit to help with that shoulder pain? That really helped me when I started to experience the pain in the shoulder - I did arm exercises (rotating, moving up and down, across body, over head, etc).

Glad you are doing well. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hope everything went well and you are on the road to recovery!

Welcome! You'll do just great!

Welcome to the forums. You'll find all kinds of information here.

I was never told to do an anti-microbial. Before they took me back for surgery, the nurse in pre-op did disinfect my stomach with an anti-microbial. The surgeon then put a "glue" over each incision and didn't mention that I had to use anything special on them. I'm now 9 days post-op and have had no problems with infections.

Glad you are doing so well!

I'm so sorry you aren't feeling well. It is normal to think the way you are when you are at this stage. Like the others said, it will get better. I hope you get feeling better soon.

Glad everything went well for you Dee Dee. Each day it will get better at this point.

Congratulations!

Congratulations on starting life anew! Wow, I don't think I would be waiting that long either! That's just crazy! Hope all goes well for you!

Congratulations!

Congratulations! That is awesome!

Huh... no one is getting sleeved tomorrow (the 22nd)? Wow.

Congrats and glad you are home. It will get better every day!

Tonight at my support group meeting, they had a "taste testing" of a new (to them) product called Bariatric Fusion. We had 3 samples of the protein shakes (chocolate, vanilla and strawberry) and also 3 samples of chewable vitamins. I could only have one vitamin due to already taking part of my vitamins earlier today. I chose the mixed berry vitamin - it had really good taste and was NOT chalky. I liked it better than the Bariatric Advantage that I have right now. Everyone else who was there that tried them also liked the Bariatric Fusion chewable vitamins.