Nancy Rivers

Tuesday will be 3 weeks after my surgery. I've had itching around the incisions, but since most of the "scabs" have come off, the itching has subsided. The one incision on the left (the largest one - it's the one they took my stomach out of) still had a bit of scab left in the center - and on one edge. The scab in the center was partially loose, but still attached, so I have been leaving it alone. Today, I got a pain - kinda like a needle being stuck into that incision - right where the scab in the middle was. So, I lightly rubbed over it (that has sometimes helped when I get itching or slight pains). Well, part of the scab in the middle came off, and then it started bleeding. It didn't bleed a whole lot - I was able to stop it fairly quickly and it was only a large drop and then a couple of smaller drops. I have since washed the whole area with anti-biotic soap (dial) and have put some neosporin and a band-aid on that particular incision. All of the other incisions are healing well. Should I be worried that it started bleeding this long after surgery?

A friend of mine always "de-strings" her celery. I'm not sure how she does it, but I know she does. I would think that if it was small and you chew it really well, then it shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck with your surgery!

Still unpacking and still need to get a couple of things, but I'm not going to "push myself" to hard. My muscles ache today, so I'm resting more than unpacking. I know it's because I'm not used to being active, but I don't want to injure myself either by doing too much too quickly.

Just a few posts below this one is this post on the symptoms of a leak: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/22197-what-are-the-symptoms-of-a-leak/

It's the first time since surgery I have thrown up. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Welcome to the forums. There are a lot of people on here who have revised from the band to the sleeve and have had success. There's actually a separate board for those that have that type of surgery. On the main page, scroll down and you'll see it. You'll have success with the sleeve. Just follow what your surgeon and dietician tell you, and you will be successful!

I got baby spoons to help me eat more slowly and smaller bites. So far it's been working well. I also measure my food and eat only that amount.

Welcome to the forums. Good luck with getting your surgery scheduled quickly.

I was thirsty after a long day of moving furniture into my new place (thankfully, the delivery people did most of the work, but I had some "fine tuning" to do - sliding furniture so I'm not lifting. Anyway, I was rather thirsty, so I get out my trusty bottle of water and take a drink - like I would have a month ago - just chugging away. Suddenly, my sleeve said "whoa - wait a minute!" Nice tight feeling in the chest, breaking out into another sweat, I stop chugging and wait for the feeling to go away. It doesn't until I go to the bathroom and throw up. It was just water that came back up, but still. Now I feel much better of course. Although I'm sure my sleeve is still upset with me. Lesson learned - I MUST SIP no matter how thirsty I am.

Yup, people do carry weight differently. Most people think I weigh somewhere around 200 to 220. In reality I was 288. Mine is concentrated in my torso and upper legs. I had in January bought myself size 28W for the first time ever. Right now, if you were to look at me without clothing, it almost looks like I am pregnant in my torso, but still have big thighs.

Possibly, although not very likely. The gas they pump into us usually dissipates in a week or so. Did you do something different with your arm recently?

There is this thing called the "3 week stall" - a stall that usually occurs around the 3rd week after surgery. You and I both are entering that time frame. It is completely normal for us to stall at this point. I haven't lost any weight in a week. IT WILL PASS THOUGH. Meggiep had posted this link before, but I think it's a good one because it describes what happens when our bodies stall. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html My surgeon and dieticians say to NOT weigh yourself daily, but to do it at the very most weekly. The reason is your weight fluctuates on a daily basis. At the last support group meeting, there was a gentleman who had the sleeve done 2 weeks before me and he was pissed that he had lost 43 pounds in 2 weeks, but nothing since. He said that he destroyed (literally through it out the window onto the patio where it shattered) his scale when he weighed himself one morning and then AGAIN an hour later and found it went up 3 pounds. Everyone who had surgery, the psychologist that was there and the dietician all said in one voice - don't do that! If you weigh yourself frequently, you're just gonna make yourself crazy when the scale starts bouncing around like that. Weigh yourself once per week. Trust your surgeon and dietician - they know what they are doing. Follow their plan and stick to it. It WILL WORK.

My surgeon told me that leaks do not typically happen after the first 30 days or so. Most frequently they are found in the first 48 hours. Some exceptions include not eating the appropriate things which cause the leak. Sorry, I don't know about revising a bypass.

For me, it's fast food. I used to eat fast food every single day - sometimes multiple times a day. Now just the thought of it turns me off.

As the others said, this is normal. Try different temperatures of liquid - that may help. Personally, ice cold plain water is what worked best for me - but I'm unusual in that. Many report that warm or room temperature is better for them.

Ok, now I'm hungry.... LOL

liquids in, liquids out. Yeah, diarrhea is normal. When I spoke to my surgeon about it, he said that unless I was going like 7-9 times every day, he wasn't worried about it as it was normal. If I had been going that often, then he would be concerned about a complication (not lactose intolerance - but something else that I forget the name of). When I had some episodes of lactose intolerance - it happened within an hour or so of my ingesting a particular weight loss shake and it would only happen then. The doctor that I was seeing at the time suggested that I take lactaid tablets and that helped.

Well, I am at 16 pounds lost - which is just over half way to my goal. However, I know I am entering a stall (haven't lost anything in a week and Tuesday will be 3 weeks). Hopefully the stall won't last too long...

I was fine a week after surgery - I drove from Cincinnati, Ohio to Michigan (about a 5.5 hour drive each way) and back in one day. Yeah, I stopped and walked for a few minutes each hour which made the trip a bit longer, but I needed to do it. I didn't have any pain or nausea after surgery and bounced back really quickly.

Like many others, I had no pain or nausea after surgery. For me, the worst part after I finally woke up (it takes me a while to wake up from anesthesia) was the dry mouth and throat and not able to drink water or anything. My surgeon would not allow me to swallow anything until after the leak test the next day. Fortunately, they had little sponges on a stick that I could use to moisten my mouth and lips. But I still could not swallow it, so my throat remained sore.

Yes, Nectar has one called Roadside Lemonade. It's not bad. I got my samples of it from nashuanutrition.com

I decided on the sleeve because 1) it did not re-route my insides like the by-pass does, 2) it does not have the mal-absorption issues that the bypass does, 3) I did not want a foreign object restricting my stomach - there are way too many horror stories for my comfort about that. My blood pressure has returned to normal as well - I've always been borderline high and in the months prior to surgery, I was actually high when they checked my bp. Yesterday at my followup appointment it was actually in the normal range! This will also help your cholesterol because you are eating differently with the sleeve - and exercising (in my case much more than I was before).

Congratulations! That is great!

I agree, there are a lot of success stories on these forums. Just look around at the different posts. In the 2 weeks that I have been sleeved, I have lost 16 pounds. I'm thrilled with my progress so far.