KaitlynnHughes

Amazing

i went back after 4 weeks...i'm a nurse's aide 8 hour night shift on a busy/heavy lifting unit!!! It was tough at first and exhausting but you fall back in place after a week!!! Good luck and watch lifting those patients at first!!!

So I just had to share..... I'm 10 weeks post-op and i'm down 55lbs!!! I am so thrilled with my results already!!! NONE of my old clothes fit anymore.... I had to go shopping the other day!!! I went from a 4X Top and 24/26 pant, to a 1X top a size 20 pants!!! Next on my list will be new bras and panties...hehe!!! I'm 29lbs to ONEderland!!! AGGGHHHH i'm so excited!!!

I apologize I am on my phone for this response! My first month post op I had horrible complications! I actually ended up having a second surgery to fix a leak that they didn't catch! If u go to my page you can read my post about that experience! Since that surgery I have been able to eat and keep water down! I am not meeting my protein intake but I am trying like he'll! I still haven't found a shake to fill in that I can stomach! My schedule is a bit different bcz I work night shift but it goes somewhat like this: wake up eat dinner with family, mostly some sort of meat in the crocpot! I usually can only eat the meat about 1-2 oz and I'm done! Two or three hours later I have a high person snack like tuna or a protein bar depending on the craziness of my night(I have two little boys)! Then before I leave for work I eat again some yogurt or sometimes cheese and crackers but I still have a hard time with carbs! I eat two small meals at work and fill in with water or iced tea (it's how I get a caffiene fix, I know I shouldn't but I do)! Basically I eat every 2-3 hours about 1-2 oz of protein and/or healthy foods! I drink as much water as I can and I take a multi vit and calcium citrate! I don't stress bcz when I do I don't have results! I don't exercise in a gym yet but my job is VERY physically demanding and so are my kids...lol I'm not sure how I kept up with my life 60lbs heavier! I do plan to star back at the gym soon I just figured since I just started back to work last Monday I should give it a few days to start at the gym too! If you have any other questions I will be glad to answer them ad best as I can! Good luck and thank you for the kind/motivating responses to my pics!

You look amazing!!!

You look great!!! I can only hope to look that good someday!!!

You'll do great!!! Good luck next week!!!!

Thank you everyone!!! After all of my complications and emergency surgery I love seeing results!!! It makes everything i just went through worth it!!!! P.S. Doing much better since they fixed the leak!!!!

Thank you!!!! One of them is mine...the other is my best friends...the were born 4 hours apart!!!!

Thanks...It def came off faster than I thought!!!

I don't usually post on here but I thought i'd share my story with everyone: I was sleeved on June 27th 2011. I was doing great...only a few mild/normal complications like mild dehydration in week 1-2, and chest pain when swallowing soft foods. I contacted my doc every time something seemed weird to me and they told me that was to be expected and eventually i was able to take in fluids like a champ but still had problems with food. After two weeks of taking it easy i started light house keeping and taking more responsibilities with our two young boys and running errands and i felt fine doing all of that. By week three i was back to doing everything in my home that i had before surgery and by week four i had joined a gym. Things were looking pretty good. I still had trouble swallowing food...it was like it was stuck in my chest...no matter what i ate....pudding, chicken anything after 1 bite felt awful. They said it could be due to swelling and that I would be fine. I took four weeks off of work because of the type of job i have requires a TON of heavy lifting. I got cleared by my surgeon and the hospital i work for to go back finally last week. My first night back was rough but i expected that, i work 11p-7a as a CNA, so after work i went home monday a.m. and passed out. While i was sleeping i rolled over in bed and felt this sharp stabbing pain under my big incision....i sat straight up and almost screamed it hurt so bad. I tried to walk it off around the house thinking it was a cramp but it still hurt. I relaxed and took it easy monday night but by tuesday a.m. i was still in pain so i called the surgeon. They said it was most likely my internal sutures healing...that they might pinch and burn a little as they healed.....umm...ok....i felt like my pain was being ignored but they're the experts. Back to work Tuesday night....can barely get in any food or fluids because of pain but it was a busy night so i ignored it. By Wed at dinner i was throwing up everything i tried to eat or drink and work was awful...i could barely walk, i was snapping at patients because of my pain...things were no good!!! Thursday i woke up and had to run to the store with my kids bcz hubby works evenings on Thursdays. while i was driving i started getting this dizzy feeling almost like i was buzzed....so we came home right away....as the night progressed my dizziness did too!!!! I was laying with the boys reading a book and my younger son ask for a drink. I got up to get him a drink and collasped to the ground. I actually at that point crawled downstairs to get my husband to come home. He had his parents rush over so one could stay with the kids while the other took me to the ER where my surgeon was gonna have his team meet me. But he couldn't think of anything that could cause this one month post op so i was preparing myself to get sent home with no answers. At the hospital they did all kinds of tests and decided they would keep me over night for observation. They sent me for a swallow study before i got settled in a room so they could see if i had a leak anywhere but they were very doubtful of that!! After just dozing off around 4am, my room an hour later was full with 3 docs, 2 nurses, and my tech all preping me for what the resident was explaining as emergency exploratory surgery because my swallow study showed a leak somewhere. They had a long list of things that could "possibly" happen including: cutting my open fully, removing bowel, reverting my sleeve to a roux en y.....a horrible list of maybe's that i was prepared for!!! When i woke from the operation I had tubes and drains coming out of every body part they could. They had so much trouble finding veins for IV's bcz i was so dehydrated my arms were black and blue. When my husband came in to see me for the first time he got the look of terror on his face. They told us that they found a tear in my stomach and they luckily fixed it laparascopically but they said i threw a curve ball at them. They told us that only 1% of sleeve patients past one month post op have ever had this happen and that i was the first patient of theirs to ever have this. So they kept me for 6 days bcz they wanted to take things really slow!! But i am home now after lots of medications, tubes, needles and PAIN. I still have one drain that they are keeping in until i see the doc next week but for the most part things are going a lot better. I can drink fluids fine and i had some tuna with mayo last night and no chest pain when i swallowed!!! So for the next few weeks i'll be sticking to soft foods and liquids!!! I just thought i'd share....please don't let the docs ignore even the smallest concerns you may have....it could be life or death!!!

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and compilments.....I am doing much better!!! Its amazing the difference I feel when eating and drinking!!! I actually ate more than two bites without it coming back up tonight!!! I ate half of a tilapia fillet and actually got a full feeling and stopped. I feel like this is the begining of my weight loss journey now that everything feels normal again!!! I do have plans on at least bringing up my concerns that i called several times about different symptoms throughout the first month at my app. next tuesday!!! I will let everyone know how that goes!!! Good luck to everyone else!!!!!

I don't know how i was released either....they know what i do for a living we work for the same hospital...lol!!! I was just doing the treadmill and stair climber but after reading other posts it seems like i was advanced pretty fast!!! I have 4 more weeks off of work and during that time i'm looking for a lighter job!!! Thanks for the prayers!!!

I agree TOTALLY!!! and I think my docs feel the same way!!!

smkeller: I do not blame my doctors nor am i protecting them...i just didn't think to mention them!! They are a fantastic team who took very good care of me both times i was in the hospital! Most doctors these days try and write little things off as no big deal...the symptoms i was having were perfectly normal for my surgery!!! They were just following protocol!! When things didn't seem normal to me anymore is when I pushed that something else could be wrong and they agreed and sent me to the hospital where they took AMAZING care of me! I did mention in my first post that i was their FIRST patient that this has EVER happened too!!! This was just a case of bad luck and i think that it would be almost immature to embarrass such an amazing team, who SAVED MY LIFE, over bad luck!!! I actually have every intention of sending the office a very large expensive gift basket for everything that they have done for me!!! I did not go to Mexico, i went to a private surgical team at a very high rating health network in Pennsylvania!!! They are the General Surgical Associates with Dr. Boorse and Dr. Harrison who perform the bariatric surgeries and they are AWESOME....i HIGHLY reccomend the team for this procedure!!! They are part of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania....you can look up the network....its pretty impressive!!!!

Thank you for all of the positive vibes and prayers. All i wanted to gain from this post is for others to know to be in tune with your bodies! And if you feel something is wrong push until you get answers!

Thanks for the replies!!!! I guess I am "normal" after all...lol!!! It might just be the lack of solid foods making me emotional...haha!!! Thanks again!!! I'll keep ya posted!!! Good luck to everyone!!!

I am new here and haven't posted much....but yesterday when I was driving home from work I had an emotional breakdown!!! I just wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way??? I started beating myself up for "letting myself get this way" and needing surgery to help fix me!!! I started feeling selfish for putting my family through this with me!!! And the thoughts of "what if something goes wrong" won't get out of my head!!! I know why i am doing this and I want to be healthy more than anything but I guess i'm just scared!!!! Anyone else feeling the same????