UXgrrl

Oh that's AWESOME... I've looked at those things a number of times and always said to myself HELL NO, I'd be the lucky one who would be on that thing when the rubber bands broke. Good for you! I bet it was exhilarating.... :-)

I'd say don't sweat it. You're keeping your calorie load down and your Protein up. The point of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver and prepare you emotionally for the post-op diet. It also gives you a jump start on your weight loss. Just keep doing your best, watch your calories, and look for things to do to keep your mind off the upcoming surgery.

What an awesome story... thanks so much for sharing it with us! I am so proud of you that you stuck to what you knew was your best decision for you and faced down some pretty frustrating and scary situations. You even went through a Level II appeal conference, which would scare the daylights out of me. And on your own! I think the insurance company finally figured out that they are dealing with a woman with the persistence and determination required to make herself healthy. Congratulations!

I remember feeling the same sense of disgust with myself during the time that I was waiting to have my surgery. It's like all the self hate that I had bottled up for years suddenly came to the surface because now I was doing something about it. It was kind of awful. You have already taken many steps towards creating the life you WANT to live for yourself and the body you deserve. Please keep us updated, and let us know if your friend suddenly starts behaving differently towards you once you are "in her turf". I really hope she doesn't.

Hm, thanks for the tip about the hair powder. I have thinning hair on my crown which bugs me and I'm afraid that losing anything due to weight loss will just make it worse. I checked it out on QVC.com and was impressed by all the positive reviews. I think I might actually get some.

My dietician said that nausea is one of the first signs she sees in her sleeve patients. Forensikchic is right: really focus on your fluids but don't hesitate to get an IV if you're not feeling better in a few hours. Dehydration can escalate very quickly. Seriously, this isn't something to mess around with.

WOW! Congrats! You should be bursting with pride... that's one of those "really big" achievements in life. I sure hope you're doing something special to Celebrate. When did you have surgery? How long did it take?

Congrats Favoredone! I know you'll do wonderfully. Come back and update us when you can -- we'll be cheering you on!

I'm just over two weeks out and it took me over a week to really feel better. I still don't feel normal -- my stamina isn't back -- but the first week was really the worst. I was having bad gas pain and my ribs hurt for some reason, and I couldn't seem to ever catch my breath. Going up stairs made me dizzy and and nauseous. I had kind of a meltdown at the end of the first week; I panicked because I suddenly starting worrying that I would never be able to eat or drink without some kind of pain, or feeling exhausted and out of breath all the time. But just like every other person on this board says, it will get better. We promise.

I have no idea how people have managed to go back to work after a week. It's been over two weeks for me and I still need a nap every afternoon.

You might be able to find a liquid or chewable Vitamin formulated specifically for bariatrics that will give you your whole dose in one shot, but I'm not sure you should trust it. According to my dieticians (I had two) there are some things, like Calcium, that you can't absorb more than 1/3rd your RDA at one time. FWIW, they have me on a generic chewable Flintstones vitamin 2x a day, 1 20mg Prilosec in the morning, and 2 Tums Extra Strength in between meals (away from the Prilosec and the Flintstones). I'm supposed to be doing monthly B12 injections but I hate needles so starting next month I will be doing the sublingual tabs. Pre-surgery I was taking a 1-a-day women's Multivitamin from Rainbow Light which was HUGE and hard to swallow. I understand wanting to get it over with one pill but you have to take so many different things after surgery, it might just be easier to break it into smaller pills. Plus, depending on your surgeon, you might be restricted from swallowing pills for awhile post-op. Good luck, you'll figure it out.

At 24 I was healthy too, just overweight. I was 50 or 60 lbs lighter than I am now. Granted, it's been 10 years and two kids, and my metabolism has slowed a bit and I have a sedentary desk job. But, I've also developed early onset osteoarthritis, which has led to a total hip replacement at 32 and the likelihood of another within 5 years. I've been been fortunate that my heart and blood sugar have been stable, but my cholesterol has suddenly gone out of control only in the last 3 years. I also developed fibromyalgia which, along with the OA, has made it much harder to exercise. The weight has been packing on with alarming frequency over the years and I wasn't able to figure out how to get rid of it. I don't know if I would have had WLS at 24. It seemed so extreme to me only a few years ago; but all I knew about was the band -- which didn't seem like it was enough -- and the bypass -- which seemed like too much. But it's amazing how health issues suddenly make you rethink your priorities, and the lengths to which you are willing to find relief. One thing that did scare me, which I didn't know about, was that during my surgery my doc took a biopsy of my liver. I received the pathology report in the mail earlier this week and it said that I had stage 1 NASH, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (aka "fatty liver disease"). I had never heard of this and my liver enzymes hadn't indicated problems so I googled it. I was alarmed at what I learned but I'm glad that I'm already working to reverse the damage before it gets too bad.

I'm saddened to hear that unsupportive communication is going on anywhere in this forum. I haven't been part of it but I'm sure that it happens from time to time. I've been a member of countless numbers of online communities over the last 15 years or so and I've seen all sorts of behavior. I agree that sometimes it can get really mean and cruel. Personally I've only encountered positive warmth here at this forum, but italianlady13 gives us a good reminder that there's a human behind every screen name here, and we're all struggling with our own weight loss challenges.

Little late to the party but I hope you have (had!) a good first day back at work. Come back and update us on how it went, k? @favoredone, you go girl! LOVE the attitude! I wish I had those guts!

You can try gargling with warm salt Water -- it tastes nasty but kills the pain almost immediately. Unfortunately it doesn't last really long. chicken broth (also salty) feels good too. I also suck on SF Ricola honey-lemo cough drops. Not sure if this is a no-no but YMMV. Probably the best bet for sore throat is tylenol. I suffer from sore throats frequently and usually nail them with a combo of ibuprofen (contraindicated during the immediate post-op period, I've been told to stay away from NSAIDs for at least 4 weeks) and tylenol. Do you have any pain meds left from your surgery?

I haven't had any VSG-related dreams post-op but my partner has been having crazy dreams, mostly about me announcing to her that I've GAINED 5 lbs overnight. I've been stalled for a week and a half and we're both getting frustrated. Plus, she's planning to have VSG as well early next year so bizarre dreams are totally understandable given the circumstances.

It's really hard to sleep in the hospital... they are coming in at all hours to do something to you: draw blood, check your blood pressure, ask you about how much you are peeing, change your IV, etc etc. I've been hospitalized four times now and it's so annoying because you're supposed to be resting and healing and they seem to do everything to prevent that. You need to sleep, though. If you're having trouble, talk to the nurse and see if they can do something for you, like give you some medication, make sure they're quiet around you and wait on any noncritical tests... something. It's possible it's the side effects of anesthesia, and you might just be hyped up because of what you just went though.

My surgery was covered wholly by my insurance. I was required to take a 12-week healthy eating class (called the L.E.A.R.N. Program). It was run by the hospital department where I had my surgery. It was done in a group setting and met for 1 hour every week during the workday. I couldn't miss more than 1 class during this time or I would have to restart the program. It was covered by my insurance as "outpatient mental health services" with a 10% copay. I also had to buy a textbook (I think it was about $25). Before I began the program I did the psych eval, and then again with her after I finished (sort of an "exit interview"). I also met twice with a dietician and a PA for medical supervision. All the appointments counted as "specialist visits" which have a copay of $25 each visit. Considering the costs that others have to bear for this surgery, I consider myself extremely lucky.

I think I was having postural hypotension (lightheadedness after standing up) until about three days ago, so it took almost two weeks for it go away. Like Felicia said, our bodies are basically going "OMG! WTF!" and is adjusting to a drastically lowered calorie level, plus probably less fluids, combined with stress from healing from abdominal surgery. The lightheadedness is probably to be expected. Just when I thought it would never go away, and that I'd never be able to climb the flight of stairs to my 2nd floor without feeling like I was going to pass out or vomit, it did!

How about a cup of sugar-free hot chocolate? If you make it with milk, it will be a little extra protein... That's what I've been doing lately.

No shame in staying on the Lortab. I took my percocets fairly religiously for about 5 days after I got home from the hospital. We're all so paranoid about pain meds in our culture that lots of people don't take them when they should so they can rest and heal. You made it! Now the fun part starts!

It really depends on the surgeon. There doesn't seem to be a really well established progression of diet for sleeve patients yet... some surgeons go based on what is recommended for gastric bypass patients (which is sort of applicable) or lap band patients. Some go based on their own intuition or past experience. FWIW, I was was on Clear Liquids the first 24 hours after surgery, then they started bringing me cartons of Lactaid milk (2 a day for "snacks"). Then they moved me to full liquids for 2 meals, then they had me on purees for about 3 meals. I'm supposed to stay on purees for 3 weeks and then gradually move to soft foods, and then switch to normal diet 3 weeks after that. So, I was discharged on purees. It seemed kind of a fast advance to me compared to the others I have read, but the surgeon is head of Bariatrics at Mayo Clinic, so I figured he knew what he was doing I think the most important thing is to not rush and really pay attention to how your body is reacting. For example, I was doing really well for awhile... measuring my portions, waiting between bites, not overeating... ... and then I tried to do too much exercise and pulled my left stomach muscle, the one that everyone always seems to complain about. A pain increase, combined with a couple days of not getting enough fluids, combined with a cranky mood from a sudden stall on the scale, lead to a perfect storm of overeating at lunch and getting my first experience of "the slimes". uuughhhhhhhh! Lesson learned, and then some.

Congratulations on your surgery, your success so far, and for de-lurking :-)

Wow, I am so impressed at what a supportive and loving family we have here on this board! Kudos to Lissa and sandyd for reaching out to 5DogMa with good advice and well-intentioned pestering!

When getting up out of bed, roll over on your side as much as possible and put your weight on your arms. The idea about a pillow is a good one.