hunydew2262

Hi everyone! Congrats to all the December sleevers I didn't get a chance to cheer on. I haven't been doing well, having a difficult time getting my Water and Protein in. I'm just not hungry and can't drink that much. Now, I can tell you that hunger was NEVER a factor in when I ate prior to surgery but it is now. I have had to get tests for C. diff due to diarrhea, IV fluids, and other tests during the past couple of weeks since my surgery. I've lost 18 lbs, but put on a few after I had 2 liters of fluids infused.

I have times that I have such severe abdominal cramps that I start dry heaving. I have been checked and there are no apparent leaks. I'm just tired all the time and have no motivation for anything, including posting messages, although I do read everything. I'm sure I'll feel better eventually. Sorry for the negative post.

Happy 2012 to us all! It is going to be an exciting year!!

Terri

I was sleeved on the 14th. I had said before that my dr needed to repair a fundiplication surgery from 1999 that had undone itself (was for severe gerd) My preop upper gi showed about 1/3rd of my stomach above my diaphragm in my chest cavity. So my dr would fix that first for one hour and then my sleeve would be 1/2 hour. Turned out after he got in te the upper stomach was actually lodged between my lungs resting on my heart. So he had to repair that firtst which took 2 hours instead of one and then he did the sleeve.

As you know with any laparoscopy carbon monoxide is pumped into you to expand and most of them are 30-45 min, but I had it for 2 1/2 hours which had my shoulders in such bad pain until the next night! Thank God if i hadn't wanted o be sleeved, would have never known it until something drastic happened! I feel so blessed or that!

As for my sleeve never had any pain, no nausea, no cramping, of course am passing a little gas. Still no pain, and keeping all liquids down.a. Have drain in until i asee the dr on Thursday.

The only problem I am having is alot of coughing especially when I try to talk. Has anyone experienced that?

Otherwise everthing is great and I am on the loser's bench!

Janet

I'm so glad you had a good experience! Based on my past surgical history, I expected the same. I guess 15 years makes a difference, LOL! I am still rather sore on both the right and left, very high to my ribs. I know that's from my stomach and liver being manhandled. I didn't have much gas pain, but my incision sites were very sore. I was up and walking tho, just hours after surgery. I did have to spend hours in PACU, waiting for a bariatric bed.

I'm off all pain meds, even Tylenol. Lost 10 lbs so far, didn't start losing for about 3 days.

Good luck and best wishes to everyone sleeved and getting ready! Everything is worth watching the dial on the scales shift downward!!

Happy Holidays.

Terri

A patient who has a lap band said her doc told her to take 1500mcgs of Biotin daily. Check with your doctor first. It is a Water soluble Vitamin so you probably can't get too much, but always check before starting a new drug.

HD

Hi everyone! I was sleeved on Wednesday, and the doctor did repair my hiatal hernia. Recovery was wicked. My nurse had to give me every pain killer I had ordered to get it to come down. I finally have it under control and I'm taking my PRN medications like they were scheduled meds. I've been walking and getting myself up to the bathroom. That is SO important. Exercise gets the blood flow moving, bringing nutrient-rich blood to the wounds. Walk and sip!

I haven't had any nausea since the day of surgery. I am having an allergic reaction to something and I'm itching like a mad woman. I get Benedryl and that helps, but makes me drowsy. Going home in a few hours after staying a second night. That was the best decision I've made since getting the sleeve.

I'm on my 2nd postop day and I'm feeling great. Sore, but great! I can't wait for you all to be on the loser's bench with me!

HD

SleeveDreamer, we are sleeve sisters! I leave for the hospital in less than three hours. I can't sleep. I'll sleep plenty when I get to the hospital. I've been working like a mad woman lately, 11/13 days. I'm a RN, plus I've had multiple abdominal surgeries, so I have some idea of what is coming. I was very melancholy yesterday. I felt like I was leaving a large part of myself behind, saying goodbye. I know it is an unhealthy part of myself, but it kept me going for decades. I'm going to have to face my internal demons on my own now. It scares me. Still, I'm going forward. I know it is just preop jitters. I will come out of this with a tool to be the person I've longed to be. I'm going to the hospital to free the healthy, thin woman that lives hidden inside me. It will be good to see her again.

My info session was with the surgeon. He explained the different surgery options, answered questions, that sort of thing. His office staff was on hand to get insurance info if it was available. I got a packet with reading material as well. It was very low-key.

HD

I did fall off the preop diet wagon yesterday. I had worked a 12-hour night shift from hell. I didn't get to eat half of what I needed to. I had to get my preop lab work done after work, which was a 45 minute drive each way. By the time I got home I was starving an just too exhausted to fix anything. I ate a bowl of my husband's chili. Hopefully, I didn't make too big of a divot in my diet plan. I learned a valuable lesson in taking the time to eat. I guess I need to pack more food I can eat on the fly while I'm working.

HD

My surgeon, Dr. Northup, recommends we use a Vitamin specifically for patients of WLS. We just use regular Calcium suppliments, tho.

HD

I'm supposed to start my pre-op diet on 12?1, but since I work nights for the next few days, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and hopefully lose a little extra.

My doc provides the Protein powder and has many options. I just went for the shakes. I have four shakes per day, plus six additional servings of sugarfree pudding, yogurt, Soup, salad or veggies. Also thin oatmeal or cream of wheat. Each item varies in amount. This is pretty much my post-op diet for days 3-20 as well.

I know in a week I'll probably be crying about how awful it is to be so limited in what I can eat, but I'm so excited to be getting closer to my WLS, I'm loving all of it.

I think we all deserve cudos for being so brave and having this surgery that will make such drastic changes to our lives, especially knowing there is no undoing this surgery. We have decided to be the heroes in our own lives and rescue ourselves. I'm a psych nurse and I can tell you from first-hand experience that doing something like this is pretty amazing!

HD

I'm a psych nurse. I also take Clonidine for periodic panic attacks. It falls into the medication class of benzodiazapines. Be careful when you first start taking it, as I had a patient who tried to drive and got a DUI. The most important thing to know with taking benzos for regular, long term treatment is that abrupt cessation of the medication can cause seizures. If you find you need to stop the medication, see your MD and get instructions to taper the medication.

I know that seems like a lot of negative information, but really, it is one of the better benzos. Ativan, Xanax, are a couple of other well known benzos. Start with the smallest dose and increase it gradually until you find relief. That way the side-effects will be minimized. Remember, there is no medication that does not have side-effects. Just ask the pharmacist what warnings and contraindications s/he has for any medications. I even ask about OTC meds, and I'm a nurse with a great drug book at home!

Feel free to ask me any questions. I'm glad to help.

HD

I can remember being very young, six or seven, and a girlfriend wanting me to try on some of her clothes. I told her they wouldn't fit. Looking back at pictures of the two of us, I'm actually smaller than she is, but apparently my body image was skewed from an early age. I moved on to chubby, overweight, obese and morbildly obese. I've been on a diet, reading about losing weight, looking for that breakthrough that would turn my life around. I imagine many of you share that journey.

I was adamantly against by-pass surgery. Then a fellow RN had a sleeve. I'd never heard about this type of WLS. I started researching and decided to go to an orientation meeting and see what it was all about. Since the hospital I work for has a bariatric center, getting approved was easy. My PCP is supportive as is my unit manager. Everything was a go. I freaked out and cancelled everything. I gave myself three months to lose the weight. Didn't happen. So I'm back at the starting gate. My surgery is scheduled for December 14, 2011.

Even now I have my ups and downs. I worry that I'll regret this decision afterwards, when it is too late. I worry that I'll fail at this, just the way I have failed at every other weight loss attempt. Then I'm so excited about the opportunity I have to change my life, to finally be free of the guilt every time I put food in my mouth. I'll be done with the shame and embarrassment of being so large. I will be done with diabetes, which is the main reason I'm doing this. I will have a chance to live the life I've dreamed about for 40 years. I will get to be the authentic me, the one inside that has been trying to get out my whole life.

HD

Hello FionaB! Congrats and best wishes on your upcoming surgery. As a nurse, I'm always curious about the process in other countries. I'm sure you've read about the difficulties some of the members are having to get approved. How was it for you? Is the proceedure a common one in the UK?

HD

I've been doing the same thing! The thing is, I've never been able to stick to a diet or make a life-style change that would allow me to keep the weight off. I even gave myself a few extra months to lose weight after I was approved for surgery. My surgery is scheduled for 12/14, so I don't have to tell you how that worked out. I with you the best of luck in your WLS journey.

HD

I'm getting sleeved 12/14 with Dr. Northup in Cincinnati. I've had multiple abdominal surgeries so I'm not so worried about that part of the process. Just remember to walk afterwards. It does speed your healing, helps to get the bowels moving, prevent pneumonia, lots and lots of good stuff. I'm excitged for us all! Next Christmas we are gonna look and feel SO good!!!

HD

I know it is hard. Maybe you could make him one big batch of pancakes and freeze the extras, then he could put them in the toaster himself? There is a Soup recipe section on this site, have you looked there? You do not want to cheat on this part of the diet. You are doing this to shrink your liver and make your surgery as uncomplicated as possible. I know this is an awful phase of the process, but you can do it!

Best wishes on your WLS journey.

HD

It's natural to be scared before surgery. The best thing you can do it discuss your fears with your surgeon or anesthesiologist. I'm sure they have heard the same concerns from previous patients. As a nurse I learned about the extreme complications that can happen with surgery. I also know those extremes rarely happen. I know the worst, yet I'm still going forward with my surgery because I trust my surgeon. If I had any concerns I would not hesitate to talk to him. You deserve as much peace-of-mind as possible.

HD

I'm also an RN. A clear liquid diet doesn't have anything to do with the color of the food, but rather the clarity of the food. You have to eat foods that you can see through. Apple juice would be okay, orange juice wouldn't be okay.

I wasn't allowed to have anything with red food coloring several days before a GI proceedure because the surgeon didn't want the membranes stained or, as has been posted, confuse red food for blood. Hope this helps.

HD

I checked and Allegra D comes in a liquid form. Your prescribing doc just needs to give you a script for that instead. Most medications come in a liquid form because there are lots of people that can't take pills. Hope this helps.

HD

Hi AET,

I did the same thing. I went in May to see my surgeon. Everything was in place for me to get my surgery. I just couldn't get my head around all the voice in my head telling me I was smart enough to lose weight on my own and didn't need to go to such extreme measures. I cancelled everything and gave myself until my surgery date to start losing on my own, I had big plans, I really did! I don't even have to tell you the outcome. Three months later and not one pound shed, not one trip to the gym.

Now, we are all concerned about having surgery. It's not something to take lightly. The question is: Do you trust your doctor? If not, then find a new one. If you do, then talk to him or his staff about your fears. You aren't the only one having them.

Secondly, this proceedure is only a tool. All the other times we have had great plans to lose weight, only to fail because of hunger, or emotional eating, or whatever reason, THIS time we will have a physical barrier to keep us from overeating. We will lose weight. We will have time to adjust our behaviors while we are losing weight. This is a tool to get us over the big hump so that we have the energy to exercise.

Here is the truth: someone is going to judge you harshly for having the surgery. It's probably the same person that judges you harshly for being obese. You will not win the approval war, so call a truce on pleasing other people and do this wonderful thing for yourself.

Yep you will have scars. Women that have laproscopic surgeries for endometriosos or tubal ligations have them too. I have so many stretch marks on my stomach I dare anyone to find the scars from my sleeve! LOL

You will eat again. If what I read is true, you will struggle to eat enough. Will you be able to go to McDonald's and eat a supersized jumbo whatever and down an extra-large soda? I sure hope not. Isn't that the road that got us to this place?

The only question you really need to ask yourself, IMHO, is this: Do you desire the chance to make behavioral changes to you life style that will allow you to live a healthier life? If so, the sleeve will give you the tool to make those changes a reality when all else has failed.

I have doubts. I have fears. But I have tried to lose weight for decades using every diet and exercise gizmo that comes along. Guess what? I'm still fat.

It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. I'm tired of my crazy, obese life. I'm choosing sanity. I hope you do too.

Hello Buckeyes!

I'm having a VGS surgery on Nov. 30th. Dr. Northup will be doing my surgery. I was freaking out for a few days after my surgery date was assigned. Now I'm kicking myself for waiting until the end of the month. I am so ready to move on and get past this weight. I'm hoping to make it to the Anderson support group tomorrow night. I'm a night nurse so I never know how I'll be feeling the next day.

HD

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums. I just got my surgery date, November 30th. Excited, scared, anxious, worried..all of these emotions simultaneously. I keep reminding myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint.

HD