Michell

WOW! Way to go. Congrats!!!!

Hi SLL, glad things went so smoothly for you. Hope you continue to do better each day now that you're home!

I've been thinking about you too. I've checked in a few times just to see how it's going. Hope everything has been as smooth as possible!

Longer-life, you'll be in my thoughts and prayers tomorrow. Hope to hear from you as soon as you are able.

Yay! Welcome to the other side. hope your recovery is smooth!

Yes I had that, but it seemed to get better the more I walked. I guess it was gas pain. Have you been able to walk much yet? I had this for a couple of days.

Well, if I were able to, I am allowed to eat them now. I was released from the hospital on full sugar free fat free liquids, so I had made these up ahead of time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do more than taste them yet. I'm still having a hard time getting much down. I'm very lucky if I get 20 oz of water in, and today is the first time I was able to get down an entire protein shake (though it took all day). I was also able to eat a sugar free Popsicle. I'm just trying to take in a little more every day. But as soon as I'm able to, I've got plenty of soup in the freezer.

My surgery was on the 7th, in Little Rock, Arkansas, with Dr. John Baker. I got to come home yesterday afternoon. I also had a hiatal hernia repaired at time of surgery (didn't know I had one). Everything is going so much better than I expected, with exception of one thing. I have lots of allergies, and they were supposed to take all necessary precautions for this in the hospital. But it seems I was either exposed to something while there, or may possibly be allergic to the pain medicine. My entire back is covered in a rash, and splotches of rash on my arms and stomach. It looks kind of like a bad sunburn. My surgeon's nurse said to stop the pain medicine (oh joy) and see if the rash gets better. I'm seriously thinking of calling my allergy doctor to see what she thinks. Has anyone else here had a reaction to their pain medicine? I'm taking hydrocodone liquid.

My problem turned out to be the antibiotic I was given during surgery (received the wrong one by mistake).

Ancef was the name of the drug. I'm allergic to all cephalosporins, which is listed on my Medical alert bracelet and is in all my records. I had a detailed discussion about this with my surgeon and he promised they wouldn't use anything like that, that he would order gentamicin. I had a severe reaction to Keflex over 10 years ago when I had a hysterectomy and a similar reaction as the one I'm having now when I was prescribed Cephalexin. I have lots of other allergies so that's when my PCP advised me to start wearing a medical alert bracelet. I also carry an Epi-pen. Meggspeggs - I haven't yet, but plan to. I just found this out a little before 5:00 pm on Friday and I was so surprised I couldn't even think to ask how in the world this could have happened. Did the dr order that? Maybe I wasn't originally started on Ancef, but when it was time to switch the bags, the other one was started? I don't know, I'm just guessing right now. I will call my surgeon's nurse first thing in the morning and ask all of this before I call the hospital. My husband is pretty ticked too, because he knows how many times we mentioned it before surgery. Bottom line, although I'm itchy and a little miserable, I'm very thankful that's all that happened.

Ok, here's a couple more: Harvest Soup 1oz finely diced turkey breast 2T 98% fat free cream of chicken soup 1T Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix prepared with Water (I used chicken stock for more flavor) Chicken stock or broth In food processor pulse until turkey is finely ground. Add soup and blend until smooth. Add stuffing and pulse until smooth. Add chicken stock until soup reaches desired consistency. I also added a dash of poultry seasoning. This will be a good alternative at Thanksgiving. Spicy Bean Soup 1 and 1/2 cups fat free retried Beans 1/2 cup salsa from your favorite Mexican restaurant 6oz shaved deli chicken 8 oz evaporated nonfat milk Dash of southwest seasoning Place shaved chicken in food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add refried beans and salsa and continue to blend until smooth. Add evaporated milk and blend until smooth. May thin with a little chicken broth if needed. Hope this helps!

Here's a link to another post with my response to someone asking the same info: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/26855-week-out-need-ideas-for-full-liquids/page__pid__228243#entry228243 Hope that helps!

My dietician gave me a couple of recipes for soups on the full liquid phase. I was skeptical, but they're very good. My husband tasted them and said he would eat it for dinner anytime. My favorite is the Southwest Chicken soup. Combine in blender or processor, 2TB fat free cream of chicken soup, 1 TB chopped deli-type chicken, 1 TB of salsa from your favorite Mexican restaurant (I just used Wholly Salsa) and a dash of southwest blend spices (I used Emerils, but Mrs Dash has something similar). I added a little fat free chicken stock too (the recipe called for FF evaporated milk and FF refried beans but i left those out. Leaving them would provide even more protein though). Just blend everything until smooth then heat in the microwave. So yummy! And great protein source. If you like this one, I can post a few others. I also bought a copy of a cookbook she wrote specifically for bariatric patients. If anyone is interested I can send you more info on that. She works for my surgeon, but I'm sure she could still sell those cookbooks to people that aren't his patients.

Thanks guys. They actually figured out it was the antibiotic I was given during surgery. They gave me the wrong one, even though I made sure to tell them and also reminded them when they started my IV. I guess I'm just thankful I didn't have a worse reaction.

I appreciate this post too. I'm really struggling and know I'm no where near getting enough protein in (I'm 5 days out from surgery). It's good to know that even though I can't get it all down now, that doesn't mean I won't eventually be able to.

Just checking in to see how you're doing? We had surgery the same day and I've been wondering about you. Hope all's going great!

Congrats! I was just sleeved on Monday (7th) and can honestly say every day I feel better and better. I already know this is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm looking forward to meeting those sizes and everything in between too!

I got to come home! I'm just supposed to watch it and take Benadryl and if it gets worse see my dr. I'm allergic to latex and adhesive (and wear a medalert bracelet) so they were supposed to take precautions for that. Oh well, it would still be worth it. The worst part for me has been the deep breathing and coughing. That hurts! I'm getting a bit worried about how I'm going to get in enough liquids in such small quantities. I mean theoretically it sounds doable, but I can see this is going to be a full time effort at least for now. Good news is that I'm not hungry at all. Weird.

I was just being discharged when we noticed hives all over my back. So they're giving me Benadryl and want me to wait around for an hour to make sure they don't spread. This is always my biggest fear with anything hospital related. I'm allergic to so many things. Hopefully the benadryl will kick whatever this is and I'll be, able to leave. We have a 3 hr drive home so I'm anxious to get on the road.

Hello. I just joined the forum this morning but I wish I had found this site sooner. Looks like lots of valuable information and experiences shared. My surgery is scheduled for Monday, November 9th in Little Rock, AR. My doctor's name is Dr. John W. Baker. I'm on a pre-op diet of shakes and SF/FF clear liquids. I seem to go back and forth between feelings of nervousness and determination. I'm excited for how I will feel a year from now, but kinda dreading the interim. Looking forward to reading lots here, especially since I'm about to have a couple weeks of free time on my hands.

The hospital has free wireless so I'm able to log in from here. Everything went well, surgery was less than 3 hrs. The dr repaired a small hiatal hernia in addition to the sleeve. So far pain has been minimal. I'm tolerating ice chips well and get to start clear liquids in the morning. I know there may be some tougher days ahead but so far this hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

Hi Michelle, good luck with everything! I'll do my best to keep in touch as soon as I'm able. My surgeon told me if all goes well I can expect to go home Wednesday. I've seen others post that they went home the next day but I guess my dr is more on the conservative side. The hospital is about 3 hrs from my house so if we get home at a decent hour I'll try to post.

banana Babes - I like that! My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I think I'm over the scared part and just so ready to have this over with. Today is Clear liquids only and I'm so hungry. I didn't realize what a difference those Protein shakes were making. I thought I was starving the first day I started those, but after day 2 I wasn't physically hungry at all. Not the case today. In any case I know it's more than worth it. Looking forward to sharing this experience with others that understand. I do have great support with my hubby and friends and grateful for it. But it's very reassuring to have this resource too. Best wishes to my fellow Banana Babes for an awesome November!

Thanks, I will post in the November thread! And, yes Julie you're right. It is the 7th. Tomorrow morning! Hope things go well for you too. It's going to be nice to have others on here with surgery dates close to mine. I know everyone's journey is different, but still.