Pookeyism

Ditto - if u are having any issue w the tummy you can always take liquid.

Thank you for your post! It is such encouragement! So inspirational! I just went from Alli ALii's post of newly sleeved and now to yours a year after. I feel oddly like this is a "moment"...

Such a simple post. I want you to know that this, to me, comes accross as so basal, and so true. Beautiful. A gift of haiku, for you Alli ALii: I am sleeved, yay me. now I am perfect. happy is all I am now.

Super scary! You could have easily sucked that down your wind pipe! Glad you were OK!

Hmmm...I wouldn't think so. But maybe - I had some "pushing through" once and the Soup was high on fat. I had been eating the reduced fat kind and a regular pouch was mixed in by accident. I wonder what the others think...

I am suprised they told u the lightheadedness was coincidental - moving a blockage can do that.

OMG thats too ironic - check out my post from this morning. I basically have the same thing but it hasn't budged yet. I have a heating pad wrapped around my tummy now...but mine hurts bad, cause its keeping gas from passing.

So sorry you had to go through that - and I remember your posts! Focus on yourself but maybe make sure some of your hubbys friends are nearby for him, too. That must have been crazy to be able to hear everything - to know something was bad, bad, bad...again so sorry! Prayers and strong healing energy headed your way.

Yup, even before the sleeve carbs passed faster. Get some Jello and popcicles. Good luck.

Be supercareful with your eating. If you are having several days of cheating be sure you are ready to battle your head hunger, and have your triggers under control. I don't kno wif you were told but the diet is intended to reduce the fat in your liver and surrounding your stomach. The below video is graphic so don't watch it if you can't...but if you do keep in mind your tummy does not look like that. This stummy has been on the post op diet longer, in anticipation of creating a video that could easily be seen. Cheating on your pre op will lead to a fatty liver and the fat that is pushed aside in this video will be more profound, and thicker and harder to see through. Use it as motivation to stay on your pre-op.

They think it is gas...I dunno. Will wait and see. I was told to take tomorrow off as well, just to be sure. Thanks everyone for your support. I appreciate it lots! hugs!

I have a good boss but I have been in a position with another boss that told me I couldn't have a "smoke break" (i wanted the same 5 minutes people were getting to smoke to walk a quick pace around the building) because I didn't smoke. I took it to HR and won. He tried to have me let go for "performance" after that - after I got a 8 on a review scale of 8. Nope and I pushed it to the point they went through the people he let go or recommended be let go and he was demoted two months later.

Good for you but challenge your negative ding. Did she give you any negative review this year? Gather copies of any kudos from clients, co-workers, her, etc. Start with your lead and tell him, in an email you are going to raise a complaint that you feel you were discriminated agiainst due to your health issue. You mentioned a co worker that was let go due to illness - did she really warrant letting go? Perhaps this should go all the way to HR asap! Major kuddos on a well-played first day back! Overall it sounds like you kicked butt!

Go to your HR, and ask for your contact that deals specifically with your company plan. You don't need to explain why! Good luck!

Are you saying you heard pop, pop, pop from kinda far inside? Did it hurt under your ribcage? When you had to go, was it solid, either followed by mushy or liquidy or gas? If no pain you may have just pushed a bit of a blockage, er, on through. It could really smell bad because it's mostly protien. If it were really multicolored, mucousy etc it could be a bigger problem. The pop could be an infection opening up - like a diberticulitis cyct - which means your infection drained, but now you have to deal with that. Hope all is well. If you are running a fever or your tummy hurts you should def not wait on your doctor. Don't wait too long anyway or you will end up in an after hour clinic at alot more expense.

Okay, I have unfortunately had an apron now for awhile. Since I have lost the weight it has become smaller, but also a bit baggier, and it claps. How do the runners deal with this? Guys I just don't think I can run with my belly slap-clapping along. It also creates discomfort after a little bit.

I wish I had a lifting buddy here! grrrr. I miss it so much more after reading this!

•I’ve never had any kind of surgery before, so this will be a first. How am I going to feel immediately following the surgery and for the first few days? It depends on how you do under the anesthesia, and how well you can control yourself when you wake in a fog. You may remember nothing. A lot of people do not remember much. My anesthesia experiences have been varied and only the last two went well as far as anesthesia was concerned. Now they have drugs that will allow you to forget the discomfort as you are experiencing it. You will be thirsty, and you will probably hurt. It varies. No one brought out of anesthesia on pain meds, although many think they did – the anesthesia I spoke of. You will be thirsty and depending on doctors – this varies A LOT – you will begin ice chips or such or they will want to wait to do a barium swallow. Get some “fake spit” – it’s called Biotin. You find it in the oral hygiene isle. It will keep your mouth moist. For pain I recommend you talk to your surgeon, and ask does he prescribe the pain meds, or does he hand you off to another doctor to be visited in the hospital, and he prescribe your meds. I have an ongoing issue with my doctor because I thought he would be the one to follow up and write my meds. We had had a long talk about what I did and did not want to take, and what did and did not work for me. So he had all the info, but another doc saw me. I sat in bed in pain for a whole 24 hours. They would give me shots of something that starts with a "D" in my IV, which knocked me out, until I woke up or was awakened by staff. About 45 minutes at best, and I would already be back in pain – with hours left before the next shot. Finally a nurse just in on her shift said “I’ll fix this”. She went and found my doc and made him issue hydrocodone instead, liquid. Point is I suggest the hydrocodone liquid. You have to sip it anyway, so I never needed the whole dose, lol. Sipping it helped me regulate it to just what I needed. I was alert, generally comfy – able to communicate. •The surgery is on a Wednesday. I tentatively scheduled vacation thru Tuesday, but I’d like to go back to work on Monday and Tuesday, then take Wednesday off for my 1 week follow-up. I have a desk job that isn’t physically demanding, so I’m thinking I should be OK. Is returning to work that soon a pipe dream? If you have a job that they really need to know how long you will be, or else the office will suffer for not making arrangements in your absence, I would really suggest you give them a 2 week minimum as a guess. I took a month and would never have guessed I would need that. The fatigue is the issue. It is a deeper tired than you are probably used to. It isn’t just a “so tired I don’t want to do this”. It is an “I cannot physically do this”. It makes you slow to respond, slow to react. Difficult to fix mistakes if you catch them, DANGEROUS to drive home after a day like that. I know of a situation that a girl fell into this daze and almost passed a school bus. She just missed a child. •What is the first few months going to be like? What is the energy level going to be like? The body will be taking in A LOT fewer calories and I suspect I’ll have no energy. You will feel on top of the world one moment, and then your body will remind you that you are recovering. I hope you have took the counseling seriously. You will deal with elation, depression, happiness, possibly guilt or grief. You will have head hunger – many report issues with ongoing relationships or members of the family. It is a really good idea to have an understanding of who is committed to helping you or at least not hindering you. I frown when I hear people go “I will stop bringing fast food around after the surgery”. The time for them is to stop pre-op, while you are going through your pre-op diet. Have your head hunger under check, or be working on it. •I will have a 3 ½ hour drive back home following the surgery. Will there be much nausea on the drive ride home? You may not be able to drive. You should probably arrange to not drive for the first few days, and of course you can’t be on pain meds while you drive. Are you going to Mexico? One of the very, very, very, dear god very things you do not want to do is be in a car accident in Mexico and they find you are on narcotics. Would it be possible to take a bus or fly? Flying is really inexpensive compared to the price of gas anymore. •Is nausea something many of us deal with for the rest of our lives following the sleeve? I have not had a real bout of nausea. •Nobody other than my immediate family knows I’m having the surgery. My health insurance won’t cover the procedure, so therefore I don’t intend on telling them anything. This extends to my employer as well. My gut feeling is that if I were to suffer a broken leg and needed medical attention, they would try to link the bariatric surgery and broken leg, and then deny coverage. This is why they will be kept in the dark. Yes, if you guessed it, I am bitter about my lack of real world health insurance. Anyone see a problem with this? You do not have to disclose anything to anyone except HR and then only if you are applying for FMLA. You do not have to turn over your FMLA to your boss under any circumstances. Check the FMLA guidelines for your company – most hire third party to cover their butts on the privacy rules. However, once you disclose your surgery to a coworker, etc. you fall on a very fine line. All your work has to know is that you had a surgery based on medical need. •Is it difficult to get enough fluids in when active in hot weather? I was sleeved on 1//4/12 so I have not had that to worry about, mostly. Get your fluids in ahead of time, and you generally need about 8 oz. for every half hour – or that is what I would do. I am going to get a smaller camel so I can hydrate as often as possible while I am biking and walking and hiking. •What does everyone miss the most after having surgery? Holiday’s with my family are very important. I believe not having a normal dinner with my loved one will be the hardest for me. I will be there, but it will never be the same again. I think you are making a bit much of that scenario. But we all have things we can’t do just the same anymore. Let’s take a look at it. No, you will never wake up on a holiday day again, fit into an outfit bought in a plus size shop or section. You will never sit down to eating too much that you knew you didn’t need, putting excessive fuel in an oversized body. You will wake up – exercise maybe? Get dressed feeling good about you will still be with your family, you will still eat food, no one is going to suffer if you do not gain three pounds that day. You will be free to talk in between bites, and you will be surprised at how much more enjoyable a dinner can be when young aren’t constantly shoveling the food in. When people are sluggish and setting around you go for a walk. Don’t sound too bad.

I got a juicer for xmas.I should juice more, I haven't juiced much. Well, to drink. My skin is krazy soft, however, lol. In my defense, I had no idea you couldnt juice a banana. (sorry hubby )

Please let us know what they are telling you. You are in my prayers.

With your hair color it sounds like you ROCKED that suit. If I get to a size 10 I am going to flip o-u-t, lol. I have two vintage chanel suits I kept from the early 90's when i found them in a consignment shop (a much different experience than the consignment boutiques of today). I couldn't imagine them fitting. You are at a crazy good size to have a fabulous wardrobe with just a little bit of patience. You already sound like you know how to put it together!

Walking around now.

I have a suggestion. Lets have some threads about experiences we have had with local restaraunts, or ones we know to be WLS friendly, whether they mean to or not. Open a new topic for each city, so they can be referenced easily. And for instance, dont list next-to-big-city separately, so we can keep them local. Vacation spots, too! Truck drivers chime in too, someone create one for on the road. In Houston my top choice at this time Jason's Deli. When I go with a friend they work with me, every time. I am most often charged nothing if a friend is ordering if I goto the salad bar and get an egg or hummus, etc. The black currant tea is good enough to not eat at all and just have tea (which you can't do both anyway, lol). Cafe Lili is a good restaraunt. It is family owned my a Lebanese family (Maronite Christian). disclaimer: Hubby is friends with the owner. the three veggie plate and one srving of the shwarma with egg is easily split, we did it before surgery too. Tenshi and another disclaimer we know the owner Nina. Let her know what is up and she will work with you. Central Market - just go and you will see what I mean. If you go on a saturday you could stuff yourself on samples, but you could also go with a friend or date and get a plate from the deli side (delish Soups too) and share. I am married to a foodie so I could literally go on and on...but I want other people to contribute too. The Blue Nile - sorry, lol = save this one for when ur tummy can handle it. It is Ethiopian. Get the special. it is seved as a communal plate so make sure ur hands are clean, lol.

Love the Mongolian Hot Pot just up from the Galleria. If you want sushi goto Tenshi and ask Nina to make it low on rice and mention the WLS. She hooks me up because I am a friend but Nina is super awesome to everyone. They also have great udons and fried tofu. If the unagi is available try that. Hmmm this sounds like the beginning of some threads...

I am hesitant due to the carbs but also the acidity...george (my sleeve) hates acidity.