Bedhead

I can't believe some people are even remotely trying to compare this surgery with a C-section! In a CS they cut through your MUSCLE WALL. Which is a lot of the post-op pain and discomfort.

When you have arthroscopic surgery it's nothing close or even comparable to that....

My OBGYN does not cut muscles at all, nor do most anymore. They separate the muscles on the midline and then just bring them back together when they're done. They only cut the skin and other tissues.

Preop I was a hard core ice Water drinker- now plain Water makes my sleeve burn in the most awful way

And I don't think that it's the hardness of the chewable Vitamins but the fact that you chew them up and unless you brush your teeth really well immediately afterward you're going to essentially have candy stuck in your teeth- causing cavities.

There is NO WAY I could possibly work at McD's after WLS. I love the fish sandwich way way way too much. Hell, I'm having a hard time convincing myself that a fried fish sandwich doesn't count as a 'soft' food! LOL

I'm 11 days out and there is no way I could work right now - I'm a stay at home mom and I've had to have my mother here with my every day to take care of the children. I did have complications (an infection in my staple line) so that could be why I'm still as exhausted as I am- but I seriously think I need at least another week before I'm at least back up to half or 3/4 energy.

Kathy- My opinion of SUNY Upstate is not a good one. The emergency room was wonderful. I was treated like a had a serious medical condition. I had a constant rotation of doctors and nurses and specialists who wasted no time in getting me in for xrays, CT scans, and the upper GI.

But the floor is a totally different story. I had one floor doctor (NOT Dr. Simon or his PA, just one of the doctors that does rounds on the floor) come in asking me all sorts of questions about nausea. I couldn't understand what she was getting at. Then she asked me how many times I had vomited. I just looked at her and was like "WTF??" I responded that I hadn't vomited AT ALL and I could not understand her line of questioning since the only time I had real nausea was when I was forced to drink 18oz of contrast dye/apple juice. I never saw the same rotating doctor/resident more than 1-2 times, and I was CONSTANTLY having to re-explain the reason I was there- which they would have known had they stopped for a moment to take a glance at my chart.

I had to be a big advocate for myself because many times I was asked to do something or eat something that is directly against Dr. Simon's program. It was extremely frustrating- not to mention the fact that I had a shared room and I heard every single word about the health care of the woman in the bed next to me. I knew all about her colon cancer, her bowel habits, her blood work results, etc without ever having to say a single word to her. Those shared rooms are a HUGE HIPPA violation. And don't even get me started on how loud all of the doctors and nurses are at night.

It was Hell on Earth compared to my surgery, which I had at Community General Hospital. I had a huge, spatious private room with a private bathroom and huge walk-in shower with granite and marble! It was like a day at the spa compared to Upstate (even though Upstate now owns CGH!)

Check your temperature! Any chills?

Check your temperature! Any chills?

I've experienced dumping once after taking a Protein shake too fast. It was very scary and extremely acute. It wasn't just jitters- my whole body was shaking, I could barely walk from the living room to my bedroom and my heart was racing while my whole my body was covered in a cold sweat.

I am LI now since surgery. I use chocolate Protein Powder mixed with almond milk.

I came out of surgery feeling like a rock star- in fact I even posted in the forums that I felt like a rock star.

5 days later I had horrible pain. 6 days later I was in agony with a fever. 7 days later I was admitted to the hospital with a postoperative infection in my sleeve- after doing every single thing right. I'm still recovering from that and still have pain because of everything.

No matter how great you feel today- you never know what tomorrow will bring.

I thought this forum was specifically for those struggling and with complications. I'm happy for you that you are doing great but I think that posting about how well you're doing in a sub forum for people having a hard time is a bit insensitive.

I have a very strict 12 month wait that I will absolutely be abiding by (in fact i will be waiting 18 minths just to be extra safe) which is a huge concession for me bc I suck at following physicians directions.

OMG Kathy!! I was at Upstate on Mon-Tues! I had a bad infection and my electrolytes were all wonky from being dehydrated too.

It's so funny bc Dr. Simon told me that he had another sleeve patient there that was 2 months out and having troubles- I wonder now if that was you!

I stayed on 5a room 6!

I was sleeved on 2/6 and I ate two bites of soft scrambled egg this morning and was totally full. Last night I had 1/2 oz of baby food peaches and was full. I can't imagine 1/2 cup servings right now, I think I would die!

You may want to try to train yourself to sleep on your back or at least in such a way that you're sort of propped onto your side, because after surgery you will absolutely NOT be able to sleep on your stomach and if you're not used to it, you will go through hell

The chicken gnocchi Soup from the Olive Garden is my heroin.

I'm not gonna lie to you- when I woke up in recovery I was at a full on 10 on the pain scale (and I have delivered a 9+lb baby with no epidural, had a csection, an appendectomy, and my gallbladder removed). I had nothing left in me bc my surgeon wants his patients fully awake and aware before giving pain meds. Within a few minutes of waking I had gotten my meds and was ok after that.

I'm still working on the Water thing 9 days out.

I know this is a really old thread but I thought I'd make a suggestion for future generations.

I can not drink plain Water. The moment I do, I get a horrible burning pain in my chest and shoulder. Prilosec did nothing to help. I realized it almost immediately and squirted Mio into my bottle and like magic the burning went away.

My surgeon does 2 nights minimum

I certainly don't want to scare you, because it's probably just your incision healing, but I had a very similar sensation for days before spiking a fever and finding out I had an infection in my stomach.

Mormons don't have facial hair?

It was less than three months for me from my information session (mid november) until my surgery Feb 6th

Thank you all for being so fab!!

I'm still in the hospital getting tons of IV antibiotics and nutrition. I've just been given my first tray of clears to work my way through. My WBC is down from over 16000 to right over 10000 (4500-10000ish is the normal range). So the antibiotics are working.

I really wated to go home today but not a single person has mentioned it, so I'm guessing tomorrow at the earliest.

So I just had a really interesting chat with my nurse about WLS. She asked me all sorts of questions, like why I picked the sleeve, whether I had considered the other WLS options,etc.

I thought it was interesting because she's very thin and thin people don't usually show much interest in WLS. But then I looked at her really closely and realized: OMG she's bypass!

And sure enough she told me she'd gotten bypass a few years back. She had what I have come to think of as 'the look' of a bypass patient. Many of the people who are more than a year or two out from a bypass seem to have the same look- dry, parched looking saggy skin, aged teeth, extremely thinned hair ( we get that too but outs grows back within a few months to a year). It's mostly just a general look of being unwell.

Have you ever noticed this or am I just nuts?

It makes me so glad that with the sleeve people will most likely never be able to look at me and know I've had WLS.

The good news- there was no leak!!

The bad news- I have such a bad postoperative infection that my sleeve has swollen almost closed.

I've been admitted to the hospital and am being pumped full of IV antibiotics and pain meds.