Back~To~Amy

Good luck to you! I just had surgery at Forest Park last Tuesday. The people there are wonderful. I couldn't have asked for any better! Well, except maybe that they didn't wake me up so much. But hey, I guess that is part of taking such good care of their patients.

Obviously, there ate a lot of differences in the two procedures and the decision of which is better is a very individual one. One of the things my doctor said in the initial seminar was if you are a big sweets eater and you think you may cheat the sleeve by grazing on sweets all day, the RNY would be a better choice because you will have dumping syndrome with that Of course, he went over all the other things you can find on line or by attending a seminar. This is just another thing that you may not know or find in your research so I thought I'd mention it.
Best of luck to you in your decision.

Good luck to you! I just had surgery at Forest Park last Tuesday. The people there are wonderful. I couldn't have asked for any better! Well, except maybe that they didn't wake me up so much. But hey, I guess that is part of taking such good care of their patients.

I just has surgery last Tuesday. I got out of the hospital on Thursday and have been staying with my parents until today when my dad brought me home. When I went to get dressed, I put on my bra for the first time since surgery and it just wasn't fitting right. There were these little gaps in the front. Ya know, like I wasn't filling it out. I didn't give it much thought though. I just kinda figured it wasn't on just right. After all, it didn't go on as smoothly as preop since I was trying to make sure I didn't mess with any of my incision areas. Anyway, when I got home I weighed and found I'm down 21 pounds since my preop diet. It all the sudden occurred to me that is why my bra isn't fitting the same. So yeah, I know I'm losing weight. The numbers on the scale say so. But, my first glimpse of actually seeing it is in my bra. Not a big NSV, but for me a special one because it was my first one. I am so excited to take this journey I'm just beginning.

Sleeved on 6/5 I'm doing great. Been up moving and walking. Down 14 lbs this morning including pre-op diet. All I do all day long is drink liquids but I still have a hard time getting them all in. Sore on my left side but it's bare able. The hardest part of the whole surgery is not being able to pick up my sweet 5 month old baby girl. I don't think she quite understands why mommy isn't holding her and lovin on her. But it will pass and she will have a healthy HOT mommy soon. Good luck everyone.

I just has surgery last Tuesday. I got out of the hospital on Thursday and have been staying with my parents until today when my dad brought me home. When I went to get dressed, I put on my bra for the first time since surgery and it just wasn't fitting right. There were these little gaps in the front. Ya know, like I wasn't filling it out. I didn't give it much thought though. I just kinda figured it wasn't on just right. After all, it didn't go on as smoothly as preop since I was trying to make sure I didn't mess with any of my incision areas. Anyway, when I got home I weighed and found I'm down 21 pounds since my preop diet. It all the sudden occurred to me that is why my bra isn't fitting the same. So yeah, I know I'm losing weight. The numbers on the scale say so. But, my first glimpse of actually seeing it is in my bra. Not a big NSV, but for me a special one because it was my first one. I am so excited to take this journey I'm just beginning.

I just has surgery last Tuesday. I got out of the hospital on Thursday and have been staying with my parents until today when my dad brought me home. When I went to get dressed, I put on my bra for the first time since surgery and it just wasn't fitting right. There were these little gaps in the front. Ya know, like I wasn't filling it out. I didn't give it much thought though. I just kinda figured it wasn't on just right. After all, it didn't go on as smoothly as preop since I was trying to make sure I didn't mess with any of my incision areas. Anyway, when I got home I weighed and found I'm down 21 pounds since my preop diet. It all the sudden occurred to me that is why my bra isn't fitting the same. So yeah, I know I'm losing weight. The numbers on the scale say so. But, my first glimpse of actually seeing it is in my bra. Not a big NSV, but for me a special one because it was my first one. I am so excited to take this journey I'm just beginning.

The band is only initially lower risk. Once your stomach has healed from the VSG (about 12 weeks), there is virtually no risk. The risks with the band begin and continue while it is in your body. I was initially against VSG because they were cutting and removing the majority of my stomach. During the similar, the doctor said something that struck a chord. He said that VSG is relatively new but they have been cutting and removing portions of stomachs for medical issues such as cancer amd ulcers and other stuff since the early 1900's. That statement was the beginning of my research on the VSG and I never looked back. The band is very high maintenance and seems to have a lot of complications. Why don't you make a post here that you can show your Mom asking people to post about their band experience. There are a bunch here who are revision from band to VSG. Or, better yet, have your Mom come here and ask questions.
Good luck to hoh in making your decision and in your journey.

The band is only initially lower risk. Once your stomach has healed from the VSG (about 12 weeks), there is virtually no risk. The risks with the band begin and continue while it is in your body. I was initially against VSG because they were cutting and removing the majority of my stomach. During the similar, the doctor said something that struck a chord. He said that VSG is relatively new but they have been cutting and removing portions of stomachs for medical issues such as cancer amd ulcers and other stuff since the early 1900's. That statement was the beginning of my research on the VSG and I never looked back. The band is very high maintenance and seems to have a lot of complications. Why don't you make a post here that you can show your Mom asking people to post about their band experience. There are a bunch here who are revision from band to VSG. Or, better yet, have your Mom come here and ask questions.
Good luck to hoh in making your decision and in your journey.

I've had and continue to have very little issues with gas after surgery day. However, when I do have an issue, 2 Gas X strips do the trick. Hope you blow your hubby out of the house soon! :-)

AdeptDreamer,
As others have said, I would encourage you to conduct as much research as possible to make the right decision for you. There is an entire band to sleevers forum that you might want to check out.
I have a band and am revising to a sleeve. I can hardly wait for my surgery on July 9. There certainly are people who have experienced success with the band. I lost about 60 pounds in the first year that I had it, but it was a challenge. I never got even close to goal.
I hated the way the band would tighten for no reason and you wouldn't be able to get things down. I hated that even though food would stop in my chest and my pouch would be full, I would still be hungry. I hated the constant fills and unfills trying to get go my sweet spot, which I never did, and I hated the expense of all of that. I hated the sliming when least expected.
If you feel the band is right for you, get as much information as you can. But I regret that I put this foreign body inside me and pray each day that when the doctor goes in to revise it, there won't be any damage.

I've had and continue to have very little issues with gas after surgery day. However, when I do have an issue, 2 Gas X strips do the trick. Hope you blow your hubby out of the house soon! :-)

Of course you worry. According to your user name you are a mother and that's what mothers do. Thanks for your support.

I have been in a huge amount of pain unable to stand up straight since they took me off the morphine at the start of day 2. I figured this wa normal amd it would get better. Then I remembered what my discharge nurse said about calling my doctor if my pain level wasn't under a certain level after 45 minutes of taking my pain meds. Therefore, I called them and they were more than happy to call me in something stronger and man oh mam can I tell a difference. I feel so much better. Yeah, I can still feel the area of my source of pain, but instead of a constant and annoying pain level of around 7, my pain level is around a 2. I'm a much happier girl right now. Finally, some relief!
Some may ask the reason I chose to post this. It is so you learn from my lesson and don't suffer in pain when there is something out there stronger and/or better equipped to treat your pain. My outlook on this whole process is so much sunnier now that I'm not suffering so much!

Unfortunately, no one can tell you if you have anything to worry about as a lot of factors play into how your skin shrinks. One of the big ones is your genetics which are different in each person. I too worry about this. What I do know is I've read a ton of people say they'd rather be thinner with loose skin than to weigh what they weighed when they started this journey.

I made it through with flying colors!!! Lost 11lbs on my pre op diet. Went in to surgery weighing in at 270 and some how managed to gain 2lbs after my hospital stay. I just laughed because I knew it was from all those iv fluids they kepted pumping into my system. No worries though. Coming out of surgery I had trouble breathing but that soon passed. Now the trick was to hold down liquids took some time misting it was the liquid pain medication I could not hold it down even with the nausea medicine. Liquid loritab did not work for me I ended up on liquid Tylenol with codeine that stayed in me. Let me tell you puking after the sleeve very painful. I am now taking a pill for pain. I have my Pepcid and nausea pills but not really needing them. I am so ready to see results and to get past these three week of liquids only. Thanks for all the kind and inspiring words I only hope I can do the same for someone one day. Will be posting soon.

Thanks y'all for the quick replies. A friend of mine I met on here reminded about the heating pad. It is making a world of difference. Good to know I can give myself a little break on the Protein and just concentrate on my Water. Yesterday, I got over 50 ounces which I thought was pretty good this early out. I'm definitely not getting dehydrated. I will work on Protein after I heal just a bit. I'm usually not a weenie when it comes to pain, but after this surgery I sure feel like one! I do feel somewhat better and less hopeless after reading your posts and now that my pain is down to around a 2 or 3 from the 6 or 7 it was when I made the original post.

Right! That's just his preference. After surgery....the Protein world is your oyster!

A few years back, I was shopping in a cute boutique with a friend. I knew they only went up to a size 10, but I was looking for gifts for other people. A very rude saleswoman made it a point to let me know, "We don't carry your size in here, you may want to go to the mall to find what you need." Well, today I walked into a Lane Bryant to return some size 14 shorts I bought last month. And wouldn't you know it, one of the saleswomen kindly pointed out, "Ma'am, I don't think we have your size here, may I ask what you're looking for?"
Ha. THAT was a first...

Thanks. I'm due to leave the hospital today and can't wait!

Good luck to all June 6th sleevers!
I had surgery yesterday and posted a new thread to update y'all. Here it is:

So here is my description of the events for today that I posted on my blog. I know a couple of people who are using Dr, Nick so I put his name and which of the two hospitals I had surgery at so people using him can get more details. It is also for others as well but as we all know, surgeons vary.
Well, there's no turning back now. I had surgery at 6:00 am today so I'm officialy on the losers bench. Well, actually I'm on the losers bed.
For anyone who is a patient of Dr. Nick Nicholson at Forest Park Medical Center, this may be most helpful to you:
I got to the hospital at 4:00 this morning. At first it was a lot of hurry up and weight. I got my ID band between the 4:00 and 5:00 hour. Around 5:00 am I went back to the holding area where I got changed on ONLY a hospital gown and where I got my IV. The first attempt was a failure. She got it in but it just did'nt do. Oh, and they used Lidocaine to numb the area. Lidocaine stings a bit, but it makes the IV going in a lot smoother from my perspective. I barely felt anything. I would call what I felt, pressure not pain. Now, all I had to do was meet with the Anesthesiologist and my doctor. Oh, and his surgery nurse. She popped in and identified herself before Dr. Nick and the anesthesiologist. Shortly thereafter I saw Dr. Nick and the anesthesiologist. Things went quickly after that. Within minutes of the anesthesiologist leaving my room she came back with Verced....the drug that relaxes you and there and then I was off. I remember going into the operating room and getting on the OR table. Next thing I know, I woke up in recovery. I have no idea how long I was in surgery or recovery. I told my Mom who was with me to ask Dr. Nick about my liver. He told her it looked awesome and he could tell I did a good job on the preop diet. Hallelujah!!
Okay, this is where I describe everything so far after surgey. If you only want the "pretty roses" story, I'd suggest you stop reding now. So I woke up in Recovery. I have no idea how long the surgery lasted or how long I'd been in Recovery. I didn't wake up with a catheter or a drain. Yay! I woke up with cotton mouth, and a pain ball inserted at the site of the large opening. Mostly though I woke up with INTENSE pain. At that point, I wondered what in the heck I had done to myself I truly wished, at that point, that I could rewind time knowing the pain so that I wouldn't put myself through that I know I sound like a whinny baby but I really am not. I've been told by other doctors that I have a high tolerance for pain. But not today! I think it was more physical pain then I've ever felt in my entire life. They just couldnt give me enough pain meds this morning but, after what felt like an eternity, I was able to get enough to calm the pain down enough for me to tolerate it. Thank goodness for the Morphine pain pump. It doesnt completly kill the pain but, it makes it manageable.
So that pretty much sums up surgery day for me. I think that is all for now. Pleas excuse any spelling, grammar errors or any part of this that may not make sense. I am on Morphine ya know.
~Amy

Thanks!

I agree that your husband should be on your "team". However, you cannot control what he chooses to do and what may come of it with his aunt and cousin. It's his decision and it's him who will have to suffer the consequences of his choice. You wouldn't be responsible for that and shouldn't worry about it, IMHO. I hope for you that he keeps his mouth shut and lets y'all enjoy "your vacation". Good luck!