lunabella007

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, words of encouragement and prayers! I did manage to get some sleep (about 4 hours) before surgery but had a minor panic attack in pre-op, so much so that they had to give me a sedative. But, for all of that my surgeon said I was an easy and pleasant subject My nurses were SO supportive, and got to know me and my husband personally. I got to leave the hospital today! I haven't eaten solid food in three days but I'm not hungry--and no heart burn! It's magic I tells ya!

My surgery seems to have been a rousing success--are you psychic? LOL

My husband is going to laugh so hard when he hears me whoopin' and hollerin' when I finally make an air lol On the upside, though, I haven't had any heartburn AT ALL since I had the surgery, and I used to have to pop tums like they were candy!

I've had two of the chewables but it doesn't seem to be helping

I had a great surgery, as far as I can tell. I was up and walking just four hours after coming out from anaesthesia--I use my spirometer religiously, take a walk every two hours, and cough to prevent pneumonia. I got the hiccups pretty bad, though. I even hiccupped through my surgery! They came and went, but tend to come more often when I go from sitting to standing *hic hic hic*. I think these hiccups might be giving me too much air in my bowels. I'm burping ALL THE TIME but I can't fart! This is really frustrating, since I'm so full of air that I can barely keep up with my hydration--nevermind "eating" anything. My pain is manageable, but I'm telling you if I don't make an air soon I'm gonna scream! Did anyone else here have this problem? How did you deal with it? How long did it take to go away? The only thing the nurses recommended was keep on walking--but I'm walking as much as I can! What should I do?

I have my sleeve tomorrow morning. I'm still sorting through my feelings, but I'm glad that the day is finally here! God, I'm tired! Like, bone-butt tired. I woke up at 8am without an alarm. My mother in law is very unwell in hospital, and is not getting better. We had to spend a lot of time sorting through her hospice care options today with her care team, and it was a bit emotional. We had to leave early to get to the surgeon's office to finish up the last of the business end of things for my surgery tomorrow. Then we had to find a grocery store (not easy in this town, lemme tell ya). I'm having surgery in Pontiac, MI by the way. We got a bottle of clove, cardamom, and cinnamon Water and it tastes just like chai--mmm! And a bottle of lavender mint water. Just cause I'm on a liquid diet doesn't mean it has to suck. We're staying at the Residence Inn Marriot, and the room is so cute and comfortable, and has a microwave for my broth (thank God!) I took my milk of magnesia an hour ago which was surprisingly not nasty. Oh, and I straight up "ate" an entire quart of low sodium chicken broth after I peppered the heck out of it. I'm not super hunger, but my head hurts though. Probably low blood sugar. I have to have a shower tonight with Hibiclens, and another one in the morning before we go to the hospital. I don't relish filling out a crap-load of forms tomorrow morning when I'm hungry, barely awake, and scared. I hope they can give me a little something to relax me kind of quickly. I'm having a hard time thinking right now, probably because I'm so tired. I wanted to write something eloquent and philosophical about losing something, and gaining something, and sacrifice, and how positive I feel about moving ahead with this whole experience but I'm afraid that will have to wait. I'm kind of sleeping with my eyes open I was going to have a swim tonight, but I think the best thing to do now is to just have a sleep. A woman today told me that I was beautiful! "You're beautiful, and Irish, what more could a woman want?" That random act of kindness made me feel so great--it was just some lady on the elevator at my mother in law's hospital--she didn't know me, but she made my day! I've decided that I'm gonna work this sleeve for all its worth, and the party starts tomorrow! Got to go, the milk of magnesia is kicking in!

It's so good to hear that you are doing so well! I hope I have such luck! Congrats on your sleeve!

Don't forget to congratulate yourself on how far you've come! For me, 175 is still a dream far, far off. Still, I can understand how it would be frustrating! I bet this plateau is only temporary for you!

And this year's awesome wife award goes to... That sounds magnificent! I'm going to try that for my husband!

Really, I'm blessed to have such a wonderful woman in my life! Thank you for the hugs and kisses, you're so sweet

Since I decided to pursue bariatric surgery, I've been on a carb restricted, high protein, low calorie diet. Tomorrow I start the clear liquid phase of the pre-surgery diet. Thank you for your kind words--I truly am blessed!

I went to my surgeon's office for an educational seminar and for a consultation today, and I am scheduled for surgery for FRIDAY! I have so many feelings all going on at once. I'm not afraid of pain or of recovering--the anaesthesia has me a little worried (I have trouble giving up control to anyone!) but that's why God made sedatives, right? I'm so thrilled that I'll have this surgery over and done with so I don't have time to get anxious which is why I deliberately chose the earliest date. Making the last minute arrangements is a bit of a hassle, but I didn't expect it to be any different. Hopefully we'll be able to get the hospital forms ahead of time so we can fill them out Thursday night and we won't have to worry about them on the day of surgery. Thursday is going to be jam packed--too much stuff going on! My husband and I are also taking care of his mother who is currently in hospital but will be released before long (possibly when I'm in another hospital recovering from my surgery). She is financing my surgery and I know that she wants to be able to see the results before she becomes too ill. We are in talks to begin palliative (hospice) care for her at home since she's got a lot of heart disease and lung cancer going on. She wants me to be healthy to take care of her son when she goes, so... Well, that kind of made me tear up. I'm so grateful to her and to my doctor who made this possible (and is an amazing human being).

I think some people do and some people do not. It is probably down to the surgeon's preference. Unless your surgeon tells you specifically that he or she wants one placed, I just assume that the answer is no. If it were standard practice with everyone, you'd think more people would be mentioning it on the forums (yowch!)

That sounds like an EXCELLENT idea! Yeah, Cedar Point is pretty much the funnest thing to do in the midwest (if you like roller coasters)! Back about 10 years ago, they had the tallest one in the world "Millennium Force" I think we should have tee shirts made up and do prizes and everything! That would be an amazing motivator!

Excellent point you just made! No, I don't expect sleeve surgery to be a panacea, and I realize that it will drastically change the way I relate to food and I am actually looking forward to that! My Nutritionist was impressed by my healthful diet that includes lots of vegetables, fruits, lean Protein, whole grains, and how well I'd integrated all the little "tricks" to help one feel fuller longer, eating more slowly, chewing more, etc. It's funny that my diet is actually much healthier than my mother's, and she's 115lbs and I'm ....um....not lol I also get more physical activity than she does. My father is also morbidly obese, is a vegetarian, and trains in a gym 5 days a week for an hour. I take after him, and my genetics are definitely against me! I guess this is the long way of saying this surgery is going to give me the boost I need to be able to get me to the point where I can take over the weight loss myself by being able to move my body more comfortably. I was born with deformed knees, and have a broken tailbone, so it is hard for me to move comfortably with all the excess weight and exercise is agony for me at this size. I don't expect my sleeve to be able to force me into a healthier lifestyle. I'm just gonna use it as a crutch until I can walk on my own Thanks for your marvelous advice, too!

This may be a little off topic, but you look SPLENDID--you're a very pretty woman! You and your husband have accomplished so much, and I can imagine how frustrating it can be to have a surgery and then not have it restrict you in the way you imagined. Courage! You're doing great (though I completely understand your frustration)!

Oh boy, another anaesthesia moment for me to be escared of! Nah, I'm going to try to be brave and know that this is NO big deal, and that people do this all the time. I'm so glad it went well for you Dadto2! Next stop: your new body! How exciting!

Thanks for that post! You should be a full time blogger! You're hilarious and SO informative! I love your wickedly melted cheese, especially Pretty much nothing can keep me away from pizza--I ate pizza two hours after I had all four impacted wisdom teeth taken out! It's fun to know that I may be able to get away with a tiny bit of cheese, or a smidge of tomato sauce from time to time!

I, too, am interested in finding out what I can expect immediately following surgery! What I've heard so far is that most people aren't in extreme pain, unless they have a leak later on. You must be pretty excited (if a little nervous), having your surgery on Friday! I wish I could just get it over with! lol

Hi Patrick! As a man, I can see how a catheter would be a scary prospect for you--youch! I'm sorry, but I don't know what #2 refers to (I can be kinda slow sometimes--sorry!) Are you referring to the mineral lead? Or are you referring to something they have to do to you before surgery? Did your surgeon tell you that they may not be able to operate because of your liver size? They will have go to inside before they can tell? I wish they could do some kind of scan for you so they could get an idea of the size and placement of the liver before "going in". I have personal experience with lovenox injections--they're awful. I'm SO sorry that you'll have to have them for two weeks! I had to give them to my mother in law every day for a month and her stomach was yellow and green and purple. Is this a common thing for people who are going to have VSG, or is this something that is specific to you? I'm so glad you're going to go for it, though, because reading your list of goals is just so inspirational! For me, I want to be able to wear a skirt or shorts in the summer and be able to walk for more than five minutes without my thighs rubbing, chafing, bleeding, and scabbing! But I'm a HUGE roller coaster fan too! I will probably be having my surgery around the same time as you--how about we meet up one day at Cedar Point (since you're in Ohio) and ride a coaster together? lol Congrats again on your Independence Day!

Thanks a lot Dadto2, even if you didn't have it in your username, I can tell you're used to reassuring people in a fatherly way! That really helped--it's always good to hear the cons right along with the pros. I look forward to having beautiful dreams too--I think that would be an excellent side effect, since I have pretty vivid dreams anyway and almost always remember them!

That sounds absolutely marvelous! Hey, if it feels like swimming in sunshine then I've got nothing to worry about, right? Right? No, really, that sounds like it wasn't scary at all for you, and I'm glad! I hope I have an experience like that. All us pre-VSG peeps will be hurtin' after the operation is over and some of us will have a longer recovery than others, it would be great to have one less thing to obsess over!

I would feel so much better if I were sure I could get something like that to relax me!

@ Bob Marley, and being back in your college days! That made me laugh, and I needed a good laugh! I don't think that nurses should yell at patients who are waking up from anaesthesia! That's very rude!

Oh wow--yeah, I can't imagine myself becoming combative! Sounds kind of scary--I'm glad that you weren't too upset over the experience (or weren't aware of it). I'm pretty scared of gas--even more so than an IV, because needle pokes I can deal with but the idea of inhaling a gas that will put me to sleep would have me holding my breath! If they use gas, I sure as heck don't tell me when they're turning it on or I'd be so afraid!