iggychic

I have relatively little pain from the normal part of the surgery and would compare it somewhat to the csection pain, but I was on morphine after the c section (which I am apparently hyperactive to) so I spent the first four days talking to Martians and yelling at my lovely nurses and any invisible people who stopped by. So my comparison of both is from day four when I found lucidity .
I will say though that from an hour after the surgery when my complication reared it's ugly head (internal bleeding, a .25% risk or 1 in 400 for anyone...higher for high risk clients) my pain was excruciating. For nearly 24 hours it felt like someone was cutting my body with a chain saw over and over. I spasamed for five days (picture the never ending epileptic fit) until my blood pressure finally mad it safe to give me Meds.
Incisions...don't even notice. The balance....the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life.

I've said that...more than once and mostly to the same person.
"can I have Mac and cheese two days out"
"if I blend a pizza is that a liquid three days out"
"I swallowed gum nine days out".
I honestly think that this woman has psychological and emotional issues and I want her to get some help before she kills herself. She's been pushing death since day one. She needs help!

You also have to be in a position that is required to be silent. She could post her sisters name all week long and not violate HIPPA as she isn't a caregiver or a person in a position to protect confidential information. My doctor can't tell you what I weigh. My pilot can all day long if he wants to.

we're all going to be skinny zombies

Read past line one darling. I did say "not as bad as a life threatening leak" in the third sentence. Just concentrate and you'll see it there....

i confess that i am toying with my goal and am thinking of leaving onederland just for fun lol (what is below onderland?)
i confess that i have a pile of old cloths that is now taller than me....what am i saving them for?
i confess that i have been enjoying wine and thought it was the cause of a long stall...but the scale is now moving again
i confess that stalls suck lol even though i know they are normal
i confess that i wish that i didn't feel lousy after eating. even though i eat on plan, slowly, blah blah, i always feel kind of yucky after food and i hate that
i confess that dh is likely to freak when he gets the credit card bill this month I must also confess that I've been buying new cloths like crazy heh heh
i confess that i wish my new cloths fit longer....but thats twisted cuz then id be in a stall which i already confessed i don't enjoy lol

There is a huge difference between domino's (or the like) pizza, even thin crust, and a really good quality pizza. IMO if I'm going to eat something like pizza, it's going to be a whole wheat crust from a wood fired grill (thin crust because it's easier on your stomach). There are some things I am comfortable never eating again...like hot tamales but real food? My change is to make that "real food" healthy real food verses faster food which is loaded with sugar and fat.
The cheese quality between a chain joint and a real pizza is amazing. As is the sauce. Cheap sauces are made with sugar and more than you think, and gad the cheese...you have to blot the dang piece with a paper towel to get rid of the obvious grease...who wants to eat that????
I have had the toppings on good pizza since having the second surgery (that was at about 3 weeks out), but I skipped the crust. I am just now getting to a point where whole wheat Pasta goes down well, though it fills me up quickly. My second doc said to stay away from bread for three months, so that's what I'm doing. After having had a leak I don't want to risk damaging my tummy for a silly thick crust pizza!
I'd consider trying the toppings next month at the party, but that's it. You are still too early for real bread (or anything risen with yeast basically).

Fiddle...I was not morbidly obese so my posts are likely not directed to the 45+ BMI patients. See the thing is, you 98%....it was all good for you, so you don't want us to discuss the negatives, but frankly, the negatives are death. DEAD, GONE, FOREVER REMOVED. THese are far off concepts to those who had an easy outcome. You lost weight, you feel great, all is well. Nifty keen hun but some of us die. And we don't like our voices to be quieted by the 98%. There are people for whom this surgery is a bad choice. I was one of them. Low BMI, no comorbidities, etc. I will fight to my death to keep those people from taking this route, like it or not. When god throws a lesson in our faces we can shut up or we can share that lesson. This surgery is not for everyone.
Phyllis took her last breath at 8:15 Alaska time tonight. A victim of WLS. She won't need an extra large casket Fiddle. But is that really all it's about? Her 2% voice should be heard. My voice should be heard. And if you can't deal with that, mute it, but don't dare attempt to tell me that we don't have a place in the conversation.

Gosh I'd love to say that I don't have a god to worship, but unfortunately during a long hospital stay with my son (we spent about two years worth of nights in hospital between birth and age four) when asked about religion I thought for a second and then replied....We (my son and I) are Sleeptopians. The gal looked at me with that "what the hell are you talking about" look that they get but can't ask questions because it's not PC...and said "Is there anything we can do here to assist you with your prayer?" To which I replied that we Sleeptopians commune with our god through REM sleep. If we do not achieve this deep sleep state daily we stray from the Sleeptopian path and sadly many do not return
Which got us a "do not disturb" sign on the door and let us skip the every four hour nurses rounds After all, they have to do everything they can to assist in your religious path If there actually is a god...I know he was laughing as I said that all straight faced!
My grandfather was a baptist preacher....he could pull crap like that out of his arse like nobody's business. I guess I'm a chip off the old block LMAO
I shall "pray" for ya'll tonight...I took some liquid nyquil which should keep me in touch with the sleeptopian god all night long heh heh

I've been posting on this forum for some time my dear...I am not looking for a fight, but I also won't stand for someone dissing someone who is suffering. Complications to this surgery are many and they are scary. Your comments were offensive. If you didn't mean that, try an "I'm sorry" to the OP as you obviously went far afield of the original intent of this thread.

Internal bleeding can also happen because your vessels don't close off enough (or fast enough) after they make the cut to remove your stomach (just an FYI moment for those who asked). I had it as well.
Lux I had major complications, including internal bleeding which caused a large ball of blood to spend a couple of months in my abdomen after the surgery (I only needed two transfusions...your really went through the wringer). At four weeks out I was a week away from a long hospital stay because the spasms the bleeding caused probably caused my leak. You are sure there is no leak right???? I understand the lack of ability to take Protein or fluids, and went through it myself. The weakness is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't suffered as you have. I couldn't walk down the hallway without passing out myself so again, I feel for you!
I took it one day at a time, and did in the end fire my original doc and move onto another one because he wasn't listening to me. Are you feeling that you are getting proper care??? Don't hesitate to "move on" if you need to.
You probably don't want it...but a JG tube might be an option for feeding if you just can't get it in on your own. I personally rejected mine, but many people find them successful and you can't go much longer without proper nutrition. A week on it might be enough to get you strong again so that you can take over from there??? Have you explored this with your doctor?
At five weeks I was in an ambulance headed for a huge hospital in the "big city" because the damage was killing me. While you might have an easier ride cuz you know the team (My guys were actually wonderful) I don't want to hear you end up taking that ride!!!! Please take care and keep us informed. I am a firm believer in sharing the bad stories with the good ones. I personally still regret the risks I took for this surgery (I was low Bmi and supposedly low risk LOL...BS!) While weight loss is lovely...it's not worth it for someone like me (IMO). I get your side of the story far too well!!!

Oh holy cow dear, the kind of guy who texts you asking for a sex tape is the kind of guy you want to push to the curb. Geeze what a sleeze bag!
I'm married to a wonderful man who I met when I was a size two. Twelve years have passed and when I had my surgery I was pushing a size 18. He loved me at 2 and he loved me through 5 failed pregnancies, fertility treatments (which make it hard to love anyone LOL) a sick baby, failing and rising businesses....thick and thin! Does he like the new changes as I lose? Sure, but his love never waivered when I was fat. He didn't need any video's to keep that love going.
You are young and you've put so little time into this relationship my dear. You didn't over react. Heck if you said you hadn't reacted my post would be something more to the effect of "are you stupid?" He's a waste of your valuable heart. Save it for the right man who will come along and use this time to find the new you.

Sadly, attending a church makes you no more of a christian than standing in a garage makes you a car. Some people don't get what they're supposed to out of it As we've seen here.

I would genuinely find it painful and frightening to have those people in my neighborhood. I'm sorry you have to suffer them, but the gesture of the house did make me smile . A quiet hero at work! What a great home owner!!
We get those nazi/KKK/Obama people outside of our house on occasion because we are across the street from the post office. They used to set up on our side, but no matter the weather I always thought their set up was a signal for me to turn the sprinkler on . I've watered in rainstorms lol. And sometimes I have to really turn it up to get their area "well watered" but it makes me smile every time. Hate groups have no place in our world.

Joseph....I know you are young, so take this as a kind old lady's concern? Don't stoop to someone's level. . Stand tall and be respected for taking the high road . You'll be the better man for it.

I read page one and that was 4 days after my first surgery. I went on from there to have a second surgery because this surgery almost killed me. Having the surgery at a low BMI with no complicating factors is not worth it. I'd like to see it be against the law frankly. This is not a good vanity surgery

BTW leak symptoms are varied but can include a low grade or higher fever, vomiting, left shoulder pain, shortness of breath, racing heart, weakness, a general malaise (as if you have a flu). Most leaks do not include all of these symptoms, but any warrant a call to your doctor if they take place within six weeks of your surgery.

Gad we are all sick comedians! I actually almost went into comedy...but that's a long sad story for later...
Liz I'm so glad the meds are helping. A little progress today, more tomorrow, rinse and repeat please!
The chichu...how do you spell that dog name? Anyhoo, that cracked me up. When I was home after surgery my dog (coton de'tulear) my cats (3) and the nanny's chichuwawawawa all would snuggle up with me in bed, all day long. They were the only beings who were happy with my illness LOL And that sweet little wawawawa (Monty) was the best company. He'd snuggle under the covers and just cuddle me. He still does when we dog sit I now am thinking of getting one for DH (I am a self professed non dog lover...despite the fact that our dog thinks I"m his mom). Don't tell I'm softening to them LOL My cats will chew off a toe or something!
We went to a movie tonight. Lincoln. Great movie...don't want to give it away, but it ended badly.
BA dum dum

I'l give you the short version Starting BMI of barely 35. No comorbidities, no complicating factors (I'd had anesthesia and knew it wasn't an issue, just an allergy to morphine which of course isn't rare). High pain tolerance, healthy for a fat chick No family history to worry about, The anesthesiologist and doc were joking about a tennis date the week after surgery with me. I was supposed to be their poster child for an easy recovery and weight loss Didn't turn out that way.
Massive bleed during surgery, they didn't transfer me to a hospital though, kept me at the surgery center all night and the next day (I don't know how long, over 24 hours is all I know) where I experienced constant seizures due to blood loss and the mass of blood in my gut. Likely that either masked the leak or caused it but who knows. Finally taken to a hospital and left two days later only to return off and on, much as you read about this case, while the docs blamed it on the blood and didn't feel a leak test was necessary. I had ALL the symptoms, but no one would do the test. So finally my plural sac was crushing my lungs due to the Fluid build up from the infection due to the leak...that no one would detect, and my lungs became the focus not the leak because they couldn't keep them drained. Multiple procedures to drain the lungs finally allowed for discovery of the leak, which was then so far gone (damaged tissue) that they couldn't repair with traditional methods. In the mean time the PICC caused blood clots, the drains caused issues with my lungs....you are a nurse, you probably know how it all snowballs
Aprox five weeks after my first surgery I had my second to install an experimental treatment called a claw. It has a high failure rate, but when your tissue is badly damaged it's the best option so they installed that. I was lucky and it held. But I faced the loss of my stomach if it didn't because once that tissue is damaged, it's tough to put it back together.
I was bedridden about 60 days. In hospital three weeks or so, give or take. Several ER visits, half a million bucks ya da ya da. So this story does not sound far fetched to me. Had I stayed with my original doc and local hospital I might have been in the same boat. They tried to send me home too.
It's hard to be an advocate when you are near death. Even a nurse must understand that there are times when a patient just can't be their best advocate (not speaking of you but of the other nursing commenting). You have to see folks who are normally rational human beings who get so beat down they just can't think or communicate their needs don't you? It's easy to say you'd be tough...but only if you haven't been there.
I have lost weight But it wasn't worth the risk and what it did to my family. This story sounds believable because I lived it to some degree. I feel bad this person was so beat up they never came back to post again. They might have seen that there is some good to this surgery if they hadn't been so beaten up. Do I recommend it? NOt often! But I can see where it makes sense.

That explains why I'm growing taller!!!