needachange

I am one say post op and my stomach is growling. I know it's crazy but it is. I am still in hospital. Going home tomorrow. I did get up and walk many times today and shower. I have a big gas bubble it feels like but won't mOve.

Any suggestions? For any of my problems??

OMG!! I am soooooo nervous. Thursday is my big day. Any last minute suggestions?

I have my pre-op on the 11th and my surgery on the 17th....I have been in this process for a year now and I am happy but nervous as hell at the same time.....

any suggestions???

I have been arguing with blue cross over the last month and I am very frustrated....I made my initial consult in November....it was three months nutrition classes at that time...my daughter then had E-coli and salmonella and then it was the holidays and one thing led to another.....of course as always I came last....I finally got back to the doc in March for my nutrition classes and found they had changed it to 6 months...well, that then put me past the summer time...I am a teacher and I had planned to do it over the summer and my dang deductible will go up to 5,000.00 in September....I am on a school calendar year for insurance...if I could do it now it would be only about 400.00 total for everything.....

It is very frustrating and depressing.....I went again last night to another nutrition class so I could get my second one done.....any suggestions on fighting with the insurance???

UGH

I've been reading about a drain tube? Do all docs use this?

Oh, YAY for you!!! I get so excited for the new people, still LOL... we can gush and gush about how wonderful this is but truly, you'll just have to experience it for yourself to believe it. I'll chime in on your questions, too.

1. Some people have a lot of pain, or don't tolerate what they do have well. Sometimes the gas pains are worse than the surgical pain, but you don't read about that very often.

I had what I would call very little pain after surgery. For the first few days, it did hurt when moving from lying to sitting, or sitting to standing. My abs were 1,000-situp-type sore, but pain was mostly at the main incision. It was sharp, but not terribly intense... maybe a 5-6/10, but only lasting for a few seconds, totally tolerable. My abs were tight and sore too, like I said, but I never had to take any pain meds after I got home (what I did get in the hospital, they automatically put in my IV). By one week out, I felt completely normal, no soreness or anything.

2. Some people feel what they think is hunger during the early days, but most don't. You'll be fine on liquids, but by the end of that two weeks, you'll be SO bored with them, you'll think a scoop of refried Beans is the most delicious thing you ever ate LOL.

3. Again, you never know until you're there... some people go through a period of regret and others don't. Some get tired of it hurting, some get frustrated that they can't turn to their security blanket of food for comfort. They inevitably come back after a month or so saying how thrilled they are with their sleeve! There's the hormonal thing too. When we lose a lot of fat really fast, all the hormones that the fat was storing are turned loose in your system to wreak havoc on you--some people are seriously affected by it, some aren't. I'm happy to say that I never had a moment's regret or problems with the hormones (except whacking out my cycles, but they were starting to get wacky anyway).

You will be SOOO happy you did this, and if you stick around and keep reading the forums, I think you'll be doubly happy not to have gone with the lap band, which you'll see has a very high failure and complication rate (you'll also see dozens of people who HAD bands and ended up revising to a sleeve).

My biggest suggestion would be to document everything about yourself right now... not just your weight, but your feelings, how you feel physically (be specific! Can't breathe when you tie your shoes, knees hurt on stairs, etc.), what you hope to get rid of, what you hope to accomplish, and include totally superficial, fun stuff too! And make sure you have lots of pictures of yourself. A lot of people don't, and don't take "before" pics, and regret not having anything to compare to. OH, and measurements... you won't believe how fast those numbers go down!! You really want to be able to remember what pushed you to have the surgery in the first place, because there will be days when you still feel fat, or bloated, or just gross (ALL people have those days, even the scrawny ones!), and you'll feel like you're no different than you were before, and if you can take yourself back and remember the misery you started with, you see how amazing the changes really are. It's good to have that reminder of how far you've come.

A year from now, you just won't believe where you are, but trust me -- this thing is awesome!!

Hi! I went to visit with the doc yesterday and originally went in for lap band but came out a gastric sleever. I am just starting this journey and my insurance is making me do a 3 month diet class before we can have surgery. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I almost had myself talked out of having it.

How horrible is the pain after wards?

As long as I continue with liquids the first two weeks will I be ok?

Am I going to regret I did this after wards in the post op period?

I have 3 small kids 10, 7 and 5 and I do basically everything for them and teach school. My 7 year old is a down's child but is the most loving child ever placed on this earth. He is mild in his disability. He currently attends at the school where I teach.

I want to be able to be active for my children and enjoy life. I feel restricted now. My daughter's dance team has been invited to dance at down town disney in June of 2011 so I want to have energy and have fun there with my children and not be held down by my weight. As of now, I am looking at February of 2011.

Any suggestions?