Erin92

Totally normal, you are taking in more liquid than solids (if any) so, liquid in, liquid out. Once you are on solids again, things will start to get "normal" again.

i have had the occasional beer, just drink it slowly and you will be ok.

Hello back at yah. You will hit stalls throughout this journey and 3 weeks was when i hit my first one. It will not last so do not fear! I also had my surgery from Almanza. Good luck to you and thanks for posting, nice to know there are people close.

Woohoo! Go Edmonton. I do not have any regrets, even though I had a rocky recovery, I would do it again because I am going to live a long and healthy life!

from edmonton, alberta here, went through dr almanza and had an uneventful surgery...had some challenges after, but it had nothing to do with who did the surgery and where. just thought i would put my two cents in with forever 30

Just wanted to say hello as a fellow sleever and edmontonian.

I have these feelings at times too. I had my surgery back in January. I am 36. I suffered with anxiety and depression prior to the wls but what I have experienced since then is totally different. What you have thought about, scared I won't succeed, scared you are too young or that you will have side effects. I got past all of these feelings by believing, really believing that I would. You need to remember that you did all of this not only for yourself, but also for your family. So that you will be around to see your kids grow up etc. The diseases that you would very likely have gotten from being obese would certainly have taken you away from them. You will succeed, you are not going to rupture your suture line and you are going to feel great soon! It took me a while, and I had some extenuating circumstances related to the surgery crop up and I got past them and feel better all the time. I have my moments of anxiety, but then I think them through and take some deep breathes and these moments pass too. I don't know how far out from surgery you are, but just follow the diet you have been given, and live your life. Enjoy your life because you did a great thing for yourself. I truly believe it takes people with serious guts to get wls. It is laughable that people think we are taking the easy way out considering the mental aspects that many of us have to deal with. Good luck to you and remember we are hear to listen and help you get through this. :bigear:

Ok,Update time, AGAIN! (this all started with the "life still sucks thread") I will explain my week from the start which goes from this past Friday when I went BACK to the ER for the 3rd and final time I finally ended up getting moved up to a Ward with potassium burning into my veins. (very painful). This ward was a bit of a gong show, the nurses did not seem very knowledgable so I didn't ask many questions. My roomie was an older lady who was pretty quiet and we were able to just do our own thing. I didn't see a doctor after being in the ER until Saturday when I was told I would be getting ANOTHER scope by a different doctor. So, I was hopeful that this would provide answers, sadly, it only left me with more questions. She felt that there really wasn't really an L shape in my stomach, that she was able to get the scope through and that I may have to live like this forever or learn to live like this AND she wondered if my vagus nerve (not sure what it is exactly) might have been affected. She also kinda dissed the surgery in general so I was defentitely feeling like I was getting nowhere again. I sat with my mouth gaped open, totally speechless. I asked, did I just totally ruin my life here??!?!?! She was nice and said no but did not give me the answers I was looking for, or any solutions for that matter. SOOOO, on Monday when my Aunt who works in the hospital for the Director for Critical Care came in we talked and then another GI doc. He came in and was explaining that the doctor that did my scope the day before didn't feel there was anything to be done. My aunt and I said we did not agree and that we wanted to talk to the origianl doctor I was scoped by who was a bariatric surgeon. This Dr. said that he would send in another GI doc who had more experience with my situation first and then we could go from there. We decided to go with this dude and if that didn't work out we were going to make a complaint and my aunt was going to talk to the Chief of Medicine whom we ran into and I told my story to including the issues with different answers from different doctors. He said I absolutely had a right to get answers and solutions no matter what. So, yesterday I was admitted to the GI ward where I was placed on a freakin ER stretcher to sleep (because I wasn't as sick as others and they didn't have enough beds). Whatev. So this Dr. comes in and I call my aunt to be in with me as my advocate. She comes in and we had a whole list of questions that we didn't even have to ask. He said that he understood my concerns, knew that I knew something wasn't right and that he was going in to do another scope make his own decisions and balloon it, period. He also said he would take a biopsy cause he was in there and check out the surgery in general. He said that it would be around 2 or 3. Well, 11:45 am they came to get me! I was waiting for a while down in endoscopy and was a bit nervous too! So, I told him before he konked me out that he should just balloon the whole damned thing! He kinda chuckled and said he would do what he could. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and tummy (just to the touch) but otherwise no worse off than before. At least it told me he did something in there. I was taken back upstairs and fell asleep for a couple of hours as I had a terrible sleep on the cot the night before. I then got up and asked for a cup of tea for my raw throat. I drank an ENTIRE little styrofoam cup of tea! Total victory right there. He told me not to get my hopes up too high that it wouldn't be a miracle solution and we would still have to work with it, together, but I still took it as a good sign. My sister came and saw me (my first visitor as I didn't want to see anyone and my parents are in Mexico) and it was a good day for her to come, I was in much more positive spirits for sure. Now it's Wednesday morning and I got awoken at 5 am for my nausea meds and then dozed off an on while my 4 other roomies began to get up. Then my new Dr comes in 15 minutes earlier than thought and than I told Derek (hubby) to be there. Anyway, I had some questions ready and he was just awesome to talk to again. He said that he used the largest balloon they have to dialate the top (entrance) and bottom (exit) of the stomach, the middle part didn't require it as it does stretch naturally. He said that is wasn't grossly narrowed, but that the stomach is an odd organ and could look ok one moment and not the next. No harm done to just do it. He also said that my surgery looked great. Nothing wrong with how it was done at all. Now it would be up to me for the next 4 weeks or so to see how it all holds. I follow up with him in 4 weeks and if I feel good, I will just meet him in his office, unless I still have concerns, in that case we will schedule another scope to be sure everything is still a-o-k. He said I should remain off of work for the next 2 to 4 weeks, I got a note for only 2 and have an appt with my Family Dr on June 1st to follow up with blook work etc as he will be sending her all of my information to keep an eye on me too. I just feel 2 weeks will be plenty to get me back on my feet, and if I feel I can go back sooner, I just have to call my Dr. to get an ok to go back to work. We will see, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself just yet. My diet is starting back a bit, I am on soft liquids like soups etc for this week and then next week I can start with eggs etc and add one extra food at a time and see how it goes. I got some boost JUICE not milky drinks that I am going to use to supplement my diet as well. I prayed so much for an answer and for someone to help me and really feel optimistic that this Dr. really has by best interest at heart and he is truly my hero. He said we would get it figured out one step at a time, if this didn't work, we wouldn't stop until we found something. Just a super person. As I am sure you can tell, I feel better mentally big time. Physically, I am still weak, but Derek and I walked together and I am just going to persist with what the nutritionists/dieticians suggest and make my life the best it can be. I feel like I have my life back again, just have to drink a lot and keep on eating, which I feel is doable now. I have told my family that it will take time again, but now we just need to be thankful things are going in the right direction now and I can soon begin to enjoy my new life. Thanks again for all the encouragement and support. Hopefully it's all uphill from here on out! erin :amen:

Ok,Update time, AGAIN! I will explain my week from the start which goes from this past Friday when I went BACK to the ER for the 3rd and final time I finally ended up getting moved up to a Ward with potassium burning into my veins. (very painful). This ward was a bit of a gong show, the nurses did not seem very knowledgable so I didn't ask many questions. My roomie was an older lady who was pretty quiet and we were able to just do our own thing. I didn't see a doctor after being in the ER until Saturday when I was told I would be getting ANOTHER scope by a different doctor. So, I was hopeful that this would provide answers, sadly, it only left me with more questions. She felt that there really wasn't really an L shape in my stomach, that she was able to get the scope through and that I may have to live like this forever or learn to live like this AND she wondered if my vagus nerve (not sure what it is exactly) might have been affected. She also kinda dissed the surgery in general so I was defentitely feeling like I was getting nowhere again. I sat with my mouth gaped open, totally speechless. I asked, did I just totally ruin my life here??!?!?! She was nice and said no but did not give me the answers I was looking for, or any solutions for that matter. SOOOO, on Monday when my Aunt who works in the hospital for the Director for Critical Care came in we talked and then another GI doc. He came in and was explaining that the doctor that did my scope the day before didn't feel there was anything to be done. My aunt and I said we did not agree and that we wanted to talk to the origianl doctor I was scoped by who was a bariatric surgeon. This Dr. said that he would send in another GI doc who had more experience with my situation first and then we could go from there. We decided to go with this dude and if that didn't work out we were going to make a complaint and my aunt was going to talk to the Chief of Medicine whom we ran into and I told my story to including the issues with different answers from different doctors. He said I absolutely had a right to get answers and solutions no matter what. So, yesterday I was admitted to the GI ward where I was placed on a freakin ER stretcher to sleep (because I wasn't as sick as others and they didn't have enough beds). Whatev. So this Dr. comes in and I call my aunt to be in with me as my advocate. She comes in and we had a whole list of questions that we didn't even have to ask. He said that he understood my concerns, knew that I knew something wasn't right and that he was going in to do another scope make his own decisions and balloon it, period. He also said he would take a biopsy cause he was in there and check out the surgery in general. He said that it would be around 2 or 3. Well, 11:45 am they came to get me! I was waiting for a while down in endoscopy and was a bit nervous too! So, I told him before he konked me out that he should just balloon the whole damned thing! He kinda chuckled and said he would do what he could. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and tummy (just to the touch) but otherwise no worse off than before. At least it told me he did something in there. I was taken back upstairs and fell asleep for a couple of hours as I had a terrible sleep on the cot the night before. I then got up and asked for a cup of tea for my raw throat. I drank an ENTIRE little styrofoam cup of tea! Total victory right there. He told me not to get my hopes up too high that it wouldn't be a miracle solution and we would still have to work with it, together, but I still took it as a good sign. My sister came and saw me (my first visitor as I didn't want to see anyone and my parents are in Mexico) and it was a good day for her to come, I was in much more positive spirits for sure. Now it's Wednesday morning and I got awoken at 5 am for my nausea meds and then dozed off an on while my 4 other roomies began to get up. Then my new Dr comes in 15 minutes earlier than thought and than I told Derek (hubby) to be there. Anyway, I had some questions ready and he was just awesome to talk to again. He said that he used the largest balloon they have to dialate the top (entrance) and bottom (exit) of the stomach, the middle part didn't require it as it does stretch naturally. He said that is wasn't grossly narrowed, but that the stomach is an odd organ and could look ok one moment and not the next. No harm done to just do it. He also said that my surgery looked great. Nothing wrong with how it was done at all. Now it would be up to me for the next 4 weeks or so to see how it all holds. I follow up with him in 4 weeks and if I feel good, I will just meet him in his office, unless I still have concerns, in that case we will schedule another scope to be sure everything is still a-o-k. He said I should remain off of work for the next 2 to 4 weeks, I got a note for only 2 and have an appt with my Family Dr on June 1st to follow up with blook work etc as he will be sending her all of my information to keep an eye on me too. I just feel 2 weeks will be plenty to get me back on my feet, and if I feel I can go back sooner, I just have to call my Dr. to get an ok to go back to work. We will see, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself just yet. My diet is starting back a bit, I am on soft liquids like Soups etc for this week and then next week I can start with eggs etc and add one extra food at a time and see how it goes. I got some boost juice not milky drinks that I am going to use to supplement my diet as well. I prayed so much for an answer and for someone to help me and really feel optimistic that this Dr. really has by best interest at heart and he is truly my hero. He said we would get it figured out one step at a time, if this didn't work, we wouldn't stop until we found something. Just a super person. As I am sure you can tell, I feel better mentally big time. Physically, I am still weak, but Derek and I walked together and I am just going to persist with what the nutritionists/dieticians suggest and make my life the best it can be. I feel like I have my life back again, just have to drink a lot and keep on eating, which I feel is doable now. I have told my family that it will take time again, but now we just need to be thankful things are going in the right direction now and I can soon begin to enjoy my new life. Thanks again for all the encouragement and support. Hopefully it's all uphill from here on out! erin :amen:

Hello All, well, I got back home on Tuesday late afternoon after being discharged and going to the in-house nutritionist for a plan on how to get me through the next 5 weeks until my next scope. I was treated for dehydration and malnutrition. They gave me potassium which felt like fire going into my veins and magnesium which was ok, but also fluids with other essential nutrients in them. Did that make me feel better physically, kind of. I am still scared to death though. I saw another GI doctor who finally explained what the scope that I had done actually meant which helped me to understand what is going on a little better. I do NOT have a stricture like I thought. My stomach has healed in the L shape rather than the banana shape. The reason they are waiting for the scope is that they would prefer that I am 6 months out from surgery before attemtping anything like a stint or whatever method they decide to use to try to help me. In the meantime, I HAVE to try to eat and drink and get my Protein in. Do I feel better knowing all of this, yes, but I am scared to death. My fear is that the stint won't be something viable and they may want to do a complete by-pass. They said that is the last resort, but it is still scary. At the same time, I just want to feel better and start to live a normal life again. My family is literally sick with worry about me, my husband is a mess and frankly so am I. I have really pulled myself away from everyone as much as I can and I know that is not healthy. I have been off of work for the past 2 weeks and am nervous about the work load I will have when I go back on Monday and how I will be able to manage a full day and eating and drinking all day. So overwhelming. I did call the GI doctor to ask if they are just going in to look at things again or if they are actually going to treat me when I go for this scope and she said if there is something they want to do or think will work, they will do it right then and there, I felt reassured by that for sure. I have to say, I should not be surprised. I have many friends on here who have had surgery since I did and have had a pretty great recovery, so glad for all of them. But I have always had bad luck and should have known that if something was going to go amiss, it would have been with me. Anyway, I really am trying to get past the whoa is me period but I think it will take a bit more time. I am on strong anti-nausea meds, but am still heaving about once a day, don't know why but sadly, I am getting used to it. Just trying to think that there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Thanks again for all your comments and support. I will keep you all posted. Erin