Tiffany Talbert Corbet

You ROCK! keep up the good work!

First thing you need to do is get the negative talk out of your head. Stop talking to yourself so negatively. You've made a HUGE decision to make your life better, start being nice to yourself. I had the same problem pre-surgery. I ate pretty much everything I thought I would miss post-surgery. Now that I'm almost 6 mos post-surgery, I don't even THINK of any of those things any longer. When I sit down to eat, I often don't get past the protein on my plate. I LOVE vegetables and bread....and don't get me started on desserts, but I'm SO full with the protein I don't even get to move to another option on my plate. Take it slow, take it easy on yourself, and make it as positive of an experience as you can. Remember, garbage in, garbage out....what you think, you become, so be nice to yourself and encourage yourself! You'll do great!

Good luck! My hubby wasn't all that on-board at the time I made the decision either, but once he went to the information seminar and got to talk to the surgeon a couple times at my appointments, he came around and is SO glad I did it. I'm 4 mos out and doing very well. I've lost quite a bit and fee great. You will do fine. If you have any questions....just ask! There are LOTS of us here who will be glad to help out as much as wel can.

Being a former McD's mgr, I can tell you that this is NOT permitted. It was more than likely the first time it happened and they had no idea it was going on. He could have easily parked his car in the parking lot handicap parking spot, got out and zipped over to the drive-thru lane instead of going inside. If the line was long when he got to the door, instead of the hassle of getting back in his vehicle and then going through the drive-thru, he may have decided this was a better alternative. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be the manager to have to tell him/her that this is not permitted, because that would only potentially open another can of worms, and the first one out would possibly discrimination. But I would have to side with the potential for bodily harm and general safety. If we don't let people walk through or walk up to the window for safety reasons, people in wheel chairs (either motorized or not) should not be allowed to either.

Don't give up now! You're too close to back out now. You will be fine. Don't over-think it.

Simplejaxgirl and wndrfullife.... I'm 11 days post-op. Based on my post-op life so far...here are my thoughts. Am I making the right decisions? Yes, you are doing what's right for you and your future health, which in the long-run is the best decision(s) you can make. Am I loosing enough weight pre-op? Yes....The dr. only wants you to reduce the size of your liver. Losing weight is the best way to do this. It will make the surgery less likely to have issues from possibly knicking your liver. Plus, I was told, that your liver can get so enlarged that it can take 2 people with retractors to hold it back for the surgeon to work. Losing weight makes the liver light and fluffy and easy for one person to simply push out of the way. Will the surgeon say no if I do not loose enough weight? (No # was given) If you are losing ANY weight and following the pre-op diet as prescribed, he will not cance/reschedule on you. What if there are complications? He/She is a trained surgeon. I had NO compications....you will do fine and your hospital staff is specially trained to take good care of you no matter what happens. Will I be able to take care of my son and house after surgery? (I will only have support for maybe a day or two) Yes, you will not have a problem here. The only thing you will not be able to do is lift him up. So have him climb up in the chair/sofa with you to cuddle instead of picking him up. He may have to help out by picking his toys up instead of you, but everything else you will be able to do just fine. Be sure to rest as much as possible and keep sipping your beverages. What will life after surgery be like? It will be WONDERFUL! In 3 - 4 months you be able to play with your son longer and do more things with him that you would be able to if you had not had the surgery. You will be celbrating your future with him and able to participate so much more in his growing up. YOU WILL DO GREAT!! Start telling yourself that. You cannot control the unknown. All you can do is control how you approach it. Be as positive as you can and everything will be fine. I'm sure you think I'm being Pollyanna, and perhaps I am, but all I can do is answer from my vantage point, and so far, I've had an amazing recovery. I had never had surgery before and thought it would be FAR worse than this, and have been SO blessed....I'm sure you will be too. Good luck!!

mocanitanj....I was sleeved last Friday. I was barely using the morphine in recovery and only took 4 of the 40 Vicatin they sent home with me on Saturday. The hospital will do everything they can to keep you comfortable, just make sure you are honest with your nurses. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, and a large hate for using medications if I can manage not to. No matter your tolerance, it is managable, just try not to "tough" it out. If you need it, push that button or take that pill as needed. You will get through it just fine. Good luck!!!

Sorry Trish! Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll give it the proper attention and thought to come up with the right solution for you.

Oh, Terri. I do hope you're able to get an appointment at U of Penn and get someone who knows what they're doing to find a treatment or surgical procedure to help you aleviate this pain. Your cartoon says it all. How does a MD degree (or an RN degree for that matter) automatically make a person think they understand the severeness of someone elses pain? Yes, there are those who will milk it, or are hypocondriacs, but for goodness sakes, you've been seeing this doctor for well over a year and he STILL hasn't caught on to the level of your pain? SOMEONE is NOT paying attention. Maybe it's time to find a new dr? Or is he the closest in your network? So sorry for these back issues you're having. The good thing is, thanks to the sleeve, you're helping to alleviate some of the severity of the pain. With the amount of weight you've lost, the pain this go around wasn't nearly what it could have been. Good luck!!

Jugee44, Good to hear! I'm in the same boat you are....haven't had a BM either, but as you said, we are still on clear liquids, so I don't expect it quite yet. My follow up appt comes Wed, and if I keep progressing at this pace, I'm hoping the dr. will let me move on to Stage 2 and start eating poached eggs (scrambled, etc.), cottage cheese, peanut butter, blended soups, etc. I've never looked so forward to having any of them before in my life, and right now I can't wait! But, as you said, I'm really not that hungry, so I doubt it will be for much more than the fact that I "can" have it over that I'm hungry for it. Congrats! Keep in touch so we can keep track of each others progress....and Good Luck!!

You will do great! The biggest thing (and I may have mentioned this in the original post) was to not stress. I've never had surgery prior to this, so everything was new an a little scary....but the surgical team was AWESOME, the nurses were VERY attentive and helped me with even the littlest things. Today (Day 2 post-op) I'm doing ok. My incision at the top of my bellybutton is still the most sensitive and painful when standing up or sitting down, but once I'm u por down, it doesn't hurt, so I'm thinking sitting as long as I can to let it heal may be best. I'm also having a little bit of a struggle getting my sips down. Seems once they get to the entrace of my stomach, they back up just a little and there's a "sqeeze" like sensation where the fluid is trying to get through a very narrow tube. I'm hoping this is just still swelling that is causing it and in a day or 2 I'll be able to drink a bit more without discomfort. Good luck you all! While I'm having a bit of a challenge days 1 and 2, I'm sure once I'm a week out or so, everything will start getting easier. Good news is, I weighed this morning and I'm already back to pre-op weight! whoot whoot!

Hello everyone, Well, I DID IT! I was sleeved yesterday (11/16) at noon. I still can't believe it's over already. We arrived at the hospital at 10 a.m., where they checked me and took me back to pre-op area. The nurse there....Kathy, was GREAT. She was very attentive, talkative and interactive. While she was asking me all the health history questions, she asked me how I got to the point where I knew the 'sleeve' was what i wanted to do. I told her that between meeting with my PCP where he recommended it, attending the seminar held by the surgeon and his Nurse Practitioner, I decided it was the one of the 3 that had the best results without being the most extreme. (Yes, I know, taking 85% of my stomach is extreme, but...) Once pre-op was completed, and it took a specialist to get the IV started in my upper left arm, the surgery nurse came in and took me down to the operating room. There they inflated a new matress they have that when inflated, makes it so those who are moving your from your bed to the surgery table don't have to strain quite as much and it's much easier on their backs. After I was situated, the anesthesiologist started placing the monitoring pads on my upper chest. Then he said he wanted to put this mask on me to give me more oxygen and help calm me down a little. (I didn't think I was having problems stayin calm....but what ever). That is essentially all I remember. I don't remember waking up in recovery, and I don't remember being moved from recovery to my room. All I remember was that my hubby, sister, sis-in-law and mom-in-law were in the room chit chatting until I woke up. Then the nurse explained what everything was, and handed me the morphine drip button. I tried very hard to not use it any more often than necessary. Overnight, the nurses would come it to check my vitals, give me a shot for this, add another bag of something to the IV, ask how I was etc. I have to admit, I don't think I slept for more than 2 hrs at a stretch. At about 5 a.m., the tech came in and asked if I wanted to move to the chair. I did, of course, as I had been lying down since 11 a.m. the day before. My mouth was a dry mess, and all they offered were lemon flavored mouth swabs (YUCK). I would use that to get the most of the try out, and then I would dip it into a cup of water and rinse a little more that way, making sure I did not swallow. At about 7:30 a.m., Sydney (the tech) came in and announced we were heading down to x-ray where they could do a leak test. While I as standing there, they handed me this tall milk white container with the barium in it. As I stood there the x-ray tech asked me to take a couple big drinks (which kind of scared me with the sleeve!) so he could see it running through my esophagus and to my stomach to witness if there were any leaks. After 4 different views, he was done (it took all of about 10 min) I was sent back to my room to wait for the Dr. with the results. A couple hours later, the doctor showed up and said he was pleased with how surgery went, and that the leak test showed no issues. He would come back after noon and see how things are going and likely send me home. After he left, the lead nurse (Deanna) removed the catheter....(damned glad I don't have to do THAT very often) the nurses and my sister helped me shower and change into my street clothes (all but my t-shirt since I was still connected to the IV). Once they got the orders to remove me from the IV, I was able to put on my t-shirts. Dr. came in about 1:15 or so and asked if I wanted to go home. So, I asked him if he wanted to send me home. He said definitely. Everything is going well, and he wrote orders for the nurses and then wrote a prescription for vicoden for me. Deanna came back in with the final papers for me to sign, and then I got to leave (via wheelchair to my hubby waiting in the car at the door). We then took a trip to the closest pharmacy to get my prescription filled....they didn't have the dosage he was asing for...so we tried another...same issue. Then we tried a 3rd, and by then we realized the dr had added his cell number to the bottom of the prescription, so the pharmacist called to discuss the dosage and find out if it could be modified. He said yes, so we got the medicine and headed home. I have now declared where I will be the next couple of days while I recover (recliner in the front room). This first day hasn't been all that aweful, but it hasn't been a cake walk either. I have quite a bit of discomfort where the air bubble is sitting on my diaphram, and from the 1 - 1 1/2" incision at the top of my bellybutton to remove the stomach through. Other than that, the pain is rather minimal. I hope all that have an upcoming surgery date, will go ahead and do it. By reading all the posts on here, I know that day 2 will be better than today, and day 3 better than that and so on. I can't wait for the New Year and the new me!!

Does she know you had the surgery and where you are in what you are able to eat at this stage post-surgery? I know my mother-in-law is chomping at the bit to know what she can make for me post-surgery (surgery is tomorrow). I'm really looking forward to having her deviled eggs again (she loves making those things). Everytime I see her she's asking "what can I make that you can have"? If your mom-in-law is as involved, maybe you can call her and find out what the planned menu is and see if she is wondering what to make so you can enjoy as well? I know not everyone is as lucky as I am with my mom-in-law, but you never know. Good luck!

Good luck! I'm right behind you on 11/16!!