Leslie Hudson-Couch

Got that right!! lol Divas rule!!!

I stayed in the hospital until yesterday and it's probably a good thing because I have breathing issues and I had a lot of pressure from the air they blow your stomach up with. Having never had a laparoscopic surgery, I did not appreciate just how much they put in there. You would think someone would come up with some ingenious idea to let the air out. Another good reason for me to not have done this follow-up is that, apparently, I was drunk texting people, which is never a good thing. And, yes, my friends and family happily have been torturing me with these various text messages. So my public service message is; don't morphine and text! My musings of the surgery is that it is not something to take on lightly. I did a lot of research prior to doing the gastric sleeve. I have had many surgeries due to hernias and intestinal strangulations so I did not just decide to do this. I can only speak for myself, but the actual surgery has not really caused me a great deal of pain, however, I have been quite uncomfortable. The pressure, for me, has been extreme and caused havoc with my breathing. The solution to relieve this is, yes folks, passing gas. Not pretty or very lady like but a necessary evil. Unfortunately, you have to get mobile to get the engine going and that is a problem for me so I'm still fairly uncomfortable but it is getting better. I was shocked when I looked at my stomach for the first time. Part of the hospital procedure is to give the patient a blood thinner every 12 hours. It's interesting to see what this does. Every where I got a shot, I have a big bruise. They don't hurt but they look gnarly. My other incisions have no stitches but are instead super glued! They are mildly tender but really are of no consequence. Probably my very worse experience was yesterday when they had to remove my drainage tube. I am really glad my husband was not in the room at the actual moment it was removed because he probably would have gone ballistic. There is a small balloon that keeps it in your body and cannot be deflated. It has to just be yanked out quickly. I will not sugar coat it... it hurts like a s.o.b.!!!! My husband and sister-in-law came in just after while I was still in my throes of pain. Not a pretty site I'm sure. I really felt bad for my sweet little nurse because she felt so guilty but it was a necessity. I think I will go back to bed now and rest. Hugs to all!!

I have decided to go on an adventure. It was a huge decision on my part because it is a life changing and body altering choice. First, I think a little back ground is needed. I have always been a "big girl" although, looking at pictures, not always as big as I thought. I actually prefer the term "BBB - Big Bodacious Broad" but that's just me! I have always been comfortable in my own skin. I was always active and a full participant in my life until a few years ago. Over the course of the years, I have had many, many stomach surgeries since my twins were born (that would be 25 years!). I realize that there are a lot of "always" but there really is no other way for me to say it. So this brings me to July 2009. I had two major surgeries in two weeks due to intestinal strangulation. This was a tremendous "wow" moment for me for many reasons. The main one was my dear husband. We had only been married for six months when this happened. Not only did I have these two surgeries but the next month, due to an infection, they actually had to do another surgery and leave my stomach open for over eight long months. I was connected to a wound vac and it was less than fun. This greatly impacted our life as you can well imagine. As it turned out, I had to have more surgery to close my stomach but the surgeon would not do it until I stopped smoking. I smoked for over 35 years so this was no small request but I think I was actually ready to stop. I took that medication (which shall remain nameless) that, in my opinion, is a miracle cure for smoking. Contrary to some reports, I had no side effects. Within ten days, I was done and able to have my closure surgery. I was doing fantastic!! I was breathing well, losing weight, helping to mow the yard, and actually walking. Shortly after this, we moved back to Texas, which I was totally stoked about because my kids and grandkids were all here. As it turned out, though, it was a bit stressful at first and I began smoking again. Not a good excuse and I knew I could not do that to myself so I decided to take my miracle medication again and again it worked like a charm. Well, okay, so there was one small issue this time. I was sitting at work and my hands started hurting. I looked down and literally watched myself blow up like a balloon. Apparently, the medication was reacting with another one I had started taking. From February to April of 2011, I gained over 60 pounds. The total since then is over 80 lbs and its all fluid. I have done everything that I have been asked to do but nothing has worked. So here we are to today, July 16, 2012. In 24 hours, I will be having a surgery called the gastric sleeve. I am very excited about this and cannot wait to have my life back. It will be a huge change in how my husband and I live our life, especially for the first few months. First off, I really won't be eating for awhile. My husband is a fantastic cook and it will be as hard on him because we are foodies. I'm not really worried though. I'm so looking forward to, first, being able to breath and, second, hopefully, not being in so much pain every day. All the fluid has made breathing a huge issue for me. I'm asthmatic so not a good thing. At 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, I will be happily, excitedly and enthusiastically going under the knife. I am going to continue to blog about my progress, not only for myself, but, hopefully, to help someone else along the way. I also am going to post a picture of me now which is a HUGE issue for me because as much as I am comfortable being me, I am not happy with me physically right now. But changes are a coming!!!

Okay so I definitely have the sense of humor part down!! lol I was like you and (excuse the pun) have weighed the pros and cons for years on having the surgery. While I pondered, I got increasingly bigger and in worse health. I am a severe asthmatic and it had gotten to the point that I couldn't walk across my small apt without gasping. Basically, my quality of life sucked. I also have a disabled son that needs his mom to be around awhile and 7 grandkids that I want to watch grow up. So at the tender age of 51, I had the surgery on July 17. I started at 340 and today, at my 2 week check up, I am down a whopping 32 lbs!!! I'm thrilled with that but what I'm the most excited about is I can BREATHE!! I have not felt this good in over two years and its only going to get better so please hang in there. And as a side note, I will say there are very well meaning people out there who will be naysayers but you have to decide this for you and not worry about what others say or think. You are the one who has to live in your body, not them. Alot of people are afraid of change and not willing to take a chance even if its to do something to improve their life. I know some people who are afraid I'm not going to want to be their friend and even my dear sweet wonderful husband has asked if I'm going to leave him when I get thin!! That would be a great big NO!!! He loves me like I am and I'm going to reward him with who I will be. Okay I will shut my trap now! lol Good luck to you hon and Hugs!!

Hey everyone!! Today I had my 2 week check up (surgery 7/17) and I could not be happier!!! I'm down 32 lbs!! I feel so good that I even asked my dr if there was something wrong with me! lol Part of the reason is that I've had a huge amount of fluid in my chest and has greatly affected my breathing but its mostly gone now and I CAN BREATHE!!!! Such a glorious feeling! My left leg was also very swollen and had a good case of cellulitis going on and that is all gone also. First week was rough but it was/is all worth it! Good luck to everyone. :wub:

Congrats to all you " losers"!!! Lol I love the idea of being a loser now!! I am day 15 and go for my first weigh in today. Can't wait!! I feel so freakin' fantastic I can't believe it. Keep it up and best wishes!!

Thanks for the info. Didn't even look at those

Hi ImnLeslie. I am 14 days post op but like you, I started testing the food waters months ago. I have had two different meat baby foods in tiny jars which is about the perfect size. One was chicken and the other beef. They both have 9 g of protein and if you add a bit of seasoning they arent half bad. I personally have only tried one "protein" anything that was decent which is a lemonade. Having said that, I was talking to one of my friends who steered me to Slimfast . You can get it with 10 or 20 g of protien. I got the 20 g one and by golly, its pretty darn good. Its not possible to drink it in one sitting but every little bit helps right?! Good luck! I will tell you the first week is rough but two weeks out Im feeling better than I have in over two years!!

I also have been trying different things for months even though Im only 14 days post op. One of the things I have discovered is that there is alot of protien (9 g) in some small jars of baby food. If u add a little seasoning they arent half bad. Even some of the baby fruit has 3 & 4 g in them. Also I have ordered protien lemonade which is not bad. My fav drink thus far though is good old SlimFast. I get the one with 20 g and its great. I dont think Im quite taking in 70 g a day but my legs have stopped hurting. I have experienced the muscle breakdown before and it is very painful so I am working hard at getting as much protein as possible. Good luck!

I am 14 days post op and I also felt crappy the first week mainly because of the air in my stomach. Since I have breathing issues, i stayed an extra day in the hospital. I never really had pain but was hugely uncomfortable. However, once i was moving around well the old bod got the engine running and the gas left. I do still burp but not as much. I have to say that I personally feel better than I have in two years and I am looking forward to it only getting better so hang in there!