amw157

Be lucky you still have one! My surgery was open, not lap, and they had to remove the piece of skin where my belly button was. It looks sooo weird, but I show it off just for the effect.

What always grabs me about these before & after photos is the genuine SMILE in the after photo. There's no faking the happiness that's evident in your smile.

Everything Gene said ... plus ...

You just cannot fathom the sheer number of people who are just waiting to help you in AA. They will be thrilled to tell you their story of battling alcohol, and will be eager to guide you through your own journey. All you need to do is take one step toward them, they'll come the rest of the way.

Even if you're not sure about it, go to a meeting, introduce yourself (first name only), and kick the tires. Hear the message. Toss it around in your head. See if it's something that interests you.

It's anonymous, so nobody will follow up with you later unless you ask them to. You can choose to never go back again if you like. I swear, if I lived near you I'd offer to take you to a meeting. Tell me your zip code and I will try to find a meeting for you.

Seriously, you sound like you're almost ready to say something like "I wish I knew how to stop". If that's true, please, consider what I'm saying. Like I said earlier, I've lost 100 pounds so far, so many things are better now that I've lost the weight ... but quitting drinking was a much more important life change to me. I wish I could share this with you.

When you say "alcoholic" do you mean "I liked to drink a lot" or "I really think I need help"?

My life has done a complete 180 for the better since I got into AA and quit drinking back in 2008. It was an even better choice than having the VSG.

If you need help, all you have to do is reach out. Don't hesitate. There's a whole community of folks who only want to help. Look for an AA chapter near you and just go visit.

If you want to talk with me privately, that's fine.

Captain Killjoy reporting in .... I gotta be honest ....

I had a totally unrelated surgery six years ago. In the weeks after the catheter came out, I developed scar tissue in my urethra. The urologist said some people are much more sensetive, or whatever, but it basically narrowed the urethra, and peeing took forever. This wasn't inflammation or swelling, but actual scar tissue.

Over the last few years the scar tissue has lessened, but I was never back to 100%.

For the VSG surgery in August, I had to have a catheter again. I told the surgeon they will need to have my urologist on hand just to put it in. I wanted to make sure a doctor who knows ME was inserting it.

Sadly, I've developed scar tissue again. There is no way to prevent it, said the doctor. As long as I can pee, there's no cause for alarm. If it narrows too much, then I will need a special surgery. Right now it takes me about two minutes to pee, because it comes out so slow.

Sorry to be Major Buzzkill here, but you guys ought to know.

it's like shoving a rat into a sock meant for a toddler

Rat ... sock ... you have a way with imagery. :-)

But isn't a sippy cup too close to a straw? I was told no carbonation, and no straws for the same reason. They said drinking from a straw allows you to swallow more air than normal sipping, and the air can bloat you and stretch your sleeve.

My hospital said even a taxicab home is a no-no. They wanted to MEET the person who was taking me home and caring for me once I got home. Doped-up patients often don't listen very well while they're giving you discharge instructions, so they make sure your caregiver is there to listen well.

Already bought my three-day passes. I'm starting to think about how to plan meals. Other than bringing my own, I don't think there are a lot of good options. I don't mind eating Protein Bars and shakes for a few days. I'm staying in a hotel without a restaurant, and I don't really want to buy the expensive food at the convention.

Anyone else going?

Pic is of me last year with Lollipop Chainsaw cosplayer Jessica Nigri (no hover hand!). This was pre-surgery. I'm down about 90 pounds since then.

About once a week or two, someone asks "I'm not throwing up, should I be?"

I want to answer, "Yes, now go vomit and report back."

LOL. I'm GLAD you're not having many issues.

The same thing happened to me the day after one my drains "fell out". (They were in for five weeks and the sutures tore).

My doc said that the shivering was actually the sign of an infection that he thinks occurred when the drain came out. Maybe something went "in" before the hole sealed up. He said that sometimes these infections are severe but rapid, they last a day at most.

Hey ... have you had a flu shot?

For me, I had a ruptured colon back in 2006 (due to diverticulitis). They had to do emergency surgery to stop the sepsis, and ended up removing about 15 inches of my large intestine. Because things escalated so rapidly, I woke up with a colostomy bag (and a huge incision). About three months later I had another surgery to reverse the colostomy.

Both those surgeries really complicated the WLS. My surgeon said I was his only patient on the day of surgery, he expected an 8 hour procedure, half of which was to remove internal scar tissue that had developed as a result of the prior surgeries.

The surgeon actually could not be sure WHICH WLS he would be able to do, until he opened me up. So I didn't know whether I had a sleeve or a Roux-en-Y until I woke up. He wanted to see with his eyes how much large intestine was left. If there wasn't enough, then I was not a candidate for Roux-en-Y. There wasn't enough, so now I have a sleeve.

Oh yes it was an extra fee. Heck, there was an extra SURGEON. One guy was the WLS surgeon, but I had a plastic surgeon do the abdominal wall reconstruction. That was his specialty. The WLS guy said it wasn't his kind of work, and that I should have a specialist. The two of them worked together to clear the scar tissue.

I did not have the filter, but I've seen many people on the boards who have. If you believe what they say, you will look back later and say "it was no big deal at all" about the filter.

Bear in mind, my surgery is probably a little different from yours. I also had most of my abdominal wall reconstructed during surgery. They were going to repair many small hernias in my abdomen, but when they got inside, they decided to replace a whole big section of abdominal wall instead. So I have a 14 inch scar, and I have no belly button anymore. The sleeve was small potatoes compared to the abdominal wall reconstruction.

You'll probably have it a lot easier. And you'll be fine.

HA. See what I mean about being "alone in the crowd". Nobody else responded.

Here's what you tell them:

In the Halloween photo you posted, do you see that "air space" between your waist and your elbows?

That's what you lost. It's air now.

Oh and don't be scared of all this. All in all, there was MUCH less pain than I was expecting. Healing and recovery was MUCH easier than I expected. You'll be OK.

I had open surgery too, also because of prior abdominal surgeries. My surgery was August 31st.

The hardest part is ... it's nearly impossible to tell if whatever you're feeling "right now" is from the sleeve surgery itself (removing part of your stomach), or from the fact that they cut your gut wide open. Every little twitch or minor ache, I have to ask myself ... is this on the SURFACE (the skin/muscles around the large incision), or is this on the INSIDE (the stomach alterations)?

The nurses in the hospital will (innocently) treat you like a laproscopic patient. You're the exception, not the rule. You'll have to point out to a few of them that you had the open surgery. Just a minor adjustment, nothing serious to overcome.

It's more likely you'll have a little more pain than other patients. After all, you had a huge incision, not several tiny ones. You may have more follow-up doctor visits, or more frequently. You may even be set up with a home nursing service, specifically for wound care. I had that. They visited a few times, made sure the wound was healing well, and taught me how to care for it.

You will be more likely to wake up from surgery with a JP drain, and you will be more likely to have it remain in place longer than the laproscopic patients. My drains stayed in for six weeks, but my case was extreme, said the doctor.

You may get lucky like me ... when they made the large incision, they had to cut through some nerves. Those cut nerves resulted in a good deal of numbness around the incision itself. I still can't feel a touch on the skin, I can only feel it if you apply pressure. I think, for me, this made the recovery process much less painful.

You will find yourself reading most of these threads, always thinking "That may not really pertain to me". You will see people talking about healing times (yours will be longer), about lifting restrictions (yours will be larger), about range-of-motion precautions, and you will always be a little "different". You may even have different nutritional requirements, because you have a lot more healing to do.

You will see people asking "Can I ride a bike? Take a flight?", basically asking "How soon can I do XYZ after surgery?". Whatever the answer, you will have to apply some mental adjustment because you're different. Just get used to it, whatever the typical "thing" is, you won't always fit into the typical.

Please feel free to reply here with questions (or message me directly) if you need a fellow open-surgery patient to bounce some things off of.

Seitan (if you like it - I make my own)

Wheat meat! Love the stuff. It's an acquired taste. I don't think I've seen anyone else mention it here before. Anyway, glad I'm not the only one who likes seitan.

YES I've been feeling like this since surgery, which was 9 weeks ago. I can't think about eating or drinking anything for a few hours after I wake up. Afternoons are great, but the mornings .... ugh.

Glad you're thinking of taking the step, mcwestfam. One good thing about a psych is that they won't judge you, at all. Another good thing is that they're an "intimate stranger", you can tell them all kinds of deep secrets, but at the end of the session, it's not like you're BFFs. That's professionalism.

Do try a few. You may not find the right fit with the first one.

I always do a little happy dance when I see posts like this. So much of this forum is devoted to the practical side of things (how much to eat, what to eat, when to eat, how to deal with stalls). Far less often do we hear from people dealing with emotional or psychological issues. So when I see one, I go "UGOGIRL".

My advice? Are you sitting down, mcwestfam?

Find a counsellor or therapist or psychologist. <gasp!> Yes, seriously.

We've got the physical bases covered with our surgeon, nutritionist, etc. Why not cover the emotional bases with a therapist or counsellor? Why do people so freely go see a PCP or dentist or eye doctor, but stop short of seeing a therapist?

Why do we have to get clearance from a pulmonologist, cardiologist, sleep study, and a 15 minute psych eval ... but then after the surgery, the psychological support isn't stressed? Don't you think a healthy attitude, a healthy mindset, and feeling free from emotional issues, is CRUCIAL to the success of this surgery?

Anyway, I SWEAR by my psychologist. He's been more helpful than the nutritionist ever was. He's seen many patients over the years who have had gastric surgery. He's listened to their issues and helped them work through them. Who better to help you deal with these emotional issues than someone TRAINED in understanding human behavior, and someone who's already worked with many other gastric surgery patients?

Don't knock it till you try it. There's nothing wrong with taking care of your mental wellbeing as much as you take care of your physical wellbeing.

Yes, I'm a psychology evangelist. I can go on if you like. I can even share some of my own issues that I've worked through via my psychologist. Just say the word.

If you drink coffee ...

I was told no caffiene of any kind after surgery. Am I the only one who was told that?

That smile you're flashing on the right is the truth right there. You look happier because you're healthier.

I don't mean to laugh, and rest assured I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you.

I'm six weeks post-surgery, and my energy is just now starting to come back. Starting!

When I complain about the lack of energy at five weeks, those who are six MONTHS post-surgery laugh at (with?) ME! They're like, "Six weeks? Son, your energy won't come back full strength that soon."

Hang in there, honest, it does get better. The key for me was to EAT, even when I wasn't hungry. They're not kidding when they say you have to get enough Protein and liquid in. That's the kicker, the Protein and the liquid. Less than the recommended amount, you're going to be weak. So EAT, even if you don't want to.

" Ok everyone I'm letting you in on my secret..I made a vow not to tell anyone until after 2 months to be a surprise or to.see how my body took to it ....doubts and negative feedback is unhealthy so you wanted to wait until.u were done healing and everything.

I found this very encouraging and helpful. Thanks aliasmith.