Peggy D

I’d known about gastric bypass for quite a few years & would have met the criteria for coverage by my insurance, but, especially as a nurse, I’m just not comfortable with the malabsorption aspects. So I was resigned to living the rest of my life like this. But I’ve had increasing problems with arthritis in my knees & pain in my right sacroiliac joint. I can’t walk for very long without having to sit for a few minutes while the pain subsides, so last fall I did more research & learned about the sleeve gastrectomy. It just sounded like I've thought might be a good idea several years ago. I just wish I could have had it done 20 or 30 or 40 years ago!

I'm very sensitive to any kind of tape & was concerned about the steri-strips. I did fine for the first week then the skin around one incision started to itch. I took the steri-strips off & washed my skin well in the shower. Then I developed rectangular raised rashes around each incision. These rashes go beyond where the steri-strips were so I'm sure it was the surgical glue. At least my incisions look very good with no oozing or separating. I don't want to take Benadryl during the day so I've been alternating hydrocortisone cream, Benadryl cream & Lanacane cream to calm the itching. For the most part the rashes are better except the skin further out around the largest incision developed patchy, very itchy redness today.

Before surgery I was using Body Fortress Chocolate & Peanut Butter but it has 7 Gms of carbs, more than my doctor allows per serving. We're also not supposed to use pre-mixed protein shakes. I got some Body Fortress Whey Isolate vanilla that has 3 Gms of carbs but it's just too sweet & not a good sweet. I've given up & gone to unflavored protein powder & added Crystal Light or Torani SF syrups for flavor. Maybe today I'll try it in my broth.

Every doctor is different, even different doctors in the same practice. My surgeon's post-op plan is stricter than most & I was on clear liquids only for the first week post-op. I'm now in the next phase of clear liquids & 3 protein shakes a day for 3 weeks. Then it is on to pureed foods for two weeks, then soft foods for the next two weeks. At week 9 I get to introduce solid foods.

In the hospital I was given water in 1 oz medicine cups & they wouldn't let me drink more than one every 5 minutes. I don't know what the goal was since I wanted to drink more that they would let me. I do remember that I had to drink 40 oz before I could be discharged. I've set a goal for myself of 80 oz minimum a day & I usually reach that by 5-6 pm.

I hadn't asked but I did wake up from surgery with one. But I wasn't able to pee after they took it out so I had to get another & came home with it. I took it out a day later & haven't had a problem since.

If I walk through the kitchen when my husband or grown sons are cooking I inhale deeply. It really does work.

I'm 5' 6.75" & I set a goal for myself of 155 only because that would give me a "normal" BMI at my doctor's office. That 155 would be after I've stabilized & had a panniculectomy. About age 23, I did the Adkin's diet & went from 201 to 163 & actually stayed there for a couple of years. I still remember people telling me I needed to lose more weight so that has a big influence on me. I haven't asked my surgeon yet what he thinks my goal should be. My nutritionist suggested 150 but did agree that my goal of 155 was good.

I made my own YouTube channel to help support those who are older. I did find a few who were older but they had their surgeries some time ago so I didn't subscribe to them. The people I've subscribed to are closer to my time frame. Here are some links I saved: Change is Good 46 rline66 barbiw10141

I'm 63, soon to be 64 on October 1.

Day 3 of my 2-week clear liquid diet was the worst. It does get better.

I actually found out when I got a call from a case manager at Aetna. Apparently the file was sent to her straight from the medical directors rather than to another department first. So I found out before my surgeon's office did. Of course, I had no doubt that I would be approved. I used to work as a medical review nurse & understand medical necessity criteria & how to apply it. And I knew they had 14 days to notify me of the decision from the time the request was submitted. I think I got the call only 4-5 days after submission.

My surgery took about 2½ hours but I also had my gallbladder out. I have the video of my surgery & the sleeve took just over an hour. My gallbladder was HUGE with 4 big stones & took a very long time just to free it up. I was told they had to cut it into three pieces just to get it out.

I never was thin, but it always amazes me how someone my size can be invisible!

I'm only 5 days post-op, but since I lost 44 pounds on the 3-month supervised diet, I noticed that I had to move the seat forward in my husband's car. He's only a half inch taller than me & weighs about 165. In the past I always had to move the seat back when I went to drive his car. My car is in the shop getting all of the "parking lot dings" fixed while he's off work.

I took the 3-month supervised diet time to wean myself off of caffeine & carbonated sodas. Like newat52, I gradually replaced regular coffee with decaf until it was all decaf. I used a "cold-brewed" Toddy coffee maker & it took about 7 scoops to make it about once a week. It took nearly two months but I never had a caffeine withdrawal headache nor problems with staying awake mid-morning as I would before if I didn't have that coffee. As for the carbonated sodas, first I replaced diet cola with caffeine-free diet cola & diet root beer & then had only one a day instead of two, then one every other day, etc.

I still haven't lost what I gained in the hospital, but pre-op I lost an elephant's heart.

I had my VSG on August 22 & would love to have a buddy near me to meet once a month or so.

Good luck!

I, too, had my VSG & gallbladder out on the 22nd. I'm told my gallbladder was HUGE & they had to cut it into three pieces to get it out! I have the video of my surgery & it took longer for them to free up & remove my gallbladder than it did to do the sleeve. Still, only the one of six incisions is a bit sore & I'm able to get by on just acetaminophen for pain. The main issue I've been having for the last couple of days is "gurgling" gassy intestines & liquid stools (TMI, I know). But I know it will improve once I get to add Protein shakes on day 8.

I'll be 64 on October 1 & just had my sleeve four days ago. I wish I could have had this done many, many years ago, but I had to wait for medicine to get to where I needed it to be. As a nurse I was just never comfortable with the malabsorption aspects of gastric bypass & I was excited to find out about the VSG & that my insurance covers it. I researched the surgeons covered by my insurance & made the call. My doctor is particularly strict & I have followed his instructions from my first consult on April 25. From the time I left his office that day I was on a high protein/low carb diet until 2 weeks prior to surgery when I went on a modified clear liquid diet of 4 Protein shakes & all the Clear liquids I wanted a day. I had also done a 1-week "trial" of the clear liquids back in June to see how I tolerated it. I took that 3+ months to wean myself off of caffeine & carbonated drinks by having a little less each day until I was off & can honestly say I haven't missed them. My starting weight at that first consult was 303 pounds & the day before surgery I was 259! A loss of 44 pounds in just under 4 months! I do weigh myself daily on my Withings WS-30 digital wireless scale but I don't obsess about the numbers. As expected, I did gain "Water weight" in the hospital & went up to 264.9 pounds. But, today, on post-op day 4, I'm down to 263.6. I never expected to be able to lose the 10% of my weight pre-op as I've always been one who not only gains back what I lose but have a very difficult time losing in the first place. I am continuing to follow my surgeon's instructions to the letter because it sure has worked so far.

I was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my first son 30 years ago & eventually diagnosed as Type II diabetes in 1992. I started on insulin back then because we were trying to become pregnant again (never happened). I think Metformin was added in 1999 & I have been on increasing amounts of insulin for several years & could barely keep my Hgb A1c around 7. Last October it was 7.5 & in May of this year it was 7.3. I started the high protein/low carb pre-op diet the day I saw my surgeon for the first time on April 25. I lost about 45 pounds before surgery & was able to decrease my insulin dramatically. I stopped the Metformin 10 days before surgery & took even less insulin on the two-week clear liquid diet before surgery. I had my sleeve two days ago & my blood sugars were up a lot while in the hospital, in the 250-290 range. But they did do a Hgb A1c post-op and it was down to 5.9!!!! Now that I'm home & able to take my NPH insulin three times a day, my sugars are back to the lower 100s. I fully expected to be one whose diabetes improved after surgery but I now think that even I, after 20+ years of diabetes, might go into remission.

Today is my day! I'm at the hospital waiting to be admitted. My surgery is scheduled for 11:30 & I got here at 5 am because my surgeon's office said "no matter what time they tell you, check in at 5." But the hospital has free wi-fi & I have my MacBook Air to keep me entertained.

Yesterday I was really hungry in the late afternoon so I had more Jello, some homemade chicken broth & still more sugar-free drink mix. Today is day 14 & I'm not hungry. I'm too busy getting last minute stuff done for surgery tomorrow. I check in at 5 am & it's an hour drive to the hospital, so I'll be going to bed early &, hopefully, to sleep early.

I got the Withings Wireless Scale WS-30 from Amazon. It's more expensive but it syncs wirelessly with my iPhone & iPads & an online account.