LindafromFlorida

68 y.o. here. Am 3 1/2 weeks post-op.
Yeah, we all have some anxiety pre-op. But in the end, my surgery and recovery was pretty easy, I thought.
I'm betting you'll do great.
Important thing is to have an excellent surgeon. I was lucky there, too.

Yippee!!! Less than a week 19sweetness69, it will be here before you know it! Don't take much to the hospital. You don't need it. They even gave me toiletries though I had my own. You get the gowns of course, and special slipper socks to wear so you don't fall. I didn't need anything extra. Just your personal hygiene items that you prefer. I did take pants that were my biggest so I could get them on over my tummy which will be quite swollen when you go home. You will be filled with IV fluids and will go to the bathroom a lot when you get home.
The pain is totally managed through the iv till you go home too and will have meds to control it after that. I did not have hardly any pain from my stomach at all.
Just to let you know how great you will feel later. I went away with my hubby for a few days last week and for the first time for as long as I can remember, at least 27 years, I walked first day a half mile round trip to a light house on Lake MI, then the second day a one mile hike to one in Ludington, MI and finally a 1.4 mile hike the third day in Ludington State Park. My husband could not believe it. My energy kicked in at about 2 1/2 months after my surgery. I started back to the pool this week and can do an hour and I walk every day. It is SO amazing, I can not stop sharing how great I feel.

Thanks again so much - SleeverSue and others for the encouraging words. I have the surgery in less than a week and I'm really excited - and my husband is scared. He's been so supportive, but he's so afraid something will happen to me in surgery. My girlfriend, ( whom I didn't know until a few years ago when she began dating my ex {we're all really good friends}), had a very successful gastric bypass over 10 years ago is coming to sit with him to calm him. For some reason, I'm really not worried about the surgery. Maybe because I've been through so many surgeries - and I'm not expecting this one to be quite as painful as the others. Has anyone found it really painful? I'm 68 and have about 100 or even more pounds to lose. what I'm really looking forward to is being able to walk (so far, I've gone 1/2 mile every day) without having to stop to take breaths. I picture myself doing these high intensity workouts and doing Zumba with my mom. She's 95 next month and is such good shape. She still does kick boxing, Zumba, etc.
Anyway, does anyone have suggestions about what they wished they had brought to the hospital that they didn't?
Hope all of you are having a great day!

Aroundhky and jyrickchick64, thank you for sharing your stories with us. Sometimes it just helps to tell the story, and I know it makes us all stop and remember that we are real people here, with real stories, of every nature. Be kind to everyone, you do not know their story until you take the time to ask and listen. God Bless. Lose the weight and live longer. Cheers to good health and better days.

Aroundhky and jyrickchick64, thank you for sharing your stories with us. Sometimes it just helps to tell the story, and I know it makes us all stop and remember that we are real people here, with real stories, of every nature. Be kind to everyone, you do not know their story until you take the time to ask and listen. God Bless. Lose the weight and live longer. Cheers to good health and better days.

I haven't had my surgery yet (90 insurance diet :/ but losing some of the most important people in my life has gotten me to this weight and now sparks me to lose it. My mom died the day before my son was supposed to come into this world 21 years ago this month. I was 91/2 month pregnant and my sweet boy decided that he wasn't coming so my dr scheduled a C section. My mom was in the hospital with a blood clot(which the hospital said she would recover from. She had had a radical hysterectomy from cancer and was almost to 5 yrs when she has a breast removed. She did fine but developed the clot. I called her (i lived 1500 miles away) to tell her that the grandson would be delivered the next day. She said oh your sister is having her baby tomorrow too. We talked awhile and she said she was tired and lunch was just delivered(for some reason they had her out of bed with no compression on her legs.) We hung up(I at least got to tell her I loved her) She got out of the chair and collapsed and died before they could get the crash cart to her. She was 68. We drove to Ny from Florida and my father and brothers were wrecked and my sister was still in the hospital because she had to have her C section due to issues she was having. Especially with the stress of losing my mom. So that left me to run everything. I did and when I got home my son was born the next day by C section. Between the grief and post partum, I gained 90 lbs I still am bawling now as I write this. My best guy friend died a slow agonizing death from AIDS 3 months later. My father died 4 yrs later because he refused to see a doctor after what happened with my mom. I lost my favorite aunt 3 yrs later. I tried to lose the weight but never was successful. Fast forward to the last 3 yrs. I lost my job then my mother in law was diagnosed brain cancer, I was her live in caretaker. Finding out she knew something was going on but hid it. She died 6 weeks after diagnosis. During that time my husband was going to lose his job if we didn't relocate so 3 weeks after she passed we moved to Ky. At the same time my big brother was having issues after getting his knees replaced. He went into a coma for over a month and was in and out the hospital for this unknown illness till he passed away this past February. Again me back to Ny to run everything because his fiancee isnt well and couldn't take care of it (especially with the drama queen relatives we have) I was away from my family for 7 weeks taking care of his affairs. He was 62 and am amazing brother and citizen of our hometown that they named a county road for him... I realized that I haven't been living my life and I didn't want to die in my 60s. I want to see my grand children hopefully my son will cooperate. I know anything can happen and there's no guarantees but one... if I don't lose this weight I WILL die. At least losing will give me a fighting chance. And I'm gonna have a good time doing it. I'm sorry this was so long but it's how I got here. I will fight tooth and nail

Sorry to hear Linda, but maybe venting and telling about it a little is part of the healing process. I wish you the best in recovery.
I went through a one and a half year period several years ago (2007/2008) that was very trying and painful as well. During that period I went through a divorce, sick for 4 straight months which ended in having my tonsils removed at my advanced age, lost my oldest brother and best friend to brain cancer, shortly after that my mother died and then I lost my job.....just a week before Christmas. My family was very close and all of a sudden family life as I knew it was ripped apart. I never resorted to drugs or being an alcoholic, but I did some serious emotional eating and regained all of the weight I had lost prior to that crazy year and a half. I love life and this whole journey thing, but AT TIMES.....life can just plain suck. I just look at my life as that roller coaster ride, most of the turns are good and there are more ups than downs for my life, so I am thankful for that.

Horrible problem for me. Until I started eating raw veggies at 3 months out. You should update your stats so we can see how far along you are since surgery, because it is sometimes a guessing game here without information. I will share that I tried every recommended product with no success, and I read where someone has ended up in the ER. Don't let it get to that point. My real relief is the little pink pill, Correctol, and I know you are not supposed to do that, take the laxatives. I choose the laxative over the ER any day. Keep trying different products. I am, at 10 months post sleeve. Best wishes. So sorry!

Horrible problem for me. Until I started eating raw veggies at 3 months out. You should update your stats so we can see how far along you are since surgery, because it is sometimes a guessing game here without information. I will share that I tried every recommended product with no success, and I read where someone has ended up in the ER. Don't let it get to that point. My real relief is the little pink pill, Correctol, and I know you are not supposed to do that, take the laxatives. I choose the laxative over the ER any day. Keep trying different products. I am, at 10 months post sleeve. Best wishes. So sorry!

I am totally in the same situation! I have felt like I really failed at this because after the year mark I stopped losing. I lost 80 lbs but have now gained back almost five lbs in the past month or so. I'm 17 months out now. I also feel hungry a lot. The carbs have snuck back in too. We had some financial changes so I'm not able to grocery shop like I did at first. Buying the meats and veggies that I "should" be eating is getting too expensive so I've had to fill in with cheaper meals to get everyone fed. I realize I'm Gonna have to work around that too My niece has bought me a few cases of Protein Shakes so I'm going to try just drinking those and eating one meal. I'm only in a size 18-16(on some) so I feel like I've wasted the money for the surgery if I can't get losing again to get closer to my goal. I need to lose between 50-65 more I have been guilty of not tracking my food again. Going to get back at that too. Anyway I haven't been on here in a while either cuz I felt like I had given up. Gonna change that too.

I have been guilty of the all or nothing thinking too. I had a regain of about 5# in the summer of 2013, and I honestly thought..."5..10..100 - its all the same" I had to like get a grip and ask myself what kind of crazy is that thinking? So, I lost those 5 quite readily and it wasn't the same as 100...sheesh.

Words of truth! Thank you, MichiganChic.

@@CowgirlJane thanks for the words of encouragement. My actual all time high was 325 - still don't know how I managed to keep off that extra 20 pounds for several years. I think you give great advice about accepting and embracing our success. In some ways, that "all or none" mentality is part of what got me to that high weight. It was totally ignoring my health for periods of time, followed by periods of 100% rigid, obsessive, restrictive diet, followed by failure, rinse and repeat. Learning that one slip up is not the path to obesity, but a repeated pattern is, was a valuable lesson for me.
I've been deemed successful and "good to go" by 4 physicians (not in the same practice), and the dietician and nurse at my surgeons office, so I'm trying to wrap my head around that, even though on some levels I still feel "not quite finished". In the meantime, I think I'm getting better at accepting where I am and enjoying it as a genuine success. Having the perspective of others who have gone before us is tremendously valuable - so thanks!

Michiganchic - when I got to a size 10 I considered myself "at goal" For me that was at 158#. I stayed there for quite a while before I took on losing a few more vanity pounds. Notice that I don't revise my goal weight because I am STILL happy to have made my goal of 158. A major major major accomplishment for someone who used to weigh 332 (my lifetime high). I can't speak for your situation, but I encourage people to really embrace their successes and realize that you "made it baby" even if you feel like another 5 or 10# would be better.

I know what you mean about feeling like it expired. I find myself wishing I could get a tune up. I want that great feeling of steady loss, never being hungry, being impressed with myself by how little I want to eat and how little I do eat. But that's not reality, and as Jane said, it's all us at this stage. I do have enough restriction to stop me from going crazy if I feel myself getting out of control, but it's up to me to pay attention to it. I mostly do, and I'm always so thankful that I wasn't able to do much damage.
I also have been stuck at this weight for months. I'm thinking about revising my goal. I'm just going to see how it goes, but I'm in a size 10 - a size I've never been. I'm thrilled with being normal, and I struggle between wanting to get to 140 pounds, and just being happy with what I've achieved. I'm not sure the number on the scale is worth the fight, and we each have to decide that for ourselves. I also think sometimes our bodies tell us where we should be. As long as it's healthy, it should be OK, too.
@@Success2013 you can do this if you want. I suggest logging, weighing yourself, and generally going back to basics. You know what to do - just take it a day at a time, and do the best you can!

In my book..size 8 for a formerly obese is a MAJOR success. I know plenty of ladies who would love to wear that size!

Maybe it is healing, a way to share what we all went through, to know we were not alone, and how the words and names affected us. Maybe it teaches us to pay it forward if we ever see another child calling someone a name. If you wore glasses, you were ridiculed. I remember in junior high my best friend had larger breasts than I did, and she was tormented by a group of boys. At the time I was thankful it was not me because I was very timid and shy.

OMG you shoulda slapped him!

Maybe some of these names will not be so funny, BUT I hope that everyone can now laugh and say KMTLB (kiss my tiny little butt).

Maybe it is healing, a way to share what we all went through, to know we were not alone, and how the words and names affected us. Maybe it teaches us to pay it forward if we ever see another child calling someone a name. If you wore glasses, you were ridiculed. I remember in junior high my best friend had larger breasts than I did, and she was tormented by a group of boys. At the time I was thankful it was not me because I was very timid and shy.

This thread breaks my heart too.
You know what else? Newbies show up on this forum with screen names that sound like the list of insults we have been sharing. It's not my business so I seldom say anything but I hate the screen names that are some version of piggy, fatty,fatso etc. I notice those names never stay around though....is it because people change their screen name or is it because they leave? I don't know.
I ride horses and one of the things I have learned is to think and look where you want to be, your goal.Do NOT think or focus on what you are trying to avoid. Horses are not smart like dogs but intuitive...and they seem to know your mind so if you think about the negative they are much more likely to share that fear or whatever and the bad thing is more likely. If you consistently visualize success they seem to"read" that too. I have learned from it so I do things like have passwords that I type frequently be positive. I would never have a user name that reminds me of a negative.
Words matter.

Yes, the journey for 15 years (WL seminars) was to find help for his lifetime of obesity. Diabetes 30+ years, 3 HBP meds, sleep apnea, toe amputation, heart stent, and calling rescue in the middle of the night was taking its toll. He was so afraid he would die in surgery, or not heal. Once I was diagnosed with asthma, diabetes and was on 2 HBP meds, (and depression med sent my weight from 200 to 230) I knew I had to do something. I led his terrified self into surgery lol! We are now 67 and 68. We have done nothing for 10 years. Since May, we drove to KS to visit my 90 year old Uncle, went to a family reunion in WV, took a 7 day cruise, and walked, 7 days boating and fishing in Pensacola, and "danced" New Orleans for 7 days. This is why I don't want to read the negatives of what people are doing. Do what works for you! Best wishes! Good post!

I love a nice wig. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
@@LindafromFlorida, have you ever tried clip in bangs? I've ordered hair from a particular website for years, and they have really cute clip in bangs. The bang is full and can be custom colored etc. Inbox me if you want the website.

Tbahm, I hope you get to your job today and focus on your workload, and forget about everyone around you. The day will fly by, make sure you have Water and food close by and keep working. Snap, the day will be done. You do not need a sympathetic boss, trust me, ignore her and do your job. I have had a boss like that, a man, 24 years, who is the only person in my life that ever called me a bxxxh. I also have been in a horribly abusive marriage. I am Hercules today, I survived both abusers and i am incredibly happy. You will be a little emotional, I felt that way too after surgery. Just remember, you are not a victim. A new you will emerge from all of this and you will be a changed person. This is the first step. In one year I can see your life maybe going in a totally new direction. Focus on what is in front of you, not around you. You can do this. Suck it up, be strong, one day at a time. Hugs and God Bless! Linda

Amazing???? I see you weigh 179! Now that is amazing! Good job.