sc_mama4

I'm a retired paramedic fire fighter. Best thing to tell u what I did is go to YouTube and search Roux-en-y procedure. Day of surgery I sat and explained nearly every process he was going to do...then they shot me full of drugs and I was ready to strip naked and do the tango to the OR. LoL

I'm a sleep walker and I sleep text or write in my journal asleep...u should see the weird things my bf has heard and seen. I also cook toast but I dont eat it. . .o.O

I never had thyroid problems but I surely had liver issues. I hope ur surgery is successful and your health is restored. We all understand where you are coming from and def the journey ahead. Good luck to u. What sport did u play? I'm big into Carolina fball favorite is Clowney and Marcus Lattimore.

U couldn't do that u wouldve run into bigger problems.

I carry the little pepto tabs have u seen those? Their easier to carry than that big bottle lol which I've done.

I told my surgeon I never knew jello could taste so good lol or broth lol. . .

I had one for a while bc I had a lot of bleeding that gathered in my right side. I think it was there for a week and a half. To be honest I was so medicated I can't really remember LOL.

I'm the same way girl. Suffering with it today I'm on my third dose of immodium. Its awful.

Went through this. I ate artichoke hearts and dear Lord I was praying on the toilet. Veggies cause gas unfortunately and its bad can kill a country gas LOL not kidding ask my kids. When I did this I'd stop go back to a brat diet and move back up. I found out I was sensitive to high protein. I'd get dumping if my protein was higher than 10g. Did any of it contain milk/cheese? Reason I ask is bc I became severe lactose intolerant and Lord have mercy if a cow even looked at me I'd throw up. . .try going back to soft/liquid diet til ur tummy settles. I'm five yrs out and still on nexium. Hang n hon. ((*hugs*))

I know you are frustrated but the reason these psych evals are so important is to see how well you cope. Statistics show gb pts often turn into sex addicts or alcoholics due to the surgery. . You lose your vice. I'm not kidding and I've been very open on here about my experience this surgery was hard especially hard mentally. I was 60lbs down and having extreme irrational thoughts. I opened up to my surgeon and he immediately placed me in therapy. I consider myself a tough person I worked ems for years and saw some of the most traumatic things a person can and it didn't phase me. Then here came gb weightloss and all those imbalances started I thought I'd lose my mind but I came through it. I want to tell you its friggin awesome you went in there told the truth and didn't bs them I know a lot who has and has went on to commit suicide or bc alcoholics or worse sex addicts. You go to ur surgeon open up to him/her and say yes I had these problems I'm willing to do anything and everything to prove I'm no longer like that so please guide me on what I need to do to save my life from morbid obesity.. ... I pray what I've said has helped u. Don't give up it's a long mountain...u will get there I truly believe.

I sat in ur same shoes except my Dr didn't make me do a pre op diet or detox. I had last supper syndrome it was so bad I spent probably $300 on take out the week prior to my surgery eating everything I enjoyed that I knew I couldn't have afterwards. Because of this after surgery I was shocked at my body. I'm glad ur surgeon is pushing this to give u some sense at what to expect. Just hang in and before u know it u will be looking back and thinking wow I can't believe that was me or I came this far. Its a psychological game don't let the food win..

Both my bestfriend and I have frequent diarrhea. I'm a rny pt and she isnt. The body doesn't process grease like it did before and typically will shoot through you. Causes bad cramping heart palpitations etc almost like dumping. Makes me deathly sick but bc it makes me sick it detours me from eating things I shouldn't.

My gallbladder busted on me. My rny was 5-8-08 and gallbladder was 7-6-08. Since then I limit how much I eat out and I try to cook all my food. Greasey things will instantly cause diarrhea and dumping like syndrome. Nearly five Yeats later I still have diarrhea. However, considering I've had a volvulus and couldn't use the bathroom as long as I'm going I'm ok with it if it gets too bad I take rx strength immodium. My bestfriend isn't a rny pt but had her gb removed and she experiences the same symptoms as I.

Well I knew I was filing for divorce after my surgery. However my habitual cheating husband thought I'd stand by forever..he was wrong. Soon after filing I met a man who seemed like prince charming and said all the right things. This is where I got into trouble never hearing ur beautiful etc I latched on to the first guy to say it. Three years later I fled in the middle of the night with my kids and never looked back. He could be cruel to me about my surgery but I'm not going to go into detail. After leaving I finally had freedom to go to church or even shower past 4pm. My money was mine and I didn't have to acct for every item on a receipt. During this time I told myself I'd never allow a man to dictate my life again. Sitting in church one day I stood crying. I have no family and its just me and my kids. They sang "who am I" and I remember looking up and saying I can't go any further I've lost everything I have its time you intervene. I walked out without that weight on me. The very next day my bestfriend said she wanted to see me happy and was going to pay for my subscription to christianmingle. So she did sat up my profile and that night I sat talking to myself at how pathetic I was to use the net to get a date. Well I ran across a profile and he was a Marine. I was a ex army wife and knew the ropes of military life and the fact he was hella hot in those dress blues ...whew. So I wrote him and he wrote back. We met and went for a walk. During the walk I opened up about my surgeries my health my kids etc. He listened and I felt completely safe and comfortable with him. Well we would go on to do this and facetime for almost two months and then I came home one night to find my apartment had been robbed of what little things I had. I was so mad at God bc here I thought he had helped me with finding a good man and now how could I get robbed I had nothing. I called him crying and said Im determined to do this alone. He told me even the strongest ppl need help that's why God puts ppl in pols lives to help them. That night he said I will be there be ready your coming to live with me. I did and we joke now that our relationship was like an arranged marriage but we have been together a year and we have yet to argue about anything. I never knew what love was til I met him and love isn't screaming fighting hitting or hurting ...I do know that much. I reflect back on those days and know if I can survive that I can weather anything. Austin gave me a family, a bestfriend and most of all my faith in God again. I knew it was right when we went to church and he grabbed my hand and threw it in the air to worship. I finally found peace and even though I lost every thing I owned it was well worth it bc I have gained so much from it. I know I rambled but I wanted u to know u don't have to settle u didn't with your obesity you took a stand so why not take a stand with your happiness and love life? ((Hugs))

It is really odd to actually see bones now. I'm so happy about the responses yall have gave. Its easy to pick the bad things and trust me my stomach looks worse than a mad bulldogs face and the scars I joke and say that's my gang initiation scars lol. By picking out these things yall all now have something to be happy about today and be inspired to go on.

Forgot to add I'm about 95% sure its esophagus spasms but at this point Idk.

The pain is random but it feels like when you swallow wrong and that sharp intense pain ..well that's the pain but mine doesn't end. Like now in fine. Then suddenly boom its back and I'm laid out rubbing my sternum. The pain is intense and unbearable.

Thank you. I do too. I'm going to really home in this pain needs to either a) be managed or surgically fixed. I am so scared of another surgery and its so bad I actually fight propofol. I'm seeing my neuroligist tomorrow and he's a great dr he actually listens to you and tryies to fix it. What's sad is my insurance wont pay for half my meds so I have to go out of pocket. I'm going to explain to him and see if he has any ideas on how to fix this issue.

I got to thinking and thought I'd ask this. The ppl here who have been overweight their whole life its a struggle. One thing I've noticed is my thinner friends stopped talking to me completely, no biggie. I want to know since your post op find anything on your body that you like. Mine is my legs and my neck. Before I had the cushion syndrome type body and now I don't. I actually got a tattoo to put on the nape of my neck and said well thats perm and gaining weight its gonna look bad. I've did a lot to inspire myself to go on.

Wanted to say too watch ur fruit consumption they are natural sugars but can cause problems too bc they break down eventually into simple sugars. If I snack I do a string cheese or I will make me a smoothie. I'm not sure how your diet is set up or what sensitivities you have.

To be honest I'm five yrs out and I have yet to finish a childs portion. I've also not felt physical hunger since surgery. Do this. Eat your small portion and walk away and drink water. If you don't your liable to stretch ur pouch and defeat your purpose. Do you think maybe mentally your thinking ur hungry or is it a actual physical hunger?? If its hard u can even resort to child size Utensils. Your eating right starting with protein and ending with the carb/starch. You may want to do the cottage cheese test write it down and speak to your surgeon. I'm kinda perplexed at ur situation to be honest. Hmm.

Yeah I'm in Columbia! :-D

Since a lot of you are recooping I wanted to share the song that was in my ears the entire time I was losing and battling this. I even had it wrote on my chalkboard in my kitchen. Hang in there. One day you will by: Lady Antebellum You feel like you're falling backwards Like you're slippin' through the cracks Like no one would even notice If you left this town and never came back You walk outside and all you see is rain You look inside and all you feel is pain And you can't see it now Chorus But down the road the sun is shining In every cloud there's a silver lining Just keep holding on (just keep holding on) And every heartache makes you stronger But it won't be much longer You'll find love, you'll find peace And the you you're meant to be I know right now that's not the way you feel But one day you will You wake up every morning and ask yourself What am I doing here anyway With the weight of all those disappointments Whispering in your ear You're just barely hanging by a thread You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath And you don't know it yet Repeat Chorus Find the strength to rise above You will Find just what you're made of, you're made of Repeat Chorus One day you will Oh one day you will

To add to this this is how bad Dr's are. Ok end of Oct 2012 I started having bad right lower belly cramping. Kept getting worse finally took myself to the ER after seeing urgent care 3 times. Told the ER doc I had been to urgent care was treated for gastrointeritis sent home. I said then i came to the ER bc you all can do u/sound etc. Well he does a pelvic us comes in says he seen fluid and I had ruptured a ovarian cyst its now Nov 25. Then proceeds to lecture me for 30 minutes about narcotic pain medication and how they don't like treating "unknown" belly pain and giving out narcotic scripts. I went another week. It was going on 3 weeks I went back to my primary he had to FORCE the insurance to do a MRI they did it and found out my appendix had ruptured 3 weeks prior and the fluid the dr saw was actually my appendix. I spent 2 weeks in SICU and instead of lap surgery I had to be fully opened and had to wear a drain for a week. I had to have a private person pay for my antibiotics because they were so expensive. This is the shit I run into. I go in there in pain and get treated like I'm narcotic seeking. So, precisely why I don't even go to the ER.

Thanks I know the complications vary its like I drew the really really well non existant small straw. A lot of people don't understand the severity of this pain. I honestly think if just one day I broke down screaming to the top of my lungs and verbally showing ppl how extreme this is they may understand. I doubt it they'd all think I was being melodramatic and a drama queen. ugh. I've all but gave up on Dr's to be honest.