Shadi-Dadi

Thanks all for your words... You did calm me down ... Hope to stay calm for the weekend...

Shadi-Dadi...
I am right there with you! My surgery date is Tuesday and I did start the "what ifs" but then I pushed them away with the what if I DIDN'T get the surgery, where would I end up? So, I am focused on the after. I anticipate some discomfort and know that the first few days (even weeks) may be rough, but "This too shall pass" has been my mantra these days. I am looking forward to all of the health benefits to come. It may be a bit rocky at first, but I expect smooth sailing down the road. I am ready to do this!
Best wishes to you on a successful journey!

It's normal to have some anxiety, even fear before any surgery. If you fear you'll be fighting with your brain post op, you really won't, because you won't be really hungry.
I, too, was done totally outpatient. 6:30 arrival, 7:30 surg start, left the facility by noon. I must've felt some pain when the nurses got me up to walk, but I only remember saying, "I'm right here, you don't have to yell." Lol. I was later told that I really didn't want to move and I kept saying, "Just give me five more minutes, just five more minutes!"...as if that would have really made any difference.
I don't remember any of that thanks to the wonderful drug Versed, which causes short term amnesia.
Think of why you're doing this and go forth. I'm a woman and in six weeks I'm down 30 pounds as of yest.

I think anyone who doesn't have some trepidation before this surgery may not fully understand what they are embarking on. Fear and nervousness is normal. Keep your eye on the prize - a healthy body - and you will get through the first few bumps in the road without a problem.
I learned that physical and emotional discomfort are temporary - bad feeling pass, and you move on to new highs and lows. I am thrilled to be 90 pounds less than I was last year at this time! I have had other health issues to deal with not related to the sleeve, but I am looking forward to the day when I can do the things that my weight restricted me from doing. Change doesn't come easy, but it is so worth while in the long run!

I also had a big panic attack the week before surgery. It helped me to write a list of the things I wanted to change with surgery...health being #1. I also wrote down goals, like taking kayak lessons when I hit 100#s lost. I think most of us have those thoughts. This is absolutely the BEST thing I have ever done for myself and I feel so good now. I will be thinking good thoughts for you on Monday and let us know how you are....remember....walk, walk, walk it will make all the difference in your recovery.

It is hard to see people have complications (I didn't see many preop because I purposely steered clear of those threads), but for any benefit there is a risk- and I was willing to take that risk. You've done your research, prepared for what's to come postop, and are cotent with your decision. I spent my last couple of days preop looking in the before and after threads here, looking at how fast things change after surgery and was so pumped for my surgery I was cool as a cucumber! Now 3 months later so much has changed for ME so fast. You will be in the same boat very soon! Good luck to you and well wishes for a smooth recovery

I mentally wrote a list of pros and cons....pros far outweighed the cons, I didn't even have to write it on paper. That, this website, my therapist and almost everyone i confided in knew someone who had the surgery with great results inspired me. Also the fact that it was done laparoscopically made it seem doable, so I did-last Monday. You can do it!

Hi guys. I asked my husband to write something for my blog. Like a "WLS from a spouse's point of view" sort of thing. I will preface this by saying, my husband is my rock and I love him to pieces (sure, some days I want to push him off a cliff, but...).
This is what he sent me - I wanted to share with this audience because we all have loved ones that drive us crazy at times. I think sometimes we open up in a different way when we put pen to paper as opposed to speaking to one another. What would your spouse or significant other write if you asked them to? I was surprised by what I read here...
The wife recently asked me to write a little something for her blog. Not much on writing more than witty quips in response to my friends Facebook posts, my first response was a “oh sure” and then to politely ignore the request. It’s a tactic that works I’d say 75% of the time. I was hoping that she would be so excited (or distraught) about weight loss/lack of weight loss/not pooping/pooping/someone else pooping or not pooping, she’d forget that she asked. So a week passed and then I get a, “So I’d really like you to write a post for my blog. You know, from the spouses point of view.” I thought I was home free with her focus on the stall. Guess not.

My wife's weight has never really been an issue for me. We met over the phone and had a 3000-mile long distance relationship before the Internet and unlimited phone service. We worked in the same industry and developed a relationship over months of hours-long, bank-account-crushing phone calls. We have always said that if we had come across each other in a bar or other typical meeting place, we wouldn’t have been each other’s type, physically. Since we fell in love before we ever met, we got what we got. Which by the way, I was pretty happy with upon our first meeting. So when she informed me of her thoughts on surgery I tried hard to keep the slack jawed WTF look off my face as much as I could. I initially thought, “Your going to cut out most of your stomach just to lose a few pounds. What?” What I didn’t realize is that it wasn’t a few pounds. Much like your surprise when someone comments on how much your child has grown because they only see him once a year, I hadn’t noticed she had gained a hundred pounds since we first met. She had always just been my wife, my best friend, the person I would spend a long wonderful life with. My attachment to her has always been so much more than physical, and when I look at her I still see that 25-year-old girl I fell in love with. So when she told me how much she weighed I thought, “Holy shit, when did that happen.”

My blessing of the surgery wasn’t without hesitation. I know what obesity does to a body over time and have witnessed it first hand in my father and mother-in-law. The breaking down of joints, the insulin injections, heart issues and on and on…I know, preaching to the choir. But what if something happens during surgery and I lose the love of my life? What if our boy loses his mother? The mere thoughts made my heart hurt. How would I ever cope if something tragic actually happened? But you can’t live life on the basis that something bad MIGHT happen. Its what kept my mother from fully experiencing life and I always hated that. I wanted to have the healthiest wife possible as we get older. I wanted her to be comfortable in her skin. I wanted her to wear clothes she likes, not just the ones that hide the most. I wanted her to not feel awkward around others. I’ve never really struggled with weight. Sure I could lose more than a few pounds, but it falls off with little effort. I don’t fully understand the angst that the weight causes my wife but I know she isn’t as happy as she could be because of it. Life isn’t a dress rehearsal. You gotta make the most of it. So I agreed, reluctantly.

After coming to grips with the minimal risk involved and nervously waiting for good news from the operating room, it’s been a pretty easy journey for me. I’ve had to do very little except listen. Listen about the surgery, shakes, stalls, pooping, not pooping and then pooping again. My wife is hard-core about obtaining information off the internet. So much so, she once gave her GP a tutorial on thyroid testing and the latest acceptable ranges for each test, which came as news to her doctor. Still not sure why we had to pay for that office visit. So nothing came as a surprise. It made my life easier knowing that if anything came up post op that might freak me out, she had the stats on how many patients experienced the same thing, why it happened, how long it will likely last, and what the next day, week, month has in store. Easy for me, but I know it hasn’t been easy for her and that each day brings a new challenge. I am so grateful for what she is willing to put herself through for a healthier future with our son and me. Recently she’s been in the dreaded stall, but it’s subsided, and she has a little pep in her step. I love the gleam in her eye when the scale tells her what she wants to hear. I love how she gleefully shows off how crappy her clothes fit. Mostly I love that each day she seems to feel more comfortable in her skin and happier with herself. What more can you really ask for?

For you pre-oppers and newly post-oppers worried about what post op life will be like, I wanted to share a couple of meals I've had recently - I'm 4 weeks post op and these are on my doc approved plan and sleeve friendly.
pizza - Oh how I miss Pizza Night with the family. But I think we have found a great work-around in my house.
Take a Carb Balance tortilla shell (I used the fajita size) and spread some pizza sauce it. Then get creative with your doc-approved toppings. I used turkey pepperoni and low-fat mozzarella cheese on one. I also made one with BBQ Sauce (instead of the pizza sauce), shredded chicken and the mozzarella. OMG, delish. At 4 weeks out, I can eat about 1/2 of one pizza. What a great treat. (And my son and husband love these!)
Last night the family wanted Mexican food, so we went to Cafe Rio. I ordered a taco meal which comes with one taco and rice and Beans. I told them to hold the rice and no lettuce in my taco, just the meat and cheese. This is what my bite looked like...a little piece of the chicken and cheese, one bean, and a smidge of sour cream. Then I chewed, chewed and chewed some more. It was wonderful and it made me feel like I was back in the land of the living - enjoying a meal with my family.

I was very scared before my surgery, I know where your coming from. Just keep reminding yourself why you are doin this for you for me it,was my health my diabetes was out of control, my liver enzymes were over 1000, and the surgeon told me I would be dead in 7 yrs. So this helped me get thru it. I know you will do fine I was in hospital from monday - wed. After you wake up drink ,drink and drink. Walk,walk the hallways to work of the gas or it's liable to feel like your having a heartattack.

Shadi..dado.. Keep yourself busy this weekend. Go to the movies. Visit friends ..read a good book. Etc to keep your mind off of your surgery. I , too, was scared. Thinking the worse.. That is normal.. However, if u keep busy the fear will not escalate ..my surgery went fine with no complications.. If unfollow the pre and post surgery protocol..I am sure u will do fine. Let us know how u r doing and if u have to chat again before your surgery.. Send us a message and we can help u again. We r here for u pre and post op

I never had any gas pain either. I don't know why. When I had a colonoscopy they could have used me as a Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon.

You will reach a point of no return. For me, it was at the end of October when I was hospitalized for 8 days with ischemic colitis, which had my Primary Physician concerned that he was going to lose me. I knew then and there that I have so many complications from my weight that there was no doubt and no turning back.
Either the sleeve is going to work or it's not, and I had to take that risk. Got my sleeve on 12/23/2013, and am down 27 pounds pre-op and 16 post op in 3 1/2 weeks. Recovery has not been bad. I did not have the shoulder gas and nausea at all. Wishing you good luck and good health.

Don't be scared, you will be fine. It feels like nothing much has happened once you wake up from the anesthesia. Maybe like you did too many ab crunches or something. The worst part for me was not being allowed to drink anything until after my leak test the next day. In the meantime, I asked for the sponge on a stick things they have to moisten your mouth and that was fine.
Heck, I am almost 60 and was cruising down the halls as if nothing had happened!

I just wrote this on another thread...I had severe 2nd thoughts the morning of surgery, in admitting. I was terrified. Once I started thinking about the reasons why I was doing this, those doubts went away.
It's scary, I know.
I had my surgery done on an outpatient basis - I was in admitting at 6:00 am and back at the condo at noon the same day. I can't explain what happens in the hospital after...other than, I started walking immediately upon leaving the recovery room. I think the walking helped my recovery. I walked every hour - at first in the condo, back and forth, back and forth. Then graduated to the parking lot. Walking will help with the gas - they pump air into your abdomen to make room - GasX didn't help and neither did the pain meds for that pain.
And you sip, sip and sip some more...sipping Water. It's important to get your Water in or you'll get dehydrated. That happened to me on Day 3 and it sucked. I switched from plain water to Vitamin Water Zero which was much easier to get down. Plain water was like sandpaper to me.
I didn't experience much pain - I only took 4 pain pills after surgery and that was so I could get better sleep, not so much the pain.
As far as the being scared point - once I decided to go thru with it, I had no more fear. And after the first day of recovery, I've had no buyer's remorse. This was the best thing I could have done for myself.
Best of luck to you on MOnday - you got this!

Giselle, lots of great answers and advice for you.
Just one more thought - what do you want to achieve from this surgery? Looking beyond all your genuine fears and concerns pre surgery, where do you want to be in future? Is there any other way to get there?
When I made my decision, I was scared of all the possibilities for things going wrong. But I was more scared of dying before my time. Having tried every diet, exercise etc known to man, I saw this as my last hope - literally. And that outweighed all my surgery fears.
So I just kept breathing and got through. Had all the usual WTF moments post op that McButterpants mentioned but do I regret the surgery, even though it isn't the easy option ? Nope, not one jot. I now have a life and I am living it. At 31, you deserve the same.
Good luck, keep talking, we'll keep listening... x

Giselle - I think what you're experiencing is completely normal. I'd be willing to bet that everyone who has been sleeved felt the same way in varying degrees at some point in their journey. Look at this as a positive...your mind is forcing you to explore both sides rather than allowing you to be blindfolded and lead to the slaughter (bad analogy I know) based on benefits alone. My husband actually got laid off a few days before my surgery date. He came to me and said he felt it was a sign that something was going to go wrong with my surgery (thanks Honey). Talk about freaked out. I started worrying too, until I found out that his company laid off hundreds of people the same day! The worst part was that my daughter heard him say it to me, so she was scared too (I'm still miffed about that - I wish she didn't have to hear his comment!) Suffice it to say that even post op I had a fleeting worry, wondering if I had made a mistake...but today I know for sure it was the right thing. I feel great even with six sets of staples and a bloated abdomen. Obviously this is something only you can decide, but I think McButterpants' suggestion of a pro's & con's list was a great one. If you we're involved in an accident and needed surgery to save your life you wouldn't worry about going under anesthesia...right? You would just do it because you would have to in order to live. These medical practitioners do this all the time with a high rate of success. Of course there are exceptions, but you could argue all day that there are exceptions to just about everything in life. Have you journaled what your goals for the surgery are? I went back and reviewed mine several times and it was a good reminder.