Deleted User

You should ask your Dr. but I had the same feeling to the left of and just below my belly button until a week or so ago. A continuation of the burning, ripping sensation I had the first time I got out of bed after surgery. I noticed even though there were no incisions there, it hurt and it is still numb when I rub it. At my one month post-op, my Dr. said it was cut nerves and would be ok, and it is fine now. I had my surgery September 3rd. And the coughing, sneezing and rolling over and getting out of bed are almost completely normal again.

Just do it! I smoked more than a pack a day for more than 20 years. In 2010 I cut back to 6 or 7 a day - one pack every three days. I felt noticeably better, but I felt powerless to quit, having not been able to the other times I'd tried. Fast-forward to making the decision to have WLS last fall. They told me I HAD to quit. OK... After a (very) brief inner struggle, I decided to quit. I have been nicotine free since December 16, 2014. It was not easy. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin for over a week. I was cranky, and I didn't care. My body wanted a cigarette. I just kept telling it, "No, I want this surgery more than I want you." I made it through the physical withdrawals and soon wondered if they lasted longer than a month. (LOL) Hello, psychological addiction withdrawal. For me, this mental addiction phase was the toughest one. I still sometimes hear "I sure would like a smoke right about now." after a stressful situation. No. I find something else to do, and it passes. After about six weeks, I noticed I was very sensitive to other smokers. "OMG, did I SMELL like that?" Of course I did, I smoked just like they do. It's intolerable and thoroughly disgusting now. I breathe better, I don't smell like that, I don't panic if I run low - worried about a continuing fix, I've saved a fair bit of money, and I will not be disqualified from surgery because I couldn't quit. You CAN do it. You just have to finally, really, want to.

The same thing happens with any lifestyle change, I think. I was married at twenty to a man who was thirty, first marriage for me, second one for him. My husband resented me for having a child (that we both agreed to have) and no longer participating in the weekend party animal life. Eventually he quit too, and things were better for about twelve years, although we didn't have anything in common, really, except our child and the fact that we shared a house. Then we let his (alcoholic) brother live with us. BIG mistake. It started slowly, him drinking only on holidays. Then it progressed into monthly visits. His brother lived with us for three years despite me asking my husband to ask him to leave, which he insisted he couldn't do, even though any time my family lived with us they had to abide by the agreed-upon time limit. It finally became weekly bar hops. My husband was not a nice person when he drank, but in a way he was happy because he replaced me, or what he wanted me to be for him. My wake-up came from a simple anonymous question online: "Where do you see yourself in five years?" When I gave that some serious thought I realized there was no way anything would change unless I left, and unless I wanted to die without having lived a better life I had better do something. So I did. After eighteen years of marriage I took my daughter and left. That was in April of 2004. My daughter is now grown, and I am still married, but we have been separated for ten years. One day we will divorce, but really, it's not even an issue. He still lives in Florida, and I live in Ohio. In some ways I am still on the same path, attempting to right things that should have never been, and finding and embracing the things that should have been. @@scstxrn - You are one lucky woman! Is that not what everyone wants? Sometimes I think the best we can do is find someone we can tolerate that can also tolerate us, but your story is proof that more can exist.