TodayItEnds

Crazy to think exactly a week ago this second, I was getting a VSG. So I thought it would be beneficial for others who are considering WLS for me to post the Good and the Bad so far 7 days post op things I were surprised by. I know I am only just starting my journey but these are things I was not prepared for, if that makes sense. Bad: 1) Anesthesia: I pretty much was in a coma state for an additional 9 hours after surgery was completed. They tried everything to get me awake and had no luck. Once I was semi-awake I spent the next 12 hours trying to put words/sentences together and to be honest it was not easy. So without putting the blame on anybody, somebody messed up big time with my anesthesia. My wife actually passed out, out of fear after trying with my sister and nurses to wake me up for hours. They were putting huge shots into me and I was not even flinching. My eyes were pretty much rolled back and it scared them all. When I finally came around I had no clue where I was or what was going on. So this was not even one of my fears going in but by far the worst part of the surgery for me so far. 2) Taste/Smells: I had read about this going in but did not expect to be such a drastic change. For two months Pre-Op I tried so many different shakes, sugar free puddings, sugar free jellos etc… so that once I got home from surgery I would not have to waste time trying new items and I would already know what were my favorites. Pretty much everything I liked pre-op, I absolutely hate now and what I did not like pre-op, I love now. For me this so strange, I have been a vanilla lover for over 40 years, now I only like chocolate. Hopefully this will eventually change. Normal everyday food, smells are so intense. I was not prepared for this. I have yet to have a meal with my family since food smells overwhelmingly strong. When I open the fridge to get skim milk out it is like being in a Garden of food. I smell everything! 3) Sleep: I was expecting sleep after surgery with pain relievers and such to be so much easier. I knew I was not going to sleep well the two nights at the hospital but I pretty much did not sleep for more than 3 hours each night for first 3 nights at home and I never took a nap during the day. Lying down is by far the most uncomfortable time for me so far. Good: 1) Pain: The pain was never nearly as bad as I expected or lead myself to believe it would be. I did get my VSG done Robotically so not sure if that made a huge difference but after three days I was off all pain meds. Hope it stays that way. Gas pains are not nearly as bad or frequent as expected either. However hiccups were much worse than I imagined! 2) Exercise: I thought it was going to take me much longer to get back to where I was pre-op (walking 5 to 6 miles daily) I am already doing over 4 miles a day and am not pushing myself too hard. For me, I think it was huge to get in the best physical shape I could for a morbid obese person months prior to surgery. Besides losing 30 pounds last two months prior to surgery (Over 60 total in last year prior), exercising 75 to 120 minutes a day was a huge plus for me. I think it really helped with my recovery time as well. 3) Hospitals & Surgeon: My Dr. & his Bariatric Team were amazing in every aspect. You hear how surgeons are usually stereotyped and I lucked out because mine was exactly what I needed. He was personal but also a huge motivator to get me out of bed and walk, walk, walk. He even a few times visited me just to do laps. His lead Nurse was an angel. All I kept saying to myself was I put off WLS for 15 years because of fear of hospitals/Drs. Etc… I was so stupid but better late than never. There are some genuinely amazing, kind people who work in this field and I should not have let prior horrible experience’s with Dr.’s going all the way back to my childhood put this off for as long as I did! Hope this helps others in one-way or another. Had my Week One weigh in today and was already down 11.25lbs. First time in the 200’s in over 15 years! If anybody has any questions feel free to message me or post in the thread. Good luck to you all both Pre-Op and Post-Op!

Amazing Job!!

For the many experts on here any advice/recommendations for this stage? My surgeon cleared me to it today at two week post-op but I don't see the dietician again until 2 weeks. What I have read through the paperwork it moist food, like fish, tuna, chicken etc.. Everything fork mashed and total of 6 ounces a day spread over three meals. No Water 30 min before eating and then no water 30 minutes after. Chew 20 to 30 times, Still no vegetables or fruits which to me seems a bit odd especially if it would be pureed. I find it amazing how we all had the same surgery and all of our nutritionalist have us all on such different diets at the same amount of days from surgery. So I just ate my first egg, I took my time about 20 minutes and chewed like crazy and it never hurt at all which I was shocked! Was anybody else able to eat one egg right off the bat? I was kinda of worried I did not feel anything! I actually still felt hungry afterwards so I decided to not push me luck and just start with one for today! Any help would be greatly appreciated! So happy to not have to live on shakes anymore but seems really tough to get 70 to 75 grams of Protein in per day (surgeons request) without them.

So my wife knew I was getting beyond frustrated with my protein shakes and picked me up some Torani Sugar free English Toffee syrup for me today to try. Wow what a difference it made, I added it to my Unjury Classic Chocolate shake and loved it. Not only did it taste great, for some reason the shake was so much easier to drink and never felt pressure with it going down. I still paced myself since my Dr. requires an 8oz shake to take at least an hour to finish but I for once I did not have the "How am I going to finish this shake feeling!" It made it feel like water was going down if that made sense. So has any members on here tried these and if so, any other flavors you would recommend? Also how much do you use for a 8oz shake? Also being they are sugar free, fat free and made with splenda is there any reason why we could not add these to our shakes? I will ask my NUT when I see her next week. I am 17 days post-op and at the pureed stage of the diet. Unfortunately I wish I had found this when I was doing two/three shakes a day for last month. I would highly recommend to anybody have issues getting down their shakes, to ask their NUT if it is ok to add it. I can't wait to be able to add banana to my shakes but not for another month I was told. Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!!

Congrats on an amazing job you have done. You are an inspiration to me!

Amazing job, you are an inspiration.congrats!!

Great news Cindy!!

Nope she is one in a million, I lucked out!! Trust me the syrup makes a huge difference and I called my NUT this morning and she said therefore fine to add. LMK if you try it! I wish I did as well, hazelnut sounds yummy as well. I am trying the Salted Caramel today! Pre-O I Loved all the syntax shakes, post-op I have not be able to get down any of the five types I had in the house. It was so disappointing to me since they were my staple before surgery. Trying it today, Cant wait!! Thanks for the suggestion about trying it yogurt since I loved yogurt pre-op and the texture of it now makes me not want to eat it! Peppermint and Almond sound great! Ok so I obviously need to get Peppermint & Almond since those are my favorite flavors in general. Thanks for the reply. S'mores flavor sounds interesting, this is getting out of control I want to try them all now, LOL! Please post in this thread and let us know how you like them, good decision! I have not seen that one anywhere yet but once again another one of my favorite flavors. If you find it, let us know how it tastes!

Thanks so much for some great new options that I had not though of. I greatly appreciate your post! I have no clue why I am not allowed Mashed Potatoes yet, that would make this stage go easier. thanks for your post. Chili is a great idea, need to try that soon. Thanks for the tip about adding unflavored protein powder! Yum, smoked salmon does sound great. I can't wait to try the Ricotta bake as well. So many people seem to love it that I can't wait to try it! Thanks for your reply. I am glad you posted that because, I think giving our Stomachs some extra time to heal is a great idea. I was shocked that some people I know where eating Pureed foods at day 5. I started mine at Day 16 so far, so god. Thanks for you post!

Good luck!!

I had my first egg yesterday at 15 days out and took my time and went down much easier than expected. My Nut just made said it had to be moist, not dry and it was yummy! Good luck and hope when you have one you have the same experience I did!

I agree, would rather not drink chicken! I am having the same lack of call back from my Nut as well. Hope it gets better for you soon! Thanks for the help, will try some of your suggestions over the next few days. I can't wait to be 8 weeks out Thanks Cindy for the link. I keep hearing about the Ricotta bake so I think I need to try that for dinner tonight. Great idea on the mini chopper, will need to pick one up. Stay in touch and glad you are doing so well!

Congrats on getting sleeved and just remember the more you can walk the quicker it helps with the gas!

Congrats on an amazing job well done!

Can't wait to try that Hopefully in two days!! Sounds amazing

Sorry it took me so long to update this thread. Thanks for the many personal messages sent to me over this last week. Crazy to think exactly a week ago this second, I was getting a VSG. So I thought it would be beneficial for others who are considering WLS for me to post the Good and the Bad so far 7 days post op that I was surprised by. I know I am only just starting my journey but these are things I was not prepared for, if that makes sense. Bad: 1) Anesthesia: I pretty much was in a coma state for an additional 9 hours after surgery was completed. They tried everything to get me awake and had no luck. Once I was semi-awake I spent the next 12 hours trying to put words/sentences together and to be honest it was not easy. So without putting the blame on anybody, somebody messed up big time with my anesthesia. My wife actually passed out, out of fear after trying with my sister and nurses to wake me up for hours. They were putting huge shots into me and I was not even flinching. My eyes were pretty much rolled back and it scared them all. When I finally came around I had no clue where I was or what was going on. So this was not even one of my fears going in but by far the worst part of the surgery for me so far. 2) Taste/Smells: I had read about this going in but did not expect to be such a drastic change. For two months Pre-Op I tried so many different shakes, sugar free puddings, sugar free jellos etc… so that once I got home from surgery I would not have to waste time trying new items and I would already know what were my favorites. Pretty much everything I liked pre-op, I absolutely hate now and what I did not like pre-op, I love now. For me this so strange, I have been a vanilla lover for over 40 years, now I only like chocolate. Hopefully this will eventually change. Normal everyday food, smells are so intense. I was not prepared for this. I have yet to have a meal with my family since food smells overwhelmingly strong. When I open the fridge to get skim milk out it is like being in a Garden of food. I smell everything! 3) Sleep: I was expecting sleep after surgery with pain relievers and such to be so much easier. I knew I was not going to sleep well the two nights at the hospital but I pretty much did not sleep for more than 3 hours each night for first 3 nights at home and I never took a nap during the day. Lying down is by far the most uncomfortable time for me so far. Good: 1) Pain: The pain was never nearly as bad as I expected or lead myself to believe it would be. I did get my VSG done Robotically so not sure if that made a huge difference but after three days I was off all pain meds. Hope it stays that way. Gas pains are not nearly as bad or frequent as expected either. However hiccups were much worse than I imagined! 2) Exercise: I thought it was going to take me much longer to get back to where I was pre-op (walking 5 to 6 miles daily) I am already doing over 4 miles a day and am not pushing myself too hard. For me, I think it was huge to get in the best physical shape I could for a morbid obese person months prior to surgery. Besides losing 30 pounds last two months prior to surgery (Over 60 total in last year prior), exercising 75 to 120 minutes a day was a huge plus for me. I think it really helped with my recovery time as well. 3) Hospitals & Surgeon: My Dr. & his Bariatric Team were amazing in every aspect. You hear how surgeons are usually stereotyped and I lucked out because mine was exactly what I needed. He was personal but also a huge motivator to get me out of bed and walk, walk, walk. He even a few times visited me just to do laps. His lead Nurse was an angel. All I kept saying to myself was I put off WLS for 15 years because of fear of hospitals/Drs. Etc… I was so stupid but better late than never. There are some genuinely amazing, kind people who work in this field and I should not have let prior horrible experience’s with Dr.’s going all the way back to my childhood put this off for as long as I did! Hope this helps others in one-way or another. Had my one-week weigh in today and was already down 11.25lbs. First time in the 200’s in over 15 years! If anybody has any questions feel free to message me or post in the thread. Good luck to you all both Pre-Op and Post-Op!

I am so excited/nervous only 4 days away from WLS that took 15 years to commit to. 1/11/16 will be the day that I can always remember that I changed my life for good! I would love to keep in touch with anybody who is having surgery around the same time I am. Other than my Mom & of course my wife of 16 years, I have not told anybody! It would be nice to message with someone who knows what you're going through and having the same LIFE CHANGING journey around the same time. I would love to have some sleeve buddies, whom I can trust, support and help along the way and vice versa! Of course this journey won't be easy for any of us, However with this tool that is getting done to us (VSG), if we all stick to it...there is no doubt we can all accomplish our own personal weight loss goals!! There are many advantages to not telling everybody in your life about getting a VSG, however the biggest negative is the lack of a support system I won't be getting. I have lost over 50 pounds over last 18 months to prepare for this surgery however I find most people whom have not been overweight their entire lives (LIKE I HAVE) really are judgmental about WLS and overweight people in general. It makes me sick and really question what the hell is wrong with these people! So personally speaking I choose to keep it private since I think this will be hard enough journey to accomplish without these negative nellies, making the situation even harder. I envy the many people on here that have such a great support system of friends and family but unfortunately I don't! I am not on Facebook so would prefer private messages/conversations. If interested, send me a message or post in this thread. I wish everybody good luck with their upcoming VSG and WE WILL SUCEED! Sorry for the long rant

I hope you are better soon, I feel so sorry for you and hope this nightmare is over soon!

So back in mid November, I made the decision to get a VSG. After 6 weeks of ups & downs with so much pre-op testing…. I am finally cleared for surgery for 1-11-16. I am so excited/anxious but most of all determined to succeed with this HUGE lifestyle change. After contemplating WLS for 15 years, I decided it was going to be the best gift I was ever going to purchase for myself. Here is the irony, there was never a set Surgery date in mind and I was confirmed today that I am actually having the VSG on my Birthday. My insurance is horrendous and it would take year at the minimum to hopefully get approved (with no guarantees), work is slow so I fast tracked it as a Self Pay Patient. Is anybody else getting sleeved on 1/11/16 or the same week? Would love to have some sleeve buddies going through the process at a similar time. I am actually grateful of all the Pre-op testing; however the anxiety and waiting for results was beyond nerve raking. It still has not set in that this is happening so soon! Thanks for any tips/advice!

Best of Luck to you and everything will go GREAT. Just think a year from now where we all will be at I actally sent you a message a few days ago since I saw we would be getting our surgery around the same time. Keep in touch and let me know how yours goes this week and I will do the same! I can't believe I am less than 24hrs away from Surgery. Not even able to put into words everything that I feel and that is in my head right now!

You will do amazing and most important thing you are not only doing it for yourself but your two boys... Same exact reason I am doing it! Keep in touch this week and stay positive, we are almost there.

So sorry that so much has happened to you. You will overcome this, try to remain positive and God bless u!

Congrats on such a great amount of weight loss prior to surgery. Glad to see so many of us having it around the same time. For somebody whom has considered WLS for 15 years, finally the time is perfect as well. Best of luck and God Bless. Keep in touch! Lol I woke up and said the exact same thing to my wife, I originally thought why do I have to wait so long! Now less than 48 hours and I am like Wow this just got so real!I just keep saying to myself that I have mentally preparing for this day for at least 15 years and I have never been in the shape I currently am (walking 90 to 120 minute & 5 to 6 miles per day) I have lost 60 pounds last 18 months in preparation for this, so there is not a better time for me to do this then now. We all got this!! Good luck to you all and please keep in touch with your progress!!

Good luck with your surgery.Feel free to keep in touch along the way!,