Wheetsin

Oh that's ridiculous. At first I thought you meant the two offices had communicated with each other about you - which could be illegal. SO I just wanted to make sure I understood before sharing my 2 cents. I have no idea if this is still going on, but years and years ago my surgeon's office had employees who would read the WLS boards and look for negative comments about the surgeon/practice. Then in support groups they'd "plant" people to ask about message boards, and try to figure out which person was what username. Ridiculous, huh? But fine, whatever you need to do. But then they'd confront people about their online activity during during their office visits, and semi harass them during support groups. Totally unaccepable. I got a little chummy with two of the ladies and we had a very facetious long-term thread on one of the sites. One of the ladies (happily married with kids) thought the surgeon was handsome. She jokingly referred to him as "Dr. Hottie" on the message boards. That got back to the practice, and the next time she showed up for an office visit she was pulled aside and chastised for not respecting the surgeon's marriage, or family, or her own. We were all like...wha?? Then it became this big drama. I was waiting in the consultation room once and heard the nurse who used to manage patient care outside the door saying, "This is one of the ones who..." and couldn't catch the end. So when she came in, I asked her, "One of the ones who what?" And she wouldn't answer me. For some of the people, it got to where they chose to transfer their aftercare to another surgeon, because they just didn't want to deal with it. Thankfully those particular staff aren't there anymore, and things seem normal. But the real unfortunate part is that I think he's one of the strongest bariatric surgeons - definitely in my area - but it's hard for things like that not to reflect poorly on the entire practice (including surgeon).

This is tough. When I had my lapband (2006) I was open about it. I didn't lie, but I didn't advertise it either. If someone asked what I was doing, I'd tell them about the band. But I didn't walk around bragging, if that makes sense. Right now, 4 people know my band has been removed and that I have the sleeve. My parents, husband, and one close friend. Most people know I had surgery "around my esophagus" that required a graduated eating program (for recovery), and am now losing weight. I would assume they're drawing the conclusion that something related to the surgery prevented my band from working, and now it is working again and I am losing weight. A few ppl I even told that my band had to be unfilled for the procedure (true), and now things were back in working order (true). I know that's a slightly different situation than having no prior WLS. If the sleeve had been what popped my WLS cherry, I'd probably generically tell people something like I was just watching what I ate, trying to eat high Protein and low carb, exercise, and throw in something like, "It's working really well! I should have done this 5 years ago!" If I was with someone who specifically questioned my portions, I would probably say something like, "Yeah - I'm doing that to help my metabolism. This is all I'm going to have for lunch, but in 2 hours I'll be having another snack. Many small meals spread out during the day." Both scenarios are accurate, just omitting key details. I'm not really one to get hung up on whether or not I'm lying to someone. If I feel like I have to lie to be comfortable, then it's a question you really shouldn't have asked in the first place. So all the "Oooh, you're a liar..." people - whatever. We've all said our day was fine when it wasn't. I have no problems with omission in the case of private medical affairs.

Oh, below about 4 - maybe 5 - I won't ask for much in the way of painkiller. They'll ask you what level of pain is acceptable, or some version of, "At what number should we give you something?" I can remember laying there after sleeve surgery, telling her I was a 6 and wanted "a little something." She told me not to be brave - I told her I wasn't, I just had realistic expectations and knew that pain was part of the agreement. I think my exact words were something like, "I don't go out in the winter and expect to stay warm, getting cold is part of the deal." I think she appreciated my... reality check. The lady next to me was MOANING and CRYING like you wouldn't believe. They asked her to rate her pain and she told them "2". The nurse was like, "Then what's acceptable to you?" and the lady snapped, "NOTHING! Zero!" The nurse was like, "Hon, be realisitc. You just got cut open. This other lady (me) next to you got cut open 6 times and she's doing just fine..." That did not go over well.

The surgeons remove what they can, but there's usually some left behind. Our body cavities have lots of nooks & crannies and it would be pretty darn hard to ensure a gas is out completely. Here's my surgery history (for related/similar procedures), so you can have some context for the pain level. Keep in mind I have a high pain tolerance. Probably on the order of "very" high. And also keep in mind that with my sleeve, I was given morphine - which does not do much for me. The nurse decided morphine was better because it was putting me to sleep, but I do tons better with Dilaudid. Lap-band in: Pain upon wake-up was minimal. I rated it 0.5 in the 10 point scale. Gallbladder out: Pain upon wake-up was about a 3. Incisions "stung" more than hurt. Probably comparable to a bee sting. Lap-band out: Pain upon wake-up was about a 2 or 2.5. Sleeve: Pain upon wake-up was about a 6. The majority of my sleeve pain came from the "access" incision (the infamous "left side incision"), and the smaller incision holding the drain. I can remember laying there thinking "ow" and just trying to track the minutes for my next bolus. By the time I was moved into my recovery room the pain was probably around a 3.

I've had to take laxatives, but not MC in particular.

Mine wasn't related to an event, or a trigger weight, or anything like that. I was just tired of being fat. And tired of saying, "If I can't do it on my own by this time next year..." I guess what I'm saying was that it was a slow process, rather than an event. I think it was more outside events (e.g. getting a recommendation for a surgeon, realizing it could be done, realizing...) Keep in mind this was 2005 when the only WLS you really heard of was RNY and it was far from mainstream knowledge.

I have the "pain when ovulating" - it's called Mittelschmerz, it's German and translates to "middle pain." I can tell you that Mittelschmerz varies - it may be on one side one time, and the next side the next, and then on both, etc. It also varies in intensity. I go from "slightly noticeable twinge" to "literally cannot walk and for the next 4 days feel like I've been kicked repeatedly." I've never heard of a case where varying location & level of pain were not true (not that it means they don't exist), so what you're describing doesn't sound like Mittelschmerz to me. Of course, seeing that you're past ovulating, you'd probably say so too. Would it be possible for you to grab a frontal body shot (not of you, e.g. an anatomy shot from google) and add a little red dot exactly where you're feeling the pain? I probably can't help, but knowing where the pain is, I'll at least know what's in that region.

The day after you went to a second office, the second office called the first office and notified them to harass you?

DH is a bit of an audiophile (putting it mildly) and his go-to brand is Sennheiser. For wireless (circumaural - encloses ear) he uses the Sennheiser RS170 and HD202. For supra aural (on ear) his favorites are Grado SR325is, and Denon AH D1001. For in-ear he uses Sennheiser CX 300-II, mainly. His bluetooth ones are Sennheiser MM 100. I have a pair of the backbeats (BackBeat GO) at work and I don't like them. They don't stay in my ears. I also have a pair of Sennheiser IE6. Love them, but they aren't wireless. They came with several different types of tips and actually had some that stay in my ear (even when I'm active), and are comfortable. HTH

It's very normal. I've had 4 lap abdominal surgeries and during 3 of them I itched like mad. It's part of the healing process. There is no proven reason why. Something's going on with histamines and nerve endings and new skin, but AFAIK it's all just speculation. Let me help you as best as I can. The three times I suffered itchiness, it was bad. It would wake me up from sleep. If the sheet accidentally thought about maybe slightly touching me, it was like someone lit my skin on fire. So the last time I had this, I got all smart and thought a topical analgesic would help, and busted out my can of Solarcaine. For the love of all that is good on this planet, do not do that. It's hard not to scratch. I've found "strumming" to be the best alternative. Repeatedly tapping the area. It provides enough sensation to help manage the itch without any worries about scratching anything open. Take an antihistamine, if you can - Bendaryl, etc. try sitting in a cool, moist room with the area completely uncovered. We have a whole house humidifier (mostly because we also have wood floors) but it's definitely drier on the top floors - where my bedroom is. When the itching would wake me up I'd go down a to the middle or bottom floor, sit in a recliner, hike my nightgown/robe/whatever up over my stomach and just let it all hang out. It would still itch like mad, but it tended to go away in 5 - 10 mins. If you must itch, itching in the proximity of the incision usually works. It's just enough sensation to help overload your nerves. I would sometimes use my index & middle fingers (kind of like making a "peace" sign) and scratch about an inch or two out from either side of the incision. Gently. I was not supposed to put creams or anything directly on the incisions, so no help there. The itchies suck. I didn't have them with my sleeve, and at the time I thought it was weird... but in hindsight, I was also taking steroids and an H2 blocker for an allergic reaction I had in the hospital, which makes perfect sense. HTH

My daughter has a development disorder with her eyes. "Usually" it comes along with other things that might not manifest until the child is 10 or so. At this point it's purely a cosmetic thing that she can naturally compensate for if it ever bothers her. But I guess we'll see what develops in the next few years. When I was in highschool and early college I worked with special needs children, and then later with adults. Everything from TBI to autism to profound developmental disabilities - you name it. I mostly enjoyed the work (there are some things that really have no joy, even if you try your hardest to see the silver lining) - but I could, and eventually did, walk away from it. Hats off to you guys who can't walk away from it, and deal with it because it's a part of who you are now. Military families like to say they have the toughest "job" -- pshaw.

Most painful for me was (still is) thick liquids, or pulpy liquids. Those are OK early on, so I didn't wait long. Then I quickly stopped. I don't eat steak, so I can't help you there. salad I tried recently - around 3.5 - 4 months out. Bread - depends. I was having things like extremely dry/crunchy crackers about 3 mos out. Soft bread I just had for the first time the other day (Subway). I picked at the bottom bun. I don't really have difficult foods, just foods that sit heavier than others. Thick liquids about kill me (e.g. anything above 1% milk, including most Protein drinks, though I did well on one yesterday - for the first time)... pulpy fruits like strawberries and peaches. All sit heavy. Whereas something like beef Jerky - will not sit heavy, but I will LOUDLY gurgle/bubble for a good 30 mins or so after eating it.

Are you thinking it's related to your sleeve, or did you just post the question here? Did any of your testing to determine the above indicate sepsis?

And a follow-up: Of All The Crap You Took To The Hospital What Did You Actually Use?

The Official What You Will Need For Your Gastric Sleeve Surgery thread

Oh - haha. Reading some of these stories did make me think of something that happened. This was about 13 years ago. I was a hair under 300 lbs, but had never been that fat before. I totally ballooned up. Anyway, I'd been taking some BCP and starting getting odd blood clots. My GP wanted me off the BCP to see if the clots went away, so he made me an appt with a gynecologist to have a "consultation" about my birth control options. I took DH with me. When they called me back the nurse stopped to weigh me, didn't say a word - took us to the consultation room. While we were in there she started taking my blood pressure. I really can't remember exactly how the conversation started, but somehow my weight came up. I think I was making a comment to DH about not realizing I'd gained so much weight, yuck... or something like that. The nurse stopped, laughed, and said something to the effect of, "You have no idea how lucky you are to have found an attractive man who obviously loves you for who you are." She walked out then, and it was one of those comments I had to puzzle over. Was she calling me ugly? Was it a comment about my weight? Was it harmless? DH had the same reaction. It was like one of those zingers that takes a moment or two to actually hit, and then you're like... waitaminute... When I got my sheet to sign as I paid, they gave me a copy of her notes including my weight and next to it she had written three exclamation points (in red ink) with "GROSS" in big block letters, and an arrow pointing to my weight (about 296 at the time, IIRC, I'm only about 35 lbs below that now and while I don't consider myself a catch, I wouldn't consider myself GROSS either). I wrote a letter to that practice's manager and told them that the only thing GROSS about that day was that nurse's comment, and her scribbles on my intake papers. I believe she didn't have a job a few weeks later.

Indeed! And then you have the benefit of carrying the pregnancy at a healthier body weight. There's no way that's anything but good. That was my #1 motivator for getting the band. To aid in conceiving, but primarily to be able to carry a pregnancy and something resembling a healthy weight (I was almost 400 lbs when I had my band surgery). I talked to my OB about this when I was pregnant. She told me she _would not_ want to see me in her office if I still weighed 400 lbs. Not in that she'd refuse to treat me, just in that it would be a very... not ideal time to be pregnant. Good luck with your treatments!

I know that "babies are always a blessing" is the PC thing to say, but - yeah. I'm 36. I consider myself past the having babies stage. If i found out I were pregnant, especially if I'd found out just shy of doing my sleeve surgery, I'd have been crushed. "Processing" is putting it mildly! Best wishes.

I don't want to be a killjoy or stand here waggling my finger at anyone, so let me just say that physiologically, our stomachs do contract (sometimes quite strongly) during orgasm. That could potentially increase the risk of complications before we're healed. Now, you said "sex" and not "orgasm" and they aren't necessarily the same thing so... I waited my surgeon's clearance time of 2 weeks, IIRC. I've been married 15 years, and wasn't a virgin then. 2 weeks didn't kill me.

I'd guess something in the neighborhood of 6 weeks - since that's when most restrictions clear - with the caveat of "as tolerated". I brought my spanx back around week 12. They hurt a bit still before then. Generically I'd say "call your surgeon" but I suspect this is a bit out of their expertise.

It won't cure infertility but it can increase your fertility. DH and I went for about 5 years with no contraception and never managed to conceive. We weren't trying, but we weren't avoiding, if you know what I mean. And for 2 years prior to that I was (unknowingly) in a medication that reduced the effectiveness of my BCP. Then I had the lapband, lost about 150 lsb, and we started really trying. For about a year, no luck. We quit trying - hurt too much getting negative results month after month - and figured we'd be just as good of a couple without children (we didn't really want to have to go through fertility treatments). Then don't you know it, as soon as we stopped trying, bam! Did I get pregnant because of the weightloss? Clearly not. But is it too much coincidence to think that I "just so happened" to lose that much weight and get pregnant relatively quickly, after so many years of nothing? You bet. But yes, weightloss does help. Or extra weight does hinder. However you want to look at it.

I used to swear by the bullet. I bought one when I had my lapband in 2006 and used it every day for 4 years. When I brought it out to use it again, the lid seized onto the base and would not come off (even with mechanical help). So I basically had to throw the whole thing away. Plus those little seals you need between the cup and base are hard to find. And it's easy to spill down into the base, and it gets gunky after a while. I looked at the Ninja but then I opted for a $12 immersion blender and it's perfect. For short term things (puree stage, Protein drinks, etc.) don't invest heavily. But if you will use it going forward (general kitchen tool) go ahead and get something that will last.

Agreed! The difference between the smallest bougie used for this procedure, and the largest, is something in the area of less than 1 tbl over the course of the entire stomach. The only real correlation I've seen with bougie size to - anything, really - is the incidence of stricture. Here's a post I've made previously, it might help:

Boogie is a dance. Bougie is a sized tube that many VSG surgeons use a guideline to size our remaining stomachs.

Some of these are really sad, though I can understand things being said in jest. Confession is disclosure of an offense. And an awful lot of these things are our nature, not our sins. I really really from the bottom of my pragmatic heart hope that you guys aren't seeing things like "I want McDonald's" or "I've eaten desert" or "I'm craving favorite foods" as things to incite guilt or emotional unrest. We're still humans, we're just humans with partial stomachs.