beautiful_alarms

I'm getting sleeved on Friday 8/19! I'm 93% excited and 7% terrified, hah! I've had surgeries before, and I work in a hospital (used to work at the one I'll be going to, actually) in an allied health profession that I've been involved in for 15 years, so the surgery stuff and clinical stuff and even the being-at-the-hospital stuff doesn't bother me, but the mind-bogglingly huge changes that are only DAYS AWAY are making me just a bit anxious. But I'm ready. I don't have a liver-shrink pre-op diet, just Clear liquids on Thursday and nothing after midnight that night. I'll go shopping on Wednesday to get the post-surgical food that I don't already have so that I can just relax with my family on Thursday. I had a moment or two of existential crisis regarding food funerals (anyone see that post? sheesh) that ended up to be a non-starter anyways - I ended up not even having a desire for a forlorn hope/hail mary pass extravaganza of greasy sugar-bomb junk, and ended up stressing out the most about missing salad - SALAD! of all things - and have felt okay psychologically about doing without certain foods for a long time or potentially forever, in case they have no appeal to me after surgery or if I'm never able to exercise any sort of reasonable control and therefore must abstain. Today, I gathered stuff to take with me to the hospital (this is always such a fun conversation, right??) like travel toiletries/shampoo (I know that the hospital will provide, but I have waist+ length hair that I'm super vain about.. until it starts falling out, anyways!) and something comfortable to sleep in (hospital gowns are a drag! and I know that they're made to accommodate IV stuff, but I have a central line port in my chest that will be used instead of peripheral access in my arms.. it's quite liberating!) and a brand new book (that I will probably be too tired/high to read for at least the first day or two but it's a noble effort) and a new phone charger and - of greatest importance - a brand-new lip balm. I feel like I'm packing to go on vacation or something. It ends up being just a tote bag full of a few things, but it seems as though I've spent hours deliberating over what to bring. The only thing I'm truly a bit nervous about is how I'll feel one week out.. I've been invited to participate in an art book/zine fair at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland the weekend after my surgery. It's a really big deal to me! Cleveland is about a 4 hour drive away, and I'd be spending a couple of nights in a hotel. I have to go by myself since my husband has to work and we can't afford for him to miss shifts. My husband, 5-year-old daughter, mom, friends, and coworkers are all incredibly supportive and super pumped for me. I'm so grateful for the support! Everyone has been wishing me the best of luck and has been excited for me. I'm really lucky. Anyway, I'm sure I'll be lurking all over the place here with a feverish intensity until Friday morning.

I had my VSG on Friday, I stayed in the hospital until yesterday. The first day and a half were a bit harsh with pain and nausea, but it was controlled with medication. I threw up twice, but I believe that was due to the radiopaque stuff that I had to drink for flouroscopy to show that I had no leaks. By Saturday night, I was feeling way better. Fatigue like whoa, though! I've been sleeping on and off with walking around the house and sipping liquids and eating yogurt and strained cream of chicken Soup. I've had nothing at all for pain since Saturday night, not even Tylenol. I have some aches, but nothing worth taking medicine for. I've had to take anti-nausea medicine a couple of times since being home, but that seems to be easing off, too. The worst part is the lack of energy, but even that is slowwwwwly getting better.

For any of you helpful people that have already had surgery - how many of you (if any) ended up with a JP drain? I had one after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and I hated it! I called it my "gore grenade" and I felt miserable going out in public with it and had to safety pin it to the shower curtain! Such a hassle.. I just want to be prepared for it again if necessary. Thanks!

Yeah! I guess the drain wasn't AWFUL.. just.. inconvenient? A hassle? A bit gross? Hah.. I'm happy to learn that I most likely won't have one on Friday!

I would suggest perhaps calling a pharmacy to speak with a pharmacist. They won't know the intricacies of your medical history, but they will be able to answer your basic question about Z-pack and bariatric surgery. The one thing that I could see potentially happening is that Zithromax can be harsh on gut flora, and you might end up with lower GI upset around the time of surgery. If you end up taking the Z-pack, take a probiotic.. it might help. Good luck!

Yesssss! Thanks for the good news!

I have Excellus BCBS and it took them about 4 HOURS. I had to call just to make sure I was reading my screen right!

I started the bariatric surgery process in the beginning of April. I had my final consultation with my surgeon on Wednesday and was alarmed when he cheerfully said that I could have my surgery next week - Friday 8/19 (!!!!!!) - and was quickly taken care of by the scheduler and handed a packet of papers on the surgery check-in process. The office submitted the claim to my insurance and it was approved within 4 hours. This surgery has the potential to be an agent of profound change in my life, so I feel a little adrift now that it's suddenly only days away. I have a pre-op appointment at the hospital today, but aside from that appointment and an all-liquid diet the day before surgery, I have no prep to do. I had my gall bladder removed a couple of years ago and had to follow the liver-shrinking diet for two weeks before surgery. I was prepared to have to go through that again this time, too. I know, as a (mostly) reasonable grown-up, that I should stay the course for the next week and continue to make good dietary choices and be as healthy as I can. However, not having to follow a strict pre-op diet has my mind reeling with FAT THOUGHTS. Like, I gotta cram in as much of my favorite, horrible, greasy, calorie-bomb foods as I can in the next week because this is my last chance. I don't even really want that food because I've conditioned myself away from it, but I've been a compulsive eater for so long; even though I've worked hard to get a handle on my compulsive and emotional eating over the last few months, that lizardy deep brain that drives my compulsions is lit up with anxiety over my impending surgery. It feels totally desperate - I indulged last night and rationalized it by thinking "well I only had two slices of pizza and 5 wings" because in previous times I would have had FOUR slices of pizza and a DOZEN wings - which of course is why I got up close to a cool 3-hundo on the scale in the first place. Anyway - do any of you have advice or experiences to share for surviving the countdown to surgery? Especially if you didn't have to follow a strict pre-op diet or struggled with food mourning?

@@LipstickLady is on to something - I'm going to go split a piece of cheesecake with a friend in a little bit, but I think that's going to pretty much be it for me (I'm having surgery 2 days before my birthday, so half a piece of cheesecake with a friend is going to be my early birthday celebration.) I think just making the initial post helped me some - my husband is supportive, but he isn't experiencing this first-hand.. it's helpful to hear from people here that have had or are having to make the same decisions. And, truly, I am in a better mindset (not perfect, but better) in regards to my compulsive eating and cravings and whatever else got me to this point. Thanks for the responses, both for and against food funerals! I don't feel bad for last night's dinner (I made a facebook post joking about a moment of silence for the last chicken wing that I'll be eating for a couple of years or whatever) and I won't feel bad about dessert tonight.. and like a couple of you mentioned, it's not like I'll NEVER be able to eat this stuff again, and I may not even want it when I'm able to, anyways. Thanks!

I've been on biologics (Remicade) for over 3 years. I tried Enbrel first but while it cleared up my psoriasis (I have palmoplantar ps which is stupid and weird) it did NOTHINGGGG for my arthritis. While the biologics have some scary implications because they're relatively new in the overall scope of things, I must say that Remicade has worked really very well for me. Luckily, I saw my rheumatologist two days ago and had the final consult with my surgeon this morning and I won't have to pause the Remicade - I just have to have the surgery in the middle of my infusion schedule.. since I get it every 5 weeks and just had it last week, this means that my surgery is scheduled for NEXT WEEK (whaaaaaat)! I do, however, have to hold my weekly methotrexate for one week, which isn't that big of a deal. Anyways, that was a lot of babbling for me to basically say that Remicade has worked so well for me - from total disability at age 34 to (relateively) normal functioning now. Some days are still bad, and I still have flares that can last a couple of weeks, but Remicade has seriously been a lifesaver. Good luck to you with surgery and the change in your therapy that will be coming soon - I wish you success and PsA remission.

I apologize for not being helpful, but I just wanted to say that I also have PsA and am worried about possibly withholding treatment. I'll be having surgery in a few weeks, and so far have had to only stop daily prednisone and birth control, which I take continuously to avoid the wicked flares that come with hormone fluctuations. I was on NSAIDs too but had to stop those almost a year ago due to unrelenting gastritis. I'm also on weekly methotrexate and Remicade infusions every 5 weeks (just had it today.) I'm already miserable without the daily prednisone and BC! What's your treatment involve and what is your expected amount of time off of it? I'd imagine that if I have to stop the methotrexate that it'll be before my next dose is due (I see my surgeon on the 10th to talk about this stuff and schedule surgery) and I'm super worried about not being able to deal with a pause in therapy.

You also could probably get away with telling people that you're having your gallbladder removed - typically it's a laparoscopic surgery with dietary restrictions afterward - and when I had mine out, I took 2 weeks off from work. Anyway, ultimately, it's no one's business, right? I can't ever keep anything to myself so I've been telling everyone. Only one person has said something like "oh you don't need that" and I just politely said that my health care providers disagree and moved the conversation on to other things.

Hi. I've been lurking for months, but this is my first post. I've come to an abrupt end of my pre-surgical rigamarole, and am just waiting for the bariatric clinic to call me in order to schedule an appointment with my surgeon for the final consultation before scheduling surgery - I wasn't expecting it to be so soon, as I only started the process on April 11th. My insurance - Excellus BCBS - requires a 6 month stretch of supervised weight loss only if they don't feel that your previous attempts at weight loss were serious enough. I guess 25+ years of constant struggle was adequate, because after my 2nd nutritionist follow-up (a group seminar and 2 follow-ups scheduled a month apart are my clinic's required minimum) I was handed my post-surgical diet info and was told to expect a call within a week. Yikes! Anyway. My name is Amanda, I'll be 38 in a month (sigh) and am 5'7" and currently about 282 (and an increasingly snug size 22.) I'm married and I have a 5 year old daughter and I live in Rochester, NY. I'm an MFA grad student and work (incongruously to the MFA) in inpatient pharmacy compounding services at the big hospital in town. I have been fat since I was about 6 years old. When I was a teenager, I was about 170-180 and thought I was the fattest thing on two legs. I look back at pictures of myself and my heart breaks for all that self-hatred, sadness, and lost time - not only because I realize now that I wasn't fat at all (you wanna see fat, 16 year old Amanda?? I'll show you FAT!! flubflabflub) but also because I realize how much it never mattered to my friends and family. This is stuff I still struggle with, though. I started gaining rapidly around 18, and have more or less hit peak mass. I was abut 245 when I met my husband 11 years ago, 270ish after having my daughter 5 years ago, and was 291 when I was weighed at the beginning of the bariatric surgery process. I've attributed my weight gain over the last decade to the insidious "domestic spread" - both husband and I have gotten fatter in that time. But that doesn't explain away all the years before that. I have a progressive, hereditary autoimmune connective tissue disease that is treated sort of like cancer - I get infusions at the cancer center every month through a port in my chest and take a low dose of oral chemo at home every week. Women with autoimmune diseases sometimes see a worsening in disease progression after pregnancy, and this was certainly my experience. I've been having to treat my disease aggressively over the past 5 years, and I've recently reached a really stupid cyclical point where the more I weigh, the less effective my treatments are, the more immobile and depressed I become, the more weight I gain, the less effective my treatments are, and so on. This decline in my health and quality of life is what pushed me to reserve a spot in a bariatric seminar in April. As the reality of surgery looms on the horizon, I've begun to worry about some stuff. Somehow I managed to avoid that certain heartbreak that is endemic to fat kids - I was never bullied for my weight (I was popular in my high school, even as a weird kid with green hair and combat boots,) I have never been (obviously, anyways) discriminated against because of my weight, I've always been lucky in love and never had a problem with finding romantic companionship, and so on. The only person that has ever had a problem with my fatness is me. It's been the thing that I've blamed for every disappointment or unhappiness in my life, even though, intellectually, I know that's total nonsense. I worry about what will occupy my thoughts once the fat is gone. What will it be like to thoughtlessly sit in a chair without anxious thoughts of weight limits and chair-smashing public humiliation? What will it be like to not have to obsessively strategize my wardrobe for maximum chub-concealment? What will it be like to simply take up less space? I feel as though I have never not been fat, and I have no idea what to expect. So, Hi!

@@Inner Surfer Girl since my daughter became aware - self-aware, aware of other people's finer emotions, aware of language and its purpose, or whatever - I've done a fair amount of soul-searching on the way I think of myself and refer to myself, and I must say that it's helped rein it in a lot. But it's so ingrained. Gross. A writer's workshop! I'd love to do something like that. You know, I was thinking about graduation today - it's a year away - and instead of the usual dread in regards to finding a dress and posing for pictures, I realized that, if I continue to work hard, things will be so much different for me in one year's time. And not just in what I wear or how I look, but how I feel about myself and the things I'll be able to participate in without constantly worrying about my body and my abilities.

@@AvaFern Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I don't want to base my self-worth on my weight or body size, but I'm hoping, like you, that I free my thinking from the trap of fat in order to focus on all the positive stuff about me and my life. You're right, too, about thinking about fatness constantly - I do it all day, and have for so long that I've become desensitized to my own obsessive thoughts. Ugh, gross. And congratulations on your law degree and MBA! I'm getting ready to start the second year of grad school, and it's been a life-changer.. so many new opportunities. @@Armygalbonnie thanks for reminding me that 37 isn't too late for a new beginning. I've been thinking "whyyyy didn't I do this 10+ years ago" even though I know that I would have been doing it for the wrong reasons at that point in my life. But I've got a lot ahead of me, and my daughter is little enough that a happy and healthy and active mom will be the mom that she knows.

I've recently started using Syntrax nectar fuzzy navel flavor - I mix it with unsweetened decaf iced tea, and it tastes like peach tea without that weird Protein taste. It's not gritty and it isn't too thick, but it does look like bilgewater The Syntrax Matrix Peanut Butter cookie flavor is good, too. In the past I've also used unjury and found that the chocolate flavor is good mixed with not-too-hot coffee (I think at 140F it will curdle the protein.)