pixystix0116

I told only three people about my surgery but I know the easy way out would have been the response of many other people. If I'm being honest with myself and you, getting surgery is absolutely the easy way out. I no longer have to spend every single second thinking about my weight, my days are no longer filled with planning diets and exercise, I no longer feel hungry and miserable when I'm thin and depressed and worthless when I'm fat, and thanks to my sleeve, I have a totally different life that I never would have had without it.
Is it easy to go through surgery and have your stomach cut out? No, not really, but it made my entire life easier as a result. I know I could have lost 100+ pounds again but I am 100% certain I could not have maintained the loss like I have. I don't need to struggle and fight any more to stay thin, and while I need to be aware of my weight every single day, it is no longer the obsession that it would have had to be if I could still eat as much as I used to. It was far easier for me to lose weight and keep it off with a sleeve than it ever was doing it "naturally". I am forever grateful for that and I feel like this is a matter of working smarter instead of harder. Why would I want to spend my entire life miserable trying to be thin when I could have surgery, spend 2 years losing weight, and then get to live a real life where weight is no longer my personal obsession? Without the sleeve my life would be much harder and I would never be able to be the size I am. If that means I took the easy way out...who cares? I did what I needed to do to get where I needed to be and the only person who gets to judge my action is me. If someone else wants to say I was a slacker and didn't work hard for it...let them! In the end, I wear a size 2 and I have an actual life again...if taking the easy way out is how I got that life, then well, good for me.
You owe no one one an explanation or justification for your choices. No one owes you an understanding of your struggle or your decisions. When you can make peace with both, comments like that will bother you less.
I took the easy way out...and I am forever thankful that my circumstances allowed me to make that decision. My life is wonderful and for the first time ever as an adult I feel like I have a future that doesn't rely on whether I am thin, and thus good enough, to deserve every bit of that future.

My pre op diet helped shrink my liver for surgery, sure, but even more it helped me psychologically move away from food. I stuck with clear broth and Protein shakes. It wasn't pleasant but it wasn't impossible. My post op diet was very easy because I practiced compliance in the pre op stage. My tip is to embrace it and use it as a starting place for your new relationship with food.< /p>
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My surgeon does 2 weeks liquid, 2 weeks pureed, 2 weeks soft, then regular food. Of course they say no alcohol, popcorn, sweets, or carbs like bread, rice, Pasta, and I probably won't have have any of those for a while, mainly because I truly want to focus on protein being that I cannot eat very much.

This!! So much this! I have been a big girl my whole life, with all the highs and lows of yo yo dieting starting at about the age of 10. If we could do it alone we wouldn't be here talking to each other comforting and encouraging each other. (So glad I found this community btw, nobody i know personally understands!) I have gone through my entire life losing some, and then gaining even more back over and over again. I'm looking forward to finally having the tools I need to get healthy. I start my 2 week liquid diet later this week! Luck to all and a little for myself lol. Cheers!

This!! So much this! I have been a big girl my whole life, with all the highs and lows of yo yo dieting starting at about the age of 10. If we could do it alone we wouldn't be here talking to each other comforting and encouraging each other. (So glad I found this community btw, nobody i know personally understands!) I have gone through my entire life losing some, and then gaining even more back over and over again. I'm looking forward to finally having the tools I need to get healthy. I start my 2 week liquid diet later this week! Luck to all and a little for myself lol. Cheers!

I think avoiding hunger, is all about the spacing of your shakes and Clear liquids in between. I'm kind of surprized that I didn't go off the deep end. Granted months before I got off caffeine. Now that was the week from hell. For me its not about "getting in my protein". My plan is 3 Protein shakes replacement meals must be at least 20 grams, Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mostly they are 30 grams, once in a while I'll have the muscle milk one that is 42 grams and my slim fasts are 20 grams. Mostly I drink the ready to drink and they are 11 ounces. I'm start with a Decaf tea and then a broth in between one, lots of Water, and a frozen SF Popsicle. I tend to be hungry around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, so I'll have a clear liquid.
The best way to avoid hunger is to just keep busy. two days ago, I packed up all my fattest clothes for Goodwill. I've already dropped 19 pounds.
Today is my last day of shakes. Tomorrow its all Clear Liquids to end the day with 30ml of milk of magnesia. (YUCK . I'd imagine tomorrow will not be a good day for me. I'll be teleworking today and tomorrow. I find that much better so I'm not around others eating, talking, planning what they'll be eating for lunch.

My tips are just to make sure you take advantage of everything you are allowed to consume. Now is not the time to restrict and deprive yourself. Crushed ice and sugar-free Popsicles can give you crunch.

This!! So much this! I have been a big girl my whole life, with all the highs and lows of yo yo dieting starting at about the age of 10. If we could do it alone we wouldn't be here talking to each other comforting and encouraging each other. (So glad I found this community btw, nobody i know personally understands!) I have gone through my entire life losing some, and then gaining even more back over and over again. I'm looking forward to finally having the tools I need to get healthy. I start my 2 week liquid diet later this week! Luck to all and a little for myself lol. Cheers!

Here I am less than 36 hours before I take my seat on the losers bench. Currently on day 12 on my 14 day liquid diet. Pause to knock on wood, I made it with out cheating and no major craving episodes. Hopped on the scale this morning and I'm down 14 lbs since my pre-op visit, 36 since I started this journey in March 2016. Someone today applauded my weight loss and commented, that if I can do this without surgery, why am I having surgery. Well my friend I said with a smile on my face. These 5 months have prepared me for the rest of my life. See, I've lost massive amounts of weight before, once I took phentermine and lost about 50 lbs, of course when I got off the drug I gained about seventy. About 7 years ago I went on a high Protein, low carb diet, joined a gym and exercised 6 days a week. I lost a whopping 90 lbs, of course along came a job change, a new roommate, a change in habits.... and I gained 110, imagine going to bed one night wearing a size 10 and waking up in the morning wearing a size 22. I know it didn't happen like that, but that's what it felt like happened. See yo yo dieting is real, the struggle is real, and the mind and body play tricks on you. Each time you lose and gain your metabolism slows, your mind tricks you into craving the sweet, the fatty, the salty. Your body wants more, and it stores more (fat that is). That's only part of my story, but you get the drift. I've gone through it, and that's why I am going through with it.

If you are already short staffed, how is firing you going to improve matters? I think the whole world is going insane.

Expect the worst and hope for the best. No way to know what your experience will be. I can tell you that a positive attitude can change your entire experience for the better. I wish you the best!!!

I am no doctor so can only tell you from my experience. My surgeon put a drain in the incision where my stomach was removed, just under my left breast.
That means that he left a tube in my abdominal cavity running to the outside of my body so fluid/blood etc could run out instead of collecting.
Unfortunately, mine did not prevent a collection which turned into a septic abscess but these things happen.
My surgeon had the drain removed on discharge day and did not stitch this incision so I had an open wound for six weeks, covered by a dressing which I changed daily.
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I had very little pain from my surgery itself. It was the complications etc that caused my pain. And anytime I tried to put more Fluid in at a time than my sleeve wanted, that can really hurt.
I got dehydrated and that caused muscle pain in my legs and because I now have constant diarrhea, I have quite alot of pain in my inflamed bowels.
But surgery itself was not too bad, only the drain dragging around caused actual pain.
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Great answers, I didn't know what to expect of the gas pain. Once I was able to control the nausea after 2 days with Zolfran and a patch behind my ear, I was able to drink my Water and walk more often. I used my morphine as often as I needed to. It did make me super tired though and slowed down my will to walk. But day 3 as the gas pain lessened, I was walking more often. I went home on day 5. Originally I swore I'd never recommend the surgery, but I feel pretty good now, 13 days post op. Much easier than non laparoscopic appendix and gall bladder removal. Good luck!!

I hit the button every time I could, lol.
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My wisdom teeth surgery was worse than WLS. As others said the gas pain was the worst.
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@@pixystix0116,
Nobody knows! Everyone’s different!
I think, as the others have said, you can do some things to try to prepare. In general, the more weight you can lose before surgery, the better. Getting in shape as much as possible can help. If you can get used to walking before surgery, you can use walking as a way to manage pain after surgery.
Like with wisdom tooth removal, some patients have it easy, and some don’t. Good luck!

@@DaisyAmy, sounds like you didn't have morphine. I'm allergic to morphine so I had Tylenol 3 given to me the night of surgery. It was awful and I was more worried about not keeping it down than about the pain.
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I have had a handful of other surgeries previous to my sleeve (spinal, gallbladder, a miserable hysterectomy recovery, etc), so I felt like the sleeve was a cinch. I only took 3 doses of the pain meds they prescribed (liquid nastiness!). Mostly, it was just incision pain that hurt for a minute when I got up from sitting the first day or two. Sitting and laying down was relatively pain free. I was driving and running small errands by day 3.

I was in a lot of pain when I first woke up from surgery. I felt like I was having a hard time breathing, but I know it's because he repaired a hiatal hernia and the CO2 gas also played a part. The gas pain was the worst part of it all. It felt as if someone hit me in the back of my left shoulder with a hammer. My incisions barely hurt at all. They were tender, but very easy to deal with. It took me about 2 days to feel human again. My pain only got to a 7 on the pain scale. It never went higher than that. If you're in too much pain, tell your nurse you want Diluadid. It helped me relax and sleep while I was in the hospital. Now I'm 3 days post-OP and I am no longer in pain. It was definitely worth it.

I woke up in the PACU with horrendous pain right at my sternum, was quickly given IV Dilaudid and it subsided. Once in my room on the ward, I had a morphine PCA pump so I was able to medicate myself when I felt it necessary. I never had severe pain after the PACU, some discomfort from the gas and some at the incision points but not much else. I walked and walked and walked and walked around the floor I was admitted on...I think that helped with the gas.
I'm a firm believer in medicating yourself to keep up with the pain, not waiting until you're in agony to use your meds. I came home on liquid tylenol and liquid codeine, I used them both faithfully for about a week after I came home and was virtually pain-free.
Good luck with your surgery!

Pain? Nope. Gas discomfort was walked off. I was the "lap queen", walking four hours along the halls 30 minutes after surgery. Soreness? Yes. Pain meds needed? Nope. I was nauseated as hell for a few days until meds were prescribed but actual pain? It was easy.

I am so glad to hear everyones experience because I am scheduled for surgery this Monday, August 8 at 7:30am. I am a bit nervous...
JaY

I have had many surgeries and this was one of the easier recoveries for me. I had bad gas pains in my shoulder for a few days, but once that dissipated I felt only discomfort. To me if a wisdom tooth was a 10, this was a 4.

I never had really bad pain. I never finished my small bottle of pain meds the surgeon prescribed me. I was back to work as a nurse within a week.