gonefromhere

Ugh, I'm sorry that sounds terrible! There are some thoughts that CVS may be related to migraines (especially abdominal migraines, which I have had before). I had daily migraines for several years, but treating my sleep apnea bought them down to 1 a month or so. I'm 4 weeks post op with the sleeve and I've already had 3 migraines. Have you considered the bypass instead? It's reversible and the sleeve isn't. Usually I wouldn't suggest picking a procedure based on its reversibility, but if the sleeve doesn't go well you might be vomiting forever and that sounds terrible.

Do you have a doctor who manages your CVS? I would suggest asking them, they would be more familiar with the disease and would know what aggravates it.

Also make sure you're not dehydrated, that can make your urine smell much stronger.

Another thing to consider is that you might not be really hungry, just have a lot of acid in your stomach (it's uncomfortable and goes away if you eat, so I get the two sensations confused a lot). What I try to do is take a tums and see if that makes me feel better (just make sure you take your iron early in the day or the calcium in tums can keep the iron from absorbing).

I started getting comments when I returned to work after surgery (I had lost 20-25 lbs, but started at 250). The comments were only from people that I told I had WLS. My best friend said I look like shit, and other coworkers (who knew I had surgery but not what it was) were alarmed at my appearance and asked if I was okay. I think I got it early because my face changed really fast, my clothes fit mostly the same, but I didn't recognize myself in the mirror for a few days.

Last night I mixed up 3 different Protein shakes and 1 yogurt + protein + flavor before I found something that I could handle the flavor of. I haven't had any problems previously, so last night was a bit of a surprise. Is this a sign that my tastes are changing? I usually like to mix chocolate, vanilla, and those types of flavors with almond milk, but those were tossed down the drain. I eventually found a fruit (mixed with water) that I could tolerate. I don't normally drink the almond milk flavors during the day (it's too much effort to take almond milk to work). So I don't think I'm just tired of those flavors, I don't drink them as often as the fruit flavors.

I gained from apt 1 to 2, but they only submitted my weight from apt 1 and 4, and I had lost the little gain by then. Had no problems.

Huh. I wonder why I had such a hard time last night (3 weeks PO) finding something edible.

I tried the vanilla (pre-surgery) and wasn't wowed, but it was one of the lower "rankings" on that site, so maybe another flavor would be better. It wasn't creamy like ice cream.

As others have said, if you have a ramp button, use it. One trick I used when I was first diagnosed was to sit in bed and watch TV for an hour or two with the mask on. I was awake and could tell myself that I can breathe fine, I'm okay, and eventually would stop having to think about it and could go to sleep. Please use your machine! I had a friend in college who died from sleep apnea (just stopped breathing in her sleep one night).

My guidelines say that once I am reliably drinking 64 oz of fluid a day, I can start coffee/caffeine.

Aetna does not require an endoscopy. Their requirements are here, I recommend reading through them! http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/100_199/0157.html I did the 90 day plan, and they approved my surgery within a few days of submission.

I had esophageal spasms a few years ago (this was way pre surgery) and I went to the ER afraid I was having a heart attack. I hope they end soon! Are you taking an acid reducer regularly? (My Dr has me on prevacid). That's what they told me to do in the ER for the spasms. I started mine the day after surgery and haven't had any spasms yet.

I specifically asked my NUT if I could blend raw fruits/veggies into smoothies and was told nope. Only cooked veggies or applesauce until week 4.

On the day of surgery I had to sign forms that included giving them permission to tell my husband (who was with me) what was going on. They didn't pressure me to sign them or anything, they were just like if you want the doctor to talk to your companion, sign this. So, if you don't authorize it, they shouldn't be allowed to tell your sister.

I think it depends on your workplace norms and scheduling. I planned my surgery for the holidays because almost everyone is out of the office, so I told my supervisor a few months ahead of time, but I didn't tell the PMs until I had a date.

My best friend started gaining weight this summer, and complained to me about it. When she got to her highest ever weight (still lower than I have ever been as an adult) I told her I could no longer talk numbers with her. It hurt me to keep hearing that she felt like garbage even when skinnier than I have ever been. Maybe that played into my decision to have surgery, I don't know. We went through fall and I took nutrition classes and saw therapists to talk about my relationship to food. She continued to gain, so at the end of December I had surgery and she was at my college weight (15 years ago!). I get that she's at her highest ever weight, and random people (like the cashier at the grocery store) ask her if she's pregnant, but I am so tired of hearing about it. She told me today that she thinks she's going to hate when I'm skinnier than her, and that her husband told her that maybe she shouldn't talk to me anymore. I just needed to vent with people who would understand.

Oh, and the thing that cracked me up was during my final pre-op appointment I had to take a test (so the surgeon could make sure I understood what was going to happen).

Wow. My surgeon wouldn't talk to me about my medications, expect to tell me that I can't take pills and I need to talk to the doctors who prescribed them to figure out if they were okay to crush/split/etc. Fortunately I already had a psychiatrist appointment the next week (before surgery). It takes 3 months to get scheduled with my psychiatrist and I would have been SOL I guess.

If it helps, I told the PMs for the projects I'm working on that I was out for "surgery" (no details). I saw one today for the first time post-op. She asked how I was feeling, I said I'm fine, and then we talked about our work stuff. They'll probably figure out what kind of surgery it was in the next few months but they can have their own reactions to it in private.

Welcome to the site! As a heads up, if you're scared you might want to look more at posts from people who are at least 2 months post-op. The first two months post-op seem to be pretty miserable (I'm in the third week right now), but after that most people tend to say it's the best thing they've ever done. Do you have a good support team? It's great that your husband worked on weight loss with you! My therapist has been invaluable dealing with the emotions of this process, so I highly recommend finding one if you haven't yet.

Do the folks who use my fitness pal use the free or paid version? I got annoyed at it showing me only calories unless I paid money.

@@nicole1171 I got some of those yogurt tubes (Chobani has less sugar than Go-gurt, look at the labels) and stuck them in my freezer. They turn into creamy popsicles. I've also put regular yogurt into ice cube trays and frozen them. Then I'll pop out one or two and blend it with some unfrozen yogurt and Protein powder. It's more tart than ice cream, but if you want cold and creamy it'll hit the spot.

Thanks so much for responding folks! I really appreciate all of your thoughts. I think triplethreat nailed it with this comment. I'm not sure where to go from here, but perhaps I'll try to have a serious conversation this weekend. Unfortunately since I'm post op and she's recently out of rehab we can't use alcohol to make it easier!

Today was the first day on soft foods for me. I had 1/2 egg (scrambled) for breakfast and my stomach still feels heavy 8 hours later. I brought a baby food container for lunch but it tasted horrible and I threw it out after one bite. Husband is making a ricotta bake for dinner tonight. He asked if I was sure I wanted it after the egg this morning, but tomato paste and cheese are my favorite flavors so going to give it a go!