Ouiser

Had Gastric Sleeve on 8/23. Started out at 287, now 224. So things are moving along great.

I use BariatricPAL Vitamin Patch. I did stop take the Ferrcon (Iron Supplement) due to Constipation.

For the past two days - I've woken up with what I thought was simple congestion - but when I blew my nose - it was ALL blood. (no - I did not pick my nose ;)). Bright Pink mixed with Dark Red.

The odd part, its only one nostril.

Is it possible that this is just a cut or tear or something related to an Iron deficiency or what have you?

I just took a urine ketone test and its in the moderate-high range. I know the urine tests are the best way, but at least it gives me a general idea. Certainly explains the bad breath and makes me feel a little better about it.

Sleeved on 8/23; lost about 40 lbs in 3 weeks. Now that I'm in my 4th-5th week, my weight loss has stalled. I hope it picks back up again. Anywhere ever had an issue with bad breath after the surgery? I can't seem to make it better.

Sleeved on 8/23; lost about 40 lbs in 3 weeks. Now that I'm in my 4th-5th week, my weight loss has stalled. I hope it picks back up again. Anywhere ever had an issue with bad breath after the surgery? I can't seem to make it better.

37 minutes ago, TammyA said:

So, I did a little reading and the article said that anything starchy like rice or corn can form a paste in you esophogus and it sort of slides down and blocks the opening to your stomach (because it is now so small). This can cause severe abdominal pain until it works it's way down into the stomach and eventually works it's way out.

Rice is also digested into sugar which can cause dumping syndrome...Dumping syndrome causes weakness, cold sweats, nausea, and possibly vomiting and diarrhea.

I've never eaten congee, but it's thicker than broth, right? It sounds like you should stay away from it for while. If the pain has passed I don' think you have anything to worry about. Eat light today and take care. I'm glad you're feeling better...I just stumbled upon your post, but was concerned for you.

I'm only six weeks post-surgery, but the first time I could eat food I ate 2 scrambled eggs with cheese. I don't know what I was thinking, but it sat in my stomach like a brick for the entire day. I was so uncomfortable and scared. I've never felt like that before. Once it passed I was fine, but I'll never eat 2 eggs again. I'd rather eat one and not feel full.

It's a learning curve...some lessons we learn the hard way...lol!

Thank you so much for your concern and input. Really makes me feel better. As I said, other than a little gurgling and an absolute fear of eating again - I'm doing much better.

I'm alive. Thought I was done for. After a few trips to the bathroom; I'm better. I'm just scared I blew the whole thing open. I generally feel fine today. A little gurgling in my stomach - but that could be left over from taking milk of magnesia last night (I thought it would help).

I don't feel feverish or ill in anyway. I just hope I didn't ruin the whole thing.

will this pain subside? This is the worst pain i felt since surgery.

I'm on my 3rd week post op and I had like 2-3 small spoonfuls of congee.

I am in so much pain I feel like I'm going to explode. did i ruin everything?

7 minutes ago, sushi5912 said:

I never gave up my coffee. I started back on it a few days post op. But I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been able to easily get my Water in. Caffeine is a diuretic and you must drink extra Water to balance it out.

For obvious reasons - this is my favorite answer. I am struggling with water, but not because of pain or discomfort - just not used to drinking this much of it.

2 minutes ago, Angie's_Ocean said:

How about Decaf? Is that allowed?

Not sure. Lot of the paper work I got suggests that decaf Tea is ok. I've read online in some instances that small amounts of decaf coffee okay too - but nothing concrete.

44 minutes ago, MarinaGirl said:

Another reason to limit/curtail coffee consumption is it increases your risk for an ulcer.

Is this risk elevated because of the sleeve or just a natural known risk coffee has always had?

All of the paperwork provided to me from my provider says no coffee or caffeine. Not just at one stage, but all stages.

I understand that during the initial weeks of healing (maybe) coffee might cause a problem. But it is expected that I an never have coffee again?

I drink my coffee Black - no cream, no sugar. Granted, I used to drink a lot of it - but I've been sleeved on 8/23 and am craving for just a few sips of my delicious beverage. I'm curious as to the roles coffee and caffeine can play on the success of this surgery.

So few questions:

1. Why no coffee?

2. Why no caffeine?

3. If allowed, when can I start having it again?

*Again, all on the basis of black coffee - no cream, no sugar (additives that would result in weight gain)

13 hours ago, HDScarlett said:

Ouiser if I wouldn't have a JP Drain, I would have gone back tomorrow. They wont let me go back until its out due to infection.

Yikes. Thank god I didn't have that.

Wow. Either I tolerate pain/discomfort much better or something. I work in a small office, extremely casual. Had my Surgery on 8/23, discharged the following day. Took Friday off and already have the weekends off. Back at work 8/28.

I have my water bottle on my desk that I continuously refill. I'm not in any serious pain (so far).

6 hours ago, SippinAintEasy said:

Try stopping the Isopure. I wasn't using it at first, but then added it and I started experiencing your same symptoms. Once I stopped I felt so much better. Hopefully that's all that's going with you. A call to your surgeon is still probably warranted.

Thank you for your response. That wasn't sitting well with me each time I take a sip. I'm also using a Vitamin patch - so I thought the heat flashes might be related to the Niacin.

Had my gastric sleeve done on 8/23. First 7 days after op all clear liquid diet. My diet consists of Water and Isopure Protein Drink (clear) and 42g. I am using the Multivitamin patch from the BariatricPal Store (which has Niacin).

I've been experiencing random hot flashes, sweating, and have diarrhea frequently. It comes and goes. I can't imagine this is dumping syndrome since I haven't even moved on to any remotely solid? Is this just my body adjusting? Do I have an infection somewhere?

Had surgery on 8/23.... Today awful headache..... Is that normal?

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 5:00 PM, defibvt said:

@Ouiser Yes I am one of those that has had my gastric sleeve. Best decision of my life...

I don't mean to be intrusive - but are you experiencing issues with a lot of loose or excess skin? I haven't had the surgery yet - but that's one of the things that is scares me.

This room is quiet. Surely there are other gay men who are considering gastric sleeve.

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:37 PM, B.Annie said:

I'm 3 weeks out and was so excited that I hadn't experienced buyers remorse... yet. Everything was smooth and weight was coming off.

THEN it hit. The traditional woman's "week before" cravings hit and so did the buyers remorse. I miss taking real bites of food and enjoying feeling full to my soul. Warm gooey food. This new full feeling is all wrong. It doesn't give leeway. One bite too much turns into horror. It's painful, burns, and just plain sucks. My head hunger this week has been worse than ever and it is mixing with my real hunger to make it hard to tell which is which. I've over done myself more yesterday and today and have thrown up 4 times by necessity. It's like all of a sudden I regressed mentally to forget everything. I've been wanting the enjoyment of food so badly that I tortured myself physically.

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm excited about it. I know I will do better and I'm confident I'll get over this mental hiccup. I'm just mad. I WANT to enjoy food, but now it seems it's officially just for survival.

HW: 328 (02/17/17)

SW: 271 (05/24/17)

CW: 253

This remains to be something that terrifies me. My surgery is scheduled a few day before my birthday at the end of the summer. But I think at the end of the day - it will be worth it.

17 hours ago, lindabalseca said:

So u just super increased my anxiety about 100 levels... I have sleep apnea and now I'm in a panic that I might die on the table...thanks for that

Don't be. As I mean mentioned in another follow up....switched providers and they agreed it was excessive.

1. Hospitals are fully equipped to handle breathing difficulties waking up from anesthesia.

2. Only patients with severe cases of.sleep apnea may be required to bring their own equipment.

Having the test done was never the problem. It.was a at home test. Easy. Mailed to me and shipped.back. The anger was the request to.treat the sleep.apnea before surgery. Having a cpap machine.for use during recovery is fine.

19 hours ago, Maxthecat said:

I had to do the same and while I was frustrated at the time, it was for my benefit and not to "jump through hoops". Having maximum oxygenation going into surgery will minimize risk and speed up recovery. So it is necessary.

I was able to find a different clinic that offered early morning appointments so I met up with the Dr at 8am and then did the tutorial on the machine at 7:30am. After that all the data is transmitted electronically so there were no follow up appointments.

Like I said, I was frustrated, but it was worth a couple more inconveniences to get the surgery. I am a month out and down 25lbs. (RNY)

Went to another doctor. All settled. Completely unnecessary for me to be on a machine for several weeks leading up to surgery. Having one IN surgery/recovery is fine (even though the hospital will provide one).

More frustratingly, same doctor - my mother used - double my age, multiple more health concerns - didn't even have to take a sleep test, never mind this.

Frustration levels would be less if location was closer. New doctor significantly closer. Shame on me for not looking around myself instead of just accepting a reference.

19 hours ago, OutsideMatchInside said:

Since no one else is speaking in plain English tryingbeing nice...

The sleep Apnea machine requirement and the whole sleep study is so you don't die on the table.

This is major surgery and you need to be in the best health possible before you have surgery. Anesthesia is dangerous. It is the same reason why they make people do pre-op diets so their livers are smaller to make surgery easier.

This isn't just some random hoops, these are for your safety.

I get it. There are other things that are questionable:

1. I spoke with another surgeon with a gold status on here - and a patient needing their own CPAP machine to bring with them for use with recovery is rare and done only in the most extreme cases. Since majority of overweight patients considering surgery also likely have some degree of sleep apnea - its not uncommon to experience some breathing difficulties in recovery in which the hospital will provide a CPAP machine on the fly for such cases. <<< Never have I had a complaint or noticeable issue with sleeping. I had my appendix removed and did have difficulty breathing in recovery...they hooked me up to a machine for the night (which I had to stay anyways) and that was the end of it. I was not required to bring my own machine first or asked to continue use of it post surgery.

2. All that being said - I made peace with having to have a CPAP machine of my own for recovery. What I did not make peace with is the requirement from the sleep doctor to be on the machine for several weeks (in which they would verify its use through information stored on its processing chip) before they would authorize me for bariatric surgery.

It is very clear - that every doctor has their own preferences or concerns that they highlight more than others. This other doctor, thought what this doctor was asking was extreme an unnecessary.

To my knowledge - no one has died from sleep apnea in a recovery room in a hospital. If they did - I'm sure the hospital would get sued 3 ways from Sunday.

18 minutes ago, Joann454 said:

I know. I asked for them to condense my appointments into one day. So, often I'd see the NUT, psych and NP within a couple hour time frame. Sucked sitting around but it was better than driving up again. Maybe you could ask if they're all located nearby?

Yea, I did that with a few other appointments. It helps condensed the amount of days I have to go up sometimes. I think the real problem is the place I choose to have the procedure done. Unfortunately - I'm at a point where my options are limited to quit my job or have this surgery.

27 minutes ago, Joann454 said:

I had so many setbacks and hoops it took two years to get through everything.
I was frustrated but just did what they wanted so I could get the surgery. They're an 1 1/2 from me and it was definitely inconvenient. You can always cancel if that's what you want.
I will say that I'm glad I got through it and am going on three weeks out and 22 lbs down.

I definitely want to share your happiness. Just don't know if I can afford the surgery without insurance because I lost my job from so I can drive 1 1/2 to have someone smile at me and check my temperature.