mousecat88

I don't think I have a particularly high pain tolerance. Average? lol. I am dead serious that this has been a painless endeavor. The only thing that is uncomfortable is coughing and my back is sore. I am also barely draining a thing. I am psyched to go to my followup tomorrow to see if he will take one or two out. Like if I didn't have these drains in, I would go back to work and be living normally. I have to consciously not lift stuff because I don't have any soreness to remind me to not do it. My WLS was painless because my surgeon sucked out all of the air so I had zero gas pain. Just had that basic muscle soreness for a few days. My gallbladder surgery was pretty sore. I can't wait to see what it all looks like tomorrow. I get to shower. I wanna know where my belly button is since he moved it. LOL.

here's where the arm drain is clipped. the garment goes down to my wrist. I had some minor bleeding on my right elbow where the drain is connected. and some minor bleeding on my right hip where the drain is connected. totally normal. the two lower drains are hooked to my pants waistband. they are pretty annoying because the tubes are so long. and my cats want to attack them. aaaaaa

I am also not hunched over at all. I stand up completely straight. I am not forcing it, either. When I cough I can feel the tightness, but it's already improved. It just doesn't feel tight or painful. I'm purposely not lifting heavy and trying not to use my arms much anyways. Will have a thorough update tomorrow from the doc.

I am not taking any pain meds EXCEPT before bed but only because of my herniated disc. Literally nothing relating directly to this surgery hurts. At all. I had a tummy tuck with muscle repair and he pulled up my hooha region a bit in the process. I am not using the recliner. It is not a power recliner so takes my core and arms to get out of it. Just sleeping on my sofa and in my bed. I can lift my arms all the way up and brush my teeth and hair just fine. I can reach behind my back to rub my sore back, too. lol. Trying not to because I'm not "supposed to", but truly.... this is THE most painless procedure I've ever had. I haven't pooped yet and I am nervous about that. But peeing is fine. I did accidentally drop a drain tube in the toilet. They are hooked onto my waistband and came off. Uuughgghhhhh. I see the plastic surgeon tomorrow for a followup. He said once my drains are consistently under 30mls they came come out and 3 of the 4 have been under 5ml, the other is at 25. I hope to get these suckers out soon! Honestly if it weren't for the back pain being aggravated by the muscle repair, I would feel 100% normal.

pantyline* LOL

Day 2 and feeling fine. The only pain I have is my back from the herniated disc. My arms don't hurt at all and I just have slight burning along my party line incision on my abs. No muscle pain or hunching. Just uncomfortable when I cough. The drains are annoying.... I have tubes everywhere and I have to protect them from the cats and from dropping them in the toilet. lol. If my back didn't hurt so bad, this would be cake.

Arms don't have much pain at all though.

Okay the fentanyl and percocet is wear off. LOL. Definitely some abdominal cramping... just difficult to get comfortable, but I also have a herniated disc. The drains get tangled... kind annoying. I have to empty them evey 8 hours and measure the output. Plastic surgeon called to check up on me and said he did a little more muscle repair than expected. Thank God for my BariBear! Actually helps!

drain zombiiieeee

Everything went great! Took 4 hours. Just feel a bit of burning along the abdominal incision. Minimal muscle repair needed. Minimal lipo needed. I feel fantastic! Headed home now. I have 4 drain tubs but only one is really producing, the lower right. So far, so good! And my arms are tiny!

Today is the day! Leaving at 5am for a 6am arrival. Surgery scheduled at 7:30! I am the first and only patient of his of the day. I'll post frequent updates and all post-op everything here! I have my recliner bed all set up, my Percocet, Keflex, and Celebrex near the "bed". I have given the cats a stern warning about jumping on me. I've done all I can. Wish me luck! #abdominoplasty #brachioplasty

okay so be before because I ate a slice. but omggggg. Super thin broccoli crust, ricotta, mozz, cherry tomato, spinach, and broccoli, no sauce. moneeyyy

On-topic.... going to grocery stores and looking at everyone's carts sickens me. I want to be like NOOOO DON'T EAT THAT ****. Especially since my State has the highest rate of obesity in the US.

Off-topic, but my docs said they will always keep "morbidly obese" on my record because it is historical and still puts me at a predisposition for "fat people health problems" later on in life. Sigh.

I am not a sweets person, but have found I actually really enjoy these (and they taste quite sweet [made with actual cane sugar]). I do not eat the 3 they say is the serving size - I just have one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CC8XAW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They are low cal and low carb if you just have one. They last a loooonngg time. And some flavors are sour, like you said you like. These also helped me quit smoking since I, too, have an "oral habit". lol.

For a while I HATED the taste of vanilla. I also am now obsessed with cottage cheese, but never ate it prior to surgery. I like vanilla again, now, though.

I went out to eat at like 2 months? When I could eat some solid foods. It was kinda' dumb because I managed 2 cheese cubes and a chicken wing, which had Old Bay on it and I choked on the spices and then didn't have any water since I didn't think it was OK to drink while eating. Pro tip: Get a drink anyway in case you start choking.

Sounds like your doctor is overdue for a med mal lawsuit. Also how are you going to tell people to "worry about their own journey" but also ask for advice in your original post. Don't solicit opinions if you don't want them. No one here will sugar coat anything - trust.

Next Tuesday! The 19th.

Hey y'all. I've noticed for the last 3 weeks after I eat I am getting some pretty fierce heartburn. No reflux coming up, just that clean-burning sensation. I had bad acid reflux and heartburn pre-op that totally disappeared. I am taking Prilosec. It definitely doesn't feel like an ulcer or anything and doesn't hurt while eating. It's a very distinct heartburn sensation. Doesn't seem to be correlated to any type of food. Just happens shortly after I eat anything. Any thoughts on this? I was taking Arthrotec which is an NSAID but also mixed with a medicine to protect your stomach lining (prescribed by my bariatric surgeon and later by my primary care for a disc herniation). I stopped that and now I am on Celebrex, also an NSAID but required by my plastic surgeon 10 days pre-op skin removal and 10 days post-op, and also "safer on tummies". Again, this is coupled with the Prilosec. But yeah... heartburny!

Woooo! Orthostatic hypotension! I developed it about 3 months out (found out when I passed out at work). I still have it. I was told it may never go away. For some people it is temporary. For some it stops when rapid weight loss ends. I take Midrodrine now three times a day; it is a God send. Midodrine is the only approved medicine for orthostatic hypotension. Without it, I black out constantly and have a hard time walking from jello-legs.

The biggest piece of advice you will ever get here is: JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD. /facepalm.

I just hoped that once I got down to this size I would learn to appreciate the way I used to look before I got fat. But that didn't happen. Still unhappy with the way I look. And... I have NEVER given a crap what other people think about my appearance; I am my own worst critic as is. I had a lot of OTHER reasons though. I couldn't do simple things and tasks like wiping my own booty was starting to become challenging and I was NOT about to let it get past that point. The quality of life factor played the largest role in my decision.... because my quality of life was going downhill.

Here are 2oz containers for puree stage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IYR5W9A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 My guide said no more than 2oz at a time during that stage. These things were awesome. I bought 4oz containers but never used them.

It's funny how I can give fantastic nutritional guidance (basic) and exercise guidance to people (outside of the WLS community), but can't follow it myself. Such is always the case in all aspects of my life. lol. "Take your own damn advice!" I hear myself encouraging people to eat healthy carbs, help with grocery lists, and help them set goals and design programming appropriate for their exercise goals, etc. And I'm like hmm... I should do this too. Nahhhhhh. lmao.