BDL58

My DS was done June 1st. I did feel alone for the most part, especially at the hospital. My hubby has severe heart disease and uses oxygen so driving me to the hospital, waiting during the surgery and staying with me were totally out of the question. My coworker, who had the DS about 6 years ago, actually got up super early (had to be there by 5am) and drove me to the hospital and dropped me off. It was very hard being there by myself and I was very nervous preop and I admit a few tears slipped out. Fortunately, my anesthesiologist was wonderful…he’s a friend of another coworker and she contacted him ahead of time (weeks beforehand) and arranged for him to take my case! Awesome!!! He made sure I received something for anxiety right away and took great care of me. In fact, all the hospital staff were just phenomenal to me…made me proud that we all work for the same hospital system. My sister in law came and drove me home post op and stayed a few days. My son also was here and made sure I got all the broth I wanted/could tolerate. Both of them made sure my husband was well cared as well. He told me later he was so, so sorry he couldn’t be there with me. We’ve been married for 40 years and he’s still my sweetheart!

Congrats! How do you feels? Mine is 7/6/21.

Congrats! How do you feels? Mine 7/6/22

Aww!! Happy birthday to you fellow gemini!! My birthday was 5/22 and I was on my liquid pre op diet. It was one of the worst birthdays ever! I too am having a bit of buyers remorse. I originally wanted DS but my doctor said due to my severe anemia, this wouldn’t do me any good in the long run. I just want to learn this bypass because I feel like I went in and came out with the same stomach. Like nothing has changed. Only thing is, I cannot finish my Water in a day but I can meet my Protein reqs easy. I don’t drink a lot of milk products but with the shakes and the yogurts, I’m meeting it. I have also been teetering between 291 and 288 for a week. So I guess I’m in a very early stall.

Happy birthday! Hopefully next year will make up for it in that you can Celebrate normally and you'll have the added life changes that come from going through this process to celebrate Also, I am with you, taking medications in the morning is the most awful part of my day right now. There are just so many for the first week post-op.

Edit: I got you and @CharismaticGlammixed up. The sorry for liquid pre-op diet is actually for her! Sorry. Was replying to you both at around the same time and got it all mixed. So CharismaticGlam, sorry you had to spend your birthday on the liquid diet, and for Morachia, sorry you have to spend yours on the post-op liquid diet! Fingers crossed that next years is much better for you both!

I’m feeling really good! Still tire/get fatigued easily but no pain or nausea anymore. I’m able to do more around the house and have increased my exercise. I’ve lost 8 lbs since surgery; 27 total since my first visit with the surgeon. I had my first post op visit with the surgeon today and he said he’s very pleased with my progress.

You absolutely are not alone. I'm really struggling to figure out this new pouch. The only time I feel full is when I have to take my medications (which they told me to take them normally). Its brutal and takes about 10 minutes where I used to be able to do it in 30 seconds lol. Trying to get my 64oz of Water in and 3 Protein Shakes a day. Its a little bit difficult. I hope it will be easier to differentiate our fullness once we hit puree and soft foods.
I know that I made the right choice by doing this surgery. I thought about it for years and went through 7 months of preparation. But I did experience some buyers remorse last night. I think I'm feeling overwhelmed by it all - I did pull a muscle in my shoulder a day before surgery and that hurts more than anything my surgeon did so its hard to really gauge my pain right now. I feel like I studied and really self reflected leading up to all of this but somehow, I feel that I'm underprepared. I'm sure this feeling will go away with time. I've also stalled...which logically I know its fine, because I'm healing but then the worry sets in, am I doing anything wrong? Its way too easy to slip into comparing your journey to others. We all move at our own pace.
And then my birthday is tomorrow. Kinda sucks feeling so low on such a milestone birthday, but I'm sure once I recover, things will be good. Don't mean to have a pity party lol, I guess I'm just all up in my feelings at the moment. I'm super proud of all of us though. Its not an easy journey.

I am almost 2 weeks from surgery (5/10) but between the 2 week pre-op and liquids since surgery, I can finally feel comfortable wearing a shirt that does NOT cover my butt!

I overheard my sons baseball team (bunch of 12 year old boys) saying “wow, your mom looks great! She’s so healthy now!” The fact that they noticed says a lot

My 4 year old daughter not running up to me jiggling my belly and yelling "LOOK AT THE WAVESSSSS" instead she said "Look mommy it doesn't make waves no more" lmfao

All right; today I had to call my husband out to the field and ultimately we called the case technician for a tech call. We couldn’t get the tractor to shift into gear, I tried everything. I have ran tractors my entire adult life!!!
after a service call here was the problem, when I pushed in the clutch There was no longer enough WEIGHT on the seat to be detected by the sensor for the tractors system for the computer to allow it to shift!!! Whoop whoop!!!! The fix, push my ass down harder on the seat and let up on the clutch!!! Yippe!!!

I’m in the early post op phase. I don’t want to have to buy new scrubs for work just yet so I went on Amazon and bought a kit so I can put drawstrings in the waists of my scrub pants. Lol!

I had my surgery June 3, 2021

My DS surgery on 6/1 went well. My biggest issues in the immediate post op were nausea and pain but both were treated quickly and effectively. Wednesday morning I was taken to radiology and swallowed a couple ounces of contrast for a leak test...I passed the test so go to start Clear Liquids. After the leak test I did have quite a bit of diarrhea which wasn’t pleasant. I spent 2 nights in hospital and came home Thursday afternoon. I was allowed to advance my diet from clear liquids to “high Protein full liquids” yesterday...never knew Protein Shakes or unsweetened applesauce could taste so wonderful! Lol! But again, I developed lots of diarrhea all day yesterday. Very frustrating! Better today since I realized I may be having lactose intolerance issues so I started taking Lactaid today and it does seem to be helping. Fortunately the pain is getting better each day because the stuff they gave me for home is pretty useless: a compounded mixture of gabapentin and Tylenol. Each 5ml dose contains 200 mg of gabapentin and 32 mg of Tylenol. Gabapentin is usually given for nerve pain/neuropathy. Preop I daily took 2000 mg Tylenol daily for my arthritis. Pharmacy charged $50 for the compounded medicine...rip-off and I will tell the Drs office my opinion of their pain management program next week. I know there is an opioid crisis in this country HOWEVER let’s be real folks, 80% of my stomach was just removed snd my guts rearranged...gabapentin 200 mg and 32mg of Tylenol does NOT cut it. Once I could take PO they gave me Tylenol 3 in the hospital which was very effective and actually helped me both move around better and get more rest when I slept. Fortunately the pain is lessening every day. I have to have all my meds as either crushed, liquid or chewable for the first 6 weeks. Yuck! Some of the ones I need to crush are tiny so I’m going to ask if I can swallow them whole since they are way smaller than a tic tac. Mixing with a small spoonful of applesauce or pudding does help though. Wearing the abdominal binder is helpful and when I’m sitting up watching TV I find hugging a heating pad is helpful.

I’m leaving to fly home in about three hours. Dreading the flight but anxious to shower in my own bathroom and sleep in my own bed.

I had sleeve and hernia repair on Tuesday afternoon, and feeling really great. Others have mentioned nausea and so I’d like to share my tips since I get nauseas so easily.
pre Surgery I was given zofran and Pepcid in IV. They also gave me a patch to wear behind my ear and sea bands for my wrists. After surgery I alternated between zofran and phenegrin by IV and then orally. I was discharged just a few hours after surgery so worried I wouldn’t be able to swallow pills ,but strangely that hasn’t been a problem for me.

I was also given “queues ease clip on” to wear and that helped a lot. They can be purchased on Amazon and you just clip to shirt and the aromatherapy is mild but effective. I also find that rubbing Vicks baby rub under my nose helps as well and plan on using that on the plane. It’s invisible so you won’t feel like Claire’s from Silence of the Lambs.

Since I get nauseas when laying down, I walked as much as I could and my companion did back percussions which helped a lot and felt good.

I know this journey is not easy, and that I’m far from perfect, but I am going to try as hard as this 62 year old body will allow to take advantage of this tool I’ve been given.

Good luck to everyone. I know we can all do this!

I think it is helpful to spend quiet time with yourself, get lots of rest and I listened to some guided imagery/meditation that Kaiser hospital has posted on their website. I've done this prior to surgery before and I honestly think it helps me recover more quickly. Here it is if you're interested https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health-wellness/podcasts/conditions-diseases/surgery.
As to the nail polish, your blood oxygen levels are monitored via your fingertips and nail polish can interfere with their readings. But, you know what? When you get out of the hospital and have recovered a bit, you can take yourself for a mani/pedi and treat yourself to some lovely self care to go with your new journey. Best of luck to you and let us know how you are doing!

I’m scheduled for June 1st! So excited and anxious and nervous and thrilled...ALL at the same time! LOL!

My surgery went well on June 1st. Had a good bit of nausea and discomfort the first night. But feeling much better now. Heading home today.

My surgery went well on June 1st. Had a good bit of nausea and discomfort the first night. But feeling much better now. Heading home today.

My surgery went well on June 1st. Had a good bit of nausea and discomfort the first night. But feeling much better now. Heading home today.

My surgery went well on June 1st. Had a good bit of nausea and discomfort the first night. But feeling much better now. Heading home today.

Just finished working my last shift prior to surgery. Monday I get to have a light Breakfast, a Protein Shake for lunch then Clear Liquids thereafter. I have to be at the hospital by 5am Tuesday, June 1st. It’s just crazy how fast the time seems to have passed since my Informational Seminar and first consult!

Thanks! Same to you! We got this!!!

I’m scheduled for June 1st! So excited and anxious and nervous and thrilled...ALL at the same time! LOL!

I just got home from my preop visit with my surgeon and my preadmission testing appointment afterwards. Whew! I’m worn out now! June 1st will be here before I know it...OMG it’s really getting close! I’m so nervous, excited, scared, etc etc!!!