Jessica1024

Got a surgery date of June 22 2022 !!! Who is with me ?!?!

hi



my date is june 21 2022

Update : I called the pulmonologist that I had the set June appointment with, explained the situation, I now have an appointment March 31 ! Receptionist said it was no problem. The bariactric nurse simple asked for an appointment and must not have looked at my file to see that all other requirements will be met by March 8th. (Ya know, the little details). This now gives me a 3 month allowance for insurance clearance before my deductible rolls over. So glad I didn’t just sit back and accept the appointment situation. Saved myself time and thousands of dollars. Thanks for all the support !!!!!

I would try a different pulmonologist. I had the same issue but with the gastroenterologist and scheduling my endoscopy. The first dr I went to couldn’t get my endoscopy scheduled before March 25. I found another dr on my own who could do it sooner and was able to have my endoscopy done last week. Now when I see my surgeon tomorrow, all my requirements are done and we can hopefully schedule the date.

My gastric sleeve was done 1/22/22. I had a 10 day pre-op liquid diet which was a lot and lonely. My nurse was supposed to call and check on me about half way thru- she never did- nor did she return my voicemails. I also was in a weird schedule shift at work so I worked 8 of the 10 days- which I think was a blessing in disguise since I was busy and not focusing on what I was or wasn’t eating.

Due to COVID it was a drop off pick up situation. So my mom dropped me off at 5:20 am. I was in communication with her until my nurse anesthetist came in and they put my phone in my bag. I don’t remember anything after the operating nurse coming in and putting my hair net on me around 7:20 am.

The next thing I knew I woke up in recovery with a nurse sitting on either side of me. They were super great- my mouth was very very dry so they let me suck on a sponge. I was also very close to the desk in recovery so I could tell my mom was on the phone with them. I immediately requested my phone from my bag and called my mom. It was about 11:30am and she hadn’t heard from my surgeon- she was not happy. But had a lot of relief hearing from me. The conversation was short as I was still out of it. The nurses also put some Vaseline on my lips since they were super dry.

My room wasn’t ready yet so I was able to just relax in recovery for a bit. Lots of naps in and out and some texting with friends. Once my room was ready the wheeled me away from recovery.

Once I got to my room I was given goals.
-Manage nausea
-Manage pain
- go to the bathroom
-take a sips test
-walk around
-sit in the chair

I didn’t find my self nauseous until they gave me a different pain med via my IV. Luckily I didn’t throw up and they gave me some spearmint patch on my gown which was nice. Pain was managed via IV for the first bit.

I really felt like I had to go to the bathroom so the nurse helped me on my feet within about 2 hours of being in my room. No luck on the bathroom- but I found I could get up and move. After that we did my sips test at 1:15 which went really well. After that I got white grape juice watered down and Water to sip on. Goal was 5 med cups (2 tablespoons) an hour.

After that another nurse came in wanting my to start walking. He helped me into my really comfy pj pants- no open booty walks for me! We did 2 laps around my ward. I ended up in the locked pediatric location so they were a little more lax with me about walking on my own.

During this time I also attempted to go to the bathroom a few more times. Finally before 8pm my nurse came in turned the sink on and basically told me to relax and I was in my head about not going. ALAS- it worked- a ton of relief happened from being able to go.

That night I walked more- drank more- slept more and prayed I was gonna be able to go home. I swear every time I was falling asleep the nurse aid came in to take my vitals. ☹️ the nurse aid also had no knowledge base in what I had done so when I asked for broth she told me to order… there were no ordering food for sleeve patients. The broth was in the kitchen on the floor so that was a bit of a run around but it all worked out well.

The next morning a different bariatric surgeon came in to talk to me- mine didn’t come in on Sundays…. But he was cool and told me I could go home! So I got my paper work and then a nurse came in unhooked my from my IV so I got dressed. My nurse came in gave me a cart and some directions and away I went. I got my meds filled there and then waited for my mom to pick me up.

The first day I was home I was very slow moving. Ended up sleeping in a recliner because it hurt too much to get out of bed.

Monday and Tuesday went similar- very quiet working on getting liquids in and moving around as much as possible.

Today I can get up much easier and moving around a lot more. Since I’ve been home I’ve only taken Tylenol for pain killers- they gave me more but I haven’t felt like the pain was bad enough to use them.

Here are my number so far…
Starting process- 270.9
Surgery day- 258.6
2 days home- 256.6

So far I’ve lost 14 pounds. I can’t wait to see where I am in a month.

I’ll definitely keep posting my journey here. Wish me luck!

Hiya
Well it’s the day of my surgery today. I’m in my gown ready to go down to the operating theatre. A bit nervous and excited at the same time. Eek 😬

I am 42, 5’8” started at 235, currently 169 and losing and I do not have any loose Skin nor did I lose any hair yet and I am almost 9 months out. I was very lucky in recovery and i was able to get my Protein in from day one (i think that helped with the hair) I imagine if I get too much smaller I may still get some loose skin but like catwoman said it should not be extreme. My NP said just not to expect to have a six pack. Fingers crossed. I think that’s really all we can do.

I agree mine was a joke. I could have saved time and just taken a buzzfeed quiz. Literally the only question she asked me that wasn’t on the printed form was if I had a good relationship with my mother. It was super confusing and when I asked for clarification she asked if I felt like I could confide in my mom. I told her she had pretty bad dementia so…not really? After hearing that she immediately went back to the form questions and didn’t vary again.

Over a year later I am still curious about that. Why my mother and not my father? And what exactly was she looking to glean from that? Anyway, the answer that both my parents have dementia and can’t be confided in because it would confuse and upset them wasn’t a disqualification for surgery, for what that’s worth. 😅

if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Fortunately, most of us don't lose enough hair for others to notice (and even if you're one of those who do, it's pretty rare for it to fall out in big, noticeable clumps - rather, it's more like shedding - so your hair just looks thinner). About all you can do is keep on top of your Protein and supplement requirements to keep it from getting any worse than it will anyway. It's temporary and will all grow back, so there's that. I had loss from months 5-9, but it was pretty minimal. I noticed more strands than usual in my combs and brushes, but just looking in the mirror, I couldn't tell - so no one else would have noticed, either. And then there are people who don't lose any hair at all.
nothing you can do about skin. Although you're what we call a "light weight", so you're not likely to end up looking like a Sharpei puppy like someone who starts out much heavier might (I was one of the latter - I was almost 400 lbs and in my late 50s when I had surgery). You'll likely have some sagging, but it probably won't be what I'm guessing you're imagining. And there's always plastic surgery if it bothers you - but I'm betting it won't be that bad.
I was really worried about the Hair loss and saggy skin (I think most people are), but honestly, most of us would take those any day of the week over being obese. And again, the hair loss part is temporary.

I'm sure you'll hear it from others, but Hair loss and loose skin are absolutely inevitable. They are just part of the WLS process. There are some basic things you can do to help minimize the impact and/or speed up the healing/regrowth, but that's about it. That being said, here is what I did:
Start taking your Vitamins now including Biotin or hair/skin/nail supplement, get in the habit of drinking your Water and hitting your Protein goal, use BioOil daily, stop dying your hair/using heat/doing restrictive styles (these all contribute to hair loss so if you minimize them, you'll lose less overall), start using a hair oil with Rosemary (clinically shown to work nearly as well as Nixoin).
I'm 3 months out and am just now starting to see some increased shedding. I'm not sure how bad it will get, but I've just accepted it as part of the process, while doing the best I can to minimize it.

Due to Covid delays I am about 8 months out from gastric sleeve. What can I do, take, ingest, rub on, tie up (lol) to prep my skin and hair prior to surgery to prevent as much damage control as possible. I am 5’6 225 body type is apple shape (or frog shape as I call it.) and I’m 45