St77

Oh yes, those will cost you. I can't say if looking into South Shore Hospital or North Shore Medical Center would be any savings.

I would definitely try to get a second opinion then. I had a PICC line in my chest when I was pregnant because I could not tolerate any food or liquids. That was the only way to get nutrition in. I really wonder if they checked for a bowel obstruction. As far as gastric fluids, I'd be surprised if there wasn't something that couldn't be done for that. I'm going to be on carafate for who knows how long because PPIs on their own don't control my reflux. I hope your brother gets some relief soon.

I had a similar experience. I have a client that I print material for and last year I was out for my surgery around the time she let me know what she needed printed. When I returned to work, I was talking with her about the order and mentioned the surgery I had. Turns out we both had gastric bypass. She gave me a few tips and reminded me that while it was rough in the beginning, it would get easier.

On the pre-op diet my migraines skyrocketed. Turns out that it was the shakes because they had artificial sweetners, which are a known trigger of mine.

I can tell you my experience as someone who had bypass. My weight as of January 2022 was 245; on surgery day (May 13th, 2022) my weight was down to 223. As of today it's at 134. My height is 5'2. The surgery itself went fine, but I had some issues with pain management (don't let that freak you out, it's very individualistic on how people experience pain). I was in the hospital for 3 days and released when I was able to keep a bit of broth down. I found that walking around and heating pad helped with the gas, but it took quite a while for that feeling to go away. A week out from my surgery I had to go to the ER because I couldn't keep more than an ounce of fluid down and was dehydrated. 3 bags of fluids and a GI study later, they found there was still some internal swelling that was making it hard for me to meet any fluid/protein goals. I followed the nutritionist advice and start the mornings with a warm drink, which does help. Now, all of these months later, I'm not able to eat much (once again, this is more the exception than the norm), but clearly the amount of food I've been able to consume is providing energy to get me through the day. My sister also had bypass without complications and she lost 85 pounds in a year. She's been able to eat most things, though she's learned the hard way about dumping syndrome. I have no regrets about my surgery and feel much healthier than I've felt. I've gone from a size 22 to a size 8. Something I never thought would happen. Good luck on your surgery.

Ha, ha....that's what my younger sister says all the time whenever my oldest sister talks about dumping syndrome. She just scrunched her faces and says it sounds like a massive poop problem.

I slept in a recliner for the first few days out of the hospital, so I made sure I had clean blankets for that and a few pillows as needed. I also had my laptop arranged so that I wouldn't have to stretch to reach it for when I wanted to watch a movie/show when not napping. I was stocked up with the recommended food items for the immediate post op stage. Beyond that, I'm lucky because I didn't have much house prep to do. My husband wanted me to relax after work so I wouldn't be stressed about the surgery. Between him and my 16 year old daughter, they took care of household upkeep. Good luck on your surgery!

Hips and Curves might have something you're looking for. It's always worth looking at.

I can relate to this on so many levels. I went to the ER with a blinding headache once and was told once that I was not going to be given the drugs I was looking for. Fortunately the neurologist I saw at the time was on call came down and saved the nurse from my temper. I could only see out of one eye and she wanted to send me out the door with a Tylenol. The neurologist snorted at that and loaded me up with with the rescue protocol for my pain. My surgeon who did my gastric bypass insists the issues I've run into are all anxiety. I had to push for testing because I know something was wrong...yeah, I have a staple line ulcer and a slightly twisted ulcer. She wouldn't answer my questions. Atleast my GI doctor did. By far though was when I was pregnant. This damn near killed both me and my daughter. Because I could stop vomiting, I was losing a lot of weight quickly. Yet the chief of the residents clinic insisted that I didn't need nutritional support. At one point I started having pain and my skin took on a yellow tone...that was gallstones. The surgeon was furious that I was essentially being starved, called the residents clinic and made it known how unacceptable it was. I was admitted and 5 days later had a feeding tube in my chest. I went into labor early and labor/delivery insisted I didn't need to be seen because I wasn't in pain. Thankfully a medical assistant wasn't having any of it and pushed for an exam. Yes, I was in labor and they had to rush me because my fluid levels were low and my daughter was very breached. The OB/GYN said had I not gotten in as soon as I did, my daughter would have died and I might have too from further complications.

I'm sorry that happened. I hope you don't have any residual effects from the mini strokes. I only had one once and it freaked me out. My MRIs show lesions that may be related to migraines or may eventually become something far more serious. The one finding that I found amusing was fat in my brain. I actually said to the neurologist "so how much exercise do I need to do to get rid of THAT?".

There is no option to use short term disability where I work. If you have enough sick and/or vacation time, you can use as much as your supervisor will approve. If you don't have any or enough, coworkers can donate time through an emergency leave bank. As a last resort, we can also borrow up to 240 hours of sick time, but that takes forever to pay back. I took 3 1/2 weeks off and it was good that I did because I ran into some complications after being released. Fortunately for me, I have a very understanding boss who knew why I was taking the time and offered to let me take more if needed.

That is a very common concern, believe it or not. Because my mom and 2 sisters have Malignant Hyperthermia (allergy to certain types of anesthesia that can be fatal), I'm generally the first surgery of the day.

Thanks for the clarification. Dehydration is miserable (been there, done that, etc.). I hope you start to feel well enough to be able to increase your fluids. I'm still working on increasing my fluids.

I already was a pretty high risk for a stroke because my migraines are in the stroke region of my brain. However, my cholesterol had sharply jumped up 2 years ago, I was having trouble walking very far without having trouble breathing and my blood pressure had gone up enough that my PCP wanted to put me on medication for it. She was trying to avoid that though because of the number of medications I take to control migraines and seizures. Then came the part of going to places like Disney and Universal where I would get exhausted easily. I didn't have problems fitting into rides at Disney, but Universal is a whole other issue. I almost wasn't able to squeeze into some of the newer rides. I realized that I was missing out on a lot being tired, needing naps all the time and wanted to improve my health. I'm fortunate to an amazing support system.

Mine was actually hauling out bag upon bag of clothes that are now way too big on me to a donation center and buying just a few new pieces as replacements. So far I've donated 15 contractor trashbag size full of varying sizes. The nurse practitioner in my team warned me not to buy too many new things as I'll still lose more, but I wanted to treat myself to a refreshed wardrobe, just smaller.