Flowerpower321

My surgery date is 02/02/2024 excited and nervous thanks for the tips didn’t think of that!!

My surgery date is 02/02/2024 excited and nervous thanks for the tips didn’t think of that!!

Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forum and didn't really know where to begin, so I figured why not start a thread about my journey?
So, I've always been kind of obese (there were a few years that I lost a lot of weight sticking to a low carb diet) I hovered around 300lbs give or take for many years. In 2012 during a divorce, I ballooned all the way up to 365lbs and I swore I'd never get to that point again. I started doing low carb and got all the way down to 235lbs before getting re-married and gaining back about 50lbs. During COVID in 2020, I just completely fell apart and ended up getting to my all-time highest weight of 385lbs.
I drive trucks for a living and in August of 2022, I had to go for a sleep apnea test and I failed miserably. Failing the sleep apnea test put my career in jeopardy. I decided immediately afterwards to contact my local hospital about bariatric surgery and immediately started a 6 month program in October, 2022. Since I had already had the sleep apnea test and failed, I'd already knocked that part out at least.
I literally just got back from my final doctors appointment and they told me that it's up to my insurance provider to approve or deny me for surgery. I'm really excited but also really nervous. The only time I've ever stayed in a hospital overnight was to take my sleep apnea tests.
I started this journey at 385lbs, today I weighed in at 365lbs. I had my ups and downs, but I'm really looking forward to this journey and really looking forward to getting to know everyone and to share my journey.

Hey, February surgery buddies: February is next week! If you haven't already, this would be a great time to take your "before" photos and measurements. I see so many posts from people who wish they had remembered to do it before surgery, and lots of others who are so glad they did because it gives you a great non-scale victory to focus on during the process.

Tips:
Choose something form fitting to wear, such as exercise clothing, and plan to keep it so you can take your photo wearing the same thing once a month for the next year or more. Try to take the pictures in the same spot each time and choose a background without too much distraction, like a blank wall. Use good lighting. Get front, back, and side angles. No sucking it in or tricky poses to make you look smaller. Let it all hang out! As hard as it may be to look at the photos now, you'll appreciate it later when you can compare the results and truly see your progress If it's too hard to look at photos, don't opt out! Have your spouse or a best friend, someone you trust, take the pictures and keep them for you to look at later. For measurements, make sure you do the standard chest, waist, hips, and also get help doing your right and left biceps and thighs, plus calves and neck.

I didn't have any pain at all I didn't even bother opening the bottle of pain pills they sent me home with. The only thing I had, like someone else said, was tightness in my abdominal muscles. I didn't feel it if I was just lying there - or sitting there - or standing there - but when I was transitioning from one position to another, I could feel it - felt like I'd done a bunch of crunches.
pain is really all across the board. Some of us have it, others have little to none. But they'll send you home with something if you do. The pain usually just lasts three or four days if you have it, so you're not likely to need a refill (although I would assume they'd refill it if needed)

I would say 3 or 4 days till the incisions felt alittle better. I did a big grocery shopping on day 6. All I took for pain was a couple shots of liquid tylenol. They also gave me a bottle of liquid oxycodone to take home from the hospital. Never took any - it's still full . Honestly,for me,it was one of the easiest surgeries I've had.