Beadingnurse

Tuesday will be my 2 week anniversary of the surgery and it was one of the best decisions I ever made!! I was scared and even told my hubby the morning of that I couldn't do it and I wanted to cancel! This was after I was at the hospital in pre-op with my IV started and was almost ready to go. The anesthesiologist came in to chat about then and she was so calm and reassuring that I calmed down too. I am SO glad I had this done and I already feel so much better with just the weight I have lost. The future is only going to get better. Take care all of you having surgery this week...I will direct some healing thoughts your way and I look forward to hearing about your experiences afterwards!

Thanks for posting the link to the Cornell guidelines Starygirl. I have pretty extensive instructions from my nutritionist but I am going to take a look at these and compare! We are all unique in how quickly we can transition to foods. I tried a bit of oatmeal for Breakfast this morning and that was an adventure. I made 1/2 cup which was a joke of course. I put about 1/4 cup of cooked oatmeal in my bowl with splenda and had a couple of tiny bites. It took me 45 minutes to eat about 1/8 of a cup and I reheated it during that time too. It tasted good though to have something that wasn't a pureed Soup or Protein shake! Can't wait for a scrambled egg!

Any chance you will have another procedure at the same time? I had a hiatal hernia repair done at the same time and that gave me a bit of comfort as insurance paid for that portion of the surgery. If I had to be readmitted for dehydration or infection my insurance would have paid. It would NOT pay (they said) if I developed a leak post op. It IS scary but it was a risk I was willing to take. Good luck!

Whoo hoo!! Congratulations!

Sleeved on the 4/12 and I don't have hunger yet and I was someone who was ravenous a lot before surgery. I have an "empty" feeling when I have not eaten in awhile but it feels like something I could ignore if I wanted. I took prilosec every day for years since I had a hiatal hernia but it was repaired at the same time and I haven't taken anything for acid since the surgery nor have I felt the need to. . Yea! I did wake up this morning craving a turkey club sandwich with crisp bacon and lots of mayo! .

SB decaf Americano with non-fat milk & splenda for me! I had coffee on my list after day 3.

You've lost an amazing amount of weight! Congratulations on your hard work!

Kids05...So sorry to hear you are still on liquids & that you have a narrowing. . Sounds like a stricture to me but maybe your swelling is just slow to resolve? Anyway, take care of yourself and this too will pass!

I feel like 50% of the weight I have lost so far has been from the girls! I am totally ok with the loss though because before I started gaining weight I wasn't big busted and I know under this fat is a small boned person. I will look more proportional and normal (for me) once I get to whatever my new normal is. I am hoping not to get to flabby but I will have to wait and see what I get. Good topic!!

I am a side sleeper too & slept in the guest bedroom the first 4 nights at home so that I could take up the whole bed & prop pillows around me for support without shoving hubby out of the bed! It was uncomfortable the first 3 nights as I couldn't side sleep & could never get comfortable on my back. By night 4 though I could sleep on my side if I tightly spooned a pillow against my abdomen...still doing that actually but each day gets a bit easier. My doc said no sex until 2 weeks.

Congratulations!! I went home a week a ago today after just an overnight stay and every day just gets better!! I was pretty bloated the first 3 days and I walked a LOT in my house just pacing and that seem to help to decompress. Good advice that I received was to walk, sip, repeat!! Good luck and happy to hear it went so well.

I plan to go back 14 days after surgery. Honestly though, I could have easily gone back to work today and today is POD 7. I have a desk job and do nothing strenuous so I wouldn't feel that way if my work was more physical. I actually did more WORK at home today with various projects than I would have if I had gone back to "work"!

Congratulations!! :clap2: It is a thrill when you get through the process and realize it wasn't as bad as your fears. The good new is that you can blame all of the "drugs" you had as the reason that you told your doctor how hot he is!! :crazy:

I have worked in insurance pre-authorizations before and I agree that if your employer has chosen to exclude weight loss procedures; you won't get anywhere with an appeal. The reason is your employer does not want any exceptions or they have look at them for everyone. Not encouraging news I know. . My insurance also wouldn't cover so my procedure was done with self pay. It is worth ever penny to me! Ask your surgeon's office if they have any financing options. Good luck!

Don't pull that drain out yourself!!! You and I are both nurses but it is sutured in place and is probably 20-24 inches long. Don't want to play doctor here but the shoulder pain is likely from the carbon dioxide they pump us up with during surgery. For some weird reason the pain is often referred to the left shoulder area and it IS very painful. The body just has to reabsorb that gas so time is your best friend but walking as much as you can will help increase the absorption. I also found a heating pad and as many back/shoulder rubs as I could plead for also helped! I'd love to be able to eat yogurt as I love it but it isn't on my eating plan until week 3. Good luck and feel better soon.

I went to a baby shower once where the game was to identify by taste or smell a dozen jars of baby food whose labels were covered. I literally gagged just smelling a couple & couldn't imagine tasting any of the foul things! Poor babies having to eat this crap!

Kids05...OMG I can't even imagine the hiccups! I was a drama queen if I to blow my nose or cough...that must have been so painful! I wore my oldest stretchiest pajamas home from the hospital as I knew I would likely be swollen. Hope you didn't have to go far in the car! YES....my abdomen was very lumpy, swollen and not symmetrical at all. It has reduced some and evened out a little since surgery but girlie magazines are not knocking down my doors yet to get good photos! Sorry you didn't have the benefit of nutritional counseling...did your doctor give a diet to follow at all?? You should contact them pronto for instructions but mine said I should be on Clear liquids for a few days and he wasn't worried at all about me getting in protein during this time as my job was just to stay hydrated. I am just now trying to even think about Protein drinks. I do hear a lot of gurgly sounds when I SIP fluids... I try to take a sip or two...let it go down for a minute or two or even a few minutes before taking another. Sometimes I get up and walk around in the interim to get stuff to move down. Your body is still swollen from surgery and things may be very slow for days or even weeks. THAT IS OK and normal. I watched when they did my leak test in the hospital and saw that fluids kind of back up in my esophagus a bit because of the swelling and trickled slowly through my new tummy. You won't die from a protein deficiency quickly! so don't worry as much about getting your numbers up with that. You have some time to get used to eating (basically drinking) for now. That said, when you CAN take some protein drinks...do so because that will help you get your strength back more quickly. Here is what I have been drinking since surgery...plain Water, Vitamin water (Propel), green tea from a bottle (Lipton) at room temp, green tea steeped and warm, miso Soup broth, powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken broth Protein Drink, Atkins chocolate Royale shakes. I've tried a couple of cream Soups from the grocery with poor success. One promising one yesterday was an expensive wild mushroom bottled soup that tasted okay but was like eating gravy...way to rich tasting. I tried a red pepper soup that was tasty and a "fall harvest" one that wasn't. I am only having 4 or 5 tablespoons top but it is enough to feel like you have "eaten" something. It takes me at least an hour to eat my bit of soup though. Next week will basically me more of the same for me...fluids, creamed and pureed foods. Feel free to private message me if you have more questions but good luck on this weight loss journey! These are the hardest days and they will all be a dim memory soon! Take care

GoofySpice...my husband is a surgeon and he tells me stories occasionally (without names of course!) of how people behave when they have lighter anesthesia and are semi awake during procedures. Some of the most prim and proper old ladies in the world can get quite risque and bawdy...nothing like having a little chemical dis-inhibition!! Fortunately folks who work in those environments are professionals and never let the person know they did anything potentially embarrassing. Thank goodness we have general anesthesia for the VSG so I only got to embarrass myself in the PACU instead of in front of the whole surgical team.

You know Swizzly...I was thinking the same thing! No one should have to lie to get medical treatment and if you are VERY knowledgeable about your rights you might be able to get them to back down...but who wants to do that when they are hurting, scared or feel like crap. :angry_smile: If you felt up to doing battle with them, would you BE in the ER? I don't think so. :censored: I had my surgery done where I live so it won't affect me but anyone facing this might think about saying something like you suggested...out of state...wanted to be closer to mother, brother, dog...whatever. If questioned further insist you are too ill to go into details :crutch: but will have your family bring in full surgical history soon (right!)

It is absolutely illegal for them to refuse to treat you. I'd get a copy of my ER report, write down the name of the nurses & docs who were involved in your care. If you can't decipher their names from signatures (likely) call the ER Director & or ER Charge nurse and ask for the correct spelling of names. If they refuse, call back & ask to speak to someone in Risk Management...go through human resources if you have to but get the names. It is perfectly fine to tell whoever you talk to that you need to report an "incident" to the licensing boards for the doctors and nurses involved. Honestly, I wouldn't even get into a discussion of what happened and what your grievance is. Then, make a call to Board of Nurses and Board of physicians and make a complaint. It won't take you long at all. THEN....call the Joint Commision for Accreditation in Health Care and report the Hospital. Trust me, there will be investigations done and care policies will likely change because take the time to this! Investigations and enforcement of licensing violations is what I do for a living and I am so sorry you had to go through this but you can make the path easier for those who follow. I am happy to locate the phone numbers for you if you want....just private msg me. I also don't think anything YOU did caused your infection. Good luck!

Thanks for the update...I wondered what had happened and how you were!

I think you will absolutely wear and probably have to give it back to Goodwill b/c it is too big!! :) I had the same thought about skirts being more forgiving & I work where I have to dress up so I went to a couple of Goodwills over 2 weekends and bought 9 skirts spread out over 3 sizes! I also have set up the guest room closet with clothes that are currently too small for me....most were things I already owned plus my "new" skirts! Can't wait to start losing weight & trying them on. I think it is fabulous to have a "goal" outfit!

Mouth sprays are are typically in the dental care area of your grocery but you can probably find it in Target/Walmart type places too. Ask if you don't see it because people who have health issues that result in a dry mouth use it all the time.

HEATHER!!! You had surgery on Tuesday too! How are you? Did it go okay for you? Did you end up with all of your colleagues attending as you yelled obscene things at them in the PACU? (oh wait, that was me...sorry) :embaressed_smile: I know you were worried about all of your new co-workers taking care of you after surgery and I so get that now. I was blessedly unknown at the hospital where I had my surgery but I can only imagine the extra burden of trying not to be a prima donna or a whiner with your colleagues. You have enough on your mind just having your surgery without also trying to remain professional. And yes....I distinctly recall saying to the PACU nurse.."*%#!*, I KNOW you have better drugs than this". (I am truly embarrassed and sent her an apology.)

My nutritionist told me almost any Protein drink is fine if it uses protein isolate as the form of protein. Not sure why that is important but the brands that I have bought all seem to trot out that fact like they are very proud of it so it must mean something. I looked at the link that you attached and I didn't see where it mentions the type of protein used. You might want to research it further to see if you can identify that or even email the company for more complete nutritional information. The nutritionist also told me that the body can only absorb about 30 gms of protein at one time so a product that has more than gms of protein is a waste of money (according to him). Once you have established that your protein power is made from "protein isolate" then I think the most important factor is if you can tolerate it or even like it! I bought some stuff that made me gag and I would have preferred to eat powdered dirt than that product and others I could drink even if I didn't love them and others I really love. I find it is truly a matter of your individual taste though and the only way to find out is to buy samples or small containers and try it. One person's powdered dirt is another person's yummy delight. Many companies have sample packages you buy that give you an assortment of products and I invested about $80.00 in buying samples before surgery and just tried stuff. You don't need to have 20 that you like...4 or 5 would be more than enough. If you do a search on this site for "protein samples" you will find links to some of the companies. One final comment...Unjury's starter kit is less than $20.00 and it has a very nice shaker that I use a lot and a food thermometer in addition to the protein samples. http://www.unjury.co...arter-pack.html Good luck!