Well, tomorrow is a month out for me. I had a really rough start. The first two weeks were just me getting sick, the third week has been a gradual improvement. And now I feel like I am finally on my way. In hindsight there are a few things that were very specific to me that I wish I had known, and I appreciate all of you for educating me:

During those first few weeks I felt more like a patient still, not someone who was headed in the direction of life change. I felt almost guilty considering my weight loss as an accomplishment, because I was throwing up all the time, not hydrated, and getting 200 calories a day max. It felt like saying thanks for a compliment after getting the flu.

I think even if you are worried that you are naggy or annoying to them you need to call or email your surgeon anytime you feel unsure of what is happening. This is a risky time period and most medical offices are happier to answer questions, then deal with complications.

I wish that I would have started exercising immediately. I know that I didn't feel well and wasn't super hydrated, but the mind set of knowing that you are moving just for the sake of your health does a lot for you mentally. I wish that even on the roughest days I would have atleast walked around the block once.

Don't be ashamed about what this does to you emotionally. And parts of it can be a rollercoaster ride. The day that I finally came home I spent eight hours of that day pacing my hallway and took 5 hot showers in the hopes that they would relax me. I was incredibly anxious in a way I had never experienced. I was super blessed that my PCP called in an anti anxiety for me. I only had to take it three times, but in hindsight and after doing a little homework I realized: I had been having my period, was on super high doses of reglan which are known to cause severe anxiety, and still had anisthesia medication in my body.

Do your best to follow all the guidelines of your surgeon and to take care of yourself, but use this board as a support, not as a means to compare your progress to others. I was so frustrated that when others were starting to work out hard core I was getting out of bed for work, then coming home, putting my jammies on and falling asleep again. I had to realize that our bodies all cope with trauma differently and it wasn't a character weakness on my part that my body needed more to recover.

And today I can finally say what I have read others say, I am feeling good. I am still learning so much. I have to measure my food because I am horrible at eyeballing it, I have to set timers so I remember to drink enough fluids. And as I track my nutrition I have realized that I am far better nourished at 600-800 calories I day then I was with my daily Wendy's fix.

Thanks to all of you for answering my millions of questions and for dealing with all of my frustrations. Your support has been invaluable!

Edited April 21, 201016 yr by wannalise
Error in explanation

goodlife, where do you get your "brownie mix"?

One thing that I did pre op and wish I'd done post op, was get egg drop soup from my fave Chinese restraunt and strain it. Maybe that would be a new change to the boring icky broth.

Brilliant!!! That's a really great idea. I'm going to have my dh go to PF Chang when I can handle it and bring some of that home.

My daughter has promised to make her special zuchinni vegetable soup (pureed, of course) when I can have that - which is this coming Wednesday. Truly something to look forward to.

Thanks for the tip!

How do you all take your Vitamins and pills? For instance I have really bad allergies and take a small round zyrtek everyday, I have a blood pressure pill and Water pill - hopefully after surgery I will not NEED this... I am on Effexor which is a capsule and i have to take 3 Large Capsules per day at one time.

I also take large Multi Vitamins (I mean horse pill large lol). Finally I take a few other smaller pills like Melatonin for bed and Lortab from a car accident that are a good size. All in all I think I consume about 7-8 pills per day. I have switched my Vitamin B-12 to liquid - but that is all.

I haven't had the surgery yet and I am very worried that my meds will make me throw up, be sick or not go down. Is anyone else on a large amount of medication - and how do you deal with this post op....? Thanks for any advice!

Pammi, you're doing the right thing by trying to figure this out now. I was worried about one pill in particular that I was taking because it was rather large and dry (no coating.) I thought I could just crush it but the instructions say to never crush them. My doctor didn't know it but the pharmacist did, that they make it in a crushable form in a smaller dosage. So the doc ordered it for me and I take them twice a day instead of once.

You should get the Centrum multi-vitamin that is chewable to take care of the Vitamin thing. They do not always have the chewable ones, so either order them in advance or find a place that carries it. They're great and you can get them in several kinds of dosages.

For the other things, you might check into a pharmacy that actually mixes the meds themselves. Your doctor may know of one if you don't. But they will be happy to discuss the possibilities and find a remedy.

My doctor had a sleeve patient who had always taken a load of vitamin supplements pre-surgery. He thought he was fully recovered from the surgery, swelling, etc., but one morning he took his pills as usual and wound up aspirating them into his lungs. He almost died but the doctor did an emergency surgery to retreive them. Came up with a handful of Vitamins and saved the guy's life.

This is not something to take lightly. It's real important. I haven't had a moment where I thought I would throw up or aspirate anything. But I'm being very careful and only taking one small whole pill per day (blood pressure.) But my recovery is young. I only got the sleeve last week.

Take care and keep doing your homework! Hope you get your sleeve date soon.

I haven't had any problem at all swallowing pills since the day I came home from the hospital.

The two prescriptions they sent me home with were pills....the acid reducer and the Symax.

I've also resumed taking my vitamin D capsule too.

My multi vitamin and iron supplement are chewables..got them from my surgeon's office. They are Bariatric Advantage. And I take a weekly sublingual B 12

I haven't had any trouble taking them since I got home either, goodlife. But I am very very careful.

How do you all take your Vitamins and pills? For instance I have really bad allergies and take a small round zyrtek everyday, I have a blood pressure pill and Water pill - hopefully after surgery I will not NEED this... I am on Effexor which is a capsule and i have to take 3 Large Capsules per day at one time.

I also take large Multi Vitamins (I mean horse pill large lol). Finally I take a few other smaller pills like Melatonin for bed and Lortab from a car accident that are a good size. All in all I think I consume about 7-8 pills per day. I have switched my Vitamin B-12 to Liquid - but that is all.

I haven't had the surgery yet and I am very worried that my meds will make me throw up, be sick or not go down. Is anyone else on a large amount of medication - and how do you deal with this post op....? Thanks for any advice!

It kind of depends on your surgeon. Some people get the advice that as long as it is about the size of an m&m you can swallow it no prob. My surgeon likes people to crush until 3 months, but I couldn't pull it off and finally called and they cleared me at 1 month. I take chewable (bariatric advantage) multis, I know lortab comes in a liquid, I used to take melatonin and you should be okay with that size pill, but like I said, I would check with your surgeon/pharmacist. Good luck!