male only DH is getting sleeved Mon. 3/7

[M2G 1,836]

My husband is getting sleeved on Monday!

I am so happy for him. Whenever I brought up WLS, he would be mildly interested but for years we never took action. Then finally in Apr. 2010 I made the call to my insurance to get the ball rolling. I asked him to consider it as well. It took him a while, but he did finally decide that he wanted to do this as well. (And I have to give him TONS of credit because I originally was going to do the band and he begged me to research the sleeve...thank goodness!)

Anyway, after some insurance and dr./surgeon bumbling of the paperwork (he was due to be sleeved Dec. 2010) his day is finally almost here. He has about 80-90lbs to lose and I think it will go fairly quickly for him.

Thanks to the "Man Room" I told him he would probably be shaved (and that was confirmed at his pre-admission testing yesterday) they cautioned him to not do it himself, that they would do it for him.

But I was wondering if any of you men have advice that I can give to him? He is planning on taking a week and a half off from work (this is huge for him, he has had about 7 days off in the last 6 months...no joke...it has been a crazy project at work that he is on that is finally starting to come to an end.) How was your recovery time? Did you exercise before getting sleeved and (if not) now that you are sleeved have you found a way to incorporate exercise?

Basically just looking for wisdom/advice, thanks guys!

[DougNichols 124]

The nurses seemed obsessed with determining how my "package" looked. So every time they'd reach for the drain, they'd try to take a peek under the blanket for no reason (even though it was sitting on top).

My advice to him: Take some boxer underwear!

More advice:

Exercise aerobics like you're entering a triathlon! Nobody on the floor but me was walking, and I walked A LOT. My recovery time was exceptional, and I was working out within a week of leaving.

Before going in (even the day before), exercise like 4x weekly, 1-2 hour HARD aerobics. It will greatly increase recovery time, and reduce pain afterwards.

Just my experience.

[M2G 1,836]

My advice to him: Take some boxer underwear!

OMG Doug!! Thank you. I hadn't thought of that at ALL.

I am worried about him b/c he doesn't exercise at all, even though he was an athlete in H.S. (running back was his position at a top ranked HS in CO.) The closest he has come to exercise was back in 2009 when he traveled a lot for his job and stayed in hotels every week, and actually had the time and a place to exercise.

[AmMatthew 35]

So, shamefully, you don't need to exercise to lose weight with the sleeve.

And, I don't like saying this here, but I think that it is true that men have a much easier time losing than women. I think that our metabolism doesn't take as much of a hitch, many of us bug guys have some considerable muscle mass under the fat...and that keeps burning as we lose.

So, yea, the surgery sucks, but try not to think about it. Hopefully, his docs and team will make it like mine did.....inevitable, like death row or something. There were times that it hurt like nobody's business....but it's really, really, really hard at only 100 days out to remember that. So, it's a pretty short-term sacrifice as you well know.

Walk a ton. You'll probably find that he's more of a whimp about it than you we're (at least that's what I figured relative to my wife's C-section). I slept in the guest bedroom the first couple of nights home so that I could prop myself the right way (I can't remember now what the right way was, but there was one). The drain catches on things, and that sucks.

I'd say cotton shorts are an alternative to boxers. The biggest and baggiest clothes that he has. He'll be out of them in a couple of weeks, but will appreciate not have anything pinching right post-op.

Maybe he'll find that once down 50 or so pounds that he's got more interest in working out. I also find that now down 60 lbs. I'm more active...taking the stairs, taking the long way, than I used to be since I'd always be out of breath and sweaty.

OMG Doug!! Thank you. I hadn't thought of that at ALL.

I am worried about him b/c he doesn't exercise at all, even though he was an athlete in H.S. (running back was his position at a top ranked HS in CO.) The closest he has come to exercise was back in 2009 when he traveled a lot for his job and stayed in hotels every week, and actually had the time and a place to exercise.

[Paul11011 372]

I was non active before my surgery and everything went according to the textbook. I had surgery on a Monday, was home on Wednesday and back to work the following Monday. Not much pain, only once took the pain medication I was send home with and that was prcautionary before bed the first night home. Gettin up and moving as soon as possible will speed recovery and help the newly sleeved stomach to move material through.

Best of luck to your hubby and I hope your ready for the increased "activity" he's going to be having with YOU.

PS, what's this drain y'all are talking about? I did not have one.

[M2G 1,836]

So, shamefully, you don't need to exercise to lose weight with the sleeve.

And, I don't like saying this here, but I think that it is true that men have a much easier time losing than women. I think that our metabolism doesn't take as much of a hitch, many of us bug guys have some considerable muscle mass under the fat...and that keeps burning as we lose.

Ooooh, that is good to know about exercise. I definitely think that he will want to exercise more as the weight starts to fall off. And I had to PROMISE him to NOT GET MAD at him if he loses faster (which I'm sure he will)...but MAD and FRUSTRATED are two different things.

I think your goal weight and his are similar ...about 190lbs? (if I read your ticker correctly) Although he did say that he wouldn't be sad if ended up at 180. I guess getting to goal is a process and I've heard from several people that they actually change their goal as it approaches according to what they are comfortable with.

Thanks for your comments and insight!

[M2G 1,836]

I was non active before my surgery and everything went according to the textbook. I had surgery on a Monday, was home on Wednesday and back to work the following Monday. Not much pain, only once took the pain medication I was send home with and that was prcautionary before bed the first night home. Gettin up and moving as soon as possible will speed recovery and help the newly sleeved stomach to move material through.

Best of luck to your hubby and I hope your ready for the increased "activity" he's going to be having with YOU.

PS, what's this drain y'all are talking about? I did not have one.

Thanks Paul...do you mind me asking...do you have a desk job? (that is back to work QUICK...that is awesome!) He has a desk job (computer-related IT type work) and thankfully he can work from home (or sometimes not thankfully when it is a Sat. or Sun. and most people have the day off...lol) I had a very quick recovery, but I am currently not working so there was no "push" to get back to work, etc.

And the drain, oh my, you are so LUCKY to not have had one! Our surgeon uses a JP drain (you can google that if you want to see what it looks like) but it was a long tube coming out of my abdomen down to a bulb that drains excess blood and Fluid from your insides (you have to empty the bulb every so often.) My drain was in for 6 days and since I had an easy surgery and easy recovery, if I had to pick the worst part of surgery, it would be the DRAIN. I'm not sure how long my husband will have his in, and maybe he won't hate his as much as I hated mine.

Thanks for your insight, I know the first week or so tends to be the hardest, so I'm hoping that all goes well.

[Paul11011 372]

Thanks Paul...do you mind me asking...do you have a desk job? (that is back to work QUICK...that is awesome!) He has a desk job (computer-related IT type work) and thankfully he can work from home (or sometimes not thankfully when it is a Sat. or Sun. and most people have the day off...lol) I had a very quick recovery, but I am currently not working so there was no "push" to get back to work, etc.

And the drain, oh my, you are so LUCKY to not have had one! Our surgeon uses a JP drain (you can google that if you want to see what it looks like) but it was a long tube coming out of my abdomen down to a bulb that drains excess blood and Fluid from your insides (you have to empty the bulb every so often.) My drain was in for 6 days and since I had an easy surgery and easy recovery, if I had to pick the worst part of surgery, it would be the DRAIN. I'm not sure how long my husband will have his in, and maybe he won't hate his as much as I hated mine.

Thanks for your insight, I know the first week or so tends to be the hardest, so I'm hoping that all goes well.

I'm an on the road sales rep, so I'm driving to customers all around the West Michigan area. Nothing physically demanding, which contributed to being able to return so quickly.

Soooo glad I did not have a drain. It sounds like that would be awful. Not sure what my surgeon does differently that eliminates the need for a drain.

Best of luck to your hubby, I'm sure he'll do well.

[M2G 1,836]

Thanks for all the advice guys. His surgery went well, recovery is going well, he should be released from the hospital today. It will probably be a long week for him but he is in good spirits. I joked that it's too bad he had to have surgery to get a little time off.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice/wisdom, it was much appreciated!