Hi October Buddies,

I had my surgery Tuesday and was supposed to come home on Wednesday, but things did not go as planned. I had a large hiatal hernia that I knew had to be repaired at the same time but no one knew that when the doctors got inside they would find a lesion on my liver. When they were unable to take a small piece of it to biopsy, they cut out the entire thing. The lesion was benign - hooray! But in the process I apparently was left with internal bleeding. My blood pressure dropped very low and the blood count also went down, down, down. The day after surgery I was given two pints of blood and the blood count, while remaining low, did stabilize and I was sent home this afternoon.

My pain has been quite tolerable after the first day and I'm off the heavy-duty pain killers. No nausea or vomiting, I haven't been getting all the fluids I'm supposed to, but since I just came off the IV I'm not worried about it yet.

I notice my prescribed diet seems quite a bit more restricted than others'. I get four Protein drinks and non-caloric liquids only for the first three weeks, followed by three weeks of soft foods or "mushies." I felt a little hungry this afternoon, but the Protein Drink is filling.

Even when I was feeling pretty bad in the hospital, I never had any of those thoughts of regret. Every day will be a little better and hopefully every day I'll be a little slimmer. Right now I think I still weigh more than when I went in for surgery - stomach like a basketball - ha!

Blessings on you all - thanks for letting me join you on the losers' bench; I've been waiting a long time to get here!

Bonnie

Congrats on being sleeved!! I'm so sorry for the rough start with the complications, but sounds like you're home now and ready to get on with your recovery. Wishing you all the best!

Hi Kelly,

I've been watching your progress for several months now and hope I can do as well. Thanks for the good wishes!

Bonnie

Congrats! I think you will find that it is all worth it. The first couple weeks on your diet will be the tough one, but they will also be motivating, because you should see a lot of progress with shakes only. Hang in there, it won't be long before you can advance. I have been really impatient, but it has come more quickly than I expected. I kinda feel nervous moving on to "real" food.

Hi Bonnie! I have been thinking about you all week and am happy you are home and getting on with your recovery. I am so sorry to hear about the "extra procedures" during surgery which held up your recovery. Sounds like you had a rough start. But in one way, it may be better that they found the lesion on your liver and removed it so that there would be no chance that it would turn cancerous at a later time in life. And the repair of your hernia is a positive as well.

My diet for three weeks is almost as restrictive as yours. I am totally on liquids -- clear (at least 24 oz) and protein-type liquids (at least 24 oz) like Protein shakes, yogurt, diet pudding made with skim milk, soy milk -- for 2 1/2 weeks before I get the mushy diet. I have to admit I am getting sick of Protein drinks, and the work of it for me is that I have developed lactose intollerance so everything is now soy or vegetable based. But I like soy milk and found a soy based Protein powder, so I am doing that now.

Hang in there and may your journey get easier every day.

Love from Phyllis, aka Hopeful Spirit

I had surgery on Tuesday as well and came home Friday.

I am suffering from severe nausea and unable to tolerate liquids.

Every day gets better. It is a slow process.

I am down 4 lbs since the day I went into the hopsital. I can hardly believe it as my stomach looks like I am nine months prego.

I never thought I would be excited to pass gas.

I have not had a BM since night before surgery, but my doc told me that I am not taking enough in to even have one. If I dont have one this weekend, I will probably take a shot of Milk of Mag.

I am up already today, showered, walked, had some yogurt with some pills, had 4 oz of skim milk and now sipping on crystal light.

I am doing all I can to avoid dehydration. I do not want to go back to the hospital.

I am very tired and seem to wear down quick, so I will be taking a nap real soon.

I am so glad I am done with the surgery and I will admit, I did have couple days of wondering what I had got myself into. I for sure thought I made a huge mistake. I had a mini meltdown in the hospital as I was so nausea and couldn't keep anything down and just knew I was going to be stuck there forever.

JP

Welcome home, JP! Sorry to hear about your rough start, but it will get better every day.

All good hopes for a speedy recovery and lots of weight lost!!

Phyllis, aka Hopeful Spirit

Courtines, thanks for the encouragement. While I'm really looking forward to something besides Protein drinks, every "new thing" makes me a little bit nervous. That first sip of Water, which didn't come for two days, was kind of scary. On the other hand, yesterday I nearly stuck my finger in some store-bought guacamole my husband was serving to a visiting friend. Naughty thoughts!

Phyllis, I so appreciated the message you sent me before my surgery about the power of positivie thinking. I have sort of a superstious, opposite view: if I worry about something enough, it won't happen. This was kind of borne out for me as I worried about a leak and about nausea and they didn't materialize. But I never gave much of a thought to my liver and it was the problem. So there you go.

JP, I'm thinking about you all the time and sorry that you're still uncomfortable. It sounds like you're on the upswing, though, and that you're strong enough to handle the challenge!

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't sleep in my bed last night and had to use my reclining chair, as it was painful to be on my back so much in the hospital. But when I try to lay down on my back or either side, it feels like my innards don't have enough support and are pulling. Oh the positive side, though, I haven't even had Tylenol since yesterday at noon and I'm lucky to get to be home and sleep whenever I want to. BTW - did the rest of you get weighed in the middle of the night at the hospital? Yup - every morning about 4am they brought in a scale and I dutifully got out of bed. They measured in kilos, though, and I was too groggy to ask for a translation to pounds!