A Few Questions....

[OnaLark999 5]

I am 3 months into the 6 months required by my insurance co. I've been reading this website for a couple of weeks. I have learned SO MUCH!.

I, do, however, have a few questions that I'd like to ask:

1)how quickly did you feel like returning to work following your VSG surgery? When were you able to drive?

2) what is the slimies?

3) how long after VSG surgery must a person wait until they travel? I have a week's vacation planned (hotel & air already paid) and I'm trying to decide if I should wait until after I return or could I have the surgery 2 weeks before and still be away from home for a week?

4) how long after VSG surgery did it take until you were able to walk 2 miles or attended a Water aerobics class?

5) if you are traveling away from home (in hotels, etc), how do you plan for Protein meals?

Thanks everyone!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

Hi Ona, welcome to the VST Family!

I am 3 months into the 6 months required by my insurance co. I've been reading this website for a couple of weeks. I have learned SO MUCH!.

I, do, however, have a few questions that I'd like to ask:

1)how quickly did you feel like returning to work following your VSG surgery? When were you able to drive? I went back to work in exactly 3 weeks. It seemed like enough time, though I still felt a bit tired until about 6 weeks out. It wasn't so bad I couldn't make it through the day though.

2) what is the slimies? When you get food lodged in your esophagus your body will create a thick slimy mucous that tries to help expel it. It's pretty gross and a good reason to make sure you don't over eat.

3) how long after VSG surgery must a person wait until they travel? I have a week's vacation planned (hotel & air already paid) and I'm trying to decide if I should wait until after I return or could I have the surgery 2 weeks before and still be away from home for a week? I traveled home over 600 miles 3 days post op via car. I took 2 days of the trip, but I seemed ok the whole way home.

4) how long after VSG surgery did it take until you were able to walk 2 miles or attended a Water aerobics class? I haven't done any Water aerobics but was told to stay out of the pool for 8 weeks due to the pool water hitting the suture lines to prevent infection. I was able to do 2 miles probably about 2 months out.

5) if you are traveling away from home (in hotels, etc), how do you plan for Protein meals? I just made sure I had everything I needed in advance. I'm a revision WLS so I already knew what I liked and what I didn't like as far as Protein supplements. You may want to sample some things, but know your tastebuds might be in full effect post op. Anything powerfully flavored might be a bit much for you. I pretty much had to water everything down or I'd gag.

Thanks everyone!

HTH - and best wishes on your journey!!!

[PdxMan 4,292]

Congratulations on making this decision and getting the wheels in motion. It has been a great, life changing event for me.

1) I was sleeved on Friday and back to work on Wednesday. I was tired and worked 3/4 day for the rest of that week, but was full time after. I got to bed early after that and did fine. IMO, your level of fitness will help your recovery. A person who can barely climb a flight of stairs will have a more difficult recovery than someone who can. This is true for any surgery, not just WLS. I drove as soon as I was off the pain meds, Tuesday.

2) Slimes are when your mouth/esophogus over salivates. You can't control them and it results in a vomit like reaction ... kinda sorta, but not really. It happened only once to me a couple weeks after surgery while after having a different procedure and on pain meds, I slipped back to old eating habits eating a peach. I did not chew enough and swallowed too quick. My mouth filled with saliva and a piece of peach in my esophogus came out into the sink. 3 minutes later, I was fine ... finished the peach.

3) My procedure was in Vegas (baby!) so, I was on a plane the Monday after for a 2 hour flight. No problems, the surgeon just told me to get up and walk around the plan every 30 minutes. Early on, you are just going to be drinking Protein shakes and broth, so you can get that and store it anywhere. But ... some people do have a longer recovery. Some 4-6 weeks. Have you had procedures before? Use that to gage your recovery potential.

4) Water aerobics is going to be off until your incissions have completely healed. 6-8 weeks. You would be fine to go back then. Walking two miles? I did the day after. Probably more like 5 miles, to be honest. Walking post-op is very important.

5) Before I even check in, I stop at the store and pick up my shakes and Water. When I eat out, I order Soups almost exclusively, but I have not traveled since I started eating salads, so I would probably do a soup/salad now. The first time, though, (about 7 weeks out) I ordered a clam chowder and asked them to blend it, which they did.

[tjharmon 11]

I am 3 months into the 6 months required by my insurance co. I've been reading this website for a couple of weeks. I have learned SO MUCH!.

I, do, however, have a few questions that I'd like to ask:

1)how quickly did you feel like returning to work following your VSG surgery? When were you able to drive? I had surgery on thursday and could have been back to work on monday--me and my hubby drove from San Diego to texas two days after surgery--i drove about half of that

2) what is the slimies? already answered--i have never had them

3) how long after VSG surgery must a person wait until they travel? I have a week's vacation planned (hotel & air already paid) and I'm trying to decide if I should wait until after I return or could I have the surgery 2 weeks before and still be away from home for a week? see number one

4) how long after VSG surgery did it take until you were able to walk 2 miles or attended a Water aerobics class? i could walk right after--but waited about three weeks aerobics is different--i would have waited 6 weeks

5) if you are traveling away from home (in hotels, etc), how do you plan for Protein meals? just look on the menu--most places have chicken and fish, etc

Thanks everyone!

[OnaLark999 5]

Thank you! Thank you! Both of your answers were very, very helpful.