What do you wish someone had told you, or made more clear to you, before surgery?

Thanks!

???!!!!!! WHAT, I have never heard this, I will wake up with a tube in my throat??!! Is that standard for every doctor???

Most of the time the tube should be gone when you wake up.

Dooter,

I wish that had been the case for me but mine actually stayed in two days. I got off a half day early with good behavior lol.

3/21/11 - 242

8/8/11 - 213.4 (-28.6)

9/10/11 - 194.2 (- 19.2)

10/8/11 - 180 (- 14.2) **abscess discovered, in hospital 10/20-10/27**

11/5/11 - 170.2 (- 9.8) **leak discovered, on feeding tube, in hospital 11/7-11/8 and 11/10-11/29**

12/2/11 - 164.4 (- 5.8) **on feeding tube**

1/5/12 - 167.2 (+ 2.8) **on feeding tube until 1/17**

Libbe, I feel so bad for what you had to go through! I didn't know that you could get an abscess two months out and a leak three months out! Did your dr. tell you why/how that happen? You've been through so much!

I did not wake up with a tube. Ask your surgeon about tubes and drains up front so you know going in. Everything varies from surgeon to surgeon from tubes & drains to post-op diet.

I wish someone told me not to stock up on as much stuff as I did. I have too many popsicles & Jello for sure. I felt like I was going to be in each stage forever and bought too much stuff.

I knew a leak was a very small possibility. We never want it to be us but it can happen. I wish I had known more about leaks and the process of healing from one. 2 weeks in the hospital, 3 weeks on tpn (this means no food or liquids,,you are fed by a picc line)..which is also not so comfortable. I wish I knew that once my leak was healed that I would have to start back to square one where my diet was concerned,,at 4 weeks out from surgery,,I was back to clear liquids then full liquids,,mushies,,etc. I wish I knew you can/more than likely will gain weight on tpn,,I had lost 24 pounds on my pre op and 1 week after surgery combined..but then on tpn I gained back 13 pounds. So when I say back to square one not only diet but trying to get that weight back off was a little disheartening. I have 3 pounds to go where I had left off and I had surgery on Dec 27th. I wish I had known that eating normal food would be hard to get down and keep down (probably not for everyone but it happens often enough). All that said..I am now at the point that I can say I am glad I had this surgery. As for what people say about having surgery, you have to look at your reasons for having it and weigh if it's more important than what people think of you having it,,you'll get your answer and not care what people think,,if that makes sense

I did not wake up with a tube in my throat with Dr Kelly. So if they do this, they remove it before you wake up. I didn't have any throat pain or irritation, so if there was something there, they are extremely skilled at doing it lol. This coming from a person with a choking phobia by the way. You will have a drain in your abdomen, but it wasn't near as bad as I expected.

???!!!!!! WHAT, I have never heard this, I will wake up with a tube in my throat??!! Is that standard for every doctor???

I wish someone had told me everyones experience would be completely different. I had no pain, no gas, no tube down my throat. I did have a drain and staples that had to be removed, painlessly.

I have never had the slimes, or hiccups when I am full. However if I take even one bite too many or too fast I gag like I'm going to vomit. Not a pretty sight.

I did not become lactose intolerant, I need all my drinks ice cold and hate any warm or Hot Drinks.

I never had to have another Protein shake after my surgery, I'm not cold all the time, I didn't have a 3-week stall. I thought I would miss bread more than I do. Same for burgers. I miss Pepsi more than I thought I would.

I never knew that plain Water could taste so different. Brands I loved before I can't even swallow now.

I wish I had taken "before" pictures so I could see the results that the scale says are there.

I wish I hadn't taken so much stuff to the hospital, and also not worried so much about having enough stuff on hand for the mushy stage (unless you live an hour from a grocery store!) because my tastes changed dramatically after my surgery.

I wish someone had told me how good I would feel after even losing just a small amount of weight.

But mostly I wish someone had told me about this years ago-My life would have been so much different.

Dooter,

I wish that had been the case for me but mine actually stayed in two days. I got off a half day early with good behavior lol.

That stinks! What was it for?? Breathing or what? I know they worry about people with apnea post op and want them breathing right. Did it have something to do with that?

That stinks! What was it for?? Breathing or what? I know they worry about people with apnea post op and want them breathing right. Did it have something to do with that?

No I did not have any apnea or other complications. The way they explained it to me is the tube was there to make sure I did not have any internal bleeding. It was a ng tube. I had some bag on the side and they said when the Water in that bag starts running clear then it was safe to take the tube out. So let me make this clear to everyone, if you are going to be sleeved in St. Petersburg FL by Dr Ernest Rehnke, You will without a doubt have a tube through you nose and down your throat lol. I cried and cried and they would not take it out until they knew I was no longer bleeding inside. They said this was standard for every sleeve and gbp patient. Only if I knew before hand I would have got out of dodge. I can laugh about it now. I took pictures as well. I will post them to my profile when I get a little further out. If anyone wants to see it message me and I will send it to you. My little girl was crying because she said I looked miserable and helpless.

No I did not have any apnea or other complications. The way they explained it to me is the tube was there to make sure I did not have any internal bleeding. It was a ng tube. I had some bag on the side and they said when the Water in that bag starts running clear then it was safe to take the tube out. So let me make this clear to everyone, if you are going to be sleeved in St. Petersburg FL by Dr Ernest Rehnke, You will without a doubt have a tube through you nose and down your throat lol. I cried and cried and they would not take it out until they knew I was no longer bleeding inside. They said this was standard for every sleeve and gbp patient. Only if I knew before hand I would have got out of dodge. I can laugh about it now. I took pictures as well. I will post them to my profile when I get a little further out. If anyone wants to see it message me and I will send it to you. My little girl was crying because she said I looked miserable and helpless.

Ohhhhh... the good ol' ng tube. My poor grandma had one near the end, and she was miserable.

Ohhhhh... the good ol' ng tube. My poor grandma had one near the end, and she was miserable.

Awe I'm sorry to hear that. I know just how she felt. I would not wish this on anyone. I don't know why this wasn't explained to me.

That it hurt! I had a burning pain when I came to and was screaming...but was fine when the morphine kicked in. Also that I wouldn't be able to drink hardly anything, then I wouldn't have been so hard on myself...Also I wasn't prepared for emotional roller coaster...I was fine by 6 months out, and I'm doing really good at almost 18 months out now.

That it hurt! I had a burning pain when I came to and was screaming...but was fine when the morphine kicked in. Also that I wouldn't be able to drink hardly anything, then I wouldn't have been so hard on myself...Also I wasn't prepared for emotional roller coaster...I was fine by 6 months out, and I'm doing really good at almost 18 months out now.

DITTO, DITTO, DITTO ... up until the point of surgery, I kept reading that the pain was minimal ... people were up and about in a day or two. (<-- Maybe I was only reading what I wanted to hear!) ...

BUT, the pain was VERY bad when I woke up. Felt like a train had hit me for several days. Around Day 4 I started feeling human again and each day from there got better and better. BUT OUCH! those first days.

The emotional roller coaster is also another one. I felt all alone & like I was the only one having issues. But, this board helped a lot.

I wish someone had told me that I would go through puberty again - at 55 and having had a hysterectomy over 20 years ago. It was a couple of months of alternating being weepy and then wanting to kill someone I would be so angry.

And, I wish someone would have told me the importance of finding the magic balance of Fiber, Water and laxative/stool softener necessary to keep your system moving along at a new "normal" - during all of the phases you will pass through in your eating.

.