Feeling Sad

[God's Grace 3]

I was sleeved on 3/29/12. I am officially THe first night was ROUGH! I had extreme nausea and vomitting and the pain meds / nausea meds did not seem to make a difference. My surgeon did repair a hernia during my operation and I am not sure if that had anything to do with the pain or not. THankfully I was feeling much better about 36 hours later and got to go home!

The first week although I was SUPER sore, and still had a lot of pain, I made really great progress! My mom came to stay with me and she did everything for me. It was so wonderful to have her support and help this past week. At my post op appointment the Dr. said that my stomach was more swollen than it should be and my B12 and Iron were very low. In fact, the Dr. said I needed to be taking 4 Iron supplements each day.

I think I am to the point in my recovery where I am feeling pretty good, (although tired) but still can't lift much, and physically can't do as much as I mentally want to do. I have been going on 2 walks each day, but can't make it an entire mile just yet.

This afternoon my mom left to go home after being with me for a week and a half. As she drove away I lost it. I went inside and just cried and cried because she left. I know this is so silly because I haven't lived with my mom in 14 years. THen I became upset because I can't DO everything that I feel I should be able to do at this point. It is just frustrating. When I ended my cry-fest I looked at my incisions and noticed that 3 of the 6 appear to be getting infected with the goop coming out.

Overall I am VERY happy with my decision to have the VSG.I lost 9 pounds in my first week and overall I have lost 48 pounds. I haven't been hungry at all yet, and am getting my liquids in!

Is it normal to have times when you just get overwhelmed with emotion? I am going back to work on Monday, and I think that will help me to be with supportive collegues.

[NancyJerry 139]

I NEVER get over needing my mom when I am in any amount of pain (even a cold), let alone a life altering surgery. How wonderful for you that she spent a week with you. I think it's perfectly natural to have a variety of emotions - even sad ones. We've spent such a large amount of our lives abusing our bodies and now we need to face the fact that we've gone to such drastic measures to repair ourselves! This is a gift. Live, laugh, and mourn. Lots of healing needs to take place not just from our surgical scars.

Hold your head up, keep healing and believing!

[MegInNOLA 531]

Oh, yeah. This is going to be a bumpy ride..... your hormones undergo a lot of changes. Estrogen is stored in fat, and when you burn the fat, the estrogen releases into your bloodstream. It can make for some craziness. Perfectly, 100% normal. Feels really icky but I think most of us feel a lot of emotional upheaval after the sleeve.

I think you're doing great--if you're already getting all your fluids in, you're well on your way to a great sleeve experience! And yes, being around your supportive colleagues will be a big help. Also, I found that pain meds make me nauseous, so if you're still taking those, might try to cut them out ASAP.... and be sure your Iron supplements are the kind that are easy on the tummy.

Hang in there--you've made a big change in your life. Be gentle to yourself and if you need to cry, do it and don't sweat it. We're all here for you.

[wannabb08 17]

I'm sorry your feeling so bad. We all want our Mom when we are this sick and in need. I also had a very rough time with the surgery. I stayed in the hospital for 5 days due to swelling and nausea. I almost ended up getting a stint (bc my doc wasn't on call that weekend, his partner was making decisions). My doc said some patients have more swelling and nausea than others. They can't tell who those people will be before hand. I was told not to take any extra pills like Vitamins, potassium, etc till my pouch swelling started to go down. My 17 days post ops now. Saw my doc on Friday he said I could start "trying" the Vitamins to see if my sleeve can tolerate them.

Call your doc on Monday to have them check the incisions.

Our fat cells hold hormones. As fat cells melt away those hormones are released. This can cause us to become hormonal, emotional messes.

Remember, you're making progress. It may be slow, but you're making progress.

Hope you fell better soon.

[betterthanbefore 19]

Dont feel sad. I know u dont know me but u have to focus on your recovery. You r the most important part in your revovery. Use this time to take it easy. Watch some good movies. Read a book. Take long naps. Listen to your favorite music. Start a scrap book. Do things that make u happy.

[God's Grace 3]

Thank all of you SO much! All of your words of encouragement mean so much to me. I am feeling a little better after getting all of the emotional mess stuff written out, hearing from ya'll and of course talking to my mom. I hadn't had an emotional meltdown yet, so it sounds like I was due for one if all of the hormones are being released. Thank you!!!!