My experience so far...now, with details!

[novam vitam 117]

Awesome description! So appreciated! I wish you the best and hope to follow in your footsteps very soon!

[janarae 93]

Thank you for sharing, I'm having band to sleeve revision at that hospital on the 31st. It's nice to know what it's like.

Speedy recovery to you!

[SoCalDixieGal 172]

Thank you so much for the detailed information! I did find out that my surgeon is okay with me taking Ambien the night before surgery. I just don't think I'd be able to sleep otherwise!

[zoriahdiana5 56]

Awesome!!! Glad everything went well!! Rest up..!!

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using VST

[oskarhernan 11]

Glad to hear you are well. God Bless You

[icon23 273]

Thanks to everyone for all of your support and well-wishes! Something I forgot to mention yesterday is that I am on the same floor here at Mi Doctor as 3 other VST-ers. It's been nice to put faces and real names with the usernames and avatars. I think I am the only one of us that travelled here alone, but I haven't really felt alone with all of the attention from the ALM people (by the way, Abraham and Eduardo give you numbers to reach them anytime day or night and they mean it), the hospital staff, and my fellow sleevers, plus being able to communicate with my bf back home. The internet has not been good for me at Mi Doctor (they think it's because of the location of my room), so we haven't been able to use Facetime like we can when I'm at the Marriott, but he has used the toll-free number to the hospital provided by ALM and we've talked on the phone a couple of times.

Here's how today has gone: I woke up around 5am, I think, and they were supposed to do my blue liquid test at 7am, so I posted on VST for a little while then went back to sleep. They still hadn't come to give me the blue liquid close to 8am, so I went to the nurses' station (which is basically right outside my door) and asked someone and they gave it to me right then. The blue liquid didn't taste good, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. No blue liquid showed up in my drain--so far, so good. Shortly after that, a couple of nurses came in and took my vitals and told me that they were going to close off my IV and detach it so that I could take a shower. I had seen one of my fellow sleevers (room next door) wearing his regular clothes, so I asked if I could put on my regular clothes after the shower and they said yes, as long as they were loose, like sweatpants, which is exactly what I brought. They provided soap, Shampoo, and shaving gel in the bathroom (in my room, not shared) and the shower felt great. I just kind of held my drain while I showered. By the way, the drain doesn't hurt or anything--it's just kind of there. My hospital gown had a pocket for it on the chest (I wouldn't have known if a nurse hadn't put it there for me on my first walk--you kind of have to thread it through the gown to get it in the pocket) and when I put on my sweats, I put it in the left pocket--definitely make sure to have a pocket to put the drain in so it doesn't get in the way while walking. Shortly after my shower, they came to take me downstairs to do the leak test in front of the x-ray. I had put on a bra (I brought a front-hook bra with no underwires, which I would recommend--or a sports bra with no hooks or wires) and since it has metal hooks, I had to remove it before the x-ray. For the x-ray, I had to drink this clear liquid, which also tasted bad, but not as bad as I'd feared from some descriptions (I think part of the trick is that I kind of held my breath while drinking to minimize tasting it). It was well more than an ounce of liquid (maybe 2?) and the x-ray technician told me to drink it pretty quickly, which was kind of weird since I've been told that I should only be sipping an ounce at a time these first few days, but it went down fine. It was kind of neat to see my new stomach and they'll be sending me home with a CD of the x-ray as well as all of my lab work, EKG, etc. Dr. Ortiz had told me yesterday that it would take a few hours after the leak tests for them to get the official results and only after then would they allow me to start on Clear liquids and bring me juice and such, but it actually wound up taking nearly 5 hours, so that is my biggest complaint so far (which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things since I could still have ice chips). During the 5 hour wait and throughout the whole stay really, nurses have come in regularly to take my vitals or give me injections in the IV (antibiotics, anti-nausea, and pain--the pain med is not a narcotic, but it does make me drowsy and I need that, so I've let them give it to me even though I'm really not in pain). At one point, a nurse came in and gave me an injection in my stomach to prevent blood clots--she told me it wouldn't hurt and it didn't. Eduardo came to check on me and answer questions and let me know that Dr. Ortiz would be coming to check on me in a couple of hours.

I just got done seeing Dr. Ortiz and he told me that I am a good patient and all the nurses like me because I'm always smiling :-) He brought me a bottle of apple juice, which is nice. He gave me a lot of the same information that he gave me yesterday about what will be happening in the next few days and also what to expect as far as weight loss and so on in the next few months and he told me that he will be repeating a lot of this information to me before I go, which I appreciate because it is a lot to remember and also, I'm sure, some patients are maybe out of it at some points when he comes to talk to them. He answered my questions (again, I didn't have many because he is so thorough)--my biggest one was when I would get broth because I was under the impression that I would have broth and juice here at the hospital, but I was wrong--no broth until I get back to the Marriott. I can't wait to go and have the delicious broth (your choice of beef or chicken) with Abraham tomorrow. We will also go shopping. Overall, today has been pretty uneventful compared to yesterday, but that's a good thing. I'm just trying to take advantage of this time to rest instead of feeling bored. On that note, I think I'll take a nap now.

[AmandaRaeLeo 2,145]

Thanks to everyone for all of your support and well-wishes! Something I forgot to mention yesterday is that I am on the same floor here at Mi Doctor as 3 other VST-ers. It's been nice to put faces and real names with the usernames and avatars. I think I am the only one of us that travelled here alone' date=' but I haven't really felt alone with all of the attention from the ALM people (by the way, Abraham and Eduardo give you numbers to reach them anytime day or night and they mean it), the hospital staff, and my fellow sleevers, plus being able to communicate with my bf back home. The internet has not been good for me at Mi Doctor (they think it's because of the location of my room), so we haven't been able to use Facetime like we can when I'm at the Marriott, but he has used the toll-free number to the hospital provided by ALM and we've talked on the phone a couple of times.

Here's how today has gone: I woke up around 5am, I think, and they were supposed to do my blue liquid test at 7am, so I posted on VST for a little while then went back to sleep. They still hadn't come to give me the blue liquid close to 8am, so I went to the nurses' station (which is basically right outside my door) and asked someone and they gave it to me right then. The blue liquid didn't taste good, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. No blue liquid showed up in my drain--so far, so good. Shortly after that, a couple of nurses came in and took my vitals and told me that they were going to close off my IV and detach it so that I could take a shower. I had seen one of my fellow sleevers (room next door) wearing his regular clothes, so I asked if I could put on my regular clothes after the shower and they said yes, as long as they were loose, like sweatpants, which is exactly what I brought. They provided soap, Shampoo, and shaving gel in the bathroom (in my room, not shared) and the shower felt great. I just kind of held my drain while I showered. By the way, the drain doesn't hurt or anything--it's just kind of there. My hospital gown had a pocket for it on the chest (I wouldn't have known if a nurse hadn't put it there for me on my first walk--you kind of have to thread it through the gown to get it in the pocket) and when I put on my sweats, I put it in the left pocket--definitely make sure to have a pocket to put the drain in so it doesn't get in the way while walking. Shortly after my shower, they came to take me downstairs to do the leak test in front of the x-ray. I had put on a bra (I brought a front-hook bra with no underwires, which I would recommend--or a sports bra with no hooks or wires) and since it has metal hooks, I had to remove it before the x-ray. For the x-ray, I had to drink this clear liquid, which also tasted bad, but not as bad as I'd feared from some descriptions (I think part of the trick is that I kind of held my breath while drinking to minimize tasting it). It was well more than an ounce of liquid (maybe 2?) and the x-ray technician told me to drink it pretty quickly, which was kind of weird since I've been told that I should only be sipping an ounce at a time these first few days, but it went down fine. It was kind of neat to see my new stomach and they'll be sending me home with a CD of the x-ray as well as all of my lab work, EKG, etc. Dr. Ortiz had told me yesterday that it would take a few hours after the leak tests for them to get the official results and only after then would they allow me to start on Clear Liquids and bring me juice and such, but it actually wound up taking nearly 5 hours, so that is my biggest complaint so far (which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things since I could still have ice chips). During the 5 hour wait and throughout the whole stay really, nurses have come in regularly to take my vitals or give me injections in the IV (antibiotics, anti-nausea, and pain--the pain med is not a narcotic, but it does make me drowsy and I need that, so I've let them give it to me even though I'm really not in pain). At one point, a nurse came in and gave me an injection in my stomach to prevent blood clots--she told me it wouldn't hurt and it didn't. Eduardo came to check on me and answer questions and let me know that Dr. Ortiz would be coming to check on me in a couple of hours.

I just got done seeing Dr. Ortiz and he told me that I am a good patient and all the nurses like me because I'm always smiling :-) He brought me a bottle of apple juice, which is nice. He gave me a lot of the same information that he gave me yesterday about what will be happening in the next few days and also what to expect as far as weight loss and so on in the next few months and he told me that he will be repeating a lot of this information to me before I go, which I appreciate because it is a lot to remember and also, I'm sure, some patients are maybe out of it at some points when he comes to talk to them. He answered my questions (again, I didn't have many because he is so thorough)--my biggest one was when I would get broth because I was under the impression that I would have broth and juice here at the hospital, but I was wrong--no broth until I get back to the Marriott. I can't wait to go and have the delicious broth (your choice of beef or chicken) with Abraham tomorrow. We will also go shopping. Overall, today has been pretty uneventful compared to yesterday, but that's a good thing. I'm just trying to take advantage of this time to rest instead of feeling bored. On that note, I think I'll take a nap now.[/quote']

I'm really glad things are going so well. I'm also thankful for such a play by play account. I will be you in 2 months!!

Amanda Rae

[Rohler1520 119]

Thanks to everyone for all of your support and well-wishes! Something I forgot to mention yesterday is that I am on the same floor here at Mi Doctor as 3 other VST-ers. It's been nice to put faces and real names with the usernames and avatars. I think I am the only one of us that travelled here alone' date=' but I haven't really felt alone with all of the attention from the ALM people (by the way, Abraham and Eduardo give you numbers to reach them anytime day or night and they mean it), the hospital staff, and my fellow sleevers, plus being able to communicate with my bf back home. The internet has not been good for me at Mi Doctor (they think it's because of the location of my room), so we haven't been able to use Facetime like we can when I'm at the Marriott, but he has used the toll-free number to the hospital provided by ALM and we've talked on the phone a couple of times.

Here's how today has gone: I woke up around 5am, I think, and they were supposed to do my blue liquid test at 7am, so I posted on VST for a little while then went back to sleep. They still hadn't come to give me the blue liquid close to 8am, so I went to the nurses' station (which is basically right outside my door) and asked someone and they gave it to me right then. The blue liquid didn't taste good, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. No blue liquid showed up in my drain--so far, so good. Shortly after that, a couple of nurses came in and took my vitals and told me that they were going to close off my IV and detach it so that I could take a shower. I had seen one of my fellow sleevers (room next door) wearing his regular clothes, so I asked if I could put on my regular clothes after the shower and they said yes, as long as they were loose, like sweatpants, which is exactly what I brought. They provided soap, Shampoo, and shaving gel in the bathroom (in my room, not shared) and the shower felt great. I just kind of held my drain while I showered. By the way, the drain doesn't hurt or anything--it's just kind of there. My hospital gown had a pocket for it on the chest (I wouldn't have known if a nurse hadn't put it there for me on my first walk--you kind of have to thread it through the gown to get it in the pocket) and when I put on my sweats, I put it in the left pocket--definitely make sure to have a pocket to put the drain in so it doesn't get in the way while walking. Shortly after my shower, they came to take me downstairs to do the leak test in front of the x-ray. I had put on a bra (I brought a front-hook bra with no underwires, which I would recommend--or a sports bra with no hooks or wires) and since it has metal hooks, I had to remove it before the x-ray. For the x-ray, I had to drink this clear liquid, which also tasted bad, but not as bad as I'd feared from some descriptions (I think part of the trick is that I kind of held my breath while drinking to minimize tasting it). It was well more than an ounce of liquid (maybe 2?) and the x-ray technician told me to drink it pretty quickly, which was kind of weird since I've been told that I should only be sipping an ounce at a time these first few days, but it went down fine. It was kind of neat to see my new stomach and they'll be sending me home with a CD of the x-ray as well as all of my lab work, EKG, etc. Dr. Ortiz had told me yesterday that it would take a few hours after the leak tests for them to get the official results and only after then would they allow me to start on clear liquids and bring me juice and such, but it actually wound up taking nearly 5 hours, so that is my biggest complaint so far (which isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things since I could still have ice chips). During the 5 hour wait and throughout the whole stay really, nurses have come in regularly to take my vitals or give me injections in the IV (antibiotics, anti-nausea, and pain--the pain med is not a narcotic, but it does make me drowsy and I need that, so I've let them give it to me even though I'm really not in pain). At one point, a nurse came in and gave me an injection in my stomach to prevent blood clots--she told me it wouldn't hurt and it didn't. Eduardo came to check on me and answer questions and let me know that Dr. Ortiz would be coming to check on me in a couple of hours.

I just got done seeing Dr. Ortiz and he told me that I am a good patient and all the nurses like me because I'm always smiling :-) He brought me a bottle of apple juice, which is nice. He gave me a lot of the same information that he gave me yesterday about what will be happening in the next few days and also what to expect as far as weight loss and so on in the next few months and he told me that he will be repeating a lot of this information to me before I go, which I appreciate because it is a lot to remember and also, I'm sure, some patients are maybe out of it at some points when he comes to talk to them. He answered my questions (again, I didn't have many because he is so thorough)--my biggest one was when I would get broth because I was under the impression that I would have broth and juice here at the hospital, but I was wrong--no broth until I get back to the Marriott. I can't wait to go and have the delicious broth (your choice of beef or chicken) with Abraham tomorrow. We will also go shopping. Overall, today has been pretty uneventful compared to yesterday, but that's a good thing. I'm just trying to take advantage of this time to rest instead of feeling bored. On that note, I think I'll take a nap now.[/quote']

Thank you so much for some much detail. It's nice to know what to expect when it's our turn. Do you have any suggestions on what to pack and what not to waste our time on packing that we think we might need. LOL

[icon23 273]

Thank you so much for some much detail. It's nice to know what to expect when it's our turn. Do you have any suggestions on what to pack and what not to waste our time on packing that we think we might need. LOL

I highly suggest bringing some packets of powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken Soup flavor and a food thermometer so you don't curdle the Protein with too hot water--this helped me survive the airport on the way here because I was hungry and there were delicious-looking restaurants everywhere. If you're on clear liquids like I was, you coud bring a different Protein powder packet that can be mixed clear with water--I just really liked the broth style because it made me feel like I was having a delicious, filling Soup. I also suggest bringing some Crystal Light packets (or something similar) because so many people say that they can't tolerate the taste of Water post-op. Gas-X strips are not a bad idea, but since they don't work on the type of gas that they pump into you to perform the surgery, I haven't actually needed them yet, although I did feel some gas in my stomach as I drank my first clear liquids today--better safe than sorry.

If you're traveling alone (or even if you're not), definitely bring a tablet, smartphone, or laptop--some way to communicate with people back home to let them know that you are safe when you arrive and when you make it through surgery successfully.

As far as clothing, bring a pair of slippers (mine are fuzzy and warm, which was nice when I was in cold rooms) for walking around the hospital. Also bring loose clothing, including pants with pockets. For women, I suggest a no-underwire bra, as described above. Don't pack too heavy! I also brought a heating pad, but I haven't used it yet. Some people swear by them (I think it helps to dissipate the gas, but I'm pretty sure I've walked mine out).

Depending on how much shopping you might want to do, including purchasing additional meds from a pharmacy, be sure to bring some cash. I brought $200 in $5s and $10s and I plan to go shopping tomorrow and have some left for tipping the driver and the maids at the hotel. Be sure to haggle when you shop--it is expected.

A lot of toiletries are provided in the hotel and hospital, but you should bring your own toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant and anything else you feel very attached to (like makeup for me). Again, don't pack too heavy! If you forget anything, there is a Walmart really close to the Marriott. Even though it seems like I brought a lot, my bag is still light enough for me to pick up on my own post-op. I think that's about it. Oh yeah--passport!

[Diamondeyed 399]

Glad your doing well

[abetterme4.2 268]

SO glad to hear how awesome you are doing!

[mikeross 216]

Thank you for your detailed info... I am leaving Monday morning for Mi hospital with Garcia on Tuesday.

Wish you a speedy recovery and looking forward to some details about your flight home. Where are you traveling from?

[icon23 273]

Thank you for your detailed info... I am leaving Monday morning for Mi hospital with Garcia on Tuesday.

Wish you a speedy recovery and looking forward to some details about your flight home. Where are you traveling from?

Thank you. I am traveling home to Seattle on Monday afternoon and I'll be happy to post the details about how that goes. It should be interesting because I requested wheelchair service (as suggested by ALM) and it will be the first time I've ever had that type of assistance at the airport. I guess it means I get to be one of the first to board the plane, though, so that's a plus.

[mikeross 216]

Thank you. I am traveling home to Seattle on Monday afternoon and I'll be happy to post the details about how that goes. It should be interesting because I requested wheelchair service (as suggested by ALM) and it will be the first time I've ever had that type of assistance at the airport. I guess it means I get to be one of the first to board the plane, though, so that's a plus.

I didnt realize you where from Seattle. I live in Vancouver,BC and was just literally in Bellingham,Wa yesterday evening shopping for post-op stuff. I thought I would be able to find some of the vitamins/supplements we can not get up here in Canada, but no such luck. Guess I am gong to have to order all my supplements online.

May I ask what your plans are post-op vitamin/supplement wise as soon as you get home from surgery.

[SoCalDixieGal 172]

Be sure to tip the wheel chair folks! They make a pittance. They will also arrange for that little cart to zip you to your gate . . .lots of tips! I had to do this when I had to travel with a badly broken ankle.