Countdown... Only FOUR days until my sleeve on Oct 14! I'm on liquids, and since Dr Garcia allows a light low-carb dinner, it hasn't been too bad. I go to Clear Liquids this weekend, then fly to San Diego Monday am with surgery Monday pm. I've been too busy at work to think about it much, which I guess is a good thing! but all of a sudden, it's almost here!

What have I forgotten? Passport & check tucked away in my purse, cash for tips, compression stockings for travel, books to read, baggy pants to wear, slippers for my feet (that always seem to get cold even if I'm comfortable), Gas-X,... What else do I need to remember NOT to forget? Valium for when my nerves finally go nuts??!? LOL

Anyone else at florence Hospital? Wish us all luck & blessings!

(^.^)

Earplugs. They were a godsend for me.

I had Dr. Garcia and was sleeved last Friday! Florence Hospital was ok, not too bad inside. For the time at the hospital I stayed in my hospital gown, just showered and changed undergarments. They give you a pair of stockings during surgery so I wore those mostly instead of socks. They give you a cheap pair of slippers so you don't really need those. They will give you something for nerves right before surgery too. At the hotel, made sure to have stuff to keep you busy bc there aren't too many English channels and that changed depending on the show, it was a lot of CSI type shows and I was over them after a bit. I don't think HULU works in TJ either if you have that. I suggest some DVDs. I wore mostly comfy bedtime clothes at the hotel but made sure to have some clothes to wear if I wanted to get out of the hotel, which I did one time with the others that were there also from Garcia. I only tried the Gas X one time but others say it was a Godsend. I didn't have too bad of Gas, just with drinking for the first couple of days. Everyone was really nice and my experience was good. I was nervous too. My suggestion is to make sure when they say you can drink that you try to drink often b/c it will hurt at first and you wont want to but you can easily get dehydrated. One of the other ladies there was older and was having a hard time with that!

In addition to the excellent recommendations above - Blistex/chapstick was a lifesaver for me - had raging case of cotton mouth post-op which made it impossible to keep my lips moist.

Oh, I also recommend setting up Skype or something like that to video chat with your family that stays behind. That was nice to be able to see my husband and kids faces when we chatted and it saved on cost of international calling since Skype is free.

Chapstick! You got everything else down... you don't really need a lot.

The Listerine breath strips were wonderful when I wasn't allowed water after surgery and my mouth was so dry. It was also great when my new stomach didn't want to keep anything down. I brought books and stuff with me, but mostly I just slept the sleep of the drugged. Good luck!

Awesome! Thanx for the tips! I always have lip balm with me -- if I was marooned on a desert island, that would be my ONE must-have! Listerine strips noted. and great idea re DVDs & Skype, since I don't know if my phone will work.

Why earplugs? for music or to keep out hospital noises?

I'm bringing a couple books, but after the past few weeks I'm actually looking forward to sleeping & doing nothing!

How are YOU doing now, atlchick?

Awesome! Thanx for the tips! I always have lip balm with me -- if I was marooned on a desert island, that would be my ONE must-have! Listerine strips noted. and great idea re DVDs & Skype, since I don't know if my phone will work.

Why earplugs? for music or to keep out hospital noises?

I'm bringing a couple books, but after the past few weeks I'm actually looking forward to sleeping & doing nothing!

How are YOU doing now, atlchick?

Im feeling pretty good now, thanks! For 2 days I had the gas in my chest when I drank too fast/too much and that was about the worst. Now I don't get it too often. Just my stitches get irritated b/c I am leaning on them by sitting at a desk all day but they are getting better. I am actually doing better at drinking then I thought. I am getting in about 2 protein shakes a day and mostly water. Had some jello and pudding

I fly out the 17th, surgery 18 with Dr. Garcia. I'm a bit nervous & excited at the same time!

I had surgery with Dr Garcia Aug 27th... At the hospital there was definitely a lot of sleeping, and I only stayed one night at the hotel but just FYI text messages with at&t are .50 a text (adds up quickly) so for sure use the wifi at the hotel. And the popsicles they brought me were GROSS! I've read since then that the green popsicles are better... the market or whatever they call it was pretty neato... you have to take those little red taxis for quite a ways to get there but if you're feeling up to it then I suggest going, just to get moving and see some stuff.

Phone charger.