Well, tomorrow is finally the day...excited and nervous. Anyone have any last minute, "I wish I would have known..." advice for me?

Thanks!

Jen

I actually posted some of my "I wish I had Known"s not long ago. I'll look for it and copy and paste it for you.

I found it! That was fast.

Now. Remember ... no matter what is stated below, listen to your surgeon. All of them seem to have different ideas of what's ok.

1) Stock up on broth, Propel, RTD Protein shakes, and children's liquid Tylenol NOW. Remember, you are supposed to drink 3 Protein drinks a day.

2) Clear out that colon the night before your surgery. If you aren't comfortable with the idea of an enema, then stay on a liquid ONLY diet for the last two days. Otherwise, an enema before bed time is highly advisable. The medications they pump into you during surgery in addition to the pain meds post op dry everything up. Trust me ... you do NOT want to be constipated post op. That pain just adds to the other pains you will be experiencing.

3) Make a little nest out of a recliner for yourself. Laying down in bed sounds like a grand idea ... until you need to get up to go to the bathroom. There are so many muscle groups that are supported by your abs .... things you never IMAGINED were connected in any way. Trust me. It's easier to get out of the recliner.

4) Walk up and down your hallway as soon as you can tolerate it, but do NOT try to go to the store with anyone. You will want to go if only to get out of the house. BAAAD idea. Sit on your patio/deck/porch if you want a change of scenery.

5) If you can, don't let your self get too hungry. Keep going with the fluids. Just be careful to not over do it. It's a hard balance to find, but find it. Dry heaving because you are too hungry sucks just as much as throwing up because you drank too much.

6) Make sure that you have someone who can help you out for the first week at least. I'd be a WRECK right now if my husband hadn't arranged to work from home for the first 2 weeks post-op.

7) Pain is going to be a constant companion for a few days. There are different things causing the pain, but it all hurts. You have incisions (I have 5 of them) in your abdomen, they pumped you full of gas so that they can see everything and may not have gotten all of it out, you have the band and port (aka foreign bodies) taking up space where there was nothing before, and you will be hungry. There's really no way to prep for this. The only advice I have is to stay on top of your meds. This WILL pass ... it's just going to suck a little while you recover.

8) Connect with someone who has already been through it. One of my biggest supporters is a lady who had the Gastric Sleeve done earlier this year. She shared her experiences with me, and they have been pretty much on par with what I'm going through now. Just this morning I pinged her on FB and said "Emily .... I got desperate because it HURT ... and I gave myself an enema. 4 DAYS of constipation .." and she knew exactly what I was talking about. She is simply amazing. So, yeah ... connect with someone that you can ping at any moment.

9) Beware of your "enemies". Their names are : Burps, laughter, hiccups, nausea, extreme temperatures, and laying all the way down (ie without extra pillows to keep you propped up). I call them your enemies because they WILL make you hurt. It's all part of the recovery process. this won't last forever, so keep your head up. You can do this.

10) Remember that this pain is only TEMPORARY. Seriously. So far, this has felt like the longest 3-4 days ever. BUT. The end is in sight. I know that I can make it through this. You can too.

This is probably not what you meant but I wish I would have known how successful I was going to be. If I had known, I'd have done this years ago. Good luck!!

@@CherieRyde thank you so much! That is exactly what I was hoping to hear...good info!

@@gowalking thank you too! I have been thinking about this for years, and finally took the plunge. I hope I can be even close to as successful as you have been!

I'm happy to help!

By the way ... by the end of week 2, you'll feel mostly normal. There will be some residual pain at the port site (slightly left of your belly button) but this is completely normal. Also .. fluctuating between being constipated and having the runs seems to be the current new normal. LOL

Congratulations!