Anyone want to buddy up

Hey guys looks like I will not be able to make it this weekend. Just experience a death in the family and will be traveling this weekend. I hope you guys have a great time meeting one another. Please keep us posted for the next event as well.

I've sent a request to join the FB group. My name is Paula - I live in Downtown Dallas. Look forward to chatting with ya'll!

Who's going

When?

Hey Im Mimi I got sleeved on Oct 9th and was also looking for a support group or support buddy. I stay in the DFW area aswell.. && congrats to you all on your journey!! ☺

Finally home after 2nights and 3 days in the hospital. Was Sleeved on Thursday!

Hi @@MimiSleeved and @@ellie123 . Welcome to the loser's bench!

Edited November 8, 201510 yr by lexiemustang

^{Hi all - I'm in the North Dallas area and am scheduled to have the sleeve in December. I have chosen not to inform my family other than my husband and kids at home. It would be nice to have a support group of local people that are going through the same thing.}

^{Nice to meet you all!}

Hi Jembell01

I am in Mesquite and joined the forum last night. This is my first post/comment. I have no idea where to begin but would love to have some real friends who are supportive. I am a positive, upbeat person and make a great cheerleader. I am also an excellent listener.

Okay this started sounding more like a personal ad. lol

Hi thehugjunkie, welcome

Welcome @Hugjunkie ????. Fun place to get support for the most part. Take everything said with a mind that the goal is to help one another.

Are you just starting your journey? Had surgery yet?

@@MzB No surgery yet. Still researching and trying find support.

Good luck. Take your time and feel comfortable with your choice. There is no right or wrong decision, it is just what is right for you. ????

To My dear Bariatric Pals!

I wanted to thank you all for your support during my jitters in the weeks leading up to the OR. Indeed, it was probably one of the most nerve wracking things I’ve ever done! As I close in on a week post opp tomorrow, I have refrained from posting too much about the experience because I think I needed a little bit of time, first of all to recover enough to be lucid enough to write coherently, but also because I needed to regain some of my emotional footing, as I let the enormity, irriversability and life changing capacity that this surgery has afforded me sink in.

I will post several things on how I prepared emotionally for the surgery and also the things I found helpful on surgery day to help those who are close to the date and need support to make it through, at a latter date. But in this post I wanted to update you all on how I’m doing in a synopsis.

First off…my surgery started at approximately 10:30am and lasted almost 3 hours, because along with the Sleeve, Band removal and Gallbladder removal, they found a hiatal hernia to repare (in short, I got the Blue plate special). Anasthesia was my biggest concern. Coming out of it took a long time…I was in pain and naucious but communicating with my caretakers gave them a chance to stabilize me such that by evening I was somewhat coherent.

At first, I was really tight…even taking down an ice-chip was hard. And ofcourse there was the bloated gas to contend with. Knowing this I was armed with my on Gas Ex strips, forget the baby Simithicone they were giving me, but most importantly, as SOON as I could semi wobble, I started walking the hallways…my 2 hour cycles ran like this…Sleep, take pain meds, sip liquid, pee, and walk those hallways as much as I could, and very soon, the gas problem was mitigated. Leaving the worse problem my banged up throat (from intubation) which was so raw and bad he surgeon took a pic of it to show the anesthesiologist! It felt like a layer of skin has literally been sloughed off, and so red and raw. And when I swallow…some skin seems loose like I’m swallowing my throat…yeah…bad).

After a nasty Barium swallow on day two I was clearned for liquids and the watered down Apple juice from an ounce cup felt like heaven!

I was release at the end of day 3. Back home I continued to walk. My fitbit registereing 6k steps all week and today I did 10k steps. Now these are veeeery slow put persistent and steady steps throughout the day, and after pain meds, and the only reason I can do this is because in the months leading up, I got a fitbit and worked my way up to about 12k steps, so I highly recommend you start walking now.

I finally was cleared from Clear Liquids to cream Soups today…wooo hooo. First few days I was not as hungry, but now, be it head hunger or what…mama wants some sustainance! And broth ain’t cutting it! The cream of mushroom was devine!

I’m weaning off of Hydrocodine and moving to liquid gel Aleve.

Upon my return home, gained Water weight coming back home from the IV as expected. My stomach feels distended and droopy as expected. And I have 6 incisions to nurse.

The more I drank, the more I started to shed the IV Fluid weight. So keeping hydrated remains key. And now I’m lower than pre-op weight.

I also found a book online. Emotional First Aid Kit Bariatric Surgery Patients to help hone some couping strategies for when I’m back in a world of doenuts.

And that’s where I am folks! Just learning how to live in this Brave new world I’ve been born into. Much like a toddler, taking baby steps, learning what I can and can’t do. It’s still just a week, so I’m looking forward to more healing and the rewards which we all so freverantly seek.

I hope my account is helpful to you.

Sending you peace and love,

Ellie123