Hi, all! I have been lurking for a few months now but this is my first thread. I need advice and love from people that are going through or have gone through the same struggle. But first, let me back up...

I am 24 years old and have been struggling with weight issues/various eating disorder issues since I was 13. My highest weight was around 275. On the day of my surgery (December 22nd) I was 263. I woke up from surgery in tons of pain. I was prescribed Tardil (?) but that was not cutting it. They ended up putting me on Dulaudid which did the trick. I did lots of walking but ultimately felt very, very sore. I felt Constantly extremely thirsty and bloated at the same time... And I could not wait to get off my saline drip which was making me get up to pee every 2-3 hours at night. I had to stay an additional night in the hospital because my oxygen levels would dip into the upper 80s when I slept unless I was wearing oxygen in my nose. They ended up sending me home on Christmas and said that the problem would fix itself when the swelling went down.

During the hospital stay, I was drinking my about 40ish ounces of Water but they kept me on Clear liquids so I was not getting any Protein. Yesterday, since I was home for half the day, I got in my water and about 10-12 grams of protein. Today, I am on track to meet my water requirement and was able to get in 30 grams of protein. I expect to be hitting my liquid and protein goals tomorrow although I can already tell that it will be a struggle and a constant effort until I can add some regular food into the mix!

Now to my concerns- since the surgery my temperature has been variable. For instance, it has ranged from 97.8-100.5 but it is spending more time in the 99-100 range than I would like it to. My doctor suggested I only needed to reach out at 101 and above... Did you find you ran "hotter" for awhile after the surgery? Speaking of, I am constantly having hot flashes. I am waking up about 1-3 times during the night in heavy sweat despite the fact that my room is about 62 degrees cool. Is that normal? Are hot flashes likely to go away? I did switch from Dulaudid to Norco today and am hoping that will make a difference.

My surgery was laronscopic. I took my first shower today and changed out my bandages. I have 20!!! Black Stitches in 7 different places along my abdomen. I did not realize in the hospital (because of my big boobs and the lack of mirrors) that there were that many. Is that normal?? When do the stitches normally come out? Also, when can I expect the pain and swelling to decrease considerably? The pain has definitely gotten better each day but the swelling has not made significant progress that I can tell. Which probably explains why I have only lost 2 lbs so far.

Finally, when should I break down and take some milk of magnesium? I started on dulcolax today and feel lots of gas (mostly burping, though) but I have yet to have a bowel movement. On the other hand, I am finding it so hard to bend over and wipe well because of the stitches so I don't want to push it too soon while I am still struggling with that.

Thoughts on making this process easier?

Also, I HATE protein flavoring. I can stand Premier shakes but 2 of them takes me the whole day to drink and they are already getting really old REALLY fast. I was thinking about a low cal/SF cream of mushroom or chicken Soup with 10-15 gr of unflavored protein but I am unsure if I will like the texture and I don't know what brand is best. I was thinking of doing the same with Jello, as well. Any other ideas?

Thanks for allowing me to vent!

It's only been a few days, you just had your insides rearranged. Give yourself a break. Sounds normal to me. I'm 3 weeks out and still tender and weak

@@samcl1

If I only ate when i was hungry, i wouldn't be eating much of anything! I'm not hungry--most of the time.

I was told to eat six small meals a day, period. I have a hard time gettng them all in because I don't start my day until about 9am. But I try my best. i drink Protein shakes for two of those meals, and small little amounts of yogurt, pureed food, cottage cheese etc for the other meals. Applesauce. Baby food, stages 1 and 2.

Good luck!

Thanks, for some reason I still feel hunger ( great).

I had my surgery on December 29th, and I thought I'd be doing fabulous at this point. Nope. I had a major hernia repair at the same time as my bypass, so I guess I'm not just going to bounce back right away. I'm very swollen and tender on my left side of my abdomen. I am passing gas, but no bm yet. I'm on medicine to help that along, but so far... It's not happened. I also get super sweaty for no reason at all. Maybe it's a weird redaction to surgery or the pain meds? I'm frustrated because my friend who had the bypass the same day as I did is doing great, and I still feel like crap on a stick.

Same here...had my revision from lapband to bypass and hernia repair on December 28.....rough...so many scars,swelling and soreness...but no regrets...at all....better days are ahead!!!

It's only been a few days, you just had your insides rearranged. Give yourself a break. Sounds normal to me. I'm 3 weeks out and still tender and weak

But no regrets....I think we need a month to feel real again!!!!

Yes, if all this pain now means a lifetime with out pain from heartburn, walking, soreness from being over weight... Then I'll take it now.

Yes I agree!