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Excited /nervous about to have it done



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I'm scheduled to have surgery April 19! I'm so excited yet so extremely nervous about the after! The doctor made it sound like I'd be ok ( I've had 2 c sections) but the dietitian made it sound like I'd be in hell ( excuse the language) !! I'm active now and have a pretty high pain tolerance. But I'm just super nervous about the following week to month after surgery . I joined a few FB support groups but they have done nothing but scare me even more! Any advise or comments about after surgery?

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Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things.

1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success.
2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery.
3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery.

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James, those are great ideas.

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I had the gastric sleeve surgery back in December. The only pain I suffered was gas pain. You get that for atleast 2 weeks after surgery. But relax and listen to what james said and you will do good! good luck!

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I did stop all caffeine Wednesday! Finally headache free!![emoji1316]. The picture thing is a good idea!! I will most definitely be doing that!! And I try to walk every day. I coach a softball team and have 2 active kids so I stay pretty active I think! But I know I'm going to have to step it up after surgery so I got a treadmill to help with walking after as well.
Is it mostly just gas pain? Does the gas X work well?


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I agree with James completely and was given the same advice prior to my surgery. I was a Starbucks junkie and gave it up, along with sugar and carbs leading into the pre-op diet.

EVERYONE is different. Just like childbirth, you hear the horror stories from some and the ones who gave birth and were cooking Christmas dinner later that day. It's exactly the same.

I went in the a "can-do" attitude bc the few personal people I knew were up and about so quick and easy. The one guy said he had NO pain and did 20 laps around the hospital floor right after surgery (and I spoke to him one week post-op). So I thought it would be the same for me....not so much. I got up ready to go 2 hours post op and fizzled out 1/2 way down the hall. Lol.

That being said, each time I got up I went further and faster and was out the next day at home.

I barely used the pain meds, but was definilty sore (but nothing horrible, I was just mostly weak and groggy) and my gas pains were GONE by day 3. I walked every day on my eliptical about 5 times a day for 5-25 minutes each to keep circulating and get the gas out.

I think it's good to know the extremes going into it, and hope for the best case scenario. That way you are prepared. But don't focus on the bad stuff...I'm not sure why people want to freak people out when they went through the same thing.

I remember the excitement leading up to it though, it was like getting married or having a baby-lol. But I was VERY scared. I never had a surgery before and I was second guessing myself thinking something bad would happen and it was just because I couldn't lose weight on my own. But I kept my eye on the prize and know that the risk was with the reward. And my kids would have a better mom and my husband would have a better wife (not just my body, but my lifestyle and health).

Im just over 2 weeks out and I feel better already (of course I was prepping for a month or so prior to surgery so it's been about 6 weeks of better habits).

Good luck to you!

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Thank you so much for the info!! I'm glad to finally hear good outcomes ! I feel like I need to stop following the FB groups bc it's nothing but complaining and horror stories!


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6 minutes ago, Christinam1287 said:

Thank you so much for the info!! I'm glad to finally hear good outcomes ! I feel like I need to stop following the FB groups bc it's nothing but complaining and horror stories!

Just to add to the goodness...

I was back at work feeling good 7 days post op and just survived (and thrived) in Disney World for 5 days (ending today) I had my Premier Protein delivered to the hotel from costco and the garden grocer delivered some other post op friendly foods that I packed each day for the parks. I felt totally fine, went on most of the rides and walked a TON :)

i barely lost any weight, but I got my period today, so that's not bad considering I usually put on 3-5 pounds Water weight PMS. Hoping for a big loss in the next week.

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Congratulations on the start of your journey. The surgery itself without complications is a walk in the park compared to a csection, BUT the NUT is right in that there is another form of hell you have to go through. The surgery changes the size of your stomach, but not your brain and those first few days a i so badly wanted to lick food just for the taste. It was so hard and I had no real support at home so it was very hard. If it wasn't for all the cautionary tales my NUT had given me, I wouldn't know just how "normal" all this was and got through it knowing it was just temporary.

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I'm scheduled to have a DS in a couple months and I'm scared to death. I got on the forum to see if I could get some encouragement, but now I'm more discouraged than ever and I think I'm going to back out of the surgery. My life revolves around food and I do NO exercise at all. After hearing all the stories, I can't even imagine how miserable I'll be after surgery. Sounds like I will have a terrible time to recover and I have a very stressful job. I may just go back on low carb and hope I can keep the weight off this time. :-(

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I've had four c-sections and they were a lot more painful than the DS surgery. I'm one month post-op and feel great. I hardly used any pain medication in the hospital and was completely off it by day three. I was out running errands by day 6. The most painful surgery I've ever had was a total knee replacement. The DS isn't bad at all. The recovery is easy once you get off the liquid diet.

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    • LeighaTR

      Four days post surgery. I am sipping as fast as I can and getting NO WHERE near the goal of 60 - 80 grams of protein or the 64 oz of liquids. I just feel FULL. I don't know if it can still be the gas build up (I would think by now that would be gone) but it is a struggle to drink. And so far I have not had the nausea or spasms and don't want to wander into that territory by pushing too hard with liquids. I about passed out today as it was my most "strenuous" day. Went from second story to basement for shower and I was sure I was going to pass out. Looking back on my last few days I have had a total of less than 1000 calories. Am I just not getting enough nourishment in me? Once again a friday where I can't get ahold of the doc until Monday rolls back around so I am hoping maybe someone here has some experience on how to keep energy going. I do have fibromyalgia too and that may be where some added fatigue comes into play. How did you all fair with the goals the week after surgery?
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      2 days until I fly out to San Diego to have my Bypass Surg. in Tiajuana Mexico. Not gonna lie, the nerves are starting to surface. I don't fear the surgery itself, or the fact that I'm traveling alone, but its the aftermath that I'm stressing about the most, after this 8 week wait. I'm excited to finally be here, but I am really dreading the post surgical chapter. I know its going to be tough, real tough and I think I'm just in my head to much now that the day i here. Wish me luck, Hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones, and everything goes smoothly. Cant wait to give an exciting update,. If there is anyone else have a June bypass or even a recent one, Id love to have someone to compare war stories with. Also, anyone near San Antonio Tx? See ya soon with the future me. 💜
      · 3 replies
      1. Phil Penn

        Good Luck this procedure is well worth it I am down to 249.6 lb please continue with the process..

      2. Selina333

        I'm in Houston so kind of near you and had the sleeve in Dec. Down 61 lbs. Feeling better. Was definitely worth it. I hope the everything is going well for you. Update us when you can!

      3. Doughgurl

        I am back home after my bypass surgery in Tiajuana. I'm post op day 4. Everything went great! I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who have not encountered much pain at all, no nausea thus far and I'm having no problem keeping down broths and water. Thank you for your well wishes. I cant wait to keep up this journey and have a chance at better health and simply better quality of life. I know there will be bumps in the road ahead, and everything won't be peaches and cream, but at least I have a great start so far. 😍

    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

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