Hello everyone. I’m scheduled for my ESG on February 6 which is only 6 short days away. I’m scared and I need some pep talks from our veteran ESGers. So many of you have been an inspiration to me, in particular Melesg, TexSlim, and AmyAlexis but I now find myself so terrified of this procedure. I’m afraid of the actual procedure, what if I don’t wake up? I have 4 children who are older 19, 18, 15, and 11 but they still need me. What if I have a horrible reaction and I have to hospitalized? What if I need several days to recover instead of just 3?

My biggest fear is what if I go through with it after months of wanting this procedure done and it doesn’t work?

Please help me get over this. Keep posting your experiences to reassure me that I’m doing the right thing. Don’t sugarcoat it either. Be honest and let me know what the heck I got myself into. I’m not backing out. I’ve waiting too long and saved up my own $ for this. I’m just scared of the unknown. Please help guys!??

Hello my wonderful ESG family,

I am done with my procedure. It went smoothly. It was only a one hour- 90 minute procedure. Went under at 7:30AM and woke up in recovery at around 10:30AM. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, well wishes, and encouragement. I love you all and will post when I am not so groggy.

Good morning. I’m feeling very sluggish this morning. I’m quite tired. I slept in like three hour intervals last night. I’d need to get up, use the bathroom, drink some fluid— either protein water, plain water, chicken bone broth, or a sugar free pop, and then go bed. The pain is minimal now and I wasn’t in much pain yesterday either. The nurses did give me an extra pain pill called percaset which really got me through yesterday. Today I still have my anti nausea patch on and I did take a lower dose Generic Emend for the nausea also. I also took librax for the cramping and an acid reflux med which I have to take for two weeks. All in all not as bad as I thought it would be. I’m just happy to have finally done it and gotten this part over with. I’m going to mainly sleep through the day. Looking forward to tomorrow as everyone has written that the 3rd day is when you start feeling much better.

On a side note, yesterday I actually came home and did laundry. Doctor said I needed to try to move around (and Tex was right it helps with the gas) so I figured I might had well use My up time wisely. Still feeling weak today so maybe laundry will have to wait.

Many thanks for the well wishes and encouragement!!??

Hey relax would ya, you make me tired just hearing about it. You have just been thru life changing

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im so happy for you and really glad that its ok the pain ok ofcourse you feel it. hope tomorro its more beter for you. ps proud of you[emoji4]

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surgery, unless your house looks like one on TLC and the Hoarder shows it can wait. Preschoolers can pick,up their,own toys, if they can do it older kids and husbands ought to be able too.Be kind to you, you do no one favors by getting worn out. Bossy old broad and resident Grandma has spoken.

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3 hours ago, patriciaholland said:

im so happy for you and really glad that its ok the pain ok ofcourse you feel it. hope tomorro its more beter for you. ps proud of you

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Thank you so much Patricia. Your words just before I have my procedure meant the world to me. Thanks for cheering me on. I know these first few days will be rough but they are honestly not as bad as I thought. I’m taking it one day at a time All my best ??

3 hours ago, kakatlady612 said:

3 hours ago, kakatlady612 said:

surgery, unless your house looks like one on TLC and the Hoarder shows it can wait. Preschoolers can pick,up their,own toys, if they can do it older kids and husbands ought to be able too.Be kind to you, you do no one favors by getting worn out. Bossy old broad and resident Grandma has spoken.

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You are so right. Thanks for reminding me that I am entitled to slack a bit after having this procedure. You give great advice. The funny thing is I was just about to go do a few loads before I read this, lol. Now I’m going to take a midday nap.

Congrats hope4momof4 big step to the positive for your life! Glad to hear you are home and recovering. Major change for your body, take it easy thru the weekend and let it adjust. When the amount of gas goes down and you feel less groggy that's a good sign and you can think about increasing activity from there. A few days in the scheme of life is not a big deal. Lots of water, chicken bouillon was key for me, I just kept going with the anti-nausea meds and tried to back down on the pain pills if I wasn't feeling strong pain (I didn't). Really want easy fluids for your stomach to settle down and get used to the new smaller you! Congrats again!

Tex

30 minutes ago, Tex Slim 66 said:

Congrats hope4momof4 big step to the positive for your life! Glad to hear you are home and recovering. Major change for your body, take it easy thru the weekend and let it adjust. When the amount of gas goes down and you feel less groggy that's a good sign and you can think about increasing activity from there. A few days in the scheme of life is not a big deal. Lots of Water, chicken bouillon was key for me, I just kept going with the anti-nausea meds and tried to back down on the pain pills if I wasn't feeling strong pain (I didn't). Really want easy fluids for your stomach to settle down and get used to the new smaller you! Congrats again!

Tex

Thank you for the great tips by the way. I did sleep last night in a reclined position and I only needed to get up a few times for gas which, as you told me, went away as soon as I walked around a bit. The pain was manageable. I was told to take Librax for pain a very four hours but I have only taken one last night and one this morning. I’m doing okay considering. I hope tomorrow my energy will come back. Thanks again Tex.

Thats awesome hope4momof4!

very excited to hear that you are done and dusted and recovering well. Can you believe it's done? Hugely proud of you of your determination to find the right procedure for you.

Take your time recovering, the fatigue hits you sometimes when you don't expect it. I remember going from I feel great to, wow I'm exhausted often in the first two weeks. Hope the fluids are going down easily.

looking forward to hearing about your progress

mel x

4 hours ago, Melesg said:

Thats awesome hope4momof4!

very excited to hear that you are done and dusted and recovering well. Can you believe it's done? Hugely proud of you of your determination to find the right procedure for you.

Take your time recovering, the fatigue hits you sometimes when you don't expect it. I remember going from I feel great to, wow I'm exhausted often in the first two weeks. Hope the fluids are going down easily.

looking forward to hearing about your progress

mel x

Thanks for the encouragement. I honestly can say that so far it has not been that bad at all. The fatigue is for me the worst part. But I have been able to rest frequently since my procedure. The first day when I got home I slept mostly. I only got up to use the bathroom and walk off the gas. Yesterday was the same except I was able to do laundry and make an easy dinner of tacos for the gang. I’m looking forward to today as I will off the pain meds and the nausea patch. I’m feeling better and thankfully have excellent support at home. Hubbie and kids have been great so far. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can have more solid liquids and not just clear. All in all my dear so far so good. I’m so glad that the procedure part is done. Looking forward to the good parts now.

great progress hope4momof4! keep drinking the liquids. So happy for you that you are feeling better!

Good morning all! It certainly is a good morning for me. I’m feeling almost 100% today which is Day 4 post op. In fact, yesterday I was almost completely back to my old self except for the part that I could only drink clear liquids and I was still feeling a little sluggish.

Tex Slim 66, I can honestly say that almost everything you described to me about postop happened with me to a tee. I kept thinking that I doubt I’ll have the same experience as Tex. I also thought maybe he’s trying to sugarcoat it a bit. I figured well he’s a tough Texas man and his threshold for pain is way higher than mine so I was preparing for the worst. But my friend you were right. I rarely felt any real pain except just after I woke up in the recovery room. (One Percocet took care of that). After that I really didn’t feel much pain at all. As of yesterday I am off all meds except for the one for acid reflux which I only need to take for another week or so just as a precaution. No nausea at all. Thankfully no vomiting or dry heaving either. I don’t feel any hunger so full liquids for me are fine. All of your advice was extremely helpful—from getting up to walk to alleviate gas to sleeping at an incline to prevent the gas. So glad I’m over this first hurdle!!

Melesg— your beautiful words of encouragement carried me through the procedure. I kept remembering that my guardian angel (my late mother) was watching over me and when I started to feel a bit of panic, I’d take three long breaths and it would calm and relax me. You were also right about my children not even noticing— like you said, gotta love teenagers.

Thanks again to all of the well wishers—- Patriciaholland, AmyAlexis, (who I’d love to hear from, it’s been a while my dear), and kakatlady612 (btw, please be as bossy as you’d like. Your advice and wisdom got me through the first few days.)

Looking forward to posting more success and still of course would love to hear how each of you are doing. Love my ESG family!???

every time you post im smilling when im reading!!! im in the position now of being scared 6weeks post[emoji52] so like melesg was for you thats what you are for me soooo glad that i found you all on the other side of the World my new and dear dear friends[emoji8]

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Patricia it is our honor to,be your friends. We all wish you only good thiIngs now and in the future. Life comes with no guarantee; all any of us can do is to live it to the best of Our own capabilities. You will have sorrows; learn from them and move on. We all on this earth are a work in progress, none of us is born with a instruction booklet. You need to be your own best YOU, if the world didn't have need of you You wouldn't be here. We all learn from each other on this journey through life. Thank you all for being there for me and I pray,I'll always be there for you. Smiles and sunshine in each of your lives today.

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