First, what is generally considered as a con in our circle, I'm a MD (they call it doctor's luck when it comes to anything health related).

Long story short, according to my surgeon everything was a pain due to a previous surgery I had (abdominal metal shrapnel removal - long story), lots of adherence, bleeding, lasted twice as long, but it came out alright in the end. Hospital stay was a pain. I saw them putting way more fluids than required, delaying early movement, delaying gradual oral dehydration way more than reasonable, leaving an unnecessary drain when it had no debit. Well, those things you kind of notice after a decade of taking care of patients. Needless to say, I pointed those things out, so I basically was a terrible patient.

In any case, I'm finally out. As I expected, my abdominal cavity is swollen beyond belief, and the extra IV made my weight 12lbs higher than preop. I have no hunger, and I have no remind myself to eat, but they told me I should stay out of the game for at least a month. For a workaholic like me, that's eternity. I tried to continue my online courses, to make use of the time, but I'm too weak to do research coherently and my current pseudo pregnant status makes sitting for long periods of time a pain on my abdomen and lower back.

What did(do) you fellows do to keep yourselves distracted? Because knowing myself, for the benefit of science I'll start doing things I'm not supposed to do, and end up worse.

In any case, my warmest regards to everyone in the community and I hope to be a functional part of it during/after recovery. And sorry for sounding a bit bitter, I'm assuming it's due to the circumstances.

Cheers!

Everyone is different! I was only in the hospital overnight and returned to work 3 days after surgery with no complications. It appears I have had a much easier time than most. I agree sitting around healing is not much fun for an active person. I have no advice other than do as much as you can around the house as long as it doesn't jeopardize your healing process. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger. LOL

Good Luck and best wishes!

Binge watch seasons of tv shows lol
Read that book you never get to

WALK WALK WALK WALK! It’ll get that fluid moving

4 minutes ago, dathvick said:

Everyone is different! I was only in the hospital overnight and returned to work 3 days after surgery with no complications. It appears I have had a much easier time than most. I agree sitting around healing is not much fun for an active person. I have no advice other than do as much as you can around the house as long as it doesn't jeopardize your healing process. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger. LOL

Good Luck and best wishes!

Thank you for your friendly advice. I know it will be tough, but I've already ordered a few videogames, read 5 books on post bariatric care and complications from various clinics, I'm thinking of taking a less thought intensive hobbie, like cooking healthy meals and will probably take on gardening or something. Definitely not something work related, since I was micromanaging from the moment I was fully conscious. My surgeon noticed and ordered me to hide my work phone where I couldn't reach it, which is probably the best advice.

For the time being, I'm just thankful I found this community where I can compare results, share experiences, vent and help whenever I can. After all, I got a Diploma on post bariatric care and weight management before going under the knife to help myself (yes, I'm THAT obsessive). Helping others seems like the reasonable thing to do.

And sleep. The extra sleeping time is nice too.

5 minutes ago, BostonWLKC said:

Binge watch seasons of tv shows lol
Read that book you never get to

WALK WALK WALK WALK! It’ll get that Fluid moving

Got an Audible membership and plan to listen to at least a book a day. And walking is great advice too, already redownloaded Pokemon Go. Right now I can only walk comfortably with a cane, but by the end of the month those puny trainers will fear me.

Thanks!

Welcome! Sorry to hear how complicated your surgery was, but best wishes that the rest of your recovery goes smoothly. Definitely sleep while you have the chance! I wore the big, elastic abdominal support for the first 2 weeks. Between that and my swollen belly, sitting at a computer was almost impossible the first week. I'm an accountant, so I sit pretty much all day. I read and binge watched reruns of favorite shows. I thought I could get caught up on my required CPEs (Continuing Professional Education classes) while I was home, but had a serious case of the post-anesthesia stupids, so no way.

First. Welcome. And congrats on your surgery.

Second. If you had schrapnel, then the most obvious is that this happened during active duty and if so, thank you for your service.

Third. Take a vacation from your profession. Seriously. Stop the reading. Stop over thinking. Stop micro-managing. Doctors make THE worst patients and worse, you scare the crap out of yourself with knowing too much. And then there's the whole debateable self-fulfilling prophecy thing.

Fourth. They told me in the hospital and I saw it for myself that they were running my drip slowly to avoid a build up of too much fluid. (I know a bit about iv rates and could see by the rate of drip...) I STILL came out with 14 extra pounds of fluid. My abdomen looked like a 5month pregnancy. I also had quite a bad case of adhesions from a previous surgery and bad uterus (nothing in comparison to the trauma of schrapnel).

Frankly, between measuring with my 1oz med cups and sip, sip, sipping, and walking, and dozing I had my hands full from a time perspective. I watched endless documentaries and binge watched some series. I did small things around the house and by I think day 2 of being home I was playing mah jhong and hearts and helping make din for the fam with my sissy. LOL.

Good news is by week 1, my fluid was almost gone, and my tummy had come down significantly. The walking helped so much. I walked every hour that I was awake!

So find something that interests you--non-medical related! And do it!

20 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

First. Welcome. And congrats on your surgery.

Second. If you had schrapnel, then the most obvious is that this happened during active duty and if so, thank you for your service.

Thank you, and on that point, I'm the literal embodiment of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons (I really want that to be my epitaph).

Danger - Life Rant: I was indeed an Army Doctor, but I enlisted because my fiance left me (a catalog model to boot), felt depressed and ashamed and wanted someone to put a bullet in me. As a result I was extremely reckless and put myself in danger pretty much on a daily basis, and eventually that happened.

Reconstructive surgery on my leg was the worst part, that and overeating as a coping mechanism led to gradually being morbidly obese. Now my leg is in fighting shape, so I decided to solve the other problem. My point being, I'm far from a hero.

I'm sorry you had to deal with similar issues as mine during surgery, and I'm glad you had the fortitude to overcome them. You seem like a really strong person.

I'm back from my walk, and instinctively did a pull up on my bedroom bar. It didn't go well (mental note: remove bar). Good news is, I'm already 3lbs down, so the fluid problem should solve itself shortly. Already reading the paper about classes I could go to to learn something (I saw a flyer offering tango lessons, sounds interesting eventually). Now I'm just anxious to get started on shedding fat.

I see everyone's goals as weight. I see mine as giving a huge middle finger to my ex, retired and a decade older by now. Again, right thing for the wrong reasons, but so far it does the trick. I need to pass that roadblock to continue my therapy (forgiveness isn't my strong suit).

In any case, thank you all for helping perhaps not the most morally (mentally?) sound person in the room. I'll be sure to help back in all the extent of my capacity.

Oh, and if you read this far, congratulations. I owe you a protein shake or something.

I second everything FluffyChix said! Especially the part about finding non-work things to do--I'm basically a sedentary sort, so had no problems in this regard. But read fiction or history or biography or something non-medical. Watch TV or movies. Endlessly search low-carb, high-protein recipes and save them to Pinterest. Play online games. Write your memoirs. Plan a fantasy vacation.

And good luck!

I laughed. I cried. I felt the whole gamut of emotions...

So look. This is life. We didn't get this far in life not to be cracked, warped or bent by it. All of us. We're one big giant bowl of cracked nuts and if we were cracked so far to get to the point that we could take part in the obesity ball--we may have quite a few more mental issues than some who are not at the ball. Who knows? I just know MO and mental issues/depression/anger/PTSD, etc, go hand in hand.

I also know that living well (and successfully) is the best revenge.

And lastly, I know that forgiveness isn't for others. It's for ourselves. When we forgive someone, we grow whole again. And scar tissue can then form over the gaping sucking chest wound. We also can go on to experience full and rich lives as more complex, resilient people.

So honestly? It sounds like at this point you are stuck in the past and it's keeping you from your full rich future. Getting skinny isn't going to help you. It's like being rich. You think you'll be happy. But if you were a miserable poor schlep, guess what you'll be once you win the lottery. Get counseling. Spend your time (THIS time) working on YOU. Work on your emotions, your spirituality, on healing. This isn't magic bean surgery. It's surgery on your guts. The End. You STILL have to do the head work. (Ok, I know gut-brain axis theories and neurohormones etc begin in the gut. So it is a little bit like having pseudo brain surgery too...but seriously dude. Put the big F-U in FUN and lose your romantic past thoughts of your catalog model.)

Sincerely,

No Protein Necessary

2 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

I laughed. I cried. I felt the whole gamut of emotions...

So look. This is life. We didn't get this far in life not to be cracked, warped or bent by it. All of us. We're one big giant bowl of cracked nuts and if we were cracked so far to get to the point that we could take part in the obesity ball--we may have quite a few more mental issues than some who are not at the ball. Who knows? I just know MO and mental issues/depression/anger/PTSD, etc, go hand in hand.

I also know that living well (and successfully) is the best revenge.

And lastly, I know that forgiveness isn't for others. It's for ourselves. When we forgive someone, we grow whole again. And scar tissue can then form over the gaping sucking chest wound. We also can go on to experience full and rich lives as more complex, resilient people.

So honestly? It sounds like at this point you are stuck in the past and it's keeping you from your full rich future. Getting skinny isn't going to help you. It's like being rich. You think you'll be happy. But if you were a miserable poor schlep, guess what you'll be once you win the lottery. Get counseling. Spend your time (THIS time) working on YOU. Work on your emotions, your spirituality, on healing. This isn't magic bean surgery. It's surgery on your guts. The End. You STILL have to do the head work. (Ok, I know gut-brain axis theories and neurohormones etc begin in the gut. So it is a little bit like having pseudo brain surgery too...but seriously dude. Put the big F-U in FUN and lose your romantic past thoughts of your catalog model.)

Sincerely,

No Protein Necessary

I wholeheartedly agree. I've been years on therapy, plenty of plans to do, pretty much charted every step of the way to an early retirement while feeling happy and fulfilled. And I am a happy person, albeit a bit lonely, but that's by choice - I decided to stay single because I cannot expect someone to carry my burden, both physical and psychological. There will be a time for love, as there was a time for war, and now there's a time for discomfort. And that goes the other way too, when I finally decide to be with someone, it will be as equals.

I hold no ill will against anyone, I follow the philosophy that in enough time your enemies naturally reduce to zero. I've devoted myself to my health and my career, and when I do something I aim to be nothing less than the best.

I'm in a cutthroat business, where everyone is competitive and tries to show off. I don't. I literally have a meditation room, with whiteboards filled with plans, outcomes, and contingencies (And nobody has seen it because I'd seriously look like a loon, but it works).

The past? Is just a collection of experiences, distilled to know what to do and when to do it. I planned this way in advance. That girl? Oh, she tried to get back with me. More times than I can remember. Why? Because I thought her a fraction of my philosophy, and it worked so well for her that she thought I was dead weight (a lot of weight right now - literally).

I just learned that emotions are a catalyst. It's what differentiates us from the other animals. So now that's my current catalyst. It's not a quest for revenge or forgiveness, just a means to an end. Once that goal has been achieved, I doubt I'll get any satisfaction from it, in fact, I won't even rub it in. I'll just concentrate on the next goal.

And that's basically life. A long walk from one goalpost to the next.

I really do thank you for your concern, and it will be analyzed and added to the mix of possible futures. I see you try to help people as well as yourself, you are a carer. The world needs more people like you. If anything, try to get a bit of happiness from the fact that someone acknowledges that fact. Or don't (It would be way more awesome if you did).

God, this got way to philosophical for a thread about hobbies after getting sliced up. I better look at some pictures of puppies or something.

12 minutes ago, Malpraxis said:

I just learned emotions are a catalyst. It's what differentiates us from the other animals. "

Well, it could be emotions, or maybe our opposable thumb. (and kung fu grip)

Sounds like you've got in figured out and under control! You'll rock it. No doubt!!

Again, welcome to the boards!

Edited May 6, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

Might start watching 600lb Life and sit there saying That' s SO NOT ME!