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Tips on what to expect first few weeks



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Hi! Excited...nervous....scared. I'm sure all the normal emotions pre surgery. :)Looking for advice on what to expect in hospital immediately after surgery and the weeks after. Any "wish someone had told me this" type of advice???

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My only real advise for anyone having surgery is to just stick to your plan and TRUST the process. Especially for the first month post op your weight may do weird thing (stall or even go up) but this process does work. Just trust it and the weight will come off.

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I'd add that everyone's experience is different, so it's hard to tell you "what to expect". I for example had very little pain, no nausea, and had no problems getting in my fluids and Protein. Other people have had all those problems and more.

Perhaps the one thing that most of us have in common is that it all gets easier every day. When you get down or depressed post surgery (and you will), remember that the struggles are generally temporary. As they say: "this to will pass".

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I wish I had been told that sleeping in a recliner chair was preferable to a bed. I had to sleep sat up in bed for almost a month because of nausea

I also didnt realise that I would be feeling so cold, the heating was cranked up so high my poor hubby was in underwear all winter

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I learned that a belly band was amazing with helping with the recovery after surgery. It helped with being able to sleep on my side and to get up and down out of chairs or bed. When I wore it I almost felt normal and like I didn't have such a big surgery. I had an easy recovery after my surgery so I don't know if it works that well with everyone but I still recommend it to try at least.

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7 hours ago, summerseeker said:

I wish I had been told that sleeping in a recliner chair was preferable to a bed. I had to sleep sat up in bed for almost a month because of nausea

I also didnt realise that I would be feeling so cold, the heating was cranked up so high my poor hubby was in underwear all winter

I have been feeling cold also. I started to wear Long johns( sexy pants) and added extra blanket on my side of bed as well as blanket on my legs while I'm on the couch. I read that keeping warm will also help with healing and reduce pain. Keep warm and feel better soon.

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
      · 0 replies
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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