Hey everyone!! ?

Hope you all are doing well. I have my gastric bypass surgery tomorrow.

Just felt like sharing. Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.

Much love to you all. ?

10 hours ago, Courtnay said:

**update**

Feeling much better today. Slept better last night, woke up 3 or 4 times, but at least not every hour like the night before lol.

Pain has become increasingly less, and so thankful for that. I was having a wide range of emotions over this unexpected outcome and some regrets, but I feel stronger today to deal with it all.

I hope you all are doing well. Much love and thanks for checking in on me.

Thanks for updating us!! I am so sorry they had to change their surgery plans... My 3 week liver reduction diet didn't seem to work very well either, my surgeon said my liver had not responded the way he'd hoped it would have, but he's a pretty skilled surgeon so he was still able to do my full surgery with it. I have read about a number of people with that issue that end up having to stage their surgery though... I really hope you do well with the sleeve, maybe you won't even have to have the second part done!! I'm glad you have the option to though...

The feels are strong after surgery even when everything goes perfectly, so I can imagine you were feeling it with everything that happened, plus the meds coursing through your system! I hope your pain continues to ease. Keep updating!! ❤️

To be quite honest if I had known that the gastric sleeve was a real possibility for me I'm not sure I would of proceeded with the surgery. I really had not expected this outcome so my emotions are running wild. ?

So worried it will increase issues with my acid reflux, as I heard it does cause that problem for many. I already have bad acid reflux so the thought of it being worse is concerning. Let's hope not though.

I want to say though that things happen for a reason and maybe just maybe this outcome is what I needed and all I will need to be successful. I do worry about having to have another surgery down the line if this is not. I really do not want to go through with another surgery. ?

But the good news is I stopped my pain medication yesterday! So I hope that means I won't need it anymore. I woke up a couple times last night, but I am not use to sleeping on my back. Always been a side and stomach sleeper lol. Please tell me that one day down the line I can return to those sleeping positions? ?

Now this is tmi but I peed the bed last night. I read though that urine incontinence can be quite normal after a major surgery such as gastric sleeve. It thankfully only happened the once last night and that's all so far. Not sure if anyone else experienced this? but it scared me at first. My health anxiety started running wild. I will be letting my bariatric team know though just so they do. I already do have incontinence from my pregnancies, but I never peed the bed. Only with sneezing or coughing hard lol.

I hope my experience does not scare anyone from having these surgeries. I was initially unsure about sharing as I did not want to scare anyone. It's been a wild ride lol but thankfully doing good otherwise. I even felt well enough yesterday to take my kiddos to get their hair cut, so things are looking up!!

Thanks for checking in ChunkCat!! ?

Edited December 17, 20232 yr by Courtnay

On 12/17/2023 at 5:40 AM, Courtnay said:

I woke up a couple times last night, but I am not use to sleeping on my back. Always been a side and stomach sleeper lol. Please tell me that one day down the line I can return to those sleeping positions? ?

Thanks for updating us and I'm so glad you are slowly feeling better.

For about the first week, I had to sleep on my back and I am a side sleeper. It was such a struggle!!!! I hated it and definitely woke up several times a night. Whenever I wanted to try to side sleep, the weight of my belly pulling down where the stitches were was not fun.

However around my second week or so, I was able to sleep on my sides with just gentle maneuvering. I also used a C pillow which helped with support. And before I knew it, I was able to sleep as I had before. It might take a little longer for the stomach sleeping more so because the inside stitches will take longer to heal and it might not feel comfortable, but side sleeping should be closer around the bend.

Courtnay, you have my sympathy, and yes it can be normal after a major surgery in that all the anesthesia and pain relief make those signals more dull, and you're less likely to rouse/awake normally at those cues. Of course sharing with your surgical team but it's not likely to continue. There are just so many mixed signals going through your body right now.

I think it's kind of you to want to filter what you write here so as not to scare others but I'll go ahead and say that my fears are there and they're not dislodging?. Surgery is 2 weeks from tomorrow for me, I'm starting the liquid only diet tomorrow and I'm already pissed?. I can't seem to stop borrowing from tomorrow. Le sigh.

**Update**

Hey everyone! Sorry for being MIA for a while. I really appreciate all your responses and well wishes. I will be 2 weeks post-op tomorrow, which is kind of nutty to think about.

My 9 day post-op follow up appointment went really well. Incisions are healing well, and they seem quite happy with my food diary. I started my bariatric vitamins about 4 days post-op as well and been doing great so far with those.

I use Paravita bariatric multivitamin 3x daily and I take Vitamin D3 2500 IU one drop daily. Plus of course the medications needed temporarily prescribed by my surgeon.

I got to say though that it's been HARD going through Christmas day and not being able to enjoy our traditional Christmas breakfast, or our amazing turkey feast. Least I got to smell it though lol.

I feel a lot more strong, so I have been able to have a lot more normalcy in my life. I make my family their food, while also preparing my clear liquids and full liquids. Unfortunately I'll be on the liquids until January,10th as it is 4 weeks with the gastric sleeve.

Then eventually pureed foods, then soft, then finally regular healthy eating for life lol.

I am making turkey soup today with our turkey carcass, onions, carrots, celery, and some seasoning, so I can at least enjoy the broth of our Christmas dinner my spouse and out kiddos had yesterday lol.

I hope you all are well. I am fighting my brain and always will, and I am still having some regretful thoughts over having this surgery. I am taking one step ahead at a time and trying to look towards the positives.

As I've said in other posts I just was so set on Gastric Bypass for my acid reflux issues, and I liked that it could be reversed if needed, plus I hear it has a higher success rate.

So when I found out they gave me the sleeve, I just been having mixed thoughts since, and now I can't go back even if I wanted to down the line. So it's been weighing on me a lot.

Please know I am not trying to discourage anyone from WLS, and the sleeve can be just as successful, everyone is different. I also thoroughly did my research on WLS prior. Lots of great things about these surgeries.

I hope you all are well and that you all had a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays if you celebrate. Much love. ✌