Thank you to everyone for their support.

I took a 6 hour flight to CA on 3/31 and arrived in San Diego at 11:30 "their time". The driver, Ernesto, was waiting for me at the baggage area and put my luggage in the van and drove me, and another passenger, to Mexacali. This drive was about 2 hours long.

I was taken directly to the hospital where they were waiting for me and had blood work, urinalysis, EKG, chest x-ray, and then an esophagram to evaluate and completely unfil my band. The last stop was meeting with the coordinator to get pre and post-op instructions and to pay the balance for the surgery.

I was told I could have anything I wanted to eat (was on a 30 gram/day carb diet for the week prior to surgery) and driven to the Lucerna Resort which is beautiful. As I worked the night before, I elected to have the sandwich and protein bar I brought with me, showered, and fell asleep. I took the antibiotic they gave me before I went to sleep but did not take the ativan.

At 7 AM on 4/1, I was picked up and taken to my room in the hospital. I was seen by a medical internist who reviewed my tests (all good), an assistant surgeon (who was sleeved the day after me), an anesthesiologist, and finally, by the surgeon, Dr. Aceves. All questions were answered and I was the second sleeve of the day.

I got dramamine and versed to take 30 minutes prior to the OR and that knocked me out. LOL. My IV was inserted in the OR and I had spinal and general anesthesia. The spinal dramatically decreases the amount of general needed. Since I don't do well with general (severe nausea), I elected for the spinal too and had NO problems in the recovery room.

All I remember about the recovery room was being asked if I had pain... nope, and being told I was going back to my room. I got some IV pain medication at @ 4 AM and then had sublingual (under the tongue) toradol @ 1 PM. For me, this surgery was a lot less painful than the band.

At noon, I had to drink small sips of water. An hour after that I drank apple juice with a blue dye in it. This is the second test (first done in OR) for leaks. I have a drain near where the port was and the hope is that no blue color comes through to the bag. I passed. After that, I was brought hot tea, tang OJ, and apple juice. My IV was taken out this evening.

Tomorrow morning, I go for the last leak test and will have to drink a radiograffin substance. If I pass that test (and I have no doubt I will), the drain gets removed at noon. I will leave the hospital at 5:45 AM on Saturday to make my flight in San Diego for home. I have nothing but positive things to say about this experience. As a registered nurse I was very watchful and am impressed with the care, cleanliness, and professionalism I observed.

Thanks. Dr. Aceves also told me to take Zinc. He said hair loss was related to not enough zinc. I need to pick some of that up too.

Yesterday, it rained all day and it was my final day off from work. I needed a day to do nothing and relax and, for the first time, I experienced head hunger. I fought the urge to eat because I was not physically hungry and waited to eat until dinner time.

For dinner, I was actually able to eat a small chicken cutlet cut into little pieces and about a 1/4 cup of steamed green beans. Dr. Aceves stressed to not get into the habit of eating inbetween meals and of eating healthy foods when you do eat so that's what I've been doing.

I guess down time can be a bad thing. LOL.

Sounds like you're doing wonderfully. Way to fight off the urge to eat! You're going to do great things!

I maintain that no matter what surgery you have, the real work is developing new coping patterns and breaking bad habits. My free time is very limited because I work a FT and a PT job. However, I do find I think about food when I get the chance to do nothing and that includes watching TV.

One of the things I enjoy, and haven't done in a long time, is counted cross stitch and other forms of needlework. I went out and got a small project to do. The idea is to keep my hands busy so they can't pick up food. LOL.

I eat sf popsicles in the evening and that helps with the wanting a snack after dinner.

I eat sf popsicles in the evening and that helps with the wanting a snack after dinner.

My "trigger time" seems to be late afternoon. I'm done with cleaning, laundry, etc., and dinner is usually planned out and/or ready to go so I have some "down" time. Once I have dinner, I can't fit in any desserts or anymore food or drinks. LOL.

I went through some head hunger issues last week. I think it had more to do with frustration over the darn scale though. It didn't move for almost two weeks. I am exercising just about every day and still just barely hitting between 600-700 calories a day. I was getting really frustrated. As a result, I started doing the, "well, if I am not going to lose any weight I may as well eat such and such", with my idea of "such and such" being something salty and crunchy. I ate one cool ranch dorito and quickly changed my mind for fear of getting into old habits again.

Fortunately, I got on the scale today and suddenly it is moving again. I have lost 3 pounds in 3 days, thank goodness. Lets hope it keeps moving this time.

I went through some head hunger issues last week. I think it had more to do with frustration over the darn scale though. It didn't move for almost two weeks. I am exercising just about every day and still just barely hitting between 600-700 calories a day. I was getting really frustrated. As a result, I started doing the, "well, if I am not going to lose any weight I may as well eat such and such", with my idea of "such and such" being something salty and crunchy. I ate one cool ranch dorito and quickly changed my mind for fear of getting into old habits again.

Fortunately, I got on the scale today and suddenly it is moving again. I have lost 3 pounds in 3 days, thank goodness. Lets hope it keeps moving this time.

Yay! Congratulations on the scale moving. I was going nuts jumping on and off that damn scale and decided to stay off and try and weigh monthly. My clothes are fitting looser and people are beginning to notice I am losing... progress. LOL.

I am worried about how much I am able to eat. My bf brought me a healthy choice frozen dinner. He did that because he knew I wasn't cooking these days. I was able to start mushies yesterday.

I ate the entire piece of fish and whatever portion of broccoli came with it. I would say a half a cup. I did not feel full or stuffed. I just felt not hungry, if that makes any sense. I remember Elizabeth and Susan saying they were full on like 3 bites. I would say that piece of fish was the size of a 3 x 5 index card.

I am worried about how much I am able to eat. My bf brought me a healthy choice frozen dinner. He did that because he knew I wasn't cooking these days. I was able to start mushies yesterday.

I ate the entire piece of fish and whatever portion of broccoli came with it. I would say a half a cup. I did not feel full or stuffed. I just felt not hungry, if that makes any sense. I remember Elizabeth and Susan saying they were full on like 3 bites. I would say that piece of fish was the size of a 3 x 5 index card.

You're really not going to "experience" the effects of the surgery until you get to the hard protein stage. Healthy Choice meals are less than 300 calories and never satisfied me. Have you tried some tuna or chicken salad on soft bread?

I am worried about how much I am able to eat. My bf brought me a healthy choice frozen dinner. He did that because he knew I wasn't cooking these days. I was able to start mushies yesterday.

I ate the entire piece of fish and whatever portion of broccoli came with it. I would say a half a cup. I did not feel full or stuffed. I just felt not hungry, if that makes any sense. I remember Elizabeth and Susan saying they were full on like 3 bites. I would say that piece of fish was the size of a 3 x 5 index card.

You know I think you are trippy and wonderful and all those things but I have to tell you. Do you have any idea how many of your posts start with, "I am worried...."?

Stop worrying, you went to great doc, your recovery is fantastic (better than the rest of us), you are losing weight, everything is going as it should and life is good! Stop worrying! ;o)

Edited May 22, 200917 yr by Oregondaisy

I have always admitted to being a big worry wart.

I am going to try some egg salad tomorrow.

I have always admitted to being a big worry wart.

I am going to try some egg salad tomorrow.

But Denise, you worry when things are going well! When you could drink liquids you worried about it. When you were healing better than the rest of us, you worried about it. Relax, no need to look for things to fret over. Embrace the good, don't worry about it! Life is too short.

Yep, Denise you are doing amazingly well. I wish my recovery had gone half as easy as yours did!

I think I was able to eat a bit more when doing mushies than I am now. I still eat just about four bites of hard protein and am completely stuffed.

I have always admitted to being a big worry wart.

I am going to try some egg salad tomorrow.

I think you said you had 15 pounds to lose before the surgery and you've already lost 13. Since you're 2 pounds from goal and didn't have any of the band issues that WASA, Susan, and I had, it makes sense that you're recovering fast and can eat more.