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.

No, no, it said we must stay on the clear liquid diet for ten days before moving to full liquids! Then, if we tolerate full liquids well after seven days, we could move to mushies.

Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! And here I was so thrilled to be moving to full fluids early. I got email at work from WASA who delivered the "oh no you can't" news so, once again, it was chicken broth and a sugar free ice pop for dinner. Thankfully, working 14 hours last night kept me busy and I'm sleeping for a few hours today. Tomorrow, it's full Fluid day and I AM having that damn tomato Soup. LOL.

Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! And here I was so thrilled to be moving to full fluids early. I got email at work from WASA who delivered the "oh no you can't" news so, once again, it was chicken broth and a sugar free ice pop for dinner. Thankfully, working 14 hours last night kept me busy and I'm sleeping for a few hours today. Tomorrow, it's full Fluid day and I AM having that damn tomato soup. LOL.

Heh... sucks to be you!

Sorry, Elisabeth. I panicked when I saw that and thought, "oh no, she misunderstood what I posted" and went into panic mode. Sorry to disappoint you. I am glad WASa had your work email!!

At least you have something to look forward to tomorrow. I have been putting my grocery list together for creamed Soups and Protein shakes and such for full liquids, I can't wait for Sunday!!!

I bought some clear whey Protein powder at GNC that says it can be added to anything. I just hope it doesn't taste horrid. I'll have to break down and buy some Isopuke if it does.

I am so worried about hair loss. I started on the Nioxsin shampoo and scalp treatment today.

Sorry, Elisabeth. I panicked when I saw that and thought, "oh no, she misunderstood what I posted" and went into panic mode. Sorry to disappoint you. I am glad WASa had your work email!!

At least you have something to look forward to tomorrow. I have been putting my grocery list together for creamed soups and Protein shakes and such for full liquids, I can't wait for Sunday!!!

LOL, thanks Susan! I'm so ready to go to full fluids tomorrow. I can't look at another cup of broth! I've been baking for Easter today but never craved that kind of stuff. I'm a hot bread and butter person so it's nice to not have it in the house.

What I have noticed is that things SMELL differently. I LOVE coffee but a freshly brewing pot of coffee in one of the units at work last night made me sick. It did not smell like coffee. I'm wondering if it's related to anesthesia. I've had general before but this was my first spinal/general. Being 9 days post-op, I would think anesthesia related events are over with. Hmmmm... perhaps I'm just weird. LOL.

Happy shopping for your Easter full Fluid dinner!

I bought some clear whey Protein powder at GNC that says it can be added to anything. I just hope it doesn't taste horrid. I'll have to break down and buy some Isopuke if it does.

I am so worried about hair loss. I started on the Nioxsin shampoo and scalp treatment today.

You should try a bunch of different protein powders before surgery to see what you like. I can't deal with the taste of ANY of them and got the OK to use Soy Slender but that's only 7-8 g protein and 70 cal in 8 oz. I hit post-op day 10 tomorrow and accepted that I would not be able to get in the required protein until I moved off of clear fluids.

Elisabeth, how are you taking your Nexium? Are you able to swallow them whole? I'm not, I have to dissolve them in water.

Elisabeth, how are you taking your Nexium? Are you able to swallow them whole? I'm not, I have to dissolve them in Water.

I was dissolving them up until last night. They taste horrible dissolved! I think the pill is too big to swallow whole so I took a scissor and cut that sucker right in half. It's not scored but the scissor halved it perfectly and made it possible to get down.

Since I was not sure how it would split, I cut it inside a sandwich bag fearing it might crumble.

I have a pill splitter that I got right after banding. I hope that works well enough.

You're right. I should try that Protein powder for the clear diet now just to see how hard it's going to be to get it down. I also have some of the proti brand protein lemon lime drinks that are 15 grams in 8 oz of Water. My daughter tells me they aren't too bad.

Elizabeth: Enjoy your tomato soup tomorrow!

Elizabeth: Enjoy your tomato soup tomorrow!

LOL. I woke up this AM and tomato soup was the first thing I thought of! It's on the menu for my dinner tonight. Another person told me to freeze 60 cal Jello puddings and then eat them like ice-cream. I checked the full Fluid menu at my hospital and was surprised pudding was on that menu.

LOL, thanks Susan! I'm so ready to go to full fluids tomorrow. I can't look at another cup of broth! I've been baking for Easter today but never craved that kind of stuff. I'm a hot bread and butter person so it's nice to not have it in the house.

What I have noticed is that things SMELL differently. I LOVE coffee but a freshly brewing pot of coffee in one of the units at work last night made me sick. It did not smell like coffee. I'm wondering if it's related to anesthesia. I've had general before but this was my first spinal/general. Being 9 days post-op, I would think anesthesia related events are over with. Hmmmm... perhaps I'm just weird. LOL.

Happy shopping for your Easter full Fluid dinner!

I stayed on Full liquids for the seven days, then went to mushies. That is when you will really see how this sleeve works. I am staying on mushies longer because I am still in the learning process, and I get full on 3-4 bites of whatever. I can't imagine eating anything more solid right now. Fortunately, with mushies, there is a variety of things you can eat.

Yes, things "smell" differently. When the lady would come and clean my room, I had to ask her to stop, the "sweet" smell of the lemon scented stuff she used made me nauseous. I went to the library, ( New Orleans has this wonderful old library that is a converted mansion) a couple of days ago, and went to use the bathroom. They had used ammonia to clean it. When I closed the door, I thought I would die. I asked the librarian if they poured a whole bottle of ammonia in there, because I almost passed out. She said no, they cleaned it two days ago and the window had been left open. She went to investigate, and said she could barely smell the ammonia. Easter Sunday I will be a month out, so I don't think it's the anesthesia!

I stayed on Full liquids for the seven days, then went to mushies. That is when you will really see how this sleeve works. I am staying on mushies longer because I am still in the learning process, and I get full on 3-4 bites of whatever. I can't imagine eating anything more solid right now. Fortunately, with mushies, there is a variety of things you can eat.

Yes, things "smell" differently. When the lady would come and clean my room, I had to ask her to stop, the "sweet" smell of the lemon scented stuff she used made me nauseous. I went to the library, ( New Orleans has this wonderful old library that is a converted mansion) a couple of days ago, and went to use the bathroom. They had used ammonia to clean it. When I closed the door, I thought I would die. I asked the librarian if they poured a whole bottle of ammonia in there, because I almost passed out. She said no, they cleaned it two days ago and the window had been left open. She went to investigate, and said she could barely smell the ammonia. Easter Sunday I will be a month out, so I don't think it's the anesthesia!

I'm glad we have the option of going to the soft diet after 7 days because it won't be such a struggle to get the Protein in. I don't like creamed cereals so I'm sticking with the soy slender drink for Breakfast. When I was banded, ricotta cheese was a savior. Four ounces of the skim milk version gave me a good protein source for lunch and kept me satisfied.

I was making a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich yesterday for a friend (no meat on Good Friday) and the peanut butter did not smell "right" to me. It was a brand new jar and my friend thought I was nuts because it tasted and smelled "normal" to him. I am finding this very strange but the only part that effects me is the coffee. I'm drinking tea to get fluids in but I'm not much of a fan and I LOVE coffee. It still smells awful. Sigh!

The post-op instructions say to stay on soft diet for as long as you need to and not to attempt solids until 30 days have passed. You're wise to listen to your body and do what feels right. Congratulations on making it to the one month point! You must be feeling great.

I was dissolving them up until last night. They taste horrible dissolved! I think the pill is too big to swallow whole so I took a scissor and cut that sucker right in half. It's not scored but the scissor halved it perfectly and made it possible to get down.

Since I was not sure how it would split, I cut it inside a sandwich bag fearing it might crumble.

I have been dissolving them too, but literally have to force them down. Maybe I will try cutting them in half now to see if I can get them down. I am just now getting to where I can take a little bit bigger sip of Water to go down without it feeling like there is a lump in there, so maybe I can handle the pill now too.

LOL. I woke up this AM and tomato soup was the first thing I thought of! It's on the menu for my dinner tonight. Another person told me to freeze 60 cal Jello puddings and then eat them like ice-cream. I checked the full Fluid menu at my hospital and was surprised pudding was on that menu.

We can have pudding!! Oh my, I so cannot wait for tomorrow!! So, you are having tomato soup for dinner, but I want to know, what did you have for your first official full fluids breakfast?

Yes, things "smell" differently. When the lady would come and clean my room, I had to ask her to stop, the "sweet" smell of the lemon scented stuff she used made me nauseous.

I remember whenever the cleaning lady came to my room at the hospital, the smell of the cleaning stuff she used made me very nauseous too.

I have been dissolving them too, but literally have to force them down. Maybe I will try cutting them in half now to see if I can get them down. I am just now getting to where I can take a little bit bigger sip of Water to go down without it feeling like there is a lump in there, so maybe I can handle the pill now too.

I cut the pill in half and take it with hot tea. I wait until I get half of the tea gone and then take the second half and that seems to work fine.

We can have pudding!! Oh my, I so cannot wait for tomorrow!! So, you are having tomato soup for dinner, but I want to know, what did you have for your first official full fluids breakfast?

I looked over the full fluids and I'm not a fan of oatmeal/farina or any of those other hot cereals so I stuck with a soy slender shake for breakfast. I might try some pudding for lunch. I bought the 60 cal Jello pudding but think I might need to thin it out a little with some skim milk. Dinner is definitely the tomato soup.

I remember whenever the cleaning lady came to my room at the hospital, the smell of the cleaning stuff she used made me very nauseous too.

Yes, that stuff had a sickening, sweet smell to it.