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btw

By the way, My mom took some pictures at the hospital and I plan to post them as soon as I can get them uploaded.....I'm sure they look horrendous, but that will be even better when I compare them to my "after" pics in a few months!!:thumbup:
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

1
 

Day 4--feeling great

Feel great today. No nausea, no pain. I'm a little sore in my stomach but no pain unless I bend. I'm not hungry at all. No hunger. None!!! I found out I shouldn't be crushing my wellbutrin because it's Sustained Release, so they told me I should be able to swallow it whole. I'm trying that tonight. If for some reason it gets stuck, I need to ease it down with warm liquids. My chewable centram orange taste pretty good. My only issues are not really surgery related. 1. I only told people at work that I was having surgery and didn't tell them why except for two people I'm close to. Other people have been speculating what kind of surgery I'm having and gossiping, which kind of makes me mad. They are guessing I had some kind of cosmetic surgery and even suggested lap band as a possibility. I don't really know why it bothers me because it's not a secret, I just didn't feel the need to tell everyone at work. I don't feel like it's their business. I'm off work for a month though due to my sick leave running into my christmas vacation, so I'm pretty sure i'm going to look different when I return, so I'm sure they will guess correctly that I had WLS. This bothers me, but only a little. I just feel that sometimes they are mean spirited in the way they gossip. I'm not embarrassed about the surgery, I just feel that I have the right to privacy about my health. 2. I randomly met a guy two days before my surgery and he keeps asking me if I'll go out with him and I keep putting him off. He wants to get dinner and I'm on liquids right now. I'm debating whether or not to tell him. I don't like to lie and I hate making up excuses that arent' true. But I do want to go out with him.   Those are my biggest problems, and as you can see, they are little inconsequential issues. I am very happy so far and I'm down 18 pounds from before I started the pre-op diet. My pants are looser and my butt looked better today. Day 4 is a good day.:thumbup:
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

4
 

A okay--day 3

:thumbup:Okay, first of all, thanks to everyone who has been so supportive! I really appreciate it and really feel close to you guys now. You're the best!! I have no hunger (which I know is only temporary) so it has been no problem sticking to my liquid diet. I actually went with my mom and went shopping. I got tired and run down and had to go and sit n the car, but I think that was more dehydration and lack of calories. I've moved to the full liquid stage this afternoon and oatmeal and milk went down fine. I can't feel anything weird when I eat and I can't really feel the port. I do have about five incisions. I'm not sure why so many, but they are slowly healing. I can sleep fine. It hurts when I turn over, but I can sleep on either side once I get there or on my back comfortably.   I actually feel pretty normal, other than I feel a little weak due to lack of calories. I'm trying not to obsess over the scale, but I am down 15 pounds since I started the pre-op diet and I can tell I'm still swollen and I haven't had a BM yet. I think the loratab makes you constipated. I'm weanin myself off of it and onto liquid tylenol. Now I have to eat/drink every hour that I'm awake. This is the recommended schedule until Tuesday. 8am-soupy cereal (milked down oatmeal, no clumps) 9am-water 10am-juice 11am-strained cream soup 12pm-jello 1pm-water or non caloric beverage, coffee is okay 2pm- nonfat milk 3pm broth 4pm milked down cream of wheat 5pm-water 6pm-strained cream soup 7pm-juice 8pm-jello sugar free pudding 9pm-nonfat milk.   To be honest, I haven't been keeping up with it because it seems like a lot. I'm trying to get better though and everything is going down fine. My biggest issue right now is that they have not called in a liquid form of wellbutrin and crushed pills is disgusting. I'm going to call them again tomorrow.....
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

3
 

Surgery Successful!

I had surgery yesterday and it went well. I got there at about 7:30am, checked in, went to room where I had to give a urine sample, which is hard to do when you're not allowed to drink anything and I already went first thing in the morning. Was asked to get into this gown and socks. Then the nurse put on these really nice thigh high things so I wouldn't get blood clots. Okay, so they weren't pretty, but they did keep me warmer. It was cold yesterday in FL and the hospital was very cold. Then the nurse was mad because apparenty I hadn't filled out some form when i came for pre-op and they were missing my blood work and chest x-ray.   I guess they got it all sorted out and then my mom came back. Suddenly, Nurse Ratchet turned into the nicest person around and she and my mom chatted about everything under the sun. I waited in that room with a TV for awhile, and then another nurse came and wheeled me through the hospital and on the elevators to another waiting area. My surgeon came by, as did the anesthesiologist, who was about 21 years old, but very good looking. They were running late, but finally wheeled me back into the OR. I was totally lucid at this point and they took me into the OR which had a bed with pads on the feets and arms and several people standing around. I scooted over to that bed and they started tying my arms down. I asked where were my happy drugs and informed them that I was usually out by this point, as i was getting pretty scared looking around. The cute anesthesiologist said that the nurse had gotten past him but he was here now and he shot me with something in my IV.   I woke up in recovery and It was painful!!! There was a male nurse there and I told him I can't breathe and it hurts. He kept giving me IV pain killers (I think he said torredal) until I felt better. I had the worst cotton mouth ever and felt kind of nauseous. I asked for ice and he said I wasn't ready for it due to the nausea. I asked him if I could have some ice if I promised not to swallow it. That made him laugh and laugh and laugh. He finally got some ice and it made my mouth feel better, but I pretty much had cotton mouth the whole rest of the day. I kind of chilled for while, all hazy on pain meds in recovery for awhile. The male nurse said that he thought he knew me from somewhere. I think he goes to the same gym I go to. He said he remembered my personality, because I guess I was being funny because he kept laughing. Then he wheeled me downstairs and my mom came and another nurse was taking care of me. They gave me some pretty awful tasting liquid pain meds (liquid loratab) and let me drink some water. I had no issues with drinking. Then my mom noticed that I had a catheter. I guess they had put that in while I was out. The nurse took it out, which hurt, but not that badly. I then began to have some horrid gas pains that made me double over and cry. I begged the nurse to let me walk, which she finally did after telling me that I could stay in the hospital that night or go home. I wanted to go home. I guess most of the time they make you stay one night, but since I'm "young and healthy" (their words) I can go home. So, she undid my IV and my blood pressure monitor and let me walk around, which made me feel 100X better. My mom went and got the car and I got dressed by myself. My leaving blood pressure was 126/80 which is great. I had some hypertension in the first recovery room, but they think it was due to the pain. They gave me a script for liquid loratab and told me to crush my other meds.   I went home and followed the rule of drinking something or eating sugar free popsicles or jello every hour. Walked down the driveway and around the house alot. Took the pain meds and felt okay and went to sleep. Woke up at 4am and walked around a bit, let the dog out, and took some more pain meds. Woke up at 9am, walked around, took some pain meds, and had some jello. I crushed up my Wellbutrin last night and tonight and it was horrible!!! I called the doctor's office today and asked them to call in a liquid version of my wellbutrin, and they said they would. I'm on a clear liquid diet for today and half of tomorow and then on full liquids until my doctor's appointment on Dec. 9th. They said until that appt not to experiment with food, but only eat what's on the list which consists of cream of wheat, oatmeal (both thinned with no clumps) strained soup, broth, jello, sugar free popsicles, water, juice and non caloric drinks. I can have coffee but not really until tomorrow afternoon, because I can't have skim milk until tomorrow and I can't drink it black. The appointment is usually to get the staples out, but since he did glue with me, it's just to check in. I have my first fill in about a month and they will give me the rest of my post-op diet at my dec. 9th appointment. So far, so good. I'm in a little pain, but no nausea and the pain is manageable.
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

17
 

8 days to go!!!

I'll be having surgery in 8 days!!! I'm 6 days into my pre-op diet and I've lost 10 pounds. I feel really good about that, because I've been sticking to the diet really well. Four protein shakes during the day and one healthy choice dinner. Add veggie or healthy choice dessert if I'm still hungry but no more than 1100-1200 calories per day. Some of the 10 pounds is probably water weight and I'm counting from weight that I just gained from having "last meals". The first two days are pure hell, but after that, I have gotten used to drinking my meals instead of eating them. I really haven't been hungry much at all. My boss took me to lunch on Friday, and he knows I'm having surgery, but I didn't tell him what for. I ate 1/3 of a grilled chicken sandwich really slowly and he didn't seem to notice. Then, I just drank a protein drink for dinner. I've been meaning to get to the gym but it is COLD. I mean really COLD for Florida. It's been in freezing temperatures the past few days. When I get off work it's dark and cold and I just want to stay inside and be warm and not go back out. I will definitely start going to the gym after my surgery. I think I can do cardio fairly soon after and weights after 6 weeks or so. I'm really looking forward to losing this weight and starting the new year off right!! I've only told two people at work that I'm doing it and only a few friends and my family. I actually am going to have a month off work counting the Christmas vacation I already scheduled, so I hope to come back to work much lighter. Let the rumors begin!!!
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

1
 

Background

Okay, here's some background on me. I'm a 29 year old single female. I've been overweight since I was about 10. I've had success with diets off and on through high school and college, but would keep gaining after I lost. I get sidetracked by life and it takes a lot of attention for me to lose weight or even maintain it. I have to go to the gym, eat much less than I want, and pick healthy foods. Sounds doable right? Well, after going to my sister's wedding and seeing most of my relatives who have lost the battle of the bulge, I finally realized that the odds were not stacked in my favor. I consider myself successful--I graduated college and obtained my master's degree while working full time. I have a good career and good friends. However, I just can't seem to succeed at losing weight. It has now gotten to the point where it will negatively impact my health and has definitely hurt my otherwise healthy self-esteem. I'm not dating anyone because I look in the mirror and I can't imagine anyone wanting to be with me. I've dated in the past quite a bit and been fine, but I guess now it has really hit me how overweight I've become. I feel sluggish and my feet hurt and I'm tired all the time. I want to have energy and enjoy life. I want to get dressed up and go out and feel sexy! But most of all, I don't want to look back at my life and feel that I wasted my youth being held back by the 100 and more extra pounds I'm carrying around! So, This is it. I'm hoping it will be! I'm an optimist by nature, so I am hoping and thinking that this will work, not by itself, but though hard work as well. I think that is what makes the lap band appeal to me. It won't work unless I work as well. I don't think I'd appreciate it as much if I didn't have to work for it. So, here I go! I'm scared that I will fail. I'm scared that something will go wrong and I will die. I'm scared that I won't be able to eat and I'll be miserable. But I won't let my fear hold me back. Because, most of all, I"m scared that I will do nothing and doing something to me is always better than doing nothing about a problem. I want to be that success story. I want to inspire others like many have inspired me. Let the journey begin...December 1st here I come!
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

5
 

I finally have a date!!!!

December 1st!!!! I am a crazy mix of excited and nervous!! I start my pre-op diet on Monday. My surgery is in 16 days! I am hardly believe it!
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

5
 

Long overdue update

Well, after much work, I finally got insurance approval!!! I'm waiting on a surgery date, but I'm hoping for early December. I've been researching this thing to death and feel ready--nervous/excited/but ready. Here we go!
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

2
 

Lap Band Paperwork/PCP Appt.

Okay, so I went to my primary care doctor today, with all my paperwork. I was nervous to ask her for the letter of medical necessity so I talked about my foot first. Apparently I have heel spurs and she suggested orthopedic shoes. Uggh! I think I"m going to try a heel pad. She mentioned that it can come from excess weight. I think she was just about to suggest some kind of new diet....ugh..That was the perfect opportunity to bring up the fact that I wanted lap band surgery. She looked king of confused, then looked through my chart. Well, you do qualify, she said..and then pondered it. She said, well, what about RNY instead? It has more proven results. She's big on proven research. I asked her for Seasonale birth control a year ago and she said no because there wasn't enough research on the long term results. I told her that I felt that Lap Band was better for me and cited the reasons. She said she' d had two patients that it had failed on. I asked her what she meant by failed (ie. did they die or what?) She said they ate around the band and gained the weight back and you had to be very committed if the band was going to work. I told her that's me exactly. Because I am very committed. I pointed out that I lost 77 pounds two years ago on weight watchers and the gym I go to told me I'd gone to the gym more days that year than any other member. Then she seemed to get excited about it because she started typing (my letter, maybe?) and started piling up my justifications for surgery or my insurance (heel spurs now...back pain, joint pain, she said my blood pressure was borderline, I told her that my back hurt and she said, "Excellent!" She measured my waist, ordered a chest xray, ordered the Thyroid test, a diabetes/insulin test (not sure why) and a bunch of other blood tests. She wanted a stress test, but later decided they'd deny it, because of my lack of symptoms. Then she told me she wouldn't approve it unless I quit smoking. I told her I wanted to do that anyway. She said I had to quit at least 2 weeks before surgery. She told me she'd see me again before surgery and I had to quit before she'd give me clearance and not to lie about it. I agreed not to lie. I have issues with lying to a doctor who's in charge of my health and safety. I don't think I'd ever lie to my doc, what's the point? Anyway, I told her I probably needed help quitting and she suggested Chiabix? However, my insurance doesn't cover smoking cessation (i know, crazy) and i heard it's expensive, so I suggested Wellbutrin, because that's also an antidepressant, so I think they'll cover it. She prescribed that and Xanax because she said I'll be bitchy. No argument there. She made an appointment in a month and I have to have quit smoking by then and she'll give me clearance for the surgery. She's an insurance guru so I'm actually starting to believe this will happen. She also sent over a referral for a surgery consult with my lap band surgeon. WHOOO HOOOO!
trina4ufl

trina4ufl

1
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