GreenEyedMamma

We share the same story as well. Overweight my entire life. I started this journey at 336.6 pounds. Day of surgery I was 325.6 pounds. I have lost a total of 25 pounds in a month (14 since surgery). You will love your sleeve and what a blessing to be doing this with your sister.

Good luck with your journey and I pray for a complication-free procedure and that you and your sister recover quickly.

Don't get discouraged. That will give you more time to read this forum and prepare for your life changing adventure.

Good luck to you and your journey. You'll love it. The sleeve ROCKS!!!

Congrats! I say go for the sleeve. I was hesitant about it when I met with my surgeon at first but after I started reading this site I was convinced that it was the thing for me. I was sleeved three weeks ago and I couldn't be more happier.

Continue to read the posts here and do your research but I think you will find that this particular surgery is the way to go.

Good luck to you!

I think my turning point was on day 4 or 5. I didn't have neck pain but I had severe pain in my left shoulder from the gas used during surgery. Once that pain subsided and I got to walking about the house more I started to feel better. Be sure to drink (sip) lots of Water and try to drink a Protein shake. I had a drain and once that came out a week after surgery I felt 200 times better.

OH - warning on the liquid hydrocodone. Try no to rely on it too much throughout the day because it can constipate you and that can make you even more uncomfortable. I took it two or three times a day for the first four days and then stopped.

Hang in there. You'll start to feel better soon.

I had my gallbladder out 8 years ago. With that surgery I had three incisions and all were very small. I did not have a drain and was able to go home the same day.

With my sleeve, I had five incisions, all but one were quite small and the other (the one they actually remove the stomach from) was only about 1.5". I had a drain, which I consider the 5th incision, but not everyone gets a drain. The recovery period for this surgery is a bit longer than with gallbladder but then again, everyone tolerates pain differently. I had shoulder pain with both surgeries but this one was a bit more intense than my last four surgeries. I had a difficult time with my drain but once it was removed I felt GREAT.

I had a hysterectomy 8 years ago also and the sleeve is nothing compared to that.

Wow, your pre-op diet is nice. Mine was full liquids for two weeks. Nothing but Protein shakes, crystal light, only greek yogurt and that was only every few days, sugar free popcicles and sugar free pudding. I am VERY glad I did it though because it made a HUGE difference after surgery. I got all of my withdrawls out of the way within the first four days of the pre-op diet. Since you will be on liquids for a minimum of one week (some surgeons require two or more) before you are allowed mushies the liquid diet before surgery makes a nice transition.

Once you get past the first four or five days things are much easier. Just stick to it. I found the afternoons were much harder than any other time of the day so I chewed a TON of gum and had to shake up my routine at work. You can do it!

Congrats on your upcoming surgery. You will not regret it at all. You'll look back on the two weeks you were on the pre-op diet and think nothing of them.

I hit my first stall as well and I was sleeved on 2/24. It is frustrating. I am following my diet plan and am getting exercise. I even wear ankle weights at work to give me a little something extra throughout the day while I walk about the office. I am getting in around 850-900 calories per day and about 100 grams of Protein. I need to lower my carbs as I am currently getting in around 45-50 but they are good carbs and not bad. I will try and lower to get below 40.

I also know I need to drink more Water during the day (not at night before I go to bed) and I read somewhere that if you drink 16 more ounces of Water per day than the recommended 64 (for a total of 80) that can increase your metabolism by 30%. That is a TON of water but I am going to try it.

Regardless of our frustration, I know we'll ge the scales moving again soon...and in the right direction.

I use FatSecret too and love it. I have it on my phone and my iPad. I am a barcode scanner geek too. Since I can access it anywhere, I have no excuse for not entering my food intake. On FatSecret I have tracked my entire process starting from my first weigh-in at my surgical consult. I track my progress through a ticker on LilySlim and I am only tracking my weight loss since surgery. I want others to see only what the sleeve has done for me.

As far as the scale goes, I tossed the old one and purchased a new one. The new one is digital and it tracks up to four people. It also gives you your BMI and your percentage lost. I tested the accuracy between it and my surgeons office and it is spot on. It is made by Health O Meter and I picked it up at Wal-Mart for $40. I never thought I would EVER say this but... I love my new scale.< /p>

I had to lose the same in a two week period. It is really doable as long as you stick to your liquids. Keep it very low in carbs and remember to drink your Water too. If you choose broth, choose a very low sodium broth so your body doesn't hold onto the salt and make you retain Water. I chewed A LOT of gum to help with cravings. It is hard but the payoff is well worth it. I am only a little over a week post-op and I don't regret anything. Use this time as a good learning tool for recovery as well as a stepping stone for a new relationship with food.

Good luck with everything. You'll do great.

I started my journey weighing the same as you. I was just sleeved LAST Thursday (24th).

Me and my family go to Disneyland ALL the time (we live nearby) and we went to Disney World last year. I didn't have a problem fitting on ANY ride (even at 336 pounds). I don't like rollercoasters so I didn't go on Rockin' Roller Coaster but I did brave Expedition Everest and I didn't have any issues with fitting (even though I thought for sure I was going to have an issue). I carry my weight in my behind and thighs which makes rides a little snug but I was able to do everything I wanted.

Have fun! My husband and I are heading back to World this September and I am so excited that I will be much smaller this time around and my knees won't hurt so much after walking all day long. Enjoy yourself!!!

Dawn

I had this issue until I started to eat more food with substance (which wasn't until yesterday). I completely understand about sitting on the toilet for passing gas. Things will "bulk up" soon.

I will get it when I drink or eat to quickly. Some days I just forget to slow down. I eat with a baby spoon so I can make sure to take small bites. I take at least 1/2 an hour to eat 1/2 a cup of anything. Although tonight it took me more than an hour to get my oatmeal down. I do find it hard to eat slower but I would rather take the time to train myself how to be patient with food so I have a successful result in the end (a better relationship and understanding between me and food).

I am on the west coast (California) and I paid $10,250 plus the surgeon's fee of $4,000. I found that most surgeons have package deals with local hospitals and surgery centers. If you can find a doc that will do it at a surgery center the cost is cheaper. Good luck to you and let me know if you have questions.

Dawn

Yeah it is very interesting to see the differences in requirements. Our surgeons all have the same requirements post op but some require pre-op diets and some don't. My surgeon was one of the only to require a 2 week liquid diet and I know people who had him only months ago and didn't have to do it. He normally only requires it for those over 400 lbs, but for some reason had me do it. Very odd.

Everyone goes home with a drain here. Its so annoying. I wasn't allowed anything for 24 hours after surgey, when I had a leak test done, then clears for 3 days, with the exception of greek yogurt I am still doing clears as I dont feel ready for full. Then we do 2-3 weeks of full liquids. 2-3 weeks of mushys and purees. Then real food.

I had a drain too. It was supposed to stay in for two weeks but it was removed on the 7th day. The drain actually threads to the left of your abdomen and sits behind your spleen so it makes sense that you have pain on the left side. I actually had the opposite feeling and felt it on the right. My doc said some people feel the deferred pain on the right. Even when they took it out, I knew it was coming from the left but I felt all of the movements on the right. It was very odd.

My doc gives all his patients a drain because it helps reduce the risk of infection. Once my drain fluids were pretty clear they took it out and I felt 200 times better. I was just sleeved on the 24th and I feel fantastic now.

Good luck to both of you guys on your recovery. We are all just days apart.

Dawn

It hurt for me to sip the first few days because my throat hurt from the breathing tube. I sucked down what I could though and eventually I was able to drink more each day.

I felt horrible until after my JP drain was removed. It didn't get removed until 1 week after surgery. After that I felt 200x better and now (only 9 days out) unless I look in the mirror, I don't physically feel like I had surgery. I did get up and move around quite a bit once I got home and like everyone above has said, it works.

If your pain is from the actual liquid going into your stomach, you should see your doctor to make sure you don't have a leak.

Hang in there!

Every doctor has a different requirement. I was just sleeved last Thursday. My doc kept me on clear/very thin liquids for one week. This included Protein drinks, broth, Jell-O, crystal light, etc.

I progressed to mushy foods Thursday evening and had mashed sweet potatoes (about 1/2 a cup and it took me 45 minutes to eat). I ate a scrambled egg with a very little amount of mozzarella cheese yesterday for Breakfast and again, it took me about 45 minutes to eat. I am able to eat about 1/2 cup of pretty much anything mushy and be fine including cottage cheese, fat-free greek yogurt, oatmeal, etc.

I will stay on mushy foods until next Friday and will be able to progress to canned tuna, shredded chicken, etc. at that time IF my stomach can handle it. I haven't had any problem with nausea and foods yet but I do get "bubbly" if I eat to fast.

I haven't had a problem with hunger pangs but I do get head hunger if I am watching cooking shows or my husband brings home fast food for himself.

My doc doesn't recommend any carbonated beverages ever because the carbonated gas can expand the stomach.

I have found that if I am not thinking about food, I just don't get the urge to eat. I have to remind myself to eat something every couple of hours. I am only able to get in around 650 calories a day but I do make sure I get in at least 90 grams of Protein per day and try to keep the carbs below 40.

Like I said, every doctor will have a different requirement. Your body will also tell you when it is ready to advance.

Best of luck to you and I hope your surgery goes well.

Dawn

I am a self-pay and I had my surgery at 3pm last Thursday and was released at 10:30pm the next night. I could have been released in the afternoon had I been able to pee on my own by then. So, it was one night but 1.5 days if that makes sense.

Well no one said that a hospital was the Ritz Carlton for a restful sleep huh? It's a good thing they are there monitoring you to make sure your doing ok. . .can you imagine if you really did flat line and no one cared? Glad to hear your doing fine!

Oh for sure. My parents work in a hospital and they hear it all the time "hospitals are the worst for recovering and rest". HA! I just thought it was funny that they called me rather than just come see me. I didn't have a very nice night nurse. My day nurse was awesome.

I truly agree with thin..lol The hospital sucks about getting sleep. I was so aggitated when I had surgery I would hit my pain pump to go to sleep. It seemed like every 10-15 minutes they were in my room taking blood pressure and sticking me with needles.. So I kinda drowned them out with my pain clicker.. I think most of my problems was the leg massagers,about 300 wires contected to me for the first 2 day I had a catheter.drip in my arm , wires going to my fingers. So how would anyone get comfortable under these circumstances..lol When I hit that button all my issues went away and I didn't have any problem sleeping..I am just glad I didn't have a drain tube that would truly truly suck for sure..

Yes, the leg massagers drove me nuts too. They were cool at first (before I had surgery) but became quite annoying after. I hit my pain button quite often and it made me sleepy but I just couldn't stay asleep. I think the longest I slept my entire time there was 1 hour. Last night was the BEST night I slept since I have been home but that is largely due to my drain being removed yesterday. That was SUCH a huge relief. Now, I just got to get rid of this rash...

@swizzly - It is funny how people can have very different experiences. I didn't experience vomiting but I did feel sick to my stomach twice but that was after I got up quickly and both episodes were within the first 24 hours after surgery. Once I got home I didn't feel it any more.

I haven't felt true hunger yet. I did order pizza for my husband and son one night and the smell was driving me crazy with head hunger. Once I was able to progress my diet to mushy foods I haven't experienced the desire for the foods I can't have. I had a scrambled egg today and it was the best egg I think I ever had. It took me about 45 minutes to eat it and when I was done, I was done. I didn't feel like I needed anything further. Maybe when you progress to more solid foods you'll get a more full feeling quicker. I would suggest that even though your new tummy is allowing you to eat at a normal pace, you should still eat slowly. Take at least 20 minutes to eat a meal. It gives your tummy time to communicate to your brain that you have eaten and are full.

Best of luck on your journey and continued weight loss.

Dawn

Thank you so much for posting the details after surgery! I am a nurse and have also had abdominal surgery so I should have more than a clue but I still have a lot of questions! I am hoping for a late March, early April sleeve date so I will find out soon enough. One question, did you have an NG tube (nasogastric tube) after surgery? The tubes coming out of your nose to help drain fluids out of your stomach? I was expecting to go home with a JP drain but I've heard different stories on the NG tube. It is removed of course before you go home but it is still a pain.

I don't expect to get to sleep much either as I know how noisy and disruptive hospitals often are. The good news is that sleeve patients usually don't have to spend much time hospitalized. Good luck and keep posting about your results!

My tube came out of my stomach. Pretty much right in the middle. I had to go home with it. I went to the doc yesterday because I had developed a very large rash from something. The doc thinks it is from the prep antiseptic but could also be from the adhesive. I was also having a massive pain on my right side. I thought it was my appendix but it turned out to be deferred pain from the drain (which I found odd because the drain was wrapped to the left and sitting behind my spleen). The Fluid in my drain was pretty much clear so they went ahead and removed it yesterday. It hurt a little. Felt like they were taking a snake out of my belly and even thought the drain was threaded to the left I felt all the pain on the right. After it came out that massive pain I felt on the right was gone. It was the strangest feeling. Last night was the first night I got to sleep on my stomach and I feel great. I think if I didn't have the drain, or the rash, I would have felt great a few days ago.

Let me know if you have more questions. I am happy to answer them for you.

Dawn

Congrats! That is AWESOME. I am only five days out but have lost 8 pounds so far. I am hoping to be just as successful as you have been. Keep up the good work.

Post-Op Day Five

My surgery was on Thursday, February 24. I arrived at the hospital at 2pm for prep, was in surgery at 3pm, in recovery at 5pm, was in my room by 6:30pm, and the nurses had me up and walking by 10pm. I was on a morphine pump so the pain was tolerable.

I tried to sleep after my walk down the hall but it is darn near impossible to actually get sleep while in the hospital. Nurses are in your room every hour taking vitals or giving you medication. One of the sensors I had taped to me kept coming unplugged and one time the nurses thought I had flat-lined but instead of rushing into my room, they actually called me to see if I was OK.

Another hard part about my hospital stay was the poor 93 year old woman across the hall from me. She suffers from Dementia and had no idea where she was and didn't know she had surgery. All night long I kept hearing her yell "Hello! I need help". Although annoying, I felt really bad for her. It was so sad.

Between the nurses and my neighbor, I slept in 10 minute increments that night and gave up trying to sleep around 7am.

I couldn't have anything to drink until after I had a "leak check" to make sure my remaining stomach didn't have a leak anywhere and after not having anything to drink since 7am the previous day my mouth (and throat) was extremely dry. They took me downstairs around 10:30am for the barium swallow. Now...a barium swallow after this type of surgery is TOTALLY different than one you have while doing a normal Upper GI (which is typically chalky tasting). This toxic tasting crap made me think I was drinking a mixture of the world's worst cough Syrup, really bad vodka, and a hint of flat Sprite and it was blue. Praise Jesus I only had to take two swallows.

I passed the leak test and was finally able to drink some Water. lunch time came and after I had four spoonfuls of the mystery flavored broth, one tiny spoonful of what I assumed was Jell-O, and a sip of juice I was full. I thought for sure it was because I was tired and still thinking about that barium beverage I had earlier but when dinner came it was the same thing.

I couldn't get released until I passed the "pee" test (meaning to pee on my own). I found that really hard to do because my bladder was numb. I had to have a straight cath (just to drain the urine and then removed) twice. It took every bit of my being to go myself and I was finally released at 10:30pm and was home by 11pm. The Hubs got me settled in at home with my 17 year old son "supervising" me while he went to go pick up my pain medication from the 24-hour pharmacy halfway across town. I tried to lie in our bed but I ended up on the L-shaped couch because it was easier to sleep against.

The next three days were spent relaxing, walking around the house, and just trying to get my head back on right after being under anesthesia. Today is the first day my head feels totally clear and I didn't need a nap.

I am thankful to have had this surgery and can't wait to get on with the recovery. I have broken down the negatives and positives of the past five days below.

The Negatives

After having four previous abdominal surgeries, I had mentally prepared myself for the healing process of this surgery. What I didn't (and really couldn't) prepare for was the JP drain I would go home with. I hadn't had one in the past, so I wasn't prepared to deal with this new "appendage".

If you do not know what a JP drain is, it is a surgical drainage device used to pull excess blood and Fluid from the body by constant suction. Using a JP drain after surgery may help you heal faster and decrease your risk of getting an infection, so I am not completely against having it. It just limits a few things I want to do...like go back to work when I wanted or sleep on my stomach (which is comforting for me after abdominal surgery).

I am also having an allergic reaction to one of the medications I was given in the hospital (not sure which one since they gave me multiple at the same time) as well as the paper tape used to keep my bandages in place, both causing an itchy rash. Doesn't make relaxing or sleeping any easier when you feel itchy.

One side affect to having any type of abdominal surgery is it slows down your digestive system as well as your "plumbing". I won't go into the painful details of this but I will say that after four days of struggling, things are finally movin' and groovin' again.

The last negative I have really isn't mine. It's the Hubs. With all this time I have on my hands right now and since I am stuck at home, I have been watching a lot of QVC and HSN. Hey, I only ordered one thing today...

The Positives

One of the benefits of having the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy is you have a large portion (about 85%) of your stomach physically removed from your body, unlike Gastric Bypass or the LapBand where the stomach stays in your body. With having this portion removed, the hormone Ghrelin is removed as well. Ghrelin is the hunger stimulating hormone that tells your body you are hungry. This is a positive thing because of the obvious reason BUT you have to tell yourself to eat and drink so you don't get dehydrated and sick. You also want to make sure you get your Protein in first before anything (which in the liquid stage means you drink a lot of Protein shakes). I have lost eight pounds since Saturday (four of which were gained during my hospital stay from the IV fluids pumped into me).

I received three beautiful flower arrangements from well wishers. One from my parents, one from my office, and one from a group of my really close co-workers spread across the company (Edmonton, Ottawa, Seattle, Tampa, and Hawaii).

The Hubs and my son have been doing their best to take care of me. I am not one to sit around and let people wait on me but they are quick to respond if I do ask for something. They each cooked dinner for eachother and last night I ordered them pizza.

Now, even though my body doesn't think it is hungry, my nose still works and last night it told my brain that it wanted that pizza really bad. My brain suggested it to my stomach but the thought was rejected. Not only because I can't eat solid food right now but because my stomach said "ummm, you aren't hungry". This will be interesting once I graduate to real food. I will have to re-train myself how to eat and to make sure I eat the proper nutrients in the right order (protein, veggies, then carbs).

As soon as I get this darn drain out, I'll be able to get movin' and groovin' on the Wii and with Spring on its way in I'll be peddlin' away on my pink beach cruiser as well.

The last positive I have right now is...with all this time I have on my hands, I can watch as much QVC and HSN as I want and the new craft item I ordered today will be delivered next week...

Congrats! How exciting. I am having my surgery this afternoon. God Bless your surgeons hand's and wishing you a speedy recovery.

Congratulations and all good wishes for all the best things today!

I'm right behind you... (getting ready for mine tomorrow) ...Good Luck!

Good luck to you tomorrow!! Blessings coming your way.