emily_0192010

((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) I honestly can't say how to deal with that type of rejection because I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with it myself. However I have some ideas. She said that she looked it up online? I have a feeling she saw some of the old by-pass horror stories and doesn't know the truth about the sleeve. I have a feeling that she thinks you are doing something way more drastic and that you are putting your life at risk. As nasty as her behaviour is, she doesn't want to see you destroy your life so she is distancing herself thinking that either you will change your mind or that she won't be so emotionally attached when you suffer the consequences. My idea is to write her a letter. Say that you want to explain the sleeve to her and how it is a very safe operation and it is the least drastic of the weigh loss options. How you are doing it for your health, etc. I would also point out that you want her support but that you aren't asking for her permission or approval. That way you have the peace of mind that you reached out one more time and hopefully she will realize her mistake. If she doesn't, it will still hurt. BUT it isn't your responsibility to make her understand or change her mind. Good luck and keep your chin up!

It wasn't really a "machine", they put these tight stockings on your legs and then over that they wrap this fabric around your entire legs. The fabric has air pumps throughout it and it rhythmically squeezes your legs on and off. It isn't unpleasant, almost like a massage. But it would be annoying with pants on I think. I wore it anytime I was in bed, except for the last day where I was up. For most people, it is only overnight. Typically once you have recovered from anesthesia and you are capable they have you up and walking. Then your surgeon will get you to start drinking (normally the second day) and then once you can tolerate a certain amount in a certain time frame (mine was an ounce every 10 mins) you are discharged. I stayed two nights because the first day I was super dooper dizzy and couldn't get up to walk. At first they just thought it was the anesthesia, but since it remained even the next morning my surgeon believes I was getting too much of the pain meds even on the lowest dose. So I was high lol! Once I stopped taking the medicine I was up and walking but I had to stay the second night. I was home late afternoon on the third day. I had all the pre-op testing done beforehand so when I arrived I was taken straight to the back where the pre-op nurse took my vitals and set up an iv (no biggie, I apparently have nice veins), I got into the gown, etc. Then the anesthesiologist came by, then my surgeon... then a few minutes later the anesthesiologist came back and I was being wheeled into the OR. I didn't get (or need) any of the "happy juice" that most people get to calm them down. I found the whole thing pretty interesting. I moved onto the operating table and then woke up in recovery. I apparently was a big baby and kept asking for my mom so they let her in for a little while . Then I was brought to my room. It really wasn't a big deal. If it wasn't for the dizziness I would have been all set. The pain was easily managed with the liquid meds once I was on it. I did have a hernia repair so it may have been a bit worse because of that. Hope that helps If you have any more questions just send me a PM. You'll do great!

I am right there with you! Four weeks out and I can barely get anything down. Also, the 4 am wake-ups!!! Every single morning for the past two weeks I am up at 4... since I normally have to get up around 6:30 I force myself to at least try to go back to sleep but it doesn't always work. Protein shakes do not sit well with me at all. Mushy and soft foods sit better for me for some reason. When I do have a Protein shake it can take me a couple hours to get it down, and that is if I really focus and force myself to. Though it is higher in carbs I find that mixing them with milk over water did help for some reason. From what I know, you are right on track with the rest of us!

I am very lucky that my neighbor happens to work at the Outback that we like to go to. She knows about my surgery so if we go I always request her. My mom is doing a low-carb diet as well, so our neighbor never brings us the bread, but she always brings a small plate of fruit over for my 5 year old sister. Then when it comes to the meal (I normally get the french onion Soup, can't wait until I can start on the heartier meats again) she is so great about bringing me whatever I need. I have noticed that people stare. The first time we went I could only do the broth, and people definitely stared. But I just shrugged it off.

I ended up wearing two gowns... one the right way and one backwards to cover my behind lol! On the morning of my last day I asked my nurse to unhook me from everything just temporarily. I was desperate to wash up just a little bit and I wanted to put my sports bra on (it was a size too big, so it wasn't too tight). It was incredible how much I found that it helped. It kept my girls away from my high incision and gave me just enough modesty back to be comfortable (I am a super modest person in general). It wasn't a problem once I was all hooked back up either. I thought about bringing my own clothes, but I was glad I didn't change into pants. My surgeon had me so pumped full of liquids I was very glad for the easy access that the gown provided. Also, they put your legs on this machine that prevents clots. I think it would be uncomfortable if you had to put them on over or under pants. Good luck!!

I saw the surgeon, he said it was scar tissue around the internal stitch and that I probably did something that bruised it. So for now I just deal with it (though he gave me the okay to take advil) and then if it gets any worse or continues for more than a week I need to go in again. But at least it isn't anything serious. It does hurt a lot, even worse then when I first got out of the hospital (it is different, more sharp and it burns :/ ). Thanks for all the help everyone

Hey everyone So I am three weeks out today. For the last two weeks I had very minimal pain and then none what-so-ever. But yesterday the area between my incisions kept twinging a little bit. Not really painful but enough to say "hey i'm here". Today at work (i'm on my feet all day) it was just about constant and at times a bit sharp. It goes away for the most part if I put some pressure on it. It isn't horrible, just uncomfortable. Any ideas as to what this is? Thanks!

I have heard that people who have the by-pass eventually start re-absorbing all of their calories because their bodies adapt to the changes and make up for the malabsorption in other places. Our bodies are remarkably adaptive. I wonder if your body has found a way to start reproducing the "normal" amount of ghrelin again, and now you are experiencing true hunger again. The surgery only removes the majority of the portion of the stomach that produces ghrelin and it is also produced in other parts of the body. So maybe your body is making up for it in other ways. Good luck!

Thanks for the help everyone! Yes it definitely says "no soups", I was shocked too! I've been doing very moist chicken with sauce, which i break apart and use our masher to smoosh up. I've also tried yogurt but I can only get down about half. I am still struggling with my protein shakes, but from what I can tell the mushy food is going down better than the shakes, so maybe they just don't sit well with me. I have until Friday the 14th on this. This week has gone by pretty fast so hopefully it will keep up that way!

I had those for a little while too. I found that drinking anything cool or cold made it worse. Warm liquids went down very well for me at the beginning when it was the worst. Good luck and congrats on being sleeved!

For my physician supervised weight loss I went on a low-carb, high Protein diet. I lost 40 lbs pre-op. It makes a lot of sense because our bodies store carbs first in the liver and then everywhere else. So when you strongly limit the carbs your body uses the stores in your liver first, then from the rest of the body and then from your protein. It sucks the first week, but afterwords you generally feel completely normal. I know quite a few people who had to do this and others who didn't but I know that it worked for me. I stayed under 30 g of carbs per day and my protein was close to 100. The trick is to eat protein with every meal and to eat it first. Then eat your veggies. Good luck!

I live in FL and the same thing is happening here! It is finally cool enough to start walking... and that is going to be my exercise starting point as well.

Well I am only a couple weeks out, so I can't give you any "this is what i did" type of advice, but when it comes to Protein, if you can't get it through food you should push the Protein shakes. Protein is super important! Food-wise any type of meat and eggs have lots of protein, even in small amounts. You can also try greek yogurt or ricotta cheese. In my program my surgeon wants us under 30g of carbs per day, however that does not mean that I can have two pieces of bread and say "well there's my thirty". They want them to come from the "incidentals", like adding ketchup to your meal or the little bit of cream you add while you cook. Keep your head up! You are doing great!!!! Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon

I am two weeks out and going back to work tomorrow. I work part-time though so I was able to get some shorter shifts. I am on my feet the whole time but there is minimal lifting. I will say that I felt like I could have gone back to work after about 10 days. I also had a hernia repair done. My surgeon told me that I should wait at least a week and when it came to lifting "if it hurts stop, otherwise whatever you are up to". Good luck!

Me too! I hope everyone did well and is excited to be on the losers bench I am just about two weeks out and doing great!

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm going to have to play around though because I have to puree everything (except the yogurt and cheese of course) and I was told to avoid soups

Thanks for the ideas! I have definitely thought about the sweet potatoes, but I have to be careful of the carb count. I have to keep under 30 a day. I know with the small amount i'll be eating though that some shouldn't be a problem right?

Do you think this would taste okay pureed? I think it sounds amazing and I can get the buffalo sauce from my work (sooo yummy!), but it would have to be pureed. My surgeon is very strict on this and I don't want to "push it" until further along in my recovery.

LOL.. one of my first thoughts was "hey, i should totally join a weigh loss competition" but... alas... it really would be cheating. Even though our sleeve doesn't do the work for us, it does give us a boost long-term because it allows us to stick with the weight loss over time. Now, if you were upfront about it and your co-workers said sure anyways, well then heck yeah i'd do it. But I can't honestly see your co-workers being okay with it. I also have to admit that I think it is less cheating with the sleeve, then say you were doing bypass or DS, cause they literally help you lose weight without any work because of the malabsorption aspect. The sleeve just limits how much food you eat... but still. I think people would see it as cheating.

It's the medicine!!!! Please please please put the scale away for a little while. Pain meds and anti-inflammatory meds will do that. As soon as everything goes back to normal those 7 pounds will go away. You are doing everything right so just be patient with your body. It is in "freak out" mode again but it will go back to normal. Chin up!

I read the same thing and asked my surgeon about it, he said that he checks and if there are any signs of abnormality he removes them but other wise he leaves them alone. That was what I wanted because if it is functioning I don't want it removed "just because". I know the risks but it doesn't happen to everyone. If it does then I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Well I called my surgeon's office and after waiting two hours for them to call me back they said to try hydrocortizone cream... we'll see if it works! But it is horrible. I've never had a rash like this before and to be honest it is more uncomfortable than my incisions were during the first week. If it hasn't gotten better by Monday I am going to call them again! Oh, and it was paper tape too that I was using, so I am guessing it is the adhesive that bugs me.

Hey everyone I had my surgery last week and my drain removed yesterday. I've noticed today that I have (sorry if it is TMI...) a rash that has popped up around where the bandages were (about half are gone now). It is red and itchy (almost a burning sensation) and very irritated. Normally when I have come in contact with medical tape before my skin gets red but it goes away very quickly. Not this time. It is definitely from the tape and not an infection because it is in the shape of the tape and I have no other signs of infection. I am worried about the one near my belly button because the surgical tape that covered the incision came off today, and the rash is very close to it and I don't want to do anything to cause an infection. If it doesn't get better I am definitely going to call my surgeon's office, but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions to help treat this at home? I took a shower today and used some of the pre-op wash I was given (it says right on it that it can be used and all of my incisions are closed) and then I made sure that all of the adhesive was off of my skin. On one of the spots I tried using a little bit of benadryl cream, but it didn't help. Any suggestions would be great Thanks!