CraftyChristie

You would know if you had a drain :thumbup: Not everyone gets one. I have tube coming out of my abdomen and it goes into a little bottle/bag thing. I have to empty it a couple times a day and record how much Fluid was in it. When I go to my 1 week post op appointment they will remove it. Basically it drains excess abdominal fluids and blood.

Immore, I don't think it's acid reflux because I'm quite familiar with what acid feels like for me, but i guess it could manifest itself differently now? My dr didn't put me on an acid reducer... I do have some though so I guess I could take one and see if it helps.

Today is going a little better with the liquids. I'm able to drink some water in between the 15 minute intervals so I think I am much better hydrated today. Sleeping/laying down is still really really uncomfortable for me. I'm glad to hear other people are going through some of the same things... I wasn't expecting it to hurt this bad! I just can't wait to get past this part.

Just a note to let you all know my surgery went well and I'm doing fine. I'm still at the hospital but will post a full update when I get home! Spent yesterday very nauseous and in lots of pain but doing pretty great now. Lots of pain in abdomen when I move around or in the proccess of standing up or sitting down. But once I am sitting still or walking slow I feel pretty good. I am getting down 1 oz of liquid every 15 mins with no trouble. Was not expecting a drain but I did get one. Yucky. Also most of my incisions are just 1 inch but the one in front is like 4 inches!!! That one hurts a lot. Time for me to walk the hall again, will update more later.

What pain meds are you on and are they working for you? I'm on oxycodone but it doesn't seem to help much!

I really want to hear some repsonses to this too as I am going through the same thing. For me the gurgles and growls hurt, they feel like extreme hunger pains.

Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for everything. Another update for you. I'm home and resting in my own bed, unfortunately not all that comfortably as my back is hurting a lot. I'm on oxycodone but it's not killing my pain much. They had me on a really good one at the hospital but they said it was ibuprofen based so I couldn't stay on it. Bummer cuz it made me feel so good! My best friend arrived tonight. I slep 8pm to midnight and she got in around then so we have been up talking a bit. So nice to have her here. My incisions are sore but it's mostly the muscles underneath that really hurt so bad!!' can anyone tell me how long until the muscles start feeling better? My biggest prob is intensely painful hunger pains. The dr said they will go away. I hope he's right, they hurt so bad! It's definitely not acid either, I've had lots of acid in the past and this feels totally different. anyway I am just hoping that in a couple days I'll feel better. Right now pretty miserable.

My surgery is tomorrow!! Wow!! I can't believe it's already here. I am on Clear liquids today, trying to convince my tummy that a glass of Water is Breakfast. LOL. I am going to have some Isopure today too and probably chicken broth. Thank you to everyone on this board. You've given me information, shared your experiences, helped me make my decision, and helped prepare me for what is to come after surgery. Without the people here, I don't know that I would be feeling so calm and ready for this. I'll update as soon as I possibly can after surgery. If you are curious about what's going on with me it's best to track my health blog at Health and Happiness - it's easy for me to update that from my phone so I will probably be able to do that in the hospital

Thank you everybody!!! I'm going to bed now and really looking forward to my surgery tomorrow :wink1:

Mine is tomorrow too! I didn't have a preop diet either other than being on clear liquids today. Had my last meal last night. Good luck, you'll do great.

Thanks everybody! I am so hungry being on clear liquids only today... looking so forward to waking up after surgery and not being hungry.

Hi there Wheatthin, welcome to the forum! I feel the same as you, that this place helped me make a wise decision. Congrats on getting your surgery date! Mine is tomorrow, and I can't believe it's here already. I also watched a lot of youtube videos and came to the same conclusion that you did! I really think this surgery is going to be it

I don't have personal experience with this yet but I've read the boards, watched a lot of youtube videos etc so just wanted to tell you that the consensus seems to be - it starts around 3-4 months out, and ends around 7-8 months out, with hair back to more normal thickness around a year. I am sure this varies from person to person but this is the average experience I have heard from everyone.

Jerry, does it get better or feel to "loosen up" as you walk on it? Or does the pain remain constant? Usually if it's still when you first get up and it 'loosens up', that is arthritis or possibly ligament pain. I hope everything turns out to be fine for you.. please let us know!

I can't believe my surgery is the day after tomorrow! I thought the time would pass slowly but in fact it's been going by really fast. I've had a lot to do and today is no exception. I have my pulmonary testing today at 1:00, then my preop testing at the hospital at 2:00, and my preop appointment with my surgeon at 2:30. The hubby is tagging along today too as he has his pulmonary testing after me, at 2:00. I am feeling a little nervous but not too bad! Might be worse tomorrow and the day of, I'm not sure. But I felt a lot more nervous before my consult than I do right now! Haha. Got my Protein powder yesterday from Max Muscle. My choice was Peanut Butter fudge. It was the least sweet of the different flavors I tried. Right now I am just looking forward to being on the other side of all this, coming home, resting. My best friend is coming in from Chicago to be with me for a whole week which will be awesome! Major Sex and the City marathon is going to happen (I've never watched the show and a friend lent me the whole series.) Today I'm going to start packing my bags for the hospital! Whoo!:thumbup1:

thanks Tiffy! The appointments went pretty well. It was kind of a long day, but everything is done. :confused1:

Elly, I totally understand as my dad is paying for my surgery too and I don't want to let him down either. I just think the sleeve, and your adherance to the guildelines, is going to be it. I don't think you are going to need this other stuff. Whoever suggested having your parents check out these message boards.. I think that's a GREAT idea!

Firstly, have you ever been diagnosed with a particular back problem? For example my back pain turned out to be herniated discs in both my thoracic and lumbar spine, and I have degenerative disc disease. When I was first diagnosed I was actually at my lowest weight (240.) After a year of physical therapy I was doing great. I am now over 300 lbs and my pain started getting really bad again about 5 months ago. I am now seeing a chiropractor and it's really helping. My back pain is the reason my doctor suggested me to have WLS.... but he thinks I need to be under 225 to feel a lot of relief from my pain. We shall see! I guess my point is - your back pain may or may not be cured by losing weight, but I think it will certainly get better. My condition is degenerative so it won't go away, but less weight will slow down the progression and hopefully the pain symptoms will be much less. I have heard that every pound of weight puts 7 pounds more pressure on our spine so just imagine how much less pressure will be on your spine soon. If you haven't already, definitely talk to your doc and have some xrays, try to find out the source of the pain. Good luck!

I agree about the sippy cup. I tried mine and it's like a LOT of work to get a sip out! I think this will be a good thing for me though to keep me from gulping. But if it turns out to be just too big of a problem, I'll go back to my camelbak bottle.

Congrats on the wedding! You will be "healed" within 6-8 weeks. That is how long it takes for the inside of your stomach to really heal, swelling to go down, and to have all of your strength back. You may feel fine as early as 4 weeks and be able to enjoy yourself but I'd be careful about the dancing and keep it mild, you don't want to mess something up before you are completely healed inside. I would definitely run all this by your surgeon too to get his opinion. Fatigue is likely to be your biggest issue but everyone experiences different levels of fatigue for different lengths of time. If you get ALL of your protein, ALL of your water, eat 6 times a day etc you will have the best luck with the fatigue (from what I hear.) Best wishes!!!

What do you mean?

That is so ridiculous! You have every right to stand up for yourself in this situation and to see another cardiologist. Sounds like this guy has a huge chip on his shoulder.

Whoo hooo! It'll be great. Talk to you on the other side.

Wow today has been a whirlwind. Hubby and I had or consult with the surgeon... and since I'm self pay and had all of my appointments done, I got to schedule my surgery for a week from tomorrow!!! Holy cow I was not expecting that. I am really excited, but there's also a lot to do! My preop diet is just basically one day of Clear liquids the day before surgery (yay!), but also going to try to do more Protein and less carbs for the next week in preparation just to help my body adjust. I'm so excited that this is going to happen so soon! On Tuesday I have my pulmonary testing, my preadmission stuff at the hospital and my pre-op appointment with the surgeon,and then my surgery will be Thursday! Seriously my head is spinning!:001_unsure:

escape - good luck tomorrow!!