LindaS

Kimberlina, I so relate to your comments about going to Cedar Point and being able to ride any ride. My family tends to go there at least once a year, and I was so upset I couldn't ride the Millenium Force although I had been able to the year before. It was one of the big reasons I decided to finally go through with my surgery. It is also why my ticker is of a rollercoaster. Good luck on your surgery! We can do this! Go August All Stars!

I just had WLS Tuesday, and I have four kids (ages 17, 15, 14 and 12). They have been asking questions, and I answer them as I get them. Today, my 15 year old was asking me how long I had to be on a liquid diet and why I had to be on a liquid diet. I explained to her that my stomach was healing, and I needed to eat differently to give my stomach time to heal. I also said that it is also a chance for me to learn better eating habits. Just like babies, I will start out with liquids and then progress to mushies or baby food and then start slowly adding in real food as my stomach heals and my ideas of portion changes. She's 15 and pretty darn sharp as well as an experienced babysitter. "Will you start spitting up and throwing your food too?" It hurt my newly stapled belly to laugh! After that, she told me some great stories about her feeding one of the kids she watched. :-)

I teach college English, so I didn't have to miss any work. I had my surgery last Tuesday, and classes don't start until Aug. 29. I am a bit concerned about what my students will think about my weight-loss during the semester, but they are mostly freshmen so might not notice. I have been working on a committee this summer, and I did tell my co-workers. I felt I had to since we had been working together from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with working lunches, and my lunch menu changed so drastically.

The other day, I grabbed my wineglass and a sugar-free popsicle. A glass of wine with dinner had been normal for me before surgery. It felt good to use my wineglass again, so my recommendation is to find nonalcoholic versions to fill it with. Have you tried that juice that comes in a wine bottle? It is great for those special occasions when you want to pop a cork.

I'm going to go for it. Thanks everyone for the great input!

I just had my WLS Tuesday. Today was Friday. I stopped by my in-laws house to drop some things off and talked a little bit with my mother-in-law. While there, she asked me how much I had lost. I told her I had gained weight (5 pounds) because of the IV Fluid, but I lost it all in a day and that I was the weight I was at when I went into surgery. This is 3 days after surgery. Later, my husband talked to his parents. His mom commented on how I didn't look like I lost any weight yet. My husband laughed about it. He couldn't believe his mom's unrealistic expectations. He told her it wasn't an overnight fix. (Yay hubby!) I know my mil is dealing with her own issues. I've heard through my father-in-law that she is now considering weight loss surgery of her own. She has an investment in how I do, and I think she is kind of hoping I don't do well, so she has a reason not to have WLS. I'm not concerned about her since I know what I have to do, but it is amazing the little digs people will get in even when they know better. I think what ticks me off most is that I had explained to her that very day that I had some weight gain because of IV fluids, but she was still being unrealistic and critical. I just think most of that was posturing for her husband who I think has been encouraging her a little too much for her liking to look into WLS.

Raine, I wish I had thought of that come back at the time!

I have teenagers, and my youngest daughter weighs 115 pounds. I keep telling her I'm trying to lose her.

I know a frequent question here is what to bring to the hospital, and I have a suggestion that I hadn't read before: loose fitting yoga pants. The first night after surgery, I was up and walking around wearing a hospital gown with a second gown draped over my backside like a cape. I was too groggy to care if anything was viewable, but the nurse with me made sure I was covered. The next day, I wanted to be a bit more discrete. The yoga pants were great because I didn't have to worry about revealing my backside when walking around. It also meant that I didn't have to show so much of my lower front side when nurses and doctors were checking on my incision sites. They were loose enough to accommodate all of the poking and prodding yet they kept my bum covered. They were also comfy for the car ride home.

My surgery was Tuesday (Aug. 9), and it went well. During the surgery, my doctor also fixed a small hiatal hernia that I didn't even know I had. I was in the hospital for two nights, which is normal for my surgeon. I was pretty groggy the first evening, but I felt good. I wasn't good company for my visitors. The second day was long. I learned how to take care of things like my drain and did the leak test. I got worried during the leak test. I had been told constantly to sip when first consuming liquids, and the radiologist was telling me to take large gulps and swallow them. It was freaking me out a bit, and I think that helped me overlook how bad the stuff tasted. My nurse explained later that I was able to take the big gulps because my stomach was completely empty, but it was the first time I'd tried anything other than ice chips. The second night I had a pretty dry throat. I think it had to do with hospital air. Now that I'm home, it feels fine. The nurse said some of that could be because I was intubated during surgery. The nutrition coming to my room while staying in the hospital was pretty useless. She just confirmed I had things at home to drink and Vitamins and didn't give much more advice. I was expecting more. I am currently on stage 3 liquids, which is Clear Liquids with Protein shakes as well. The nutritionist said I'd be on that for 8 weeks although the day before my surgeon said two weeks and then progress to full liquids for 6 weeks. I know my time on liquids is a lot longer than most of you. I have a JP drain, which is smelly and gross. I can't wait until it is removed next Wednesday. All together, I have 6 small cuts in my abdomen. The only one with stitches is the one holding the drain in place. My belly is pretty bruised. I tend to bruise easily, so I wasn't surprised about this. I got a lot of the bruises after the surgery from heparin shots to my belly. I think I got like two of those a day. I'm not currently on any pain medication. I have a prescription for some foul tasting stuff that I've decided not to fill right now. I haven't had any nausea or vomiting. The only problem I did have was today when I put on my bra. It made my abdomen feel very tight and uncomfortable. As soon as I got home, I removed it and started feeling much better. I'm feeling pretty good overall. I'm still not leaning over though. I just don't want to push it. I'm happy I was sleeved. One funny thing -- the night before the surgery I dreamed that I ate after midnight and was trying to puke it up so I could still have the surgery. I was bummed that I probably had to delay my surgery for such a stupid mistake.

As I was taking my vitamins today, I realized I was doing something that might help that I didn't even know I did! I hold onto the vitamin and nibble at it a little at a time. This might help you, but it does make it take longer to eat your vitamins.

I've been writing about my struggles with weight and growing up with an overweight father and how to teach my kids to be healthy in their food choices since 2006. Even with all of that, I wasn't sure if I was going to make my decision to have weight-loss surgery public (on the internet). I still have not said anything about it on facebook and don't plan to there. I have written about it on my blog. I decided to tell people. With all of the writing I have done about my weight issues, I felt I needed to. It has been mostly good. It has given people who need help (like my sister) a chance to ask questions and maybe rethink things. I've noticed some people immediately question it. One woman immediately named 3 people she knew who had had WLS and "looked unhealthy" now. I didn't even try to suggest that they looked unhealthy when they were overweight too. I wasn't familiar with who they were, so I wasn't sure if she considered them "unhealthy" because they were "too skinny" or because of other issues. I did tell my family, and my family pretty much wasted no time telling others. My oldest daughter found out her new friend had WLS. I'm not worried about gossips. I've never been one to hide what I was thinking or feeling. People will find something to gossip about regardless. If you don't give them a reason for your weight loss, they will fill in the blanks themselves. I don't think not telling will prevent gossip, but I know telling isn't right for everyone. I applaud those of you who are braving it out and going through all of this without support of close friends and family. It makes me even happier that forums like this exist to support all of us.

Congrats! This is a great reminder to those who are pre-op to take those pre-op photos and measurements! You look fantastic.

Your belly bump is adorable! Thanks for sharing. I think your arms look great. You have no reason to hide them under sleeves other than that random hairline thing you mentioned. Tip on the hairline thing: shower with hubby and have him check for missed spots.

Congrats! I had surgery Aug. 9 as well. We will reach those protein and fluid goals!

OK, this sounds like a NSV (non scale victory) but since a scale is involved.... tough call. Either way, it is a cool thing to celebrate. Thanks for sharing! I hope you learn to love jumping on the scale and seeing those numbers go down!

The alarm for my heart beat was freaking my husband right out. I had warned him the day of surgery would be the worst, and it was going to be bad. Later, he told me he just didn't expect me to look like I was dying. He compared me to his dad who had heart valve replacement surgery last year. He said the only difference was that I didn't have the tubes coming out of my nose. He isn't in the medical field, and he was trying to read the monitor. He thought he was reading my blood pressure, but the big number was on top. He was really getting worried, and the nurse came in and let him know what the numbers really were. At that point, my blood pressure wasn't even on the monitor. The alarms on that machine probably weren't doing very good things for HIS blood pressure. He left and my mom arrived. He went home thinking I looked like death warmed over. My mom arrived and later told everyone I looked great. I'm not sure if I really improved that much in the hour in between him leaving and her arriving. I don't remember the recovery room at all. Before going in though, the nurse asked me how long it had been since I had a period. When I told her a year, she did a huge double take. I thought it was funny. They had just done a pregnancy test that was negative. I had an endometrial ablation last year, so I don't have periods any more although technically I could still get pregnant.

Welcome to August All Stars!

Miss Hope, I will have my drain removed next Tuesday, so it will be in for a week total. It is easy to care for but a bit gross. I do have to pay more attention about what I wear because I don't want to advertise I have something like that. The worst part of the drain is I have a loop of tubing taped to my stomach and that tape pulls when I move a bit. The loop is so if the tube gets pulled, it will have some give. I noticed a big drop in how much I needed to empty out from Thursday to Friday. My surgery was Tuesday. I am looking forward to getting it out.

I'm using Celebrate chewables. The calcium pills are still horrible and big, and I don't particularly like the taste of them. The tangerine iron pills are good though. Still, the pills are very easy to chew up, and I just make sure I have a sip of water right after the calcium pill. Sometimes it helps to take a sip of water before I even swallow the calcium pill. I really like the Celebrate vitamins because they are made for bariatric patients, but they are pricey.

Congrats, EJ! I love hearing about your progress. Thank you so much for sharing! Keep up the good work!

Welcome home, Shell! I just arrived home too. I am glad your family was there to help you with your temperature issues. It sounds like you've got great support! I'm right there with you trying to figure out how to take in all this Fluid. We'll figure it out!

I am on the other side and back home. I'm tired. They wake you up way too much in a hospital. I am feeling good, and I am trying to figure out how to get all my fluids in. At this point, it seems impossible. I'm hoping it is one of those things where they tell you to drink X but they are happy if you drink Y. My doc recommends 64 ounces a day, and I should drink them one ounce at a time and take 15 minutes to drink it. That would take 16 hours. I get tired of drinking after an hour or two. I'm around 30 ounces right now. But I was hooked up to an IV this morning, so I don't know if that impacts what I can take in as well. Let's keep this rally going!

OK, today is the first day I've been home from the hospital. I know I need to catch up on my sleep, and I am still figuring out how to drink 64 ounces (1 ounce per 15 minutes) in a day that my doctor recommends. That would take 16 hours without slacking at all. But my big question here is -- why do I smell? I have a drain, and I think that might be the source of most of the smell. I also wonder if it is the Protein I am taking. I am hoping it is the drain because that is being removed next Wednesday. It isn't a consuming smell, but I get a whiff once in a while, and it reminds me of the hospital smell.

Good luck Shell! I'll only be a few hours behind you in getting my own sleeve today. I pray we both do well. I have to be at the hospital at 8:45, and my surgery is scheduled for 10:45. I'm supposed to be in the hospital until Thursday. It's hard to believe the day has finally arrived. I better go get some sleep now. I went to bed early but woke up at midnight. It's 2:30 a.m. now, so back to bed for a few hours.