MI Girl

Way to go Paul!!! I can only hope to be as successful at 9 months as you have been

Look on the bright side, You have 19 days to recover, just relax and wear flats until then. You can take your shoes off if you need to at the reception and switch to flats there. Since the actual wedding isn't usually more than an hour you should be able to wear the shoes for just that little bit and then change

I was sleeved in July and know how you feel about being scared about all the changes but the thing to keep in mind is that they are good changes. You aren't just gettting this surgery to get skinny, you are doing it to get healthier and that is what you need to focus on. All the things that you will be able to do that you don't do now because you think you are too fat or will look funny doing because of your weight. I actually felt guilty for a little while in the beginning that I had to have surgery instead of losing it the hard way. That all stopped for me when I realized how "hard" it is to eat and plan and get in all the protien after surgery, it is just as hard as dieting so I let myself off the hook and I am just going with the flow now. I am down 40 lbs now and feeling much better already I had 2 questions for my doc before surgery, how long before I could ride my Harley again and how long before I could have sex. the answer to both was 3 weeks and I am glad I listened to him and waited as I was kinda sore the first time I tried both of them

Had my 6 week check up today with my surgeon and I am down 28 llbs but more importantly to me he released me to Stage 5 - full foods! Now I can explore a bit more to see what foods I can handle - I am totally exceited!!! I had to get a B-12 shot but I figure if it helps me with the fatigue it was definitely worth it!!!

That is just one of those foods that I just can't get down. I don't know if it is a texture thing or what but it makes me choke everytime I try.....

Thanks Everyone, I am trying to go slowly and see what I can handle. So far so good except for eggs and Tuna and I think I can live witout those - LOL!!!

I have been on soft foods for 2 weeks now and I love Max& Ermas tortilla soup, didn't have any problems with the spicy thank goodness as that is my favorite soup!! Also my program lead recommended Wendy's chili once we got to Stage IV and I have been tolerating that well too.

My doctor told me I could take the GAS X chewables if the gas pain got uncomfortable, I used them as soon as I got home and only had to take 2 doses that day before I was feeling much better!

I work in an office but I was back to work in a week. I walk a lot in the evenings though and dehyfration was an issue the first couple times I did it as I walk 3 miles. I learned though that if I drink more water during the day and then have a G2 gatorade when I get home, the sweats and dizziness aren't so bad. I would advise buying one of those big plastice mugs that have the ice cude tube down the middle and keep sipping all day. Pay attention to how you are feeling and if you start to get lightheaded or sweating more than normal, keep some G2 around and switch to that for one bottle then go back to the water. If that doesn't help make sure you call your doc and he may send you in for some IV fluids to help boost you back to where you should be.

Don't worry the exhaustion is normal. You have just been through surgery and your body is trying to heal itself with very little food intake so it has to get that energy from somewhere. I felt better right about the 1 week mark and have been feeling better and less tired every day since. I am 3 weeks out now and only notice I am feeling tired now when I don't get enough protein for a couple days.

Broadway, it definitely gets better! I am 3 weeks out yesterday and those first 2 painful days are already starting to fade. I have learned to listen to my body and do as much as I could before having to just sit down and recover. I was really surprised how tired I was for that whole first week after the surgery but I am much more alert now. I went back to work at week 2 and am doing well so far

BBJ I think you came through that ordeal with flying colors!! I was worried about this same thing so I practiced what I was going to say to everyone ahead of time. I only told my hubby and my kids what I was really having done. For everyone else I told them I was having gallbladder surgery and they were going to fix my ulcers (which I really do have from my high stress job) However, I looked up laparoscopic procedures and found out that the incisions and post op diets are almost identical so I went with that As I lose more and more weight I will have to adjust the story and am planning to say that I liked how much weight I lost after the surgery that I decided to stick with it . Now my stomach has shrunk enough that I really am not feeling deprived anymore. It may seem like I am going way out of my way here but I travel a lot and have contact with a lot of people every day so I know the questions will be coming and I am trying to be as pro-active as I can about it

There are no evil carbs as long as you moderate your intake of them. While you are healing you need to listen to your body. You have enough to deal with, with all the changes to your diet and schedule. If you needed a little milk to get through it then drink the milk. On the bright side who would have ever thought milk was cheating right? That was always reserved for french fries for me

How soon after surgery did you guys start using the bars? I am 2 1/2 weeks out and really struggling to get in my protein. I tried that whey powder stuff but is is so clumpy I can't get it down. I was moved to soft foods on Monday of this week but not sure if they qualify for that.

I only told my children and husband. As for the time off work and the surgery I told them I need to have my gallbladder removed as the incisions for laparoscopy are about the same for both surgies. This "story" also helped cover my eating changes as I would need to watch what I could eat post op to avoid any issues now that it was gone. My surgery was 2 weeks ago and I have been back to work now for a week and so far the story has held up I felt the same way you do that I did not want the added pressure of everyone asking about my progess or even worse asking me the dreaded "Do you really think you should be eating that?" everytime we go to lunch......

I am not sure if they list mortality rates but this site does let you see reviews from other patients http://www.ratemds.com/

I think it would be nice but any doc can have 0 leaks until he does the next surgery. I read that that percentage overall is less thatn 1% of all surgeries in the U.S. so I think it is a pretty low risk no matter who the surgeon is. That said I did ask my surgeon if he had, had any patients leak and what the cause was before I had mine done.

I am almost 2 weeks post op and met with my sugeon for my follow up visit. I am down 16 lbs and he gave me the clearance for soft foods. I am kind of nervous that I will hurt something but definitely looking forward to not drinking my dinner any longer