Mews

I know that this is the men's room but I just wanted to chime in because I've noticed a difference too. Pre-op I would regularly go four or five times a day. Now eight weeks out I rarely go more than twice. I'm drinking the recommended amount of fluids and I don't eat much of anything with salt in it. I just think it's one of those weird side effects of surgery.

Technically due to HIIPA laws you don't have to tell your boss anything other than you're having surgery. If he wants more info then say its personal and you don't feel comfortable discussing it. I had to do that with my boss as he can be rather nasty. As for telling people, I pretty much told anybody I was close to about the surgery. Only my father-in-law was concerned because he remembered the days when the bypass first came about and was very risky. Still, he was supportive after I explained that this surgery was much safer than the old time bypass.

I'm a professor and went back to work after 10 days. I really should have taken a month. Most people need 2-3 weeks but as Lauranbob said, it all depends on your job. Just be forewarned, if you go back early you will be very fatigued. This is why I wanted a month off.

@CrazyCatLady - Hang in there. Sometimes when it rains it pours. As I said before it sounds like you're in good hands. Just don't rush anything. I know it's frustrating to be unemployed and without insurance but many hospitals offer charity care for emergencies like yours. We're all praying for you. As for Warfarin, I had a lot of problems regulating my INR. A lot of it has to do with maintaining a regular diet and avoiding foods with Vitamin K. For some reason my INR levels would go from 1.8 to 13.3 in a week. It wasn't fun. Eventually my hematologist put me on Lovenox instead. Taking two shots a day isn't fun either but it's better than ingesting "rat poison" which warfarin is a derivative of. Also all of the medicines I take now I wouldn't have been able to take because of the contraindications with warfarin.

I agree with what everybody has said. Remember that your body went through some major trauma and is dealing with it by sleeping. Basically, your body is putting you to sleep so it can spend its energy repairing all of the damaged tissue. It will take a while for you to get back to normal but don't overdo yourself. I went back to work early and found myself crashing in bed the minute I got home from work. I didn't even have enough energy to make myself dinner. Eventually you will become more active and then you'll regain your strength. In the meantime let your body do what it has to.

I've lost 21 pounds in six weeks myself. Maybe we're just slow losers. It can be frustrating but the way I look at it, I'm losing weight that I wouldn't have lost on my own.

Check with your hematologist. He/she might want to put you on low-dose heparin for a bit after the surgery to prevent a clot. Unfortunately, I have Factor V and I did develop a clot.

At six weeks out I have no problems with bread. However, it goes down easier as toast. I just keep my servings of bread to a minimum.

I'm not on any birth control methods and I've gotten my period three times in the past six weeks. I used to be very regular before the surgery.

My mother-in-law was on Topomax for bipolar disorder and she did end up losing quite a bit of weight but she was a zombie when she was on it. I'm really surprised the doc gave it to you. As you mentioned, it really does have some nasty side effects. I hate seeing docs pushing meds for weight loss. There is no miracle pill out there and a big part of our problem is that we need to learn to eat correctly. pills can't do that.

No problems here with straws. Everybody reacts differently to them. If they are not giving you problems with gas or pain then you should be ok.

When I first went to my surgeon's info session I thought I was going to get a lapband. Gastric bypass seemed a little too radical for me and I hadn't heard of the sleeve yet but it piqued my interest. A friend of mine has the band and she's miserable with it. She is literally becoming bullemic because of it. That turned me off to the band so I started doing research on the sleeve. It seemed relatively safe and my insurance would pay for most of it so here I am.

Do your knees feel loose? Have you lost a lot of weight already? My orthopedic warned me that if you gain a lot of weight the soft tissue in your joints like the ligaments tend to stretch. It's equivilant to how our skin stretches as well. Anyways when you lose a lot of weight you might get a looseness type of feeling in your knees because the soft tissue had all been stretched out. The soft tissue can be tightened with surgery. It's best for you to see a good ortho to rule out problems like these.

I'm all for everything in moderation. I find that with myself if I totally ban all sweets or treats then I just crave them like mad and then binge on them. If I have one bite of something sweet then it holds back that craving for quite a bit of time. I know that not everybody will agree with me on this one but I know how my mind and body work and I am losing weight. During the first few weeks I completely banned carbs and boy did I turn into Cranky Kitty. My husband was very thankful when my NUT told me to get some carbs in. As for other foods, just make sure to measure them out in appropriate proportions (e.g. 1/2 cup) so that way you don't overeat.

I didn't really have any caffeine restrictions either pre- or post-op. My NUT wants me to limit my intake to two caffeinated beverages a day. I was a serious coffee drinker prior to the surgery but I have temporarily given it up for the time being (I'm not really into the whole banning things for life with regards to things I can have). I still enjoy a good cup of tea though and I do my English Breakfast Tea quite a bit without any problems.

Are they giving you Lovenox injections to do? They aren't too bad. The diabetes finger pricks hurt like a b****h if you ask me. The Lovenox shots have to be given in the fat in the stomach which seems uncomfortable but you get used to it. Did he say why you couldn't travel? As you're going to be on blood thinners then you don't really have to worry about clots. My biggest concern for you is whether or not you'll have the energy for the trips. For me, I could barely function during my first month post-op. If you could get the surgery moved up it might be for the better.

I will say that everybody is different. I am having a rough recovery due to some complications. I did stick to my diet and did everything my doc told me. I will admit that I had no real pain regarding the surgery and the only time I've ever been nauseous was either due to overeating (my eyes are still much larger than my stomach) or when I tried a new food. If it wasn't for the complications my recovery would've been pretty unremarkable.

Remember liquid in, liquid out. For me it was about five days as well.

Well it sounds like you are in good hands at the very least. You may still want to get the genetic testing done if your insurance will cover it. It's amazing how many people there are out there carrying things like Factor V Leiden and they don't know it until they have a major event. Good luck to you and I hope things go well for you.

I was told to get in 60g a day minimum.

I hope things clear up soon! It sucks being in that small percentage that gets the complication. Did your doctor mention what blood thinners he wants you on? Also, you may want to get checked out by a hemotologist afterwards to make sure you don't have a genetic predisposition to clots. I found out I had one the hard way. Hang in there!

I know how you feel as I was on liquids for a month. SF popcicles and fudgcicles really got me through it all.