Mews

I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than 20 pounds until six weeks after the surgery. Be careful as he said that any weights higher than that can cause hernias at the incision sites.

Yes always.

No as it's not clear. I was allowed to have it during my full liquid phase but not my clear liquid one.

I was very fatigued and felt disconnected mentally for about three weeks after surgery. My doc told me to eat more carbs to help with the energy levels as it was probably low blood sugar. You may want to check with your doc first to rule out low blood pressure.

My complications were a blood clot and an infected incision. I followed my doctor's orders to the tee with the exception of taking my Lovenox shots. That's why I got the clot. If I had taken my shots like I was supposed to I wouldn't have gotten it. As for the incision, I did everything I was supposed to. When they removed my bandages, a ton of Fluid leaked out and it's taken about two weeks for the very tiny hole to close. In the meantime it did get infected and I'm on antibiotics to clear that up. My biggest complaint was the lack of energy after the surgery for the first month or so. I wish someone had warned me about that.

I can eat about 1/2 cup of anything soft but if it's a protein I can usually only eat about 1/4c. I can definitely eat more now than two weeks ago so I think the swelling has gone down in my stomach.

There are a few things I wish I had known... The first is the risk of blood clots. I DIDN'T take my shots afterwards (stupid me but I'll explain why) and I developed a blood clot in my left leg. I've had one before. When I noticed the pain in my calf it was very similar to the pain I had with the earlier clot. Once I realized that I started up on my Lovenox again. Good thing I did because, as the ultrasound tech commented, it was an "extensive" one. Any type of surgery can increase the risk of clots. If your doctor prescribes them, make sure you take them or at the very least have someone remind you constantly to take them. The second thing was the complete lack of energy that I had for the first month post-op. Nobody warned me about how bad it was going to be. My doctor told me to take two weeks off but I was only able to take a week and a half off because of my job situation. I ended up taking about six additional sick days over the next three weeks as I couldn't make it through the day without feeling like I was going to collapse. Even now as I'm five weeks post-op my energy levels are still no where near what they were before surgery even though I'm getting in the required Protein and Water. I even upped my carbs per my NUT's recommendation. While I'm better than I was last week, it's only a small improvement. Third, the hell that is the clear liquid diet. I was on it for two weeks and let me tell you, it was not fun. I felt like death and I was so sick of Gatorade, broth, and Jello by the end of it all. I was also constantly dizzy and feeling very disconnected (almost "stoned" if you like). This is why I didn't take my shots as I completely forgot to. My mind just wasn't in the right place for those first couple of weeks after the surgery. While I've been lucky and have avoided the pain and soreness I definitely would have done things differently. Besides taking my shots, I would've taken a longer period of time off of work. A least a month to get myself back on my feet. I just wish someone (like the surgeon or my NUT) would have warned me about how bad it was during the initial post-op phase.

I take Multivitamins twice a day, calcium twice a day, Iron once a day, and B12 once a day. It's tough keeping it all straight but I keep one of those big pill cases and put all of my pills for a week in there. This way I can make sure I actually take my vitamins.

I was told that vitamins were integral to sleevers as we're not getting in the nutrients from our food. I switched over to gummy vitamins because I couldn't stand the taste of the bariatric ones.

My NUT does not want me to drink protein shakes after the first few months. She said that it's because she wants us to have regular diets. There are ways of getting around protein shakes but I've found in the beginning, as we can only eat so much, that it's the easiest. The vitamins are forever from what I've been able to gather.

It's a card from your doctor informing someone that you've had bariatric surgery and can only eat 3oz of food at a time. You would use this to order from the kids menu or at buffets to get the child rate.

I've had a really rough first month. The scariest thing was finding out I developed an extensive blood clot in my leg from the surgery.

I would recommend at least three weeks maybe even four, especially if you cannot drink water on the job. I'm just over four weeks out and I still feel very fatigued and lethargic even though I'm getting all my water and protein in. I'm a teacher but at least I can sit at my job. I took one week off but needed to take multiple sick days off since then because I've felt so bad.

I was still on clear liquids at one week out. Maybe it's just too early to start going after eggs? I wasn't cleared for any eggs other than runny scrambled ones until one month after surgery.

Right now, for me, I am regretting the surgery. Since I was sleeved I've been suffering from serious energy issues and am having a hard time with memory and concentration. At first my doctor thought it was due to the low amount of calories I was taking in during the clear liquid phase. However, I have progressed through the full liquid and into the soft stage without much improvement. I've made sure that I'm getting in enough Proteins and Water and upped the amount of carbs I'm consuming to help bring some of that energy back. Also, I'm taking my Multivitamins and Calcium twice a day and Iron and B12 once a day. However, what improvement I've seen has been minimal. I still cannot drive on my own and have serious trouble getting through the day. What's worse is that I work two jobs which give me three 10 hour days in a row and I can barely make it halfway through without feeling like I'm going to pass out. My surgeon is a bit stymied by my condition but I think I'm going to get a full bloodwork done when I see him next week. I've also developed an extensive blood clot in one of my legs. Not the typical complication for this surgery but still a very serious one. This is mainly my fault though because in my haze I forgot to take my blood thinners after the surgery. Thankfully when I felt the eerily familiar pain in my leg--I've had a clot before that threw a pulmonary embolism--I started back up on my blood thinners. I went for a Doppler and they confirmed a clot. Since I had been on the blood thinners for a few days there was no need for me to stay in the hospital but to say that I've been scared s**tless the past week would be an understatement. The last time I had a clot it literally almost killed me. The day I went to the hospital to get it checked out was when it threw the embolism, which was a saddle type embolism that blocked both branches of my pulmonary artery. My doc said if I hadn't already been in the hospital on heparin I would've been dead in a half an hour. While my current clot is "smaller" than the last one I still have fears of dying from the damn thing. I'm also dealing with an infection in my largest incision. When the bandages were removed, I must have drained a pint of Fluid over my doctor. It isn't deep but it has been draining for the past couple of weeks and recently the fluid coming out has been green. Hopefully the antibiotics will deal with that one. To top it all off, I'm a month out an have only lost 18lbs which to me is not worth what I've been through. Yes, I realize this is weight I probably wouldn't have lost on my own but living with the fear of dying at any moment...it's just not worth it. I'm sorry for venting but I literally have no one to talk to about this except for my husband and right now he's incredibly mad at the whole situation himself. On top of that he just informed me that he was "against the surgery" even though he never said anything before hand. Don't get me wrong, he is a good husband and he's trying his hardest but it's difficult to understand unless you are going through what I'm going through.

I have a blood clot and an infected incision.

I'm from Vernon, NJ which is in the northwest corner of the state. I was sleeve by Dr. Ewing at Hackensack University Medical Center on 3/15/12.

While I don't have kids, I figured I would chime in anyways. I have had serious energy issues since my surgery. Pain wasn't an issue for me but I literally am having problems taking care of myself. Do you have someone that can help you take care of the kids if you want until the summer? At least while they are in school, you will only have them part of the day. However, once school is over than you might be overwhelmed. It's something worth considering.

Nope. Not at all. The only problem I had with the CPAP was that I kept on nodding off when I was in the hospital, which meant that I had to put the darn thing on constantly.

I'm one of the rare ones that had some serious complications after my surgery. While I didn't have a leak, I did develop an extensive blood clot in one of my legs plus one of my incisions became infected. I am recovering on blood thinners and antibiotics but it makes me wonder if this was worth it. I've only lost 18 pounds since my surgery and my energy levels have been...well...crap. I'm getting all of my protein in and fluids and even upped my carbs per doctor's orders but I haven't felt any fundamental differences. Between all of the visits to the doctor and the hospital I'm very frustrated. I don't know if I'm feeling the same way you are--the "I wonder if this is going to fail too" type of worry--but right now I am regretting the surgery. If it wasn't for the fact that I caught the blood clot in time I could've died from a pulmonary embolism if the clot broke off.

I had this problem too. My doctor attributes it to the low calories that we are consuming. Try to get in protein when you can and things should get a little better after you get on full liquids.

I'm really open about the whole thing. If people ask I tell them the truth. A few of my students (college level nursing and health care ones) were very interested in the mechanics of the surgery. The only person I didn't tell was one of my bosses as he's a jerk. I just told him that it was a medically necessary surgery and left it at that. Unfortunately. I've had some major complications (extensive blood clot in my leg and an infected incision) but thankfully he hasnt pushed the issue with me.

The main reason why they want you to have a sleep study is to rule out sleep apnea. The fear is not during surgery (as the anesthesiologist controls your breathing) but during recovery. As you are rather doped up you can stop breathing and you won't wake up. That's why you must bring your CPAP with you to the hospital for the surgery. I was hooked up the minute I got into recovery.

No pre-op diet here either. Just no food after midnight before the surgery. I would recommend trying to not eat a half hour before and after meals. That's the hardest part.