JanetF

Hi, Isabel'sGma! Thanks for the suggestion. I have had problems time and time again with IVs. When I was in hospital with pneumonia in February, I got oedema in one arm from the IV and then a small blood clot where they placed the replacement IV in the other arm. That aside, it always takes them forever to find a vein to start with, as mine are deep and narrow, and I bruise easily and impressively! So thanks for the suggestion and I will definitely ask for a PIC line in the future.

This is a fascinating question and discussion. My immediate reaction was that for me it was pretty much 100% health, with 0% mental/emotional or vanity, but after reading what everyone else had to say, I wondered if that really was the case. I have given it lots of thought and honestly believe that for me it really was 100% health. I have been big almost all my life (the year I was 11-12 was the only time I was a really normal size) but until recently it had never stopped me doing anything I wanted to do (not wanting to run a marathon or do 50 star jumps in 10 minutes ) but recently it has started restricting me more. For my 50th birthday last year, for example, I bought a round the world ticket and had a whale of a time, but there were certain things I would have liked to have done and places I would have liked to have been that I couldn't because I simply didn't have the energy. I hold down a high-level, demanding job and work very long hours, but it is completely sedentary (in fact, it's so portable that I can work pretty much anywhere, including on the sofa, on the bed, in the restaurant...) but the new post which is waiting for me in Kenya will involve lots of travel to conferences across Africa and Europe, working late into the night, and lots of standing and walking, which I know I can't cope with while I am this big. My health also restricts the choice of duty stations where I could work, as I have to consider access to decent quality medical facilities and availability of all the specialists I need to see on a regular basis. Over the years, I have accumulated a variety of health problems, most of which are caused by, exacerbated by or simply not helped by my weight, including, but not limited to diabetes type II (with neuropathy in my lower legs and early retinopathy in my eyes), myxoedema, polycystic ovarian variant, hypertension, dislipidaemia, fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnoea, GORD/GERD... I have finally reached the stage where, after fighting the idea of bariatric surgery for many years, it has become the best solution, if not the only answer. Mentally/emotionally, I have never really had problems with my size, even when I was younger. I suspect that is as much the luck of the way I am by nature than anything, for which I am grateful. Vanity-wise, I have thought about it and I really don't think that it has entered into my decision to have the surgery. I am not doing this to look good in a bikini (yikes! - the very thought of me in a bikini!!) and I shall miss lots of my nice size 28/30 (UK sizes) clothes, although of course I am looking forward to finding some nice new ones as I gradually shrink. I know I am huge, but I am also - due modesty aside - a jolly good-looking woman, and living in a culture at the moment where (to my enormous surprise on arrival here four years ago) most men seem to love large, luscious, lovely ladies (OK, perhaps not luscious, but big!), I have the unexpected pleasure of being reminded of that pretty much every day! So overall I would stick with my initial thought of 100% health and zero or very close to zero% emotional or vanity, even if losing the weight will undoubtedly give me an emotional boost and more of an excuse for vanity!

Thanks ever so much, Arj1016! Yes, I am feeling in remarkably good spirits and have felt like this pretty much since the operation. Having had so many health hassles in the run-up, including a few really medically panicky ones just the week before, I was just so tremendously relieved to have made it to the operating table that I am slightly concerned that this is just a post-op euphoric high and that it will be followed by a correspondingly low 'down'. I hope not! Getting the photos and videos done was such a god idea, even if most of my friends are too squeamish to want to see them! It really is fascinating to see the process and the removed section of the stomach is amazing! After so many years of fighting the idea of bariatric surgery whenever it was suggested by my endocrinologists, I have been surprised at just how totally, utterly and completely certain I am now that it was the right thing to do. I'm not expecting it to be smooth sailing the whole way, but my fingers are firmly crossed and I have no doubt whatsoever that this was the best thing I could possibly have done at this stage in my life, body and career. How are you feeling after all your troubles at the start? I hope you are feeling much, much better by now. All the very best, Janet

Thanks for your good wishes, Smoggy! Yes, I shall miss Beirut in many ways. When I came here, it was my first experience of the Middle East other than an overnight stopover in Dubai back in the early 1990s and I really wasn't sure quite what to expect, especially having grown up in an era when every night the television news at home in England was filled with the awful events of the war in Beirut. It's a great place, though, and I have been able to explore quite a bit of the region, too, which has been a great opportunity. But Kenya calls and all the challenges of a new job, a new life and a much smaller body - inshallah! Oh, and the very best of luck to you for when the time comes for your op!

Hi, all you April sleevers! Just a quick update on how things went. I went in on Tuesday morning at 10am, was down in the operating theatre at 1pm and finally got back to my room at 8pm, having had a few problems in the recovery room. I wasn't the only one with problems there, though, as I power-vomited blood all over a poor nurse - ugh! After that, everything went smoothly apart from problems with the IV - I got oedema in my arm, so it had to come out (the IV, not the arm!), then trying to find an alternative spot for it defeated six doctors, nurses and even the chap they called up from the OR, so finally they called the chief anaesthetist, who was clearly not prepared to be embarrassed in front of his colleagues and after a great deal of trouble finally managed to get it in, only for there to be problems with it later that night, so it had to come out permanently. My poor arms and hands look like black and blue pincushions! Having learned the 'sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, walk' lesson from everybody here, I walked as soon as I could, but the gas pain was still horrible and hung around for several days. I had a few bad nights, too, waking up after nightmares with a tremendous diagonal headache, but now the only pain is in my tummy when I get up or move around and in the right incision pretty much all the time. I have taken no diabetes meds since the day before the op and since Thursday my blood glucose levels have been at non-diabetic levels - miraculous! No blood pressure meds yet, either, but although my BP is at the low end of normal at the moment, I may have to restart those once I start getting back to my normal life until I have lost weight. Speaking of which, I got over-optimistic and when one of the nurses asked if I would like to weigh myself, I jumped at the chance, only to find that I was 2.75 kg (6 pounds) heavier than when I was weighed on Monday! So four days of eating nothing and a huge part of my stomach removed (and I have the photos to prove the size of the beast!) and I was heavier?! They said there could be lots of reasons - the glucose in then IV, the gas, different scales, the body's reaction to the surgery 'attack', sod's law or a mixture of them all. Either way, I'm going to follow the surgeon's advice and resist weighing myself again until things are more settled, by which point I should have a decent loss to enjoy. Speaking of the photos, they are fantastic! I gave my iPhone to one of the scrub nurses, who I suspect is moonlighting from his day job as a photographer. He took loads of photos and a couple of short videos at the crucial stages and a few of the removed part of the stomach, with a measuring tape in both metric and imperial to show its incredible size. I'm so glad I asked the surgeon if it would be OK! They are going to let me have a DVD of the operation, too, so there's this year's Christmas present problems solved!!! As for diet, that's one of the things that's been so interesting on here - there seem to be almost as many post-op diets as there are bariatric surgons. I am on clear fluids for 10 days, then full fluids for another 10 days, then puréed food for a week, then mashed food for at least a month. It's certainly a slow return to 'real' food, but if it protects my new stomach and I'm losing weight, I'm happy! I was discharged today, five days post-op, and am staying with a friend until Friday, as I live on my own and wasn't sure if I would be OK on my own straightaway. In the event, I am pretty sure that would have been fine, but she and her two little ones wanted me to come, so here I am. I have my first follow-up appointment on Thursday and will also have a stomach X-ray to check that all is well internally. So having promised a quick update, this has been anything but quick, but anyway, that's how things have gone. Wishing everyone a fast, smooth recovery!

Interesting that so many people seem to have had staples rather than stitches. After my gall bladder was removed laparoscopically a couple of years back, three of the incision scars all but disappeared, but the other two turned keloid, so this time round the surgeon used the sort of stitches done from under the skin that they use for cosmetic surgery in the hope that these new scars will heal fully and not turn keloid. Fingers crossed that the strategy will be successful!

That's really interesting. I have far more pain in my right incision than in the others, although they are all still bruised (5 days post-op, stitches out today), so I asked my surgeon which one he had taken the stomach out of (thinking it would either be the left one, having read your post or the right one, where I have the pain) and he said it was the tummy button one!

Hi, Tamou37! Yes, the big hospitals here are really expensive. I went to AUH for the expertise (my endocrinologist said that Dr. Safadi was the best in Lebanon and once I met him, I felt could trust him completely), but I had the operation done at CMC for the comfort! Luckily, it was covered by my health insurance through work and when I 'checked out' today, I only had to pay US$7 - after five days in a hospital that felt like a hotel and a life-changing operation, $7! I have been living and working in Beirut for four years now and have really enjoyed it, but later this year I am moving to Kenya to take up a new post in Nairobi, so it will be all change once again. New body, new challenges! All the best, Janet

Thanks for your good wishes, Sallynew! I was discharged today and am staying with a friend for a few days until I feel OK to be on my own at home again. Apart from a bit of pain round the right incision and across the centre of my tummy, I'm feeling surprisingly well and very optimistic. This is the start of the rest of my life! All the best to you, too!

I'm a Brit in Beirut. Still in hospital 3 days post-op, but - all being well - will be discharged on Sunday. Medical facilities here are fantastic, expertise second to none and my surgeon, Dr. Safadi, is simply wonderful.

When I saw the anaesthetist this morning in preparation for my op tomorrow, he said that it's quite common to feel dizzy in the first few days following surgery, especially (but not only) if you are taking medication for high blood pressure before the operation. I hope it won't last too long for you. If you don't feel better soon, though, you ought to give your doctor a call.

Hi, everyone! I have just got back from the final pre-op tests and appointments and am ready for the off tomorrow (April 17th). Because I had bronchitis and pneumonia in February, I had to have another chest X-ray today, but everything is looking good and I am as ready as I shall ever be. Actually, I am not feeling nervous (yet!), which is a bit of a surprise, both to me and to those who know me. A little trepidation, certainly, but no major last-minute panic. Perhaps it's because there have been so many medical hurdles along the way over the last three months or so that I just feel relieved to have reached the final furlong. As I said to the pulmonologist this morning, this is the start of the rest of my life and I am ready for whatever lies ahead. I just hope it won't be bad!!!

I understand exactly where you are coming from on this. It's such an enormous step for us to take - after all, it will change your life forever and things will never be the same again - and it takes us so long to get to the stage where we are ready to commit to it, then other people weigh (no pun intended!) into the decision, which just drives us wild and can all too easily make us feel wobbly about whether or not we are doing the right thing. Underneath it all, it's that they love you and care about you and are worried for you, but even though you know that, it doesn't necessarily help. They may also worry that as your weight changes, so will you and thus their relationship with you. It's the worry of the unknown, as much for them as for you. That said, if it's got to the stage where it's undermining you and making you doubt your decision, you have to talk to them about it, listening to their concerns, trying to help them to keep them in proportion and standing firm on your plans. When you develop diabetes, you suddenly find that everyone around you has joined the Diet Police as far as you are concerned. Everyone thinks they know best, when they rarely (if ever) really know anything about it. In many ways, it's similar with the decision to go for WLS. Everyone has their own ideas on it. I am having the VSG surgery on April 17th and because I don't want everyone at work, for example, feeling that they have the right to tell me what they think about what is, after all, a deeply personal matter, I have chosen not to tell everyone there about it yet (the rumour mill will fill many of them in on it sooner or later and once I start to shrink, it'll be obvious anyway) although I have told a couple of people I trust at work and I don't think the news has got out yet. My family are several thousand miles away in the UK and I told my cousin and my best friends when I was there at Christmas, then I told my brother by phone last weekend. My cousin is going to tell her parents and sister today, having been wonderful about keeping it to herself for the last few months. However, although she is delighted and relieved that at last I have decided to do something about my weight and health (I have a list of co-morbidities as long as your arm, assuming that you have a very long arm!), she has been going absolutely wild with worry over the last few weeks (I have had several big health problems over the last couple of months and a few last-minute medical panics last week) and she, like everyone else I have told, is very worried about how I will cope with moving to Kenya to take up a new job a few months after the operation. I am worried, too, but other people panicking really doesn't help! I am doing my best to try to keep them calm, which I have found actually helps me to keep calmer than I would otherwise be. It's not a naturally calm time! So talk to your family, do your best to reassure them, tell them that you need their understanding and support, but keep at the forefront of your mind that this is your life, your body, your health, your decision. All the best!

Hi again, Sharonimo! I know all too well what you mean. The bronchitis, pneumonia, hospitalisation in two countries and everything else which followed from it lasted almost two months and while friends and colleagues were getting my food shopping for me, I ate far more healthily, as I was too embarrassed to ask them to buy me any 'naughties', but the last couple of weeks since I have been able to do my own shopping again I am back to my usual lack of control. All my social life here revolves around going out for meals with friends and it's difficult to imagine how it will be once I am eating so little post-op. My surgeon hasn't required a pre-op diet - in fact, all he has said is to eat a light lunch on Monday, followed by a liquid dinner - but I have lost 10 kilos over the last few months, mostly from being ill (not the best way to do it, but still...) From your signature it looks as if you have done really well with your pre-op weight loss, too - congrats! I have Type II diabetes too, as well as myxoedema, PCOS, sleep apnoea, diabetic neuropathy, post-pneumonia asthma and various other co-morbidities, so my immune system is pretty compromised, too. I am 51 and in many ways wish that I had got to this stage say 15 years ago as well (the stage of being ready to take the huge step of having the VSG done, not the stage of having accumulated so many health problems!) but I think you reach this point when you are ready for it (perhaps desperate enough for it) and no earlier. I have fought against the idea for many, many years, but have finally reached the point where I know it is the right thing to do - indeed the only thing to do. So roll on the 17th and here's hoping that everything will go smoothly!

I just wanted to thank you and everyone else here who has been sharing their experiences in so much detail and in such personal terms. For those of us who are ready and waiting to be 'sleeved', it's the only way we can get a real feeling for what lies ahead and is so very, very helpful. Thanks and best wishes to you all. Janet

Hi, Sharonimo! I'm set for the 17th, too! I'm from the greater London area (Middlesex), but working in Lebanon, so am having the operation done in Beirut. I have pretty much got my mind and body ready for the operation - second time lucky, I hope, as I had it scheduled for Feb, 14th, but it had to be cancelled when I got bronchitis and then pneumonia and ended up in hospital. Although I'm dreading the first few weeks post-op, I am really looking forward to the new life which awaits. I had a major last minute panic last week, though. I had a 24-hour pH-metry test done, which showed that I have severe acid reflux. The weird thing is that I have no symtpoms of it at all, but the test showed that I had 546 (yes, 546!) refluxes in just under 24 hours - incredible! I thought that would mean that my surgeon would say that he wouldn't do the sleeve, but after talking through the alternatives, we are still going to go for it on the 17th. What a relief! I feel a very long way away from home at times like this... How are you feeling at the prospect of the 17th?

Hi, everyone! My very first post after 'lurking' here for a few days, reading what others have to say and marvelling at the magnitude of what lies ahead. My date is April 17th. It should have been February 14th, but it had to be postponed after I fainted on a plane, ended up in hospital in Dubai with bronchitis, came back to Beirut, where it turned into pneumonia and I ended up in hospital here for a week, where lots of other things also went awry. It's been a pretty awful time one way and another, and there were times when I thought the life-changing sleeve was never going to happen, but it's back on track again. Today I am doing a 24-hour pH-metry, so have a comical-looking tube coming in a big hoop shape out of my nose (much to the amusement of my friends and colleagues), the other end of which has a sensor which is monitoring the pH levels down at the lower oesophageal sphincter so that my surgeon knows for sure whether I have acid reflux before the surgery. I have no symptoms of it (thankfully, given all the other health hassles I have had!) but it can be asymptomatic, so he wants to be sure before he opens me up. The catheter is very uncomfortable and I can't wait for it to come out tomorrow morning, but I am very relieved that he is taking the possibility so seriously. He's a nice chap and the most experienced bariatric surgeon in Lebanon, so I trust I am in good hands! I need things to go smoothly, as my family is thousands of miles away in the UK and I have a new job in Africa waiting for me as soon as I am well enough to make the move. It's going to be a big year... Anyone else out there scheduled for the 17th? I must say that there is definitely strength in numbers and it looks as if the April cohort is a big one! All the best to all of us!