LaughingGirl

Hey, Carol! I was wondering where you disappeared to. I'm so sorry to hear that you've been so sick. Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery. (((Hugs!)))

It took longer for me - about 4 months. When I first applied, my BMI was 39 and I had no documented co-morbidities except being 100 lbs overweight. UHC took their own sweet time in letting me know that they wanted more info. Once I found out what they needed, I went in for a regular checkup and was then officially diagnosed with high blood pressure. After I sent in that information to UHC, it took about another month to get approval. A month after that, I had the surgery! I've heard that UHC is one of the best for approving this procedure.

I am so glad that my surgeon has a very rational view on all of these things Sue mentioned. He didn't require a liquid pre-op diet at all - THANK GOODNESS!! His post-op diet was set up for a week at a time, with transitions into the next level of foods at the end of each week. I started transitioning on about the 5th day of each week, and let me tell you, knowing that the next step was just a few days away was the only thing that kept me sane during those awful weeks of liquids! Week 1 - Clear Liquids transitioning to full Week 2 - full liquids transitioning to mushy Week 3 - mushy transitioning to solids Week 4 - normal food Went in today for my 3-week postop appointment; when he found out that I was tolerating solid food well, he went ahead and gave me my first fill (1cc). I was glad, because I already didn't have any restriction once the surgical swelling had healed. It would have been nice if he would have done it under fluoro, but hey, I guess you can't win them all!!

I wasn't allowed to wear underwear because I had a catheter during the surgery. Thankfully, they waited until I was asleep to put it in, but I was just waking up when they pulled it out! I know that the doctor saw my chest, too, because one of my lap incisions is right where my bra goes across my sternum. So I imagine he got the full view of everything above and below! Oh well. It does bother me to think about it, but I just keep reminding myself that he sees this sort of thing every day, on hundreds of folks. What WAS embarrassing was getting my first fill today. The doctor (same surgeon who did my band) had me strip down to my bra - with NO GOWN - and then did the fill. That was pretty weird.

I had a lot more pain than I expected. This was mainly because my surgeon doesn't prescribe the narcotic pain meds due to the risk of nausea. He gave me Taradol instead, which is a muscle relaxer. It took the edge off, but didn't even begin to take the pain away. I'd say I was about a 7-8 the first day, 5 the second day, and back to 7-8 on the third day. The third day was the worst, because I had a 40-mile drive home from the hospital the night before that really did me in. Thankfully, I didn't have any gas pain at all. I walked as much as I could during the 2 days I was in the hospital, and I think that must have helped. Some of the worst discomfort was the dry mouth. I remember that every time I passed the sink on my way to walk the halls, I would splash Water onto my tongue. I also kept a wet washcloth by the bed that I would swab my mouth out with when it got unbearably dry. I was much happier once the barium swallow was done and I could drink again. Now, I'm 16 days out and virtually pain-free.

Ugh! This is exactly why I haven't told anyone in my work group about this surgery. I don't want to be "supervised" 24/7 by people who have no idea what I'm going through. People need to learn to mind their own business, especially where personal issues such as eating habits are concerned!! I would never criticize what someone chose to eat, diet or no diet. It's not my place to do that, especially in front of co-workers! That is just rude.

I'm scheduled for October 22nd - only three weeks! I've been working on this process since May, but now that it's almost here, I'm kind of scared!

Hey, you're right! Although, based on your pic, you look awfully young to have had WLS.

No, they aren't large. The ones I currently have are capsule-type pills, and I think I've had some that were tablets about the size of an aspirin. From what I've read, that shouldn't be a problem for you.

I know what you mean. A lot of the time I feel like I'm neuter-gender (an "it") because none of the guys I meet ever see me as more than the jolly friend. Never the girlfriend potential. I DO always do my hair and makeup so that at least people can see that I tried, but it's rare that I feel truly feminine. And I'm a real girly-girl on the inside (you should see my foofy house!), so it really bothers me that it doesn't translate well on the outside. I can't wait to be on the losing side.

This is SO TRUE!! I can't wait to start wearing cute clothes again.

You can buy acidophilous (the active ingredient in yogurt) in pill form in the vitamin section of any drug store. Take a few of those every day and you won't need the yogurt. It works for me!