4romatl

This is my week 7 post op. I read a lot of messages on this forum and posted a lot of questions before my surgery. So I thought I had done my research and this was the right thing for me. Boy was I wrong. If you are considering vertical sleeve surgery (or any bariatic surgery), and are not more then 100lbs over weight, please read this message. I have been a healthy person all my life (40 yrs old). The worst sickness I ever got in my whole life was the flu once in a while. I have had a history of weight gain and loss all my life. At the time I decided to go through the vertical sleeve surgery, I was 80lbs over weight, and my knees hurt when climbing stairs due to my high weight. I would have also developed diabetes if I had not lost weight. I also felt that I didn't have enough energy [i wanted to play with my kids]. I had to wait 6 months before surgery (insurance requirement). My nutrition counseling visits were a joke. I gained another 20 lbs thinking o, I am going to loose all this weight after the surgery so let me eat up for the last time. My surgeon told me that I will be out of work for 2 weeks post surgery (which I naively assumed to mean it will take me 2 weeks to get better). After the surgery, every second of my life has been hell. Now, I am constantly sick. I have non stop nausea. I have bile comming up from my stomach and living happily ever after in my mouth all day every day. My taste buds have changed so that smells from any food make me gag. I am not able to eat or drink ANYTHING to save my life or give myself energy for any length of time. Most days, I don't even have the energy to speak much less walk. I am constantly dehydrated and lethargic. I look and feel like a zombie. [Remember I wanted to play with my kids :-( ]. My back hurts so bad that I have to wake up in the middle of night and support myself with my arms instead of my back. All my follow up visits with the surgeon have been same. O' you are healing well, the incisions look good. You just need to eat more Protein and drink more Water. I recently made a list of all that I used to do with my extra weight and low energy and I am not able to do A SINGLE thing from that list anymore due to this surgery and its consequences on my body!!!! If I had used the 6 months prior and 2 months post surgery to honestly trying to loose weight, instead of opting for the surgery, I would have lost enough weight to put me in a healthier body. I didn't have to screw up my body to the point that WHATEVER IS DONE CAN'T BE UNDONE!!! I don't know if I will feel better in 3 months or 6 months or never. Imagine the guilt I feel for turning myself from a healthy person to a sick lethargic one. If you want to loose weight so you have energy to do things, THIS SURGERY IS NOT THE ANSWER. There is more. The surgeons de-emphasize or blatantly don't tell the long term consiquences. You know how they tell you that you will have to eat extra Vitamins after the surgery. The exact truth is...The part of your stomach that processes some vitamins (B for example) is mostly cut out. Your body is no longer able to process it doesn't matter how much extra vitamins you take. You will have to be monitored for Vitamin deficiencies for the rest of your life. Eventually, you will have to get Iron infusions or Vitamin B shots once you develop these deficiencies. I wish I had gotten banded instead. Atleast, I had a way to undo the damage I have done to my body and my health. If my email doesn't convince you, Please go see a gastro doctor or some other kind of specialist (other then your surgeon), who see patients who have gotten bariatric surgeries done. Ask them about long term complications. Since my surgery I have talked to two gastro specialists and both of them told me about the deficiencies and how they see patients like these all the time. And now I have to go through a ton of more procedures to make sure there is nothing wrong with my surgery. I am wasting so much time and money, this surgery has consumed my life. My goal was to be healthy, not to be screwed for the rest of my life. And I feel the later is what actually happened. Please do more research then read about the happy customers on this support group.

I am 3 weeks post op. I am not recovering well at all. Can anyone help please. I am not able to eat or drink mostly anything anymore. Everything tastes so bad, I can't make myself swallow it. If I make myself drink something I just start gagging. For the past three weeks, my food intake on good days is 1 to 2 bowls of Soup for the entire day. I may not even be drinking 8 oz's of liquid a day. Of-course, I feel like I am dieing and can't do any chores. I have to go back to work in one week, and don't feel like I can even do that. I used to love drinking Water, but even that tastes horrible (bitter). I have tried everything under the sky, nothing tastes like I can eat it. I take one Nexium in the morning. I do feel stuff going in my mouth from my stomach when I take a nap or sleep at night. I don't feel any of that while I am eating. Does anyone know what is making me nauseous and my mouth taste so bad? Is this heart burn or reflux? Is Nexium suppose to be fixing this? Please help, I feel so sick, I can hardly get out of bed after 3 weeks. I am really starting to get depressed.

Thanks for the replies. It helped to read and get some ideas. I have given up on fake Proteins and am trying to concentrate on getting something in my body. Hydration is super difficult. I have tried Water, Vitamin water, Gatorade, diet Snapple, and all sorts of other diet drinks. [i am wasting way too much money trying foods]. Everything is all sweet. And I have developed super aversion to sweet stuff. Sometimes, I can sip on a bit of tomato juice. Thanks again. I will see my surgeon on Wednesday and insist on him addressing this issue.

Planning to talk to my dr. again at the next appointment (end of this week). At the last appointment, he said something like...sure he understands how sick I feel and it is because I am not eating anything. If I start eating, I will start feeling better. The problem is, I don't know how I can start eating.

I am 3 weeks post op, and am taking naxium in the capsule form. Whatever my doctor gave me in powder/liquid form, I would throw it right back up. So I told him I wanted to try it in the pill form. He said ok, try it. I put the pill in the back of my throat very gently, then I swallow it like I did before surgery. Then I just sit and take tiny sips of water till I think its gone. For me its working out better then the powders/liquids/chewables.

I am considering vertical sleeve surgery. Currently, I am waiting for insurance approval before setting a date with my surgeon. I have been spending some time reading the pre and post surgery posts at this forum. And I have a question for people who have gotten the surgery done. To be honest with you, reading some of post surgery posts are making me scared. It seems that quality of life is not much better after the surgery then it is before. Before you have to deal with problems related with being over weight, after the surgery you have to deal with so many issues relating to having almost no stomach. IS IT REALLY WORTH IT???? After going through the surgery, recovery time, any complications, and the new life style you have to keep...If you had to do it all over again, would you still do the surgery?

Guys, heart felt thanks to EVERYONE who replied. My surgery is on Monday in three days. Your emails helped me get my mind made up 200% and gave me a tool to get my family to accept my decision as well. (my mom/dad are still not there yet, but my siblings are). :crying:

Guys: Thanks a bunch for the replies. They helped put me at ease with my decision. I have a lot of relatives (one of them a doctor) thinking that I am making a really bad choice. I am feeling better now! Not a single person said they wouldn't do it, sounds like a very powerful statement for the benefits.

So I am a craving eater. I crave certain foods at certain times of the month and can't stop eating them once I start. That's how I gained most of my weight. Once a craving starts, I seem to not have any control to stop it before acting on it. Question1: I tried an all shakes Optifast diet under doctor supervision and could follow it for one week before I flunked out. I am terrified that if/when I get surgery, I will still crave food... Won't be able to eat the food due to the small stomach, and will be miserable and depressed for the rest of my life...wanting food but not being able to eat it. Would it be like that? Is it like that for people who have gone through the surgery? Question 2: Are there any Southeast Asian (Indian) people in this forum who could give input on how drastic the food changes are post surgery. Are you able to eat ANY Roti (tortilla type bread) and rice at all? My nutritionist says most people can't tolerate it and those two things are staples in Indian diet. I am already depressed that I can't eat any Roti for the rest of my life. My surgery should be a month or two away if Insurance approves, I don't have a date yet.

you guys are super! I started reading the responses a bit teary eyed and by the end I was smiling. I could relate to something in each reply I read. I have been dieting for over 20 yeas off and on. When I am not dieting, I am binge eating and feeling horrible about my body and my self control. It would be SO nice to buy clothes from regular people department instead of plus size department. My BMI is creeping above 40. I am 40 years old and feel like I am 80. Even my internist seems happy that I will finally be a frequent visitor of her clinic [for diabetes] and help her business grow I am going to get the surgery no matter what. But I was scared of the changes I would have to make. Reading everyone's responses' made me feel so much less scared. It was so nice to hear from people who have been there. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO REPLY!