NJDad

I had my surgery on 4/24 and went on my first airplane trip since my surgery. I left on Monday, flew home this morning. I noticed a few things...... Seat belts on planes got longer in the two months I was away. I also noticed that the seats on puddle jumpers got a little wider. And the walk from the plane to baggage claim was not quite as onerous as in the past.

It might seem like a silly thing to some, but my suit now fits. What does he mean by this? Well, a few years ago, I spent a bunde of money on a new suit for a class reunion. it fit me well at the time, but sadly, the dry cleaners must have shrunk it , because two years later, it no longer fit (I don't wear suits often...only for weddings, funerals and the once a decade class reunions), Well, I have another wedding to go to in two weeks. I tried on a sport coat and slacks that I have worn a few times over the last two years. It looks like I am wearing my father's coat.......My wife was panicing, saying we had to take it to a tailor and get it taken in......would it be done in time? For giggles, I decided to try that suit I still had hanging nicely in my closet. First, I put on the jacket, and it fit really nicely, probably better than it did when I got it. My wife looked at the pants and said, "There's no way this is going to fit you already." Oh, yee of little faith.......they fit. And they fit well. Actually, I will need a belt with them. And keep in mind, I am less than a month out from my surgery. Following all the rules of my doctor and dietician have paid off. Nearly 35 pounds have disappeared since I started my liquid diet the week before surgery.......25 since the day of surgery. Lucky I am a guy, and dark suits don't go out of style that quickly. I do, on the other hand, have to get a more recent vintage tie to go with my suit. Simple joys........ Ron

I am the proud owner of a few scars from surgeries, so I thought I knew the secret about body hair and wound dressings before this surgery.......I was wrong. I hated the feeling of removing bandages with hair beneath. It hurt more than the surgery. Let's just say I have a few hairs on my chest and stomach.....ok, more than a few. Actually, when I walk by the monkey cage at the zoo, the monkeys all go crazy, wondering how one of their own escaped. But I digress....... In past surgeries, i had tried to shave the areas the docs were going to carve up. no matter how much i shaved, the docs always managed to reach the air on my body. I had the grand idea of shaving my chest, from my neck down to my belt...ok, below the belt, but this is a family website....let's just say it stopped at my belt. If there is no hair, they couldn't apply bandages over the hair, right? I awoke from my surgery thinking I had shaved entirely too much......I found my belly littered with six small bandages, about the size of silver dollars. Well, I'd rather have too much shaved then too little, right? Well, ever see the car the neighbor parks on the lawn all summer? Eventually the grass starts growing right up through the hood and out of the wheel wells? This happened to me, in a manner of speaking. After surgery, I was told to leave the bandages on until my first post-op doctor visit 9 days after surgery. Remember how I said I have a bit of hair? Well, my body fought back and started to grow that hair back within days. By the time I made my doctors appointment, I had hair growing up through parts of the bandages......not a lot, but enough to know this was going to hurt. It did..... The nurse that removed the bandages at the doctors office gave a little chuckle as we discussed my dilemma....she said that now she knows how it feels to be on the other side.....it seems she regularly goes and gets some part of her body waxed...and she said it hurt her like hell too. She tried to be kind, but there is only so much she could do. When she got done, I looked like the little puppy when her young owner gets the home grooming kit.....I had six holes in the fresh growth of hair. And to top it off.....the hair growing back has itched like crazy. It's been a month now and it still itches. It serves me right to try and think ahead.

I am so glad to hear that the stomach growling is normal....mine has been talking to me for weeks, except I don't speak it's language yet. Here's a funny tidbit about that.... I serve as a guide for a blind sportswriter. I went to my first Yankee game serving as a guide last Wednesday since I had the surgery. We eat in the press dining room. I had to find something I could eat besides the ol' stadium staples of hot dogs and sausage sandwiches. I decided to try the salmon they were serving that night. I'm not sure, but I think the salmon didn't sit well in my new, mini-sized tummy. Somewhere around the fifth inning, my friend took off his headphones (He listens to the game on the radio) as we sat in the pressbox. It is a noisy environment, open to the crowd noise. He turns to me and asks, "What the hell is that noise?" (He actually heard that?????) I told him I thought that maybe the salmon was deciding to swim back upstream.

Those are some great results...... I have seen such varying results, I never knew what was the right or wrong amount of weight loss would be. I had my surgery on 4/24/13. A week before the surgery, I weighed in at 340, the day of surgery, after a week of liquids, I was down to 330. Last Saturday, my weight dropped below 300 (299.4) for the first time in a decade. My weight loss slowed down once I started on real foods.....but it does continue. My first fill is next Tuesday (6/11/13). Anyone have any idea what can I expect in terms of weight loss after this first fill?

I am an engineer and work mainly at a desk when in the office. I had my surgery on a Wednesday, and was back to the office on Monday. And it was too soon. I push myself too hard, and this was one of those times. I wound up going home from the office on Monday at 1 and took a nap the rest of the afternoon. I did work the rest of the week, but it was tough. Mind you, I have had other surgeries before and came back on a similar timeline.....but this one has a double whammy, not only are you recovering from the surgery, but you are living on far less caloric input than you were used to. You can plan on taking three days, but keep in mind the first few days back will be hell if you do. And keep the first week schedule loose, so if you have to cut out early, it can be done

Someone saw me today at the office and told me it was time to get some new pants....he said it looked like I was wearing "Harem pants". It was nice that someone besides my wife noticed the change. And whoever said it before was right....bottle that feeling, it is great.

I know this is an old post, but I thought I would add my choice. I have discovered unjury after trying a half dozen other types. You can only get it online, but in my opinion it is the best tasting, no after-taste Protein powder out there. I use the unflavored in juices. It adds a slight taste, but it is not even close to unpleasant. I use the chocolate splendor and strawberry in milk (Low fat and skim). The chocolate tastes like Yoo Hoo, and the stawberry reminds me of Strawberry Quik my parents used to get for us when we were kids as a treat. The biggest thing I noticed about others compared to the Unjury was I would taste the others for hours after....sort of like you taste that hot dog you had at the ballgame hours ago.......not pleasant. The Unjury just mixes smooth, goes down easy, and I never taste it again. xxx.unjury.com

My doctor also told me no driving until 24 hours after my last pain pill. But I went another 48 hours. It isn't just about the pain meds.......It is about being comfortable behind the wheel. Sure, you might be able to steer, push the pedals and all, but make sure you are physically able to do some fast motions, as you would have to do if a child ran into the street in front of your car. I had my surgery on Wednesday. I took the pain pills they gave me on Thursday evening when I got home, no more after that. I still felt weak and not fully up to snuff on Friday and Saturday. I was planning on going back to work on Monday, so I sat in my car Sunday for a bit to be sure I was ok, then took the car out on some side streets to be sure I felt ok. I then went to a local parking lot and did some quick stops and starts, jerking the wheel back and forth, just to make sure I didn't hurt myself with those motions. Overkill? Probably.......but I would rather be safe than sorry.

I found that having to wait the 6 months and visit the nutritionist each of those months was a good thing. It made me realize how important all the things I was going to have to change really were. It gave me a few months to let it all sink in that I was really doing it. I know it seems like a long time, but it goes real fast....trust me on that. I honestly wasn't sure i was going to do it until the approval from the insurance company came three weeks before my surgery. Ron

I am 46 years old, male. I am 6'4" tall. I weighed 359 back in October when I started seeing the nutritionist. I was at 340 the week before my surgery, in my last doctor visit before the surgery. I was at 330 the evening after my surgery at the hospital April 24, 2013 I was 305 yesterday morning.......after a week of liquid diet, followed by nearly two weeks of mushy foods. I hope these numbers give you an idea of what is reasonable to expect. I am doing nothing more than following the instructions of my doctor and nutritionist. Walking regularly, eating correctly and taking my Vitamins. And here is the best part yet......I have not been hungry. Ron

The bathroom in my home is on the second floor......needless to say, I found a way to make the stairs. Seriously, the stairs were a bit of a hassle the first day home, but not too bad. Now, if you live in an eight story walkup, it might be a different story.......but only one or two flights of stairs shouldn't kill ya'. Ron

A few days after surgery, I found that I was getting lightheaded every time I stood up quickly, or bent over. In a weird coincidence, I wound up back in the hospital ER for a problem with my eye a week later. They took my blood pressure three times, and each time it was below 100 for both readings......like 90/58, 92/60...that sort of thing. I told the ER doc that I was taking BP medicine and he suggested that since my surgery, I might consider stopping it now. But to check with my primary care doc to be sure, which I did. I have been checking my BP daily the last two weeks and it has hovered around 115/75 while off my BP meds. My surgeon told me that over time I would probably be able to stop taking the BP medicines.....I just never realized it would happen that fast. By the way, I bought one of those wrist BP monitors.....it was only around $20 on Amazon and it works fine for a quick test. Ron

My surgery was on the 24th. I had a hiatial hernia repaired that day. I was hoarse until a week after my surgery. However, I don't think it was from intubation, as I have had surgeries before and never felt like that. I think it had more to do with the hernia repair. I was speaking from my chest rather than my diaphragm, there was simply no power in my voice. As this week has gone on, the power has slowly returned to my voice. I also noticed at my voice retuned as that choking feeling I had after surgery diminished. Ron

Congrats on the approval. As for staying overnight, do it. If your insurance is paying for it, it cannot hurt. As a previous poster mentioned, you won't get much sleep anyway, but at least you will be monitored. And think of your caregiver, whomever that may be. It gave my wife a break after a long day in the hospital with me. She needed the break after worrying about me all day.

Ahhhh, thanks for that advice. I am new to the forum and it drove me crazy that I couldn't create a new paragraph on my home computer. Thanks, Ron

I came home from work on Monday to the sweet smell of freshly baked brownies. My daughter had made them for she and her friends. This was the Monday before my surgery.....day 5 of my pre-op diet. She apologized about making them this week, she didn't think about it until I said something. But then I realized that I am going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life.....she is just testing me early

Boy, I had a pair of these yesterday and I was concerned. Thanks for letting me know what it means. Ron

Good evening, I am typing this on my iPad sitting in my chair in my hospital room. My surgery was this morning at 10:45. I am writing this to try and share a few things about my surgery so far. Let's work backwards. I already told you I am out of bed and in a chair in my hospital room. I did a few laps of my ward about an hour ago. The first lap I felt some tightness in my gut. The second lap I was standing upright and walking better. By the third lap I was walking almost normal. Still taking short steps, but felt pretty good. Getting out of the bed was the best thing I did all day. I was in the bed for a few hours after surgery in my room. The staff didn't force me out of bed, it was my wife who asked when I was getting out of bed. She and a nurse spotted me as I got out of bed. I was waiting for some sharp pain that never came. It is more of a stiffness.....not too bad. I got up, my wife helped me put some shorts on under my gown and led me to the loo. That first time after surgery was wonderful.........my bladder was pretty full. Waking up in the recovery room I was a bit foggy for about thirty minutes. I was tired, but I was able to joke with the staff. I spent from around 12:30 - 2:45 in recovery. The biggest issue I had in the OR is that I am 6'4" tall and the table was too short for me. They had to find some extension so my legs didn't hang over the edge. I recall waking up a bit after the surgery as they were moving me to the gurney for the trip to recovery. I asked if they wanted to help....they seemed surprised by my question, but said if you feel,up to it, sure. I fell back asleep because I don't remember the journey to recovery. I stopped writing for a few hours as I had a few visitors.......it is now just about 9:00 PM. I am still in my chair. I took one more lap around the ward, and one more visit to the loo. I feel a bit sore, I am burping a bit, but nothing outrageous. My doctors and lots of others warned me of the worst case scenarios......I haven't seen any big issues yet. I am going to finish watching the Yankee game. My wife just went home after a long day beside me. I have to say that the staff here at Mountainside Hospital in NJ has been nothing but superb. Everyone has been friendly and courteous. I have been treated extremely well. I am so glad I chose this facility for my surgery. I'll try and post over the next few days as I recover from surgery. I spent a long time lingering and monitoring these boards.....now it is my turn to share my experiences. Have a great night everyone, Ron

It's 2:00 AM Friday morning. About 40 hours after my surgery Wednesday morning. I was discharged from the hospital Thursday morning after my X-Ray to ensure the band was in the right place and there were no leaks. Let me say this first.....my wife is a saint. She has been at my side almost the entire time since i had the surgery. The only time she wasn't there, she was filling in for me at a function for our daughter's high school music booster club. If you are going to have this type of surgery, you need strong backup. She has had me up walking, made sure I had water near me constantly, and been my private nurse throughout. There is no way I could have tolerated yesterday on my own. I was given some water, clear broth, and Jell-O at the hospital before I was discharged. They wanted to ensure I was able to take in fluids before I was sent on my way. I found out from my doctor that I had a hiatial hernia and that they repaired it when they were inside. I guess I got a 2-1 deal on surgeries Wednesday :-). That explains the 6 holes on my belly when I woke up.....I thought there would only be 3-4. Pain went up a notch when I got home, but not from where I expected. I had an umbillical hernia repaired a decade ago, and I thought my gut would be sore as hell. It was not. I have some serious gas discomfort most of yesterday and last night. My left shoulder has been the most sore. From what I read online, it is caused by the CO2 gas they inject in my abdomen causing pressure on a nerve that makes it feel like my shoulder hurts. It is normal. A couple of times I felt like I was going to vomit....you know that feeling, it is coming up but then it stops? I panicked those first few times, as I rarely vomit. I would say I have gotten sick about 2 times over the last 20 years.......I am not used to that feeling at all. After a few false alarms I realized if I waited it out, the feeling would pass. I found that by sitting upright on a hard chair, lean forward a bit, the feeling would pass quicker. I found my desk in my home office worked best, so that is why you find me here at 2:00AM :-) I took a pair of naps during the day yesterday. I normally sleep on my back, but I found I felt more comfortable on my side.......I fell asleep that way, but woke up on my back each time. I went to bed last night around 8:00PM. I was trying to stay up for the NFL draft on ESPN last night, but that was impossible. My body needed sleep. My doctor prescribed Tylenol 3 for pain. That is a mixture of Tylenol and codeine for those who are unaware. My wife saw the size of the pills and decided that she was going to crush them for me, she was afraid they were too big for me right now. That, was an unwise decision. She crushed the pill and served it to me in a teaspoon. First, the taste is awful. It took a while for the bad taste to go away. Second, when you crush a pill like that, it seems to reach your bloodstream much faster than normal. I got hit with what I can only describe as a headrush about 10 minutes after swallowing the pill dust. I will never do that again. While some people might like that feeling, I am not one of them. WOW, is all I can say. I took the next pill before I went to bed cut in half in a pill splitter. It worked just fine. My walking started yesterday when I got home. We walked up and down the driveway a few times, then gradually lengthened my walks to down the street and around the corner. I just used Google Maps to determine the distance and it seems I am walking about 750' one way at the end of my longest walk. About a 1/4" mile round trip. Not bad for the first day. I did get a little winded by the end of that walk. Tomorrow we will lengthen that distance. I took a half shower last night. We have one of those hand shower thingies in the shower, so you can hold the showerhead in your hand and aim the water where you need it. We kept the water off my chest and stomach, but washed the rest of me, including my hair. Ahhh, a shower never felt so good. My doctor told me I can take a real shower later this morning. I didn't tell many people before of my surgery. First, I didn't want to tell people about it if I never went through with it. Second, i was afraid how people would react. I saw some good friends who live on our street and they asked me why I was walking so "carefully." I explained about the surgery, and they were quite positive about it. They thought it was good for me, that I was doing something about my weight issue. One was surprised, he didn't think I needed it. He thought I weighed a lot less that I actually was. I guess I carried it well? Their reactions made me feel a lot better about my decision. I was concerned over why I was doing all this. Was I doing it for my vanity? Health? My wife and daughter? I have come to the conclusion that it is all of the above. I want to look better, I don't want to deal with health problems down the road caused by my weight, and I want to be around a long time to drive my wife and daughter crazy. Well, thanks for listening to me this evening. If I don't talk to you again before, have a nice weekend. Ron

West Essex County here.....surgery at Mountainside on Wednesday

My surgery is set for Wednesday April 24. I am on day 4 of my pre op diet.