JayhawkJess33

I went to the hospital where I will have my surgery yesterday to pay the rest of my hospital and anesthesiologist fees and get my blood draw done. I am 12 days out from surgery and it is really REAL now! I have to do one week of liquid diet but I started a modified version of it today. So far, so good but I know it will get hard at some point! I think I have pretty much everything I need for the hospital and for when I come home. (ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME! I would love to hear about anything that was super helpful to you immediately post op especially). I just want to say how grateful I am to have all of you here for support and answers and I know I will feel that way even more when I am on the other side of surgery. I hope to have a positive, smooth recovery and rock my sleeve! It means so much to know there are always people here who know exactly what you are going through. I have decided to do a video blog on YouTube so I will post the link to my channel when I put up my first video - would love to have you all subscribe and give me feedback along my journey. Also have to do my measurements and take some more "before" photos that i know I will want to have later.......what else should I do?

I will be sleeved on the 20th so an almost sleeve-sister!! I live in Orlando but am having my surgery done in Sebastian with Dr. Dowmkowski. I only have to do one week of liquids but am going to do a modified liquid diet starting on Thursday. Here's to our future sleeves!!! I am so excited too - nervous......but excited!

Checking in! My surgery will be March 20 in Sebastian, FL with Dr. Domkowski.

I don't know how often she is on here now but sasicas has dealt with a stricture and I believe they were able to "balloon" it open. She is also on YouTube as VSGMOM. I believe she currently has a kink in her sleeve and is waiting to find out what they are going to try and do for it. She has severe restriction because of it......Hope this helps and hope you get better soon!

Lissa, WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone above has said it, but I mean it just as much! You look great and I know you feel great! You have had such tremendous success with your sleeve and are such an inspiration! Keep rockin' it!

Wonderful accomplishment! I agree with all the other posters - she knows.....and she is BEAMING for you right now

I will be sleeved on 3/20 and will have a drain in until my 1 week postop visit (so not looking forward to this, but my surgeon is adamant about it). I know a lot of people have their drains removed before they leave the hospital or don't have one at all.

Hi all - I am soon to be sleeved and wondering what kinds of experiences, positive or negative, you have had along your journey in your relationships with your spouse or significant other. I have been with my husband for 16 years and married for almost 10 of those. We have 3 great kiddos and a good marriage. I don't really have reason to believe we will begin to have problems as I lose weight but I am not naive enough to think that it won't affect our relationship and everyday life when I start to lose lots of weight quickly. He is extremely supportive of my surgery and not negative about it in any way. I know he is REALLY hoping that my sex drive will increase exponentially as it has reeeeeeaaaaallly decreased in the last few years with 3 small kids to care for, a small business that I run and my self image being horrible because of my weight. To be honest, I am hoping for the same thing as I WANT to want to.....I just usually don't feel like it. So I guess I am just wanting to know things like - Did your sex life improve a little, a lot or not at all after surgery?......Was your s/o supportive of your journey consistently?.......Did you find that your relationship dynamic changed once you lost a significant amount of weight? Also, how has your treatment by other people changed since you began your journey and lost a noticeable amount of weight? People tend to treat those who are obese badly. How differently do people treat you once you are thinner and who have you mostly noticed this with? Coworkers? Friends? Family members? Tell me your stories!

Thank you everyone for your responses!!! These are great! Lilee, YES I am very excited! I went through a couple of weeks where I was just scared to pieces and my excitement was really overshadowed by that but I have come out of that and am ready to get the show on the road and start rockin' my sleeve! Vance, yes! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!!!!! I loved getting a man's perspective for these questions and you sound like WONDERFUL husband. I'm so happy for you that you have a great marriage and are enjoying life so much. It's an inspiration to those us who are starting on this journey! Lissa, I'm so sorry you have had to go through so many issues with your husband. It sounds like you are making very positive and healthy choices for YOU. You deserve someone who will be supportive and loving of the person you are and be as proud as you are of your accomplishments and hard work. You are really the picture of a strong woman becoming aware of how strong you truly can be. I know the changes and issues cannot have been easy but you have come so far - you inspire me! Caradina - we are going to be almost sleeve sisters!!! We have very similar starting weights and goal weights as well! PM me if you want to keep in touch and be sleeve buddies! Here's to getting our groove back! Crop Queen, I have actually been following your blog already I have enjoyed hearing about all the places you have visited over the past year and am INSANELY jealous that you have gotten to live in Hawaii and will be going back there. It is my favorite place on the planet and I would kill to live there Your progress has been wonderful and very inspiring to me and your relationship sounds so healthy. Awesome job - keep posting! Sharon, thanks SO SO much for your response - those things are very reasonable and luckily I don't think any of them apply to us Thanks for sharing your experience and thanks for the well wishes! I am so ready to become the person I am on the inside, on the outside! Keep em coming!!

Yay!!! Great job! I am so excited to reach that milestone myself!

Thanks for posting this! I will look for these! It seems like a good thing for right after surgery when I am trying to get even small amounts down but trying hard to get in my protein. I think I will do half at a time like you did and then I will be sure the absorption issue is covered. What all flavors do they have? I was thinking about ordering some things from Bariatric Advantage but after hearing your disappointment in them and how long it is taking to get your order, I may rethink that and just get some Unjury powder instead.

awesome BonBon!!!! You are an inspiration to those of us soon-to-be-sleeved! Keep up the great work!

WOW - what a transformation! You look so healthy and happy! And those jeans don't look anywhere a size 12 to me, skinny minnie!! Congrats on your tremendous success and all the doors you have opened for yourself - that has to be an amazing feeling

yay for March sleevers!! I will be sleeved on March 20! I am super excited but also scared of a million things.....I love the VST boards for all the information and support! Thanks Mrs. Riene for starting the group so we can all follow each others journey easily!

I LOVE this post! It is so upbeat and bubbly and, most of all, inspirational!! For everyone on this journey, and especially those of us yet to be sleeved, it is so wonderful to see the real life impact that the sleeve has had on you. Thanks so much for posting - I will be sleeved one month from today and hope I am as successful as you have been! You look beautiful!

That resort looks beautiful and you look fantastic! Very energized! You are completely right - now you worked out and can be proud and the rest of your time there will feel even better! Enjoy!

Good luck to you!! You are almost there - sending wishes for a great recovery! Update as you are able.

I'm not sleeved yet so I can't say from my own experience but my instructions for my post op diet are: Clear liquids for 2 days postop, then 5 days of full liquids (can have yogurt, cream soups with no chunks at all, etc...) and then weeks 2,3 and 4 are purees and toward the end of that moving to really soft foods. I am so sorry you are feeling so uncomfortable! Hope it gets better soon and that your drs office can clarify for you and give you some good examples of things to try at this stage.

Sounds like you are doing great! So glad it all went well for you and that you are feeling good about everything! Keep us updated - can't wait to join you on the loser's bench!!

I am a stay at home mom and run an online business so I will slow down some but won't have an actual "return to work". My surgeon suggests 2 weeks off for most jobs and says that most people feel fine to return by that point or before. I won't be sleeved until 3/20 so I can't comment from experience but that is what he tells me and I trust him completely to be realistic and honest. Having said that, if I was returning to a regular job I would feel comfortable with 9 days off after as long as the job wasn't too physical. HTH!

Also, just my opinion.........If your doctor believes your age is more of a factor than the weight, I would not wait. As the previous poster mentioned, you can still eat healthy and make good choices pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy. I have three children - ages 3, 5 and 7 and I weighed between 240 and 260 (I am 5'10") when I got pregnant with each of them. I had no trouble conceiving (which I realize I am very lucky for) - 1st baby was conceived the second month trying, the 2nd baby was conceived the first month trying and the 3rd baby - we weren't even trying!! I had completely healthy pregnancies with all three (no gestational diabetes or other issues at all), felt great for the entire pregnancy each time and delivered absolutely healthy babies. I gained 25-27 lbs with each one and took that weight off relatively quickly after each one mostly by breastfeeding. My pregnancies didn't do a lot to contribute to my obesity as I was already obese pre-pregnancy. If you had existing health issues that would compromise a pregnancy or your long term health (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc..) I am sure your doctors would not encourage you to try to conceive prior to weight loss. Of course, you will have to decide what works for you and what you are comfortable with. Good luck with your journey!

I'm definitely interested too! I am also self pay in the U.S. (Florida) and will be sleeved 3/20. I am 5'10" and my starting weight was 287 (am at about 277 now). We have similar stats and will be very close for our timeline - would love to keep in touch for support and info! PM if you would like!

Glad it isn't just me!! I am a ball of nerves about my surgery! I am scheduled for March 20 and its on my mind allllll the time. I don't have a flight to contend with afterward but I'm still nervous about the whole process and recovery. I'm so glad to have VST because we are all going through the same feelings and things.

Yay!!!! Sounds like you are doing fantastic! What great gifts, especially that ring! I hope I am as lucky with my recovery in a few weeks!

I don't know all the ins and outs of this topic as I am already done having children but my surgeon asked me if I was planning to have any more children and once I told him that we were done he went on to say that it would be fine if I wanted to have more but he would want me to wait at least a year before getting pregnant after surgery. We didn't go into the details of the reasons not to get pregnant earlier than that so I can't help there but this is what my Dr. told me......