Cherrybomb

Everyone at my surgeon has a 2 week liquid diet, regardless of BMI. I know this because a group of us went through pre-op education and testing together and we all started at the same time. We were all range of sizes, one woman didn't even look fat to me, just a few extra pounds. Anyway, if I knew then what I know now, I would not have stuck to the liquid diet. I would have just went strict no-carbs at best. After surgery, I asked one of the resident surgeons who was involved in my surgery how my liver looked. He said it looked fine. Wanting details of how effective my "liver shrinking" diet went, I asked if it was too fatty and if it got in the way. He told me it doesn't really matter how big or fatty someone's liver is because they use a retractor device to hold it out of the way. Interesting.

Mine is making all sorts of loud noises! It's embarrassing because it's so loud. Like others, I don't feel any pain and I'm not hungry, my sleeve is just obnoxious.

Hi, I was sleeved on 4/3/12 also in Gainesville, FL. I've lost a total of 66 pounds, 16 of which are since surgery. I had lost a nice round 50 as of my surgery day. I started on mushie/pureed foods at one week out trying to get Protein. I have yet to drink a single Protein Drink post-op. Everything I have eaten has stayed down and seemed to sit well. So far I've had: chicken chili 5 bean Soup cottage cheese sherbet cheese mashed potatoes

I'm 11 days out and was waking up shaking and freezing every morning after I came home from the hospital. Turns out 3 of my incisions were infected and I had a fever that was causing it. I didn't feel like I had a fever, I was just waking up shaking. I also had a day of regret. I couldn't believe I did this my body and there was no going back. I think it's pretty normal to feel that way early on. i got past it and things are much better already. Just keep looking toward the future and know that every day will be better than the one before.

Avoid Health-O-Meter. My brand new $50 one is 4-5 lbs off.

When I got to the OR, I was terrified and thinking about jumping off the table and running. I had been in pre-op for quite some time but panic struck when they moved me to the OR table. One of the anesthesiologists (there were two of them there) put a mask over my face and nose and was holding in there. I pushed it off because it was freaking me out and told him I couldn't deal with that. He then held it about 2" from my face and asked if that was better. That's it .... I don't remember anything else until I woke up in recovery. This was my first surgery ever, at the age of 48, so I had no idea what to expect. Before I opened my eyes, I could hear beeps of machines and people talking everywhere. Then, there were people saying my name. I opened my eyes and they told me that surgery was over and I was in recovery. My first words were, "I'm going to puke and I have chest pains." LOL They gave me a basin in case I actually puked (I didn't.) They told me that the pains in my chest were not my heart, but gas that had collected there. The pain went straight through to my back. I felt no pain at all in my stomach area. I think I may have complained a few times about feeling sick to my stomach because it was intense. Kind of embarrassing, I feel like a whiner now. The doctor came around and ordered extra nausea meds be put in my IV. Very shortly after that I felt better and, in no time, was moved to my room. I spent the next two days in the hospital. I had a morphine pump that I could push every 6 minutes. Anytime something would start to hurt, I would push the button. I never did feel pain in my stomach, only in my chest/shoulder. It was worrisome to me because it was in the same position as my heart. If I had known for sure that my heart wasn't going to explode, I would have been able to relax more. Eventually, the doctor ordered an EKG, which was normal. I was still freaked out so they did an echocardigram, more or less to humor me, which I was thankful for. After that was all normal, the pain in my chest was tolerable. On Day 3 they removed my morphine pump about noon. I left the hospital about 2pm and by 5pm I was in pain. I took my Roxicet liquid and felt better right away. The following day, I used my pain meds twice and felt decent. After that I used pain meds only once a day through Day 6. On that day, I felt back to normal with the exception of being a bit more tired than usual. I went back to babysitting my 3-year-old granson, and even took him shopping with me. We spent four hours shopping and I held up well. I am now 9 days out and have yet to feel any pain in my stomach or incisions. I have some gas in my stomach, but I would not describe it as painful. I noticed a few of my incisions getting red around them a few days ago so I went to see the doctor. Turns out they were infected, but I still don't feel a thing. If I press on one of the infected ones, they feel tender. The other two I could press on all day and feel nothing. Other than pressing on them, I am completely unaware of them. I have to lift my shirt to even know they are there. The only thing that really bothers me is diarrhea. I had it Days 2-5 then it got better. Now that I am on antibiotics, it's back. Other than the "chest pain," I would say that has been the most uncomfortable part of this surgery.

I was in the hospital for the first two nights and had a morphine pump that I could push every 6 minutes so not sure how much pain I would have been in without it. I can tell you that by the time I came home on Day 3, I was feeling pretty decent. I have had zero pain from Day 4 on other than some slight gas pains when drink or eat. It gets better VERY fast, hang in there.

If I lived by myself, that would be the case. I live with my husband two grown sons who buy whatever they please. It really doesn't matter anyway since, when on Ambien, people are not too choosy about what they eat. I would have eaten anything that was there. My biggest concern was injuring my sleeve with solid food when I am supposed to be on liquids still. I'm still confused about my apparent change in absorption with the sleeve. I'm going to talk to my PCP about other sleep aids that have been mentioned above.

How can a person eat anything by accident? AMBIEN! I've been taking it 7 or 8 years with no crazy behavior since the very beginning. Now, since surgery, it's hitting me hard again. I am confused since my absorption should not not have changed. After my first grey-out (black outs that I semi remember) two nights after coming home, I have been cutting my Ambien in half and taking them after I go to bed. Well, last night, I got up and ate a bowl of potato chips. I kind of remember doing it. I have no idea if I chewed them thoroughly or not. I don't want to give up Ambien because it's the only way I have ever had a nights' sleep. Even so, I can't let it cause damage to my new sleeve. I'm worried now that I have caused a leak or some other permanent problem.

Haha, thanks! I am 48!! I just took that pic a few weeks ago, kind of as a joke for facebook. I was making fun of all the young people because they all have "bathroom mirror" profile pictures. All four of my kids are grown and now I have 4 grandchildren so far.

I haven't puked at all yet, not even in the hospital. I'd love to keep it that way. My paperwork says to never put more than 3-4 tablespoons of anything in your sleeve and keep it down to under 1 tablespoon out of paranoia and fullness.

I will absolutely try to find it for you. I read it several places in my pre-surgery research and that helped to cement my decision. It was not just talked about in an article or blogs, it was medical and scientific research explaining why this happens. I will forward on to you any of the links I can re-find.

This is something I had not even thought about. It's scary. It's also scary that I could sabotage my own weight loss in a semi comatose state. I am going to only take a quarter of a pill tonight. I also told my husband what happened and he will go after me if I leave the bedroom. Just wondering if anyone else takes Ambien and has had this experience? I mean after taking it for years with no problems and now suddenly acting up? I guess I am hopes of hearing that it's temporary.

I think all of us can lose it on our own, it's keeping it off that's a problem. I have lost weight many times only to regain more eventually. If you have a body that genetically wants to be fat, it's a scientific fact that it will fight you every day of your life to regain that fat. The only way to keep it off, other than surgery, is live an extreme lifestyle of suffering everyday. Surgery is the only way to relax and live normally. It's just a choice of how you want to live. Life is short and I'm already 48 so I choose surgery.

I actually tried to clarify that with another post, but the site was down or just freezing up on me. The mashed potatoes were not for protein. They were my first test of how soft food would feel and settle in my stomach. I was thinking of them as safe. I didn't know they had any protein at all, so learned something today. Glad you pointed it out, though. If I hadn't known, I would WANT to know. I am a rookie and need all the help/advice I can get.

I am a week out today and have broke some rules in the interest of Protein. I can't stand protein shakes/drinks and even more so now that I'm post-op. I have had cottage cheese, pureed chicken w/ melted cheese, mashed potatoes and chili. The first three I eat two teaspoons of and chew well. The chili I mostly eat the broth and the insides of the kidney Beans. Some people come home from the hospital on soft/pureed foods so I can't see how it can be very dangerous. I'm not encouraging you to go against your doctors orders, just saying what I am doing. I may suffer for it later on, that is yet to be seen.

Try not to gain, surgeons hate that! You only have to lose if he/she specifically told you to. They would have made the amount you need to lose very clear. Like the above poster said, try to be at least one pound down when you go back just so you don't get in any trouble.

This is my view on it exactly. Pre-surgery I had given much thought to the fact that I will probably now show wrinkles and sag like my skinny sister. I finally decided that looking young is not my goal. My goal is to be healthy and live to see my grandchildren grow up. I do my turkey neck exercises because they are easy and quick, but if they don't work I won't be unhappy.

I'm only a week out so haven't had to deal with this yet. Still, it worries me since I really think I will have a hard time sticking to it. I have searched on here and the only reason I have come up with is that is washes food through faster and so you get hungry again sooner. Is that the only reason?

I tilt my head back and pull my bottom lip over my top lip until I feel the muscles in my throat tighten. I hold to the count of ten and repeat ten times. I do this twice a day. I read it somewhere and it "feels" like it works.

I'm 48 and just had surgery a week ago so don't know what I will look like yet. I lost 52 pounds pre-op and that's made no difference. I am most afraid of turkey neck and have been doing exercises to prevent it twice a day for months. Not sure if it will do any good or not, but it's easy to do so worth a try.

Absolutely amazing! You are so pretty!

I'll be a week out tomorrow and haven't had any Protein drinks yet either. I just can't tolerate them without vomiting. To try to get in some protein, a couple of days ago I started eating cottage cheese. I chew it completely. I also made chili and and ate the broth from that for a couple of days. I separated out kidney Beans and sucked out the insides of them. I was afraid the skins would be too hard to digest this early. I went shopping today and got some fat free refried beans that I am going to try in small amounts.

This sounds like something I would tell me daughters if they were trying to have surgery in Mexico. Paula, i will be praying for you. I'm sure you will do just fine. It helps that you have done this before and are going to a familiar location. The worst pain is while you are in the hospital, by Day 3 for me it was mostly just a matter of getting my energy back and some gas pains. As you probably already know, pack some Gas-X strips for that. They have really helped me. Since you're not taking your laptop, at least you can use your Kindle to get on the forum for some support. The browser is slow and clumsy on all but the Kindle Fire, but I still use mine in a pinch for text based things. Treat yourself to some new books for the trip.

I was surrounded by my own negativity right up until they put me to sleep. I was literally still second guessing myself in the OR. I have asthma and have never had any kind of surgery before so the anesthesia scared me. A cardiac arrhythmia was discovered during the pre-op tests and I was nervous about that also. I did it. I woke up. I'm happy to be starting a new life. Glad I didn't let negativity stop me.