auggie

I was sleeved three days ago...anybody else suffering from wicked diarrhea? I haven't eaten anything other than chicken broth, crystal light and a few Popsicles. Honest to Pete, this is worse than the magnesium citrate I took before the surgery.

I was sleeved on 10/8 and am feeling pretty well. I have found it easy to keep the gas pains away by taking two Prevacids a day -one early in the morning around 5 am and the second in the evening after dinner around 7 pm. I have five incisions on my stomach and still have a drain. I think the drain is coming out today (Thursday), I hope so because it is really inconvenient to have that thing swinging around when I walk or am in bed. I am having no problem drinking. The trick is to take tiny minuscule sips. I drink like my pet cat does -barely wetting my tongue. I made the mistake of taking a regular sip and won't do that again-it felt like I swallowed a golf ball and for about five minutes afterwards I could feel that sip as it worked its way through my narrow sleeve. I can handle drinking Water okay, but seem to do better with flavored waters for some reason. Propel zeros are good but I love the crystal light peach ice tea! I have a 32 bougie, it has a diameter that is roughly the size of a "fine point sharpie marker." I haven't eaten anything other than chicken broth and can only handle about 5Tbs of broth every five minutes or so. I feel zero hunger. None. It's kind of strange especially since I did magnesium citrate last Saturday, which completely cleaned me out. I fasted last Sunday in preparation for my surgery this past Monday and have been only taking in fluids and broth since surgery. I am taking in less than 300 calories per day and really feel none the less for wear. My Doctor wants me on clears for a full week before I get to start in on my full fluids. At that time I'll introduce some Protein shakes into my diet. I look like I was the loser in a boxing match - my stomach is bruised and the incision scabs are black... But everything is healing up nicely. I stopped taking all pain medication on Tuesday, the day after my surgery, and don't need them at all. My recommendations are to sip, sip, sip and walk, walk, walk.... And definitely get on top of and stay on top of the stomach acid. The pressure and gurgling that some people are attributing to gas pains could really be the result of your stomach being full of acid.

I feel spectacular! It is 7:30am the first morning after my surgery and all is good. I woke yesterday evening after my around 7:00 pm and was a little groggy, I kept drifting in and out of sleeping last night. I would wake up, go for a walk, pee, then get back into bed sip some water and fall asleep again. It took me the better part of 12 hours to sip 16.9 oz. of water. The nurse just brought me a cup of decaf tea and it tastes so good. The warm tea feels very nice going down. I am so impressed with the quality of care and the attention I am receiving here at OCC! This is such a classy operation they run here. I highly recommend Dr. Ortiz and his staff at Obesity Control Center to anyone who has not yet chosen a surgeon. Dr. Miranda is a great nutritionist and was comfortable and easy to discuss post surgical diets...she didn't come across as preachy but is genuinely concerned that we have all the information necessary to be successful. Nurse Josephina is so kind and gentle, she knows what she is doing and that, combined with a nurturing attitude, made all of the pre surgical admittance a smooth experience. And Dr. Ortiz is fantastic. He clearly explained the whole process to me prior to surgery and thoroughly answered all of my questions. I am happy to be sitting here on the flip side of sleeve surgery. What a wonderful investment I have made in myself, absolutely no regrets! I hope the rest of my October brothers and sisters are well!

My surgery is tomorrow. I leave for the hospital at 6:30am. I have all kinds of different thoughts and emotions swirling through my head right now. Mostly I am excited and looking forward to change... Even if it means losing 75-80% of my stomach in order to make it happen. I am really fighting the urge to have one last food funeral before my 8 hour pre surgical fast begins. I am not going to give in because it just wouldn't be pretty...I know I have an emotional connection to food. Food is where I go when I am sad, bored, or feel I deserve a reward. Anyways, I am really ready for this and am actually looking forward to the hard work that will follow my surgery tomorrow. I am going to have to find some sort of healthy habit, a positive addiction, to replace food. Good luck to the other Monday sleevers out there...I'll make sure to check in on the flip side!

Thanks to everyone for posting their surgery experiences. I am scheduled to have mine on 10/8 and it helps me deal with my jitters by reading all of the posts. Congratulations to those of you who are now sleeved and good luck to those of us who are waiting in the wings.

Drink lots of water... If you can, try blending your protein shakes with ice....it worked wonders for me. They were thicker and seemed to fill me up, and I couldn't drink them too fast because they were so cold.

It's all good Zenoosh! I can't wait to start reading the "post surgery" posts. We are on the brink of a life changing event... Safe travels to Mexico and back and good luck to all!

Good luck Ladies...and me, the only guy, I guess. I am having my surgery done on 10/8 by Dr. Ortiz will be staying at the Marriott from 10/9-10/13 (barring any complications)... Maybe some of us will run into each other. I'll keep my eye open for anyone sipping broth in the restaraunt! Good luck to all!!

Oh, believe me, that lemon flavored magnesium is yucky stuff. I found that if you chase it with a swig of citrus juice that it is much more tolerable. Get a book and get ready to camp out in your bathroom because that stuff is going to leave you squeaky clean. Drink a lot of water during the process so that it doesn't dehydrate you. Good luck on your surgery... And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

My surgery is on October 8 with D. Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. I'll be at the Marriott from 10/9-10/13. Good luck to everyone!

I am just curious... How many of us October sleevers are guys? Not that I have anything against the ladies here -love you all, but there seems to be an overwhelming number of girl posts... Even in "the men's room" forum. Me -I am a male, 45, live in the PNW... and I don't personally know anyone who has had a gastric sleeve. Thank goodness for VST!!

The liquid diet before hand isn't all that bad. I am into my second week (of three) and have found that my hunger pangs have really zero'd out. One good thing about the liquid pre diet is that I have been able to experiment with a variety of different types and flavors of Protein shakes. We are all going to have to do a liquid diet post sleeve and I don't want to wait until after my surgery to try and find supplements that I like. To all the pre op dieters out there- be strong! Let's consider it a head start on our new path!