stacie9229

I miss rice, especially fried rice. Now it sticks so bad in my sleeve I feel like I'll suffocate.

I love Chinese food! My fiancé is a fisherman and we barter fresh fish for free Chinese from our favorite spot, so yeah we eat a lot of Chinese in this house! I tried it & it was just okay, didn't sit so well 3 or 4 months out. Later, after my gallbladder removal I tried again w/out the rice -just a little. I got sooo sick & felt awful. I still crave it (seeing the remnants from my family ordering it when I work late) but Gollum (my sleeve) still WILL NOT have it. He's the boss, and he runs the show with an iron fist.

Congrats George Im so happy for you. He is right, the anticipation and anxiety is pretty much worse than the surgery. Stacie (welcome to the club, George!)

My awesome bf turned the too-small double wrap belt into a perfectly fitting single wrap, he had to sew down all the detailing and you absolutely cannot tell anything has been done to it. I have a big extra piece that I might sew to make an ornamental thing for my brand new short Dingo cowboy boots. I'm so happy and he is SO sweet.

I just left a job in the bldg next to China Sky in Winchester, actually! You will both do great, Dr Kim and the Mt Auburn program are FIRST CLASS! From 340 to 228 (down 112lbs) in just 6mo and I am the picture of health inside & out. I wish you the best of luck, but you won't need it. You are in excellent hands!

M 6 1/2 months out, down 112lbs from a 3x to a large in most things (I think I have the whole Roaman's/Jessica London catalogs in lg or 18). Ordered a cute studded double-wrap belt from JL. No real "belt sizing" info & all the reviews said how HUGE it was, to order a size down, so I ordered the large. The thing is like 8" too SHORT!!!! Here I was feeling all skinny (funny how "skinny" actually feels after being 340 just a few short months ago). Anyway, the feeling brought me all the way back to the secret shame of never being able to find clothes that fit, and hating shopping. Had to get some more professional. clothes for my new job Monday & actually kinda "needed" that belt for my new outfits. On top of that, the belt was $15 and they want $8 to exchange it! Now so know why I never wore frickin belts. Feeling fat all over again.

I had my gangsta-gallbladder out at 5mo post op (last month). I'd INSIST they remove at the same time. It's showing you what's coming and if it would save you what I went through... The blackout-level pain made me pull over once to try to catch my breath - I pulled over in front of the local PD "just in case", so someone would find me if I died. Not even kidding, It's that bad. I was crushed to have another surgery so soon. I was just getting my energy back & it took the wind right out of my sails & sent me back to square one. I counted on the "being just fine in 2 or 3 days" but I surely was not. I still really am not. Do yourself a favor and insist.):

I'm betting you drop like 8lbs in the next couple days. Maybe you're just a stair-step loser like me. I'm 6mo out (down 111!) but ever since pre-op, my body hangs in til the last second (a cpl wks sometimes!) and then will drop 7 or 8 lbs over a couple of days. Hang in there! You got this!

Sorry Im not trying to monopolize the thread but there are so many things I wish I knew when I was on the homestretch and scared to death. The more you know what to expect, the less nervous youll be. You'll have a little pain button in bed with you can press every 7 (?) mins - USE IT l!! Youll barely remember that first rough 24hrs, sailing through with a smile on your face. There are no extra points for not using your pain meds - that's what they're there for and not suffering in pain helps you recover better and faster. Also Dr Kim sends you home with several scrips of small pills right out of the hospital. I was fine taking them, sit up and don't gulp. You won't have to crush them all as you've heard, only big pills. Even your pain scrips are little percs, not liquid Vicodin like I expected. Neither the surgery nor the last 6mo has been easy in the least, it's HARD but it yes it really works and I'm healthy and Im so happy I did it.

Wait til you see your incisions, Dr Kim is an artist, they are next to nothing!! From the start, each one was perfect, tiny and dry. Lol a cpl wks ago at the mtg there was a lady getting ready to have her surgery and she was asking about the scars. I took her aside afterwards and showed her mine. She had the same reaction everyone has had, she was shocked "you're kidding...THAT'S IT??!!!". And I had to tell her yeah..but what she was looking at was actually TWO sets, 5 for the sleeve (with a hernia repair on top of it) PLUS the 5 from my gallbladder removal last month (they all look the same). The worst one is the topmost one, but you won't have a bra band rubbing on it all the time lol. I can't help but think her perfect, tiny incisions make for an easier recovery. She glues them shut instead of tape ( I hear everyone complain the tape is itchy).

Sheesh the autocorrect really came up with some doozies on my post lol I went to my info seminar on 1/16/12 and I think a wk or 2 later on "immersion day" it was Dr Greenberg who said "it starts today...". So I did. I did Protein shakes & lean cuisines for a month or so, lost 20 quick lbs (which I know was just the lack of soda) and got scheduled for April 17th. What a great program they have. I'd better see you at the meetings! It really helps being around people who have gone through it and it's good to be able to ask questions of Dana and Dr Greenberg between appts. Congrats, you're almost there!

You will be fine, the dilaudid pain meds are great and the leg massagers are heaven (until all at once they become annoying). Here's all my very long advice: They keep you long enough that you will have a chance to really recover. Dr Kim insists on pvt rooms for whisk you can really spread out and relax. Hope you have the stunning view I did. I packed tons of stuff - needed **NONE** of it save for my iPhone cord, SEVERAL lip balms (they roll off the table & you can only ask the nurses to pick them up so many times lol). Without bring able to have liquids, your mouth and lips will be SO dry, the lip balms were the best thing I had. And the small pillow my mom brought. I packed my Kindle, all kinds of cute PJs, robes & slippers but never even opened the bag - their xtra roomy johnnies cover plenty, and you dont want to wear your own clothes w/the drippy Jackson Pratt drain you'll have in you (nasty, leaky but totally painless - removing it is like having a live snake pulled out of your belly, watch!) They even give you those grippy hospital socks to walk the halls. Wear roomy, comfy clothes to the hospital and just wear the same ones home. Walk the halls and sit up in your chair without being forced. Do yourself a favor. I was walking around listing to music on my phone in the middle of the night. The surgical gas pain was the worst of all. Walking and back shoulder rubs is all that helped work it out. They have wifi, just bring an extra long cord if you have one. iPhone is all you'd need, anything else would be bulky and you wont have enough concentration to use it. Plus they wheel you all over for tests, and you don't want to be leaving/dragging around laptops/IPads in the room or bringing them with you. You won't be "with it" enough to safely keep track of much else. The Dilaudid was SO amazing I slept on my side first night. My mom brought me a small, firm pillow I was able to prop under my sore belly. Same pillow helps between you & the seatbelt on the drive home, and at home in bed. I'd never had surgery before and was so terrified I was literally shaking. When you're downstairs waiting to go in, ASK the nurses for the "happy juice" and it will help you keep it together. I don't think I could have dealt with going into the actual ER where they are laying you on the table, etc. Id have LOST it, but instead was giggling. "Bravery is overrated - take the "happy juice". Sorry so long, anything else you're curious about? First few wks are rough and tiring but think of 6mo from now when you're down 100lbs. This is a brave and amazing step - you'll never look back! Stacie

Hi George (and everyone!) I am on the Arlington/Lexington line and had my sleeve with Dr Kim at Mt Auburn on April 17, 2012. It's been 6 1/2 months and I'm down 111lbs. You are in such good hands! Wait til you see what great care they take of you at Mt Auburn - and the gorgeous private rooms with sweeping city views. I started at 340 and am down to 229 and still going. I look and feel unbelievably healthy and my comorbidities have all but resolved. I had my gallbladder out Sept 7th at Tufts. I had pain and Dr Kim was at Tufts and had me meet her there. She wouldn't let anyone else operate and did my gallbladder surgery herself lol. I just love Dr Kim. The Tufts experience was fine but not as 5star like having my sleeve out at Mt Auburn. Anyway, you're almost there. I know all the answers are in these forums but whatever you want to know, I'll be glad to help. You're going to do fine, better than fine. Do you go to the Mt Auburn Wed night groups? I'm usually there (too chatty with platinum and pink pigtails, you can't miss me;) Good luck but you're in the best hands. Stacie