Beckyyb93

Alright guys, I haven't forgotten about you. Here's my update: It is now over two months post op for me, I was sleeved on December 19th. After 3 endoscopy dilations, 4 hospital stays, and two different medications I'm just now starting to eat soft food. These last few months have honestly been hell. I've been on the Lortab since the day I left the hospital the first time and I went through about 360 milliliters a week which is a LOT! It was the only way I could get down enough food and Water to stay out of the hospital. About once every two weeks I'd get frustrated with all the pain and my surgeon would admit me back to the hospital to try to figure out what was causing the pain. We figured out that I was having spasms of the cardia which is basically right where your esophagus meets your stomach. They did that nasty swallow test a dozen times which basically showed the liquid going down, my cardia spasming, and then the liquid shooting back up my throat which as I'm sure you can imagine is extremely uncomfortable. It feels like your having a small heart attack when it spasms, and then it feels like you have something stuck in your throat that may or may not come back up. My surgeon couldn't figure out why this was happening, it's just some kind of freak accident. It's extremely rare to have these spasms at all much less have them start right after this type of surgery. My doctor was puzzled and was in way over his head because no one he talked to seemed to have any experience with this or know what to do about them. Most people have heard of esophageal spasms but what I have is different, it's lower and therefore is treated differently. We tried dilating through an endoscopy a few times, but that didn't seem to help much. We tried a medication called Amitriptiline which is an anti depressant and a STRONG sleep aid, but that didn't seem to help either. All the while I'm trying to make it through my semester at school with no energy, doped up on painkillers which if you guys remember I'm a nursing student and that was extraordinarily difficult. To put it into perspective, I could manage to get down about 20 oz of water a day and 1-2 pudding cups. That was it, everything else I tried was unbearable even on the painkillers. I missed classes, missed quizzes, had trouble focusing on studying, etc. It was terrible. My grades were starting to suffer and I was completely miserable. I wasn't losing any weight because my body was sure that I was starving it so it held onto everything I put in my mouth. I was starting to regret doing the surgery towards the beginning of February but there was nothing we could do about it. We tried one drug as a last ditch effort before doing something surgical like putting a stint in which may or may not have helped. We tried Diltziem which is a calcium channel blocker and is supposed to help with smooth muscle contraction. We started that on the 18th of February, within a week the spasms got about 10 times better. I was so excited, I started getting more water down and more pudding, it's still not better to the point of eating normally but i can get down almost all soft things I try which is amazing! I'm starting to have more energy, I'm catching up in school, I'm starting to hang out with my friends again, my life is getting back to normal after two months of crazy stress. I'm still having trouble with the painkillers because after two months of constant use I have a little dependency issue. I'm getting off of them slowly and am starting to try new foods. Right now, I'm eating a lot of carbs because not only are they soft and go down easily, they give me energy which I need badly. We are slowly upping the dose on the medication and I start getting a little better every day. Eventually I'm going to stop the carbs so I can lose more weight but for now the energy is more important than the weight loss. Luckily, I didn't blow this semester so badly that it's not fixable so I'm slowly fixing it and bringing my grades back up. My teachers were awesome about the missed classes and are helping me a lot. My surgeon is extremely happy, my boyfriend and mom are extremely relieved and happy and of course so am I. I've lost a total of 24 pounds in the last two months but I know I'll start losing more once I can eat more healthy and start exercising. It's been a really rocky journey, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll probably be around a little more now that I'm feeling better. I'll keep you guys updated on my progress. Thanks for checking in on me

www.celebratevitamins.com After a while I got tired of the calcium, I like chewy ones better than I liked the ones I got there. Good luck!

I ordered Lean Desserts Chocolate Coconut and WOW...it's amazing! Not only does it taste like a milkshake, it's thick and creamy like one. I blended it up with milk and ice in my blender and it's literately just like a yummy milkshake. I'm going to try it again after surgery and make sure it still works then I may buy more flavors! Yum!!

I ended up going to the ER. They did an X-Ray and gave me pain medicine. I got home at about 4 am and my doctor called me at 9 and asked me to come back in so he could talk to me. He thinks I'm having esophageal spasms when I eat and prescribed me a new medication and gave me more pain medicine. I have an appointment in a week and if it's not better he wants to go back in and check it out. Thanks for all the advice, I didn't know if I was over reacting or if I should actually go to the hospital. I'm really glad I did though, they made the pain go away enough so I could get some sleep.

So, I had surgery on December 19th and have had some complications, I had a stricture and they had to go back in a couple weeks ago to dilate the opening to my stomach. I haven't been able to eat much solid food because there is still too much pain. I just threw up and am now in extreme pain. I'm debating whether or not to call the doctor or to go to the emergency room or to just try to deal with the pain. It hurts so so much, I already took pain medicine and it's not helping at all. What should I do?

I went to see him again. He is confused as to why I'm still in pain. He prescribed a new medication for esophageal spasms which he thinks I'm having when I eat. I haven't noticed much of a difference yet. I have an appointment next week and he says if it's not better he may have to go back in and look around. I'm hoping it gets better!

So, as some of you know I had some trouble post-op with eating and drinking. I had a stricture and was just so swollen that anything I ate or drank was extremely painful. My doctor admitted me to the hospital recently and scoped me to dilate the opening to my stomach so I could eat and drink. I still have some pain with eating and drinking but it's better however now every time I eat or drink anything I feel gross. I don't exactly know how to explain the feeling it's just like I'm way too full and I just ate like ten pounds of fried food. I eat protein shakes and sugar free pudding and then things like scrambled eggs. I eat small portions so I don't understand why I'm feeling this way. Am I doing something wrong? Does it have to do with my most recent procedure? It's so frustrating, I hate eating but if I can't eat and drink I'll end up back in the hospital which I can't afford because nursing school starts back Tuesday. Does anyone have any ideas or advice?

I got a few of them from GNC online and then one from allStarHealth.com I really like allstarhealth.com so I try to buy from them whenever I can. Their customer service is awesome, shipping is fast, and they are cheap!

I was sleeved on the 19th and at first the itchiness of my incisions was just a minor annoyance and not too big of a deal but now it's driving me INSANE. I scratch around them until my skin bleeds, I can't help it they are just SOO itchy. I tried cortizone and it didn't help much so I called my doctor, his nurse told me to rub Vitamin e oil on them so I've been doing that but they still itch. My tummy looks a mess, there are big red rings of irritated skin around each incision. Did anyone else experience this? If so, did you find any tricks to make the itching quit?

The doctor saw the incisions and said I was allergic to the internal stitches healing or something along those lines and told me to take Benedryl. It helped a lot and now my incisions look great! It was miserable though!

Yeah, I guess I'll try a little less and call him tomorrow.

Well at this point, I'm more uncomfortable after I eat than while I eat. I eat like one egg or 4 oz of Protein shake and then afterwards just feel terrible. I can call my doctor again Monday but I'm thinking he is getting tired of hearing from me

Yeah, it does pretty much suck. I still can't eat or drink without taking the Lortab which I can't take starting Tuesday because I have to drive to class. I can try making things more liquidy but even when I drink the Protein shakes I get this feeling which is depressing. I just want to be able to eat without feeling terrible

Be careful with this, your taste buds change a lot and what tastes good pre surgery may not even be tolerable post. Good luck!

I was admitted to the hospital yesterday. I still can't get any food or water down and it seems to have gotten worse. They did an upper gi X-ray and found out that I have a stricture in the opening of my stomach so basically everything is just super swollen so it's painful when anything goes down. My doctor wants to scope me and try to dilate that area to see if that helps so he's figuring out when he can fit me in. In the meantime I'm in the hospital bed. I feel ok except when I eat or drink so at least most of the time I'm not too miserable. I'll keep you guys updated as I figure out what's going on.

I'm looking for Torani syrup for sale, I know I want a few flavors but post what you have and how much you want for it and I'll let you know if I'm interested

Depends on what you define as normal. I'm 3 weeks post op and eat things like tuna and chicken salad, as long as it's mushy it goes down fine. If you define normal as a meal like a chicken breast and a salad, I'd say 4-6 weeks out.

Hmm, is that local? I don't think we have those in STL.

I agree that you don't throw up too often, the closest I've gotten is with potatoes..for some odd reason I can't tolerate them and I found that out the hard way. I don't think you are crazy, I often dream about being skinny and how it will affect my life and happiness. Those are always nice dreams

I'm 19 and have been overweight for most of my life. I tried a lot of things, nothing quite that intensive but lots of crash diets and diet pills. etc. I was sleeved on the 19th of December with no complications at all. I'm down 18 pounds and am NEVER hungry. I actually have to convince myself to eat which is a huge change for me. As I'm sure you already know, this is a tool. If you decide to drink milkshakes post op instead of protein shakes, you still aren't going to lose weight. It's all about what you put in your body, it's just easier to make good decisions because you aren't as hungry and have less cravings. My dad was also very skeptical at first, he would roll his eyes every time I talked about getting surgery and acted like it was taking the easy way out, there were too many risks, etc. Now that I'm done with surgery without any complications and I'm losing weight steadily he's thrilled that I got it done. He said it was a great decision for my health and it's a wonderful life change for me. I'm just as happy, it's a bit of a struggle getting all your fluids and protein in but if you stick with it (which you pretty much have to) then you will get the hang of it eventually. Of course there are risks with surgery and a few after-effects that suck but when I weighed the risks in my mind, surgery was the clear choice. The chance of complications during surgery are extremely low and the things that suck after surgery like hair loss and saggy skin are nothing compared to the state of health your body is currently in and as you get older, it just get's worse. It's GREAT to do it young, we are generally successful and heal easily. Just know that it's a big decision and once you go under, there's no turning back! Good luck, if you have any specific questions be sure to let me know

I agree...that sounds terrible! As for the note, I don't think it's necessary. From what I've experienced and seen Aetna is really easy to deal with and they accept most people quickly.

It doesn't look like I have any glue left but it's possible that I had an allergic reaction to it. I have extremely sensitive skin. I took a Benedryl earlier just to see if it'd help and it helped a LOT.

I also have Aetna and was approved in less than 2 weeks. All of my ducks were in a row and my primary supported me fully which helped a lot. The psych eval for me was super easy. It took all of 15 minutes and he basically asked how long I had been overweight, how it affected my mood, any past mental health information, and other really mundane stuff like that. He wrote a lot down but it was really no biggie. Good luck! I had a wonderful experience with Aetna and I hope you have the same.

Thanks guys! I'm trying as far as the kidney problems, I've had chronic infections since I was born and have had 2 surgeries to correct anatomical problems. I knew going into the sleeve that I'd have trouble with getting enough fluid in but I figured I'd get the hang of it eventually. I'm working super hard to get my fluids in, we shall see!

I went to my doctor today and meant to ask him about this but there was other stuff going on and it slipped my mind. When I drink anything it feels there is a huge amount of air in my tummy and it hurts really bad. I drink out of water bottles without straws so I don't know what's causing all the air. Maybe I'm drinking wrong? I've always drank the same way but now it causes so much air pain, I try to burp and can't and it's just no fun. Is anyone else experiencing this? If so, is there a way to fix it?