NMJG

They've got Thai Ginger, too. Haven't tried it yet but sounds good.

It will get better, hang in there.

Hi Cee, Yeah, I stopped the pain meds after Tuesday and used Tylenol for a couple of days. No pain meds now. My nausea is much better, too.

I hate back fat! Ick! Can't wait for it to be gone. Goes along with underarm fat and buffalo humps.

How amazing you look! Awesome job

This is such a great post, thanks Laura-ven...

Angela, pre-op is hard, but you've got to be strong. You can do it. Concentrate on other things....clothes, pets, gardening, whatever. Get out of your house and go somewhere different that has no food memories. This is just mho but I guess I'm one of the folks that thinks if you can't do the pre-op, then your chances of success with wls are maybe less than someone who does struggle through. The thing is, it's harder after surgery. You feel bad, you hurt, you have stalls, you might be nauseous, constipated or have diarrhea. There are lots of great things to look forward to, but it's rough starting out. As many others have said, wls is just a tool and you can gain the weight back. Good luck to you. Stick with it and do something wonderful for YOU.

Ms. K, careful with the sonic slushees. I love them but found out the calories range up to 600 calories for a Rt 44! The slush mix has sugar, even if you cut your strawberries in half. http://m.sonicdrivein.com/Content/downloads/SonicNutritionGuide.xls

I have headaches too, sleeved on Monday. Had to take migraine pills twice. Seems to be getting better

Me too. Day 5, gas, diarrhea, burping. It has gotten a little better each day, but ick, you know? Try GasX strips and Depends

I had the choking feeling, too. It might be related to the anesthesia. I have laryngitis too (day5). I found warm drinks easier than cold, and zero calorie Vitamin water or G2 mixed half and half with water to work best. Every day gets better.

I don't know if this would taste anything like Alfredo, but it sounds delish. Could even thin it with chicken broth or veg stock and make it a soup.

I'm on full liquids, too, sleeved on Monday . Hard to get the water in, but keep plugging . You don't want to be readmitted to the hospital because of dehydration. The first couple of days I couldn't get it all in, but today I think I will make 64 oz of liquid. I'm finding that 0 calorie powerade, G2, etc. work well mixed half and half with water. The drinks alone I found too much at this stage. Hot peppermint tea is ok. I bought some sugar free ginger ale to let go flat, see if that works. Ginger usually settles my tummy. Sipping a few ounces of Campbell's cream off chicken soup right now. Heavenly! Lol.

I only have a week off, not by choice. I teach at a university and school started Aug 19. If I didn't have surgery Aug 12, I would have had to wait until December break and resubmit all my insurance stuff and redo all the preop tests. Day 4 I'm feeling better, but so tired.

Just did sleeve with Dr. Jorge Acosta at Del Sol hospital in El Paso. Great doc and great hospital staff. I was very well taken care of. I highly recommend.

Try a heating pad. It helped me a lot.

Addicted!

I know how you feel. I've told no one except my husband and sons. I just don't want to deal with all the questions, advice, and other baggage. I don't owe anyone an explanation. When your weightloss becomes apparent and people notice, just say "thank you," smile and leave it at that. It's nobody's business but your own. You know how hard you've worked to get to this point and that's all that matters. Good luck to you on this journey. You'll do fine.

Forgot to mention, I brought a heating pad for my back and it has been great, as the pain ran through my torso front to back. I highly recommend you bring one. This one is the cheapest Walgreens pad, $19. I also brought a pillow from home. I use it to hold over my tummy when I cough from the anesthesia. The coughing lasted about 8 hours.

Ok, so this is how it went.... 8am went to the Bariatric Center and did pre-op, went over procedures and post op diet with nurses, got weighed, etc. Then walked next door to the hospital to Admitting, paid copayment, etc. them was escorted to Surgery, where I waited about 5 minutes before moving to my surgery room. At that point I changed into my gown, and put a pair of funky support hose. Lots of people came by to go over the identical info with me, including my doc, the anesthesiologist, surgery nurse, etc. they took some blood, put in my IV, gave me Emend for nausea and sleepy stuff, and next thing I'm waking in the recovery room. A bit later I was moved to my regular room. Bariatric patients here get private rooms. I have an automatic inflator thing on my legs over the support hose to prevent clots, and an automatic blood pressure sleeve.i have mouth swabs for dryness, but the also let me swish with hot tea as long as I don't swallow. I was trying to go no morphine, but found it was too much, so I broke down and took the morphine and I'm much better. I was given a Lovanox shot in the tummy to prevent clotting. Have been walking around the floor twice, peed twice (not much), and have been doing my blower device to exercise my lungs. Overall, I'm doing OK. I'm in Del Sol Medical center in East El Paso with Dr. Acosta and United Healthcare. My care has been excellent.

Cee, what did they give you?

I'm at the hotel with DH, too excited to sleep. Tomorrow 8am! Good luck, Aug 12 sleevers. Let's do this!

I have UHC Choice Plus. The coverage varies from employer to employer, though. I was not required to do any diets pre-op. My employer required 40 BMI with no comorbities or greater than 35 with at least one comorbidity. Once I got through all the doctor's stuff, psych eval, etc., it took 3 weeks for approval from UHC.

Well, the day is finally here. I'm rereading posts and faqs. I'll post later this week how things went. I'm going with no narcotic painkillers (morphine, etc.) because I just can't deal with the constipation pain (been down that road before after a car accident). Taking a pillow and heating pad, kindle, and loose dresses. I can't get my wedding ring off, but the hospital said they would tape it down so it wouldn't cause a problem. Excited, nervous, so many emotions.