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Everything posted by aliekat55
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I have the fitbit one and i love it. i wanted the flex so that i would not worry about forgetting it but they were on back order and i wanted it before surgery. it has focused me on activity and is a great motivator. nearly 3 weeks and i have not lost or forgotten it. the website is quite easy to use.
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I am still calm but as the time approaches it will change. I am dreading this, even though i want it out yesterday. It doesnt hurt, the tape itches a bit but mostly it is simply in the way and my family freaks if they see any of it, so i have to keep it covered all the time. this will be the last vestige of the surgery. sure the large incision in my left side pinches when i do things like rotate tires( yesterday--not the smartest thing i have ever done) but for some reason i dont mind that type of pain. please lie to me and tell me that the drain removal wont hurt.
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six months sounds about what it would take me to change a half century of scarfing everything in sight like a vacuum.
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getting my drain removed!
aliekat55 replied to aliekat55's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Had it done! the pain was nothing but the queasiness, whoa! that took a few minutes to deal with. but now i am whole without this fluid filled ball hanging on my side. still not hungry though. That has gotten worse the last few days, where i dont think about food and dont care about it, rather great, but disturbing at the same time. an enigma or paradox is what it is. -
i just heard that a friend of mine is really into hot yoga. to me this is beyond bizarre. i would consider yoga or a 105 degree room the entrance into hell, combine them? Certainly if you heart is working harder there is some energy expenditure but nothing compare to when you use the major hip, back and leg muscles, so the caloric benefit has to be rather tiny for the effort wasted ( sorry I put a judgement in there, i mean well spent)
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getting my drain removed!
aliekat55 replied to aliekat55's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My surgeon does not routinely do drains either. In my particular case I had a medical condition that made healing a little slower ( not diabetes) and he put it in an excess of caution, because if a leak occurred it would show quickly and perhaps since i was self pay and out of town. thanks for the support -
Day 1 optifast started today
aliekat55 replied to lubelu's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I found it gets better. Not quite in the program but a suggestion from a fellow soul was to have a small salad in the evening-- but only lettuce/chopped tomatoes and salt nothing else- the calories are esentially zero but it gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day, something to chew my frustration out on, and roughage which i always need. I exceeded the weight loss suggestion too, so no harm no foul. Not recomending you do that, just sharing what a couple of us did. -
What's the best way to detox from Caffeine?
aliekat55 replied to AmyInOrlando's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
conventional wisdom is that if you are over 30oz to drop by half for a week then go cold turkey. you should have enough time for this. but you can also do a bufflehead suggests and get it over with. what i cannot understand is how different NUTs are. my first one did not want me to drink even decaf coffee my current one (different surgeon) not only says that coffee is fine but that regular full test coffee is fine--say what? but she wrote it down for me, said the data was just not there to justify limiting the caffeine--go figure. I still went to decaf before surgery and will wait another week before resuming caf. -
Restless legs after surgery?
aliekat55 replied to julia7665's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Wow! i cant believe that my restless legs are all better. I have struggled with them for decades and since the surgery six days ago not a problem! i had not even thought about it until i saw this post. WTF? this is not supposed to happen but my feet feel great. I guess this counts as an NSV I hope that yours is temporary thing, there are medicines that work well, i have been on both Mirapex and Requip, they do cause intense dreams though. the best help i received was from an acupuncturist who showed me two spots that i could needle myself and relieve it when it got bad. i hope mine werent transfered to you. -
kind of embarrased to mention my goals which are in stark contrast to those above but with my damaged knee and advanced age there are many limitations. i have always loved being active and would love to get back to fitness. 1. be able to use my concept 2 erg and enter into competition again 2. be able to ride my road bike and be able to ride an hour at good speed without struggle 3. back to my energetic hiking in the Rockies 4. the biggest, absolute biggest goal is to be able to go up a rock wall. i have always been heavy and have had great lower body strength and endurance but never the upper body strength to allow for this. It looks like fun!
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Surgery gone wrong...lost 7 units/pints of blood.
aliekat55 replied to need2bthin!'s topic in Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story
so a lawyers opinion would be less biased? really? i have seen people waste years of their lives on a case that everyone knew would lose or get settled for a piddly amount ( of which the lawyer would get the biggest cut). -
Surgery gone wrong...lost 7 units/pints of blood.
aliekat55 replied to need2bthin!'s topic in Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story
actually, not necessarily, just having a bad outcome doesnt mean it was someone's fault. there are risks, even if they are rare they happen to someone. what was clearly wrong was the lack of a system to catch the one in a 1000 that does have a problem. I was woken up nearly every 2 hours to get bp, pulse ox, etc and any one of those things should have given them a heads up. also IMHO the advice to talk to a lawyer should not be taken lightly, a bad lawyer will be worse than doing nothing, for they wont be out for your interests but theirs and they are not the same. also in many states you are limited to actual loses and the fact they fixed it ( eventually!) mitigates that. I know that as a doctor i view malpractice with a jaundiced eye, but i have recommended that patients seek councel when appropriate and have been deposed for them. Of course i dont know where the blood went and the other posts are correct, it had to come from somewhere and go somewhere and that is important to understand. -
have you calculated the calories and protein in the recipe? if not i will work it out it in MFP
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I was a new man. sure there was pain, but the usual muscle pain, stiffness and pinching from the surgery sites. nothing major. and i had a totaly clear head and lots of energy. i was ready to go! My doctor's appointment was at 9 then my flight left at 6.20. Lots of waiting, logged lots of laps, discovered many part of the hospital. i went anywhere i wanted and no one said anything. I was glad for the late flight so I did not have to worry about being late. I arrived at the airport three hours early and breezed through security, then the delays: one hour, two hours, another half hour. i left at 9. very tired. but surprisingly my mood was elevated, it seemed nothing could bring me down. alternated walking , sitting, texting, etc. an amazing thing was the smells. i had not noticed them before, just part of the background at an airport terminal.now i could almost taste the cinabuns, the wendy burgers and fries, etc. i did not have the urge to go get any and had way too much fear of even trying a lowly pea much less anything bigger, but it was like my nose had suddenly come alive. after a while it became irritating for i would forget about food and then the smells would remind me and who needs that? BTW-- this has continued, i can smell things so much more intensely, at home at the office. When i finaly arrived home it was midnight and I went to a quick sleep. i usually have a hard time getting to sleep, not this day.
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cauliflower instead of potatoes? just because it is white? not a substitute at all, i would rather go hungry, or bang my head against a brick wall.
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yeah, i was surprised. but he said i would have no trouble and although i never had to drive it would not have been all that difficult, the navigating would have been more challenging. I made it to work on day 4 post op and had no problems.
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I finally woke for the final time around 6 in the morning, i was still tired but after being woken up every few hours and the sun streaming in, it was hopeless. the pain still dominated my thinking but only for the 10-15 minutes it took them to get it when i requested it. I found it amazingly easy to remember the time it was due. I learned the hard way that if i told them my pain was better they backed off the medicine--not good procedure. my worry now was being discharged. i felt in no way ready to go and was really worried. then i receive a call from my hotel that one of their watermains broke and they had no room for me! I had no transportation either. by mid afternoon i realized that although i would survive the night by myself i was in no position to find a hotel and transport myself back and forth. but the doctor was great, he had no issues with one more night at the hospital. He reasured me that i was doing about average, nomatter that the lady next door had felt marvelous immediately after the surgery.( young people!) He stated that about 48 hours it all turns around. And he was right, about 40 hours into this adventure the intensity of pain eased considerably. and if not for the interuptions of sleep would have had a great night. all throughout this i forced myself to walk, and walk, to the point the nurses were constantly surprised. i logged far more laps than anyone else there at the time. but I think that this association of walking easing the pain is wrong, totally wrong. I noticed no improvement at all except the walking made me more tired. The doc himself said that the pain is probably a mix of gas, streched abdominal fibers and all the damage they do inside. afterall they do cut and burn things. this gas thing is interesting and I cannot see why walking would help. the gas that they put in is not in the bowel but trapped in the belly. certainly blowing off carbon dioxide should help remove it, but that is much better accomplished with breathing exercises. Duh!! Why did i not think of this last week? But the biggest thing was the remorse of putting myself though all this. how could i have been so short sighted? nevertheless as soon as the pain eased up and i did not need the narcotics then my head cleared and i was back on track. of course i needed this done! i had done my homework and it all made sense.
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I arrived full of energy and anticipation. the people were delightful and the prep-op went well. I dont remember them giving me anything to go to sleep, all of the sudden i was in my room and lots of questions: are you in pain, are you nauseated? over and over. I had pain but little nausea. I did not want to open my eyes for a long time, not sure why. when the anesthesia wore off more, the pain increased significantly and they gave me morphine which did not help all that much but muddled my already aging brain. I found it impossible to send a short text message to my wife. Finally they changed the medicine to dilaudid and wow; i was alive again. still in pain, a bit muddled but i could focus on my situation. I did have a drain in, which did not hurt but the ball creating suction kept gettting in my way. No matter how i asked for them to pin it in front so i would not lay on it they would pin it at my side. I guess they did not realize that the sight of blood, mine or others does not affect me anymore. that night was the worst. Sleep was not hard to come by but staying asleep is nearly impossible with all the demands the hospital has to check vitals, sugars, pain management. it seemed that I was beign woken up every few minutes. I held on thinking that i just had to get to the second day and all would be well...
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if the hijacking is refering to my post; most sorry. i am old and simply participating in these settings is a tour de force for me. i had not even known a thread could be highjacked or why it would matter since these things are so ephemeral anyway, in a week they are outdated.
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best advice i received was to ignore the feelings the first two days afterwards, particularly if like me you have the gas pain for a while. Dont get into the buyers remorse thing. the surgery is a big deal, bigger than i anticipated, but it turns around quickly and now I am getting on with life much happier for having gone through it, even if i am at the very begining of the journey.
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I went alone and had trouble. i lost the keys to the rental car! and no they do not have duplicates. on the sunday before monday morning surgery. so i had to make the calls and arrangements to be towed to the airport when discharged, lug my luggage, wait for hours as the plane was delayed, etc.. Nevertheless I had support from my team and family and found reserves inside myself that I thought long gone with my youth. I am a different better person for the experience. Having to rely on my self on the day after the surgery when I was still in pain, no matter how much walking i did, was a true learning episode. i dont think there is a right answer, just a different path.
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need to loose 20lbs before surgery
aliekat55 replied to mel959's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I find that increasing my activity helps tremendously with both the weight but the hunger. I am limited in what my joints can do but i find things I can do and get my body working for me rather than against me. -
Failed 1st attempt @ bypass surgery, is the sleeve for me?
aliekat55 replied to LBD's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
the question i would have is how familiar was the surgeon with doing WLS surgery. the skill set is particular to the surgery. the second surgeon would have the added advantage of knowing what happened, so if there is some anatomical issue that is the problem he would be better prepared. Do you know if anyone will even entertain doingthe surgery? -
I went alone and i ran into non-surgical trouble that would have been easier with someone there, but I would have been a beast. it was better for me to reach deep inside and make it through. Now my wife and family will get the better me to start this journey.
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1week po cant get in protein.
aliekat55 replied to kaseyTN's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
sip on a variety--IMHO