Christina.v

July 15th 2014 ,surgery date weight: 208 current weight 135 here are some pictures I took on Valentine's day. Im so excited about my new body and all the cute cloth I can wear now!

One thing that I must admit, you get used to eating cold food. Lol!

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I too am doing this eating from toddler dishes. It has helped me slow my eating down.

That's a good idea! I use a lil saucer...

I'm going to have too try smaller utensils, this sounds more feasible

Learning to re-feed myself all over again is one of the most challenging things that comes along with this surgery.

Smaller bites, chewing more, how fast I eat are all things that I struggle with.

What's your challenge?

How about the incredible shrinking women that made me smile

I was sleeved on Friday with lap band removal at same time. I went back to work Tuesday with no problems' date=' Just a little sore and tired.[/quote']

Wow!Good for you back and at it...

I def. Needed time to recuperate, everyone is different

Here's mine

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I'm about to enter my 4th week post op and have not had any issues so far. I took 2 weeks off (3 days 2 nights were spent in the hospital) for the sleeve. I'm back at work with no issues. Plus walk 5 days a week with no issues. Everyone sleeve journey is differnt though.

That's good news! I had my sleeve on July 15, then went back into the hospital for some complications and returned back to work 9 Weeks from my original date. I missed today because i had problems wee hours this morning and my stomach is hurting really bad. I just hope they dont fire me!

Hi all I was wondering if any of you that have had compilations had any problems with going back to work or missing work after?

Today i sat in my car' date=' outside the gym in the parking lot, gripping the stiring wheel until my knuckles went white. I am embarrassed about the way I look, and how I think my body will look whilst exercising. I can just feel people staring at me thinking 'what is she doing here, I wish I didn't have to look at that.' I know that this is exactly where I need to be but I feel like such a novice that I sould be doing the work at home. The truth is I need to be shown what to do, I need help. I know I can't be the only one who feels this way. This is YEARS of social programing by angry teens, coworkers, and strangers, talking and joking about the way I look. How do you get over it? How do you push yourself through the door, in front of that cruelly accurate and huge mirror wall, and do classes? Just need some encouragment please![/quote']

This is what I think... Your going to the gym to be healthier, and stay fit.

Let people think what they want in a year when you are all sexy, either loosing, or maintaining your weight, you can walk in there feeling accomplished.

You go girl! You can do it! Get in that gym and get your sweat on make YOUR life better! Screw everyone else!

Good luck to you I hope this helps a lil

She passed away. If you read the thread you will see her daughter came back to update...

Wow my heart dropped :,( this is very sad! I didn't read that part i only read her story and replied. Your still in my thoughts and prayers jd!

I'm so grateful to have found this site and have read a number of stories that made me feel less alone in my own struggle. Here is my story:

March of 2008 I saw a weight loss surgeon who said all the right things to convince me I was too fat to lose weight on my own and the only way to have lifelong success was to sign up for WLS which required a thousand dollar deposit. I weighed 265 lbs at the time and in my late 30s was far too tired to try another diet and exercise program that would inevitably result in another 10lb weight gain. January of 2008 my employer switched to a new insurance carrier' date=' I submitted paperwork in March for coverage for WLS and eventually got the definitive "no" in November 2008. Fast forward to October 2009, same doctor, same spiel, weight now 295lbs and co-morbidities presented to insurance carrier requesting coverage- denied. Februaury 2011, made a "lets just see" call to insurance carrier to find out if requirements were met........found out that one more year of a documented weight and BMI over 40 and the coverage would be extended! I put my ducks in a row and within 2 weeks of my initial doctors visit in February 2012 I was able to schedule my surgery for mid March.

I was shocked to find my weight ballooned to 347lbs but thrilled when I lost 16 lbs pre-surgery in a short 12 days. I took 5 days off work, gave away all the food in my pantry and bought the cutest pajamas I could find for my 3 day hospital stay. I packed my bag on Sunday and even though I was nervous and exited I slept until 5am when I took a luxurious bubble bath and set out for the hospital @ 7am. In pre-op my precious daughter sat and prayed with me, my anesthesiologist joked about just turning the big 40 too, my surgeon came in and smiled, answered my questions, quelled my fears and prayed with my daughter and I.

Nothing but blackness.

I barely woke to find myself in PACU alone and asked for my daughter to be allowed in.."sure honey, which one is she?"..."hmm, oh, she's the one with pink hair!". My sweet daughter came in and praised God with me that I was breathing and everything seemed fine. Fade to black again. I'm in a private room now and my daughter is sleeping on the sofa. The nurse comes in, the IV is checked, "here's your button for the morphine pump. Any time you feel pain coming on you press it." I'm not in pain, I feel my stomach and it feels flat already, stupid, it must be the drugs. My surgeon comes in with his PA and he looks flushed, sweaty and triumphant, "eveything went wonderful! no problems, a textbook case if there ever was one." we smile and I joke about calling What Not To Wear to get a new wardrobe.

I get up to the bathjroom as soon as I can. I'm anxious to see how I look and change out of the hospital gown. It's been 3hrs since surgery and i'm in my pajamas, robe and snuggly slippers and my daughter takes my arm and we begin our walk around the unit. I walk and walk, smiling and thinking what a good patient I am, no DVTs for me. My stay is uneventful, day 3 my surgeon smiles and says "time to go home!" I fill my prescriptions but I haven't touched the pain medicine and feel so powerful that I drive myself home.

Then the horror begins. The first noght i'm home I wind up in the bathroom with forceful diarhea that comes in waves of gut wrenching spasms. Over and over again, just foul smelling liquid, I sit there too long and now i'm sick, I pull the trash can over and vomit clear liquid until I think i'm going to pass out. My daughter gets me to bed, time to take the meds and not try to do it on my own, I slump back and its daytime now. My head is spinning and the spasms come again, diarhea, vomit.... I step on the scale, smile in a drug haze and think wow i've lost 2 more lbs! Nothing is clear anymore, what day is it? what time is it? did I take my pills? was it a dream or did I really eat a piece of chicken from the refrigerator? why won't the nausea stop? why do the Protein shakes suddenly taste like dog butt? I can't get anything in, i'm trying to force 2oz popsicles down but when I finish one its back to the bathroom with waves of diarhea and vomiting. Day 6 post-op, I manage to take a shower with my daughter holding me up, pack 2 Protein Shakes and my giant Water bottle and trot off to work. I make it 2hrs into a ten hour shift and spend most of it in the bathroom vomiting blood...time to call the doctor.

I talk to the nurse who tellls me to drink as much Water as I can. I can't. I call and talk to another nurse who says to try a different Protein shake. I'm weak and sick and starting to lose it...I scream at my daughter "why won't you help me?". I call the nurse again, the PA calls me back "have you been able to take your meds and get some water in?" no, NO! It's been 11 days since surgery and now we're worried for some reason and my daughter has my bag packed and we're back at the hospital where they have my room ready and they put me back in a hospital gown. I don't see my doctor until Monday but Fri, Sat and Sun a variety of PAs mand other surgeons from the office come in and tell me things and they'll support me and some people have a harder time and just give it time, time time.

Monday the first of many PICC lines come and the tests start. In 3 days I blew 11 IV lines. The PICC line sounds wonderful but they hit my ulnar nerve and the vein occluded and I went back to my room with an open hole in my arm, a second PICC and a gown covered in blood..how did that happen with a sterile drape? So I can't eat but they think I won't and they tell me all the reasons I need to and they threaten if I don't its time for TPN. I try, I puke. I try everything, Unjury- ick, water-gross, eggs-vomit, pudding, ice cream, sherbet, yogurt, Jello... the nausea wells up from my toes and never ends. The TPN starts on Tuesday, I leave the hospital 13 days later, Maundy Thursday, I beg because tomorrow its Good Friday and I can't bear to be away from daughter on Easter.

Monday after Easter I have lost 8 lbs in the 4 days i've been home, somethings wrong. The doctor says to get a liter of Fluid and some Vitamins, it'll be ok, it's not. Friday the nurses come and set up the home TPN and show me how to do IV push meds, the saline, phenergen, saline, heparin, again, the zofran, again, 8 times a day. My house becomes and infirmary, boxes and boxes of supplies, dressings, medicine, saline, alcohol swabs, heparin. The dog can't be out when the dressing is changed, the TPN bag is changed once a day, add the Vitamins, push the medicine.

It takes a few weeks and the meds are doubled, the nausea just won't fricking stop. The TPN is my savior. another month, double the meds again, brief periods of relief, my weight stabilizes @ 317....I had WLS for this? I can't work, i'm constantly sick and besides I have a doctors appointment every week and another test, EGD, swallowing, emptying studies, another EGD, but nothing is wrong "everything is fine, it may just take time for you. You might be on liquids for 6 months" my doctor says... liquids? it's been 3 months and I can drink about 12 oz a day... liquids? i'm still on TPN?!

It's been 4 months, I can't stand the TPN, we decrease the time and I try to eat what I can when I can. My weight is 318, d?@ WLS! We double the meds, the phenergen is 4 times the dose it was when I had surgery, does anyone know this causes heart problems? We decrease the TPN, I can only eat right after I push the meds and I do it again right afterwards, then I pass out... weight loss is tough work, I manage to get down to 314.

Somethings wrong, I feel sick, sicker than usual haha...my daughter is talking to the nurse at the ER, "no she feels really sick, her heart is skipping beats maybe? her blood pressure is up. look at her arm, do you think it's swollen? what's that black mark?" They tell me I have a UTI and send me home, its Monday. I can't breathe, i'm having a heart attack, I know it, its Wednesday and we're back at the ER, the doctor smiles and says its anxiety, take some Ativan and keep taking your antibiotic...are you kidding? I throw up the antibiotic, it stinks, I crush the Ativan and sleep for days. Its Friday and the nurse calls, "how are you" my arm hurts and its swollen, "GO BACK TO THE ER" I can't, I fall back asleep. Its Saturday and I can't find my wrist, my arm is a thick puffy balloon like they use to make balloon animals. My fingers won't bend, doesn't matter cause I can't feel them anyway, i'm sick, I vomit and try to push my meds, I get in 2ccs of saline and it feels like my arm is a water balloon...I push a cc and I think I see it literally filling up, theres a black gnarled line around my upper arm, looks like a barbed wire tattoo, thank God for WLS.

I'm at the ER again, its Saturday night and i'm sure they'll admit me, they HAVE to pull the PICC and give me a new one, surely they'll see that, I can't breathe, please give me some Ativan and phenergan, i'm gonna puke again. A nurse comes in and says he's from Interventional radiology, doesn't even touch my arm but smiles and leaves, we hear him outside the door "you've gotta pull that PICC, it's really bad!" a tech comes in with an ultrasound machine and pushes on the outer part of my arm, over and over, slimy gel, pushing harder, my arm isn't quite so numb now, its killing me on the underside, my armpit aches and the inner portion of my upper arm feels like someone is firing a gun into it every time they touch me. "Good news!" the ER doc smiles and tells me its just a little superficlal blood clot...yay! all we need to do is apply warm compresses and it will go away, have some noroc for the pain...great, more crap I can't swallow. "What should I do if it gets worse? what if it swells up more?" don't worry "It's fine, no need to come back even if it gets bigger, warm compresses and you'll feel alot better"

It's Monday and the weekend went by in a drug induced haze. I can't use my PICC, I crush the norco and ativan and try to stay asleep, no not asleep, blacked out, like anesthesia until the doctors office opens Monday. I tell the nurse, she sets up an appointment at Interventional Radiology for them to pull and replace the PICC on Tuesday, good, hopefully i'll die by then. Its 6pm Monday and I can't take it, I might be hallucinating, I know i'm dying, I moan and rock, i'm in the car, off to the ER again. I wait for hours while people scream and cry, everybody is taken before me, I pull my sweatshirt and cover my head, I moan and lick the blood from cracked lips, I can't even stand up to go to the bathroom and vomit, 4 hours later and they wheel me back. Nurse after nurse comes in to try to start an IV, "she's dehydrated and a tough poke" "I KNOW! she's so ill tho, what are we supposed to do???" check her feet, no veins, we're gonna have to go in thru the femoral.....God no, I can't remember if I have underwear on and they're gonna cut into my groan to find a vein.

"Great news!" we found a cluster of blood clots under your arm, no not one, there are several vericose veins bulging out of your arm, the PICC went bad and they strangulated and now they have clots in them. You're gonna die if you throw one to your heart or lungs, we're starting the lovanox, you're gonna be fine. 3 days of terror, I'm admitted to the hospital and the doc upstairs decides she knows what I need, they pull the PICC from my grossly swollen arm and I beg for some dilauded "this isn't a painful procedure, you don't need anything for pain." and she teaches the student nurse how to yak=nk 4 feet of tubing and wire from my arm while I sob, my daughter cries and starts to yell. The doctor leaves, she won't come back or write orders, i'm sick, no pain meds or nausea meds, try some tylenol, f**** you. I cry and demand to see another doctor, I call my doctor and the oncall doctor screams at the charge nurse...they give me ativan and phenergan, my daughter yells and threatens, the nurses hate to come in my room.

Wednesday morning is the first and last time I see my surgeon, he pops his head in and smiles "so your PICC is gone now, thats what happens" when you screw up and get a blood clot is what he doesn't say. I'll see you in my office next week and we'll talk about a feeding tube. What? I had WLS 4 and a half months ago... I cry and turn and face the window, I keep the shades down.

I'm sick of this, I finally get to leave @ noon on Wednesday. I have a script for Warfarin and an order to have my blood drawn every day, I have no PICC line, no IV push meds, no TPN and my arm looks like I was going for a Popeye look. I sob on the ride home. When I go to the lab the next morning they stick me 6 times and still don't get enough to run the PT/INR to check my clotting times. I fall out of the car as I try to go inside, I just sit on the grass and contemplate throwing up on the lawn, I see the neighbor and when she waves I think I should strip off my clothes and just run shrieking down the street... I need a laugh, otherwise I just cry. I'm so depressed, I see my primary doc, he orders me oral nausea meds, a compression sleeve for my arm and listens to me cry. I tell him my heart is skipping a beat, he says "phenergan can cause permanent heart damage" f*** phenergan.

It's 12 days since I left the hospital without a PICC. The last thing my surgeon said was that they couldn't find a reason for my symptoms, he even asked the doctors at a seminar in California and they were all puzzled, oh well, too bad for me. My weight is down to 300 lbs now, it was 312 when I left the hospital. I made the mistake of going back to the ER last week Tuesday because my chest hurt and I was coughing and that same shortness of breath and heart thing came back. they said I was fine and were sending me home when I looked the ER doc right in the eye and said "with all due respect, the last time you said I was fine I had a blood clot that almosgt killed me, please, can you just check everything to make sure i'm ok?" tears in my eyes, he smiles, lets run another test. Theres a shadow in my lung, likely pneumonia but we can't be sure the clots haven't moved. We'll keep you for observation but we won't admit you, you're probably fine buit we'll do some IV fluids and antibiotics to be sure. They take me upstairs, I know whats coming next, nurse after nurse tries to start the IV, IM pain meds, I ask for nausea meds at 6:30 am and by 2pm I still haven't gotten any. I can't stand it so I leave, they chase me and try to make me sign something saying if I die its my own fault. I get home and chew a phenergan, drink some lortab and pass out.

My primary doc said he would figure out how to get me seen by a specialist, I won't return the calls from my surgeons office, if I could put a stop payment on his check I would but insurance has already paid his fee. Maybe he's right, there's nothing to explain my symptoms, I doubt that, my skin is grey and I look like a chemo patient because my long thick brown hair has fallen out in Patches and I have a kind of crazy eyed look to me. I'm hungry and thirsty, I think I look like I could be a victim of starvation but then I laugh because i'm still so fat.

I knew the risks of the surgery, pulmonary embolism, DVT, sleeve leak, infection. I was a nurse for 10 years and took care of hospice patients who looked better than me. I signed on for a magic pill, a fantastic surgery that would finally help me get to a healthy weight so I could see my daughter graduate from medical school, get married and hold my grandchildren. I wanted to avoid diabetes and stop heart disease, funny how it all worked out.

If you have experienced any of the pain, nausea, depression, sadness, fear, frustration, anger or disgust like I have, tell me your story and let me know i'm not alone, i'm not crazy and it does get better. :-)[/quote']

Your not alone i was 3 Weeks out of surgery and had to go back into another one my stomach had flipped/twisted and second time around was sooooo much worse taking time to recover! I was just like you i spent over three and a half Weeks second time around couldn't eat could drink picc line with tpn "thank God" nothing went wrong with that. But i was so nauseous i couldn't do anything but be miserable and cry myself to sleep. I couldn't help but to feel like of rather die then to feel the way that i did, but what's done is done now time to live with my decision and move forward. Needless to say I'm better now I'm 5 Weeks out of the second surgery and on the soft food stage. I've lost over 35 lbs. I'm at a stall right which is fine with me cause i can't exercise (don't want the extra skin to hang too low) I'm still struggling but its not near as bad. I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers I sure hope you start to feel better soon!

My doc said that it was pure dumb luck and that it happens to 1 outta ecru 100 patients

And he also said out was nothing that i did wrong... I told him that i tried to skip the puree stage, and he said that it had nothing to do with that

That's scary! I was just curious because I am also a revision patient!

My doc said that it was pure dumb luck and that it happens to 1 outta ecru 100 patients

How does a sleeve twist if its part of your connected stomache?

That's something that i must ask my Dr, because i don't have the answer for you...

That's what i was told in the hospital, and with you not being here to show you its hard to understand.

I'm sorry but why did you have two surgeries? Did you go from band to sleeve?

I've actually have have 4 surgeries. One to install the band one to fix it cause it prolapsed one to take out the band and replace it with the sleeve and one to fix the sleeve because it flipped/twisted.

I was sleeved on 8/20/13 and had a pretty drama free surgery and first couple of weeks. Thursday' date=' I was constipated all day, so took a laxative at bedtime. All day yesterday and all day today, I've had the worse stomach pain. I called the doctor this morning and he said to go back on nothing but liquids and allow my stomach more time to heal. I am at my wits end with this pain. I had taken one of the pain pills left over from surgery before calling him this morning. I told him I took it and he basically said not to take a narcotic for a stomach ache. Well, the pain I've been having is worse than anything I had after surgery, so I believe my decision had merit. Now, after suffering all day, I've taken another one so that I may hopefully be able to sleep. I'm terrified. Truly terrified. I can stop projecting and worrying about being in pain the rest of my life. I've lost almost 33 lbs since the pre-op diet, but if this pain doesn't go away, it's not worth it. I'd love to know if anyone else went through anything like this, what was determined to be wrong, and if it was resolved. I know there are those that have had trouble, even to the point of not being able to keep any solids down, but I started off so strong. I can't believe I'm going through this now. It's killing my attitude. I'm trying not to cry, but it's really hard.[/quote']

Wow i'm surprised it was a blood clot... Yesterday morning i started to have just a sore stomach not just on my left side but my whole abdomen. I took leftover pain pills that i never took from my trip home and out worked but it's only a temporary fix. If i'm still in pain which i do fill at the moment I'll call the doctors tomorrow and see what they say.

P.s. I sure hope everything works out for you

My boss said, oh you left work big and came back skinny... Lol!

Thank you both how was surgery for you?

I had one surgery on July 15th all was well then my stomach flopped over, this rarely happens its nothing i did wrong nothing the docs did wrong just pure dumb luck, go figure.

So the repaired it with another surgery on Aug 15th one month later and i'm telling you that i feel like I've been through hell and back... BUT i will tell you one thing although regretting it for a long time i've been slowly coming around to being GRATEFUL for this experience. It was a hard fight but chalk worth it in the end. I'm feeling hot and sexy in my new clothes went from 18 to a 13 even twelve depending on the brand its still hard to balance my new lifestyle with the eating and drinking enough to not starve or be dehydrated but each day its getting better and better

it's very common. more common than people think. I haven't had surgery yet' date=' but I have a history of addiction with over 3 years clean and in recovery. no reason to be ashamed, and it's awesome that you're recognizing that you might be having an issue. flush the pain meds and no drinking. talk to someone you trust. attend some 12 step meetings (narcotics anonymous, alcoholics anonymous, overeaters anonymous etc) and find some support. you are welcome to message me anytime. there are quite a few ppl on this site that have had issues with addiction/ coping. I wish you luck.[/quote']

Thank you for your support... I've just had some complications with the first surgery and now with this second one i had a horrible time trying to recover :/ i just want to prevent anything because I've become depressed with this new life style at times, and know that i may turn to something else to help me cope.

I don't know which one counts the first or second surgery? So I'll just go with the initial one which was July 15th i'm down 31 lbs and counting maybe 32 tomorrow of i'm lucky

Hopefully this website/fourm will help... It has been helping me through some tough time recently...

Good luck on your surgery and if this is what YOU want then do it! Do not be disgorged just think of how happy and healthier you feel...

And one of the best things is shopping for smaller clothes!

DONT GIVE UP! Keep your head up and firm feet on the ground...

Good luck to you

I'm not having any issues with it i'm only 4 Weeks out of my second surgery just think that i might have problems with alcohol, or even pain meds, however right now i'm waiting for a call back from a psych. And hopefully well bee seeing me within the next week

I need help!

I can't post in the veterans forum so I'll ask here...

I know its tough too admit but please answer honestly...

Has anyone that has had there surgery for more then a year become dependent on some kind of outlet (other then food of course)?

Maybe drugs, alcohol, any kind of pills, anything?

A little better. Got out of the house and about a mile of walking in. Tired me out but feeling better. The mental side of this is something I completely underestimated.

I'm so glad you said this! It is very dificult and mentally challenging, this sleeve. I've had some complications with this surgery and have had to have my sleeve repaired. Ever since the second surgery i'm having trouble getting my fluids in and making sure i'm eating enough. I'm do good but i'm sure its just enough to get by. I feel like mentally with how much food too eat and how much Water to drink its a Challenge to balance it all out, especially with all the heart burn and gas and the pain from the gas trying to find food that sit well with your new little tummy. Its hard! I've been mentally drained with trying to find a happy balance between all of this.

PER CHRISTIANA V "my initial surgery was on July 15th and my stomach did a flip and i had to have it fixed and that was exactly one month away Aug. 15th i had a very different recovery the second time around..."

Can you please explain to me what this complication was and how it was identified? I have not heard of this and would like to learn more. How are you now feeling ? I hope better

The Complication was that my stomach flipped/twisted over the doctor did the tube down the throat procedure and found out that way, they then took me into another surgery and sewed my new sleeve to my muscles in my abdominal walls... My doctor says that one in. 100 patience has this happen to them... Btw he also says it was nothing at all that i did wrong just pure dumb luck :/ which i don't know why he would lie? The first time around with the recovery was great until three Weeks out i started to have sharp unbearable pain on the right side of my abdomen, so i went to the hospital where i would stay for two Weeks then come back two days after released due to wretching and not being able to eat or drink. I was finally outta there one week later feeling a bit better. I'm now feeling better able to get my fluids and Protein just enough to not be dehydrated and to keep my body from going into starvation mode. To be honest with you i hated that i did this to myself and woulda taken it all back plus 15 lbs just to have my old life back, but day by day besides the timing of my meals and drinking fluids, heart burn and acid reflex its getting better and better and i feel a change in my body and heart on my decision, down 31 lbs. And three pants sizes im finallyable to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel