FibroDiva

Thanks Chelenka, Yesterday afternoon took a turn for the worse. I spent the afternoon and evening either sleeping or crawling to the bathroom.

My center required that I see a pcp and cardiologist from their group even though I had my own. My insurance BCBS PPO through the city of chicago only required that I had 6 months of visits with a pcp, and, 1 visit with a cardiologist, a psychaitrisit, a pulminologist, and a personal trainer, all of the above for the express purpose of discussing weight loss. So even if I had all these doctors and my center accepted them, I still had to have the required visits and couldn't discuss other health concerns.

Ok so someting finally hit me worse than my normal Fibro and IBS. Darn it had to happen on a day that I am home by myself. I've been crawling back and forth to the bathroom all afternoon. ARGGGH.

Just remember you are doing this for your health, not for what anyone else may think

today has turned into a bad day. I'm having a tuff time gettin fluids down.

I'm 1 week and 2 days post-op. Feeling pretty good. The surgery increased my Fibromyalgia, I gained 15 pounds of IV fluid weight , and my feet and legs are swollen. As a person with Fibro, the swollen feet and legs though are not that bad.

Well it's been 1 week and 2 days. Follow Aug 01'ers, how's everyone doing?

Take care of yourself. That egg drop soup sounds like a good idea. My mom was from New Orleans and cooked with sachets. She would fill little squares of cheesecloth with the seasonings of her choice and toss them in whatever she was cooking. This way she got the flavor she wanted without having to worry about fishing out or straining seasoning flakes out of food items she didn't want people to see this flakes.

So sorry for your lost, you will have an angel over your surgeon's shoulder.

Thank you TV-Duhhh!!!, now I have to fight the urger to baby sit. I miss hugging my grandchildren but they are all so young and will not understand why YiaYIa cannot pick them up.

Thanks Cocopuff88. When you mentioned csection you jogged my memory. I did go through this 30 years ago with the birth of my son. So far I've lost 10 of the 15 pounds.

Hi Tanyac, Have you looked at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park? I don't know what the cost difference would be as compared to NorthWestern but, it is also a Bariatric Center of Excellence and since it is a Catholic Hospital it might be more willing to provide patient assistance. I had my surgery at LCMH on August 01 and everyone was wonderful. Good luck

Welcome maggie914, I have had Fibro since 1992. I was a police officer and sustained a series of injuries on the job over a very short period of time. I'm on hydrocodone, cymbalta, and gabapentin. Since surgery I have not taken the cymbalta because it is a capsule. I see my Fibro doc next week to determine if there are dissolveable or liquid versions of gabapentin and cymbalta or lyrica. Check out www.needymeds.com to see if cymbalta is on their assistance lists, or, the manufacturer of cymbalta to see if they have a patient assistant program. Just remember cymbalta is not in a form you can take after surgery. Talk to your Fibro doc. OH, make sure you get you post-op scripts filled prior to surgery so you don't have to worry about it afterwards.

My surgery was Thursday August 01, 2013. I have Fibromyalgia and high blood pressure. Two of my meds are crushable; two are in capsule form and cannot be opened so I have to work with my doctors to find a liquid or crushable version. I was in the hospital for 4 days. While there, I worked with my post-op nurse on this issue. We discovered that the two medications that are crushable will go down better and stay down if I sprinkle the powder over a teaspoon of warm chicken broth, or, plain tea or coffee and sip the mixture down and then quickly sip a second teaspoon of warm liquid. CAUTION: make sure you work with your personal health care professional. Some medication is not intended to be crushed, even if it is a tablet and you can physically crush it.

Ok, don't think I'm silly but I'm ready to share my s urgery experience. Let me preface by saying I have a twin brother named Bev. Bev is 3 minutes older. Wonder Twin Powers . . . So the only thing I remember about surgery is “Ninja woo ha”. I thought I kept seeing a puff of black smoke and hearing a faint whispered “ninja woo ha”. I would then see my twin brother Bev appear out of nowhere intently looking over the surgeon’s shoulder. At one point I thought I was standing next to my twin looking at the operation and taking to him . . . Me: “look you can’t keep Ninjaing in and out of the OR.” Bev: “I’m just making sure the doctor doesn’t make any mistakes”. Me: “ahhh, you really do love me better than Greg and Bea”. Bev: looking all pouty faced, “Na uh” Me: “so how are you able to “ninja” in and out if we don’t do the Wonder Twins Power Activate” thingy? Bev: “I’m the oldest, smartest, and I am a 7th degree black belt in taekwondo! Duh.” Me: “well you know this is awwwkward, I am naked down there.” Then I hear, “Ninja woo ha”, see a puff of black smoke, and with that my twin is gone and I’m waking up in recovery with my twin brother Bev and son, Phil staring at me like I’m some kind of alien survivor of a crashed UFO.

Welcome MzO, I agree about giving up that love affair with food. My mother was born and raised in New Orleans and my father was one of the original crew of the US Enterprise CVN 65. Thus my siblings and I were raised in a housedhold of wonderful, exotic, fattening food good for a grew of over 1,000 : ) I was in the hospital post-op for for days. 2 days after returning home, my family was posting pictures of familial delicacies on facebook and tagging me, go figure.

I saw my PA on Thursday and she said the same thing you pointed out rickyc, I'm dehydrated. HMM, cause the RN coordinatored said it's from all the fluids given via IVs. mokee, don't be discouraged. Since August 5 I have lost 10 pounds. I'm still 5 pounds over preop weight

PlantFusion is another GF protein powder. I picked some up at the GF expo in Chicago earlier this year.

I've been home for a little over 24 hours now. I freaked out when I realized I gained 15 pounds in the hospital on the clear post op diet my feel and ankles look like those of an elephant. Then I remembered what Tony said, "As long as you sip and pee all day long, you're doing fine". Ok really, my son remembered. I called Tony at LCMH and he said this is normal because I was being pumped full of fluids and will eventually urinate out all the excess fluids and swelling.

Welcome to new and returning visitors, thanks for stopping by and showing interest in my Fibromyalgia and Bariatric surgery blog. Feel Free to like and follow my blog. Feel Free to invite your friends, family members, and support group members to stop by and like and follow my blog. Most importantly feel free to join a conversation or start one. Fibro Diva's Bariatric Blog is a gathering of those thoughts that escape the Fibro Fog, both those concerning bariatric surgery and Fibromyalgia and those on Fibro only. Fibro Diva's Bariatric Blog is a place to discuss the unique concerns of people with Fibromyalgia who are considering and/or who have undergone surgery to help control their weight, [and possibly take charge of their FM].

I'm back home from the hospital and learned a few things about surgical floor staff and Fibro. [1] Just like any other area of health care that does not see a lot of people with Fibromyalgia, there are surgical staff members whose eyes glaze over when you say "I have Fibromyalgia", and there are those whose eyes light up with recognition and respond, "don't feel shy about speaking up for yourself when your pain level increases. [2] Don’t be afraid to ask for extra blankets. I needed a total of 3 to keep warm. [3] Don’t be afraid to ask to have the air conditioning in your room turned down, or the heat turned up – depending on the time of year. Remember cold aggravates Fibromyalgia and increases your pain and stiffness. You might not be able to turn the air conditioning off if you have a roommate. I had a private room so there was no problem. If you can’t get the air conditioning turned off, or the heat turned up, get as many blankets as you can stand to lay under. The weight of 3 blankets was my threshold. [4] Remind everyone from the pre-op registration desk, to the OR personnel, to the recovery floor staff, “I have Fibromyalgia and it may affect my recovery, the actual physical surgery may exacerbate my Fibromyalgia symptoms. Fibro and physical injury seem to form a vicious pain cycle so I will be requesting my post op pain meds.” My doctor informed me that due to recent change in legislation, a post op patient has to request certain pain meds when their pain level increases, even if it is prescribed by the surgeon to be administered at certain intervals. If you have break through pain in-between the scheduled dispensing times, YOU must say something. You are your best advocate. If you think you will be unable to speak up for yourself, hav a family member or friend do so.

Thanks mojaleski.

Just a few hours to go. My surgery's today.

I'm finally home. Got out yesterday, August 05. I had problems swallowing and my creatin levels went waaaay down. I've been home for 24 hours and my legs are swelling. So now I'm calling the doctor. Gotta say, once a couple of issues were addressed: removing the drain tube turning the air conditioner off and piling on 3 blankets [da Fibro] Figuring out how to take my crushable meds despite the taste. The pain is bearable. I have severe Fibromyalgia so I live with excruciating pain every day. When Dr. Cahill's assistant, Tony, came into my room I told him "if you don't discharge me today, my 18 month old granddaughter is going to break me outta dis joint see."