mustlovepoodles

I stayed 4 days, due to some complications. Nothing I couldn't overcome, but I definitely couldn't go home. Pain was the least of my problems and I never had any vomiting, but I had some breathing problems and an allergic reaction to a pain med.

Good for you! I hope you don't pay for it tomorrow, though. I'm 6 days post op and I spent 1hr walking around costco AND managed to drive home, where I tried on all my clothes and ended up putting almost half of them in the Goodwill box. Yes, I've lost 10-lbs since surgery and 20-lbs before that. I'm just shocked, to tell you the truth. I haven't had the energy to start working yet, but I think next week I can start working from home some.

I'm drinking about 70ml/day at 6 days out and I'm having no trouble at all. I wish I could get the protein in, but I'm getting about 30gms/day, which I think is probably okay for my stage.

Me too! I keep water near me all the time and I wash down my other liquids with a swig of water.

I was sleeved 12/31/13, just under the wire. My insurance drops bariatric coverage 1/1/14, so at least the most expensive part (actual surgery) was covered 100%. Dr. Dennis Smith in Marietta was my surgeon. I had it done at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. My surgery went fine, but the recovery was bumpy. I was supposed to be a 23-hr stay, but I spent 12 hours in the recovery room due to no available beds. Yeah, that was fun. I went to my room at 8pm. I don't remember much about that night, except that they were worried because my oxygen level kept dropping, even on oxygen and CPAP. The next day, I continued to have trouble keeping the oxygen up and they did a chest xray--small collapse in both lower lungs. I was short of breath just walking to the bathroom. Needless to say, I was NOT going home that night. Or the next day. They stopped my PCA pump and decided to put me on an oral pain med. There was much discussion about that because I'm allergic to codeine--had an anaphylactic reaction to it once--but I can take Percocet, a synthetic codeine derivative. Frankly, they didn't believe I was really allergic to codeine at all. So the doctor decided to try Lortab, also a synthetic codeine derivative, but slightly different chemically. Okay. So I took a small amount of Lortab--success! I proved them right! I did lie about being allergic to codeine! But alas...they increased the dose and I had a whopping allergic reaction--turned red all over within 3 minutes, hives everywhere, itching like 1000 bee stings. Oops! I guess I'm allergic to Lortab, too. They switched me to Dilaudid, a very strong morphine-type drug. I took a very small dose and it did the trick. I took my psych meds at 9pm and promptly went south. I was extremely sedated and incoherent. Sometime in the early hours I woke up and thought I was in a morgue. I somehow know it wasn't a morgue, but I didn't know where I was or how to get help. So I just had to suffer through it until someone made rounds. Day 3 was better. The itching was finally under control, the oxygen levels were better and I could finally walk the halls without passing out. Yay! But around 1pm I started running a high fever. Phoooo! One more night in the hospital! We got my psych meds straightened out and I slept decently. Day 4(yesterday) they finally let me go. I was elated. Stayed up all day just so I could get my fluids in. Took my pain meds at 9pm and went to sleep. I slept until about 4am. I woke up in moderate pain, but decided I could go back to sleep and try to sleep it off. Bad idea. I should have woken my husband and got him to get me something. I woke up at 9am in a lot of pain. Moved to the couch, started the fluids. I took a 1/2 of a dilaudid. 90 minutes later, I'm still in pain so I took the other half. I should have gone to bed, but I stayed up. Really bad idea. Suddenly I had bad vertigo. Then a monstrous migraine, so bad that I couldn't move to even turn off the TV or the lights. I immediately lay down on the couch and tried my best not to throw up. My DH had run out to costco and I was too sick to even dial my phone. Thankfully, he called me about 20 min later and I was able to tell him to come home right away. Needless to say, I couldn't drink anything, not even to take some nausea medicine. I was utterly miserable. After about 2 hours I was able to tolerate a few ice chips. I sat up and made a nominal run for the bedroom, jumped in bed and turned off the lights. I lay real still and the nausea settled down. I fell asleep for another 2 hours, blessedly, and that broke the migraine. Since then I have been "hungover" and nauseous, but at least now I can sip some fluids. I am hopelessly behind but doing my best. Who knows what tonight will bring? I have no Tylenol in the house and I'm sure as shootin' not taking any more Dilaudid. I haven't been able to walk much the last 4 days, but hopefully, if I do okay tonight I can get out and maybe walk a little at the local Publix. The food won't bother me--I'm not the least bit hungry--and it will be flat & climate-controlled. It's just too cold for me to walk in the neighborhood. Would I do this again? Absolutely. I think that by next week I'm going to be in a whole better place. I'll see the surgeon on Tuesday. Hopefully I can increase my Protein and fluids over the weekend, and get my walking in.

Y'all have given me a lot to consider. I have been on the fence about telling vs not telling. The fact is, as much as my mother and my sibs love me, they will not be positive about this. They are an opinionated bunch. My mom is an RN, as am I, so she won't be easily fooled with vague explanations. She's a pretty smart cookie. I know they'll say I'm not fat enough. Hmmmm, my BMI-38 would say otherwise. Two of my sisters weigh a lot more than me--both are in the 300-lb range and have serious comorbidities. They are both vehemently opposed to WLS. My other sister and my brother are in the normal to underweight range. They definitely don't get it. My DH already spilled the Beans to his 110-lb sister, who reactly strongly against the idea. Seriously, DH? You thought she would be supportive? Every time we get together she turns the subject to how disgusting fat people are! Frankly, I don't need their oversight. I plan to keep it to myself until such time as I am ready to reveal it. I live far away from our families, but eventually they will realize I lost a lot of weight. I may choose to share then.

*waves* me too! I just dropped off my nearly 30 pages of documentation on Wed, got a call back less than 24hrs later-- Approved!! Now I'm just waiting for them to set up the initial visit.

I'm am old nurse, 37yrs an RN. I write health protocols and train staff. As I was writing a protocol about obesity in children and adults I was embarrassed at my own hypocrisy. It got my attention in a big way. Time to start walking the walk.

My epiphany came as a result of several incidents. I was on a physician supervised weight loss program and lost 55-lbs. I never did break the 170 barrier; my BMI was STILL above 30. Slowly I began gaining. I developed type 2 diabetes & my cholesterol and triglycerides started going up. I have severe sleep apnea which did not get any better even with the substantial weight loss. And THEN I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. Ugh. First it was in my hands and feet--I have ruined feet due to life-long flat foot, plus post-tibial tendinitis. And in the middle of it all, my youngest child who is severely mentally handicapped, moved into a group home. Eat eat eat... The arthritis got much worse--suddenly my knees were giving out and the pain with walking was excruciating. Cortisone shots failed, Supartz injections failed. Suddenly, my legs started swelling and I needed BP medicine. In the midst of it all, my 79yo mother had 2 TIAs! And THAT'S when it got my attention. I decided that I could not go on this way. I recognized that at my age (56) , with my comorbities, the chances of me losing 80-lbs and keeping it off was about zero. I decided that WLS was my only hope. I turned in my paperwork yesterday and the office called me today. I was approved in less than 24 hours! Cigna didn't even bat an eye. I can't wait to get this show on the road!

I turned in my application for WLS yesterday and just got a call from the office. I'm 100% approved!

I'm a lightweight, too, with BMI of 38. I just turned in my application yesterday and got The Call a few minutes ago--100% approved. Cigna didn't even bat an eye.