Miss Mac

What she said.

I do not like tracking either, but as for me, if I don't track, I lose track.

My biggest incision (out of four) was tender for a couple of weeks. The smaller ones did not bother me at all.

I see here that you do not have a response yet. Just prior to my surgery, I was in the hospital for eight days with left side pain under the ribs, but my was an issue with ischemic colitis. When I had gallbladder trouble, the pain was on my right side under the ribs and under my shoulder blade in the back. Since the CT did not show anything at the moment, I would just stay in tune and keep a notebook about symptoms and timing. I am glad you had the CT scan. Sometimes it is comforting to know what something is not. I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. Sometimes I don't know where that stuff comes from.

I had forgotten about the Haribo sugar free Gummy Bears. When I first head about it, I bought some on purpose, and they will clean you out in about four hours. The rest of the family will have to go to the restroom at the gas station down the street. Do not eat these on the way to work! If you have coworkers you do not like, put a big jar of them on your desk around Halloween. Amazon.com has some reviews, and it is the most hilarious material I have ever read. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-SUGAR-Classic-Gummi-Bears/product-reviews/B006J1FBLM/ref=dpx_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1

There are those folks in this forum who can expess the need for counselling with your doctors and nutritionist much more eloquenty and clinically than I can, so I will move on to what my original thought was when I first read your post. Perhaps you need to think of the next phases not as a pre-op liquid diet and a high Protein diet bereft of your former culinary favorites, but as war! You are literally in a fight for your life (and your quality of life) until you reach your expiration date. Those of us who are in our sixties can attest to the fact that excess weight which is inconvenient and embarrassing in our thirties turns into arthritis, joint replacements, high blood pressure, strokes, immobility, heart attack, etc etc and the list goes on. You are at a point where you can make so much more of difference now, and have a much longer, healthier, happier life. You will be more able to travel, enjoy family and social activities and become more present and involved in the world around you. At some point, the excess weight that is inconvenient can turn you into a shut-in as I am now, due to a stroke brought on by high blood pressure brought on by excess weight brought on by lack of control over my stomach's desire to hijack my brain. If I can encourage you to do anything, it would be to find a private moment alone with your thoughts and without distraction. You are grown and no doubt smart and capable in many ways. Take on the devil on your shoulder and you be the one in control of your health and your future by being in control of you dietary choices, against all odds. How would you encourage someone else who is two weeks behind you in this journey? This is one time in your life where you MUST NOT get tired of being strong. You deserve to be healthy and happy and active, but good health will not come knocking on your door. You are going to have to chase it down and put your name on it. Please don't think of the pre-op liquid phase as a burden to bear. It is a right of passage and will be over in a few days. After you have your surgery, you will learn by doing and become quite adept at making smart choices and weighing and measuring and tracking. You can look forward to becoming a champion at this, well able to encourage others with confidence. I cannot believe that come Christmas, I will pass my first year since my sleeve surgery. There were rough spots to be sure, and times when I thought I am not losing fast enough, but the scale keeps going downward, and I will take that as a good thing. Keep your chin up and trust in yourself to do a great job at this. You can always come here for encouragement when you are having a dark day.

Hugs.....welcome aboard.

Some people are off their BP meds before they leave the hospital, but not me. I am 8 1/2 months out and still on my full dose of a three-med combination. I think my pcp wants me to be far enough below the weight I was when I had a stroke on 9/9/2010. I am only 13 pounds below that mark right now. That's OK. I was off of Metformin right away, and am at 1/2 dose of Lipitor. All in due time, I guess.

I had my sleeve on 12/23/2013 and was a size 22 /2XL at the time. During the holiday season, so many stores were having deep discounts up to 75% off, so I started buying up 8/10/12/14's so that I would have a few pieces in each size as I go down in weight. I am into my 12/14's now at 172 pounds. I really hesitate to buy anything smaller than an 8 until I see what size and shape I am as I get closer to goal. I have not weighed 135 since 1986, so I think at that point I will need to quit buying online and actually go out and try something on. My other biggest problem right now is that none of my wide shoes fit, and I do not want to buy shoes online.

Me too.....63 iis around the corner, so unless it gets to where I scare little children and it's not Halloween, I am not planning on spending my retirement money on plastics. I am hoping to get well enough to travel to Scotland, the homeland of my ancient ones. (Scotland is on my bucket list) If I were younger, I would be saving up for plastics. Other than that, I agree with hydration to being the key to mitigating damage.

You would think that all of this rediculous extra chewing would have made a difference. As for myself, I have developed jowls.

By the end of the first week I was puttering around the house a bit, out of boredom, but it was a month before I felt like officially exercising . Also at one month I got the OK to start strength training with body weight exercises and light hand weights.

Came home third day on full liquids. At week 11/2 I started purees. At 2 1/2 went to soft foods, and at four weeks started cautiously on well-chewed regular foods. My first normal food was Wendy's Chili on the way home from the doctor's office for my one-month visit. There have been no problems.

One product that has not been mentioned here for a while is Smooth Move Herbal Teas, which have a senna laxitive property to them. I just bought some again from Traditional Medicinals at Worldpantry.com. My favorite is the chocolate, although they have three other flavors. Usually at bedtime I have a cup of sugar-free instant hot chocolate with a little sugar-free Herhey's Syrup and sugar-free whip cream. (chemicals, I know, but it's a trade-off) If things have been moving slowly, I just add a Smooth Move chocolate tea bag and leave it there the whole time I am sipping my way cup. In the morning, all is right with the world again.

My gallbladder ruptured when I was 21 (back in 1973 when they still cut you half in two). I am 62 now and have done fine without it for 41 years. If you can get it out with your bariatric surgery, go for it.

Since I have several long-term medical conditions, my insurance company assigns a case manager for me. That way, when something flares up or I need surgery (like with my knee replacements), the case manager gets involved. Since it is in their best interest, too, for things to proceed smoothly and quickly, I get support from their end when my medical providers cause a glitch. She makes calls for me to get providers off their a** and informs me of what I need to do to meet their requirements. She has called me to find out if my physical therapist is doing their job and how thay are treating me and do they keep their appointments with me, etc. etc. Does your insurance provide anybody like that who can help you? The medically supervised diet is not so bad. You will learn how to have a more heathy relationship with food and gain new skills for successful maintenance for the rest of your life. I am so sorry that you have had so many struggles with this process. Just remember that delay is not denial. Hang in there and don't take NO for an answer. I wish you good luck and good health. (I just typed "good lick and good health!") LOL

One of the more remarkable aspects of bariatric surgery is that it not only makes us more of aware of our eating habits, it also exposes areas of our relationships that we have long ignored. My guess is that this is not the first time in seven years that your partner has refused to validate your feelings or opinions. You need to ask yourself two questions: Instead of thinking that you love this person, so why are you treated that way?, you need to think, Why would I love someone who treats me that way? The other question you need to reflect on is Why are you still there? It's rough, I know, but weight loss surgery involves a mental and emotional element as well as how the body relates to the changes surgery brings. You will need all of the support you can get. This is going to be one of those situations where you will have to be selfish. This is about your own health and you need to be in control of it. My mean ol' rotten ex-husband deliberately denied me access to healthcare and caused a severe decline with some issues that could have been resolved with timely attention. You need to stand your ground even if it requires an ultimatum. Your quality of life is at stake. I agree with the others that a good conversation is needed, but beyond that you are in charge of your health whether your partner likes it on not.

It is never too late to do those things you regret not doing. I left a mean ol' rotten abuser in the Spring of 2005, and left that state. By the Fall, I had enrolled in college and went back to school to finish the business degree I left behind in 1972! In January 2009, I graduated with a 3.75 GPA and Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. I was age 57 when I finished. If there is something you would like to do if you were happier and healthier, then you have taken the next right step by scheduling your surgry (I mean your new birthday). You have a cheering section here on the forum, so go for it!!!!!!!

I agree with the others. I am 62 and got my sleeve 8 1/2 months ago, with a textbook recovery. I did not even get the residual "shoulder gas" that you willeventually read about here. The surgeon inflates your abdominal cavity with CO2, to make it easier to see and to manipulate his instruments. Sometimes some of that gas will rise up into the shoulder area with some hang time for a few days. Walking about seems to be the most effective relief. One of the questions I asked my surgeon pre-op was how he manages post-op pain. He said that he extracts as much of the CO2 as possible, and for other pain I had a morphine pump the first day, then hydrocodone for a couple of days, and then I have not needed anything else after that. The overall experience of pain was minimal compared to other surgeries I have had - probably the easiest surgery I have had. One of the things that helped was that I have a lift recliner because of some spine surgeries, and was able to sleep in that for a coupe of nights after I got home. If you do not have one of those, you may want to sleep reclined with extra pillows for a couple of nights, just to keep from pulling up with a tender abdomen. You have certainly come to the right place to hear about other people's experiences with bariatric surgery. Opinions and tact will vary, so just take away what speaks to you. Don't ever be bashful about asking questions. We toss around way too much personal information with complete strangers all the time! Welcome, and I hope to see more posts from you as you progress through the weight loss surgery experience. I wish you good luck and good health.

I had to laugh about the Protein shakes - that thing which I hate!

Well said!

Hopefully your bariatric team is one of those that assured you that you could call if you had any concerns. Other than that, fluids first, then Proteins, then all the other stuff.

It is no big thing that someone can get anxious waiting on this surgery. Shoot, I had to have my axiety med doubled beause all that waiting and going through hoops was such a crazy maker!

One thing else you will find is that you may have to ditch the negative Nancy"s for a while so that you can keep focused on following through with your surgery. This is about YOU, not them.