NothingUpMySleeve

I'm not so much bored yet as I am just...annoyed by how consumed I am with thinking about my stomach and my weight, it is the ultimate test of patience! Also, I'm naming my fat brain Ursula in honor of everyone's favorite evil sea witch diva who always felt she was "wasting away to practically nothing." Come to think of it, my new stomach is awfully...musical...so maybe I'll name it Ariel and rock the whole theme.

Thanks for the responses. It's so helpful to see real world examples

I'm an atheist who lives in a very religious area. I was tired of guys who (sweetly) assumed that I just needed to get back in touch with Jesus or something. It ended a few relationships. I finally started dating online and in my profile I said I would date someone of any religion but I was firm in my own atheist beliefs. I met my husband that way.

Hi (I'm Ree too, btw) I had a leak test but initially no drain. I only had a drain later after some complications. Be glad you missed the drain. It's gross and hurts when they pull it out.

I'm ten days post op and it's been so, so hard. I hear so many positive stories and I'm trying to keep a good attitude but yeah, I'm so darn tired. Work all day, take care of kids all evening. My husband is also very helpful and doing the bulk of kid stuff, but still this is so hard. I've lost 3 lb. It's hard to time eating and drinking and Vitamins. I think we'll feel a lot better six months from now when we're picking out skinny little sun dresses.

I had broccoli cheese soup today and felt like I was having a sinful affair.

I run HR function for a large company, so hope I can help here. Short term disability plans vary in their coverage--check with your hr rep. Some will not cover time out due to an elective procedure. File it anyway--worst they can say is no. Regardless, if you are eligible for FMLA, you should complete the paperwork since it will help secure your job. Most companies require that you take existing paid time off concurrently with FMLA (if you have it.) You really don't owe your HR team a huge explanation beyond filling out their paperwork. Don't worry about being embarrassed though--trust me, we hear all kinds of stuff. Good luck!

I'm six days post op and I lost my first pound today. I can take slow as long as it's steady lol!

5 days post op here. I went back to work today and it was dreadful. I feel awful. I can't wait for skinniness to kick in to make this pain worth it.

I just got home today, woo hoo! I was sleeved 12/12/13 by Dr Illan fraijo with Baja Bariatrics in Tijuana. I was really scared to go to Mexico after the news the past few years, but the coordinator Omar made sure I was taken care of the whole time. He arranged for my ride across the border and picked me up at the hotel. After that we headed to the Hospital florence. The hospital is older--my husband is a vet and the Florence reminded me a bit of the local VA, clean but not fancy. Blood work, xray were basically what you'd expect. I met the anesthesiologist and surgeon, headed in to surgery. Woke up in intense pain and the painkillers made me kind of sick. I felt like I was going into shock and then had a very hard time waking up. By the following morning I was in excruciating pain. You know the frowny face charts they use for kids to point out pain? I now know what the frowniest one feels like. It was worse than labor, kidney infections, broken bones, you name it. Omar had the hospital administrator and respiratory dr come meet with me, arranged for my husband to fly in while the surgical team came back. It turns out I had a bleed and clotting on my abdominal wall (the sleeve itself was fine). I had to buy some blood but they covered the cost of the surgery. Afterward they kept a nurse stationed with me to make sure I was ok. Once the bleed was fixed and the clots cleaned out, I got better quickly. Dr illan was very reassuring and Omar made sure everything was to our satisfaction. The level of customer service was excellent. They had to put in a drain and it hurt when they took it out, but the doctor came to check my incisions back at the hotel to make sure all was well. Dr illan is also an ER trauma surgeon, and had a calm, confident manner. My leak test was successful and I spent my final day shopping and seeing a movie. Made it home on schedule. It was strange to go from feeling like I was going to die to walking around tj and catching a movie in less than 48 hours. Omar took us to some amazing foodie places, which was cool. I liked having the dedicated driver/translator/medical liaison. Right now I'm doing fine and can't wait for clear liquid phase to end.

I'm in Tijuana at the florence hospital waiting to go back for surgery. Curious to see if any of you are here, too...

So glad to hear you made it ok sabredy

I'm going to dr illan in Tijuana with baja bariatrics. Their coordinator Omar has been good to work with so far, and there is a great Facebook group for his patients. I get sleeved tomorrow!

I leave for mexico in 7 hours, surgery shortly thereafter. My thoughts are with you! This will be ok!

I am on Thursday too and I can't even sleep or concentrate. I am so worried about my kids being motherless. I really hope this is worth it--I want to be a healthy fun mom.

Nah, your response is completely reasonable. I guess I'm just worried that I will make a permanent change to my anatomy and life and only lose 10 pounds or something. I have researched this quite a bit, but the stats seem to vary a great deal. I can cope with stalls, but not if I'm losing less than a pound a month, you know?

Thank you both for posting. I am getting sleeved Thursday and I'm terrified and the post-op reports seem to help put it in perspective.

The post above about feeling like a non-person just hits so close to home. Sometimes I am startled when I catch my reflection, not just my fatness, but at the fact that oh yeah, I'm still here. I am an actual person and not just the sum of all things I need to get done in a day. Getting sleeved will be my most selfish act in years and I can't wait.

I know there will be stalls, but it is good having at least a rough benchmark of what to expect. It sounds like some of you have had fantastic results.

It's hard to accept compared to people who go from like 280 to 140 in three seconds. But I am trying to embrace the fact that any downward weight trend is good.

I'm hoping for 1.5 at least a week-- but want to be realistic.

I think you are very brave to own up and fix it. Go you!

You look awesome! Way to go

I'm not worried about losing them, it's finding them agAin that worries me.

Another HR professional here...my company uses Cigna and we do cover wls, although my bmi isn't quite there yet so I'm self-paying. Sometimes the barrier is not necessarily that the efficacy of the surgery is in doubt, it is the question of the likelihood of someone staying long enough that the ROI is likely to happen. This is when a tiered benefits structure rewarding longevity is great. Maybe you could propose this sort of approach to HR?