MissCindy

Congratulations Cupcake! Feels good to be on this side of the surgery. I was up walking about 31/2 hours after my surgery. I started burping right away. It took longer to pass gas but I did not experience the dreaded gas pains that everyone else has been talking about. I think I am lucky. Keep up the good work!

I am 5 days post op. Feeling pretty good. I have been getting up and walking since the afternoon of the surgery. Surgery was at 10:20 am on Monday and I was released at 8:00 am on Tuesday. Things at home have been pretty calm. I am not hungry but I am working at getting enough Protein and Water each day. Not quite to the preferred amount of either yet, but getting close on both. BM's started happening yesterday and are happening daily for now. I was taking the milk of magnesia each day but today I switched to benefiber. I think that will work as well and not taste as bad. I know tmi but we all go through it. I have had only been nauseous one time and I woke up that way in the morning. I got really sick to my stomach and threw up a bunch of foam. After that I have been fine. I used my inspirometer religiously for the first three days home and I think that really helped with the breathing and getting over having the breathing tube down my throat during surgery. The one problem I have had is that all of my things I drink, except for water and non-fat milk, are sweet. I have been craving something non-sweet. I tried squash Soup which was ok, but I tried my flavorless Protein Powder in it and it clumped, even after I blended it it was still clumpy, so that was an epic fail. I tried chicken broth, from the store, nasty. I was so disappointed. So this afternoon I sent my husband to the store with a list of ingredients so I could make my own chicken broth......heaven, finally. I put my fiber in it and it was perfect. I hope all the rest of my May buddies are doing well, or feel well soon. It feels good to be on the loser's bench.

Check in is at 8:30am tomorrow. Been trying to keep busy today, doing laundry and cleaning up for my return home on Tuesday. Have to pack by bag still, wash my tummy with the antiseptic cloth and get to bed. Hope I can sleep. I am nervous, anxious, and excited.

I am planning to take 4 weeks. My doctor recommends 4-6 weeks but I am sure I will be fine by 4 or even sooner. My first post-op appointment with my surgeon is almost at the end of my 4th week and she can release me to return to work then. Also, at 4 weeks all of my physical restrictions will be lifted. So, for me, I think it will be wiser to take the full 4 weeks. My employer knows I am having major abdominal surgery but not specifically what surgery I am having. My surgeon's office says they don't need to know the specifics so I haven't told anyone at work what I am doing. Not sure how I will be explaining the dramatic weight loss but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I got my call this morning. I am on day one of my three day liquid diet. I have to check in at the hospital by 8:30 am Monday morning. That puts surgery around 10:30. So far I have not really been hungry yet. My brother is getting his BA tonight and having an open house tomorrow to Celebrate. I know there will be food at both of these functions so they will probably be the most challenging part of my weekend. I am really nervous about the surgery. I hate the waiting period. But I want this!!!!! I am so ready to be able to live my life again without all the pain that comes from carrying around, what amounts to, an extra person 24X7. That is my driving factor. Everything else that comes with it are bonuses. I have been thinking of all of you who have already had surgery this week. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the rest of us. It does help. It amazes me how different all the doctors are when it comes to the recommendations for pre-op dieting. My dr asked me to go on a high protein/low carbohydrate diet a month ago. I have lost close to 15 pounds on that. Now the 3 day liquid diet. I am interested to see how much I lose in three days. The nurse at the hospital recommended wearing the clothes to the hospital that I will be wearing home. To wear something comfortable and easy on/off. I will be doing laundry and packing my bag Sunday. Sounds like I won't need a very big bag. LOL

I was warned about the post surgery grogginess. After effects of anesthesia exacerbated by any narcotic pain medication you may be taking. Also, your body has been majorly traumatized and uses rest to heal itself. Be patient. Sip as much as you can while you are awake and stop the narcotic pain meds as soon as you are able. That was the advice I received. Good luck and I hope you are feeling stonger soon.

That would be me @Cupcake. I had my pre-op "class" today and start my liquid diet a week from tomorrow. Surgery on 5/19/14 probably in the morning but I won't find that out until 5/16. Excited for the weightloss, scared about the surgery. Good luck to you.

Got my surgery date last week, May 19th. Don't have a time yet. My pre-op class is tomorrow. I have no idea what they will be covering. They sent a bunch of information in the mail regarding foods to eat on the pre-op diet and what to eat for the first 6 weeks post-op, from pure liquid the first two weeks to mush the 5th & 6th weeks. I only have a 3 day liquid diet before surgery, but my surgeon put me on a high protein low carbohydrate diet when I saw her on April 15th. She wanted me to lose 10 pounds before surgery. I've lost 15 so far. I think I will be ok on the liquid diet as long as I keep my mind busy and don't dwell on what I can't have. I am going to be increasing my gym time this week and next since I won't be able to do my weight training for a few weeks after surgery. I can't believe it is less than two weeks away. I have been thinking about having this surgery for nearly 15 years. Ever since my husband had it done in Nov. 2009. Now it's almost here and I am excited, nervous, and scared. Is this really the right thing to do? But I know that I have tried everything else and I am still obese. I want my life back more than I am worried about the surgery and its long term consequences.

Hi Everyone. My name is Cindy and I am waiting for my primary insurance to send their denial letter so my surgery can be scheduled. My primary insurance will not pay, but my secondary insurance will pay. Plus secondary insurance does not do pre-authorization letters. So, as soon as the denial letter is received from the primary insurance we can schedule my surgery. My surgeon said it will most likely be mid-May. I have thought of myself as being overweight most of my life. Looking back on it, I was a twig when I graduated from high school. It's just that those who were around me were so petite. I had one successful pregnancy 30 years ago and was never able to lose the excess weight I gained then. Over the years I have tried every diet, sensible and fad, that I could find with varying results. But every time I lost weight on a "diet" I would put it back on and then some when the "diet" was over or I got sick of it. Over the last 3-5 years my weight has been steadily creeping up and I am so tired of being tired and out of breath all the time. I want to be able to do things with my grand-children but I am not able to do much of anything for more than a few minutes at a time before I need to rest. I am winded just walking up one flight of stairs to our bedroom so I avoid having to up and down as much as possible. I started my surgical weight loss journey about 5 months ago. It took longer for me to decide this was really what I needed to do than it has to do all the prerequisite visits, tests, and screenings. I really wanted to get the gastric sleeve but it is excluded by my insurance, so I will be getting the by-pass instead. The reason I wanted the sleeve was to avoid the malabsorbsion (sp?) and to be able to continue taking my anti-inflammatories for my osteo-arthritis. However, I have made peace with having the bypass and having to make the commitment to be really careful to get the proper nutrients and supplements to keep my healthy; because that is what this is all about anyway. I want my life back. I am sick of living a half life. In February I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. I have not lost any weight, though my body composition has improved, I have more lean and less fat than I did when I started exercising. The best thing about doing this is that I have found something that I love to do. I can't believe I would ever say that I love going to the gym and working out with a trainer. It is fantastic and I am really looking forward to the improvements I will see after I begin working out again after I am healed from the surgery. I am sure the that the walking that I will be doing during the healing process will get me ready for even more intense work outs than I have been able to do to this point. My husband had this same surgery 14 1/2 years ago. He never had the kind of support that is available today and is amazed at the amount of pre-surgical preparation and information that I am getting. He lost about 80 pounds when he had his surgery and over the years had put some of it back on. But since I have started my journey he has been using the things that I have been learning and has lost nearly 15 pounds since December. He is nearing his lowest post-surgical weight. I think he is even more excited about me having this surgery than I am. He is being very supportive. When I told my family back in January that I was considering having surgery they were all very supportive. My best friend, who is more like a sister than merely a friend, decided that it was time for her to have bariatric surgery as well. She had not heard of the gastric sleeve before, so as soon as I told her about it she started researching it for herself. Last month she flew to Mexico and had it done. When I talked with her several days ago she had lost a total of 29 pounds (including the pre-surgery weight loss). Anyway, I feel like I have a great support system in place. And I am SOOOO ready to make this change in my life and to make it a permanent change. It's funny, I have never felt so certain about, or committed to, any of my previous weight loss attempts. This is my year for change.

Thank you Ginger. Good luck to you on your journey.