Eukeeemj

My soft food stage started on Monday and trust me it's been a slow go, when I say baked potato, I can only eat about 3 or 4 tiny bites. I'm still concentrating mostly on my protein drinks and have a soft food once or twice a day.

I had my sleeve done on 9/26 making it two weeks tomorrow, it's gone by fast. I just wanted to post my experience thus far in case it may help anyone else getting ready to start this journey. My surgery itself was done within an hour and no problems. I was in recovery for several hours because there wasn't a room ready for me yet. I had the most wonderful nurse in recovery and she stayed past her shift to make sure I stayed comfortable and was moved to my room. I slept most of the time but when I was awake I had that horrible gas pain in my chest, thankfully I was able to start burping and relieved some of the pressure. Once I was up in my room, I was more alert and was able to get up and into the bathroom (with help) and back to bed. Other than the obvious pain, I felt pretty good and was able to drink water. I was released the next day with pain meds only and everything was fine the rest of the day. At about 1am the next morning I woke up in pain and got out of bed. I tried to sip some water and immediately began dry heaving. I got myself calmed down and into a position where my stomach seemed to calm down and I fell asleep. I got up again around 9 and tried to get more water down with the intention of taking a pain med and immediately starting dry heaving and eventually threw up quite a bit of yellow fluid, that was the most painful experience of my life. At that point my mother convinced me to call the surgeon because I had not had any fluid for almost 12 hours. They had me go to the ER and had me readmitted to the hospital to get Iv fluids. I was so dehydrated that it took 3 people to take my blood, and the Iv nurse had tried 4 sites before settling for the middle of my forearm (still bruised lol), but once they got me back on zofran and fluids I felt better pretty quickly. They kept me 2 nights to be safe and then let me go with the zofran prescription. Just remember zofran is your friend, make sure you have this. I think I mistook some of my nausea for pain. Once I got home, everything was better, I found a protein shake that agreed with me (muscle milk) and my stomach seems to like Greek yogurt as well. This week was my start to soft foods but I've been taking it slow. So far I've tried scrambled egg, baked potato (no skin), a few mushy green beans, and some canned pear. The good news is that it all stayed down lol. I had my post op visit yesterday and my surgeon is pleased with my progress, I've lost 22 lbs which he said puts me way ahead of schedule. I'm expecting this to slow down soon as I've read a stall is likely to occur at some point. Anyway, I hope this helps someone and doesn't scare anyone. I would still do it again. I started feeling human again this week and other than some fatigue I have no other complaints

Vv

I am 1 week and 1 day out and I'm so glad you wrote this, I really needed to read this today! I have been having such a bummy day and was really starting to feel depressed but to know that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel will help keep me going!

So my surgery date is next Friday, and yesterday I was told my EKG was abnormal. I already have abnormal ekgs but was told that it was nothing to be concerned about after a stress test. This is a new abnormality. I'm freaking out! I meet with the cardiology group tomorrow to see what is going on.. If this pushes back my surgery i'm going to cry.. We'll not really but now I'm really worried something is wrong with my heart. My last EKG was less than a year ago and was fine.. Abnormal, but fine.

Good news! I'm not dying lol. The cardiologist said my EKG looked like any other women's EKG and that my heart sounds fine. He wants to follow up with me in a year to see how I do after surgery but other than that all is well!

It was a non specific T wave abnormality. I had a stress test back when that was first found and that came out fine. I'm hoping that this instance may be related to the caffeine I had that morning, it was the first time in awhile and I wasn't thinking that it probably wasn't the best idea before an EKG. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Tnl1031, I'm in Pa too, near Harrisburg. Are you nearby?

My surgery is on 9/26 too! My surgeon doesn't require the liquid diet, I was just told to eat light meals for the 2 weeks prior to surgery. I know for some people it is to shrink the liver and my liver enzyme tests all came back within normal limits so I think may be why I don't need to. I was also told with with the sleeve, they go in on the side opposite from the liver so there is less risk of injury to the liver. Again, everyone and every surgeon is different! Good Luck! Eileen

Hi everyone! I've been reading the posts here for awhile now and have decided to join the party. I just completed my last requirement (psych eval) this Monday so I'm hoping my paperwork is submitted to my insurance this week. I meet with my dietician tomorrow so I'm sure she'll be able to give me an update. They told me as soon as they hear back from the insurance co. they will call to set up my EGD and then I'm a go for surgery. Excited and scared all at the same time. So can anyone tell me how bad the EGD is? That part has me freaked out right now..lol

Thank you for your response! I met with my dietician and they already have my psych eval report and it is being reviewed and then submitted to insurance! They told me they would "put me out" for the EGD so I wasn't sure if that meant really out or just sedation. Getting excited! Eileen