judanna77

Please don't worry about this- during surgery, you will be intubated, so there is no chance that you will stop breathing due to sleep apnea since the tube will keep your throat open. You will be asked to bring your CPAP to the hospital, and once you are recovery, with your history of severe sleep apnea, they will most likely put you on your CPAP at once. Or they might monitor your vitals and if your oxygen levels falls below a certain amount, they will put your CPAP on. I have mild sleep apnea which turns severe during REM sleep. I've been on CPAP for about 5 years now. I brought my CPAP to the hospital, but never ended up needing it, as my oxygen levels never fell below 95%. But it was right there next to me in my room in case I needed it. Also, just a heads up, pretty much immediately once I got home after surgery, I started waking up with an incredibly dry mouth. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut during sleep, when it had never been a problem before. Turns out that my CPAP pressure needed to come way down. I hadn't lost much weight at that point, so I'm not sure why it happened so suddenly, but from reading this board it seems like it happens to a lot of people.

I love mine! Recently I've been making lots of crunchy dried cauliflower (coated with nutritional yeast for protein)- so good and satisfies the need for a crunchy snack. Some other favorites are dried rhubarb (sour and delicious) and beef jerky (without any added sugar).

I had a hot, itchy rash from the blood thinners as well. It slowly went away after I stopped the shots- maybe totally gone at 2 weeks after stopping. Hopefully yours will start to get better soon.

I recently bought a bunch of whey Protein crunchies and have been having fun coming up with ways to use them. One of my favorites has been to make my own high-protein "granola" out of them. I sprinkle it over greek yogurt, or sometimes just pour a little milk over it and have ti like Cereal. My recipe always changes based on what I have available at home, but I just made a batch that I really liked so thought I would share it with you all. Protein Granola 100 grams whey crunchies 14 grams cacao nibs 15 grams unsweetened coconut flakes 56 grams almonds, chopped roughly 1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries (I make my own using frozen whole cranberries. Just heat them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, then take them out and smoosh them down with a spoon, then put back in the oven and lower the heat to about 225 degrees and cook until they dry out.) 1/2 cup Water 1/2 cup Swerve sweetener (Serve is my sweetener of choice, but I'm guessing you can use whatever sweetener works best for you) 1 tsp blackstrap molasses spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc) to taste In a small saucepan, mix the water, Swerve, and molasses and heat over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. The mixture will boil and should reduce down to a light syrupy texture. Take off heat and add in the spices. Mix all the other ingredients together in a mixing bowl, then pour the syrup mixture over it and mix together well so that all pieces get coated in it. Spread onto a cookie sheet and put into a 250 degree oven. After 45 minutes, take the cookie sheet out and mix everything together with a spoon, then spread it out on the sheet again and put it back in the over for another 30-45 minutes, until it is dry. The recipe makes 10 28-gram servings, which each have 100 calories, 4 grams net carbs (I don't count Fiber or the Swerve, so your own counts may vary), and 9 grams protein. You can easily add more protein per serving my using more whey crunchies or fewer nuts.

I agree that you should demand to see your surgeon today, and if that doesn't work, then go to the ER. It is definitely not normal to not be able to keep anything down, and you are most likely already dehydrated. From what you've said, you might have a stricture (scar tissue that is narrowing your stomach so that only tiny amounts of food.liquid can pass through.)

@@Elle09 I can't believe it's been eight weeks already! I'm doing great- after those first few awful days in the hospital it got better quickly. I was really tired for the first 4-6 weeks, but now I have some energy back. Meeting the Fluid goal each day is hard- for some reason, liquids all taste gross to me, even though food tastes the same. I'm down a little over 30 pounds- which may seem a bit slow based on the huge losses some of the people here have, but I am really happy about it. I just dropped a big bunch of clothes off at Goodwill yesterday. How are you doing?

I was scared of the pre-op diet as well, and it truly did suck for the first few days, but then it got better. It still wasn’t fun, but it is survivable. One thing that helped me really stick to it was that I had had an abdominal ultrasound as part of my pre-op tests, and so I had hard evidence that my liver was “mildly enlarged”. Knowing that even though the diet sucked, I was making my surgery safer helped me to stick with it. Another thing that helped me was looking into all the scientific studies that I could find about doing a pre-op liver-shrinking diet. There weren’t too many I could find (and the ones I could were mostly about gallbladder surgery), but I could see that there was a measurable benefit to the diet in terms of a shorter surgery time. I think the notion that being nervous about going through the pre-op diet means that you aren’t ready for surgery is misguided. It may be true that some people aren’t ready for the changes that go along with surgery, but the fact is that the pre-op diet is hard, and I think it is normal not to want to put yourself through that, even if you are ready for the huge changes that come along with surgery. I was hungry and tired and had a horrible headache for the first few days of the pre-op diet. The good news is that the post-op diet is way easier. Another good thing about all the research I did was that it really brought home the point that there is no one “magic” pre-op diet. The studies found that there wasn’t a measurable difference in liver size reduction from diets between 600-1100 calories a day, and ranging in length from 1-4 weeks. I know I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think that you have to follow your surgeon’s plan exactly in order to be successful. I think that part of being an adult is making responsible choices, and I think it is fine to make the choice to modify your surgeon’s plan to something that will work for you, provided that it still fits within the overall nutritional goals. For instance, my surgeon’s pre-op diet plan called for 1,000 calories a day, coming from only Protein shakes and Protein Bars, with less than 20 grams of net carbs total per day. Instead of following this plan, I made my own plan which included the same 1,000 calories / <20g carbs per day, but instead of shakes/bars, I got most of my protein from chicken breast, cod, and greek yogurt. I also included lots of vegetables to help keep me feeling full. It was way easier for me to stick to this plan than it would have been to stick to only shakes and bars, and my surgeon said my liver looked great.

Funny, because my rant would be almost the opposite- I don’t see how anyone can look at the huge variation in pre-op and post-op guidelines among bariatric surgeons and yet somehow come to the conclusion that in order to succeed, I must follow my own surgeon’s rules and you must follow your own surgeon’s rules, even if those rules are diametrically opposed. If my surgeon had asked me to “whistle Dixie whilst standing on my head farting the National Anthem and air dancing the Marseillaise”, I most certainly would not have blindly followed his orders. I would have researched to see if there was any evidence-based reason for the request, and if not, I would have ignored it (and then looked to change surgeons because mine was clearly tripping balls). When it comes down to it, I trust myself way more than I trust my surgeon. No one is more invested in me than me. That doesn’t mean I didn’t trust my surgeon to do the operation- I absolutely did. The surgery part is what he excels at. But that doesn’t mean that somehow everything he says is gospel. Instead, I’m much more comfortable researching and coming to my own conclusions. Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m advocating for people to just eat whatever the hell they want to, because they know better than the surgeon. If you’re eating 3 slices of pizza a week after surgery, or eating nothing but carbs because Protein makes you feel too full, you’re making some bad choices and are just screwing yourself over. But for me, this means figuring out which of the guidelines are important and have to be followed to the letter (I get enough protein and fluids in each day, no excuses), which are important but there is some wiggle room (I take my Vitamins, but I use the patch and not the brand my surgeon requires), and which are just silly (I use straws and chew gum and my stomach hasn’t exploded yet).

Are you still taking a PPI? My surgeon only prescribes a PPI for one month after surgery. Mine ran out a week ago, and I've noticed feeling a lot hungrier now. I bought some OTC antacids and started taking those, and the feelings of hunger have gotten much better since then. Or, maybe you just need more food now than you needed at first. I eat every two to three hours, and am between 500-700 calories and 80-100 grams of Protein daily.

I had a mild fever for about a week after surgery. It stayed in the 100-101 F range mostly. A high fever (over 102F/38.5C) could be a sign of an infection or a leak, so yours is nothing to worry about yet, but keep an eye on it and call your surgeon if it gets too high. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I will be 4 weeks post-op tomorrow, and over the past few days my incisions have all become surrounded by extremely itchy red welts (see photo). The incisions don't seem to be infected, just really itchy. The welts are on all of my incisions. It is so itchy that it is hard to sleep at night. I've read that some people are allergic to the surgical glue they use to cover the incisions, but my glue fell off about 3 weeks ago, so I don't know why this would be happening now. I already take Claritin daily for other allergies, but I tried adding a Benedryl at night and it didn't seem to help much. Any thoughts on what what be causing it or how to deal with it? I am on vacation right now and will see my surgeon next week when I get back home if it is still an issue, but it would be nice to get some relief before then.

Yay! I'm glad you were able to get your script and get this taken care of. Good luck with your surgery

A few thoughts- usually if your insurance company covers the CPAP, then you get your machine through a Durable Medical Equipment (DME) company that participates with your insurance. Most of them will come to your house and deliver/set up the CPAP and show you how to use it. You might need to just give your DME company a call and try to work out a time that they can come to you instead of you coming to them. If that isn't how your insurance works, and if you check with your surgeon and he says you absolutely need the CPAP for surgery, then I would call the sleep study place where you went and ask for a copy of your CPAP prescription. They may give you a hard time about it (saying that they will just send it to the DME company) but you are allowed to buy your CPAP on your own and they have to give you your prescription. Then I would go to secondwindcpap.com and buy the cheapest one you can find, along with a mask. They will set it to your prescribed settings and send it to you. You should be able to get it an a few days. I will say that I brought my CPAP to my surgery as required, but I never used it while in the hospital. My oxygen level never dropped low enough for them to put it on me.

At my highest weight, I was a size 32 (and even at that size some things were too tight.) I don't think I look much different yet, but I've been noticing that my clothes have been getting looser. I've still been wearing size 32, though, because every time I took out a smaller size from my closet it just seemed way too small for me to fit into, so I never even tried to see if it fit. Well today I'm down 65 pounds from my highest weight, and I finally decided to go through my closet and see what fits. It turns out that I can now fit comfortably into size 24 pants and size 26 shirts!!!! I just kept laughing to myself in disbelief as I tried them on. I now have a huge pile of clothes to donate to Goodwill!

You're looking great! I can really see the difference in your face. It is so exciting to see results!

I've been craving crunchy too, but popcorn is not something you want to be eating this soon after surgery! It's not about the nutrition, but popcorn has hard pieces that can get caught up in your staple line, which is not yet healed. This can be bad news for your sleeve. My program eventually allows popcorn, but not until month 6.

I had surgery on a Thursday and took the rest of that week off and all of the next week. I'm glad I had the time off to heal, but I really could have gone back to work the Monday after surgery if I had needed to. I was sleeping 11-12 hours at night, but wasn't too tired during the day. I didn't take any pain meds once I got home, though. If you end up needing the pain meds, then you'll probably need more time off.

The one they gave me in the hospital was set to 2000 ml (it could be set anywhere from 500-4000 ml). I'm not sure if that's what they set it at for everyone, or if it was customized for me (as a short female, I'm assuming I have less lung capacity than a tall male). I will say that wasn't until 3 or 4 days post-op that I could get up to the 2000. Even now, the most I can do is 2500 ml.

I can reach fine now, but at my highest weight there were definitely a lot of contortions needed for wiping. I ordered a bidet off of Amazon and I absolutely love it. No contortions needed- just pull the lever and a stream of water shoots up and leaves you sparkling clean. I'll never go back to just using TP- using the bidet feels so much more hygienic. And the model that I got has a wand for the front end as well, which is great for when Aunt Flo visits.

Pre-op, I really liked Healthsmart Chocorite shakes. My favorites were their caramel mocha, peanut butter, banana creme, and chocolate brownie flavors. I'm not sure if they are sold in stores- I bought them online at netrition.com. However, post-op, I can't stomach them. Now my favorite is 1/2 of a premade Premier Protein shake mixed with 8 oz Fairlife skim milk- by itself, I find the Premier Protein way too sweet, but mixed like this it is much less sweet and using the Fairlife milk gives pretty much the same amount of protein.

When I first met with my surgeon, I asked him what research he had used to come up with his post-op guidelines, and why there was such variation in the post-op guidelines from different surgeons. He laughed and said that there really wasn't any research, and that it seemed like most of the guidelines out there were based on an abundance of caution- like no really knows the best time for moving to soft foods, so most surgeons have a really long liquid phase just to be sure. He said that when he and his partners formed their surgical group, they each had different post-op guidelines that they were used to, and that they just flipped a coin to decide what would become the guidelines for the group practice. Then he said that all that really mattered to him was that patients stay on Stage 1 (Clear liquids plus Protein shakes) until their first post-op appointment with him. But after that, he was fine with advancing the stages quicker than his written guidelines, as long as the patient proceeded with caution. You will get a lot of advice on here to follow your surgeon's plan exactly. You're not going to go wrong following that advice. But it also doesn't make much logical sense to me- there are tons of different post-op plans out there, but somehow your own surgeon's plan is the only right one for you? I say that in the end, you are responsible for your own health. I personally don't feel like you've taken an unacceptable risk by straying from your surgeon's plan with liquified, thinned-out chili and yogurt. It's not like you were eating solid food or anything else that might put undue pressure on your staple-line. In the end, it's up to you to decide.

I was only able to drink about 6 oz total the two days I was in the hospital. Each tiny little sip hurt so much. But by my second day home, it had gotten much better, and I've been able to get in at least 64 oz since then (I'm on day 6 right now). Using a straw once I got home helped a lot. I know some programs frown on them, but, honestly, I think I take in more air when I am sipping than when I use a straw. Finding good temperatures also helped. My sleeve likes things either ice cold or piping hot, but anything in between and I can't do it. So 14 oz in 24 hours seems like a great start to me, and it should only get easier from here on out.

It turns out that I look forward to giving myself the blood-thinner shot each day. I feel like such a bad-a$$ when I face my fear of sticking myself with the needle each day and am able to overcome it and plunge it in It's such a confidence booster knowing I can do it!

I would guess that you are somehow stimulating your vagus nerve when you yell, and that is what is causing the nausea. I've read that just feeling stress can stimulate the nerve, or maybe it has something to do with you taking in a big breath of air before you yell and activating the nerve that way.

@@Elle09 I just got back today as well. The surgery went smoothly, but man, I was totally not ready for the amount of pain and nausea I would feel. I'd say the first 36 hours were miserable. I kept on dry-heaving, and that was so painful for my new sleeve. Owww! And all the meds that they gave me never seemed to do anything for the nausea. Then they finally gave me something for the stomach spasms, and that helped a lot. One thing I am loving is this On-Q pain pump- I haven't felt any pain from my incisions at all. I'm a little worried how they are going to feel one the local anesthetic runs out, though. How was your experience? How are you doing now?