theantichick

I have to be able to take NSAIDs and steroids for my auto-immune arthritis. My rheumatologist and my WLS surgeon both said that the sleeve was the only option for me because of that. RNY and Lap-band have complete bans on both drug classes. There is still an increased risk of ulcers so some surgeons will still say no NSAIDs with the sleeve. If you personally are already at a higher risk of ulcers for some reason, they may need to you never take them. Best thing is to discuss it with your surgeon and medical team.

You see this in other specialties as well. Doctors are proud of their autonomy, and each develops their own sense or what's best for their patients based on their training, their experiences, and the research they've kept up with. I had an extensive knee reconstruction years ago that was not widely done at the time, but there were several different rehab protocols, which one you got depended entirely on your surgeon. Also, some surgeons are "by the book" sorts, and some will take the patient's lifestyle and concerns into account and adapt the plan for them.

Even with bypass, the coffee ban, if the doc has it at all, is only for a short period of time. One of my BFFs couldn't do without coffee, she had bypass. She did develop intolerance to full fat milk, but can still get skinny starbucks with fat free milk. It's her indulgence now, and she's been successful for over 10 years. Every starbucks within 10 miles of her home knows her and her drink, and it starts with "quenti venti". LOL

I would wait until after the surgery, but then I would get a new PCP ASAP. Ditto to what someone else suggested about asking for referrals from people in your support group. Having a doc that's a butt about weight issues just adds to the shame and struggle, and there's no excuse for it. Good luck!!

My surgeon likes to do her own EGDs. That way she gets a good look at the inside of the stomach and can check for any issues, along with an h. pylori test.

I'm going in tomorrow morning, I live in Arlington and work in Irving. I'm also on the FB group.

My poor hubby. My kiddo has bipolar and wanted to try to go off her meds for the summer, so she's been tetchy, and I'm apparently about to get mondo PMS-y. He may want to strike a tent in the backyard or move into the garage.

that would be inconvenient if you er, need him during the hormone dump.

Oh, I'm sure he'd visit the house for that.

Why it matters to me is that I worry about the people who are just reading the forums, and see someone saying "yeah, sure, there's no problem with eating tacos a week out from surgery" and they think that's coming from a place of knowledge and/or experience. It's flat out dangerous, is what it is. While I'm not responsible for anyone else, as a nurse I feel compelled to correct information that's flat out wrong because wrong information about something like this can actually be life threatening. Or at the very least cause complications that the patient doesn't need.

And I'm not even a vet here.

Sure, someone who says "my doctor says no alcohol forever, so that must be the truth for everyone" is wrong. But most of what I'm seeing people complain about here is when someone comes on wanting to do something very close to surgery - before or after - that has the potential to be very bad, and then gets upset when people say "hey, that's not really a good idea".

I've read about C Difficile several times lately. Is this something related to gastric sleeve surgery?

No. It's a rare infection that people sometimes get. You can be more susceptible to it due to antibiotics, your immune system being depressed, or a number of other factors. Unfortunately, it can be very hard to get rid of in an environment, so there have been a few situations where people pick it up in hospitals. It can be very hard to get rid of.

Donuts are my kryptonite, and I work in IT. ::headdesk:: So far for my pre-op diet I've managed to stay away. After, I'm hoping my desire for them goes down significantly.

I've started following Egg Face http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ and she often posts how she makes something like chicken breast and then uses it different ways.

Why is that? Why do people have no cravings (or a lot of people) after this surgery? That's something I don't understand as yet.

For a couple of reasons. Mainly, the stomach tissue that is removed generates a number of "hunger hormones" and with it gone, those hormones aren't there to tell your brain that you're hungry.

The stomach is smaller and gives signals that it's full faster as well.

Also, for reasons we don't know yet, the surgery seems to re-set the set point. When you gain weight, your body decides that the new weight is the one it should keep, and it will flood your system with hormones and other things to make you crave high fat, high calorie, high sugar foods in order to maintain that weight. That's referred to as set point. When you lose weight normally you are fighting against this, and it gets worse and worse the more you lose. Theoretically, through just diet and exercise it will eventually reset, but it's an uphill battle. Surgery seems to short circuit this somehow.

Since developing the auto-immune arthritis, my feet have been incredibly finicky. I have had the best luck with Footsmart (online, once you know your size in different brands) and the Walking Company. They both carry brands that are comfy, and most don't have high heels at all. Though I did have to find a heel for my wedding last year, my hubby is 6'6" and even though I'm tall, he specifically requested me to wear heels for the wedding. I found a great pair of Naturalizers with a 3-1/4" heel that were comfy all day. Danskos are the friendliest to my feet, and they have some nice styles that don't look like orthopedic shoes. The best thing about the Walking Company is their employees are trained to get you the best fit, and will take an hour with different shoes and inserts if needed. Hubby started having trouble with his feet and I made him go to TWC and he won't go back to cheap shoes anywhere else again!!

I detest our sizing system... but it's impossible to fix :\ Lane Bryant tried a few years ago with different colors indicating pear shaped, apple shaped, or hourglass and then numbers indicating actual size, and then tall vs. average vs. petite. Then you'd pick out your green tag with size 3 and tall legs (that was me). Didn't work out though because even then everyone's shape was so variable.

I advocate we each get our own personal tailor, as that is the only way we will be well dressed

That being excessively costly, I just wing it. Lane Bryant is still coming through for me (even though they're expensive) and my size is pretty consistent so I imagine I'll find a favorite shop and stick with it when I'm thin (Gap or Old Navy most likely since that's where I used to shop as a skinny Minnie). If I feel like boutique shopping I'll just try stuff on and see what happens! Hope I get there one day!

And I miss the hell out of those sizes!! Lane Bryant Blue tall pants were the only ones that ever in my entire life fit me off the rack! ::pout::

I'm definitely a pear. A more round-ish pear than I used to be. When I was at my thinnest (size 10) I had a 13-14" difference between my waist and hips. Finding pants to fit me was hellish. My waist has gotten wider so the difference between my waist and hips is only about 10" now, but if I get pants to fit my waist and hips, the thighs are too tight. I'm hoping to shape things up a bit more with this weight loss.

I'm dreading the clothing challenge. I HATE clothes shopping. HATE it. I hate trying things on. I'll buy things I think will fit, then when they don't give them to Goodwill rather than return them. Sizes go all over the place, even within the same store. I hate it. But I have to get over it, because as my sizes change, I'll have to have a few wardrobe pieces that fit at each stage.

I'm planning a lot of drawstring maxi skirts. :/

I hope I wasn't the one you thought was condescending to you. I was sharing my experience.

What I didn't go into was what I've seen happen with people who don't address their emotional eating before WLS. I had two friends who got LapBand (this was before the sleeve was available) and the bands were barely installed before these two were deliberately seeking out what they could eat to fill their emotional void without restriction. They drank sugared sodas, ate ice cream, and ate cream based Soups (and much more). They became bulimic, purging so they could eat more. I lost track of them several years ago, but saw the guy on FB a few months ago, and he's larger than he was pre-band. From his posts, they both have developed even worse health issues, and he's no longer even mobile.

Another friend had sleeve surgery without really addressing her emotional issues, and she had nothing but problems after the sleeve. She would go to OA but their very strict approach to eating would wear on her and then she'd binge. She never lost more than about 30 lbs but the ongoing medical problems, some may have been related to the surgery but we'll never know. She died last year.

None of these people were low BMI, I haven't known anyone low BMI to get WLS. But they are why I'm determined to address my emotional eating issues so that the tool that is the VSG has a chance to work.

The research and experiences of everyone on this board is clear. The sleeve can and will be eaten around if you don't get your emotional stuff under control. Then you will have had an irreversible surgery and possibly some long-term issues (most don't, but it's possible) for something that in the end doesn't help you.

You'll hear it over and over on this board, and it's worth listening to: The surgery is a TOOL, nothing more. The restriction eases over time. That is not to say you stretch the sleeve, but rather than your tolerance for different foods in larger amounts grows. If you don't take the "honeymoon period" to change your diet and activity levels, then you'll gain the weight back, and then some.

I have a number of co-morbidities and a high BMI. With my emotional eating issues, if I was a low BMI without the serious co-morbidities, I would not have the surgery until after I had addressed the emotional eating. And I believe I would likely find the surgery not needed. As it is, I'm probably having the surgery a little early in the therapy process, but there are medical reasons for rushing it, and I'm committed to the therapy so I can get the emotional stuff worked out before I'm out of the honeymoon period.

Oh, yeah... I was so focused on the head injury, I forgot about the knee thing.

As someone who had to do 18 months of rehab for a knee reconstruction... GET IN THE POOL. Seriously, there is nothing better for getting moving without the pain as getting in Water. I would Water walk in the pool at my 24 hour fitness center, or deep water jog in the deep end (with a flotation belt) at the city rec center.

I always say (I'm old so I can say such things ), "you get two sticks. After that I will draw my own blood for you."

And I have.

My suggestion? Have any blood draws drawn by anesthia personnel. They truly are wizards when it comes to drawing blood and/or starting IVs.

I'm not sure I could draw my own blood unless it was life threatening and there was no one else. For starter's it's completely backwards.

I let people practice on me, needles don't bother me in the slightest. Well, for some reason I'll flinch if I watch it go through the skin, but other than that I'm super fine. The bruise looks horrible, but I just bruise super easy. It doesn't hurt, so long as it's not in the hand. I don't let people stick my hands anymore, period, end of file.

So I'm really not upset with her on my behalf. I'm upset because there are so many nurses out there, even those who have to draw blood or start IVs on a daily basis, who just say "I'm not good at this" and throw up their hands. For me who is an easy stick and has no issues with needles, no biggie. For one of my besties who has to be medicated for her annual blood draw AND is a hellishly hard stick? It's a problem. Or anyone else who's a hard stick and/or has varying levels of problems with needles.

It's a skill and it can be learned, and it can be AND SHOULD BE improved upon. A nurse who has to draw labs some dozen times a day who says "I can't feel veins" needs some remedial work. But no one pressures them to do it, so if they don't seek it out themselves, they just don't get better.

I was pretty darned good. And I still watched people who were better and asked them questions about how they did things to try and get better. Some people will naturally be better than others due to an innate talent or an obsession with it, but there should be a base level of competency in anyone who does this regularly.

Just my un-caffeinated opinion.

I <3 all of y'all.

I have emotional eating problems too, and I sought help with a therapist before I started the process to get sleeved. And that's with an over 40 BMI and multiple comorbidities. If you don't address the emotional eating problem, nothing will work for you long term. If you address them, you may find the surgery is not what you need. I strongly suggest you get a good therapist to work with you on food and body issues first, and put this off until after. You can always have the sleeve later, but you can't take it back.

My bariatric nurse and GP doesn't know the answer so I am just throwing this out there. I am three months into a six months course of lansoprazole. PPI's apparently aren't good when you have C Diff.

Should I stop taking it for now to give my body a chance to get rid of this?

If my bariatric team doesn't know and my GP doesn't know, next point of call? Infectious disease team ?

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I can't honestly remember what all we had our c.diff patients on... I'm thinking we were doing Protonix (pantoprazole), but I could be wrong, it's been a few years. I would think the infectious disease team would be the most knowledgeable regarding the latest research on c.diff. I would take what they say over anyone else.

I worked in nursing and they usually diagnose it once they see the stool and smell the stool. C-diff has a pungent sweet smell. And has a slime texture. Once you've smelled it its unmistakable. If at home Kefir is a very good form of natural probiotic. It contains a living culture that can fight the bacteria. First antibiotic therapy though. The complications you've experienced are classic causes to open you up with a low immunity. So Kefir is what you use once home. Do not add sweeteners. Put it into you Protein shake as you liquid. It will rebound your good gut bacteria. Then start putting Chlorophyll into Water. It will strengthen and remove toxins. You will crave it once you start it. Good wishes!

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It *IS* a distinctive smell... I'm wondering why no one picked up on it before. :/

I love Tervis. I can get really cool styles, and the lids are replaceable when they get too grungy to clean.

Your docs will need to evaluate the blood and mucus. Could be nothing, could be something. No way to know without a doc investigating. I would under no circumstances do colonic irrigation. There's too high a risk of complications and contamination.

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They have postponed the colonoscopy for two weeks. Not sure how I feel about having another procedure while having C Diff.

I am supplied with a home system for bowel wash out (fancy enema kit) so wondered if that would help get rid of this vile infection.

But thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

I appreciate the advice!

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Your docs will need to evaluate the blood and mucus. Could be nothing, could be something. No way to know without a doc investigating. I would under no circumstances do colonic irrigation. There's too high a risk of complications and contamination.

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