Spinderella

I was scheduled for the 31st of March, but the surgeon had something come up and rescheduled it for April 7th. Starting my two week liquid shake ONLY diet on the 24th. Nervous, nervous, nervous - but trying to be optimistic!

I think there's "food funerals", where like others have mentioned you might find yourself gourging on unhealthy and bad food. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with a so-called, "last supper" or something to say Celebrate your new life change. My family and I were thinking of doing just a nice meal (protein, salad, maybe a baked potato?) since I'm not really saying goodbye forever to these foods, but more just having it be the last time I'm eating these foods in my current state. It'll be awhile before I can have some of these foods again and I would like to have a nice meal with my family before I embark on my liquid diet that will carry over into my post op diet for a few months after. It's all about choices and how you choose to prepare yourself. I did away with ice cream or anything that was super "toxic" to my journey awhile back. Just try to look forward, celebrate the new journey you're embarking on and don't look back. Good luck to you and we will get through this together!

I just found out the other day that I need to do the Lovenox shots for 10 days once I'm home. That was not something I expected and I know it's for a very, very good reason...however, I know I'm not going to be able to administer them myself and my husband isn't not really wanting to do it, either. If you don't have a support system at home to help you, what are your options? How would you get it done by a third-party (i.e. doctor's office)? I know my doctor wouldn't do it, so I'm not sure how that would go. Ack! Plus, if one is on birth control pills (I take them for period flow regulation) again I just found out I'd have to stop those three weeks prior (besides the fact they told me just a little over 2 weeks before my surgery!!!) and if I do, I'll have all kinds of problems which could and will likely cause my anemia to go into overdrive which would be bad overall. How long do you have to stop taking your birth control pills after surgery? What did you do and what other options are there for both the shots and the pills? My surgeon's assistant said that the doctor is lax about it overall and if it's something I need, he's willing to let that go...but I don't want to make things worse in the blood clot department. Help!

@@catwoman7 - I appreciate what you say and I'm starting to look past all those specifics and looking at the end game in all of this. Thank you for your words of support! *hugs* @@ridgerunner - I hear what you're saying and it's so crazy how I start to focus on the things I mentioned previously and how I've worked through those things, but after going to my PREOP class, I've now been presented with a bunch of other issues that are plaguing me. I just wish it wasn't like that, but I know I need to research all of those things and try to make sure that this is going to ultimately be right for me. I just learned more about having to use the Lovenox for 10 days after I'm discharged. I don't know how I'm going to administer that to myself and my husband is leery of giving me the injections himself. Now I got to figure out how that's going to play out. Plus, I was never told until I went to my class about my birth control pills and how we're supposed to stop them THREE weeks before surgery. *sigh* They just rescheduled my surgery to April 7th due to the surgeon's personal need and now I'm only 2 weeks and four days out from then. The problem is, I can't really stop my pills. If I do, it'll immediately start my period and it won't stop for months on end. I know this is all to prevent blood clots and I know how serious that is, but the RNs in my class were concerned about the blood loss, too. I really wish I had more information about all this beforehand. It seems like my surgeon's office did not properly prepare me with the details that are so detrimental to my recovery and overall health before hand and now I'm in a sticky position. I now need to research this a little more and bring this up to others that may have been in the same boat. Apparently, my surgeon (per his medical assistant) isn't a stickler about it and is OK with patients that have to stay on it, but I don't want to make my chances for a blood clot to be even higher. We just lost a girl in another group I'm a part of this month who died due to a blood clot while she was in the hospital right after her surgery. I know, I know, like that helped matters, but that poor girl. What a crazy situation we're all in, right? I really do appreciate your comments, though. I mean, it's helpful to see there is a few more here who are going through this in the same weight class as I am. *hugs*

@, I too am thankful for your post. I think my current concern is that with me being morbidly obese and having so much weight to lose that even though I know the surgery will be a huge game changer and be the tool I need to help finally keep the weight off, I think I'm also concerned and have some reservations about what the final outcome will be with my body. I worry about all the excess skin that I currently have and will have even moreso once my body had lost the weight that I need to lose. I know almost 100% that it will be cumbersome and difficult to function with it, as well as health-wise cause a lot of issues. I see so many wonderful people on here post their successes and look great (of course, no one is perfect by any means) for all the hard work they've put in, but I know a lot of them were half my size when they got their procedure and may not of had to deal with as much of the physical drawbacks to getting WLS. I'm just so worried that I may cause myself to be even more physically awkward then I already am. Surprisingly, I don't suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure - but do have high triglycerides. Ugh. I'm so overwhelmed that I won't be able to reap any of the benefits of this journey like others have before me. And yes, I always feel like I'm the negative exception to the rule. (Which I hate doing to myself, but can't help but feel that way) Can anyone else relate?

I just submitted my request to join. My name is Mandy. Can't wait to be a part of the group!

I don't doubt the abilities of the doctors and anesthesiologist in any way. As I said, I was getting all these negative and comments that just pushed my personal fear over the edge from supposed "professionals" just made it harder for me to take it all in. I appreciate the supportive comments and even the "oh, brother" comments. I just wanted to feel better about this one aspect so I CAN focus on all the other things that ARE in my control.

Me, too! I actually had a choice between the 17th, 23rd or 31st and ultimately when with the 31st because I wanted to spend Easter with my family without being laid up.

This was/is a big concern for me, too. But hearing it said as what we CAN have vs. what we CAN'T have is far more positive. I don't know specifically what my surgeon will limit me to for the liquid diet, but I hope I can have a few of the things mentioned to at least have it be more than just Water and Protein shakes. HA!

I'm a worrier by nature, so once the decision and approval happened...it made things even more real. I'm still working to prepare for the way to "let it go" in terms of the fears that come with the surgery itself, but I'm also working on making lists for what I'm looking forward to and mapping out how I'm going to document my journey. Those two things are really helping me keep it in perspective and to try and feel better about what's to come.

I was approved as soon as they received the request. No problems at all and they were really good about approving the classes and everything pre-op and the sleep study, too.

I just posted about this in a different thread/forum, but I'll bring it here since this is a more current thread. I am BEYOND anxious and nervous about the anesthesia in general. Of course, I'm naturally nervous about the surgery as a whole, but I have a massive fear about the general anesthesia part. If someone here could really help lessen or give me some guidance on this, I would be so thankful. In a nutshell, my family gave a very personal fear to anesthesia and until now, I've been free from ever going under. But now, after a sleep study said I had "mild apena", my surgeon felt that it wasn't a big deal from a treatment standpoint. The people at the sleep study HARASSED me and said that if I didn't get the CPAP machine, that the anesthesiologist would forgo my surgery and/or would do it and I wouldn't wake up. (!!!!!!) I was so upset and crying at this point because no one had told me that having apena in any form would hinder from me having my surgery. After I purchased the machine, I just couldn't use it. I tried and tried, but with a chronic pain condition that I suffer with, this only made things more uncomfortable with the little sleep I get as it is. When I told my surgeon and his assistant, they were very upset at what was said by the sleep study people and they said that it won't be an issue. HOWEVER, I see a pain management doctor and she also has specialties in anesthesia and post-operative pain and she tells me (even without being my doctor for WLS or PCP), "What? You have sleep apena? You can't take that lightly and if you have your surgery and don't do the CPAP machine, you'll DIE and never wake up from the surgery." I mean, she said that IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER last week. I was in tears. This is truly making me afraid that I may leave my just 3-year-old daughter and husband behind and I'm just so worried I'm making a horrible mistake and heading to my doom. It's hard enough having to deal with pre-op and getting prepared for this life change. Help!

I'm scheduled for March 31st and I have a lot of anxieties about the surgery and recovery in general. What's weird is that I'm dreading the pre-op 2-week liquid diet because I know it's going to be challenging to handle all that comes with doing that (I have to take morphine for a chronic pain condition and this kind of intake is going to be rough with the side effects). But I'm not so worried about my food intake after the surgery. I know that I won't feel like eating because of the recovery and the fact that the stomach is going to be so sensitive, I'll keep it as calm as I can. I suffered with H. Pilori (an ulcer) about 12 years ago and it was AWFUL. You feel uncomfortably full all the time, so I remember that so vividly, I think I'll be good about keeping myself in check post-op (fingers crossed!). I just want all the worry to be over so I can move on and start enjoying my life more! Here's to a fantastic 2016 and beyond!!!

I'm in Orange County and I'm scheduled for surgery on the 31st of March. Anyone else out there in or around the area? Would love to connect with past/present and future Sleeve patients!