_Tanya_

I had my surgery on the 13th of June and am just now starting to get my feet back under me. Coming out of surgery was horrible.. ..like a nightmare actually. The pain was intense and not even my pain meds were enough to keep it at bay. That gas they pump you up with is no joke. I spent my first day in the hospital in immense pain and pretty drugged up. I finally got it under control (had terrible spasms and some dizziness from not being able to sleep that have since gone away) but I'm still tired--12 days out--even getting in over 100 ounces of Protein and my required 64 ounces of Water. Hopefully that gets better as I move on to the soft foods phase, which is set to happen on the 28th. The bathroom has also been interesting...and painful. I can't swallow pills so all of my meds needed to be liquid. The stool softener they gave me was in pill form so I didn't take it and talk about a mistake. At my post op checkup, my doctor switched me to a powdered Miralax and I went from nothing happening to can't get to the bathroom fast enough in about two days. TMI, I know, but I'm sure someone else out there might have the same issue, lol. I've managed to drop 7 pounds in 12 days which I'm excited about and I'm not hungry or feeling deprived. I am getting tired of Protein shakes... Those are getting old and chocolate is fast becoming my worst enemy. Anyway, I just wanted to check in here since I can officially count myself as part of the sleeved crowd.

I'm getting in more steps everyday (thanks have to go to my fitbit for faithfully keeping track, lol) and have started back on my elliptical with my doctor's blessing. It feels awesome to move again after being stuck lying down dealing with spasms and dizziness for a week after surgery. The best part was being able to sleep on my side again. My back is thanking me and I'm pretty sure getting in some good sleep goes a long way toward recovery! @@skinny_knees, you'll get there soon enough. Right now I'm more itchy from the incision holes and glue than in pain. That spasm stuff was awful. It radiated into my shoulder and around my back and I felt like I was having a heart attack...but it was really just gas. Plus, the gas-x did zero to help me. My body just had to work it out at its own time. Make sure you're getting in all that Protein (sometimes it's a struggle for me but I know it's super important) so that your body can repair itself quicker and also make sure you're up and walking! It really does help you through that horrible gas nightmare.

After four months of back and forth and actually losing too much weight to qualify and then having to regain some to appease the insurance gods...I have been approved and finally have a date! I will be an official sleever on June 13th. I have a class with the dietitian on June 6th, which I'm assuming is going to be all about the nitty-gritty details of the dos and do nots when living with the sleeve, then it's another day of appointments with anesthesia and pre-op stuff on June 10th, and then the big day. I'm not gonna lie...I'm a lot nervous and I honestly can't even believe that the day is almost here. It felt like just yesterday I made the call to inquire!

I haven't told anyone outside of my husband and kids and I don't plan to. Honestly it's just because I don't want to become THAT PERSON who all anyone ever wants to talk about is the weight loss and the sleeve. I'm way more than that and it would be tough to constantly try and steer conversations away from those two things. I's probably get annoyed. It's tough now with just my husband and I'm still preop, lol.

Are you feeling the nerves get the better of you? I'm trying to distract myself with daily life but it's not working, lol. And hooray for fellow Tanyas! I rarely bump into someone who has the same spelling of my name so this is a treat.

I'm almost to the end of my journey here--I have one scheduled weight check on Friday and then one more before they schedule surgery--and was wondering what you guys who have had surgery do for Vitamins? I've read so much my head is spinning. I'd love to see some daily guidelines/brand recommendations from you guys who are old hats at this stuff!

Thanks for the feedback. Of course I'll be chatting with my doctor on Friday about it but I just wanted to get some idea of what types of Vitamins are working for everyone else. I'd rather not go and buy a bunch of stuff that's just going to sit around in my cabinet if I don't have to and if Flintstone chewables are an alternative, that's awesome to know!

I'm wondering what everyone uses as far as Protein powder is concerned. I don't want to buy a thousand cases before surgery and hate what I bought. I've decided to sample what's on the market and have since tried powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury to test it out and see what I thought before committing (I bought one container chocolate splendor and have loved it so far) but was wondering if there are alternatives out there that I should be looking at and just haven't found. This brand is literally the only one I could find and that's probably because I'm not well versed yet in exactly what to look for. (My nutritionist appt is coming up this Monday and this will be one of the things I ask her.) Unjury has 17 servings and is pretty pricey for what it is. I am guessing that I'll have to commit to some sort of protein supplement for a while until I can pack in that protein using actual food. So who has some good news for me and has found a better deal that tastes great? Anyone?

Thanks so much for all the input. I had no idea there were so many brands to look into! How did you all find them? Was it word of mouth or did your nutritionist introduce them? I really can't wait to see mine on Monday to bring her this list and ask what she thinks and if she has any other suggestions.

I had the option to do 3 months with my surgeon or 6 months with my primary doctor. I opted to do it with the surgeon and was told that if I gained or didn't lose weight at each appt., my insurance would deny coverage. I've been following a strict diabetic/low carb lifestyle from about two weeks before my 1st appt. with my surgeon and started an exercise program (couch to 5k) about a week before that 1st appt. It feels like I'm going to keel over and die every time I open that app to workout but it's worth every step in the long run. So far it's been going about how I thought it would. I lost about 10 pounds in the two weeks from when I started to when I saw the surgeon on the 15th and since then I've come down another 3-4 pounds. I'll see her again the end of next month and I'm determined not to screw this one up, lol.

Thanks so much for the quick reply! It's time to start googling! lol. It looks like I have more choices than I thought!