CLN.BK

Prior to my surgery, my friends and I bought tickets to a booze cruise on the Hudson River for this Saturday night. I won't be able to partake in the open bar anymore which I am a little disappointed about. I'm worried about my friends asking questions about why I'm not drinking. No one knows I've had the surgery, nor do I want them to know. My go-to drink has always been a vodka tonic with extra lime. I will instead order a Water with lime, so hopefully no one will realize that I'm not drinking. Don't get the wrong idea about my friends... they won't care whether I drink or not. They're awesome. BUT, they will have questions: Am I sick, do I need to go home, every hour asking if I'm feeling okay. I just want to enjoy the night without having to blatantly lie to their faces. Although I'm disappointed that I won't be able to partake like I have in the past, I'm keeping my eye on my longterm future rather than just this weekend.

Fortunately the tickets were free, otherwise I would have been devastated.

It's both. Sometimes it basically looks like Water - very clear. Other times it's a darkish yellow. No odor at all. I will admit to ordering Soup from the Chinese restaurant and draining the broth from it. I'm sure it has a crazy amount of sodium.

I don't feel puffy. The only time I've been sweating is when I walked to the subway station to go to the Jets game tonight. I was profusely sweating and felt like I was going to pass out, so I turned around and went home. My stomach feels bloated though. I know part of it is b/c of the surgery. My Dr. said it would be swollen for 3-4 weeks. I've been waking up around 4am to pee, but then I go right back to bed and sleep until 11. (I'm definitely not used to sleeping so late, but I'm enjoying my 4 weeks off from work.)

One more question... The liquid output is not reflecting the liquid input. I feel like I should be peeing all day considering my Fluid intake. But I'm not. What gives?

Mic drop *boom!* @shelterdog64

You're absolutely correct @julia37 Thank you!

@@GinaCampbell You're taking my statement personally. I'm not directing it towards you. Go pick a fight with someone else. However, allow me to summarize my initial post: -No complications, easy recovery (to answer your question, that is my "experience in the matter") -Therefore, from my perspective (i.e. "experience in the matter") the horrible recoveries that are discussed over and over and over on this board were over-hyped. As another poster mentioned, people with easy recoveries do not post since there is no story to tell. I've read your story in another post. It sounds horrible. I'm sorry for the pain that you've gone through. But my experience was different from yours, thus my perspective is also different from yours. My experience, my perspective, and my post do not diminish or take away from your experience or your perspective. So once again, stop taking my statement personally. Pick a fight with someone else. Best.

@@FloraBama Girl Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist (even in the US). There are no education or training requirements for someone to call herself a nutritionist. This morning, I had an appointment with a Registered Dietician who works exclusively with Bariatric patients. I brought her the post-op diet packet that I was given. She was not impressed and told me to throw it away. We went over a more comprehensive and specific post-op diet. I feel more informed and confident now.

@@FloraBama Girl Luis was my valet, and he was phenomenal. I could not have asked for a better valet. He's awesome. However, he had 4 patients total, so he couldn't be with me or in the old wing every second of the day. Fernando was the night valet and was less than satisfactory. I saw him twice when he and Luis were changing shifts. The only other time Fernando came was when the nurses and I had tried unsuccessfully communicating for nearly an hour. By the time he showed up, it was too late. The doctor had already given me narcotics. If he had been there at any other point before then, he could have told the nurses what I needed (which was not a narcotic).

@@GinaCampbell Hence the reason my statement begins with "From my perspective".

The condos are closed now, so you will most likely be staying in the Holiday Inn. Laundry is not free there. In my carry-on, I packed 2 sets of PJs, flip flops for the shower, a small toiletry kit with travel sizes, Gas X strips, and earplugs. I wore a loose-fitting dress on my way there and the same dress on the way home. I also took a book and my iPad. Wifi wasn't working in my room so I couldn't use it. I did read my book though. There was a TV in my room but no remote. Dr. Illan and Dr. Flores were great. When Dr. Flores visits you, have a list of questions prepared for him. He is super patient, knowledgable, and friendly. Luis (the valet at the hospital) and Juanito (your tour guide at the hotel) were also great. Beware of Rosa; she will make you sign all the consent forms in Spanish and tell you that your surgery will be delayed if you don't sign them. After surgery, she brought me English copies of some of the documents but not all. Also, be prepared that you may or may not have English-speaking nurses. Some people did, but I did not. It was a very difficult and miserable 3 days.

I only had gas pains the first night. I still have gas (5 days post-op), but it's not painful whatsoever. I had difficulty sleeping on the 1st night due to pain and gas, but since then, I sleep like a baby. I've had no problems drinking Water or other liquids. The 1st few days I was actually able to gulp (not chug) the water which surprised me. Now I am at a sipping stage where I can't gulp it anymore, but I still am not having any issues with getting in my liquids. I had a minor headache on nights 2 and 3. There's no way it was due to hydration; I can assure you that I was getting in my water. I'm guessing it was due to changes in my body. No more headaches since then. After reading all the horror stories on here, I was dreading the recovery portion. From my perspective, however, it is over-hyped.

Dr. Illan was great.

Waiting on my cab to get here, and off to Mexico I go! Say a prayer for me that all goes well during surgery.

Wow, I can relate to this on ssooooo many levels. Story of my life.

I was initially scheduled for 4 weeks off work. I had a complication where I had soft-tissue swelling in my lower back, which made it very painful to sit in my desk chair, so I actually ended up working half days for a while once I got back to work. I would definitely recommend 6 weeks off if you can get it. I can definitely get 6 weeks off with FMLA (assuming I only use the expected 4 weeks of FLMA with my sleeve surgery next week. I just need to save up over the next 12 months or so in order to afford it, which is doable. Worst case scenario, I wait until early 2018. Thanks so much for answering all my questions! :-)

@@JamieLogical How much time did you need to take off work in order to recover?

Mine was around $11,000 in all for airfare, recovery house, extended tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, all over lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. But that was back in 2011, so I am sure the pricing has gone up since then and airfare is always a wildcard depending on when you go. In the US I would have probably paid closer to $30,000 and the surgeons in my area aren't exactly the bee's knees, so I might have ended up traveling anyway. Did you have all the procedures at once, or were they split up? Everything you've listed is exactly what I want done. I'd love to knock it out all at one time. How did decide how much fat grafting you wanted for your butt? I think I want a moderate size butt, but I'm not really sure. I don't want it too big b/c I think it'd be a struggle to find pants that properly fit.

I'm not sure that I'm qualified to provide input since I haven't had surgery. Could the carbs in the grits trigger cravings and hunger later on in the day?

I have not been hungry at all. I failed my 1st 2 days due to cravings that I didn't to control. My stomach hasn't been growling nor have I felt dizzy. Physically, the diet has not been hard. Mentally, however, is where I'm struggling. I have to get past the head hunger and cravings. Day 1 I read a post on here asking which foods are missed the most. In hindsight, that move was a horrible decision. I made it though the entire day without any struggles, but after reading that post and all the responses around 10pm, I fell off the wagon and binged on a box of mac and cheese. Day 2 Once again, I made it through the day without any hunger. When I got home, I watched TV and it seemed like every other commercial was about food. Over the course of 1 show, I saw 6 different pizza commercials. I ordered a pizza. I ate over half the pizza by myself. Day 3 No hunger whatsoever. I was prepared when I sat down to watch my show. I had a 32 oz mixing bowl of chicken broth with a bunch of my favorite spices. I drank 1/4 of the broth and 16 oz of Water before sitting down at all. I drank the rest of the broth throughout the episode. I also had 2 sugar free popsicles. Every time a food commercial came on, I put the TV on mute and closed my eyes. I'd peek every so often to see if it went off. Day 4 it's too early to tell since it's not even 1 yet. This morning I had a protein shake even though I wasn't hungry.

Is Fusion a Vitamin?

I'm not telling a soul. The only people who know are my medical team and the wonderful people here on this forum. Adjusting to my new lifestyle will be difficult enough. I don't want to also go through the emotional turmoil of dealing with unsupportive people and their unwelcome opinions. Will things change a year or two down the road? I don't know, but I'll cross that bridge if or when I feel the need to open up.

I failed the 1st two days of my liquid diet b/c of that exact reason! Day 1 I read a post on here asking which foods are missed the most. In hindsight, that move was a horrible decision. I made it though the entire day, but after reading that post and all the responses around 10pm, I fell off the wagon and binged on a box of mac and cheese. Day 2 I was watching TV and it seemed like every other commercial was about food. Over the course of 1 show, I saw 6 different pizza commercials. I ordered a pizza. I ate over half the pizza by myself. Day 3 I was prepared. When I sat down to watch my show, I had a 32 oz mixing bowl of chicken broth with a bunch of my favorite spices. I drank 1/4 of the broth and 16 oz of Water before sitting down at all. I drank the rest of the broth throughout the episode. I also had 2 sugar free popsicles. Truthfully, I have not been hungry at all. Both times I failed were due to cravings that I failed to control. My stomach hasn't been growling nor have I felt dizzy. Physically, the diet has not been hard. Mentally, however, is where I'm struggling. I have to get past the head hunger and cravings.

I'm having surgery on August 5th. I currently weigh 241. I would like to be under 200 by mid-December (4 and a half months). Is this a realistic goal or no?