AK_Bookworm

I'm currently 22 days post op... lost 15lbs within the first week and half to two weeks then gained 2lbs and have been stalled since so I'm about 12-13lbs down since surgery. I've been in a stall for about a week but I see the inches coming off even though I'm stalled.

I was allowed day 2 post op... I showered and the rebandaged my incisions before my flight home

I had the sleeve

Tomorrow I'll be 3 weeks and for the last few days I've been gaining and losing the same 1-3lbs... I am so glad I read about the stall here because I'm mentally prepared to handle it. If I hadn't I would do what I normally do and give up. It sucks since I am only down about 14lbs since surgery BUT that's 14 less than before and hopefully the scale moves soon but if not I see changes so I'm hanging in there. Just wait it will move eventually and search the topic for lots of tips and resources

That's good to know!

I'll be 3 weeks tomorrow and chugging water and not drinking while eating have been so hard to adjust to. I love chugging water and always got a gallon so dropping down to about 40oz is extremely hard for me to accept. I'm working extremely hard to get it up to 64 but it's hard with having to stop before meals and after and also not being able to chug even though my tummy handles fluids well. It makes sense though why we can't.

I have it and no longer use it... the taste was ok for the first week or so but after it stopped mixing well and I just started hating the taste. I'll have to compare the amounts to what I currently take because I don't know if it's enough of everything we need even with both the bariatric and the women's complete

Today is my first day back... I'm 18 days post op. I'm tired but I think it's more from not sleeping last night since my sleep schedule got thrown off while I was home recovering. For the most part I feel good

I don't have post op appointments since I went to Mexico but they've been uncovered with the exception of my drain incision since I'm still getting drainage and it's not fully closed and they have been fine. I did email my doctor also and he did agree that if there was no discharge from them then it is fine to uncover them.

Hey guys... I'm 9 days post op and just wondering at what point do I stop covering my incisions? There wasn't anything in my discharge papers about when to stop just post op care instructions and what signs of infection to look for. 3 of them have scabbed (the fourth is the drain incisions which I will be continuing to cover since it's still open) and though I'm getting some discharge from them it's not much and they no longer hurt and seem to be scabbing but I don't know at what point I should stop covering them or should I keep covering them until the scab has fallen off. My doctor is in Mexico but I can email if needed but thought I would check here first and see what others did.

I wanted DS however I wasn't comfortable having it done in Mexico and not having my surgeon local with such a major surgery (not that the sleeve isn't major but the routing of the intestines worried me) so I decided to do the sleeve. I was over 50 BMI and so far I'm so happy with the sleeve (I'm only 13 days out so I'm far from the poster child for success). Have you figured out who would provide care if there are complications that arise after surgery (I know your primary care doctor is going to provide after care but there could be things that arise that he/she can't handle). I would definitely discuss with both your bariatric surgeon and your primary care to help determine which surgery would be best for you.

Many doctors do charge $500 or so more for BMIs over 50... my BMI was over that however my surgeon didn't charge me more. When you submit your application they'll ask for your height, weight, and likely health questions so the doctor can review it all before approving you for surgery. I wouldn't stress over all of that right now I would go ahead and find the doctor you're comfortable with and proceed. Your labs and testing will be included in the package so if you decide to get them done in the US make sure to take results and check with them ahead of time to see if they would lower the price since you already have that stuff completed. Also any medical stuff you have now I would take (a girl who had surgery the same day as me had an a-fib and took all of her information with her for the cardiologist to review before clearing her). Any good doctor whether her or abroad will have amazing coordinators that are there to help you achieve your ultimate goal so don't hesitate to ask them anything including their refund policy etc.

I had surgery in Mexico and I just saw a testimony from someone who went to my doctor who tried in March but they found a medical condition and couldn't do it... they treated the medical condition and she left without surgery but came back and had it done last week. It happens just as it does in the US but that was he first time I've heard it happening in Mexico. I'm sure you'll pay for whatever testing/treatment they do for you there and then you come back when it's safe for you to. I would ask whatever surgeon you go to what happens in instances like this (I.e deposit, return to try again, etc) because I'm sure each surgeon has different policies

I definitely need to start measuring. I think that will help. I'm crying right now because I'm so scared it's a leak but I really think it's just gas. I eat really fast too so I'm going to start timing my bites to help. Thank you for easing my mind... I figured it was gas but there's always this worry in my leak that it is more than that.

Me too! I don't know if I'm just scaring myself or I really have symptoms of a leak... the pain/pressure under my ribs is intense and radiates to my left shoulder... I start walking when this happens and I have massive burps come out but the pain doesn't immediately subside. It's not a constant pain though... sometimes it feels like fluid is coming from my drain incision. I'm a bit worried but trying not to rush immediately to the ER just because I'm not sure what they will do since my surgery was done in Mexico and I'd hate to go in and it only be gas pains. It started last night after I over ate (I didn't need the soup I ate but I ate it anyway) and after some walking it went away. Today it started after about 15 mins of walking in the mall and would go away when I sat down but it's been prettt consistent on and off since then. I just ate some more soup since I haven't really ate today and feel a bit better and the burps are coming.

Sleeved on the 18th... I am either having serious painful gas pains that are just showing up (I didn't have any right after surgery) or a possible leak. I'm burping a lot so I'm hoping that it's just gas but the realist in me says this is probably more than gas. I'm going to each out to my doctor

I do shower daily and clean them and then recharge the dressings so I'll keep doing that with the drain incision especially since I'm still getting a lot of drainage from it. It looks like most of my stitches have dissolved at this point. I'm going to take pictures and email my doctor and see what he says. I went yesterday without dressings on the 3 incisions that are scabbed and they feel good today but I'll make sure with my doctor. Thank you all!

That's so good to hear... I'm 9 days post op and still haven't got to 64 ounces (I'm getting about half). I fill like I'm stuffing my tummy and still not getting close to the goal. There's hope lol

I am off for two and a half weeks... my first day off was a Weds and I spent that day flying to San Diego and doing pre-op testing in Mexico... next day was surgery and I returned home late Saturday so 4 days for surgery and 2 weeks to recover. Honestly I have another week left off and I feel like I could go back now but I'm going to enjoy my last week.

Definitely!!!! I'm happy with any loss... it's possible that I'm just a slow loser (I didn't lose much during the preop diet either) and I'm ok with that. I'm still learning this new tummy and trying to get more fluids because I haven't been successful with that at all so I'm sure once I get a good food routine down where I know when I'm full and can get all my fluids in I'm sure I'll lose more and if not then that's fine too... any loss is a loss to celebrate to me!! I also think I'm over stuffing so I'm trying to break that habit.

I'm 9 days out and have only lost 6.9lbs from my surgery weight... I'm not stressing it as I know my body is healing so I would give it a couple of weeks.

Thank you!! I think I will remove the dressings today when I change the dressing on my drain incision. I think the drain is just something some doctors do and some don't. I only have stitches on my incisions but I'm extra cautious about incisions since when I had my last c section the doctor only gave me steri strips and a few fell off prematurely and part of my incision never closed (only a really small portion but enough to notice) so I'm super paranoid about incisions now.

Good luck tomorrow!!!

I had a hiatal hernia that was repaired during surgery. I'm sure it will be repaired then but just go over it with the surgeon to be sure

Just wanted to post and say... I DID IT!!!! I am officially sleeved. It feels so surreal like my mind still hasn't registered that I'm here and it's done. Recovery is going AMAZING. No gas pain besides really slight discomfort in my shoulders (which feels better than the acid reflux. Slight discomfort in one area but it's manageable. The staff are amazing!!! I had a hiatal hernia (which I suspected but it hadn't been confirmed until the endoscopy was done yesterday so doctor repaired that while he did the sleeve. I woke easily from anesthesia and have been awake since. There are 4 of us here and out of the 3 of us who had surgery my recovery has been the easiest and fastest. For those second surgery in Mexico DON'T... the care has been nothing short of the best I've had ever. For those second guessing having surgery... DON'T!!! I do not regret a thing!!