Finding_Stacy

Dr. Alverdy at the University of Chicago does it too and also laparoscopically!

All your fears are common and quite valid, but I just want to touch on the hypothyroidism. I have it and take a mighty dosage of 175mcg daily. And you know what? I still took 20 pounds off within 7 days after my surgery--losing total of 34 pounds since 4/15. I'm losing 2 1/2 pounds a day, so it is possible to lose normally with hypothyroidism. Good luck and you'll do fine. I had mine out 8 days ago and feel perfectly normal. I'm driving, shopping, going to baseball practices etc., and I even had my gallbladder out at the same time with my vsg. The first few days are tricky, but by the fourth day you're approaching the top of the hill and the rest is a breeze. Good Luck!!!

I don't know if you like cranberry juice, but the first four days, until I could drink water easily again, I was drinking Ocean Spray's Diet cranberry juice. I wouldn't say it was the best stuff on the planet but it helped with the bladder to recover after surgery and it's only 5 calories for 8 oz.

My pureed plan is whatever what was on the hospital menu for pureed diets that they gave me. For instance, they have scrambled eggs on the menu, so even though it's not a pureed food it's allowable. I try to eat a scrambled egg every morning but usually can only eat a quarter of it. I've been eating a 1/4 cup of Oikos vanilla greek yogurt (in the black container). I have the sugar free popsicles and sugar free pudding but haven't really eaten them. I've been getting in a shake and a half everyday of the premier protein shakes, but it's work. On surgery day I was 362, and today, I am 345.0 exactly. That's 17 pounds in one week! 32 pounds since 4/15. Mind boggling. For the first time I have little ankles and my feet aren't swollen. My body is finally able to heal itself and it's happening for me and for you

This was me on Tuesday night. I didn't go for six days and at 1 in the morning the constipation kicked in. I didn't know what to do with myself. The day of surgery they started me on a stool softener, but damn, that was a rough couple hours until the diarrhea began to happen. Then I was on the toilet every half hour for 24 hours. The good news is that I blew through ten pounds but it was not fun. Does your doctor have you on a softener or milk of magnesia?

Congratulations! I had my surgery on Monday, April 24th...so I'm six days post-op today. I too have the lovenox injections, twice a day. They're not as bad as I thought. I inject them into my lower stomach, alternating sides per shot. The worse part for me is that in my main incision site, where they take the stomach, and in my case, the gallbladder too, they had to leave it open. So that means, twice a day, my husband has to pack it with gauze and the incision is probably three inches deep. I guess the doctor did this because my gallbladder was full of stones and infected and he had the hardest time trying to get it out. He was afraid of an infection, so I guess this is how they head that challenge on--packing a wound . I will say my right side where they took my gallbladder out, and where my drain was, are the two areas where I have pain, other than that, I'm pretty good. I will say, six days out is 100% better than 3 days out. It's amazing how fast the body heals itself. An hour after I got to my room they put me on clear fluids, which all I could do was sip some water here and there, and by the second day I've been on pureed foods. So, as I'm writing this, I have my quarter cup of Oikos greek yogurt that I'm working on. Everyday it's getting easier to get food down, like a quarter of a scrambled egg this morning, but I'm not hitting 64 grams of protein or anything. It's not easy getting the protein and fluids down, but our bodies need both badly to heal itself and so we have to chug along. Good luck and it only gets easier--concentrate on that!!! Oh, and edit to add that I went off my pain meds as soon as I got home. I think that was the best thing ever. I had no more nausea or mental fogginess...

This was me on December 17, 2016. I thought by having everything done beforehand, that would insure a quick surgery date. Nope. I know it's unbelievably frustrating at times, but you just have to know that your time will be your time. I actually pushed it out of my mind for a couple of months until I was a month out. If I didn't go on vacation, my surgery would've been 3 months after my first appointment, but it ended up being four months out...and in the end, I became happy with an April date. It will happen, sooner rather than later. Time flies and you'll be on that operating table before you know it. Good luck!

Wow, great post. It's super helpful!

Oh, I'm so sorry. That sounds truly awful! I hope you get a proper answer soon, but I'll throw something out from what I read in the past. Could it be that your sleeve is too small or tightened at some point after surgery? I feel like I'll end up walking this fine line of not overeating but not under eating so the sleeve doesn't get narrow.

I'm 3 days out and this is where I'm at. Also, if I drink 2 ounces of my protein shake, how soon after does that start to move out of the stomach so I can sip water? It's so hard to judge when I have no gauge for fullness, hungry, or thirsty. It's so bizarre, but a good bizarre.

I'm so glad you ended up doing your surgery. Don't you feel proud of yourself that you actually made it? I know I do. I was surprised how I never got nervous beforehand. Not in pre-op or in the surgery room. I was joking with the anesthesiologist and I'm sure she wanted to knock my ass out immediately, because she did. i just had 2 ounces of that proti soup (chicken flavor). It was delicious. I drank it out of my sippy 360 cup . Do you have any kind of appetite at all? I'm having trouble distinguishing between being hungry or experiencing gas, and being full when I feel like I need to burp. It's so bizarre--and so worth it. Yay, we made it!!! Good luck to all of you about ready for surgery. Just focus on how everything your experiencing that first day is only temporary and just a small step towards a healthier you

Hi guys! i haven't done any update because I've been just so out of it. I had my surgery Monday morning at 7:10 and they took my gallbladder out too. I guess it was infected and full of stones, causing scar tissue to form on my pancreas so my healing has been a little rough. I will say, I had no pain from my stomach area and they had me drinking liquids an hour after surgery and puréed foods by the second day. I have zero appetite so, yeah, I haven't eaten since Saturday night and not sure if I'm feeling hunger pains or gas juices. The good news is is that I lost 22 pounds in the last two weeks and that's including this water that I'm still bloated with from all the iv fluids they push. It's weird, I read so much about the gas pain and that's what I was prepared for but never ended up having any. I also could drink just fine right away so, I don't know, it just feels unusual. They had me swallowing pain pills in post-op and I remember that surprising me. I am afraid of pushing my limits, so I've been sipping water or sugar free cranberry juice every five minites or so. The constipation-then diarrhea-- was something else all together. If I could give one piece of advice is to make sure you're taking your stool softeners starting a week before. Your body will thank you for that.

My surgery is tomorrow morning at 7:10, but I've been at the hospital for the research study for the last two days. They control my diet and menu and there are specific times I can eat. But today I started the clear liquids, five times a day. This blows. I give my hat off (if I wore one) to all you mandatory liquid dieters. I've been stuck in a bedroom since 5 o'clock Friday night and not allowed to leave or sleep until my allotted bed time. Bored out of my mind I am, with a pretty bad caffeine headache for two days now. I'm still not nervous about the surgery. I'm actually looking forward to it to escape this jail I've been in. So, good luck to all you 24'thers tomorrow. Just think, by Tuesday the surgery will already be in our rear view mirror.

My surgery is Monday morning at 7:10. The biggest thing that threw my surgery schedule off is that I went on a cruise for a week and Florida for a week. They didn't want me flying within six weeks after surgery so I had to wait until afterwards. But when I went to my first appointment Dec. 21, 2016, I had every test I could possibly need already done and with me for that first appointment. I had my sleep study, mammogram, chest X-ray, ultrasound, a ton of lab work...I mean everything. I thought it might help in getting a date sooner, but I learned I can't rush their order/system. My biggest mistake was waiting a month for a letter they said would come that would officially welcome me into the program and tell me what I still needed to do. I waited for four weeks and nothing came. When I finally called, I found out they were running behind because of the holidays, but when you're nice, they'll slip your name onto the top pile. By the time I found that out I would've needed to have my surgery within three weeks to make that six week 'no fly' cut off, and it just didn't happen. Oh well. It all worked out like it should.

The decaf part isn't bad. We're not having caffeine for so long, it's probably good to not reintroduce it. Who knows. From what I hear and keep reading, the taste buds change and I might not even like it or want it anymore.

Hey, congratulations! I lost a couple of months because I wasn't as proactive in the beginning. I could've had this surgery in February, but oh well. Spring is a time of rebirth--for flowers and trees and us sleeves.

Who submits in the mail this day and age? Excuses, excuses. Hopefully soon they'll actually submit it for real.

I have blue cross/blue shield of Illinois and my approval came within five hours. What I suggest doing is call your insurance company. They could've already approved you but haven't sent the letter yet. Actually, I got my letter a week after the approval. I only knew because the case manager for my surgeon's office called me to let me know it happened so quick.

I have a 60 bmi and my doctor is doing the same thing. Clear liquids 24 hours only before surgery. He's been doing bariatric surgeries for over thirty years. He knows what he's doing. If he feels 24 hours of liquids is enough, who am I to argue. I think many of these doctors who require a 2 weeks of liquids will probably drop that sooner rather than later. My doctor used to do that but realized it doesn't make that much difference.

Oh, I'm no martyr. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't getting paid so well. I can't say I'd do all this for even $500. Ok, that was a lie, I probably would've. It's one of the first studies done on the effects of bariatric surgery on our metabolism and also on diabetes. They need patients who aren't diabetic, or have heart problems, to be tested on. Last week they took an extraordinary amount of blood from me while shooting me up with two giant tubes of sugar water. My fasting glucose went from 76 to 300 in ten minutes, then they shot me with insulin to start bringing it down. So I had an IV in both arms, one to shoot up and one to take out. I looked like a heroin pro. So, for four hours I had to lie in a hospital bed, with nothing to eat for 20 hours, and not moving or changing positions and no sleeping. I have low hemoglobin and not technically allowed to be in this study but they threw some 'slow fe' my way and called it day. But for the first 40 minutes after the intravenous sugar injections, they drew a vile of blood every 2 minutes for 40 minutes. Then drew a vile of blood every 10 minutes, for 40 minutes, 20 minutes for 1 hour until the four hours was up. It wiped me out. I'll have to do that and the fat biopsy again in three months. The doctor doing the five year study said that bariatric surgery for some reason cures diabetes even before the patient loses a significant amount of weight. They're just trying to understand why on some of us lab rats. Also I heard that sleep apnea seems to go away relatively fast afterwards too for some unknown reason. All in all, us sleevers are wrapped up in a scientific break through. We're lucky to be able to do this!

You have me in tears...of laughter, here. No, I was completely sober and there was no catchy music playing. Slipped on water walking to my lounger from the kid's area. It landed me in bed for twenty-four hours and I missed seeing St. Thomas-which is my favorite island. Oh well. I'd still rather be laid up on a cruise ship in the Caribbean than at home. First world problems right here.

Hopefully I'll be able to come home Tuesday night, if everything goes well--so four nights. I tried talking the doctor who's heading this study into adding a lower body life 360 onto the testing board, but she laughed. Hard. I'm guessing that's a 'no' but I'm holding out hope it just might turn into a 'yes', but most likely only on opposite day. But they're paying $2850 for four months of my time, where only two weeks, and two biopsies, are the invasive part, so it's hard to say no. It should pay for my co-pay for the surgery.

Look at you, you're in the 200's!!! Congratulations!

This made me laugh I had a skiing accident at 16, so my right knee has always been bad. But last year, when my husband had a major stroke, my left knee went out for a couple of months, so now I have to be careful of twisting both knees--which I did on the cruise ship two weeks ago when I fell. I'm sorry to hear about your cancer (s). I hope it's behind you. I had a rare 1 in a 100,000 kind of cancer when pregnant with twins when I was 26. I went through 67 treatments of chemotherapy in six months. Even though it's in the past, the lingering effects of sustaining my body for that kind of treatment haunts me in the form of obesity (too many steroids). To directly speak to someone you just hit 'quote' at the bottom right corner of their post.

Oh, I wish. He said it will be about two hours. I'm getting my gall bladder out as well, and a fat biopsy (mini liposuction ), that's part of this research study. I'm not sure how much added time that will take, I wouldn't think too much. I have to go to the hospital Friday night (tomorrow at 5) since I'm part of University of Chicago's research study. I'm wearing a watch they gave me, swallowed a sensor, will be stuck to a bedroom until Monday morning at 5 am. I'll have to do saliva tests every half hour until 11 pm and blood pressure as well. I'm going to be so frickin bored that I'm actually looking forward to getting sliced open just to be done and able to go home.