*susan*

Hi Guys and Gals, I just spent some time reading this thread, and it has become quite volatile. In as much, I am going to remind EVERYONE participating in this thread that even though it is R&R and debates get heated, we need to attack the idea and not the person. If you wish to continue bickering and attacking each other, take that to PM. If you want to talk about God, take that to the God thread. If you want to talk about politics, Obama and politically related items, then do it here. But do it in an intellectual and adult manner. If any of you have a problem with that, I will be happy to put on my admin hat and start issuing infractions and temporary bans if necessary to further enforce my point. Thank you. You may now return to debating politics and attacking IDEAS.

Sweet dreams, Benadryl girl.

Thanks for the offer Daisy. I will just use the site Elisabeth posted, and thank you for posting it Elisabeth.

Oh my gosh, Elisabeth, was it me, or was there someone always in one of the patient rooms in our section or the hallway cleaning? I mean, you could eat off the floors. And you are right, I never have been in the hospital where the doctor has stopped by more than once a day. I have been over the weekend before and never saw the doctor then. Dr. Aceves and his staff were constantly checking on us. I can't believe the good experience I had there and how impressed I was. My husband is a believer now too, and he was very skeptical about going there.

I asked Mac about it one time and I believe she said it is not available online. If it was, I would be all over it!!

Wow, like Plain, you have now also left me speechless, lol. Ebony, . What I don't get is, if there were some things you missed, why didn't they address it at that time? It seems to me they wouldn't take it to the level they did, (i.e., involving the head of HR) unless they had attempted to address these issues previously and were unsuccessful. Was your supervisor on some kind of huge power trip, or what?

Daisy, I just feel extremely full after only two sips of something. I am sure that will improve as the swelling goes down though. Day six post-op and I am feeling pretty good. I am really amazed at how little pain I have encountered with this surgery. The only time I have taken pain pills is before bed to help me sleep. Last night I didn't, and regretted it because it can get uncomfortable trying to sleep with the incisions. So, I will probably continue to take them for a few more nights at bedtime. Dr. Aceves said I might have a bit more pain, because of the removal of the liver tumors, but I haven't had any, so I am thankful for that. I do find that I get tired very easily though. A mid afternoon nap seems to be my thing right now. I started on my treadmill last night. Nothing too strenuous, just a nice, slow, steady walk for about 15 minutes was all. I am going to work my way back up. He said I could start my cardio exercise this week, but to wait about six weeks before I get back into the weight training. Getting in all my fluids is still a huge challenge. I am hoping by Sunday, when I get to move to full fluids I will be able to take in a bit more. Right now, I am only averaging about 100 calories a day. I never thought I would see that happen. I actually feel like I could go back to work tomorrow. If I did, I would probably close my door at lunch and take a nap in my office. But, I decided I have the time built up, so I am just going to go ahead and take it easy the rest of this week and return to work on Monday.

Same here. We really dislike "used food" in our house. I thought oysters were aphrodisiacs, not dream makers? The only "fish" I like is clam strips, Alaskan snow crab legs and tuna fish. I have a helluva craving for tuna fish right now. Ebony, I hope everything goes well tomorrow. Don't be intimidated by them and make sure you stand up for yourself. Denali XL Plain, once again you have left me nearly speechless. Now, will someone please get me some clear liquid tuna fish!

MacMadame, didn't you used to have a link to a sleeve group on the daily plate in your signature?

Thanks, Elisabeth. I am almost done with my 2nd glass of water right now. Plus, I think he said we could count our broth towards our fluid intake, so that helps. I definitely don't want to end up in the ER. I have had enough hospitals and IV's to last me for quite a while!!

Yummy, meatballs!

I posted on another thread, I am having a horrible time getting my water in, let alone protein. I take two sips of water and feel stuffed. I have given up on protein until Sunday when I go on full liquids. I just entered my calories on daily plate for yesterday. I had 120 calories. That included 3 meals of chicken broth and a sugar free Popsicle. On a good note, I hopped on the scale this morning. I have lost 10 pounds thus far. Yay, me.

Let me know how you like that broth. I might try some. I am sending my daughter to the store this afternoon. I just finished entering my calories on daily plate for yesterday and today. Yesterday, I had Soup broth 3 times and a sugar free popsicle and could not eat another bite. I had a whopping 120 calories total for the day!!

I can't imagine that right now. I take two sips of my water and am stuffed!! I am having a horrible time even coming close to getting my water in. Protein, I have given up on even trying until I can get to full liquids. I have not once experienced hunger, head or otherwise, since Thursday.

Thanks, Irene. I am feeling pretty good today.

Bob, I wish you the best possible outcome with your surgery. If you have done your research, and are comfortable and confident with your choice, then best of luck to you. I had surgery with Dr. Aceves a few days ago and it was a truly wonderful experience. I hope your experience goes as well with whatever doctor you choose.

Mac, you have done amazing and are a huge inspiration to all of us!!!!

I have given up trying to fight the battle on my own. I go every week to the salon and have my eyebrows and upper lip done. $15.00 well spent in my opinion.

Hey everyone, just popping in to say "hi" before I take a little nap. I am still exhausted from all the flying yesterday. Ya'll post a ton, I am too tired to even attempt to catch up on everything that was posted while I was out. Did I miss anything exciting?

Hey Everyone, I am back home and resting. I am so glad to be here, that 8 hours of plane rides was miserable. Like Elisabeth, I got pretty uncomfortable sitting there. The worst part was, we were experiencing so much turbulence that the captain wouldn't let anyone out of their seats. Dr. Aceves said he removed two full vascular tumors from my liver. Initial pathology results show they are benign. He expects the final results, which I should have in a week or so, to be the same. I am very relieved to hear that. Thank you everyone so much for your concerns. We had a lot of messages on our cell phone voicemail when we got home, but apparently, the calls weren't going through in Mexico, so we missed them. Elisabeth, I am glad it wasn't just me that thought my room was freezing, I must have had eight blankets on me. I had problems with nausea the entire time, so they didn't take my IV out until late Saturday night. I always have problems with that after anesthesia though. Saturday afternoon I went for my final leakage test. Oh my goodness, the stuff they make you drink for that is the worst tasting stuff you could ever imagine drinking times ten!!! It was absolutely horrid. But, everything looked great. I am actually not in pain, per se'. I am a bit uncomfortable around the drain area. The most uncomfortable spot is where the port was removed from. But as far as any type of real severe pain, I am not experiencing any at all. WASa, you mentioned the burning from having the port removed. I am relieved to report that I am not experiencing any of that either. I did have some gas pain in my left shoulder, but walking really did seem to help with that. My husband and I had to laugh, I never had so many people interested in whether or not I was passing gas. It seemed like every five minutes someone was asking if I was. When I finally did, my husband thought perhaps we should throw a party or something. They were pretty happy when I told them I had finally pooted. Right now, the biggest problem I am having, and sorry if this is too much information, is with the diarrhea. Like they say, liquids in, liquids out. Unfortunately, I am having trouble getting enough warning and barely make it to the bathroom. I just took a does of Imodium and am hoping that helps. Oh, and as serious mentioned, I am finding I am really kind of turned off by the sweet tasting things right now as well. I can't wait until Sunday, when I can go on full liquids. Like Elisabeth, I am finding myself craving tomato Soup, and cream of chicken soup. That is about all the updates I have for now. Maybe tomorrow I will brave the scales.

Elisabeth, it sounds like you are doing great! Congrats on the seven pound weight loss. I had so much problems with nausea, that they didn't take my IV out until late Saturday night. So, I have been afraid to step on the scale for fear of seeing a gain!!!

Hi all. I am alive. I am jealous of Elisabeth, lol. She seems to be handling this so much better than I. I had my sleeve yesterday morning. During the process, Dr. Aceves didn't like the discoloration of my liver, so he biopsied it. I should have the results tomorrow. He then had to close me up without having removed my port. I had quite a bit of nausea yesterday, but little to to no pain. This morning, I started vomiting, so they have to give me more meds to stop that. I went back into surgery about 11:00 and had my port removed. I was back in my room within 45 minutes. I did have my lovely blue apple juice, and there was no leakage, which was a good thing. Then, my IV quit working, so they took it out. Unfortunately, the nausea came back and they had to put it back in my other hand to give me more medicine for it. I vomitted a few more times, and believe me, that is not a comfortable feeling at all. Right now I am sitting up, typing this and drinking my tang. Yummy, lol. I sure hope tomorrow is a better day. Will update again soon.

Hey everyone!! PJTP from my hotel room in Mexicali, Mexico. If you want all the details of how things are going, check out my thread in the sleeve forum. I wanted to stop in and say hi real quick, and thank all of you that have sent me well wishes via pm, facebook, email, etc. It is much appreciated. Now, I am exhausted and need a nap before dinner. Oh, and I have to ice my broken toe. Yes, I fell when I got up this morning and broke my second toe on my left foot. No bad omens, please!! Talk to ya soon!

Hey everyone! I am sitting here at the hotel in Mexicali relaxing for a bit. Let me tell you, the day did not start off well, and I hope it isn't a bad omen. I woke up, tripped, and broke my second toe on my left foot. Ouch. You should have seen me trying to walk around the airport. But, I have plenty of time for it to heal at least. I am exhausted. We left our house at 3:30 a.m. this morning. This was only the second time I have ever flown, so I was a bit nervous. The short flight from Jacksonville to Atlanta was very turbulent because of all the storms. But, the flight from Atlanta to San Diego went fine, it was just long, 4 1/2 hours. The driver was there at the airport waiting to pick us up. I would say he was definitely the scariest part of the trip. His driving scared me to death!!! But, the scenery along the way kept my mind off of it because it was absolutely amazing! So beautiful and different from Florida, where everything is flat. Our first stop was the hospital. It is very nice, very clean and very modern. I was quite impressed. But, I have to say I was even more impressed with the staff. They were absolutely amazing. They went out of there way to make sure we were comfortable and they made sure to include my husband in everything that was going on. I had blood work, EKG, Chest x-ray and a Florou done. One of the doctors explained the procedure in detail to us. And, the other lady, unfortunately I can't remember her name, went over paperwork, post-op diet, wound care, etc. They gave me ativan and an antibiotic that I am to take before 10:00 tonight. They will pick me up at 7:00 a.m. Mexicali time tomorrow morning. My surgery is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. They said it will take about two hours, and then I will spend two hours in recovery before returning to my room. We are now relaxing at the hotel for a bit before we go to dinner so I can ice my toe. I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel as well. It is very, very nice. And, as with the hospital, the staff here are amazing. I was going to check in on Elisabeth, but she was still in surgery. They said her and I will definitely meet up tomorrow when we are walking the halls. I look forward to meeting her in person. Well, that is all the updates I have for now. As soon as I am feeling up to it, I will post on how everything went with the surgery. P.S. WASa, you are right, everything here is wonderful. No need for people to be worried about going to Mexico for surgery if they choose the right doctors to go to. Thank you a million times over for all the wonderful advice and support you have given me as I prepared for this surgery. It is much, much appreciated!!

Ok guys, I was fed up with all the spam, etc. I was getting on myspace. So, I recently created a facebook account. I wanted to see if any other LBT'ers are on facebook as well?