TRClark23

I had my first post-op appointment yesterday. My surgeon told me to just keep following the stages on the handout and scheduled my next appointment for three weeks from now. He told me to go ahead and start eating eggs and other foods that I could smash with a fork (that was kinda broad, but I know what he meant, lol) when y'all make your eggs, do you add anything extra to them to make them softer? Usually when I make a scrambled egg, I'll use butter and heavy cream to get them fluffy, but I know that neither are a go right now. Y'all don't know how appreciative I am to have this group to be able to interact with people that are going through the same things I am. Thanks for your help!

Double post.

Quick update… I had my first post-op appointment with my surgeon yesterday. Everything has been going extremely well. No nausea, no problems with the liquids, nor with the soft foods like hummus, cream of wheat, or grits. I had the staples removed from my surgical incisions, thankfully! My surgeon was kinda vague though. Told me that as long as I had no problems to keep progressing according to the handout and that he’d see me in three weeks. He told me to proceed to eggs and foods that I could mash with a fork, so I bought some instant potatoes and I’m looking forward to that. I bought the original Sabra Hummus and after about a month on liquids only, it’s been amazing! I weighed in at 339lbs, so to date I’m down 46lbs since starting my journey and down about 22lbs since surgery. I’m not going to complain about 11lbs a week since surgery, though I know it’s not going to last.

Congrats on your success and reaching your mini goal! That sounds like a great idea. I’ll be honest, I’m hopeful to be around the 100lbs lost mark by Halloween. It’s a pretty big goal but I figure I’m already down almost 40lbs, so 60lbs in 4 months should be doable. I’m excited for the future, which if you asked me two weeks ago, I was nervous and apprehensive, lol.

That’s a good tip, I’ll look into it for sure. When I last talked to my surgeon he told me that it should help with acid reflux and I’ll be honest, knock on wood, I haven’t had any yet.

So, I woke up Friday evening around 5pm in my room. I have no idea how long the surgery was and I have no idea how long I was in recovery. I was told during a nurse shift change that I'd had a hernia repaired as well, which was news to me. The nurse allowed me to keep the leg massagers on which was nice. My mouth was SO dry and they said I could have ice chips. They brought in a 64oz cup full of ice, then got mad when I said there munching on ice, lol. Around 9pm, the nurse asked me if I wanted to walk around the hospital wing and I said I did. At first she was worried that I'd fall, but I was pretty comfortable on my feet and did 10 laps around the wing. She seemed impressed and told me that I'd be surprised to know how many people have the surgery and refuse to walk. A few hours later, I had really bad chest pain and no one seemed to know what it was. One nurse claimed it was gas pain, another said that it was probably associated with one or more of the incisions, another claimed it probably had to do with the hernia fix or the tube they shoved down my throat. Saturday morning, after being told all day that I couldn't eat or drink anything, they brought in a breakfast tray with a cup of chicken broth, a jello cup, and a bottle of water with a crystal light packet. I appreciated that and was able to get about three sips out of the broth, a couple small bites of the jello, and a couple sips of the crystal light. The flavor was lemonade and it was wonderful. I then asked the nurse if I could walk again and she agreed. At this point, I wanted to up my laps from 10 to 20. On lap 17, my surgeon appeared in the hallway and told me that he was glad to see me walking. He asked if I was able to keep down the liquids that I'd been given and I said that I had. He asked if I had any nausea or anything, which I didn't, then he asked me if I wanted to be discharged or spend a 2nd night in the hospital, I chose to take the discharge, though I probably should have stayed. Currently, I'm able to sip liquids but I'm not getting even close to the suggested 4oz an hour. I notice that after I sip, I have brief stomach pain. I assume that I'm probably going to have it for at least a week, which is okay I guess. It's only a brief pain, then goes away. I was prescribed Tylenol 3 with codeine for pain and bought a pill crusher, which is a PITA, but it works okay. To date, I started my journey at 385lbs, I went to my surgery at 361lbs, and I stepped on the scale today and weighed in at 348lbs. It's hard for me to imagine that I lost 13lbs between Friday morning and Sunday, but maybe the lack of eating over the last 3-4 days and the stomach removal is what did it for me? I have no idea, but this has been an interesting journey and I'll looking forward to what comes next.

Thank you 😊

My surgeon stopped by the hospital today and I’m getting discharged at noon. I asked when he’d remove the staples and he said in about a week. Sounds good to me.

Yea, on the outside to close the six wounds, lol

I had my surgery this morning and it was interesting. They told me to be here at 7am, I didn’t get called back until 8:30. after stripping nude (they didn’t even let me keep my underwear on!) I scrubbed down with their antibacterial wipes and put on a paper gown that didn’t fit. I was in the pre-op room for about an hour before my surgeon checked in on me, then another hour before the anesthesiologist checked in on me. I got to watch all of part one Spider-Man and some of part two. Then the anesthesiologist walked in and said he wasn’t going to knock me out yet but would help me relax. I fell asleep and next thing I know I’m in recovery. I generally feel great but my chest hurts. No one seems to know why .

Thanks, I just walked 10 laps around the floor and it was okay. Chest pain didn’t subside, so they gave me some pain meds. Hopeful to get out of here no later than Sunday. My surgeon used staples, is that common? I was expecting dissolving stitches and glue, lol.

Thanks, I’m awake! Supposedly everything went well! they said I have two hours before I can walk though. The gas pain in my chest is unreal.

Thank you, I'll do that!

My surgery is in a couple hours and I'm about to head to the hospital. Wish me luck! Pray for me... lol.

Thank you for that response! My surgery is Friday and we’re going to Florida in August before the kids start school and I was wondering about that too!

I just opened my case of Fairlife Chocolate Protein shakes and wow are they great! It almost feels like I’m probably not supposed to have it, it’s so good! 😂 I’ll be on the lookout for strawberry banana! Virtually all of my local stores just have vanilla and chocolate. I thought I got lucky finding root beer float and cafe latte. the cafe latte are great too, but I put them aside temporarily because they have caffeine and I’m trying to avoid it. It was a pain to get myself off of Diet Coke. 😬

That's pretty wild about everything tasting disgusting, but I've heard from a bunch of different people that after the surgery, your tastes for things will change. I hate to hear that you're having hunger pains. I was under the impression that hunger will go away for a long time, at least that's what my doctor told me. Hope you can keep the eggs down!

I have a case of those too waiting on stand by! lol... I'm about to start on a case of Cafe Latte, I'm not going to hold my breath!

Thank you! I really appreciate your response. At first, I thought trying to stick to this liquid diet was going to be super hard because everyone I've seen in videos on YouTube talk about how tough it is and how they've cheated on it several times... aside from a burned tongue and lip from broth, lol, it's been okay. I'm really looking forward to having a healthier lifestyle.

I started my liquid diet this morning. I don't think it's going to be that bad. So far today I've had two 11oz Premier Protein shakes (Several months ago I bought the Vanilla and Chocolate and thought they were both kinda gross, but I found a case of limited edition "Root Beer Float" flavored shakes at Sam's Club and they're great!) about 60 oz of broth, and a couple Jello cups and I feel pretty good. I can't believe that my surgery date is only a week away. It's been month after month after month of waiting, and now it seems like it's coming up faster than a rocket sled on rails!

Thank you! I'm wrapping up day one now. It hasn't been that bad (so far) I've had two Premier Protein shakes (I found a limited edition Root Beer Float flavor that's really good at Sam's Club) about 60 ounces of broth, and a couple Jello cups. I think I'll do okay, but I'm thankful that my surgeon is only making me do one week instead of two or three, lol.

I feel for you, I have to start my liquid diet on Thursday and NOT looking forward to it! 😂

Everyone’s surgeon seems to give different guidelines. Mine won’t allow me to drive myself to or from the surgery and told me absolutely no work for at least two weeks and no heavy lifting for a month.

My surgery date is June 23rd, I'm a nervous wreck and I'm absolutely NOT looking forward to the clear liquid diet. I'm thankful that my surgeon is only making me do a week. I've read and seen videos of people having to go 3-4 weeks or more!

I had my final pre-surgery appointment with my surgeon today, it was my pre-op appointment. My surgery was supposed to be scheduled for 6/16, but I found out that it was pushed to the 23rd because my surgeon is going on vacation. I have to start my clear liquid diet on 6/15 and I'm not looking forward to that. Aside from that, I have to pre-register the week of the 23rd and do a blood test and that's all I have left. I'm actually kinda scared and worried. Aside from a sleep study test, I've never stayed in a hospital overnight, let alone had any surgeries or anything. I was reading online that that death rate for this surgery is 1 in 1,000. I nervously asked my surgeon today if he'd done a lot of these sleeve surgeries and he responded that he'd completed his 1,000th not too long ago... 😬😂 My biggest concern is blood clots and dying from it. I have four kids and three of them are under 7 years old. My doctor is a general surgeon that specializes in gastric sleeve. Initially I wanted the full bypass surgery but he told me that he didn't do it. That it was "physiologically not natural." In the area that I live in, I had two surgeons that accepted my insurance, him and another guy that's from another country and was a couple hours away, so I decided to go with him and trust him. He's been pretty great so far. I've had countless people (not surgeons or experts) telling me that the sleeve would be useless for someone that needed to lose over 80lbs. Then again, I've seen people telling their stories on YouTube that had the sleeve and lost 150-200lbs. It's hard to really know what to believe. I know that I need help, regardless. I'm sorry for the long pointless post, but I wanted to post my thoughts and feelings, if for nothing more than to look back on them in the future.