barefootinablacksea

Hey all you twenty-somethings! I thought I'd let you know how I'm going to give you a bit of encouragement if any of you are yet to be sleeved. I got out of hospital a little over a week ago and I'm doing absolutely terrific! After all the reading I've done on this site of other people's issues post-surgery with getting food down I was a bit spooked by it all. So far so good - I've been able to eat absolutely everything I need to with no hassles what-so-ever. Milk is fine, fibrous food is fine and even Protein is fine (though it doesn't take much protein to get me full). I thought I'd share it with you because I personally was really worried about how much discomfort I would be in when eating. I'm not sure if it's because of my age, that maybe I've healed really quickly but it could be that. So don't get too worried about it - just go with the flow and test yourself but try not to overdo it. I did have one sliming incident but that because the nurses were forcing me to have some jelly the next day after surgery. I encourage burping early on in recovery - it really helps you feel better, especially cause our new stomachs don't have as much room for storing gases as our old ones did! Good luck to you all - you'll do great!

I believe that it's actually hunger. I'm exactly the same and it's not acid reflux or indigestion cause I take my medication for that and when I forget to sometimes, I get indigestion and it's a different sensation. I first noticed the feeling a little while after the surgery, when I'd wake up first thing in the morning especially. My doctor says the sensation is a little different for everyone - because the portion of the stomach that removed produces the hunger hormone ghrelin - for some it may be an emptiness for others it's a rumbling. Plus the hunger every two to three hours thing is the same thing for me and sometimes I worry that I won't lose much weight at all - but I know that in comparison to what I was eating before it's only a fraction.

Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone out there who'd had a leak and therefore a collection of any size could give me some advice. Some of you may know that I had a collection about the size of a golf ball on my stomach which was drained to about half the size but because the collection is so far up it was difficult to get to and the rest has been left. My doctor tells me that my body will naturally clear the rest of it away. So what I want to know is how long does it take for this to be removed from the system. In week 2 and 3 after my surgery, I felt phenomenal - no throwing up, no nausea, no stomach cramps or anything. Since I got sick and had a stent put in and removed and had the collection half drained it hasn't been quite the same. I'm doing a lot better than when I was sick obviously but I've been getting stomach cramps when I eat, and my bras push down exactly on the spot so I can't wear them for very long. How long til you felt 'normal' again?

For the past couple of days my whole stomach area has been sore again - especially when I take a big breath intake like a yawn. Plus it hurts to hiccup/burp in my oesophagus even though I'm still taking my Pariet. Is it possible that I've slept wrong and damaged the incision points? Before this I hadn't had any pain since the first week and a half. I've also been really lethargic, weak feeling and less hungry. Need help... What does it feel like to have a leak? What should I look out for?

You're absolutely right, stress is a major implication in premature aging. When we are stressed our body excretes a hormone called cortisol which sets off a whole set of processes. If it's an immediate stressor it sets off the fight or flight response but if it becomes chronic, collagen gets broken down and our sensitivity to insulin and leptin is affected. Which is why lots of people put on weight when they are going through a prolonged stressful period. Nutrition also plays a big part. The reason why people are all over Omega 3s now is because aside from heart health, circulatory health and brain health it also provides the body with a pathway for producing more collagen. They tell us we need to eat lots of fish but that's only because nowadays most of the meat/dairy people consume is grain fed. Once upon a time livestock was grass fed which is where they would get their omegas from and that would provide us with the omegas but a lot of meat and dairy is relatively omega poor. Exercise is the other key - but not because you need to do lots of it - far from. If you exercise for longer than 45mins/1hour your cortisol levels start to rise putting your body back in stress mode. You're better off sticking to short bursts of 20 minutes once or twice a day. Hope that helps some - probably not tho.

Glad to hear you're at home at least. I've been in and out of hospital myself with a stent and picc lines and pigtail drains and all that but on a much lesser scale than you're suffering. It's rough - the stent made me so nauseated, I can't imagine the prospect of having it in for 6 months. There were times too when I felt so stupid for doing the whole thing in the first place and even more stupid that I couldn't just lose weight on my own. When people find out what you have had too, they ask you if you've lost any weight and when you're sitting there in hospital like that you think to yourself "Who cares?" I'd rather be fat and outta here and normal again. But you can come out the other side. That's what I'm still aiming for - normality. We'll get there eventually. It's a kick in the guts but try to remember it's not gonna go on forever.

Thanks for all your support everyone - it's much appreciated. I didn't make it more than another week past my last post before I started to get a fever again. I called the doctor and was put back into hospital (again!) that night. The next day they removed the stent *relief* and I immediately felt 100% better. My body wanted it out so much, it was such an unnatural feeling. Then I had another bariam swallow and they couldn't see any sign of a leak so I was released pretty quickly after that. Went back on to fluids and now mushies and I'll see the doctor next week. If I have any advice to anyone post-surgery it's that if you feel nauseated or feverish or put off your food - DO NOT HESITATE to see your doctor.

Go back to your surgeon! Don't self medicate or try to mask the symptoms - it's not worth the risk. The sooner you do the quicker you will find out if there's something more serious going on or not.

Well hello again! Thanks for all your support. I've only just arrived home from the hospital yesterday. When I last updated I was awaiting the results of a bariam swallow (Ct done standing while swallowing the undiluted contrast *yuck*). This time they were actually able to see a very small leak. So the hematoma turned out to be just a collection of everything I've been eating over the past month. So small that it didn't even make me sick until the collection started to get sizable. Safe to say I'm very sick of hospitals now . I had that bariam swallow on the monday, on the tuesday I had the very uncomfortable experience of having a drain put in under local anaesthetic and then straight into surgery again under sedation. The doctor actually did an endoscopy and placed 12cm stent with a plastic overlay down my throat in my stomach to protect the leak until it heals naturally. It covers up to the bottom part of my oesophagus which means that my stomach can't close off properly at the top. So that means for the next 1-2 months while I have the stent in I have to put up with unbearable nausea. I'm constantly feeling on the verge of throwing up and I have to be very careful of how I sleep. I have to see the doctor again in 2 weeks and I'm fairly certain I will have to get him to check me back into hospital as soon as possible to have the stent taken out. It's been in for a week already and the nausea is not settling down. He said to me on the last day I was in hospital that it might already be healed because it is such a small leak but the longer we leave the stent in the better the chance it has to heal. There was a big part of me that wanted to get out of the hospital and get home to my partner as soon as possible but part of me also wishes I had just been put on nil by mouth and stayed in hospital in relative comfort without the stent in for the duration. Not to mention summer has really hit here and it's so hot and uncomfortable. Well that's it for now - I'll let you know how I go when I go back to hospital.

So I'm in hospital again. Went to the dr and he sent me for a ct scan just to make sure there's no leak which there wasn't. He did however find a hematoma that was 5cm in diameter. The hematoma had gas bubbles in it which is the sign of infection so I have been on antibiotics all weekend. I just had another ct scan but this time I was standing up and i had to drink the contrast as they took a motion picture of it going down. Just waiting for results now. The doctor still thought there must have been some pin hole leak that caused the infection even though I passed 2 ct scans. I may have to have the hematoma drained but we don't know if we can do that yet.

Well it's 4:35am here and I managed to get a few hours sleep before I woke up at 2am dry heaving - luckily I got my partner to get me a bucket earlier on in the night for me. Nothing came up except spit. I talked to my doctor over the phone yesterday afternoon and he told me to go back on to liquids for the meantime and I'll see him today. I just want to go back to feeling normal again. He told me it's unlikely that I've developed a leak this far out from surgery. I wonder if it's just an infection of some sort. Is it possible I could have a flu and that's causing inflammation?

What's febrile? No vomitting but yesterday was particularly bad, felt like I might, plus I had a fever and my body was aching but I took some paracetamol and that went away - returned to normal temp. Now it's just back to this soreness in my stomach cavity.

It's really down to how you feel and the advice of your doctor - if you tell you're doctor how you've tolerated the pills so far he'll probably let you continue what you're doing. I was being given whole paracetamol pills the night of my surgery! I couldn't believe it! And I continued to take them like that the whole time I was in hospital. Sometimes it felt a bit funny but on whole I tolerated them straight away.

Visits from my partner cheered me up the most and watching Ellen helped me have a laugh.

Well it's day six after getting my sleeve done on Monday the 28th! I got back on Thursday night and was relieved to be home but didn't much feel like staring at a computer screen to do any updates, lol. The worst part was the initial waking up period in post-op care - bleugh! But overall it was pretty easy going. They kept me in a little longer than I think they would normally cause my BP and pulse was a bit high but I passed the leaks CT scan and all was well. So now I have to go back to them my GP in like a week to see if my BP and pulse is still running high. If so it turns out I'm tachycardic and I've got a whole n'other ball of wax to deal with *sigh*. I'll just take it as it comes. It's funny how quickly my perception changed of what I could and couldn't get in - I remember laughing at the Radiologist when he said he wanted me to drink two cups of the dye :001_wub:. I probably looked at him like he was crazy! It'll get harder to measure my eating though, I know, once I'm actually able to eat something - well - edible rather than soup. The hospital started me on full liquids on the second day after my op which I thought was a bit absurd - especially cause the soup was gloopy and gelatinous. I mostly just stuck to my water and juices anyway. I'm still at that stage where it aches to yawn deeply:thumbdown:. And my incisions are a bit sore after taking the dressings off - but I haven't taken any kind of analgesics for 3 days now, it's more manageable than the flu. Back at work already today and tomorrow (I'm a glutton for punishment, I know) but then I have another 5 days of rest and recuperation. Best news is - I was weighed in pre-op and cause I have been too lazy to get new batteries for our scales at home I was half expecting to see no change there when lo and behold I'd lost 9kgs in the two week pre-op diet (roughly 20pds). I blushed so brightly after my initial shock:scared0:! So that's good and I'm looking forward to that but I'm considering leaving the batteries out of the scales for a little longer just to surprise myself. Thanks for the advice that everyone's given me - I'm sure I'll need some more pretty damn soon...

Hey everyone! I was just wondering if anyone's Dr used a sealant type liquid over their staple line rather than just the stapling itself? Did it help with the drainage of the wound or were you able to have the drainage sack taken out quicker? :biggrin0:

That's really good to hear! I think I'll be doing the xray test not too sure the blue dye one.

A lot of people talk about this phenomenon postop of not being able to take in hardly anything but maybe 3 months out finding they are able to cope with more and more food/liquids. I get the feeling that the inability to take in much during those early stages and the feeling of 'fullness' could be just a 'survival' mechanism of your body trying to tell you not to overload it so that it can repair the tissue. Which is not to say that you shouldn't be constant with water/protein/nutrients but it seems simple that the body would want you to be mindful of taking too much too soon. The endocrine system is capable of more complex functions so, why not? Another thing I thought of that could help - sit down with a glass of Water during say a half hour TV show that you like to watch and everytime the commercials come on take a sip. It's sort evenly spaces it that way.:biggrin0: Or is that a silly piece of advice?

Hi attitudefree - if you find you're feeling really under the weather I've seen at chemists they have popsicles that are especially for rehydration and they've got a nice flavour as well. So interchanging a bit of water with one of these twice a day should help hydration and sodium levels.

Hi All! Seeing as though I'm going into surgery not tomorrow but the next day I thought it'd be a nice thing to say thanks for everyone's help they've given me. I also thought we could share some of the aspirations we have for our futures. Like mini goals or physical things rather than just pounds and kilos. For starters I have a pair of old jean that are a bit tattered with holes in the knees but I used to love them and they were once good going out jeans and tight fitting. I'm looking forward to these being my LAZY jeans - my BAGGY jeans that I wear around the house when I'm cold. Also - I'm looking forward to getting my next year's new driver's license photo and seeing a skinny face! I'm also looking forward to the first time I get all dolled up to go out at night with my partner. After putting on so much weight over the past few years I've refused point blank to have much of a social life so's I can hide away.:thumbup:

Yep! Excited but trying not to think of the actual process of checking in and everything too much yet - I already feel like tomorrow night's sleep ain't gonna be the best.

Hope you're feeling better. I'm sorry to hear you've had such trouble with the surgery. Does everyone have to have a catheter? I'm supposed to get up a dangle my feet over the edge of the bed within 4 hours of having the surgery anyway? Surely if all goes well I could make my own way to the bathroom? Have a look on the internet for circulation exercises - there are exercises where you can flex your feet/legs/knees (or arms) in certain ways that promote blood circulation which should help with cramping. I sleep on my arms under the pillow at night so I often get pins and needles in my ring and pinky fingers. I'll have a hunt around for the web site for you.

I'm 24 and I already feel old!

Hey guys, Booked in for my sleeve on the 28th and have been on the Pre-op diet for a week now. I'm not sure what it is but something in the protein drinks I have (Optifast) give me awful nausea to the point where I gag and have thrown up a couple of times. I'm still getting a little under one a day down but I've noticed my hunger has switched off and I'm eating way under what my dietitian has allowed (probably gone into starvation mode). Will it make any difference to the surgery or will it still be ok cause it's a Very Low Calorie diet? I think it's the smell of the drinks more than anything - and the bars are so dry they do the same thing. Maybe I should try a different type of shake?

Oh well - I'll just have to see how I go. I'm only a couple of days away now from surgery and I'll be able to go on full fluids a few days after surgery and they've encouraged me to try milk so here's hoping it down well.