Stacy160

HI Xandria! I'm in Michigan too. I had my VSG three weeks ago today at Doctors Hospital in Pontiac, with Dr. Mark Pleatman. This was my first major surgery, first time under general anesthesia. I had some slight anxiety for a couple of days after I scheduled the surgery, which was 12 days later. It wasn't a scared-kind of anxiety, it was more the anxiety you get over any major life-change, like getting married or having your first baby...knowing what's going to happen, but not understanding how it'll BE. Leading up to the surgery, I was surprised to find that I was just more and more excited, and not nervous at ALL. I half expected to cry when my husband and son walked out of pre-op. But I was totally relaxed, completely into paying attention to what the nurses were doing, how the whole process went... I found it really interesting. My husband and son had already been back to pre-op to see me beforehand, and after they went out my parents came in. While they were there, the nurse slipped the happy juice into my IV, and within 4-5 minutes I started feeling reeeeally sleepy. I vaguely remember my surgeon coming in but don't remember a thing he said. I remember my parents leaving and asking if I wanted them to send my husband back in one more time, saying yes, but I'm not sure if I remember seeing him again, or if I'm just imagining that LOL. After that--I was completely out of it. Don't remember a thing, not being wheeled off to surgery, just nothing at all. What felt like 5 minutes later, they were waking me up in recovery. Waking up, I had to PEE like a racehorse, which induced my first experience with a bedpan. Which I was privileged enough to have to use twice while in there LOL.... they pump a lot of Fluid into you!! After they got me to my room, my family came in and visited for awhile. I learned that my surgeon actually showed my husband my removed stomach! He was good with it, he was a Navy corpsman in the first Gulf War, and was at Oakland Naval Hospital when the big earthquake hit in '89, so he's seen a LOT. Anyway, after they left I started using the bathroom about every 2-3 hours (morning AND night). Lying still there was no pain at all... I felt bloated but wasn't having any gas pains yet. Sitting up in the bed, there was some mild-moderate pain at the main incision, and my stomach muscles felt like I'd done a thousand situps and then got beat with a baseball bat LOL.... all of which were completely gone within 6 days. They'll want you to get up every once in awhile and walk, and they'll come in at all hours wanting to test your oxygen, take your blood pressure, change your IV, add stuff to it, but it's all good... When you're not up walking or peeing you're pretty much gonna want to lay still and sleep anyway. I thought the whole experience was pretty neat!

Lucky you for getting to go out to dinner! We (me, hubby, son) went to see Avatar for the second time yesterday, this time on the Imax screen. Afterwards I asked if they wanted to go out and grab something to eat (cause I kinda did!) or go home and I'd cook steak.... they chose the steak. I had the ricotta cheese stuff. :crying: Gotta say, I'm looking soooo forward to being able to have a few bites of steak!!

Wow.... thanks! :crying:

CHILL, child LOL....first, you don't know that yours isn't going to go as well. In fact, odds are in your favor -- GREATLY in your favor -- that once you're past the first week or two, things will go much more smoothly for you than they will for your mom and sister. Visualize it...you WILL have very sore stomach muscles for a few days after surgery and you'll have to stand up slowly. You WILL have some pain at the main incision site when you sit up and/or change positions... again, that'll go away after a few days. You'll be very dry. Water won't taste very good and you won't be able to eat or drink much to start with. NOW, visualize how you're gonna deal with all that. You just do--and before you know it, you'll be feeling wonderful, and sooner than you think. NOW, visualize not being stuffed to the point of discomfort all the time, not being bloated, not feeling like a slave to food...and that all comes within the first few days too! After that the sky's the limit. Isn't all that worth feeling a little crappy for a week or so? You might even get lucky and be one of those people (like me) who never felt crappy--just a little sore, and totally normal by a week out. It'll be sooooo worth it in the end, just to get your life back. Are you anxious about the surgery itself? Try to relax and be interested in the process once they take you back to pre-op. I'd never had surgery before so I found the whole thing interesting, and once they slipped the sedative into my IV.... well, I don't remember much after that LOL. Next thing I knew they were waking me up in recovery. I know it's hard to imagine, but you really wake up thinking "Wow--it's done? Really?" Just take deep breaths, know that you're doing a wonderful thing for yourself, and you'll be fine. :crying:

Most people lose 15-20 pounds that first month, and 5-10 each month afterward. Generally the heavier a person is to start with, the faster they lose the first few weeks and months. I've seen people lose 20 lbs in the first week or two, and people who take two months to lose 20 lbs! It's all normal and all very individualized, but even the slower losers get where they need to be eventually (instead of giving up and gorging themselves heavier than they were before, which I know we've ALL done LOL).

Oooooh, thank you! I think I'll try that tomorrow. I had ricotta cheese today for the first time since surgery almost 3 weeks ago--1/4 cup with a little spaghetti sauce and a pinch of mozzarella cheese--and was surprised by how FULL I was after that little bit. I've been having 1/2 cups of other purees and was feeling more restriction than with liquids of course, but the ricotta cheese has been the first thing to make me go WHOA--NOW I feel it!! I'm gonna try your recipe.

I started purees this week (two weeks out, beginning week 3), and am supposed to start mushies after four weeks... but I'm oddly confused about what constitutes which. Some things on the dietician's pureed list seem like they should be mushies (eggs, cottage cheese, chicken and fish pureed), and some on the mushy list seem like they should be on the pureed list (refried beans, stuff like that). I've pretty much been going with soft foods that I can either puree OR turn into puree-consistency in my mouth.

The chinese buffet here also has a regular take-out menu. If that one does too, maybe you can order some soup ala carte and not have to pay for the whole buffet? Just tell nosy lady you don't feel well or you're on a diet or something.

I agree Tiffy, my first impression of this season, after seeing that the contestants were even BIGGER...AGAIN... and seeing how they made them weigh in front of their families and hometowns...that just didn't sit well with me at all. I mean, how humiliating, and all for the sake of entertainment. I've always loved the basic idea of the show and how it does educate and inspire people but damn... treat them like human beings instead of circus animals. btw, my surgeon has done the VSG on a former B.L. contestant who gained all the weight back, plus some (privacy laws keep him from telling which one!).

Welcome! Sounds like you've done your homework...you're gonna LOVE this!!

Oh, it's got a yummy peaches & cream flavor... try it!

Isn't is great? I put a half-scoop of vanilla into fruit-flavored herbal tea in the morning (currently stuck on Country Peach passion) and it is delicious!

I would think having it in the pureed stage would be fine...you'd just still want to chew the egg good. Do double-check that with your nutritionist though.

Fastest, easiest way to lose weight it doing the induction phase of Atkins....basically meat, cheese, and eggs. Mayo is fine, you can have pork rinds to snack on (nuked with some cheese melted on them is yummy.... but no breads, cereals, pastas, sugars, milk, none of that. You can also have (if I remember right) a cup of non-starchy vegetables or two cups of lettuce a day with it. Ranch dressing is also great if you need some kind of sauce for you meat. Don't even worry about the calories, just focus on Protein and fat.... it'll come off!! Do you have to do a specific pre-op diet before your surgery?

GOOD FOR YOU!! I'm so glad you decided to go with the VSG. I read soooooo many negative posts about the band (by bandsters), it seems like almost all of them have problems... it's getting to the point where, when I see someone excited about being scheduled for the band, or newly post-of from being banded, I actually feel sorry for them knowing that all that time and energy, and probably expense will likely have been for nothing. I know there are a few success stories here and there, but.... sure as heck not very many. I'm 12 days out now from being sleeved and I already feel qualified to tell you, you're gonna love it. :thumbup1:

Nothing yet, but if losing a few pounds has caused him to act like this already, I'd drop that dude like a hot potato.

LOL... I'll show them the scars in a couple of months, but with no flashing!

Not a food dream, but 3 years ago when I was looking into RNY I dreamed that I was camping with my hubby and our group of buddies (almost all male). I was moving slowly and one of them asked me if I was OK, and I said "Yep, but I did do THIS yesterday!" and yanked my shirt right on up to my neck to show off my day-old scars LOL....

I'm still on full liquids. Lunch today was a bowl of tomato soup with a spoonful of Greek yogurt in it. Tastes just like thick, rich sour cream!!

I'm with ya... Granted, I've been getting more irregular as I get older anyway (44) and my mom was done with everything by the time she was 48, but I was already a week late at surgery (8 days ago), expected it to start with a bang right afterward like it does for so many people, and still nothing (and NO, they did a pg test right before surgery and I'm definitely not pregnant LOL)... I'm kinda curious too!

A hundred pounds in five months is incredible... way to go!!

YAY, I can post to this thread now! :confused1: I weighed 246.4 one week ago going into surgery. Today I'm at 236.4 -- to 10 lbs. lost since d.o.s.!

What pisses ME off is that even though obesity is officially recognized as a disease, it can still be left out of insurance coverage. Little discrimination going on there, ya think? And yep... for you, it's the insurance company's way of beating the heck out of you until you roll over and give up. Be prepared for them to issue a denial or two after your six months... but just keep appealing!! And good luck!

Maddie, I didn't have to deal with insurance myself, but a couple of times I've seen it strongly suggested that the patient (you) call the insurance again and request a Case Manager... apparently that can help things go much more smoothly for you. Good Luck!

My surgeon didn't require a pre-op diet, although he said it's always a good idea to try and shed a few pounds beforehand. I started cutting back in general about a week out, did super-low carb for 3 days, then the day before surgery was all liquids, which I still kept low-carb (water, tea, and broth).