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I had surgery on 3/4 at 10am. Great time cause I got to sleep in a bit. Arrived at the hospital with my sister and husband and was directed to the surgical waiting area. They called my name, I was taken to pre op and given a gown , slippers and a hat, pointed to a tiny restroom. I changed, put my clothes in the bag with my name on it and came out into the pre op area with the beds separated by curtians. I was weighted (255) and assigned a bed. Note on the gown- nice and big made of soft paper and had velcro at the shoulders for-I found out later- ease of removal in surgery. The nurse asked me a million questions-allergies, what I was there for, name, is the ID band correct, medication Im taking. She started the IV, gave me a shot of Lovenox(hurt,stings) and my family was brought in. Anesthesiologist came looked at chart and left. Sidebar- I contacted the complementary medicine department at the hospital about relaxation therapy before surgery and was told to purchase a cd in the gift shop and listen to it before surgery. Than this lady, Irene would come up to pre op to help me with the stress of the surgery. Ok Im game. I buy& listen. In comes Irene all cheery, did I listen to the cd? yes. Am I still nervous? yes. How about listening to the cd again? screw the cd, I need more then the cd. She rubs my forehead and ears kind of like a massage, but not. She has stinky perfume. Ok I smiled said she could stop. Now she just hovered next to the bed talking about grace and mercy. I tuned her out. My Dr comes in & starts talking about the procedure and how everything will be fine. OK here it comes- I say It will be fine as long as I don't have a catheter. Dr says well thats not how they do it here. Wait for it..... Amanda FREAKS!!!!! I banged both hands on the rails of the bed and started in on how I was the patient and what I said goes. I gotta give the Dr credit he didn't freak (Irene jumped and disappeared) He just continued talking like I never popped a fuse and said maybe I wasn't ready for the band. My sister gives me the look and said I needed to explain why I wasn't going to have the cath. Now Im a little embarrassed about popping off and pissed that the cath has anything to do with getting banded. Staring off into the ceiling I explain why- infection, pain, and (the kicker) if no cath I will get up and walk more in recovery as with the cath I will remain glued to the bed. I will be a happier more willing patient. The Dr stops, blinks, says OK, and walks away. I am so pleased with myself. The Anesthesia nurse comes in with the good drugs, asks me who I am then pumps them in the IV. They start pushing the bed out of pre op. Sister squeezes my hand and husband gives me a kiss. I totally freak-again. Am I doing the right thing? Did I think this through? Someone is going to be CUTTING ME! This all passes though my head in about 5 seconds. Deep breath. The drugs must be kicking in. I don't care any more. Im just enjoying the view. Rolled into the surgery suite, asked to slide to other table, centered myself and told them I was "equadistance from both sides of the table". Ha ha. Next thing Im waking up in recovery. Im asked if Im in pain, rate it 1-10, I said 3 or 4. nurse said you mean more like 7 right? Nope , then I remember about how if you say you're nauseated they give you something that has a side effect of making you really sleepy and Im thinking sleepy would be really good now. So I say Im nauseous. In go the drugs out goes Amanda. I woke up about 2 hours later with the nurse saying that I needed to be moved to the bed I would be in overnight. HA? Bed? You mean moved to room, right. Nope. No room at the hospital, Im going to be staying at the back end of the recovery with 3 other Lap banders. Great. So they tell my family to leave and get me out of bed. Here is where I found out about the velcro on the gown. noone redid it after putting it back on after surgery and as I go to sit up I flashed the recovery room and my fellow patients all my new incisions and my boobs. Great. I get wrapped up, moved, pit stop at the john where I have to pee in a container they called the hat and connected to monitors and compression bootys. So starts my first overnight stay in the hospital. I could keep going about all that happened. The bed didn't work, the compression booties stopped working about midnight, pain shot (that I took only to get some sleep) gave me a headache, I used the sore throat spray on the scrape the Anesthesiologist made on the top of my mouth, ate alot of ice, tried to sleep, 3am ripped out of sleep by the fire alarm clanger next to my bed, the people running through the fire door also next to me,(the false alarm was never explained but since my hospital was in the fire district my husband volunteers in I knew I was in good hands), 8pm 12am,5am 8am temp and blood pressure, 2 more Lovenox shots(ouch), multiple trips to the john (about 500cc each for those that were counting) 8am trip to radiology for the barium and x ray. They messed up the first picture and had to do a total of three which meant that I drank 16oz of barium. Then Im sent home with instructions to drink 1 ounce every hour. (I asked about the 16 0z of barium, no one had an answer or comment) a pain scrip (later at the pharmacy I found out it was one that Im allergic to) and the instructions printed out from the nutritionist for my meals for the next 5 weeks. I dont think I want to go to the hospital again. At home all things are better. Heating pad for the shoulder, liquid Tylenol(good stuff!) for pain, lots of juice and broth with unjury added. Im a happy camper now. Very minimal discomfort. I don't think I will ever stop passing barium. (ya-TMI) Before surgery I drew a smiley face (my signature as I have one as a tattoo somewhere) and a green shamrock on my belly for the Dr to find. It was the first thing he mentioned to my family after surgery. Said everyone got a good laugh and he put the port right under the shamrock. Im thinking of getting a shamrock tattoo there later. So I guess Im really committed to this shrinking shamrock thing. TTFN

I have been on a liquid diet for ten days now.where are the solids in my stool coming from? There isn't a lot, but it does happen...

My doctor asked me to lose 10lb before she would even request for the surgery, that was pretty easy because I hda already changed my eating habits and was making very very slow weight loss. I restricted what I was eating down to like 500 calories for a couple of weeks and made that. But then I had no preop diet until the day before surgery. The day before surgery I was to eat a reguarl breakfast and then at noon take a bowel cleaner, which honestly didnt nothing to me. (TMI) I spend the next four hours not wanting to get out of site of the bathroom but it wasnt until like 10pm that I even pooped and it wasnt anything special just a normal trip to the restroom. No water after midnight, except for a small sip to take a pill that was unrelated to the surgery. I was told to stop taking all other vitimans and pills that were not that one a week before surgery. That was it.

Great job ladies!!! Yesterday I had my Protein shakes and my low carb dinner - and stuck with my workout routine. Yesterday was weigh day for me and (Maybe TMI) I should be starting TOM any day now. I feel bloated and crampy... so this is very hard for me right now!! But even though I should be up a pound or two due to Water weight I didn't gain an ounce - so awesome!! I only hope that means I'm due a good drop once I get over this "issue"... LOL - especially with me doing low carbs and keeping my schedule! I LOVE MY SLEEVE SOOO MUCH!!! :wub:

Today is Day 6 post op for me. Girl... I know what you mean by the growling stomach.. OMG, my husband thinks it's the most funniest thing, cause it's LOUD..Heat has been my friend for it, it seems to help me. I'm a TMI girl myself, and appreciate your honesty about your journey.

My right hip has resumed hurting at night when I sleep. I can sleep on my left side, but is this just a normal side effect of losing the fat covering the joint? TMI, but I now have a raging round of diarrhea. Still doing 70g of protein and 64oz of water a day. I've read here and there that some foods might cause it, so I've been avoiding plain eggs and eating a little more cheese to compensate. I had the same thing last week, but I think that was a tummy bug that's been going around, combined with antibiotics for a UTI. This time it's "different" from the last time. I'm trying not to be TOO gross here. If it's not calmed down by tomorrow afternoon, I'll make an appt with the doc, but just looking for some real world advice.

Thanks for this info! I was just noticing that I am having an issue. I was very regular for prob about the first 2 months after surgery. Lately I have noticed that when I "go" it is much harder (tmi) and im also straining (even saw some Blood) and the last few days I have hardly gone at all. I feel like if I am holding on to poop, it's gotta be adding to my weight! Lol. Anyway this AM I took a swig if milk of mag. Hasn't seemed to do anything . I will try the Probiotics immediately. Do you get a certain brand or certain milligram or are they all about the same? I have never shopped for them. Also finally got hooked on the 80cal light and fit Greek yogurt that you told me about months ago. (I must have tried the wrong flavor at first cause now i'm loving the blends and eat one daily) Was hoping that would help also the digestion also but hasn't. According to this article, it's probably just not enough.

What size were you before wls? If you dont mind me asking...i know its tmi.

Just got home from Urgent Care. I was dehydrated but just the beginning stages. Blood work was good and stomach x-rays looked good, minus me being backed up (sorry I know, TMI). Does anyone know if we can take Miralax? The doctor I saw wants me to start taking it but she said to of course check with my surgeon first. They hooked me up to some fluids and gave me some Zofran through my IV as well. Feeling better now that I've had the fluids, not 100% better but definitely better! She told me to double up on my Zofran when I start to feel nauseous and to push fluids and get as much fluid as physically possible and not worry about getting my daily protein or any of that right now cause main focus is getting enough fluids...

To not bend done to tie my shoes and feel like i cut all circulation off, to feel sexy foe my hubby, thighes rubbing...tmi but i know im not the only one...to go pee and not have to lift my thigh to wipe!!!!!

TMI !!!

I am hoping that the band really works for me (with me) because i will not have RNY or Sleeve or any of that. if i can't lose weight this way, then that is just a sign that i'm supposed to be fat! i am going to try to do my part to eat healthy but i am really hoping that the band helps with my apatite issues. i could just eat all the time. I am already finding that whilst i am on the the 2 week liquid diet that i am not really hungry. i figured i would be miserable. so far, my only misery has been...ummmm tmi, but going to the bathroom. anyway, your surgery is just a few days after mine, so good luck to you and i'm glad there is more than just one of us who have a lot to lose. it can get kind of discouraging for me to read all the posts from people whose starting weight is my goal weight.

This is serious Tmi but has anyone got a yeast infection after surgery? I think I have one due to the anti biotics, and my immune system is shot to hell. Thoughts anyone?

I told my mom, just in case I died during surgery. VSG is MY choice, but I am my mom's son, and just like I would want to know if my daughter was having surgery, regardless of whether I agreed of what is was for...., I felt mom deserved to know of my physical safety. TMI? Sent from my SM-G930V using BariatricPal mobile app

Ok so this may also be TMI and I am sorry for being graphic but I am at my wit's end here. I am 6 months post op, and Thursday night I woke up to by far the worse pain I have ever felt, it was under my breasts, rib area and spreading to my chest and back, on top of it I even blacked out. Taken to closest emergency room which by the way was the worst experience ever besides the hot male nurse who saw me at my worst... let me just say this real quick ...huge peach pajamas..no bra and black socks......no make up..zit cream on my face ...oh yeah embarrassing but what is more embarrassing for the hospital..they never heard of the SLEEVE...yes I said it...no clue. They looked at me like I was nuts! I told them "call my surgeon" at least 100 times..did they call NO!!! They gave me morphine, Fluid, did a cat scan, said I abdominal pain and sent me home...yes sent me home..could have a tear...how would they know right.. they wouldnt even call my surgeon! Can you believe it? My bill will be probably thousands...for what??? Needless to say I called my surgeon in the morning and went right in to be advised I had a bowel blockage, partial but 14 about 12 pounds worth and what do you know right up under my ribs... top of bowel...could they have told me that at the hospital ..NO. Sorry for ranting, I am just so bothered by it! Ok so here is where I need help, my surgeon said no NG tubes so they cannot flush the block and he wants me to clear it on my own by taking citrate magnesium and miralax combo. I did it but my bowel never ran clear like he said. I have since tried a second time and nothing. I have gone jogging, ran up and down the steps...ate applesauce, drank apple juice, ate prunes, drank prune juice, drank a ton of Water, warm water, metamucil (alot), ate hot food, ate everything whole grain I could find and I cannnot clear this block. It will not work...i clears my bottom bowel but never runs clear like he said. I need to clear it, or it could turn to a total obstruction and I will be hospitalized. I want to avoid that at all costs. Has anyone had a similar issue and please tell me any home remedies you have, I am desperate and will try anything. I bought an enema but am thinking will also just clear lower bowel. I can't go through that pain again ever. This is affecting my job. Last day off today! HELP!! PS.. I have suffered with constipation the entire time and I drink 3 glasses a day of a Fiber drink and take stool softners daily. Thanks for any ideas On a brighter note I have lost 96 lbs since being sleeved, Ijust want to be healthy

Hi, I've been approved for the Duodenal Switch, and I'm a gay man, and I was just wondering if I'd still be able to "bottom" after getting the surgery? Thank you

Did anyone else have their period on the day of surgery? I'm usually right on schedule, and should have it the day of surgery. Were you able to wear a tampon?

I know this is an old post but I learned something about the funny smell of me mixing with my husband last year from my doctor. At my regular appt my doctor told me I had a bacterial infection. I had no symptoms so I had no idea. It turns out I had one symptom I just never put two and two together. After my husband and I made love the next day his semen smelled kind of funny in me, and I noticed that same funny smell when I used soap to wash that area. Come to find out soap changes the Ph of discharge and changing the Ph of a sample of your discharge is how they diagnose the bacterial infection. Now I know if that smell returns or I smell it when using soap I head to the doctor. (Not saying Ebony has this just some TMI info for everyone) Oh and I don't douche but have before. It seems like it takes days after your period to get "clean" again. Ugh.

Well not to be TMI, but I don't have a cycle. I will try and watch the sodium though. I haven't had issues with constipation yet.

I know it's TMI, but I just started my preop diet today and I have been in the restroom constantly, is anyone having this problem or had this problem? Tell me I'm not alone lol.

Burgandy, Most of us have some weight gain right after surgery from the fluids given via IV. Then, the dreaded 3 week stall hits almost as soon as we start seeing some improvement. It sounds like you might have both over-lapping. You lost 21 pounds pre-op? That might also contribute to the stall you are currently experiencing. TMI, but consider whether you are having BM's yet. I noticed that I lost some every time I had a BM, especially in the first couple of weeks. Are you feeling okay in general? Able to walk and move around without significant pain? As long as you are, then just keep following your surgeon's plan as much as possible. Walk, sip Water, try to get your Protein in, and repeat. Your tummy is so small after being sleeved that it's virtually impossible to not lose weight. It might take a little bit for that weight loss to kick into gear, though. For me, when I stall I find that patience is the key. I have to just keep drinking my water, getting in my protein, and doing my exercise. I have noticed that my clothes get bigger quickly when I'm not losing pounds. I am doing the stair-step plan, apparently. Lose a few pounds, then get stuck at a weight for a week or so, then lose a few more pounds. During that "stuck" period, I usually end up having to consign more clothing to the give-away box. If you are following your plan correctly, then you should start seeing weight loss within a couple of days...and it will probably be pretty dramatic. If you don't see some weight loss by early next week, check in with the doctor's office. I doubt there's anything wrong, but it will make you feel better.

Thanks for the tips. The problem was solved without any chemical aid or special effort. I was worried for nothing. I hope it wasn't TMI.

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I'm getting sleeved on 3/29 and I was wondering if any women shaved "down there" before surgery? I was thinking that with a catheter being put in I might want to, but didn't know if I could or should. Anyone deal with this? Thanks!

Okay forum sisters... pls inform me on this question..has your sex life improved since the weight loss? At this point..I just want it "OVER" with..lol My energy level is horrible. If anyone has had trouble here, please tell me it will improve after the weight is gone?? !!!!!!

I had mine and was not able to wear a tampon, had to wear a pad. Also had to wear the special fish net panties too (just in case they need access for a catheter I was told). I did not notice any increase in flow though it was a little tough to change myself the first time while in the hospital. TMI I know :mad: