My Ongoing Story :)

[Beckyyb93 225]

Yay, I just did my last shopping! I'm all ready now...here is a break down of what I have spent and will spend:

From www.allstarhealth.com

Optimum Gold Mocha Cappuccino: $24.99

nectar Fuzzy Navel: $31.65

Shipping: $5.95

From Amazon:

unjury chicken Broth: $23.95

Unjury Unflavored: $21.95

Shipping: $8.05

From GNC.com

Lean Desserts chocolate Coconut: $33.99

Shipping: $3.62

Tax: $3.17

From eBay.com

Bosley Shampoo & Conditioner 33.8 oz: $43.95

Shipping: $9.95

Bosley Regrowth hair Treatment 2 Months Supply: $27.22 w/ Free Shipping

Bosley Thickening Treatment 6.8 oz: $19.50 w/ Free Shipping

From www.CelebrateVitamins.com:

Multivitamin chewable Mandarin Orange 30 Day Supply: $15.95

Multivitamin Chewable Grape 30 Day Supply: $15.95

Multivitamin Chewable pineapple strawberry 30 Day Supply: $15.95

Iron+C 30mg Chewable Grape 30 Day Supply: $9.95

Calcium+500 Cherry Tart 30 Day Supply: $19.95

Shipping: $10.05

From www.vitacost.com

Nature's Way Biotin 1000mg 100 Lozenges: $5.19

Shipping: $4.19

From CVS:

Biotene Mouth Spray: $7.29

Adult liquid Tylenol: $5.99

Tax: $1.00

From Walgreens:

Gas-X Thin Strips Cinnamon 18 Count: $6.49

Gas-X Thin Strips Peppermint 18 Count: $6.49

Tax: $1.30

From Trader Joes:

sublingual B-12: $6.00 (I think!) Per Bottle x2

From Grocery Store:

$50 worth of Jello, G2, Flavored Waters, & Diet V8 fusion Jucies

$25 worth of ingredients to make chicken broth

Total Out of Pocket for Surgery: $0.00

Total Out of Pocket for Surgery Prep: $494.63

Total Monthly Costs Post-Op: Roughly $100 including Vitamins and hair care...once hair care stops after 1 year drop $30 off of that price then add in any money you spend on groceries and that's what you should expect.

So, with all of the Vitamins we have to take for the rest of our lives...the cost isn't only in surgery! There is monthly maintenance as well. I hope this helps anyone looking into surgery know what to expect!

[dizzneygirl 9]

good luck, boo!!! i have a bsn (been in critical care for 18 yrs)......i am 2.5 wks post op and have lost 31 lbs already.....this is the best thing you can do for yourself and your career......you will feel soooo much better......keep us posted!!!!!

[Beckyyb93 225]

good luck, boo!!! i have a bsn (been in critical care for 18 yrs)......i am 2.5 wks post op and have lost 31 lbs already.....this is the best thing you can do for yourself and your career......you will feel soooo much better......keep us posted!!!!!

Thank you so much! I'm excited! I will keep you posted

[Beckyyb93 225]

Started Pre-Op today, started off the day with a Mocha Cappuccino shake blended with skim milk and water...yum! On Thursday the plumber came out because we had a leak and it turned into this huge deal, so him and the landlord are coming back tomorrow to try to figure out the next step in fixing it. They may have to tear down walls, etc. So, I've been cleaning all weekend to try to make sure that everything is nice for him and as an added bonus nice for me after surgery. It's pretty hard to do deep cleaning on a clear liquid diet, I'm resting now waiting on my broth to finish up. Surgery is on Wednesday

[bryantcj 13]

Well wishes for tomorrow. I'm sure you will do great!!

[Pepper Paul 143]

Just wanted to comment an say thanks for making a detailed list of everything you bought. It should help immensely when I start to buy everything I need for after surgery. Good luck with yours!

[kmoore 97]

Hope you are doing well since your surgery yesterday. I have the cherry tart Calcium by Celebrate. It's really good, but will make you pucker

[It's all new 453]

I think it was very generous of you to make such a detailed list. I do want to mention that hair care isn't something that everyone will need, so for others please don't automatically assume you will have this expense. I have had no additional costs in this area, never took zinc or Biotin (as my doc had not told me it was necessary) and had virtually no Hair loss. Maybe I shed a bit more than usual - but not much. And I've lost 110 lbs in about 7.5 months - currently at 145. I would think that would have made me a prime candidate for hair loss, and it didn't happen. Nothing wrong with prevention, but it's expensive and debatable as to whether it will help. If it helps you feel better you are doing something about it, and you have the finances... why not.

Also, I initially spent a huge amount on all sorts of Bariatric Advantage Vitamins, just to find out after surgery I couldn't tolerate them. So, I take gummy vitamins from costco. Cheap, cheap, cheap. My Vitamin levels have all been fine so far - if farther out i have problems I will have to switch to a more "serious" Vitamin. Also, my doc had me swallowing pills the night after my surgery - not crushed, regular sized pills. All my worry about needing liquids, needing chewables, crushing - unnecessary. Of course each doc has a different approach to that issue.

In any case, my advice is that whatever you get pre-surgery, buy very limited quantities.

And somehow when I first posted I missed that you just had your surgery! I hope it was a huge success! Congrats on a new you.

[Katie713 423]

Hope to hear you are soon home recuperating and that all went well.

[ashleyymac13 6]

Thanks for the price breakdown and for providing the websites. That's so helpful!

[Beckyyb93 225]

Alright guys, here is my hospital experience:

On Tuesday night, I drank my unjury chicken Soup then took a Xanax prescribed for sleep at around 7. I fell asleep soon after with my bag packed and clothes picked out for the morning. I woke up at 4 am and put on my clothes, got my mom and we got in the car. It was about a 45 minute drive and we got there right at 5 am. I signed in at the front of the hospital with the receptionist and she sent me to sit down in the waiting room. About 5 minutes later the receptionist came in and said she was going to start calling in patients in the order that the OR had requested. She said we had to go to pre-op by ourselves then our family (my mom) would meet us on the way to the holding area to say goodbye and go to the waiting room. I got called back second, they gave me two gowns to put on and socks. I put the gowns on, put the socks on, then sat in the chair they had me assigned to in the pre-op room. I turned the tv on and tried to relax. I gave a urine sample and waited for the nurse to come in. The first nurse came in and tried to get an iv, she couldn't get it so told me that the anesthesiologist would get it. The second nurse came in and went over all of my past health issues, allergies, etc. That took about 30 minutes then the nurse went and got my mom. She came to sit with me in the pre-op room and shortly after a guy from transport came with a wheelchair. He was SPEEDY! My mom could hardly keep up! We parted ways, she gave me a hug, told me I would do great, and told me that she loved me. She went to the waiting room and I was wheeled to the holding area. The nurse came right over, helped me put a hat on, went over the procedure I was getting and put on leg inflator things. The nurse anesthetist came in and talked with me about the procedure then stuck me, he said he got the vein well enough to get me to sleep but I'd most likely wake up with a different IV. That seemed odd to me but I just went along with it. My doctor's residents came in and talked to me, told me everything would be great and that I would be fine. I felt good, my doctor came in and had a quick chat with me then said see ya in there! About ten minutes later the nurse anesthetist came in and gave me a shot of relaxation medicine...honestly it didn't do much but I wasn't overly nervous to start with. They then wheeled me into the OR and had me shimmy over onto the bed losing one of my gowns. I smiled at the doctor, told him not to mess up then I fell asleep.

I woke up in the recovery room in a decent amount of pain, they gave me a shot of Morphine which I didn't even feel then they ordered Dilaudid and then gave me that, I came in and out for a few hours, they ended up having to give me two different blood pressure medications because my blood pressure was too high due to the pain. I vaguely remember something about a hernia but didn't know what in reference to. I woke up in the recovery room and asked my mom about the hernia, she said I had one and the doctor fixed it while in the OR. I was still in some pain so they gave me more Morphine. I didn't have a pump for Morphine or a drain. I wasn't able to eat or drink anything until the swallow test the next morning. I was pretty sore and had a good amount of gas pain but the pain medicine helped a lot. My surgeon came in and checked on me, I was doing pretty good. I had started walking which helped with gas pain. Walking wasn't painful and laying down wasn't painful. Sitting up was very painful and getting from laying down to standing up was very painful. My mom and boyfriend helped me a lot that night getting up and walking around. The Biotene mouth spray was AMAZING! I swear, if you don't have some you need to get it. It saved me that first day! I used it all the time to keep my mouth wet and it worked perfectly. My dad visited me but I was honestly still pretty out of it. I never had much nausea, just really sore. I slept terribly, they came in every two hours for vitals and between that and the pain I didn't get much sleep at all.

I woke up the next day at around 3:30 and walked some more, they came in and gave me more pain medicine. I was SUPER itchy so they ordered Benedryl and that helped a bit with the itchies but didn't put me to sleep. The residents came in around 7ish and told me I would be going for the swallow test soon and assuming it went well I could start Clear liquids. I went for the swallow test and it was SO nasty, I thought I was going to die. They had me drink it twice, there were no leaks but the second time I drank it, it didn't go down into my stomach. I was just so swollen that it was hard to get anything down. They had the doctor take a second look at the swelling and he gave the okay that I could have Clear Liquids. I started drinking really slowly but it hurt so much to swallow. I didn't eat much of anything they gave me in the hospital, it was all gross. I had my mom get me a Powerade Zero and sipped on that. My doctor came in and talked to me and said if I was still doing well after lunch I could go home. I wanted to go home right then but I was patient and waited. It was COLD! It was snowing and super windy, my mom's car doesn't have heat right now so we had to wait for my boyfriend to get there to take me home. I got liquid Vicodin, anti-nauseant suppository, and pepcid to go home on. They gave me this thing to help my lungs get cleared out that I have to breathe into, it hurts to take deep breaths but I do it 3 times an hour.

Matt brought me home, it was so cold and the car ride was painful but I got home and into my chair. My mom got my prescriptions and came home shortly after we did. I took my pain medicine when I got home along with some Benedryl for the itchies. I took all of my Vitamins except the Iron and fell asleep shortly afterwards.

This morning I'm feeling better, still a bit sore but nothing terrible. I'm sipping on my Protein shake as I write this, they want me to get down 2 oz every 2 hours so I'm not having much trouble with that. It still hurts to swallow but if I take TINY sips it's better. My stomach is still upset a bit but I feel pretty good. I can get up and walk around without too much trouble which is nice, the gas is passing and I get better every hour.

I honestly have no interest in food, it doesn't even sound good. I'm not sure if that's because I'm still sore or if it'll be like this forever but if so, it'll be easy to drop the weight! I'm happy and excited, no regrets! I've dropped 6 pounds so far

I'll keep you guys updated but so far so good for me!

[C_TimesThree 64]

Thank you so much for posting this! I have my first appt next month & am super nervous, it's nice reading your day by day updates!

[abetterme4.2 268]

Congratulations! Sounds like you are on the road to a speedy recovery!

[Katie713 423]

Sounds like you're doing ok. Good for you. Each day should get a little easier as the swelling goes down. Just take it easy, you don't want to tear any internal stitches. I kept a log of everything to make sure I was getting my 70+ grams of Protein and keeping hydrated.Sometimes warmer fluids go down easier, so I would have my chai tea all morning long, with Protein shakes in between, and Soups of course.

Good luck!! Enjoy your holidays.

[Beckyyb93 225]

Thanks guys, I am doing good and it is getting easier. I'm not sure I've figured out what "full" feels like yet which is a bit concerning. Everything is just sore going down so I assume I'll figure it out soon. For now, I'm just strictly following doctors orders of what to put in my mouth. They said 4-6 oz each hour including 2 oz of Protein every 2 hours. My incisions are doing fine too, I'll post a picture of them so you guys know what to expect. I've got all of my Vitamins down but they left a nasty taste in my mouth that I'm still working on getting out. My dog is as faithful as ever, she follows me around when I walk and guards my chair