My Ongoing Story :)

[Katie713 423]

You won't have a normal feeling in your tummy for awhile Becky. With the stomach swollen, you feel some sense of nutrition from the liquids, but no fullness the way we were used to. It will be the same with pureed diet, and you start to normalize with soft foods as you move through the stages of eating. On my program, I was released to firm solids at about 6 weeks.

That is when you truly feel the restriction of the sleeve. You will know with certainty what full feels like and it is not comfortable. I am 8 months out and still getting used to it. One or two bites too many does not feel good. You get this little uncomfortable feeling and that is when to stop. Then I get 1 or 2 internal hiccups and 2 regular hiccups and I'm done. Like clockwork. Many people get the hiccups with fullness with the sleeve, or a runny nose. It's weird but true. My family all laugh when I hiccup and say, "That's it she's done!" or "Put a fork in her she's done!"

Have a good weekend

[Beckyyb93 225]

So, I went to the mall today to Teavana to get some more tea. My mom bought me a whole bunch of stuff to try because it makes my tummy feel good going down. I made it through the mall, we were in there for around an hour, made it to walgreens for a bit and am now home and feeling tired but not in too much pain so I took a dose of Tylenol instead of Vicodin. I'm doing GREAT! I'm getting tea down pretty well and I'm getting my chocolate coconut shake with Water down slowly but it's good. I tried the chicken Soup from Unjury and the first time it didn't go down well at all. I'm going to wait on that for a while and keep going with the sweeter Protein flavors. In the meantime, I'm going to get some more rest and keep sipping!

[biddykm 21]

Becky,

How are u feeling? I was also sleeved on dec 19th. I have had some bad nausea...

But feeling better today. Hope u are too.

Kristy

[icon23 273]

Glad to hear you are doing well! Wishing you a speedy recovery and much success!

[ashleyymac13 6]

Congrats! Thanks for posting this. I love knowing what to expect. Good luck!

[ReduceReuseRecycle-Me! 119]

Becky, you sound like you did great and hope you continue to succeed!

[Sadlers1999 169]

I talk a lot about my boyfriend' date=' here is a picture of us together from a couple months ago. We get laughed at a lot because of our height difference. He is 6'5 [/quote']

Cute picture. I am 5'3.5" and started out at 242. I was 222 on surgery day. I'm not weighing myself until my 2 week appointment on January 2nd. I was sleeved on 12/17. We should keep tabs on each other, but I think given your youth (I am 42), you will probably see results faster. God bless!

[Sadlers1999 169]

Alright guys' date=' here is my hospital experience:

On Tuesday night, I drank my powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >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![/quote']

I don't even remember the recovery room! Is it possible to sleep through that? God must have been sparing me that...woke up as they wheeled me from recovery to overnight room. Was barely installed when my husband showed up with 4 kids. Told him to bring them over when I had a room, so they could see that mommy was okay. I have to say, other than walking at the hospital to get gas relief and to prevent clots, I don't remember much.

[Sadlers1999 169]

You won't have a normal feeling in your tummy for awhile Becky. With the stomach swollen' date=' you feel some sense of nutrition from the liquids, but no fullness the way we were used to. It will be the same with pureed diet, and you start to normalize with soft foods as you move through the stages of eating. On my program, I was released to firm solids at about 6 weeks.

That is when you truly feel the restriction of the sleeve. You will know with certainty what full feels like and it is not comfortable. I am 8 months out and still getting used to it. One or two bites too many does not feel good. You get this little uncomfortable feeling and that is when to stop. Then I get 1 or 2 internal hiccups and 2 regular hiccups and I'm done. Like clockwork. Many people get the hiccups with fullness with the sleeve, or a runny nose. It's weird but true. My family all laugh when I hiccup and say, "That's it she's done!" or "Put a fork in her she's done!"

Have a good weekend [/quote']

I hope I have a not-too-terrible sign like a hiccup to let me know when to stop.

[Beckyyb93 225]

Here's a quick update on me:

I haven't been on in a while, I've been really tired. I can't get much down, I'm still getting around 200 calories a day and 20 grams of Protein. I went to my doctor for a follow up and he said I have h. pylori in my stomach which is the bacteria that causes ulcers so he's treating with this mega antibiotic. I have to take 4 pills in the morning and 4 at night for 14 days. Hopefully that will get rid of it. He also gave me a steroid to help with the swelling which is causing me not to be able to get any food down. He said if it's not better by next week when I go in to see him again we are going to have to figure something out because I'm not getting enough food to sustain myself. He also prescribed more painkillers because without those I can barely choke down Water. Needless to say, I hope I feel better soon so I can get more food down and have more energy. For now, I'm just taking it day by day, resting a lot, and forcing as much Fluid and Protein down as possible. I'll keep everyone updated as I start to feel better.

[Sunshine121276 9]

Here's a quick update on me:

I haven't been on in a while' date=' I've been really tired. I can't get much down, I'm still getting around 200 calories a day and 20 grams of Protein. I went to my doctor for a follow up and he said I have h. pylori in my stomach which is the bacteria that causes ulcers so he's treating with this mega antibiotic. I have to take 4 pills in the morning and 4 at night for 14 days. Hopefully that will get rid of it. He also gave me a steroid to help with the swelling which is causing me not to be able to get any food down. He said if it's not better by next week when I go in to see him again we are going to have to figure something out because I'm not getting enough food to sustain myself. He also prescribed more painkillers because without those I can barely choke down Water. Needless to say, I hope I feel better soon so I can get more food down and have more energy. For now, I'm just taking it day by day, resting a lot, and forcing as much Fluid and Protein down as possible. I'll keep everyone updated as I start to feel better.[/quote']

So sad you are finding this out after the fact. My doc did a test prior to surgery for H.pylori. Wish they all did. I hope it gets better soon.

[Beckyyb93 225]

So sad you are finding this out after the fact. My doc did a test prior to surgery for H.pylori. Wish they all did. I hope it gets better soon.

Yeah, what does it mean? Is that what's causing the swelling?

[Sunshine121276 9]

Yeah' date=' what does it mean? Is that what's causing the swelling?[/quote']

Quite possibly. But you have to try to force liquid Protein. All day I kept a 2oz shot glass by my side and filled it every 7 minutes or so. And would sip it til it was gone and refill. In my head it was not as daunting as a 20oz Blender Bottle. I watered my Protein drinks down for easier consumption and to get my fluids. I mixed mine as follows. 1 cup light vanilla silk (yummy), 1 cup Water, 1 scoop matrix Protein. It really helped a lot.

[Sunshine121276 9]

Yeah' date=' what does it mean? Is that what's causing the swelling?[/quote']

Also, I read that Pepto Bismol extra strength kills the bacteria so you might want to try some. Everything I've read said sugeons would not perform surgery until negative HPylori test. Did yours even discuss and test for it prior? Mine did an EGD in office, which was horrible, but anything for a safer outcome.

[Beckyyb93 225]

Also, I read that Pepto Bismol extra strength kills the bacteria so you might want to try some. Everything I've read said sugeons would not perform surgery until negative HPylori test. Did yours even discuss and test for it prior? Mine did an EGD in office, which was horrible, but anything for a safer outcome.

No, he didn't discuss it with me. He wanted to do an egd but I had just had one so I just faxed him the results and he was fine with that. I'm taking my pain medicine and trying to get all of my Protein in. I did better today, I'm mixing greek yogurt with the silk and Protein powder then watering it down with skim milk. It goes down alright and has 14 grams of Protein per 4 ounces which I can stomach every few hours.