post op New to Forum, 4 days post op

[ArtistNic 13]

Hi I'm ArtistNic and I am new to this site and had the Gastric Sleeve surgery 4 days ago.

I have sleep Apnea, High Bloodpressure, and was diagnosed Diabetic two years ago, but only stayed in the diabetic range for 3 months because I had started Medifast. I had lost 90 lbs in 5 months on MF and was feeling great. I was about half way to my goal and got complacent. I maintained it for a year and a half and was having trouble refocusing because I never felt good... I had been struggling with pain in my bladder. I had been to all sorts of doctors and I had a hard time describing what was wrong with me. I had pain, frequency issues, and difficulty emptying. After about 6 different doctors and lots of painful tests I was diagnosed by a Urogynocologist with IC-Interstitial Cystitis. The problem is there is no cure. You can control the pain with diet and a medicine that causes weight gain. The diet it total crap!! I couldn't eat MF food anymore because of the soy and the artificial sweetner. I had stuck to the diet for the first 3 months and got the pain under control but I put on 40 lbs in 3 months. That caused me to spiral into a deep depression and feeling of futility. All my dr's then started telling me to get weight loss surgery. That had never been an option for me because I knew my insurance wouldn't pay for it.

Well I am two weeks away from my 40th birthday and had the sleeve done last week. So I am getting a new body for my birthday. I figure I have eaten virtually everything I wanted these first 40 years and have felt miserable and unhealthy, now for the next forty I want to not consern myself with food but enjoy my health and live life. When I approached my husband about having the surgery I knew he wasn't going to be crazy about the idea, so I told him. The surgery is like buying a nice used car. Well I want to live longer than a used car and I want you to be able to ride me longer too. LOL

The surgery went well, the only thing that was really difficult was the gas that had gotten trapped in my shoulder. That was the worst pain I can remember. It was very difficult to walk that first day. And that night i kept raising the bed up more and more cuz being reclined made the shoulder hurt worse. I remember from 1-3 am praying with each breath that the next breath would be less painful. I tried to breathe deep because I knew it could help release the gas but gosh did it hurt. When I sat up to go to the restroom the next morning it shifted and the pain was gone. All that was left was a slight ache for 2 days. That morning by noon I had walked the four times around the floor and was released by noon.

So day 4 of Clear liquids and am up to 40 oz of Protein so far. Hoping to get 60 in today. Using the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury powder in Decaf coffee and broths. I like it better in hot liquid.

I am ready for this journey.

[imsuga 11]

I'm happy that you made the decision to take your life back. I'm getting sleeved tomorrow. Best of luck to you!

[Oak Park Lorena 162]

Hello world!

I’m also 3 days post-op, sleeved on the 23^rd.

The procedure itself went well. It was short and sweet, there was no hernia to repair and I still have my gallbladder-yea!

The post-op has not really been what I’d expected. The post-op pain was much worse than I’d thought. I’ve had both knees replaced and had extensive shoulder repair surgery, so I’m no stranger to pain, but this still was more than I’d bargained for. They had my on a self-controlled pain pump with morphine. They switched it to dilaudid, but I was still having quite a bit of pain. On the first day after surgery, I did start feeling the gas pains as well, but it wasn’t too bad. First day post-surgery I switched from Clear Liquids to mush. Ate a few spoonfuls of mashed chicken, spinach and yoghurt.

The second day post surgery things seemed to get worse. I’d felt pretty good the afternoon of post-surgery day one, but because I was having so much pain, we decided I’d stay an additional night for pain management. The second day I woke up violently nauseous and with a very bloated belly. I had zero appetite and was able to only yak down a spoonful of yoghurt. As the day wore on, the swelling got worse. By this point, I really wanted to get out of the hospital (I have terrible veins and by that point was on my 9^th different IV site, I looked like a pin cushion!). In the cab home, I fastened the seatbelt and had to several times re-fasten it because my belly continued to swell at such a rapid rate, that the seat belt got too tight. Fortunately, I had a typical Chicago cabbie who zoomed around and managed to hit every pot hole. While this did not feel great on my incisions, all the jostling and bouncing really did help dislodge the gas! My stomach definitely started moving, though unfortunately resulted in a few bouts of diarrhea. I had a really miserable day yesterday. Found it really difficult to get anything down. Ended up eating a spoonful of cottage cheese and drinking a few ounces of Protein Drink. The smell of any food, or even the sight of food on t.v. makes me want to throw up.

It’s now the 3^rd day post-surgery and I am still feeling that it is really hard to get anything down. I went for a 20 minute walk this morning, so I’m feeling fine in terms of getting around, I just can’t bear the thought of food in any form. Walked past a house where they were frying bacon and thought I was going to barf right there in their front yard! I haven’t even tried counting my calorie/protein intake because it has been so minimal. I’m hoping that it gets easier today. Well, time for my Lovenox shot, hooray!