My Sleeve Journey (sleeved 12/28)

[MamaRhea 56]

I took my first steps towards gastric sleeve in February of this year, 2016. The process was a bit of a nightmare, and I was denied by my insurance the first time around.

Once I did finally get my approval, it was so late in the year that I just knew that my surgery wouldn't be until January at the earliest. Which was very depressing because that would mean that my insurance out-of-pocket maximum would start over, and that would cost us thousands extra.

But my surgeon Dr. Shadle gave up his holiday vacation time to ensure that myself and many other patients got their surgeries before the end of the year. I cannot say enough good things about my surgeon. If any of you are in the Sacramento area, see if your insurance will work with Dr. Shadle. You won't be sorry you did.

I started my 2 week liquid diet on 12/14. It was pretty tough, but I knew what was at stake so I pushed through. Dr. Shadle even gave me permission to eat Proteins and vegetables for the Christmas holiday. That was great, but my body pretty much rejected it because I hasn't eaten in so long.

The night before the surgery I was so nervous and scared I could barely sleep. The next morning I paced around the house and sliced fruit for dehydration to keep my hands and mind occupied until it was time to go to the hospital.

The check in went smoothly and quickly, and before I knew it I was being wheeled back to the OR. The next thing I remember was waking up after the surgery. I was in sheer agony. Crying from the pain and desperately dry heaving. It took several hours for my pain to come down to a manageable level. Part of the pain was from the incisions themselves, and part of it was from the gas. The gas itself feels like a tight band around your chest, and it eventually settled in my shoulder. The gas pain has mostly subsided at this point.

Another aspect that I was not at all prepared for was how dry my mouth was. For the first 36 hours or so my mouth felt like sawdust, no matter if I just sipped Water or took an ice chip the moment before. This did eventually alleviate itself, thankfully.

One of the things they really monitored in the hospital was my liquid output (pee). Strangely enough, no matter how badly I felt like I had to go, it would only come out in a tiny trickle due to the fact that my insides were still asleep.

I was given a few doses of milk of magnesia to try to wake my bowels up, but to no avail. I also spent a good amount of time walking while I was in the hospital. It felt so good to get up and stretch out my torso.

I was released from the hospital yesterday morning. There was a bit of a kerfuffle with my prescriptions. I had thought that I couldn't pick them up until after the surgery, but they had apparently been sent over weeks beforehand, and to a different pharmacy than I thought. So by the time I got my pain meds, my pain was out of control again. I have oral dilauded for pain to take every 4 hours, but it wasn't taking the edge off. I was told I could take it every 2 hours until it was under control, but even then the pain wasn't receding. I finally sent my husband to the store to get some extra strength liquid Tylenol, and some milk of magnesia. I've found that taking 1 dilauded every 4 hours, and 30ml of Tylenol every 6 hours is the winning combination for me. The pain is still there but it is very manageable and I can move around without too much trouble. I have also found that putting a heat pad on my belly is very effective for helping me manage my pain.

I took a dose of milk of magnesia last night and finally had a bowel movement this morning! Tmi warning* it was completely liquid and did not cause any pain or discomfort at all.

I was technically supposed to start the "full liquids" stage of the post op diet yesterday, but I was too scared to try with all the pain I was in already. I just stuck with water, and a few sips of a pomegranate flavored bariatric Protein Drink (clear). This morning (12/30) I was actually feeling pretty good, so I tried about 1/4 cup or so of cream of chicken Soup. Took me about 30 minutes to get it down, and I have about 15 more minutes before I can start sipping liquids again to take my pills. It went down very well. There was one sip that I took a little too quickly that caused a little pain, but other than that there was no issue.

In addition to the dilauded and Tylenol, I also have zofran (nausea), colace (stool softener), pantropazole (anti-acid/reflux), and Vitamin D (because I'm deficient). This is on top of the daily Vitamin regimen that we are required to do. If you are reading this and don't already have one, I HIGHLY recommend getting a pill organizer. I have a 7 day, morn/noon/eve/bed organizer. It's a little bulky, but it is so very helpful.

I started my pre-op diet at 343 pounds. The morning of my surgery I was 326, and I am currently at about 325. I expect this will continue to go down as my swelling recedes.

I will be posting to this blog as often as I can, mostly for my own records so I can look back and see my progress.

Of course any comments, input, or tips are most welcome

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[bleonhardt 46]

Hello! I am also in Sacramento and was sleeved on Dec 9, 2016! I had a complication of a twisted stomach so ended up spending 6 nights in the hospital at Sutter. I would love to connect and share our progress!

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[MamaRhea 56]

Hello! I am also in Sacramento and was sleeved on Dec 9, 2016! I had a complication of a twisted stomach so ended up spending 6 nights in the hospital at Sutter. I would love to connect and share our progress!

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Lovely! How is your recovery going? I'm sorry to hear about your complication, that sounds very painful. Do you have any tips or advice? And yes I would love to connect! It is always good to have a support system of people who truly know what you are going through.

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[bleonhardt 46]

Recovery is slow I have to say. But first week I was unable to even keep Water down so I think I am a bit behind. They put a stent in my stomach to untwist it and I have surgery Jan 10th to remove it! I have lost 41 lbs since the surgery. I can tolerate all liquids but have zero hunger now so food is tough to get down. I can tolerate yogurt, applesauce, pudding but not much beyond that yet! How are you doing? If you private message me I would love to share my contact details if you want a friend in the area that is going through the same thing! My name is Brandee but can not figure out how to add my picture! Lol

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[MamaRhea 56]

Recovery is slow I have to say. But first week I was unable to even keep Water down so I think I am a bit behind. They put a stent in my stomach to untwist it and I have surgery Jan 10th to remove it! I have lost 41 lbs since the surgery. I can tolerate all liquids but have zero hunger now so food is tough to get down. I can tolerate yogurt, applesauce, pudding but not much beyond that yet! How are you doing? If you private message me I would love to share my contact details if you want a friend in the area that is going through the same thing! My name is Brandee but can not figure out how to add my picture! Lol

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Sending message!

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[MamaRhea 56]

Throughout the course of this day, I was able to eat about 2/3rds of a can of cream of chicken Soup, and I've gotten in about 40oz of Fluid (not counting the soup). I am going to really try to drink another 20oz of fluids before I go to bed tonight.

I did try a tiny nibble of meatloaf a few minutes ago (about the size of a pencil eraser). It definitely caused some pain, so I won't be experimenting with that again any time soon. I'm perfectly happy with my soup. I do have some low fat cottage cheese that I'm going to blend up with some milk tomorrow for Breakfast.

The pain has been so manageable today. I was up and moving around for most of the day. I even had my husband drive me to the store so I could do some grocery shopping!

My incisions are looking pretty good. I don't think they are going to scar too badly at all. There are 5 in total, one of which is in my belly button, so that one hardly counts.

This is the first time in years that I have had any true hope that I would be able to get down to a healthy weight. It's like I have a whole new lease on life. A chance to start over. I could not be happier with my decision.

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[bleonhardt 46]

So glad to hear you are able to eat! That is awesome news! I am struggling with the desire for food as I have zero hunger. My five scars look great after 3 weeks as yours will as well! Keep up the good work and positive attitude!!!

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[MamaRhea 56]

So this morning I woke up at around 1:30am in such agony that I was having difficulty breathing or speaking. One of my incisions was red, swollen, hot to the touch, and extremely painful. I also had a significant amount of pain deeper underneath the incision. I called the hospital to speak with the on call doctor, who just happened to be my surgeon. My surgeon assured me that it was highly unlikely to be infected, but that I could go to the ER if I needed help managing my pain.

I really hate the ER, so I wasn't going to go just for pain management. But I was unconvinced that there was no infection. So I took pictures and sent them to my mother and my mother in law, both of whom are RNs. Both immediately confirmed my suspicions that I did indeed have an infection.

My husband helped me to the car because I couldn't walk on my own. We waited in that waiting room for over 3 hours, during which time all of my pain meds wore off. About halfway through that 3 hours I was sobbing in pain, while I watched patient after patient get taken back before me, even ones who were obviously not that sick and/or got there long after I did. I finally had enough and hobbled over to the desk to ask how long the wait was. The nurse was initially extremely rude and essentially told me to suck it up and wait. In response I demanded to know why stomach virus patients were being given precedence over a God d@mned surgical infection. I then reminded her that I had been waiting for over 3 hours, far longer than any other person in that waiting room, because she literally keeps taking back anyone and everyone except me. That took her aback a bit, and magically I had a room, a bed, and an IV within the next 5 minutes.

I wound up having to do a CT scan, which involved drinking way more contrast that my sleeve could comfortably tolerate, so that they could rule out a leak or abscess to explain why I was in such intense excruciating pain.

This next part is humiliating and may be tmi, fair warning.

They asked me for a urine sample. By this point I was pretty dehydrated having been separated from a source of fluids for so long (this was right before the IV). I didn't think I'd have much to give them, but I said I would try. I got to the bathroom, locked the door, and sat down .... and immediately passed the most gas I have ever done in my life. It was shocking, and it lasted a good 20 seconds, I do NOT exaggerate. I could actually feel my intestines deflating and the difference in how my stomach looked after was very noticeable.

Now, as you may have guessed already, that was the true source of most of my pain. I was too embarrassed to admit that to the doctor though. And one of my incisions really was infected, so that did also contribute to the pain. I include this in my story here because as embarrassing as it is, any newly sleeved person reading this, if they are having overwhelming deep pain that comes in waves, they now know that they can try passing gas and it may help. Learn from my embarrassment.

I am now back at home with my antibiotics, my fluids, and a 1/3 cup of blended cream of mushroom Soup. My pain is back under control, and I'm a happy camper.

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Edited December 31, 2016 by MamaRhea

[MamaRhea 56]

Ladies and gentlemen it is official!

I am now lactose intolerant. Which is unfortunate, because I am a lover of all things dairy. But even just the tiniest bit of blended up cottage cheese is enough to give me almost instant diarrhea and painful gas/bloating. I was shocked at how fast it happened.

So, I'll be sticking with my non dairy options for a while. But eventually I'll need to find some substitutions. Anybody have any suggestions? Has anyone else become lactose intolerant after their sleeve?

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[pvechiola 195]

I took my first steps towards gastric sleeve in February of this year, 2016. The process was a bit of a nightmare, and I was denied by my insurance the first time around.

Once I did finally get my approval, it was so late in the year that I just knew that my surgery wouldn't be until January at the earliest. Which was very depressing because that would mean that my insurance out-of-pocket maximum would start over, and that would cost us thousands extra.

But my surgeon Dr. Shadle gave up his holiday vacation time to ensure that myself and many other patients got their surgeries before the end of the year. I cannot say enough good things about my surgeon. If any of you are in the Sacramento area, see if your insurance will work with Dr. Shadle. You won't be sorry you did.

I started my 2 week liquid diet on 12/14. It was pretty tough, but I knew what was at stake so I pushed through. Dr. Shadle even gave me permission to eat Proteins and vegetables for the Christmas holiday. That was great, but my body pretty much rejected it because I hasn't eaten in so long.

The night before the surgery I was so nervous and scared I could barely sleep. The next morning I paced around the house and sliced fruit for dehydration to keep my hands and mind occupied until it was time to go to the hospital.

The check in went smoothly and quickly, and before I knew it I was being wheeled back to the OR. The next thing I remember was waking up after the surgery. I was in sheer agony. Crying from the pain and desperately dry heaving. It took several hours for my pain to come down to a manageable level. Part of the pain was from the incisions themselves, and part of it was from the gas. The gas itself feels like a tight band around your chest, and it eventually settled in my shoulder. The gas pain has mostly subsided at this point.

Another aspect that I was not at all prepared for was how dry my mouth was. For the first 36 hours or so my mouth felt like sawdust, no matter if I just sipped Water or took an ice chip the moment before. This did eventually alleviate itself, thankfully.

One of the things they really monitored in the hospital was my liquid output (pee). Strangely enough, no matter how badly I felt like I had to go, it would only come out in a tiny trickle due to the fact that my insides were still asleep.

I was given a few doses of milk of magnesia to try to wake my bowels up, but to no avail. I also spent a good amount of time walking while I was in the hospital. It felt so good to get up and stretch out my torso.

I was released from the hospital yesterday morning. There was a bit of a kerfuffle with my prescriptions. I had thought that I couldn't pick them up until after the surgery, but they had apparently been sent over weeks beforehand, and to a different pharmacy than I thought. So by the time I got my pain meds, my pain was out of control again. I have oral dilauded for pain to take every 4 hours, but it wasn't taking the edge off. I was told I could take it every 2 hours until it was under control, but even then the pain wasn't receding. I finally sent my husband to the store to get some extra strength liquid Tylenol, and some milk of magnesia. I've found that taking 1 dilauded every 4 hours, and 30ml of Tylenol every 6 hours is the winning combination for me. The pain is still there but it is very manageable and I can move around without too much trouble. I have also found that putting a heat pad on my belly is very effective for helping me manage my pain.

I took a dose of milk of magnesia last night and finally had a bowel movement this morning! Tmi warning* it was completely liquid and did not cause any pain or discomfort at all.

I was technically supposed to start the "full liquids" stage of the post op diet yesterday, but I was too scared to try with all the pain I was in already. I just stuck with Water, and a few sips of a pomegranate flavored bariatric Protein drink (clear). This morning (12/30) I was actually feeling pretty good, so I tried about 1/4 cup or so of cream of chicken Soup. Took me about 30 minutes to get it down, and I have about 15 more minutes before I can start sipping liquids again to take my pills. It went down very well. There was one sip that I took a little too quickly that caused a little pain, but other than that there was no issue.

In addition to the dilauded and Tylenol, I also have zofran (nausea), colace (stool softener), pantropazole (anti-acid/reflux), and Vitamin D (because I'm deficient). This is on top of the daily Vitamin regimen that we are required to do. If you are reading this and don't already have one, I HIGHLY recommend getting a pill organizer. I have a 7 day, morn/noon/eve/bed organizer. It's a little bulky, but it is so very helpful.

I started my pre-op diet at 343 pounds. The morning of my surgery I was 326, and I am currently at about 325. I expect this will continue to go down as my swelling recedes.

I will be posting to this blog as often as I can, mostly for my own records so I can look back and see my progress.

Of course any comments, input, or tips are most welcome

Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Your blog was so great, helped me to grasp a lot more information and know a little more on what to expect. TY.Patty

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[pvechiola 195]

Does any one try baby jars of fruit along with pureed diet?

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[pvechiola 195]

Do you know if you can't even keep Water in do they keep you in hospital for a little longer if you need?

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[MamaRhea 56]

1 week update!

I am now down to 317.6! That's 25.4 pounds gone that I will never see again.

I think I'm a little further ahead on my diet than most at one week. I've found that I am able to tolerate soft food like eggs or tuna very well. I do plan on sticking with these soft foods for several weeks. I have found several ways to prepare foods that are delicious, satisfying, and totally on point with the diet. I'm a bit of a gourmet, so this is crucial for my success.

A lot of people report marital problems after the sleeve, but my marriage has improved dramatically in every measurable way. It's almost miraculous. We haven't been this happy in years.

The change in my psyche has been huge too. I'm actually happy. Genuinely happy. And hopeful for my future. For so many years I thought my best days were behind me, and now I know that isn't true anymore, and it's overwhelming.

The changes in my body are also overwhelming. I find that I am constantly touching my belly, my arms, my legs, just to stay acquainted with my body. I feel like a different person already, and the transformation has hardly begun!

My biggest struggle right now is Fluid and Protein intake. I know I'm not getting enough of either. I have some Bariatric Choice pomegranate flavored Protein juice mix that I put in my Water to kill 2 birds with one stone, so that helps.

I've been diligently taking my Vitamins too. The only ones that give me trouble are the antibiotics. They definitely cause some pain, but I only have 2 more days to take them thankfully.

Thank you all for taking my journey with me! As always, tips, advice, and comments are welcome

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[MamaRhea 56]

So I thought I would take the time to lay out exactly what foods I am eating, both for myself to look back on, and for any others on here looking for food ideas.

You will notice that many of these do in fact have some dairy in them. I have replaced dairy as much as possible, but eliminating it entirely would make a huge impact on what is available to me, and I can't fight two battles at once. Cheeses don't give me nearly so much trouble as regular milk itself does, so I have switched to Lactaid, which I have found to be extremely pleasant. I think I actually like it better than I liked milk (which is really saying something).

I have been limiting myself to portions of no greater than a 1/2 cup at a time. I eat anywhere from 4-6 of these mini meals per day, and have been losing just a little more than a pound per day on average (current weight 313 even!). I do drink about 8oz of Lactaid (slowly) once or twice a day for Protein, along with as much Water as I can get down in a day. I do separate my drinking from my meals, and wont take any sips until at least 30 minutes has passed from my last bite. I find that I am never really hungry, and the foods I am eating are delicious so I never feel deprived.

Here is the list of foods. Each item on this list makes enough for several mini meals. I don't blend any of these unless specified. I just chew very very thoroughly.

1: 2 Tablespoons of pesto mixed into 1 can (drained) of white Beans, topped with a table spoon of parmesan and mixed.

2: 1 banana mashed with a few tablespoons of Peanut Butter with a little Lactaid. (this makes a lovely frozen treat)

3: Canned Campbells split pea Soup with ham and bacon. Lots of Protein and totally delicious.

4: Various other canned Soups involvings peas or Beans with tiny bits of soft meat

5: 1 egg blended up with 1 chicken sage sausage and 1 tablespoon of herbed goat cheese with a splash of Lactaid. Cooked up in a pan just like scrambled eggs (DELICIOUS). This one makes almost exactly a 1/2 cup of food, depending on the size of the egg.

6: Refried beans with melted mozzarella.

7: Ricotta Bake (OMG the whole family loves this one). Going to add some ground turkey the next time I make it.

8: Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole. Both this and the Ricotta Bake are from www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com If you haven't already checked it out it would be well worth your while.

9: Canned chicken or tuna, mixed up with whatever I fancy at the moment. Various herbs from my garden, (chives, sage, oregano, etc), tarter sauce, a tasty spicy sandwich spread, fresh parmesan, etc etc. The sky is the limit for this one.

10: Prosciutto (very high quality, no fillers or nasty stuff), blended up with herbed goat cheese.

Those are what I have experimented with so far! Please feel free to comment any tips, pointers, or recipes of your own

Edited January 7, 2017 by MamaRhea

[Army's girl 4]

So this morning I woke up at around 1:30am in such agony that I was having difficulty breathing or speaking. One of my incisions was red, swollen, hot to the touch, and extremely painful. I also had a significant amount of pain deeper underneath the incision. I called the hospital to speak with the on call doctor, who just happened to be my surgeon. My surgeon assured me that it was highly unlikely to be infected, but that I could go to the ER if I needed help managing my pain.

I really hate the ER, so I wasn't going to go just for pain management. But I was unconvinced that there was no infection. So I took pictures and sent them to my mother and my mother in law, both of whom are RNs. Both immediately confirmed my suspicions that I did indeed have an infection.

My husband helped me to the car because I couldn't walk on my own. We waited in that waiting room for over 3 hours, during which time all of my pain meds wore off. About halfway through that 3 hours I was sobbing in pain, while I watched patient after patient get taken back before me, even ones who were obviously not that sick and/or got there long after I did. I finally had enough and hobbled over to the desk to ask how long the wait was. The nurse was initially extremely rude and essentially told me to suck it up and wait. In response I demanded to know why stomach virus patients were being given precedence over a God d@mned surgical infection. I then reminded her that I had been waiting for over 3 hours, far longer than any other person in that waiting room, because she literally keeps taking back anyone and everyone except me. That took her aback a bit, and magically I had a room, a bed, and an IV within the next 5 minutes.

I wound up having to do a CT scan, which involved drinking way more contrast that my sleeve could comfortably tolerate, so that they could rule out a leak or abscess to explain why I was in such intense excruciating pain.

This next part is humiliating and may be tmi, fair warning.

They asked me for a urine sample. By this point I was pretty dehydrated having been separated from a source of fluids for so long (this was right before the IV). I didn't think I'd have much to give them, but I said I would try. I got to the bathroom, locked the door, and sat down .... and immediately passed the most gas I have ever done in my life. It was shocking, and it lasted a good 20 seconds, I do NOT exaggerate. I could actually feel my intestines deflating and the difference in how my stomach looked after was very noticeable.

Now, as you may have guessed already, that was the true source of most of my pain. I was too embarrassed to admit that to the doctor though. And one of my incisions really was infected, so that did also contribute to the pain. I include this in my story here because as embarrassing as it is, any newly sleeved person reading this, if they are having overwhelming deep pain that comes in waves, they now know that they can try passing gas and it may help. Learn from my embarrassment.

I am now back at home with my antibiotics, my fluids, and a 1/3 cup of blended cream of mushroom Soup. My pain is back under control, and I'm a happy camper.

Sent from armysgirl

Thanks for sharing. You made me laugh but reminded me of a patient I had (I'm a surgical nurse) who refused to tell us she hadn't had a bowel movement or passed gas because she was a southern bell & ladies just don't speak of such things lol. Mind we are in Miami, Florida where we tell it ALL lol. Well long story short, we had to take her into surgery to do an exploratory laparotomy (cut you open from under your Breast bone to above your bladder) thinking she had a bowel obstruction or twisted. Ofcourse we found her bowels super enlarged due to gas smh. She is ok now but went through a lot. Thanks again, keep up the good job. Great post.

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