October 2018 Sleevers

[Frustr8 7,886]

can you resort to popsicles.? sugar free tropical have been a life saver for me on this prolonged Stage 2 I am on.

[MargoCL 677]

I'm so sorry. I hope the meds work

[Grapefruit 44]

I’m so sorry @tmrtyty2018b! I hope they find a solution soon and you heal quickly.

[CrankyMagpie 509]

I'm drinking the broth from a can of low sodium Cambpbell's chicken noodle Soup. My spouse got the solid bits and enough broth that he feels like he has a thick soup. I think we're both happy with the compromise.

Anyway, it's interesting to watch people's plans diverge. I just today worked up to not-premade shakes (Quest powder in Fairlife milk), and it was ... more of a challenge than the thinner premades. I managed it, with some gurgles and the occasional sternum squeeze when I took too big a sip. (My team didn't tell me to wait on them, but they're thicker, so I did.) But I'm on "no yogurt, and Soups only if they've been strained" until probably Friday, when I have my post-op. I can't complain about that--I feel like anything but the thinnest puree would be problematic for me right now--but it's a constant source of amazement for me, how much plans differ.

[Grapefruit 44]

You’re almost a week out @crankymagpie! How are you feeling otherwise?

[CrankyMagpie 509]

56 minutes ago, Grapefruit said:

You’re almost a week out @crankymagpie! How are you feeling otherwise?

Yep, a week tomorrow!

I'm good, mostly! Better than I had expected to be, honestly.

My arthritis has retreated. I think my immune system is just busy healing up the surgery damage for now, but it would be pretty amazing if it just stayed away.

The biggest incision hurts some, but it's manageable enough that I haven't had even the Tylenol in days, let alone the harder stuff. There's a lot of gurgling in there, just like a pre-op empty stomach, which leaves me feeling like I'm hungry, even though I know I can't force liquids in much faster. I know it'll eventually go away. My sternum hurts with some things I try to drink and, very rarely, when I haven't had anything. I'm on Prilosec, so I am assuming the random times are because I've been doing my breathing exercises wrong or something. I dunno.

I'm over 64 ounces of liquid per day without having to work super hard anymore, which is nice: I can take big enough sips now that I felt safe pulling out my favorite coffee mug (which is pretty big), if not the coffee itself yet. Decaf black tea has been the main source of hydration for me, outside of Protein Shakes, Jello, and popsicles. I am, mentally, enough of a small child that the chicken noodle Soup broth makes me feel better, when I have it, too.

I'm in the high 50s on grams of Protein every day (plus whatever's in the broth, who knows?), and I've broken 60 once.

I've been doing short walks every day, in addition to the standard hourly pacing around the house; tonight's walk was over half a mile, and I feel good. (I don't want to push too far, too fast.)

And it looks like you're about a week from your surgery! How are you holding up?

[sleevemebaby7781 36]

Yep, a week tomorrow!
I'm good, mostly! Better than I had expected to be, honestly.
My arthritis has retreated. I think my immune system is just busy healing up the surgery damage for now, but it would be pretty amazing if it just stayed away.
The biggest incision hurts some, but it's manageable enough that I haven't had even the Tylenol in days, let alone the harder stuff. There's a lot of gurgling in there, just like a pre-op empty stomach, which leaves me feeling like I'm hungry, even though I know I can't force liquids in much faster. I know it'll eventually go away. My sternum hurts with some things I try to drink and, very rarely, when I haven't had anything. I'm on Prilosec, so I am assuming the random times are because I've been doing my breathing exercises wrong or something. I dunno.
I'm over 64 ounces of liquid per day without having to work super hard anymore, which is nice: I can take big enough sips now that I felt safe pulling out my favorite coffee mug (which is pretty big), if not the coffee itself yet. [emoji4] Decaf black tea has been the main source of hydration for me, outside of Protein Shakes, Jello, and popsicles. I am, mentally, enough of a small child that the chicken noodle Soup broth makes me feel better, when I have it, too.
I'm in the high 50s on grams of Protein every day (plus whatever's in the broth, who knows?), and I've broken 60 once.
I've been doing short walks every day, in addition to the standard hourly pacing around the house; tonight's walk was over half a mile, and I feel good. (I don't want to push too far, too fast.)
And it looks like you're about a week from your surgery! How are you holding up?

Your're doing so great!!! This gives me so much hope!!!

HW 230
SW 218 (10/4/2018)
GW 130

[Georgetown 253]

Hi there. My surgery is exactly one week from today, October 16! I’ve waited so long for this day that I can’t believe it’s so close. I’m in the second week of my liver shrinking diet. I just want next Tuesday to get here! Good luck to you!

[br3n 31]

Same here! We are surgery twins. I am excited, but starting to get nervous as it gets so close.

[Grapefruit 44]

@crankymagpie that’s so good to hear! Congrats, you are on your way. As for me, I feel like I’m nesting... picking up a few things for post-surgery, (but not too much!) I’ve found my Bariatric Advantage chewable multi’s to be pretty gross, but we’ll see how it goes when I cannot eat! My pre-op diet is pretty low maintenance. I have a Protein Shake in the morning, fish or chicken with greens for lunch and dinner. No coffee or alcohol. I’ve lost two lbs. lol I’m looking forward to getting this over with with the support of my Mom, who will be staying with me and my two sons during this process. Nervous but excited! I’m happy to hear how supportive your partner has been. 😊 Your Protein and liquids numbers are good, plus exercise- keep it up!

[crystalml 0]

My surgery is scheduled for October 17, 2018 and I am currently on a liver reduction diet and I've cheated several times, and drank alcohol once, and taken aspirin and ibuprofen. Are they gonna know? And will they still do the surgery? I'm worried[emoji45]

Sent from my VS988 using BariatricPal mobile app

[cnjsmom 14]

I had my sleeve done October 3rd. It took a lot longer because I had been through as number of extensive surgeries before. She had to cut through a bunch of scar tissue. The morning after I threw up before my scan for leaks. Normally I would have gone home later that day but I continued to throw up. Day three I was doing better and planned to go home in the afternoon, but coming out of the bathroom apparently collapsed. I came to with a large team of people working on me. Eventually they decided it was a basal vegal thing where pain caused pressure on a nerve. I didn’t recall the pain.
My doctor has office hours in 2 other hospitals but was concerned enough to drive directly to me. We talked. I told her I was fine and she went out out of the room to write her notes. Almost immediately I had another episode and the team had a terrible time reviving me. She had them snatch me up and took me for two other ct scans. Amazingly enough a really good radiologist had been detained so was available. He found an aneurysm bleeding at my spleen.
My doctor immediately called the cardiac care icu and got hold of a friend who had just finished a surgery. Most of her team was still there. They gathered and got the best vascular surgeon from the cardiac care hospital to come immediately. They went in through my groin. Cauterized the leak and inserted coils to reform and reenforce the aneurysm. It all took a little over 2 hours. I was saved because my doctor relied on her gut and a whole lot of the very best teams just happened to be there. My sleeve surgery saved my life. Had those things happened at home I wouldn’t have survived til I got to the er and if by some miracle I had they may not have investigated the problem correctly.
Yes things can go wrong with any surgery but in my case. It saved my life because no one knew I had this very serious problem.

[Grapefruit 44]

@cnjsmom What an experience, a miracle! What a blessing to have such a medical team and to have a doctor that listened to her gut.

[junee26 2]

I was sleeved on September 28th and I’m 12 days out and feel great. I took two weeks off from work just in case. I have a desk job and feel as Thai could’ve went back after one week. I did try to do some yard work and tired out really quickly. Only complications I had were from the anesthesia causing nausea and vomiting. So much so that they were gonna try and keep me another day (I wasn’t trying to hear that). I didn’t take any pain medication I was even trying to have them give me narcan cause whatever they gave me from surgery was knocking me out.

[Georgetown 253]

I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling great! Good luck with your journey! Keep me posted.