August Surgery buddies

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

7 hours ago, BigDane said:

My date is 5th, so Monday .. Just talked with the surgeon last night ( EU time ) .. And everything is ready to go

Once you speak to the doctor or pre op nurse it gets so real doesn’t it? I am so excited for you.

[BigDane 9]

@ShoppGirl Yeah, it get really real But that is only good.. really looking forward to it

[Greekmom4 38]

@BigDane good luck tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my clear liquid day before my surgery on Tuesday. Not nervous yet. Started packing, just taking the basics since it is only one night.
I went to the grocery yesterday and stocked up on my post-op food. I will start puréed on day 5 and that is where I am more nervous about picking the right foods.
How is everyone else doing with preparations for surgery?

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

@Greekmom4 glad to hear you are doing well and feeling calm. I am the day after you and I start my liquid diet tomorrow as well. I changed my plan a bit to do my grocery order tomorrow so if they don’t have my shakes I have time to order them. I am supposed to be two nights in hosptial but that’s what they said for my sleeve too but sent me home the next day. I didn’t get any perishable stuff for my purée stage because mine doesn’t start till day 10. I did add it to my Walmart cart though so I can pick it up or send my husband if I’m not up to it.

I planned to just chill today and go get a pedicure but I am apparently on an organizing kick because I lost track of time and spent most of the day cleaning and organizing my utility room. Thats okay. I did my nails myself. Left them natural but manicured them so I’m good. . I have a trunk full of donations to drop off on the way to the grocery but that’s about it for tomorrow.

Tuesday I just plan to do last minute things like change the bedding and put things out that I may need when I get home so I. don’t have to try to explain where they are if I’m in pain and need help. And if I’m able to get up myself they are within reach so I don’t strain too much. Tuesday night I want to get to bed early if I can since I have to wake up at 3:30 am.

For someone who has pretty severe anxiety I’m surprisingly calm too. I Finally feel prepared and that helps me quite a bit to stay chill. I am sure that Tuesday night I will be a little anxious but I think I would be a little odd if I wasn’t.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

24 minutes ago, Greekmom4 said:

@BigDane good luck tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my clear liquid day before my surgery on Tuesday. Not nervous yet. Started packing, just taking the basics since it is only one night.
I went to the grocery yesterday and stocked up on my post-op food. I will start puréed on day 5 and that is where I am more nervous about picking the right foods.
How is everyone else doing with preparations for surgery?

Did anyone tell you about the ricotta bake? I practically lived in that, refried Beans and mashed potatoes (some plans do not allow mashed potatoes). It’s basically lasagna without the noodles.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

Just checking in. Day one of liquids. So far so good but I’m just keeping myself busy. I dropped off my trunk load of donations and went to the car wash to vacuum and ran it through the express wash. My husband drives a big truck so he will be picking me up in my car and I didn’t want him to see it like it was. Filled it with gas and picked up my groceries. They had all my shakes so I did exactly what I warn everyone about. I bought a bunch so hopefully I like them post surgery. Now to cool off and drink my “lunch” before my zoom meeting at 2:00. I am allowed broth but I really don’t care for it. Maybe I will have a yogurt. I’m allowed that too. I don’t really love it without a bit of fruit or granola though because it tastes slightly bitter to me.

How is everyone else doing on the preop diets and prep. I feel like whenever I check something off my list I think of something else. But all the really important stuff is done.

[Pepper_No_Salt 49]

22 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Just checking in. Day one of liquids. So far so good but I’m just keeping myself busy. I dropped off my trunk load of donations and went to the car wash to vacuum and ran it through the express wash. My husband drives a big truck so he will be picking me up in my car and I didn’t want him to see it like it was. Filled it with gas and picked up my groceries. They had all my shakes so I did exactly what I warn everyone about. I bought a bunch so hopefully I like them post surgery. Now to cool off and drink my “lunch” before my zoom meeting at 2:00. I am allowed broth but I really don’t care for it. Maybe I will have a yogurt. I’m allowed that too. I don’t really love it without a bit of fruit or granola though because it tastes slightly bitter to me.

How is everyone else doing on the preop diets and prep. I feel like whenever I check something off my list I think of something else. But all the really important stuff is done.

I've started a collection of things in my pantry that I know I like. chicken Bone Broth from a couple different places (HEB and one I found on Amazon), Fairlife shakes, Gatorade Zero, Protein20 Water. I bought my Vitamins and calcium chews my office wanted me to have and put them on an Amazon subscription.

I'm actually getting more nervous as I get closer. My algorithm has started showing me "I regret my VSG surgery" content and it makes me doubt my decision. I have to remind myself that my immediate support group, the people I see everyday that have had this surgery are THRIVING.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

9 minutes ago, Pepper_No_Salt said:

I've started a collection of things in my pantry that I know I like. chicken Bone Broth from a couple different places (HEB and one I found on Amazon), Fairlife shakes, Gatorade Zero, Protein20 Water. I bought my Vitamins and calcium chews my office wanted me to have and put them on an Amazon subscription.

I'm actually getting more nervous as I get closer. My algorithm has started showing me "I regret my VSG surgery" content and it makes me doubt my decision. I have to remind myself that my immediate support group, the people I see everyday that have had this surgery are THRIVING.

You may want to check the manufacturers website later once you are for sure settled on a Vitamin to see if they are cheaper than Amazon A lot of them give discounts if you subscribe and it works out cheaper. I ordered mine to arrive a couple of weeks before I needed them and set them to auto ship just so I would always have them even if mail was a little slow or something

Definitely remind yourself that them people who have a bad experience with the surgery may be louder but they are certainly not the norm These surgeries are considered relatively safe. The risks are very low. And maybe the risk of a complication of obesity doesn’t have a specific date but there are far more and they are far more likely than the risks of surgery

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

@Hiddenroses and @BigDane I hope you Both had your surgeries and are recovering well.

i guess I am next. I have been being lazy all day but I gotta get off my butt soon and get my last minute stuff done.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

For those of you who haven’t started your pre op diet. Don’t forget to weigh, take photos and do measurements BEFORE you start. I forgot 😢

[AndreaJD 76]

I hope you are both doing awesome, @Onemealplan, @Greekmom4 and @BigDane!

@ShoppGirl, you are gonna rock this! I am amazed by your energy, getting all that done.

I'm thinking about all of you and sending good vibes.

@BigDane, I'm so jealous, you get to go to pureed a lot sooner than I do. I have to be on full liquids for 2 weeks post op. Less than a week to go for me now. Anxious but certain it's the right decision.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, our group has started having our surgeries and pretty soon it will be time to start sharing successes. I appreciate having you all to go through this with, even if it is virtually.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

33 minutes ago, AndreaJD said:

I hope you are both doing awesome, @Onemealplan, @Greekmom4 and @BigDane!

@ShoppGirl, you are gonna rock this! I am amazed by your energy, getting all that done.

I'm thinking about all of you and sending good vibes.

@BigDane, I'm so jealous, you get to go to pureed a lot sooner than I do. I have to be on full liquids for 2 weeks post op. Less than a week to go for me now. Anxious but certain it's the right decision.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, our group has started having our surgeries and pretty soon it will be time to start sharing successes. I appreciate having you all to go through this with, even if it is virtually.

Oh. I’m so sorry. I got this and another thread confused. I hope everyone is recovering well. I am about to go to sleep now so I can wake up at 3:30.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

Awake. Still In a bit of pain though. A lot more than with the sleeve. They ended Up giving me morphine and I got some sleep. Dr woke me up and I asked him my main. questions. He is so nice. Nurse seems to be good too so far. Haven’t tried to walk yet. Not sure how that’s gonna go since I can’t move my torso. I woke up with a binder on which helps alot cause they undid it a couple of times to check and I was thankful when they put it back. I am still on oxygen and supposed to be sipping my little cups every 15 minutes and using the spirometer. It’s sucking not blowing to raise the llittle ball and the other thing which is hard to explain. We will go for a walk around 5 he said before my next pain meds. Ooh and they have leg things on me that inflate like a blood pressure cup but looser every minute or so. So just sipping my Water and eating my ice chips in between.

Edited August 7 by ShoppGirl

[Hiddenroses 104]

On 8/6/2024 at 12:27 PM, ShoppGirl said:

@Hiddenroses and @BigDane I hope you Both had your surgeries and are recovering well.

i guess I am next. I have been being lazy all day but I gotta get off my butt soon and get my last minute stuff done.

I'm checking in! Surgery itself went smoothly in Monday morning although the gas left kind of a tight band sort of feeling around my chest that felt far too much like an anxiety attack. I remember them trying to talk to me and I just kept saying -tight chest, anxiety, don't like. They gave me some anxiety medicine that soothed me but did make me take a little longer to shake off the sedation.

I elected to send my Mom and friend home after I was settled into my room because my Mom doesn't drive and she is so anxious herself that I tend to worry more about her than myself when hard times happen. I did some standing Monday afternoon before they prompted me because I knew standing and walking would be the only way to feel better and work the gas out.

It took several tries for me to figure out how much of the flavored propel Water I could drink without gagging it back up. It only took once though for me to realize retching )being sick to my stomach hurt like heck and was VERY unpleasant.

I started rocking side to side, standing, walking, and stretching as much as I safely could to bring on burps because those delivered a bit of relief. sleeping overnight was interrupted as expected by staff checking on me, getting vitals, etc.

Tuesday morning I felt a little better and resumed the walking. I found that I needed to be sitting up completely with good posture if not standing for my little sips to go down better. I started sitting in the recliner more than. The bed for this reason - plus it taking less effort to get up that way. Staff was great though, bringing me heated blankets, helping me adjust the room temperature , etc. They moved me to to Protein Shakes Tuesday as well but as I was warned even the little sips still felt heavy and kind of unpleasant. Also, they don't taste very good when warm.

I did more walking Tuesday and the staff even offered to help me shower but I went with the huge wipes instead because I was pretty tuckered out. I have 4 or 5 incisions with a total of I believe 12 staples. They took the bandaids off yesterday evening because they were starting to pull and be uncomfortable so that was my first look at them. There is one main incision in the center that tucks against a fold of skin that is definitely the most uncomfortable.

I had to keep testing my comfort level for fluids and walking, I requested a different type of Protein and found that room temperature beef broth didn't taste any better than the shakes. Ugh. They gave me some unflavored Protein Powder today to mix with my Propel and I got down about 2.5 oz but still not loving it.

I was offered the chance to go home today but lucky me - my body DID decide to double up with my period starting this morning. I elected to take an extra day of IV fluids before heading home tomorrow seeing as I live 2 hours away from the hospital.

All in all I keep being told I am doing great but I'm tuckered out. I have been frequent in asking for my pain medication, anxiety medication, and nausea medicine. This evening I've also had some heartburn. Oh - and you do need to ask for things generally, they will loosely ask if you need anything but can't just randomly offer pain meds. You can also ask for ice packs.

Oh - the only things I had to ask for more than once was for my IV to be redone. My hand kept going cold with the meds and fluids making it ache more so I finally pushed a bit gently to get them to change it out.

Bidding you all the best, hope this helps someone! 🙏🏻

[Mandalynne 11]

Hi everyone, I’m very new to forums, but it’s Nice to meet you all.

I started this process back in February of this year, but I had been considering it for a while. my sister had the Gastric Sleeve, but my doctor wants me to get the Gastric Bypass, so that’s what I’m going to do. My starting weight was 266, i’m 5’3 with a BMI of 45… my doctor put my goal at 120.. fingers crossed. So insurance is covering it but I have a deductible.

I have a surgery date of August 14, 2024. I’m currently on 2 week of the liquid diet. Today being the first day with absolutely no solid foods allowed.

I had started preparing with purchasing toddler utensils and measured food containers, and a food scale. I stocked up on Ensure Max Protein, Unflavored protein powder, PB2 (no sugar added Peanut Butter powder), powdered banana and powdered freeze dried strawberries… all with no sugar added. I also bought Vanilla plant based protein powder. I blend a mixture of whatever flavor I want with 8 oz of skim milk or Water.

My routine is 2 ensures a day, then a powdered skim milk shake (in my ninja single blender) with whatever flavor, then I have 1 or 2 Progresso soup(s) for dinner (strained so I only get the broth)… the doctor said he didn’t care about the sodium only the sugar. If i need Snacks, i drink 4oz of V8 juice original, or I have a Sugar Free Chocolate pudding.

i have been slowly buying and stocking baby food. I buy veggies and fruit and some mixed meals, but this is in preparation of the post-op puréed meal portion. I like to be prepared.

I bought a 32oz water bottle on Amazon with that doesn’t have a straw (teaches me to sip). I know that I have to get through 2 of those a day minimum. I usually do pretty good.

My biggest problem is that I don’t have the energy to get off my behind and use my Bowflex anymore. Sometimes I’ll do Beat saber for cardio but I’m just low on energy. Have to say low carb is rough and it gives me mild headaches every day. I’m worried that I’ll lose weight so fast that I won’t have time to protect the muscles I have because I don’t have the energy to work out.
I’m now 6 days away from my surgery, I’m determined but nervous because the Bypass is a big change.

I’m not a smoker, but to all of you out there quitting for this, kudos to you!! You can all do it if you set your mind to it.

Edited August 8 by Mandalynne