August Surgery buddies

[Onemealplan 91]

On 08/11/2024 at 19:10, ShoppGirl said:

You know we laugh cause what else can you do but I’m telling you if you have to pass gas while you’re in there I don’t care who is in the room let it go. Explain later but omg I was on oxy and morphine and literally in tears one night because the pain was so bad. Passes a few good toots and they cut the oxy way back and took me off the morphine. I still have the actual surgical pain that everyone has now but with the normal post op pain meds it’s manageable. Before that I wasn’t sure how I could ever go home.

I am so so sorry I didn’t have the same experience. I had no trouble burping and belching actually every time I take sips. I usually burp quite often. I didn’t feel that left shoulder pain from the gas either now that I’m home I’m starting to feel a little bit more aches and pains.

[Onemealplan 91]

On 08/11/2024 at 19:47, Mandalynne said:

@AndreaJD your advice about the weight loss discussion with others is great! I’m definitely using that one and thank you!! Good luck on your surgery tomorrow, like you said, eyes on the prize!



@Justarwaxx mine is on the 14th too!! Are you doing the Gastric Bypass as well?



I’ve been told I’ll only be in the hospital 1 night… we shall see. Omg, my husband ate pizza for dinner… he was at least nice enough to eat it in another room, but still… i could almost kill for a piece. But again, eyes on the prize. I keep having to remind myself. 2 more days of this and then my life is changing.

All our lives are changing for the better, which makes it worth it.



You guys stay strong and good luck this week, I know a lot of us are on the roster this week. Be strong and positive vibes everyone!!

I look forward to hearing from everyone after their surgery, keep us updated!!

Don’t worry, you’ll be able to have that pizza again. It’s gonna be a long time before you do, but it will be there for you. so at first, I told my husband that I didn’t want him cooking in the house because I thought it would bother me and then the lack of smelling the food was bothering me so he’s back to cooking and I am even cooking for him I’ve learned to enjoy just the smell of food and what it would taste like and just being content with that mentally, but you’ll get through this!

[Greekmom4 32]

Hi everyone,

I am 7 days post-op. Today, I was able to add 1 Protein Shake to my Clear Liquids. Taking it a little slower than normal to get my fluids where they need to be. My nurse advised me to go at the speed my body will allow. Tomorrow I will add the second Protein shake and see how that goes. Maybe then I will be able to start adding some puréed foods.
I was also advised to take my Levsin to prevent stomach spasms and Zofran for the nausea. Also taking Omeprazole. Holding off on the Vitamins as they can cause nausea.
As far as gas, it was mostly the first 3-4 days and now just infrequent burping. Because it is an inert gas, there is no smell. But the family found it hilarious. lol

Getting up and down, and walking is getting easier. Believe me that is a great thing.
The best tip from my nurse is that right now the full time job is getting in your fluids and walking.

[Onemealplan 91]

On 08/13/2024 at 09:17, Pepper_No_Salt said:

My surgery got cancelled.

We have no idea why. I got the notification on my portal app for my health plan so I immediatly contacted my surgeon's office because they have been going forward like I still have one. I was able to check the actual surgery schedule and sure enough I'm not on it.

I'm beyond angry right now. I put in to have a whole week off of work next week that while I can definetly not take off, half of my team is going out of town for a conference so I would have to reschedule for the end of this month. That also sucks because I've pushed things out to the end of the month because I knew I would be in recovery. Now I have to somehow move them back and push other things. I want to scream.

Omg! I am so sorry how in the world did they not call you to advise why they were canceling it!? That seems insane to me. I am so sorry. Had to go through that.

[Onemealplan 91]

On 08/13/2024 at 11:24, draikaina8503 said:

I've been teaching myself to draw, but otherwise my hobbies are nerddom: D&D, playing video games like World of Warcraft. I love storytelling, so I'm drawn to anything that allows me to play out a story for my characters.

I wish I had more creativity in other aspects of life.

Same if it wasn’t for my video games and my k dramas I don’t know what I’d do with myself 🤩

[Onemealplan 91]

On 08/13/2024 at 14:00, Greekmom4 said:

Hi everyone,

I am 7 days post-op. Today, I was able to add 1 Protein Shake to my Clear Liquids. Taking it a little slower than normal to get my fluids where they need to be. My nurse advised me to go at the speed my body will allow. Tomorrow I will add the second Protein shake and see how that goes. Maybe then I will be able to start adding some puréed foods.

I was also advised to take my Levsin to prevent stomach spasms and Zofran for the nausea. Also taking Omeprazole. Holding off on the Vitamins as they can cause nausea.

As far as gas, it was mostly the first 3-4 days and now just infrequent burping. Because it is an inert gas, there is no smell. But the family found it hilarious. lol

Getting up and down, and walking is getting easier. Believe me that is a great thing.

The best tip from my nurse is that right now the full time job is getting in your fluids and walking.

I definitely recommend to take it easy and absolutely listen to your body! a little bit at a time I started with trying yogurt and Protein and then all of a sudden my body didn’t tolerate it and I had to go back to Clear Liquids. Definitely continue with the medication. Those have been a blessing to me. I am going to stay on Nexium for the next two months per my doctor. Do not do the Vitamins. I would definitely recommend wait on vitamins until your purée stage if you have a delicate stomach. Vitamin and vitamins and I think that’s what really affected my stomach and why I had to river back to liquids. Congratulations on your surgery.!!

[ShoppGirl 4,350]

57 minutes ago, Onemealplan said:

Hey, I hope you’re doing well. How’s your recovery going? Have your wounds healed yet? Mine are completely healed. So stuck on the liquid diet phase man it’s miserable.. of course they’re good and the bad days lol

I am doing sooooo much better, thanks. Now I practically forget I had surgery until I try to get up or sit down. That and I am still pretty fatigued (i take a couple naps). I am not supposed to take the steri strips off of my incisions but one did come off and it’s almost healed. I am over the all liquids too. As I read this I have the blended phase paperwork on my lap because I was making a grocery list even though I don’t get to start till Sunday. I really don’t understand how we can go from liquid to canned chicken or tuna unless they expect us to put that in the blender too? Sounds pretty gross. I’m guessing I will be eating a lot of scrambled eggs.

[ShoppGirl 4,350]

1 hour ago, Onemealplan said:

I am so so sorry I didn’t have the same experience. I had no trouble burping and belching actually every time I take sips. I usually burp quite often. I didn’t feel that left shoulder pain from the gas either now that I’m home I’m starting to feel a little bit more aches and pains.

You may have had a nerve block. They gave me one last time without telling me. This time I asked and he didn’t do it. Not sure why. But it sorta numbs all the abdominal pain and slowly wears off by the next day when the pain really sets in.

[draikaina8503 70]

On 8/7/2024 at 8:56 PM, Hiddenroses said:

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.

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.

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! 🙏🏻

Great information for me to have. I am 3 days away from surgery and am looking for all the tips.

As for the period, that is something I am terrified of happening. I don't have consistent periods and it seems like my luck it would start then. I hate that you experienced that, but I'm glad you shared the information. Hopefully they are as accommodating for me if that happens.

[draikaina8503 70]

On 8/7/2024 at 9:01 PM, Mandalynne said:

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.

Wow, I never thought about that as an option, but it makes total sense. It's definitely not something that was talked about in my nutrition class or the doctor's office. Great job on figuring that one out!

[draikaina8503 70]

On 8/11/2024 at 1:01 PM, ShoppGirl said:

Not sure if the majority of my pain was the fact that they ended up taking my gallbladder too or just because I couldn’t pass gas for 4 days!!

It’s adjustable but I got used to pushing off of the bed rails being in hosptial for. 5’days.

Did you know ahead of time they were taking your gallbladder, or was that something they discovered they had to do while they were in there? I ask because some of the audiobooks I've listened to make it sound like a lot of doctors just decide to go ahead and remove it. My doc hasn't indicated that he would, so I'm wondering just how 'normal' it actually is.

And this is good information to have. I also have an adjustable bed (though where my dogs have kicked my remote to remains to be seen). So we are trying to make sure we get everything set up near the bed to make it was easy as possible on me. Would you suggest moving the night stand next to where I would be if I was completely sitting up to help?

[Mandalynne 11]

On 08/13/2024 at 12:36, Onemealplan said:

Don’t worry, you’ll be able to have that pizza again. It’s gonna be a long time before you do, but it will be there for you. so at first, I told my husband that I didn’t want him cooking in the house because I thought it would bother me and then the lack of smelling the food was bothering me so he’s back to cooking and I am even cooking for him I’ve learned to enjoy just the smell of food and what it would taste like and just being content with that mentally, but you’ll get through this!

Thank you for that! Yes I have been enjoying the smell of his food lol. I told him I was going to sniff all the flavor away lol.

[draikaina8503 70]

3 hours ago, Pepper_No_Salt said:

Update: We got it figured out. The hospital had cancelled it because they lost my order to schedule the surgery, I'm not completely surprised. I work on our EHR system and if anything Epic is gonna Epic. They resent the orders and almost immediatly I got my call from the pre-op nurse.😌

I work in healthcare as well, and I know that feeling all too well. Epic is gonna Epic. Worst three years with trying to work the kinks out of this thing. So are you back on for the 16th?

[draikaina8503 70]

2 hours ago, Onemealplan said:

Any good podcasts that you’ve enjoyed that have helped you so far?

Core Bariatric by Dr. Maria Iliakova and Tammie Lakose - this one is interesting because it's a bariatric surgeon and her very first bariatric patient. It's a new podcast that started this year, so not a lot to catch up on.

No Guts No Glory by Allyson and Cortni - both of these ladies had bariatric surgeries. One had the sleeve and the other had the diversion with duodenal switch. So they share about the upsides, the downsides, and everything else.

[ShoppGirl 4,350]

32 minutes ago, draikaina8503 said:

Did you know ahead of time they were taking your gallbladder, or was that something they discovered they had to do while they were in there? I ask because some of the audiobooks I've listened to make it sound like a lot of doctors just decide to go ahead and remove it. My doc hasn't indicated that he would, so I'm wondering just how 'normal' it actually is.

And this is good information to have. I also have an adjustable bed (though where my dogs have kicked my remote to remains to be seen). So we are trying to make sure we get everything set up near the bed to make it was easy as possible on me. Would you suggest moving the night stand next to where I would be if I was completely sitting up to help?

I had no idea he was going to take my gallbladder. Although I’m guessing it was somewhere in the paperwork I signed that he may. This is the same surgeon that did my sleeve so it’s not a standard since he didn’t take it last time. Mine just already wasn’t looking good and with the anticipated weight loss it would’ve needed to be removed eventually anyways so he went ahead and took it.

Because I had the SADI and less Fat is absorbed though it’s going to be a fine balance between too much fat for my lack of gallbladder and not enough fat for my body since I had the SADI so I don’t think it was a decision he took lightly.

In terms of moving the night stand I left mine where it goes but I did end up grabbing a tv tray that I don’t even remember how I acquired I’ve had it so long but it comes in real handy when someone is sick and needs to keep lots of things handy. It works well because as I adjust the level of the bed for comfort my husband can come in and move it an inch or two in either direction to make it easier for me to reach. I have been texting for his assistance less and less, though. Today I am feeling well enough I can scoot it myself since it’s on a rug on wood flooring. I also found a couple small baskets to be helpful to coral things like Vitamins and thermometer and everyday meds.

Another thing I actually discovered today was that ironically it is easier to get up from the bed in the flat position using the log roll method than to sit the bed all the way up. It honestly doesn’t make much sense to me but if one way hurts a great deal, try the other.

Edited August 13 by ShoppGirl