Just got approved, so many questions

HI. Im Jessica. I just got approved for my surgery, sleeve. I was going to have it in february but decided to move it to may due to moving from an apt to a house. I have so many questions and hopefully some of them can be answered here.

1. How long did it take you to recover? Go back to work? I work at a pharmacy at at tech but am a single mom so cant take alot of time off

2. Eating after surgery. Am i gonna be able to eat out at all? even a few handfuls?

3. Bathroom habits after? I have heard horror stories about diarrhea and vomitting and all of it.

I will probably post more questions on here as they pop into my head. Hopefully this site can help me as much as it helped my friend.

Thanks, Jessica

I was off for ten days then went back to work. However, I am mostly sitting at work so it really depends on the job. I also had zero complications post op. 

Of course you can eat out - just follow your plan post op, the liquid and pureed stages are important for your sleeve to heal. 

I have not vomited once since surgery - however I have head some do for the first couple weeks, but from my understanding it's temporary. My stools have been soft since surgery but I am eating only pureed and liquids.... So that is to be expected. 

Good luck!

Welcome and congrats on your upcoming VSG!  

1. I didn't want to do much for a week and then I started getting out and about.  By the end of the second week, I was pretty much good to go but still tired easily.  

2. I eat out.  It just takes so planning.  I always check out menus online before going anywhere and make sure that I know what options are good for me.  I can pretty much find something to eat everywhere - I still stick to protein and restaurants can be "dangerous" with all the crap they serve.  It's a good habit to get into to ask for a to go box to come with your meal so you can package up what you won't eat right away instead of feeling compelled to pick at it.  The challenge with eating out is that you've still got to eat correctly.  

3. I have a good poop in the morning and that's it.  If I don't poop in the morning, I add Miralax to my morning shake to ensure that I poop the following morning.  My bowels were horrible pre-op, so this is amazing :)  The only vomiting I've done is when I ate some too-dry salmon about 4 weeks out and then when I had a weird complication 3 months out.  (The complication was resolved with 10 days of an anti-spasmodic medication, so nothing drastic and I haven't had a problem since.)  

You might consider checking out the VSG forums!  http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/

Hi, Jessica. Welcome and congratulations on the approval!

1. My recovery has been incredibly slow and even now, at 6 weeks i wouldn't be able to do a full time job where I had to stand on my feet. HOWEVER, my slow recovery isn't just because of the sleeve. For a variety of reasons I had 3 surgeries in 6 weeks and my VSG was the last one. By the time my body had that surgery it was ticked off and had nothing left to give. To compound matters I did not get my water and protein targets for weeks. Since I doubt you are going to have multiple surgeries in a short period of time, I imagine your recovery will be much smoother than mine :)

2. Eating out - Once you make it through whatever post op diet your DR has for you, yes you will be able to eat out. Even at 6 weeks I have gone out with my family a couple of times. My amount is so tiny right now that I didn't order my own item, but instead stole a slice of chicken from my son's plate. I was completely satisfied and heck, it made the bill cheaper too. 

3. In the first few weeks I seemed to go from one extreme to the other. I had settled into 1 BM a day and that was fine. This week both the NUT and my DR are pushing me to add more protein so I am noticing that I am tending more towards the constipation side of things. I believe as my body gets used to this new amount of food it will likely settle back to on BM/day. 

BTW - For what it's worth, I think that if you had the surgery in February you would be recovered enough to move to the house in May. Heck, you would probably even have more energy and move around easier then too. Obviously you know your situation and what works best for you so feel free to ignore my .02. 

That's a really good point about surgery in February and moving in May.  

You should find out if your surgeon offers a support group that you can start attending now.   You can meet some local folks who have had surgery and find out how they live post-op.

You will likely be in the hospital for at least 1 night with VSG, then home on narcotics for a few days, and alternating napping, sipping fluids and light walking for several days.

Probably a full week at home, maybe 2 .... Is it possible that you can work1/2 days for a week or 2 as you recuperate?

are you able to sit frequently while you work, maybe have a stool handy (I am thinking about my local pharmacy, they seem to stand and walk a lot, but also could have a stool by the register if they needed to.)

Are you able to take short, frequent breaks?  I work a desk job from home and returned to work after 1 week, but I took a short nap at lunchtime for at least a week.  You might be able to take a short nap in the break room or in your car, if needed.

As far as eating out, you could go out almost immediately if you follow your plan.  You can have egg drop soup while you are on liquids.  You can have soft, flaky fish whole you are on soft/mushy foods.

You will only be eating a few bites per meal, so it might make sense to share with someone else, or plan for a full dinner to go home with you and serve you 4-6 times.

In restaurants (still, at 5 years out), I get my food and I transfer 1/4 of it to the bread plate and eat off of that.  I stop and wait a few minutes to see if I NEED more, not 'want' more.  Then I either box up the rest, or I leave the rest.  If it is something that will re-heat well, I take it home, if not, I leave it and just consider it money spent.

Recovery time varies greatly.  Keep in mind that you cannot lift more than 8 lbs for 8 weeks.  Some need only a couple of weeks, while others take several weeks to shake off that anesthesia fog.  I have a very active job, so I planned ahead and took 8 weeks, returning to my full rock-star capacity and schedule.  I could never have done that at 4 weeks, let alone 2.  Some find that they tire easily and do a part time schedule after a couple of weeks so they can go home and nap.

I eat out alot.  The first six months, I would convince my table companion to share with me since I was only good for about 1/4 of the meal.  I'm good for about half of it now 9 yrs post DS.  You can always find a good protein-loaded appetiser, get buffet food by the pound instead of by the plate, and just ask for a half portion.  Many restaurants are very accommodating if you just say you have a tiny appetite but love delicious food.  You don't need to flash a surgery card or anything.

Having the DS (which has a sleeve stomach, btw), I would say my bathroom habits would be the worst of all procedures to get used to, another reason I took 8 weeks off.  By the time I returned to work, I was 'almost' on a predictable early morning schedule, and that was it for the rest of the day.  Variances were always due to something I ate, and it took time to figure out what those trigger foods are.  I've got enough  now that I have very few surprises in my life from bathroom, to bloating or gas.

Best wishes to you on your surgery!! 

1. I had OPEN and I was walking around Walmart cause I was bored at 2 weeks. I was sluggish and tired for about 7 weeks (lack of nutrients in the beginning, healing, shock of surgery, body goes into a sort of conserve mode think hibernation bears in winter the want to hold on to the fat stores because suddenly the food input has reduced, etc. typical) I could have returned to my semi desk job at 2 weeks but would have been wiped... it can be done. On the Mom thing... if your little one is little... picking her/him up or having them jump on you will not be an option for a while... if they understand Mommy has an owie and is healing... if not might want Grandma or sis or someone to run interference ;) as the official carry meeeeee! go-to.

2. What I eat: www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com (8 years of post RNY weight loss surgery menus and recipes) including eating out and what I do with the leftovers ;) that's a bonus we can make a few meals from 1 restaurant meal.

3. I have puked 5 times in 8+ years since surgery... 3 within the first year (food stuck, not enough chewing, you get used to that pretty quick) and no diarrhea unless I had the flu, nothing surgery related. In fact if anything I lean the other way and need to make sure I eat plenty of fiber and drink water ;)

Welcome! ~Michelle "Shelly"

walking around walmart sounds like a good idea. maybe ill walk around the malls to get the walking down and not get too bored.   I work at a pharmacy so its busy busy busy. talking to my boss tomorrow to see what can be done. put in for a month off but can come back early if feel better and they can accommodate... 

Im so glad to see all the support and answers on this forum. I am also getting lots of support from friends on facebook. My mother hates the idea but will help take care of my daughter. she isnt supporting the idea but will help. i told her i wasnt asking for her support anymore but to just respect my plans and help if she can. luckily she is a bit more relaxed now. she also has about 5 months to get use to the idea. 

She said to me the other night, "why dont you just eat small portions if thats what this surgery is going to do"   mind you she is also over weight. I wanted to tell her why doesnt she do that then if its so easy.   For me its the constant hunger and no satisfaction that kills me. 

My husband said he doesnt like the idea but he supports me and will help me out. 

Because i moved it to may, hopefully we will be all moved into our house and will have a bigger place to walk around... Im nervous as all heck esp after having a panic attack looking at pictures of the incisions. lol  not doing that again lol

My hospital does have a support group every thurs. I am going to try to start going but it all depends on work sched. I might just go a few months before my surgery. 

Thanks again for the answers, as im sure i will have tons.

# 2 I typically don't eat by the handfuls in restaurants,but yes,I am able to eat a reasonable amount for a sleeved stomach.