Orientation appointment, but.....

Hi all,

I received my info for my orientation appointment (April 26, 1 month after referral was received!) and I am pleased...

BUT, there seems to have been a lot of people posting lately who are having a very tough go of it post-op; not able to take vitamins, not keeping food down, not enough protein, intolerable pain, constant nausea, etc. 

So now I'm am filled with a feeling of "Eeeeks!!!!! That sounds HORRIBLE!!!! How can that be good for you????"

Whaddya think?

Thanks,

Jennifer

You will feel much different after orientation...lots of good information on what you will have to do after surgery...I felt the same ...lots of positive that outweighs the negatives...good luck

You'll always hear all of the horror stories (My uncles, sisters cousin died after gastric bypass....) but not always the good.

I'm 5.5+ years out, I lost 120 pounds and have kept it off, my knees no longer hurt all of the time, my whole life has changed, I haven't thrown up even once since surgery...and I could go on and on.

Has my journey been without issues? No, I had a bowel obstruction 2 days after my gastric bypass. I had open abdominal surgery for an Intussusception in December.

The reality is the good far outweighs the bad for me. I would do this all over again in a heartbeat.

Go through the process. You can change your mind at any time right up until they wheel you into the OR.

Linda

I can only tell you from my own experience, that yes.  It is hard.  I am almost 2 and a half years out and it is hard to stay on track with all the rules.  But I can also tell you that what was even harder was lugging my 330 pound body all over God's creation.  That was way harder, and I'd rather struggle to keep on track with vitamins and water, and tracking my foods, than the alternative, any day! 

Everyone goes through these feelings.  You'll feel it before surgery and likely many times along the way.  But in the end, in my opinion, it is worth it. Please also keep in mind, that people come on OH when they need support, so you will get these kinds of posts, because people are looking for advice.  There are also so many posts where people talk about their victories.  And I be almost everyone will tell you exactly what I have- It's not an easy road, but it's a worthwhile one!

Jennifer, keep in mind that bad news travels fast. Most people have no problems, tolerate food well and have manageable pain. They just don't bother posting that.

From the start, i had zero pain, i could tolerate anything, i made the transition from one stage to the other with ease. I had no problem taking vitamins, i liked the taste of the protein shakes, i found it easy to get enough protein in. I even liked optifast. I just have to keep an eye on my bowels, i tend to get constipated, but that's been a life long issue for me.

so, for every one post you see that things are horrible, there's likely about 50 people where nothing special is going on.

that is what I was trying to say in my post lol..

Most people post when things go wrong looking for help..  you see less posts of things going great in comparison. I had zero complications and am enjoying life 6 months post op

and, dahling, you look fracking amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Dahling!

If it helps.......I had surgery exactly a week ago today. I woke up in recovery within 5 minutes of being delivered there. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and was very nauseous.....for about 10 minutes. The nurses were quick with the Gravol and then a motion sickness patch behind my ear, and some ventolin ( I'm asthmatic ). For the remainder of the hour that I was in recovery I sat chatting with my nurse, watching others come in and sucking on oce cubes - No Pain!. Once I was wheeled into my room I chatted to the nurse on duty for a few minutes, she took my vitals and left. I got out of bed and my hubby helped me into pj bottoms to go with my lovely hospital gown. Throughout the first night I slept on and off but that was b/c I had a loud roomie, and the nurses kept waking me for vital checks....I asked for my pain meds to be re-filled 3 times, not because I felt any pain but because I wanted to stay on top of it and was told that I could get more every 4 hours. I continued to sip water and crucnch chipped ice throughout the night and into the next morning. I had one last dose of pain meds on Friday morning, and have literally had nothing since, not even regular strength Tylenol. I was walking laps Friday morning and have been doing my treadmill at home since Monday. All bodily functions have been working since the day after surgery and I continue to experience 0 bladder or bowel issues. I've had a little discomfort, but not painful at the incision sites and my upper abs initially felt like I had done too many sit ups.
We came home on Saturday, stopping several times as we were driving from TO to Kingston. I had a big nap once home and relaxed and watched tv that night. Have somehow been able to sleep in my sides since Friday, right more than left. On Sunday hubby and I went to Costco and did some visiting, then home and had a nap. I've been cooking for my family and doing light housework since Monday and having to remind myself not to push to hard. My puch has tolerated everything that I've eaten and drank since the moment I woke up in recovery. I haven't even felt nausia since those few minutes in recovery. I HATE the multi vitamins but I take them, and the Prevacid tastes yucky too, otherwise I'm getting my vitamins in. Today is the first day that Im finding it difficult to get my protein shakes in, and I think it's just a built up aversion to sweet tasting anything as it seems most everything I've put into my mouth for 3 weeks now has been sweet tasting ( 2 weeks opti ). In fact right now I'm slowly working my way through a half piece of babybel light ( my first solid since surgery ) and it's sitting well. To top it off, in 3 weeks I've lost 26 lbs ( as of this am ), all of my diabetic medications have been discontinued and I am full of energy.
Not everyone has a bad start, I think you read about those experiences more frequently bc people are looking for advise from those who have gone before them.