SURGERY ADVICE!

MY SURGERY IS ON WEDNESDAY!! I am feeling all kind of emotions. I'm excited but I'm nervous all at the same time. It is just really weird emotions that I almost cannot describe. I was just wondering if there was anyway some of you could give me some insight. 

What to expect before and after surgery? Pain? Anything I need to get ready at home that ya'll wished ya'll would have done? Any kind of advice?

It's okay to feel emotions. I was very nervous because I never had any kind of surgery before. Just keep thinking how great you'll look and feel after when you lose the weight.  Before for me I had to do a clear liquid diet the day before then I went to hospital and got my iv and they asked me questions and I could ask my surgeon and the anest. questions too. The they rolled me into the operating room the were talking to me them boom out like a light. Remember pain is different for everyone I have a very high tolerance so my pain was a 7. But! I could handle it! That's when I first woke up then they gave me pain meds and I never felt a thing. That same day I was up walking and going to the bathroom. Then the next day I went home. I was fine, took my pain meds as needed. 

Before I went in I made sure I had a bathrobe no pjs because you won't need them you have a gurney. Then loose clothing to wear home, maybe a comfy skirt. I went grocery shopping before got all my liquid diet needs, soup, protein shakes, jello. 

You'll do great! This is going to be the best decision you've ever made. I have lost 68 lbs in 4 months! I have 29 lbs to go. Truly the best decision ever!  Good luck!!!

I wrote a list of 10 things I wish I had known... http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/laurenaev/blog/2012/09/27/ things-i-wish-i-had-known-before-surgery/

But mainly, have a list of allowed foods and stock up on them before.  Buy your protein and vitamins too.  You're not going to go to the store right away so make sure you have it all.

Don't freak out too much.  Just try to walk as much as possible, get down as much water as you can, and remember that every single day gets easier.  Everyone is scared before they go in, everyone has "regrets" when they come out.  I believe my first words after surgery were "I feel like I want to die!  What did I do to myself?"  And now, 10 months later I say daily "THAT WAS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE FOR MYSELF!"  Its worth it and as long as you keep your eye on the goal, you'll do great!

I had my surgery just a week and a half ago.  I made sure to have a couple different protein drinks available, just in case my tastes changed.  Also, I couldn't stand the taste of water so switched to mio drops in water and poweraid zero.  Will you be having anyone with you the first couple days home?

as far as pain, everyone is different.  I never had full out "pain". Just soreness....really sore. :-).  I didn't take pain mess once I left the hospital, but the first week home I relied heavily on anti-spasmodic.  I was surprised by the number of prescriptions I went home with!

it is normal to feel freaked out....hang in there, it will be over before you know it

Anne

Hi and congratulations Hannah!  Boy can I remember that feeling - being excited and nervous as heck!  You are gonna do great, so try to relax!  (I know - easier said than done!)

The pain wasn't horrible - the pain meds were wonderful and knocked them down, kept them manageable.  I didn't feel the horrible gas pains others have felt - if you get them moving is the only thing that helps.  Post-op you will feel really dry - remember to take your favorite lip balm to the hospital with you - it will make you feel more comfortable!  Walk as much as you can post-op!  I found sleeping in a recliner easier then getting up and down out of bed the first several nights. 

Hope that helps - oh - remember to sip, walk, rest, repeat!

You already have a lot of great advice.  I am only taking a minute to suggest the opposite of one of the suggestions.  Do not stock up on a lot of things.  I like the idea of preparing for not wanting to go to the grocery story immediately post op.  For that reason logic would be to get some things.  But what you need to take into account is that post op your taste will very likely change.  If you have purchased a whole lot of something and don't end up liking it post op, then you are simply wasting your money.  

So I would say that you should think about some things that you would likely need for about 1 or maybe even 2 weeks post op and get those but don't over buy a bunch of things.  Likely in the time frame post op where you may not feel like grocery shopping you will only be on liquids clear or full.  So broths, sugar free puddings, sugar free popsicles, and such as your plan allows.  Don't by months worth of these things ... again plan on only a week or two.

As for emotions you are quite typical.  Everyone feels these and tries to rethink things (for some reason I didn't have anything but extremely happy thoughts and no worries).  I attribute my lack of nervousness to the fact that I always look at the big picture.  Most everyone else tends to think about the next few days or weeks.  When I say look at the big picture I was thinking about how bad my health had gotten due to obesity and how bad it would continue to get without the surgery.  No ifs ands or buts about it obesity will slowly kill you and your health will decline as you age.  When you think about that I was far more afraid to not have the surgery.  Logically it was the biggest no brainer I have had in my whole life and I am 50 years old.

I am now about 13 months post op and my only regret is not having had this surgery when I was much younger.  My life would have been a thousand times different from what it is now.  My obesity was not only physically killing me but also changed the course of my life many times over.  Surgery was literally a life saver.   

So when you get nervous think about the whole picture and how not having the surgery will eventually cause an increased number of health issues and even a lowered quality of life.  With all the stress obesity puts on your heart and various other organs these things will eventually say enough is enough and that will be all she wrote.  

Sorry to be so blunt but it amazes me that so many people say they are nervous about an upcoming surgery without thinking that they should be a hundred times more nervous not to have it.

Good luck and you will be amazed how wonderfully things will work out for you.

I love your blunt answers.  Give it to me true.  Did you have band, by-pass or sleeve?  What made you choose the one you did?

I had the sleeve.  Based on my success so far it was the best choice.  I lost 95 pounds within about 5 1/2 months and 8 months later trying to put 10 pounds back on I only succeeded in loosing another 5.

As for the band I refer to it as the crap band.  There are surgeons out there that have stopped doing this surgery replacing it with the VSG (sleeve).  My surgeon now does more VSG than any other type of bariatric surgery.  The idea of going back and forth to the surgeon every time the crap band isn't doing it's job or doesn't quite feel right to get it either inflated or deflated sounded like a big scam to me.  Plus I have seen so many people having it fail on them and revising to the sleeve I figured I would skip having the revision and get what everyone seems to end up with eventually.  

Also I don't think that the crap band helps with issues like Diabetes II and it doesn't take out or disconnect the part of the stomach that produced Grehlin which is the hunger hormone.  The more of this hormone that gets to the brain the hungry your brain thinks that you are.  Your body still produces it but without the stomach piece it is in much smaller quantities.  

I felt that the RNY (gastric by-pass) was too extreme.  I honestly started this journey with a BMI of about 35 or 36.  Don't get me started on the fact that the BMI is a BS number.  I posted my thoughts on that last week in another response to Kairk that was upset at not being "normal" by BMI standards.  The stupid part is that those BMI numbers are not normal but insurance constructs.  Anyway sorry for the aside.  I have a friend that is very successful with the RNY, however I didn't want to deal with the possibilities of vitamin deficiencies or the wonderful dumping syndrome.  I also know someone that is almost 2 years post op RNY that is failing ... and by that I mean that she is gaining weight.  It just seems a shame to do all that re-plumbing and have it not go as well as hoped.  Overall she has lost weight but not as much as she could have.  Although I suspect that being only about 20 something years old that she may be not making the best food choices and possibly even out drinking with friends.

A big concern pre op was my Diabetes II.  I knew going in that the RNY was getting a lot of press as a "fix" for Diabetes II almost within hours post op.  I asked two surgeons at two different practices about the results RNY vs. VSG with regards to Diabetes II and was told to expect very similar results.  I was off my Diabetes meds one week pre op and have never restarted them.

I think that another reason I choose VSG is that about 4 years ago I met a woman that was 3 months post op VSG and doing great.  She had lost something around 40ish pounds at that point and she explained to me the procedure she had.  Sounded great and put the idea in my head that this was the way to go.  I also enjoyed that she shared this with me without care of what I may say or think.  Because of her at this point I have told literally hundreds of people about my surgery with about 90% of those people being strangers.  I only hope that my words help save someone that is struggling with obesity.  I figure that if the person I am talking with isn't the person needing to hear the story that at some point that person likely knows someone that is obese and may share the story of my success.

The last year has been a great journey health wise.  In January of 2012 I knew I had to do something about my health.  I had put into play two possible solutions.  I was going to have the VSG surgery before the end of the year or I was going to commit suicide.  Either way by the end of the year my struggle with obesity and more importantly Diabetes II was going to be over.

I am a perfectionist which I learned is a form of ADD which I did not know.  I knew that if I went through with the surgery and my surgeon gave me a plan that I would follow that plan to a tee.  My perfectionism  would not allow me to do otherwise.  I suppose that it is a little of that perfectionism that leads to the blunt answers.  I always try my best to relay the information and explain things the best way I know how.  I know that there are some on here that don't like me but I don't really care.  Every now and then I know that there is something I will write that will help someone with some problem.  

I think I just have to learn a bit about my long winded responses.  Sometimes I get a little off track as you have seen.  Part of that is my "monkey mind".  I type quite fast and as I am typing I am thinking about 3 or 4 thoughts ahead on other things that I think I might want to type.  By the time I get all those thoughts out I have created a fairly long winded response to a simple question.  Just the fact that the last two paragraphs have nothing much to do with your question would lend credence to that ... lol.

Hope that this helps.  If not, I have no problems answering more questions.  

Something that came in handy was one of my daughters pillow pet or something similar .....I used it to hang on to my stomach when rolling out of bed, getting up from chair, or laughing.. I am a nurse and never thought of it for myself and had to root through my daughters room the next morning for it....something else has been a helpful tip and may sound silly but a good pair of comfy underwear....I had lost about 25 lbs preop so my current underwear were Baggie and stretched out and I found some that fit better. When I rolled out of bed the tighter underwear hhelped stabilize my fat stomach from jiggling  and hurting my incision by my bellybutton.....hope this helps and best of luck!

Thank you all! It's very helpful. I will keep ya'll updated -- SO EXCITED its finally happening! :)