Pacific Northwest Sleevers?

[cowgirljane]

Before I selected Pacific Surgical, i went to support groups at Overlake. I learned SO much from doing that!

Anyway, i hope to meet some of you at future support groups at Swedish Edmonds. I didn't go to Dec because I was newly post op and couldn't drive myself yet. I didnt go to January because it was cancelled due to weather! Planning on Feb....

[Punkypoo]

Same Dr Billing.

[Punkypoo]

You lost a lot so far! Congratulations. How has your experience been? Any tips? I am nervous about liquids only and minimizing my head hunger/cravings.

[Punkypoo]

For those who had outpatient surgery. How long were you there in the surgery center? How did you do with your pain level? What did they send you home with? I could not imagine Vicodin being strong enough!

[cowgirljane]

Punkypoo, I am not sure if your questions were directed at me, but I will toss my 2cents in. First off, the doctors at Pacific Surgical are like my new favorite doctors. They are so supportive and wonderful! Their staff has been been great and I felt so well cared for.
Dr Billing removed my band, but then he went on vacation during the time when i could get the time off for doing the sleeve, so that procedure was done by Dr Landerholm. I like them both very much, but Dr Billing was the one who really talked me through the whole process and helped me understand alot more about obesity and my overall health situation. What a kind and caring person!

I have sleep apnea, so I stayed the night in the surgical center. I was dubious to be frank, but it worked out GREAT. I hate hospitals (too many people I have known died there) so this was a more positive experience for me. There were 3 of us overnight and one nurse who attended to our every whim. Mostly, she had to push open the heavy bathroom doors....lol. They pump you full of fluids in your IV and want you to drink drink drink too, so you pee alot. We were like a like on a sleep over, and were all up and walking around and chatting because the best thing for recovery is to MOVE. Since they weren't originally set up for overnighters, it is not like a hospital room, it is more the recovery area - so no TV or anything, but honestly it worked out just fine and I just felt so well "watched over" and never felt bored or lonely or anything. I dozed off a few times without my apnea machine on and the nurse reported to me what my blood oxygen level was so it was good to know that I stayed in the safe zone, made me less worried about when I went home.

That first day is a little hazy in my memory, but they put me on pain pills called dilodid (spelling?) and it was most certainly powerful enough. I know everyone is different, but you don't have that much pain from this surgery. The most painful thing for me was the morning I went home, I tried to lay on the bed and those muscles were so sore, it made me cry. Once i was all comfy on a recliner, I didn't really feel much pain at all. I bought that recliner used, on craigslist, specifically for recovery. I am getting ready to resell it, because it doesn't really fit well in our space, but it was a life saver.

For me, the worst thing was feeling queasy and I had to have repeated doses of anti naseau drugs that first day while I was still at the surgical center. I never did puke, which was good. I have had some queasiness after the first day, but not that bad and it keeps getting better.

During the liquid phase, I didn't really have a lot of cravings. I was in that phase during Christmas, so Christmas brunch I drank herbal tea while the family had a marvelous brunch and it didn't bug me. I think part of it was I knew how important it was to follow the program to give my tummy a chance to heal. I feel like my cravings are stronger now that i have introduced some carbs into my diet.

For the liquid phase, the hardest thing was I didn't like the taste of water anymore. It took me awhile to find that perfect combo of herbal teas and crystal light (actually, i used the ocean spray cran-grape flavor packets) to keep me hydrated. I also pretty much continually drank on my premier protein (30g per premixed container, buy em at Costco). Even early on, i did pretty good with the liquids and protein - hitting the targets set by the nutritionalist. My advice is to keep an open mind about trying new things (like the herbal teas) until you find something that works for you. BTW, water now is starting to taste normal again, thank goodness!

When I started pureed, I began having trouble getting enough fluids in because of the whole no drinking with eating thing... and just getting organized around it. I got it figured out though.

The nutritionalists give you that orange packet of info... I punched holes in it and put it in a binder. I have kept it close at hand for easy reference. I also added some pages of notebook paper and did a little journaling those first few weeks - to help me feel better and to sort of reflect on my goals when I wasn't feeling too great.

I think the most important thing i have done right is trying my best to follow the guidelines and journaling honestly and completely, including my vitamins. You would be surprised at how high calorie and carb the liquid and chewable vitamins are! I print out my food journal to bring to the nutritionalist so we can talk things over. I use myfitnesspal.com which is really awesome and has a massive food database. If you have a smart phone, you can also just scan barcodes to log food!

It was my overall experience that i didn't feel super great the first month. I was really really really tired, but once I added more carbs, my energy went up. I have trouble with carbs triggering cravings, so it is a balance. The pain wasn't bad at all, but, the recovery was not as easy as some people make it sound (glad for them, I just found it a little rougher). I had a bunch of adhesions and scarring from that dang lapband so maybe my recovery was impacted by that.

Anyway, you have picked a great surgeon and I am sure you will do really well.

[Punkypoo]

Wow thanks Cowgirl you gave me a great description of the experience. I am excited about having it done. How much have you lost so far? I am starting at 220 BMI 36-37 and hope to get down to 130-140. I have type 2 diabetes and cant want to be off insulin and my oral meds. My mind does not match my body. I feel so much smaller then I look at pictures of me and they tell a different story.

[cowgirljane]

I have the same problem, I am always shocked to see photos of myself - like who is that really fat lady? When I look in the mirror or imagine myself in my minds eye, I don't see myself as that fat. I don't loathe myself for being fat, I just know life is better when I am fitter and I want to be healthier, live longer and heck, even look better! I had sleep apnea and arthritis of the knees as my main co-morbidities. My blood pressure wasn't high, but it was creeping up, so that was another concern. Other then that, even being morbidly obese, I had good bloodwork, pretty decent overall health.

Word of warning, watch your insulin and stuff when you begin the preop and post surgery. Insulin can make you hungry if the dose is too high. I don't know much about it, but have heard this.

I started at a much higher BMI - day of my surgery I was a 49. My weight is very voilatile because I do diets about once a year that brings me from 290-300 down to around 275... then I regain that over the year....lol. What freaked me out was in 2011, I couldn't lose weight... and I just keep creeping up. I had a legitimate fear of hitting 325-350 in 2012 if I didn't do SOMETHING.

I weighed 308 when I started my pre-op, which was the Monday after Thanksgiving. In all honesty, i had lost about 2-3 pounds doing a low carb thing with my primary doctor over the previous month, so my highest weight was even higher then that, but i use 308 as my preop start. I lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks on the preop low carb diet, then I was 300 on the morning of my surgery. As of this morning, I weighed 269 so i have lost 31 since Dec 12th plus another 8 for the total of 39# since Nov 30th. It is in my signature.

I am worried that I won't hit my personal goal, because the heavier you start, the harder it is, but right now I am trying to focus on my day to day, week to week, month to month progress. I figure even if I get and stay under 200, it is still a huge improvement over where I have been and where I was headed.

[Punkypoo]

I am sure you will meet your personal goal. You have done a great job so far wow! 40lbs in a month is so good! Thanks for all your help. I will be calling on you in a little over 10 days. Fingers crossed I do as well as you.

[tracilr]

I'm in West Seattle and would love to connect with others to ask about their experience. My surgery is Feb 29th...eeek!

[Punkypoo]

To all my NW sleevers I'm on day 3 and doing ok. Lots of upper midline pain just under the breast. Hurts to breath deep or drink or eat. Feel like I can only eat or drink a couple sips b4 I'm done. No way I'm getting enough like most people. Plus they put 10 lbs of fluid in my iv in 2 days ... Not an exaggeration either. So I look 6 mon pregnant. Moving better but man liquid Vicodin taste soooo gross you will want to ask for flavoring trust me!

[Breeee]

Glad to hear you are doing ok Punky. I am now 5 days out and in quite a bit of pain. When they went in they found I had a hiatle hernia and they fixed that. I have a tube coming out of me and lots of pain from that and from my mid right side. I am SOOOO very bloated. Like you, I look bigger than when I went in but I am sure it is from all the fluids they put in me. It still hurts to stand up, sit down, lay flat, (I have been sleeping in my recliner). It even hurts to blow my nose or clear my throat. As far as eating, I seem to not have a full feeling. Did they really take out part of my stomach? LOL Just kidding but I sip on protein drinks and water and have had jello and even some thinned down pudding and have not felt full. I hope that is not a precurser as to my future of all this!!! Anyway, glad to hear you are doing good!!!

[cowgirljane]

Congrats on the recent surgeries! I had TWO drains and I didn't enjoy them but he took them out after a week, thank goodness! I too felt really crappy early on...slept in a recliner for the first week due to ab soreness getting in and out of bed etc etc. It got better day to day, but honestly, don't expect to feel great for several more weeks. I know it is different for everyone, but I expected to bounce back faster then I really did. I would say around week 5, I started to feel like the real me. Week 6, once i was cleared for normal activities, I really started feeling better. Just hang in there - it does get better!

[cowgirljane]

Breeee, Punky - wondering how you are both doing since you are both pretty recently sleeved? I felt like I did pretty well that first month, but, it was hard and alot of days i didn't feel great.

I am 2 months out now and just doing great. I love the weight loss, but I also love that I feel some freedom from the desire to eat/constant hunger. I realized the other day that I have lost almost 1/3 of what I want to - for my personal goal. I am back to normal activities and although I feel a little tired at times, I am overall feeling excellent.

[Punkypoo]

I'm at day 9 and doing well. I have had no nausea at all!! I tolerated the surgery very well too. My only real pain is at my esophagus where the tool really scraped it and is very painful. I just started mush food today. It's a little weird blending beef and potatoes and it looks like dog food. I only lost 5 lbs in a week and was disappointed when I see people that have lost 18 in a week. My nurse said I'm smaller with a BMI of 36 and 5 is good. I'm going back to work next Wed.

[Breeee]

I am doing good!!! Same as Punky...no nausea at all!!! Got the drain out yesterday.... I thought they attached all my insides to the tube and was pulling EVERYTHING out!!! UGH!! Took my breath away. Good thing it only lasted a few seconds. The dr said that my liver was very large and if I would not have done the pre op diet of low carbs, he may not have been able to do the surgery. Boy, am I glad I did!! Can you imagine going in for the surgery and waking up and the dr saying he couldnt do it!!! Anyway, post op appt went good. I dont go back for 2 1/2 months to see Dr Billing again.
So glad you are doing good cowgirljane!! I am looking forward to the day I can say I have lost 1/3 of my weight...congrats to you!!!
Punkypoo, what time was your appt on friday? I wish I would have thought to ask you. Mine was at 1;15. Would have been fun to meet up if it was close to the same time.
Anyway, we are on our way to losing those pounds and getting healthy!!!
YAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!