GeeGee27
READY TO BEGIN MY JOURNEY!
I am having the VSG with Dr. Alavarez in Mexico. I am nervous and excited at the same time. I have began my pre-op diet and I can't believe that I have survived on just liquids! I have gradually done this pre-op process. I actually started one week in advance to try to prepare mentally. During that time, I ate one meal a day and the rest were liquids. This has helped me transition to full liquids. My doctor only required me to do 7 days of full liquids but I had to get myself ready b/c I really did not think I could do it. But with the help of protein shakes and a supportive husband, so far I have made it on full liquids. My beginning weight was 247 pounds and so far I am down to 242 lbs. It is a little difficult trying to cook for the family and just have liquids but I am pushing foward, full speed ahead!
DAY OF SURGERY
On the day of surger, everything went smooth and steady. We were picked up from the airport in Eagle Pass Texas by Dr. Alavarez's driver Rosie and taken to the hotel. We met another couple and they were nice. The wife was also having VSG surgery. The ride to the hotel, which was located close to the border, was 2 hours. Along the way, the driver stopped at the store so that we could purchase some items to drink at the hotel. I am glad we got water and Vitamin water. My husband bought vitamin water and some munchies. Then, we were taken to our hotel, checked in and had a decent nights sleep. We stayed at the Holiday Inn located close to the Mexican boarder. The accomodations were ok. My bed was not rock hard but very firm. I am used to sleeping on a soft bed. But the room was average, the bathroom floor could have been a little cleaner but tolerable. The next morning we traveled about 5 minutes to get to Dr. Alavarez's office and the hospital. We met with him and then prepared for surgery. The meeting was not rushed and very easy transition to surgery. While the other couple, met with the doctor, I went up to get ready for surgery. I decide to go first. My husband and I went to a temporary hospital room to get blood work done and to prep for surgery. Then, the nurses came and I got on the gurney. They gave me a shot to relax and the next thing I know, I was waking up in my hospital room. My room was very nice and clean. It looked just like the one on Dr. Alaverz's website. I was not in pain. I felt great when I woke up. NO pain, no gas, no pressure and still feeling great. I hope it continues.
DAY1 - POST OP.
(weight day of surgery 233 pounds)
It is one day post op and I still feel great! I couldnt believe how good I felt after major sugery. I don't feel any pain whatsoever. I have been given pain meds and still a little loopy but overall feeling great. I will report back this evening when some of these pain meds have wore off. I did not required any type of tube attachments/drainage lines or anything like that after surgery. I did not get any fluids by mouth this morning, only by IV. Mouth dry but energy level was normal. I am not really hungry but a little thirsty. The nurse took the IV out around 8 am so I am suppose to start fluids later today. We were able to go ahead and brush our teeth. That helped a little with the dry mouth, now I just have dry throat. Around 9:30 am we were given ice chips. That was nice, no more dry throat. The hospital rooms are nice and clean. The hospital itself is ok. But my accomodations are fine. Everyone has been really nice and everything has ran smoothly. Thus far, I have been very pleased with this process. Am I hungry? Well, a little head hunger but not real hunger.
Day 1 Post-op continue -3 pm: Still no pain or soreness yet. I am really surprised how I feel. I have had two previous laparoscopic surgeries in the United States and have never felt good afterward. When I had my gallblader removed laparoscopicaly, I was very sore afterwards, with some minor shooting aches and pains. When I had a ovarian cyst removed laparoscopically, I had a lot of gas pain,pressure and general pain but not today. My leak test was also conducted today and everything was fine, no leaks and the contrast fluid went down without any problems. All I can say is thank you God for making sure everything went well during surgery and after surgey.
Day 3 post op- The pain meds have worn off and I am feeling a little sore today. My weight has went up to 237.5. I am sure this is due to all of the IV fluids that were pumped in me. I believe it takes 2 weeks to get rid of all that fluid. I am focusing on getting in my daily 64 oz of fluid this week. When I drink, I can feel it going down into my sleeve, not painful but I can feel it. Also, my stomach started grumbling and churning today. I was not sure if I was feeling hungry or gas on my stomach, not sure but it was very uncomfortable. After reading several websites about early hunger, I found that it was usually acid on the stomach. I was given an acid reducer by my surgeon but it is not helping so I took a prilosec and it worked great. It temporarily stopped that weird boiling and churning, hungry feeling going on in my stomach. I have been sipping and walking all day trying to get this gas under control.
Day 4 post op - Feeling okay, my energy level is a little low but not terrible. I am continuing to sip and walk. I am still a little sore on my left side. During the night, I sleep upright on a wedge and a lot of pillows or sometimes on my right side, this is the only way I can sleep right now. This morning when I got up I took a prilosec to hopefully keep the girgling hungry pain feeling from starting. As soon as I took a sip of water, the girgling hungry pain monster returned so I drank an EAS drink. It contains 17 grams of protein, it seemed to calm the tummy down a bit. Around 1 pm I took a GAS-X thin strip and that helped a lot with the hunger pain feeling that I was having. I have been trying to get my fluids in by drinking water but I get a lot of gas, girgling and a feeling of hunger so mostly I have been licking on popsicles. The hunger pain caused by the acid on the stomach and a little bit of gas here and there are the only issues I am having, otherwise I am doing fine. If I can get those under control I will be doing great.
Day 5 Post op- My weight is back down to 233.5. Overall, I am feeling a little better. Each day gets a little better. Still have the growling hunger/ gas, not as bad as yesterday but still uncomfortable. I took a little tiny bit of milk of magnesia last night and it helped relieve the gas and growling so I might just be constipated since I have not had a BM since day 2 after surgery. I am drinking metamucil today and it seems to help with the growling a little. Sleeping at night still not so great because when I lay flat, it feels like something is sliding back up my esophagus to my chest so I have to prop myself up or sleep in a recliner so that my head/chest are elevated. Soreness is a little better. I made some Lipton Decaf Green tea and drank it warm. Wow was it good! It is really doing great things for my tummy. It felt really good going down and it has calmed my sleeve down tremendously. I don't like the smell of the tea but it tastes really good and makes my tummy feel better. I can't tolerate anything too sweet right now.
Day 7 Post op- Weight 230.0. I am officially on the losing side! I am still on clear liquids but sooo ready to begin full liquids. The growling has went away but I feel hungry in the morning so I sip, sip, and sip until it goes away. I am able to drink a little of the protein like the EAS drinks and I had some Isopure natural vanilla protein mix last night. I made the Isopure with a lot of water so I could barely taste it and I did fine. I am having a hard time with these chewable multi-vitamins from bariatric advantage, they are huge and taste horrible! Everytime I take one I feel nauseous. I think I am going to look for another multi-vitamin or just wait another week before I try to take them again. My incisions are healing nicely, they are so tiny. One is still a little sore but the rest are fine. Last night I was able to transition, during the night, from being propped up on all of those pillows to just laying on my side. I finally felt like I got a good nights sleep. Overall, I am doing very well. The fourth of July holiday is right around the corner but no food for me, I will be still be on clear liquids. Oh well, I have a lifetime for food after my body heals.
Day 8- Doing great and feeling great! liquids are going down really well. I did not weigh myself today. I am not going to weigh again until the end of the week so that I don't become obessed with the scale.
Day 12 - I am doing really well. I am able to drink alot more in a shorter period of time. I simply could not resist weighing myself. I am down to 226.5 and feeling good. I think I have been losing around 1.5 pounds every two days so far but you have to keep in mind that I am still in the full liquids stage. I am sure that when I start eating real foods the weight will slow significantly but I am enjoying the rapid weight loss phase while it lasts!
Day 22 - Doing very well. My challenge is that I bought these particular vitamins. I hate the bariatric advantage chewable multi-vitamin. They taste terrible. My weight is still going down so that is exciting.
