Had my op. On HDU now. Slowly on the road to recovery

[Germgirl]

I had a gastric band removal and sleeve gastrectomy operation yesterday (stomach stapling')
Just wanted to tell people really. :)
I lost 10kg in the 2 weeks pre-op on the pre-op soup & yogurt diet but I'm still a massive 143kg. Which is frankly disgusting.
But I'm here now, in lots of pain with 6 incisions and a drain poking of of me plus 2 IVs, the usual wires & oxygen lines. Tied to the bed almost!
The physio has been to see me & we went for a stroll up & down the ward.
Everyone says I'm doing ok.
Very very very tired.
Just rambling now. Wanted to say I'd done it. I didn't tell many people before the op but now I can :)
I have s long road ahead. But this has to be the start of a new life.

[QOD]

I had the drain out without pain relief. Nurse said breath in and as I did she.pulled out 3 foot of tube and I shrieked PHHHHNAAAGGGH

a sleeve is not really reversible as the extra bit ia Removed.
I had the rou blah blah bypass.
Tis very interesting

Yes germ girl dumping as it's beautifully called.
I usually need a.poo and a sweat and a retch.
Sometimes it's something stuck, too sweet or too fatty but sometimes I can dump on ruddy fresh air

[QOD]

For example I just ate a bit of fresh coconut and it's stuck and I feel sick

[Germgirl]

I used to get that 'stuck' feeling with the band. It's horrible. I used to get sweaty, light headed, and the pain was awful. Hope your bit of coconut cleared quickly QOD
I'm home now, sitting in bed very slowly sipping a banana smoothie I made. Half a banana, a spoon of peanut butter, squeeze of honey and 2 big spoonfuls of Marvel milk powder plus milk.
I strained it to make sure of no lumps as apparently lumps is a huge no no at this stage post op.
The op isn't reversible. I will never be able to eat a 'normal' sized meal again but I have accepted that.
Very very tired today. And sadly very constipated, I always had a problem with that anyway.
I need to keep drinking but if i drink more than tiny sips it really hurts my new stomach.
However, I am upbeat and on the road to recovery :)
I shall get there in the end.
My ultimate goal is to go horse riding again. Between the ages of 9 and 18 I rode near enough every day, I want to get back to it but I couldn't even get on a horse at the moment, I'd squash the poor thing!
The thought of being able to ride again keeps me going.

[gingeroots]

Hi OP well done you and I agree you absolutely shouldn't feel guilty ,you're very brave .

There seems to be more help available for those who struggle drinking and smoking and controlling one's food is so much harder as you can't give food up !

Huge sympathies about the constipation ,hope you get it under control quickly . I think any abdominal op makes the bowels shut up shop and the pain killers add to the effect . Hope you're taking laxido/movicol .Long term I find this www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/ransom-aloe-pura-aloe-vera-juice-with-manuka-honey/-60093576 brilliant for keeping things normal .

Keep going //flowers

[Germgirl]

Thanks ginger
I can't take the movicol at the moment as I can't drink as much liquid as you need to make it work. I've used a glycerine suppository and am taking lactulose, which is vile but hopefully will work.
Thank you for saying I'm brave, I'm not, I just finally admitted that I needed help & I was lucky to be offered that help. I'm on my own now though, it's up to me how well I use this tool I've been given.

[QOD]

Yup. I always say to those who are.dismissive, bariatric surgery is an easy way to lose weight. But it's not remotely easy

[gingeroots]

OP - of course you're brave coping with the op 'and' your guilt about it all .

Sorry about the constipation ( how underrated a condition is that ? especially as it so often goes hand in hand with surgery ) but glad you're prepared with the big guns .

Keep posting and look after yourself .

[Germgirl]

Venturing out of the house today for the first time since I came home. I have reserved a Nutribullet at Argos so I'll go & get that :) I have an ocado order wining with lots of fruit & veg, particularly strawberries which always make me 'go'. Operation constipation is go! :)
Feeling quite positive today, I've lost just over 2 stone in less than 3 weeks, a stone and a half pre-op and 9lbs since the op.
I'm still the size of a bus but I'm going in the right direction.
:)

[Ohfourfoxache]

Germy! That's really weird, I was thinking of you just yesterday evening - how are you feeling?

Does this mean an end to the horiffic pain that they wouldn't do anything about despite multiple admissions a few months ago?

[QOD]

I guess no sugar dumping with sleeve? Remember fruit is very sugaryyyyyyy
We used loafs of protein shake. Body builder ones Holland and Barrett own brand. They have sweetener not sugar

[Germgirl]

No dumping apparently QOD I will blend up veg rather than fruit once I've sorted my bum out :) I just want something to get me going, and I know strawberries will do that :)
My bariatric nurse said not to bother with protein powders & to use Marvel skimmed milk powder instead so I've been ladling spoonfuls of that into everything :)
It's all trial and error at the moment.
Every mouthful of drink I take is causing pain but I'm assuming that's because everything is all swollen and my stomach cavity isn't actually a cavity at the moment. It is getting better though, I had a banana, peanut butter, milk & Marvel shake earlier, the Nutribullet blended it up really well & I added some hot water to thin it down. That went down ok with just minimal pain.
I do have to burp quite a bit after every mouthful though, can you remember that being 'normal' QOD ?
OhFour hello! I'm ok. The pain is still there, I think the doctors are hoping that if I can shift some heft it'll go, maybe it will, maybe not. The morphine patches are doing their job. I had a duff one last week & was in horrible pain for a few days till I twigged & changed the patch!
But I'm generally ok. In good spirits :) how are you? Thank you for thinking of me :)

[Ohfourfoxache]

Oh bless you sweetheart - I'm guessing that the morphine isn't going to be helping the constipation much Have they done anything else to try to find out what's actually causing the pain?

Are you allowed to take Senna tablets, or is anything like that a no-no?

All ok here, 9 week old ds who is utterly knocking me out - he's very burpy so it looks like we might both need to look into winding techniques

[QOD]

I burp

A lot. And concrete poo

I don't eat enough volume of veg because of meal size.
And I mean load not loaf!
I used to warm my squash and sip sip sip

[Germgirl]

fox the morphine is definitely not helping :) congratulations on your new arrival :) DH was 'winding' me last night by parting my back. He was pretty good at it.
QOD I'm terrified of the concrete poo! I have now ordered vegetables and will blend the buggers and drink them. I also have a fibre supplement and some hemp seeds to add to my drinks. I'm turning into a lentil weaver!
Warm drinks are definitely much much better than cold with regards to pain, I'm currently sipping prune juice diluted 1/4 with warm water. It's surprisingly nice! :)

[Germgirl]

"Patting" my back. Not sure how one parts a back!

[Ohfourfoxache]

Aw thank you

Please please don't think I'm being flippant, and of course it might not be ok for you to take, but if you've got stuck wind would you be allowed a little sip or two of gripe water? Just trying to think of anything that might ease your pain/discomfort.

Of course your DH throwing you over his shoulder may well do the trick quite nicely

[RJnomore]

Just a wee word of warning - protein powders are wel known for constipation. Dh does competitive sports and the boys talk about the protein poos a fair bit. If you're already struggling best avoid then!

And good luck on your journey

[QOD]

Rjnomore post bariatric surgery it's all about protein for a few months to try to keep you going. Keep your hair nails etc as really you're starving . You go into ketosis really.
So the powders help that but you just poo concrete.

[Germgirl]

fox yes!! My bariatric nurse said I could use gripe water! I'd forgotten!
Thank you so much for reminding me! :)

[Germgirl]

Thank you RJ. I'm doing my best to avoid the protein poo :) but like QOD says I have to get the protein in somehow. I'd like my hair not to fall out!
My stomach is now approximately 100ml capacity so to get my daily 60g protein I obviously have to eat (drink at the moment) very high protein food.
I have some pea protein powder coming today. It's apparently tasteless and odour free so I'll chuck some of that in a smoothie & see how it goes :)

[QOD]

I had lots of pureed meaty soups n stews and some powder that I've forgotten what it's called that could be stirred in. And jelly with the.powder and protein shakes.
Think the bypass is 'worse' cos of the sugar and fat. Basically you have a tiny stomach now but your plumbing is the same? But you have a much bigger surgical repair to your stomach so longer internal recovery.
Ah I can't wait to hear your story.
Are you on any support groups? I'm on a closed one on Facebook. It's quite quiet now as it's been running 5 plus years but a few recent new mem ers. Pm me if you want to join. We'd have to be temp Facebook friends for u to join.
I don't publicly acknowledge my surgery

[uggmum]

I have 3 friends who have had bypasses. All 3 have lost a huge amount of weight. 2 lost over 12 stone in the first year. The 3rd has lost 9 stone.

It is a difficult journey but they look amazing. They have a whole new zest for life. You just wouldn't recognise them. To see them so happy is lovely.

I hope you have the same success.

[RJnomore]

Gosh yes that is a real issue re volume/protein required!

It really really does work for weight loss though - the lads do almost pure protein to cut weight for competitions.

I'm going to follow your thread because I really want to hear about your successes. Hope that is okay.

[Ohfourfoxache]

Glad it wasn't such a daft suggestion afterall!

How are you feeling today? Did you at least manage a restful sleep?

[ShelaghTurner]

Watching with interest. I'm terrified of surgery but beginning to feel its my only option.