Bariatric surgery thread 3

[HotSteppa]

Relocating to shiny new thread for all those going through or considering weightless surgery in all its forms.

Hi everyone I’m back in the land of the living now. I felt a real improvement yesterday afternoon and have been holding down liquids and small purées since.
thankfully they took the feeding tube out yesterday - that was probably the worst of it.
thanks again for all the concerns.

Morning all,

I've been reading as many of the pages back as I could this morning and found all your posts so helpful in knowing what to maybe expect.

I am going abroad and flying out on 17th September with the surgery date on 19th. I am feeling very nervous and trying to avoid any negative stories about going abroad but mainly I see experiences that are very positive. Has anyone else recently gone to Turkey for their surgery?

I also have a little girl who is 4.5 years old so I am doing this for her just as much as I am for myself.

😊

@ColeslawSandwich im delighted to hear you’re feeling so much better. You’ll be booking that 6am kick-boxing class for Tuesday am! 😁 very happy to hear you’re on the mend.

@Nothingx there will always be nay-sayers about surgery abroad - but I’ve had 4 major surgeries abroad (incl. 2 c-sections) simply because I was living there. Visitors were astounded by the quality and cleanliness and services provided. When I was having my blissful section abroad, a friend was lying in her own faeces in an NHS bed. It’s not like we’ve opted for a rural hospital without anaesthetic in Mauritania!

@Boybandfacedfannyfart I have noticed this there does seem alot of negativity sometimes, but as you said it does seem like the standard of the hospitals and service seems to be really good! So I'm hoping I have that same experience. I am happy with my choice of hospital and it seems overwhelmingly positive feedback overall post having a gastric sleeve. I can't believe I'll actually be doing it!

@Nothingx where are you going to and who is your surgeon? I went to turkey, I’d recommend downloading Google translate to your phone the nurses where so lovely but very poor English but my surgeon had great English and often visits the uk. Also as pp mentioned ask for anti sickness that was the thing I found so strange about my surgery in the uk I think we would be given anti sickness as standard but I wasn’t given it (even though I did ask) until I was physically sick the night of the my op and the nurse said ok now you can have anti sickness lol. Also I asked one of the nurses before I got picked up to come home for them to stick a wee bit of a bandage and tape just for flying etc as one of the others from my group had texted in saying she had a rough enough time getting through the airport and I didn’t want it rubbing my wounds and honestly I was so glad of it. I hope all goes well for you xx

@ColeslawSandwich so glad to hear you are on the mend. Take it slow and easy and you will get there x

@DoINeedToDoThis all the best for next week! If you’ve anything you want to ask me etc feel free to PM or that you will be in safe hands x

@ColeslawSandwich
glad to hear you’re feeling brighter. Hopefully it will all be up from here.

@Twinsandsome I am booked to go to Turkey too, I am going to Ozel Saglik hospital which is part of Gozde International. My surgeon is Dr Ismail Yaman, I'm trying to find out as much about him but I always find it tricky to find info on them like gastric leak occurrences/complications etc

Ah that's a good tip re the extra dressings, I will definitely keep in mind to ask for those. I am a bit nervous about flying back alone as I don't know how I will feel recovery wise but, it is what it is! Will definitely get Google translate.

I am currently also at that stage that I've seen alot of people go through of - what if something happens to me?

It's alot to deal with!

@Nothingx is it one flight you have? Travelling back I have to say I was fine my hospital was in Adana so I had to get a flight to Istanbul then from there to Adana I did have someone with me as my sister kindly offered to come and I was very glad of her but airport wise I have never seen anything like instanbul you could eat your dinner off the ground it was so clean and well sign posted but massive. I did pick assisted travel (I flew with Turkish airlines and it was very easy to do on the app) but I actually didn’t use it as I thought the walk would do me good and took my time etc. another thing I would say is in Adana airport we where told it was only 13£ to upgrade to first class and if that had of been available from inst home I would have done it again as honestly it was amazing the way the flights worked we got picked up 1am so for that 13£ I got a seat which reclined and I slept that full hour from Adana to inst meanwhile my sister got a lovely breakfast and reclining seat so it’s def worth asking because when actually booking it cost like 1000 more but at check in only 13 for that first flight which I think set me up to manage inst on my own without assistance etc.

leak wise etc try not to worry too much it is in their best interest to have as little complications to keep their name so you will find they will check everything over and over. My surgeon visited each morning before he started his surgery’s and each evening following his surgery’s which was great. I would say see when you come round etc give yourself a wee while but then get up and walk the corridors I did a wee lap round and round and it does help get rid of gas etc so at you know what’s real pain and what’s just gas if that makes since but I can honestly say I had no drips and therefore no pain meds from 24 hours after surgery and I wasn’t sore. Get plenty of stuff downloaded onto iPad or tablet (our hospital didn’t have English speaking to or Netflix etc).

sorry info overdrive but bring a wee straw you know one off one of the kids juice boxes and it will really help to drink small amounts comfortably. Packing wise I brought exactly this 4x nighties, 5 pairs of pants, 1 bra, a pair of leggings and T-shirt for travelling home ( I had hoody from travelling there) phone charger, tablet and tablet charger, travel plug, deodorant, face wash, moisturiser, pads (my period wasn’t due but glad I had these as it started the day of surgery really heavy). I put it iin a backpack rather than case and kept it as light as possible like I had no interest going out round to see different parts of Adana etc I stayed in the ward the whole time so needed very little and it meant (although I had my sister) I was fit to carry my own bag and it was as light as possible to put overhead etc. xx

Great tips @Twinsandsome ill
stick a few medical bits in my rucksack just in case. I’m planning on taking just as you describe - super light and overhead baggage. It’s very encouraging to hear you were able to do the airport transfer without too much bother.

@Nothingx im going to Istanbul too and have chosen someone I can’t find anything bad about 😂 and it’s a proper hospital with an international wing.

your post reminded me of something. 30 years ago or so I was living in Istanbul and joked to friends I’d love to become a doctor. They took me to one of the medical schools which pretty much looked like an English stately home and said I could go as they taught in English. It’s not all rusty scalpels out there! 😂

@Twinsandsome thank you so much for all your advice! That's so helpful.

Yes I have the one flight, I am travelling direct from London Gatwick to Adana Menderes and then getting picked up from there. So it's good that I won't have to do a transfer, but great to see you got on okay with it regardless. That's fab to get that upgrade for £13 only!

I need to do more research on the drain etc. Is it normal practice to not have one then? Or do you get one if they feel necessary?

A backpack is a great shout - I have cabin bag atm which I don't think the dimensions are very big. I'm flying with easyjet. It had the options of adding hand luggage or a checked in bag so I thought I'd add on once I decided what to take exactly! Eeek this seems so close yet so far.

@Nothingx what are you having done I had a sleeve and no drain.

@Twinsandsome I'm having a gastric sleeve done xx

Does anyone have any knowledge of endoscopy sleeve surgery. It seems less invasive but I’m wondering if the side effects afterwards are the same. I can have a bariatric sleeve in the next 6 weeks but I’m waiting to see if I can be referred for endoscopy sleeve instead.

Eek I’ve booked an appointment to discuss a sleeve; 10.5k :-( don’t suppose anyone has any recommendations for a midlands based surgeon?

Saw the GP yesterday who gave me steroids for something. He pulled a face and said they’d make me gain weight. I said I didn’t care as I’ve booked a bypass. He then pulled another face when I said I was going abroad - although conceded it wasn’t going to happen on the NHS.

I’m currently going mad and have been looking at “travelling outfits” which is the most ridiculous idea ever right? Clean leggings and a few t-shirts should do it. I’m just sick of looking like a fat, frumpy lump.

First of all Good evening to @ColeslawSandwich . Are you home? How are you feeling?

For me, I'm starting to think that I'm a Scientific freak. Had a bypass 25 July, so am 23 days post op. I'm on the purée stage, and following all the protein shake, protein first diet. Eating nothing above 5g of sugar, as advised. But I'm not losing weight. At all. I'm following the diet sheet religiously. I've lost 1st and 1 pound in 3 weeks, and the first 2 weeks I was not eating, but drinking. I've been the same weight since Day 14 post op. Starting to think im the only person it's not going to work for.

Hi @bornonvalentines dont panic it’s very common round the 3 week mark to stall for a bit it’s your body adjusting it will 100% shift again some people stall a week and some 6 weeks but you will be losing inches etc x

@Myusername2015 - yes, www.dm-surgery.com/index.php/en/ I had Mr. Daskalakis in Solihull and he was fab.

@bornonvalentines
Ignore the scales. The likelihood is you have lost water weight initially then retained water again and lost fat. Women especially go up and down in how much water they carry depending on hormones etc. There is no biological way you can not lose weight if you are eating so little. I’m a ‘slow loser’ by a lot of peoples standards and had many stalls. I’m a size 10 now.

Thank you @WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor and @Twinsandsome . It's so disheartening as I'm still in purée stage and was hoping for dramatic loss. My check in with nurse is on 27 September, almost exactly 2 months post op, so hopefully some weight will shift before then.

Morning.
Im 4 and a bit weeks post sleeve. Been feeling absolutely fine except for waves of nausea in the mornings. It’s like being bloody pregnant (I’m not, I don’t have a uterus!). I’ve not actually puked at all but it’s been close.
I thought it might be my meds on an empty stomach but yesterday I completely forgot to take them until bedtime (first time I’ve forgotten). So not that.
any ideas?

Hi guys so I’ve booked my surgery!! 15th November..I know this is a very trivial question but I’m worried about Xmas as I’m not telling my family about it. Could you eat any solid food at all 6 weeks afterwards? Fully appreciate I won’t be eating much but even the ability to eat some veg might lead to less questions.

@Myusername2015 it depends really with where you are having it done. My advice was 1 week fluid, 1 week purée, 1 week soft and the aim was by 28 days post op eating a balanced diet but I’ve seen some where each of the stages is 2 weeks etc. but at 6 weeks I could eat a roast dinner in very small portion xx