Worst things you've experienced????

[Meggie]

I have been thinking about post-op experiences. What would you say are your worst experiences post-op, and things that us innocent little pre-ops should know....................to prepare us for the worst!!!!

Thanks

 

[Mark01/05/2009]

Dumping isnt great to be honest - Have had a couple of occasions where I pushed the sugar intake too much and paid the price! Sweating, heart racing, shakes and the runs, isnt pleasant....

Also getting rid of the wind after the op isnt pleasant. You literally feel like someone has blown you up and having wind etc in your shoulders isnt nice.....

I have been sick twice, but that was through off food so wasnt really different to being sick when pre op, just isnt pleasant....

Another thing that is TERRIBLE is it now takes me 2 hours to do a weekly shop because i read the nutritional values on everything, if it doesnt do me good, i wont buy it and i compare different brands of products to find the best one for me nutrionally...

Having an unhealthy addiction to exercise is bad now.... i feel like crap if i havent exercised for a few days....

Another bad thing is now your post op, your constantly poor because you are forever buying new clothes in "normal" shops - its getting ridiculous, i cant go out without hammering river island or next lol

There are a few things that did get me down at first, the not being able to eat the same things and drink the same things as my friends at times, but now i really dont want the things they eat and drink.....

Any negative that has arisen over the last 6 and a half months is over taken by 100000000 with the weight loss and all the positives that is has brought me

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[candie]

The worst bit post op for me was the barium meal and the runs it gave me for 3 daysApart from that I have been sick a few times, usually when i've eaten bread,or eaten too quickly
It has been amazing how well I actually felt so quickly post op, so you have nothing to worry about hun x

 

[Sambucca]

I would say for me that the head hunger has been the hardest to deal with. I know Im not physically hungry as my tiny tum can only cope with small amounts, but I still have the urge to eat if that makes sense.

Being sick isnt nice, but its only happened a couple of times and its all part of the learning curve.

The good points far far far outweigh the bad ones.

 

[phatmomma]

Good thread Meggie x

 

[Cuppacocoa]

Hi Meggie, the three worst things for me post op had to be the nausea, I felt it constantly for the first week after the op, the adverse reactions I developed towards all foods but especially anything sweet, I couldn't even watch food on a tv advert without feeling :sign0137: and lastly for the first few days post op I began questioning myself as to whether I had made the wrong decision to have wls. Knowing the op is permanent, that wasn't a great feeling to have!

BUT...all of these were very short lived, all passed within one week after the op and not everyone feels this way or has nausea.

And no, I don't now regret having the op for one second!

Good thread!

Cuppa xx

 

[swizzlestick]

Heya Meggie

I think in terms of the surgery and recovery I have been quite fortunate.........I can remember waking up in recovery and feeling the mostest nausia but they gave me anti sickness and it worked straight away and never came back.

I think the worse for me has to do with med mix ups and having difficulty in getting some of the ones I have to crush down and unless you are on a number of regular meds or have ot take longterm blood thinners I guess this isnt going to be a problem for you

Xx

 

[gillabean]

I am newly post-op and the worst things for me so far have been just the dull uncomfortable feeling in my tummy. I don't know whether it is just my pouch settling after the surgery (I think that's the one) or hunger or whatever! My surgery has been easy though and I am recovering really well so no complaints at all really. But I have had a couple of tiny tiny niggles. I have a reaction to the dressings that made me itch. I can't wear a bra at the moment (and I'm a BIG girl) as one of the incisions is where my bra sits. I HATE the blood thinning injections as the needles they supplied are enormous compared to ones I've used before. The backup from the hospital is non-existant. That's it I think, see, just little things.

 

[Caroline101061]

Yo Meggie. The absolutely worst thing that happened to me and to be honest, its the only bad thing thats happened since the op apart from late dumping once and almost throwing up in Waitrose LOL was when I couldnt control my bowels whilst I was driving to work - not diarrhea - normal poos but oh my god - just couldnt stop and almost threw up in shock at the same time. Hospital said it was a blip and could occasionally happen after something milky - has never happened again and Ive not heard of anyone else suffering it so it was probably just me - thankfully I was on my own at the time and thank heavens for fabreze!

 

[Neen]

Hi Meggie, probably not relevant to you but I would say having little to no restriction for most of the year after I had my band in. I was struggling and felt it was never going to work how I felt it should, obviously I felt like I had wasted 7 grand and I would never lose the extra weight. Going into it all with 17 stone to lose, it was my last hope to get healthy and we couldn't afford the extra for the bypass.
Now though I have just had to accept that it's just as hard as a conventional diet and I am fighting my food addictions just as hard, BUT I am putting in the effort and sweat!!!! and it is worth it. The good part is as long as I don't do anything stupid I won't put it back on again like before.

 

[NEDebz]

Excellent thread! Thanks for posting, I'm finding it very interesting reading xxx

 

[wannaloose18stone]

I think the worst for me was the after care and having to pester for it all the time and not being able to keep foods down, I had it particulaly rough eating and it was about 7 months post op before I could start to eat anything worth having.

 

[shelbell]

There have been very very few worst things for me, it has been a hugely positive experience.

- Hideous back pain for first 3-4 hours post op. Caused by my arthritus and being on the flat hard operating table for a few hours. Took a while to get under control as I am allergic to morphine. This is not normal though!

- The barium meal. Like Candie said! Aniseed makes me wretch at the best of times, so having to drink a full cup of thick aniseed liquid 1 day post op and not be sick was awful. The only thing that kept it down was the stern nurse telling me if I was sick I'd be given another cupful!

- Dumping. Dumping sucks. It feels horrid. But at the same time it's one of the best things as it keeps my sugar intake in check

- Hypoglycaemic attacks now - Again, not normal, and most likely related to the pregnancy, but if I don't eat boy do i know about it! Feels similar to an early stage dump but with a lot more shaking. I keep sweet things nearby when out and about just in case, and hubby is getting good at spotting the early signs and knowing when I say I need food that I mean it. Handy when I fancy a McDs

 

[likealobster]

Yo Meggie. The absolutely worst thing that happened to me and to be honest, its the only bad thing thats happened since the op apart from late dumping once and almost throwing up in Waitrose LOL was when I couldnt control my bowels whilst I was driving to work - not diarrhea - normal poos but oh my god - just couldnt stop and almost threw up in shock at the same time. Hospital said it was a blip and could occasionally happen after something milky - has never happened again and Ive not heard of anyone else suffering it so it was probably just me - thankfully I was on my own at the time and thank heavens for fabreze!

Oh how horrible! Thank heavens for febreze indeed!
Glad it hasn't happened again.
x

 

[teen]

the worst thing for me was the pain for about 3/4 weeks post op and the constipation. Still get constipated now if I dont take my movicol 10 months down the line. And this last few weeks I have started to be sick again after eating problem with veg again lol

But defo no regrets

 

[jayney3252]

mine is a wound infection which has put me back a week or so and my tummy muscles are so inflamed well it feels that way and it pulls like someone is stabbing me it is horrible but getting better day by day. Food is going down well and not struggling with fluids so all positive otherwise. Wish I had known how much pain the wind would cause as it is the hardest part but I am getting there

 

[candie]

Oh I forgot this oneHad macaroni cheese at my Mums, but only managed a couple of spoonfuls and felt crap, so started to drive home and threw up what felt like gallons of water.I got out of the car soaked from head to foot
I think the pasta must've swelled in my pouch

 

[jean13]

Constipation has to be the worst thing for me, first time I went to the loo it took 2 hours of going back and forward to the loo. OMG it was worse than giving birth I actually thought I was going to pass out. It was like trying to get a pineapple through the eye of a needle. Since then I have been making sure I put some fibre sachets in my drinks, and lactoluse every morning and night, this seems to be helping, still the poo is like little balls (sorry to be so graphic) but it is horrendous. Someone from another site said to use linseed so I'm going to the health shop to get some tomorrow.

Other than that this is the best thing I have ever done, I can't stuff myself even if I want, it just wont go down. The only other thing I must do is get to grips with doing some excercise.

Jeanx

 

[dreamofbeingslim]

Thanks everyone this is really helpful.

 

[gaelic girl]

Constipation too in the early stages until i discovered Movicol. Also i wasn't prepared for the emotional lows over the first few weeks and how much i missed eating solid food but that soon passes x