Sorry to have deserted all of you

I had an opportunity on Friday the 13th of February to have my surgery on Tuesday, February 17th. There was barely anything that could have held me back, so I did it. I am 2 weeks out now and I have to say that I feel great, have been walking 2 miles everyday for the last week and have lost 30 pounds so far. I was out of the hospital on the Thursday after the surgery done on Tuesday. By the following Tuesday I started to exercise, shower by myself and get around much better. I had my surgery laprascopically and am still feeling a little of the left side pain (from being deepest and biggest incision and most muscle damage). I wanted to let you all know that I was just as scared about the whole thing as anyone else and I wanted to represent how well it could go. I just expected the worst (pain, complications, discomfort) and was so pleasantly suprised when it turned out so much better.

Wow! Lucky girl!! My tentative date for surgery is June 29. I suppose it could either be moved up or back depending on how my insurance company acts. Congrats on the 30lbs weight loss! Carrie

Im sorry for deserting you too- BUT I got a chance to move my date to May 17th! WOW its getting closer! I cant wait though! Good luck to all of you June losers!

Hi Dorothy, I have June 8th with Dr. Cudjoe now. You can just fill me in since you are on the losing side now! From the Thursday you got out of the hospital did you stay by yourself? I have an eighteen year old son who lives with me but is not home much. I would like to come home instead of going somewhere but wonder how much help I will need. My daughter, mother etc could come during the day but my son wouldn't want to help me with anything toooooo personal at night. What do you think? Should I resign myself to stay with someone for a few days? So glad you are doing well. I thought I recognized you at the last support meeting but had to check the picture that night. Next time I will introduce myself. Mary Jane

My husband and 10 y/o son stayed home for me on Friday and Monday. My son didn't have school for some reason. We had rented a recliner from Rent-a-center with heat and massage for $20 a week. It was much easier to sleep there, less pain laying back and getting up. Mostly, I just had the guys get me stuff and stand in front of me so that I could use them to pull myself up to standing for Thursday night and Friday. By the weekend, I was mostly getting up by myself. After the surgery, it takes a while for your bowels to start working again and by the time that I had a movement, I was fully capable to take care of myself. I had heard a suggestion on this board about baby wipes and using a set of tongs, I had those near by but never had to use them. As far as bathing, I wanted to have a shower when I got back from the hospital and my husband helped me with that on Thursday night. Then for a couple days, I just washed myself from the sink. By Sunday, I got into the shower by myself. I may not have gotten between my toes, but I wasn't going anywhere..LOL. I didn't need a whole lot of personal attention from them, I could have bathed from the sin****il I could get into the shower myself. I think you will be okay at home...I always feel better being at home (not obligated to socialize all the time, sleep whenever and don't feel like a burden on a hostess), but that is just me. I am not sure whether you will need blankets in June, but from the past couple summers that we have had, you just might (LOL). As long as you have a nightstand with water, phone, remote, protein, vitamins, magazines, etc. near you, then you will not miss much. The hospital gives you 2 little pillows, these were life savers for me. The left side incision is the one that really hurts, so I held onto the pillow every time that I moved, got up, etc. Keep those nearby. I even used them when I walked. You start walking at the hospital almost immediately, when I walked around, I felt better (even though it hurt for a while), if I did not walk, the incision pain was worse and my back started to hurt. Walking is good because it makes sure that your organs don't stick together after the surgery and it also helps to get your bowels working again, I think that it helped me heal faster too. I did ask the doctor to get me a binder. I felt that it helped me support my jiggly fat while I was walking. The staples on the left incision were really sensitive and the binder prevented clothes from rubbing across the staples, but like I said, it felt like it helped me jiggle less when I walked so I felt more secure to walk more. I hope this post is not too graphic for some, I just feel that when people are really candid about their experiences, it helps pre-ops prepare themselves, Can't wait to meet you Mary Jane, I just saw that they have a support group at Mt. Pleasant Hospital on the second Tuesday of every month. I think that I would like to go to that one next month also and see what it is like. Oh, by the way, I got my hair cut and colored a little darker than my picture, but you should be able to recognize me, if not, we always introduce ourselves at the meeting. Good luck to you and glad that you got my old surgery date, Dorothy