Well, I made it home!!

I had my RNY on the 22nd and was released today.  My kids and I are staying with my folks while I recover.  I've heard a lot of talk about gas... when does this start?? I've had some and at it's worst it is a horrible pain up under my shoulder blades.  Mostly, though, I have bad pain at the incision site.  A small price to pay for a whole new future!

I still worry about what recovery will bring for me and boy was it hard to not be able to eat a single one of our family tradition foods tonight... but, mom already said she'd make more later when I might be able to better tolerate them.  In the meantime. I'm having a hard time remembering to sip, sip, sip.. though I've got the walking part down!

I want to say thank you to ALL of you who helped me through the pre-surgery jitters.  I imagine we'll have many great recovery stories (and hopefully some phenomenal recipes) to share as time goes on!!

You all are TRULY the BEST!!
Julie

Congrats and welcome home!
Love being able to say "I told ya so!"

The gas started almost immediately for me and continued from Thur-Mon when I finally pooped!! That really was the point I started feeling much better!

Take it easy, relax and yeh sip sip sip. I'm doing ok with the water but failing bad at the protein. I am now in lust with Jello SF butterscotch pudding though.

Hang in, stay in touch and Merry Christmas! I saved ya a spot on the loser's bench right next to me.. have a seat sweetie!

Welcome home. It gets easier. I am almost done with the gas(burp) sorry.. I started getting it right after surgery.

for you guys having pudding, are you making protein pudding? another way to get protein in.

Tom

My gas started on the second day after surgery and was accompanied by the oh so lovely diarrhea. Fortunately, a friend had warned me that I would "poop on myself" so I was afraid to pass gas anyhow! LOL I managed to do all my gas passing in the bathroom. It has been pretty consistent, about every 6 hours. ANd wow.. the LOUD rumblings in my gut woke me up last night. It didn't hurt at all but boy was it every loud. It was a good warning to head to the restroom... again! lol Today, I'm still sore but don't feel quite as much need for the pain meds. However, one of my incision sites feels very sore and I am REALLY itchy from the binder. I don't want to take it off, though, because then my insides hurt really bad. But boy does it ever itch! I've scratched holes in my skin in some spots. Probably not good, eh? I haven't tried pudding. I"m worried that it might be too thick. My doc said to get one protein drink in per day right now. Then, after day 11 I need to shoot for 2. He said that I should definitely NOT do it in the morning because it will cause nausea AND it will make me so full I won't do my other liquids and then I"ll end up dehydrated. So.. I've had jello, water and coffee with equal. I'll be taking my protein shake with me. Other than that.. all's well on the farm. :-) I won't get to see my doctor until 4 weeks out because he had the nerve to take vacation during the third week! lol I did give him a hard time about that too! In any case.. I'm glad to be back here and looking forward to sharing success stories with everyone!

Congrats on returning home!  Yes, the gas (and the acid) can be a bit painful but it should all be worth it in the end!

Yep - WELCOME HOME!!!  I was also on 12/22 and was home at 6:30pm on 12/23.  The gas - from the very start the pain level varied from severe discomfort to 9 on the pain scale, except when they gave me dilaudin by IV.  It was only in one consistent place on my side, so I was sure it wasn't gas, but dr explained that they need to pump in extra air to see what they're doing so it wasn't like normal gas in my digestive tract.  Finally yesterday the loud gurglings started and gas and bm's as well, so I'm feeling a little bit better.  I'm extremely tired though - like I've run a marathon.  I wanted to quickly check my email and forum and then I will lie down again.

I graduated from 1 oz clear liquids per hour to 2 oz.  I can start full liquids on Saturday (whi*****lude pudding).  I can't wait for that!

Speedy recovery to all of you!

Cheryl

I guess I should count myself pretty lucky! My gas has been rumblings.. very, very loud rumblings and my pain honestly never really went above about a 5 and that was when the meds were wearing off. I started having my bm's on the second day out and passing large amounts of gas then. So... the gas pain I have had (and it's been doozies) has come from re-learning what means "full" to me now. Right now I"m eating some cream of tomato soup made with milk and some melted cheese (just a little tiny bit). I didn't have any meat that i thought would be good blenderized in so the protein should probably be higher. However, I did get down nearly a whole protein drink today, so it's a start! I'm also tired. I'm not used to this. Though, I guess with what our bodies have gone through it shouldn't be suprising to be exhausted. I just slept all the way home from visiting my grandmother. (My husband, kids and my folks all went but my dad drove so I slept there and back!) lol Gotta love those in-car DVD players for the kiddies! In any case.. keep up the good work. Merry Christmas and a VERY happy new year to you!