Questions Questions Questions

So now I know everything is working correctly. Thank GOD right? My questions: I am feeling when I'm hungry. Is this normal? I'm only 5 days out. Maybe it's dehydration? I just thought that I wouldn't be aware of this already. It is CLEARLY hunger. Just like when I had a regular stomach. I am not in very much pain. I'm not complaining but it seems like everyone gets home in all this pain. Am I just some sort of pain freak? The most pain I have is when I'm sleeping. Like my joints and hips are KILLING ME. Did you have pain from losing weight? Is that normal? I'm still feeling dizzy and it TOTALLY SUCKS. I have places I need to go and things I HAVE to do but I'm afraid to drive justincase. Thanks girls...oh and boys too if they come out! *****cuit

NO DRIVING until you stop feeling dizzy entirely! Tell me where you need to go and what you need to do and I'll come over and get you! (we'll even use your car so you're comfortable and not smashed into my little sportscar) seriously.. email me and I'll give you my number. Stef

I think for a lot of us pre op, the signals our body sends to us are misinterpreted. For instance, we mistake thirst for hunger. This doesnt change post op, you just need to learn to listen to your body again. I really doubt youre feeling actual hunger pangs, although anything is certainly possible. This is what we mean when we talk about head hunger though. Your mind will play games with you, that you cant even begin to imagine. It will tell you youre hungry when youre not, etc. You need to learn to distinguish between actual hunger and head hunger, and also to drink water when you think you might be hungry. You really need to be on a schedule as far as eating. This is easy to establish as an early post op. It gets harder to get into a new schedule, the further out you get. Being on a schedule will help you prevent grazing, overeating and all the things that got us in this predicament in the first place. It also makes it easier to get in all your water and vites. Remember, the plan is to eat to live now, not live to eat Cheesy, but true! As far as pain, youre not alone:0) I had 0 pain. I never even popped the lid off the Darvocet bottle. Took Tylenol regular strength one time..on the way home from the hospital, nothing since then for pain It can be done, and in my opinion, your recovery will be faster. Your body is very smart and will send you signals for everything. We just need to learn to reconnect with it and learn to interpret its signals again. Have I beaten that to death yet? As far as driving, I agree with the previous poster..definitely not til youre over the dizziness. Hey, this is major surgery, even if youre done LAP. Still some major re-arranging of your insides. Give yourself time to rest and catch up Youre going to do great!!

Answers answers answers ... ok so at least one I remember feeling hungry a couple of times ... guess I'm still not sure if it was hunger or not, damn I have a poor memory I didn't have much pain either, more fear of potential pain and only took the liquid whatever it was that put me to sleep FAST a couple times to sleep, and boy would I SLEEP. Hope you get over that dizzy thang soon ... you're dizzy enough without any additional input ... hehehe Ciao

Melissa: I am sooooo jealous of you guys with relatively no pain!!! Believe me, my pain has been pretty horendous!!! But, on a positive note, I do notice it getting a little better everyday. I still am taking my Darvocet basically every 4 hours. I would be in hell without it! I have really not been hungry, my little five ounces of broth makes me feel full to the point of almost feeling stuffed, and it tastes so good to me. go figure... I do have bouts of head hunger though, like when my kids made chorizo and eggs on tortillas tonight. When I smelled it cooking I really wanted some...really really wanted some. But I was not actually hungry and I got over it soon. (Plus I know the grease in the chorizo would probably gag me with my new pouch anyway. I do look forward to when I can eat a scrambled egg though!) My discharge instructions said no driving for a week. Joy

FIVE OUNCES?! In ONE SITTING?! I'm eating TWO!!! The chorizo was killing me too. Damn stuff smells good cooked or not. Last night was the hot ham and cheese sandwich. I almost lost it. I ALMOST said F*ck It and ate. LOL But I didn't. I know how VERY VERY VERY much that would have hurt me. Could have sent me back to the hospital. I'm having dehydration issues for fear of filling my pouch too much. I'm drinking more but I forget and then I'm really thirsty. We will DEFINATELY get together around the holidays. Maybe we can still do the Zoo thing! Melissa