Psyche and Nutrition classes

They're blood thinners that you have to take for 10 days after surgery to make sure you don't get blood clots... Which is important for all surgery patients as their activity is much lower after surgery but especially so for obese patients because we have more area for blood to pool in in our lower bodies... If a blood clot forms it can be fatal.. The shots are really easy to give yourself you do it once a day and you're so doped up on pain meds you don't feel them... You can have someone else give them to you (which I tried, my sister is a MA and she was going to do them but I found that it was easier for me to do it myself)... It's not that big of a deal realy and the nurse will go over it with you again before you leave the hospital... you take them with you home from the hospital so it's included in your bill there, not something you have to get at the pharmacy and the sharpies have guards so after your done using them you don't have to worry about stabbing someone or poking yourself in the trash...

Thanks for letting me know. I guess that's okay then i can deal with that. I give my granmother her insulin shot's so if she can do it everyday i can for just 10 days. again thanks jess

i too was horrified to find out( just yesterday) that i have to have daily shots after surgery. why cant we just take oral blood thinners??i know they make them

Lets see....psyc test.... One of my questions was....Would you like to drive a race car? HELL YES!!!!

The nutrition class was A+ in my book!  listen..take notes...and ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!!!! You should not come outta that class with any questions left on your brain!  Yep..thos Lovenex shots surprised me toooooooo...I am sucha  wussy when it comes to needles....but after watching a video and listening to the nurse...HELL YES I WILL give myself the shots...I DO NOT like the alternative!!!!!! Hang in there....the journey is worth it from everything I have been thru so far....and Jules...YES you chose the right surgeon as long as you are confident and comfortable with him. IF NOT...CHANGE...get someone u like and trust....it will be worth the wait! (7 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!! ) huggggggggs, Janene

About the Lovenox shots ... Oral blood thinners (coumadin/warfarin) are not appropriate because they can take 5-7 days to reach adequate levels in your system to prevent a clot, so that's pretty much worthless.  Plus with the oral medications you have to have a blood test every day or two when you start it, to make sure you're getting enough, because everybody metabolizes it differently.  And the blood test hurts way more than giving yourself Lovenox.  Because Lovenox is not absorbed through the gut, it works much faster and the dose is pretty much the same for everyone.  Remember when you were a kid and you used to carefully slide a safety pin under the skin on your fingertip and make it stick there?  The Lovenox shot feels pretty much like that. 

Thanks so much for all the replies. I never knew alot of the things on here, and that is why I wanted to ask. I am glad to be going thru this with each of you, because we are each others shoulders! Thanks so much!