2 weeks out and just miserable..sorry its long..

Hey everyone.. my surgery went great.. no complications.. yippee...but after the removal of the drain tube and staples at 1 week out all hell broke loose.. I went in on  the surgery date at 236..I was 225 the morning of the staples being taken out but officially at 231 on their scale.. I had drank and ate jello and even had just finished a protein drink when I was called back to weigh.. I should have at least went to the bathroom to pee..lol...adn dint think about the sweatpants and top weighing so much too..I was cold... but now the numbers didn't seem to be so important as they were when I was fighting the insurance so what was 5lbs of water..and clothes.. right.. ,,, nope wrong.. little did I know I was on the verge of a very bad allergic reaction.. that was on Monday.the 30th. Tuesday night as I got in the shower I notice the surgery sites looked a little red..and the bad places on my arms from the IV attempts looked rough too.. well Wednesday morning when I got up the place were red and swollen and had welts around them. and I was itching like the dickens.. I was so miserable..I called the nurse in St Louis because I was afraid of infection.. they looked horrible.. but since there was no drainage or temp they doubted an infection.. I am not sure what the reaction was too. there are so many factors.. I am allergic to many many soaps.. Hospitals use a lot of different ones and even sent me home to use one that was a foam.. they said very gentle and no soap residue.. then also I am allergic to adhesives.. as in surgical tape, both plastic and paper.. and I am also allergic to the adhesive in band-aids.. ok then I am also taking these blood thinner shots who I know others have had allergic reactions to..Ok know what caused it is not as important as to what to do now.. the nurse told me to remove the steri-strips they just put on .. I have,   and a couple of the places have widened out...oh well a couple of scars don't scare me.. then that evening the whole belly broke out in a rash.. I have scratched and rubbed and slapped and ran warm water over and done it all to try to get the itching to stop.. the receptionist there told me that it is normal to itch when I asked to speak to the nurse.. .. I said yes like an itch when it is healing.. I have had enough surgeries to know that., but this is different.. I was sure I would go mad,,, I was told to start a liquid benedryl every 4 hours to get that in my system and also apply hydrocortisone cream.. they both did nothing until today. (well I did sleep good..lol)... Finally today the itching is gone down to a bearable state.. just bearable.. But my belly looks like a war zone.. the places are still red and welts everywhere.. there are rashes from one side to the other and under the breast and even inside the belly button.. man what a mess.. but little did I know that was not the worst effect of it.. My belly has swollen up and has lots of edema.. I can't fit into any of the pants I was in before surgery.. I am back into pants that fit months ago yet they are big everywhere but the belly.... Thank God I still owned some..not many since I am getting rid of them as I loose.. I stepped on the scale this morning and I weighed 234 lbs.. I was ready to start balling.. I had worked so hard to get the weight off before surgery and now I am gaining after surgery.. I have been following the diet they gave me to a T...I have not cheated.. I have been exercising as I could..I have been on the treadmill (told not to do that until my bp evened out) (the bottom dropped out of it..) (96/58 this morning)and even went Christmas shopping a little when I went to get the benedryl and cortizone cream.. I have been active as I can be with out being in pain.. I can't work up a sweat or the belly thing gets worse and such uncontrollable itching.. I am just ready to pull my hair out.. 2 weeks out from surgery and I have gained weight.. boo hoo boo hoo  I know I need to be patient but I am not a happy camper right now.. If any of you were wondering why I have not been on here so much this is why.. I was doing good off the depression meds too since they took me off during my hospital stay I had beat the withdrawls and was doing good.. so much for that idea of maybe getting free of them  as of today I had to start taking them again.. I am so cranky and itchy and just plain miserable..I am jumping down everyones throat and crying..
I really need you guys for some encouragement... so here I am typing and scratching and crying.. something has to give and soon.. I cant believe I am watching my scales go up after surgery and being so unhappy when I was so ecstatic just before surgery.. any one have any suggestions of what to do ...

First, calm down. Your being too hard on yourself. You just had surgery and some people do gain after surgery. Your body is going through all kinds of changes, it doesn't know what to do. Not to mention the added water retention on the body. The scale will move in the right direction when you give your body time to heal. This isn't an instant process. YOUR DOING GREAT and the rewards will come. Your just having a rough start but i promise your going to think bad and say, boy that was nothing. You will be suprised to get on the scale and be down 3lbs one day and 5 the next two days and so on. Heal your body first so you can start loving your rny. Keep your faith, do as Dr. instructed, hydrate yourself and everything will work out. Good luck hun.

 I went to your home page and read it.. It was such a calming thing to do.. You have a way with words that is for sure.. I am so impressed with your results too.. You look fantastic..

I really appreciate the encouragement.. such words as YOUR DOING GREAT really can make a person feel good.. I guess I was really getting so down about the scale and the numbers.. I know it is not an instant fix..but the rising numbers have a way of making you feel like your loosing the battle.. I am in this to win.. to win a new life and body and to be healthy and be here to see my grandson grow up.. I guess after fightin for 5 years for this new life I am blessed to have gotten, a few more weeks of healing won't be so bad.. I have hit so many snags along the way I guess this is just another one.. It too shall pass..

It is so hard to remember that even though the proceedure was performed laposcopic it was still major surgery.. I have always had problems with my surgeries with not waking up or stopping breathing on them during surgery, and I was so glad to not have any major ones with this one.. This is not a big deal except the itching is driving me mad to the point that the whole world is upside down right now.. It is getting better.. I prayed to God for the relief I need and after doing what I was told it is getting better.. maybe only a few more days of this.  I think one of the answers I got wehn I finally opened my ears to God was to get back on OH.. The support here means so mu*****eeping your sanity and realizing that we are all different and will loose at different paces.. I guess I am just being too anxious too soon...
Thanks again for the encouraging words.. your great..   hugs

Other than the misery of the preop liquid diet (carb detox), I was at my most miserable the first couple of weeks after surgery. I gained 9 pounds having the surgery from all the saline they pumped into me. I couldn't chew anything. The protein I was trying to choke down tasted and smelled awful.

IT WILL GET BETTER.

Plain and simple: your body is freakin' out. Don't worry about the scale.

I didn't have an allergic reaction to anything (I have had problems with adhesives in the past), but nothing this surgery. But the itching was maddening even so.

A lot of people have issues when they're first out. Buyer's remorse is super common.

IT WILL GET BETTER.

You concentrate on liquids, protein and moving. Find something to engage your mind and fingers and distract you. Reading, crossword puzzles, sewing, knitting, cleaning, holiday decorating (gardening if it wasn't December) -- something. 

Come back on here and complain all you want. A lot of us have been there!!

((HUGS))

Thanks,, that really makes me feel better.. not that I am glad you were miserable after surgery.. just to know that I am not a freak right of the bat... just that I can know I am not failing already.. I keep having these thoughts that I am going to be the only one that never loses weight with the surgery.. I am going to stay right where I am.. that I am going to gain with this diet.. it is completely different then what I was doing before surgery. I did not eat hardly any sodium before surgery.. these soups are killing me.. so so salty.. I tried the low salt ones and they are nasty.. My mom made me some homemade potato soup and blended it and some split pea soup and blended it, no ham in it.. she removed the ham after cooking.. that is the only salt in that soup is just the flavoring of the ham.. the potato soup has no salt and I add garlic powder and Mrs Dash and it is better.. I am so glad to move on to soft food.. I hade baked fish tonight yum yum..
I was getting to the point that I was afraid that maybe I ahd made a mistake that I should have jsut kept on the diet I was doing so good on.. but I know in my heart that I was getting stuck with it and had to revert to liquid diet to get where the insurance wanted me.. So I know I did the right thing..It just is nice to hear someone else tell you that and tell you that what you are going thru is normal...  I know I am a freak of nature now with a rerouted digestion but I surely didnt want to be the freak that the surgery dont work on.. lol...
Thanks for the encouragement.. I will keep at it and stay off the scale the best I can.. I am used to weighing every day.. I need to stop that.. It is depressing me right now.. funny how numbers can make you crazy..  I really appreciate your telling me about your experiences.. hugs,,

 Teresa,
Im so happy ur finally able to not have to worry about when u will get ur surgery anymore an can really focus on taking care of u now.. im sorry u had problems right of the bat.. but...  now u can begin ur journey from here forget the past trials an complications.. go from today... follow ur surgeons orders an u wont believe how fast time will fly... i cant believe im a lil over 9 months out already an how much has changed just keep ur eye on ur fluids they are even more important then  protein in the begining...  u dont want to get dehydrated... dont forget to measure.... its more important then u know... it will help with ur confidence levels... in a few months if an when u stall... im so happy for u!!! cant wait to watch as u morph in to the new u... 

Thanks Peggy ,, I am glad that all that hastle is over too.. no more waiting on someone else to decide if I am worthy of the surgery.. I now have it and I know I am worthy and I will make the best of it.. such a long awaited thing makes it that much more valuable to me..

Yes I got to watch you morph ,so now I can morph too as you watch..but you will still be doing a lot of morphing too.  I can just pray that I have as good as results as you have had.. I lost 3 lbs in the last day or so.. I feel a lot better now to see the scale going in the right direction..

Rash is almost gone, itching down to a very bearable stage.. so now I can just concentrate on drinking and walking.  I am measuring all that goes in my mouth .. I am not hungry really at all but I really have not felt full yet.. I guess as the stomach heals it will start to tell me..until then I really am measuring very carefully..

Hey Teresa!! The day of my RNY I was 380, after surgery I was back over 400 cause my scale would not even register back home. After 3 days of being at home I was put back in the hospital cause I got an infection from the drainage site. I was in the hospital for a week. I rember thinking did I do the right thing? Am I going to loose this weight? Why am I having all these complications? I had skin infection from being in the hospital,and some parts were red as fire,and other parts was dry, and peeling from flakes of dryness.

I am now almost 4 months out an have lost including pre-op 100 pounds. Everyone's story is different. We all have our own struggles to go through. Your body has went through so much already not even including the sensitive skin issues you are having. Don't panic, feel free to blow off steam at us, and type your feelings with tissues near by.  We will be hear to listen, cry with you and encourage you.

Your almost at the top of this mountian keep pushing!!! Praying for you.

Thank you so much .. I really need the encouragement and I am getting it from you guys.. this is such a great forum.. I love eveyone on here..

I am still climbing to the top , I will not stop , I will make it.. you guys are great to give me a push every now and then..

Teresa, sorry you are feeling so bad.  Things will definitely get better soon.  As everyone else said, the weight gain is common after surgery with the fluid retention.  Rember to sip, sip, sip because drinking all your fluid will actually help get rid of the excess.  I think over time when you have not used so much salt for a while then the low sodium stuff will actually taste better to you.  I have never used table salt and when I eat things I can definitely taste the salt.  I can even taste it in the powerade zero.  My favorite soup is the low sodium cambells tomato made with skim milk.  Can't wait for stage 5 cause I love those little pizza or cheddar cheese goldfish swimming in there. 

I am also kind of addicted to the scale.  I finally just got over my 3 week stall.  I was so discouraged.  I know exactly what you are saying.  I remember thinking more than once, "Great, I didn't just have my stomach 85% removed to just lose 37 pounds!"  I think everyone has times at the begining when the scale is not going our way and we start to think we will be one of the only people the surgery we chose did not work for.  I know I seriously did.  Have to just take a leap of faith that if you know you are following all the rules, weight loss is inevitable.  You just cannot not lose weight eating less than 800 calories a day! 

Hope the itching goes away quickly.  I know about the itching.  I also can only use paper tape.  I admit I picked a bunch of the surgical glue off around my port sites.  They had way too much slathered on there and I wanted it minimized!  I know they would not have liked it but damn, it just needed to be over the incision sites and they went a little crazy with it I think.  I also get itch rashes from the detergent the hospital uses.  Luckily I was not in long this stay and it did not get too bad, because it was horrible after my TAH in 2006 when I was there for almost a week and then was only home 2 days and back in for almost another week with infection.  And to some extent, that itchiness never totally went away.  The ID doc called it a superinfection.  And I am not sure if they really knew what it was caused by.  The laundered hospital sheets was the best they came up with. 

I am sure that itching will get under control soon and that edema will wash out.  You will be back to losing in no time.