THINGS THEY DIDN'T TELL ME

Hi, I am new to this so bear with me.  I had my surgery on Feb 14 (Happy Valentine's Day!) at Duke Raleigh although I will do all my follow-up in Durham.  Everything went fine and the first 8 hours of fluid and protein were easy.  I thought this was going to be a breeze!  Then they gave me a pill for something and the nausea started immediately.  Then nothing stayed down and they took me off protein and liquids.  Turns out I couldn't tolerate the anti-nausea medicine they put in the IV but I was ok with a pill version.  How come nobody said anything about the shots they give you in your stomach??  It really was ok because it just goes in the fatty tissue--and if I say it is ok, it really is because I HATE needles. 
I have never had a problem with a catheter before but apparently I was not peeing as much as they wanted me to so they kept it in longer than usual and made me stay an extra night.  When I finally begged them to take it out and everything else was normal they did and I immediately peed like a race horse.  What a wonderful release! 
All has been great since I got home.  No nausea or pain medication since the second day home.  I guess most of the things I don't know are the things nobody can answer for me.  What is a normal amount of weight to expect to lose in the early days.  I certainly didn't know that I would have gained 11 pounds when I weighed my first morning home.  But I lost 9 of it by the second morning.  What a roller coaster! 
So now with about 2 1/2 weeks in, I have lost 24 lbs.  I can't see it in the mirror, except some in my face.  But I don't feel like a big bloated ball which is a wonderful blessing in itself.  I feel different and I like it!  My meeting to get my new soft diet is Monday and I am soooo looking forward to it.

Hi,

Sorry you had such a hard time.  There is a lack of preparation pre-op in a lot of hospitals.  The more you know about what will happen, side affects etc, the better your outcome will be.  Dumping is something that isn't fun, I know.  This should improve in time.  I tell newbies all the time to weigh once a week at the most due the distress caused by the up and down measurement on the scale.  However, many folks just can't pull themselves away from it.  So, the anger, frustration and depression continues.  Everyone loses weight at different rates.  It is impossible to say who will be a fast loser or a slow loser.  Keep to the food plans you were given.  If you need additional support, get into a local support group.  If you need more, a good food addiction councelor can be a great help.  There are lots of supports out there if you need them. 

Maybe when I get down to Durham in May, we can meet.

Hi,
Thanks for the response.  I hope I didn't make it sound all negative.  Except for those 2-3 days when I wondered if I had made a huge mistake, I have never looked back.  I feel better than I have in a long time and had no problems since leaving the hospital.  I have been a lifelong dieter so I am familiar with unexplainable gains and stalls.  Unfortunately, it doesn't make them any easier to accept.  I am on a mission!  Don't get in my way!!  You know the drill. 
I definitely intend to go to support groups and would love to meet you when you get to Durham.  Thanks.

Hi Gradylady,

Welcome to the Loser's Bench! I'm sorry that you had a rough start. I know when my husband had his surgery there, they had a Bariatric Coordinator who took us through a 2 hour tour of what to expect from the time we checked in to when he was released. This was a new thing that they had started, so I didn't have it when I had my surgery, but I thought it was great because it helped us know what to expect, with issues such as they possibility of nausea associated with anesthesia, treats, pain management, the abdominal shots, compression booties, walks through the halls, catheters, etc... They also let us know that there was a possibility that he could experience 'water weight gain' while in the hospital from all of the IVs. It doesn't happen to everyone, but does happen for some. Ben had an issue pain associated with the gas used to expand your abdomen during surgery; again, a problem for some patients. I was glad that they had addressed that because Ben had a major issue with that. I wonder if they have discontinued that pre-op tour; I hope not, because it really made things go much more smoothly from a patients perspective.

It's really hard to know how much you will lose and what the patter of that loss will be. Generally, if you had a water weight gain, you will lose that quickly. Often during the first few weeks, you will lose a few pounds a week, but it is not uncommon to lose some then to hit your first 'stall' when you are 2 to 6 weeks out. It can be really un-nerving and make you think you are doing something wrong, but it's absolutely normal. As my surgeon explained it to me, you can expect that your weight will sort of stair step instead of slide off, meaning that you will drop for a while, then stop for a while as your body senses the rapid weight loss and is doing all it can to keep those 'precious' fat stores that we are working so hard to lose. The good news is that it will come off. Just stay with the plan. 

If you haven't done so already, it's a good time to go find a door to stand in front of and get a front, profile and back photo of yourself and do this once a month (I used the anniversary of my surgery day, but it doesn't really matter when you start). Stand in front of a door because over time you will be able to see yourself 'shrinking' in relation to the size of the door. Take the side and back shots so that you can see the changes in your body. Also get out a tape measure and be sure to get the following measurements once a month:  

neck

around the outside of your shoulders

under your arms and around your chest

across your chest at the nipples

under your chest, where your bra strap runs at the diaphram

at your waist (belly button)

across your hips (about 4 to  5 inches below your belly button)

each thigh

each knee

each calf

each ankle

each upper arm

each elbow

each forearm

each wrist

There will be times when the scale won't budge, but often the tape measure shows progress when the scales don't. 

Wishing you every success,

Wow.  I better print this out to get it all done!  Thanks for the tips.
I might not have gotten the full pre-op treatment because I kind of got rushed in.  I was in Oregon for 3 weeks until Feb 3.  While there, the Dr. office called and insurance didn't want to cover the surgery without proof of WW or other supervised non surgical weight loss plan.  I had heard of that at the info meeting but the insurance company never told me they would require it.  Of course, out of town, I couldn't do much.  I was supposed to have surgery on Feb 7 and pre-op on the 4th!  I did the pre-op and they moved the surgery to the 14th.  Miraculously, they approved me at the last minute and all went through.  All this is to say, my prep might have been a little haphazard--and it could have been my fault. 
All in all 2-3 days of misery is well worth it if things continue so well.  Kind of like having a baby!  I can forget those days for a lifelong healthy outcome.
Thanks.  See you at one of the support groups I am sure.