Date Set .....

Hi,

Well after a little over two weeks I received my approval from the insurance company and I now have my surgery date set for April 23, 2013. One last request was made to have a scan of the gall bladder.My appointment with the doctor is on the 17th of April and I register at the hospital on the 22nd for surgery the following day. I am on my way ....God help me through this.....

Thanks all....

Hello Joe and Welcome to OFF (over fifty forum)

Congrats on getting your surgery date....that is wonderful!! I am so happy for you!! If you have any questions please let us know. We will do our best to help!! I wish you the very best!

We are always glad to have new members!! Please join us on our daily thread. Someone usually starts the thread in the AM. Feel free to post at anytime. There are a few new members that have recently had their surgery. Don't feel like you won't fit in!!

My suggestion is if they suspect anything with your gallbladder ask them to remove it during surgery. It seems a lot of people have problems after surgery and have to go back in and have it removed. Might as well do it while they are there.

See you on the Losers Bench....woooohoooo!!! You won't be sorry!!

Have a great weekend...connie d

Hello and Thank you !

I definitely want to learn from others since its probably the best way for me to prepare for what is to come...Congratulations to you on all your accomplishments! Luckily my wife is a nurse who helps heal people after surgery and she has told me the same thing and has seen patients come back and have to have their gall bladder removed....I know it must be a rough 6 weeks afterwards so I feel like a boxer who is training for a championship fight! I cant wait to be on that bench with you all!

Thanks so much!

Joe

Hi Joe, and welcome to OFF,

Congratulations on getting your surgery date.  I still remember my summer of preparing for surgery.  

My best suggestion for you right now is to get into a daily walking regimen, and practice doing deep breathing exercises.  This will help you immediately after surgery.  You'll be walking and breathing in the hospital, and encouraged to do it at home.  I was grateful I had been walking and doing breathing exercises in the weeks prior to surgery.

Feel free to ask questions.  I'm sure someone here will be glad to help you.

Trish

Hi,

Thanks very much ! I will certainly start to incorporate this as part of my daily routine ...thanks for your support!

Joe

Hi Joe!  So happy for you that you made it through the insurance approval process.  April 23rd will be the beginning of a whole new life for you!  I have had WLS twice (long story), but the first time was in 1993.  At that time the WL surgeon I had wouldn't even think of doing the surgery without also removing the gall bladder.  Apparently losing 100+ pounds causes lots of problems with the gall bladder, and the ultrasound showed that I already had some stones.  You will probably be happier if you just have it removed right then.

As for help, yes, God will help you through this process, and so will we!  Please join in our daily thread.  There are newbies and oldies that visit together daily.  No question is too silly or too personal.  We have all been there and we can be remarkably candid with our answers.  LOL!

I second what Trish said about the walking and breathing.  Also, I don't know if you drink sodas or not (I was a die-hard Coke-aholic!), but give them up now.  You won't be able to drink soda after your surgery anyway.  I gave up Coke a month before my surgery and it was a hard, hard thing for me to do.  But it was one less adjustment I had to make post-surgery.  Now I only drink water and a little low-fat milk.  I stay away from juices, sodas, diet drinks, etc. 

Also, you might want to start taking your vitamins and supplements now also.  You probably won't be able to deal with them immediately after surgery, but you will be required to take them the rest of your life.  It's a good habit to get into now.

We'll be waiting for you on the loser's bench!

Hi,

Luckily I am not a big soft drink fan my favorite beverage is water! and I drink plenty daily but I know that will be reduced after surgery...I hope that I am able to keep it down. The gall bladder is coming out with the surgery ...I also have a hernia that was found during the endoscopy that is going to get fixed as well.

Thanks for your response!

Joe

Congrats on getting your date and welcome to the board. It's always nice to have newcomers ... we don't have a lot of guys anymore, although we used to have a couple of men post for awhile. Good that your wife is a nurse; she can help with a lot of things.

One thing that might help you now is to give up caffeine ... I had to do it cold turkey. It's better to do it gradually. (Now, I'm able to have it again, but I'm nearly nine years out.) 

Good luck on the start of your journey.

Eileen,

This is going to be a tough one for me....I really like my coffee....I need to figure out how to stop this very soon...

Thank you

Joe

Joe,

I hear you on the coffee addiction.  I weaned myself off the caffeine by using the half caffeine coffee for a while, then alternating days when I would drink the half caff and pure decaf, till I was just drinking decaf.

As for water, you'll need to drink it as part of your daily fluid intake.  I'm supposed to drink 64 ounces of water a day, or some decaffeinated beverage.  

Trish