Would like to hear from teens who've had WLS...

Hi ^_^ I would just like to hear from some other teens who have had/are having WLS. I'm sheduled for mine on September 18th, and would just like to know a little more about what to be expecting, from people who have already been there Thanks, -Liz

I am 19. I had my surgery on May 10th, 2006. I am 3 months out and down about 50 pounds. I started at approximately 238 pounds. I am a college student in southern California. There are lots of pictures of my scars, my progress, and me on my profile as well as a lot of information about me and my process. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through e-mail. I am more than happy to help out. Good luck.

Hey Liz, Wooooohoo now I can put a picture to the name. I'm pretty sure you've seen my profile, but either way - keep checking back. I don't shut up. LOL I find at 1 month out you get sick of food. Just eat because you're hungry - get *****y because you can't figure out what to eat. But you know, if you have any questions - just email me.

Hooray, people replied! Thanks for all the input; I read your profiles and I think your experieces will help me, thanks a bunch. But it still feels far too unreal. I keep thinking that it's all a lie... >.>;

Hi Liz- I just had RNY gastric bypass on the 16th...last wednesday...besides all of the tests you have to go through...its not that bad....then you go into the hospital the day of surgery you be be in a room for about 2 hourse or 1 1/2 hours it depends...you will be brought down to the holding room on a gourney the holding room is just outside of the OR....this is when they will give you your IV and kind of brief you on what will happen... the take you into the OR when everything is ready...you soot onto the table and they might strap your arms down...they'll put EKG electrodes on you...and your off to sleep...about 2 hours later you'll wake up in the recovery room where you'll be for about another 2 hours...then they'll take you up to your room...your have oxygen in your nose and you might have a tube down your throat but i didn't, you'll have a drain in your stomach...it looks gross dont be alarmed, and the nurses will come in A LOT during the night to take vitals and make sure you are ok...you also have a self-controlled morphine pump if you need it...i didnt use it too much...it wasnt that painful...for the first day or two you'll be eating only ice chips...then you have to go for this awful test where you are taken to X-ray and have to drink this nasty stuff while they take a picture of your chest to see if there are any leaks...when your results come back clear you will be able you have 30cc of water...pobably the day after you will get a meal tray wih diet jello, soup, and diet sorbet or other diet things...thats pretty much ot for the hospital...good lick if you have any more questions feel free to ask. ~Leann~

Hey, wow! Thanks for all the info! I was wondering how the hospital stay was. How many days did you stay? Perhaps I heard wrong, but I heard someone say at my nutrition class yesterday that they went home the same day O_o; That left me puzzled, hehe, I doubt very seriously after such a serious operation they would just send you home a few hours afterwards. Turns out that they rescheduled my surgery for Sept 14th, not the 18th, so I'll be making use of all this info sooner than I thought! Thanks for everything ^__^ -Liz

hey liz thats great that they moved your surgery closer i had my surgery wednesday and i was home friday...my mom had the same surgery 2 years ago and she was in for 4 or 5 days so i guess it depends...but yea i dont think they would send you home the same day...there is a lot of protocall they have to follow and i dont think it would be possible...take care...i'll keep in touch and keep me posted ! ~leann~

Heyloo.. wow.. i haven't been on this site in a while.. i wish i never stopped coming back.. So i had my surgery on january 5, 2006 making me about 7months post op.. so far i've lost about 90 lbs and thats without exercising. I've reached the point now where i have noticed that im not losing any weight. So im going to start exercising asap. Make sure when ur going in your journey of losing weight.. you exercise so you can continue losing the weight. You also have to remember that this is just a tool and that the obession to eat will be there ALWAYS.. ;( it's just something that has we have to control on our own. I wish you the best and I hope all goes well.. BTW your surgery is on my bday.. :D

Hi Carmen, thanks for the input. And yes, the ongoing battle for food will rage on, I sure as heck know that. I'm dealing hard with it right now as I'm trying to strictly stict to my pre-op diet. It's really hard, but I am trying. And wow, 90lbs? That's awesome ^_^ -Liz

Hi!! I'm 19 and I had my surgery on July 31st. I have lost about 35 pounds so far, but I have kinda hit a plateau, as most people do around the 3-6 week mark. It sucks, but I'm just not getting too discouraged about it. I only had to stay in the hospital for one night. I got there about 5:30AM on Monday and sat around doing nothing until about 11AM. Gave me plenty of time to sit there and get nervous. Haha!! But they finally took me back to this other holding room where I sat for what seemed like forever. I remember the doctors coming and they told me they were gonna give me "a little something to relex on the ride to the operating room." After that shot me up with that stuff, I remember nothing. lol I don't even remember leaving the holding room! When I woke up, I just remember having to pee really bad. haha The pain wasn't bad at all. I just felt really weak and tired... And REALLY thirsty, but ice was all I could have. I had a really bad experience with my IV later on that night. It came out and noone could get it back in. That was the only really bad thing that happened while I was in the hospital. I made it through the night, sleeping about 3 or 4 hours. They kept waking me up all the time to get blood and check my vital signs and what not. But the next day I went down for my Leak Test. They make you drink this NASTY stuff. I gagged like crazy every time I took a sip. But I had no leaks! Yay for that. So I started drinking a little juice, which I would also gag everytime I drank it. But we eventually figured out it was the Morphine making me gag, not that juice. I finally got to go home around noon on the day after surgery. The pain was really not anything. I only took my pain meds one night when I got home. The fact that it was disgusting had a bit to do with that. haha! I got home on Tuesday. By Thursday I was up and moving a little bit... Slowly, but surely. I went to the grocery store and to JCPenny's to just kinda get some walking in. It was my birthday, so I just HAD to do something!! I was REALLY tired alot. The surgery just took alot out of me. I mean, I didn't feel bad at all or have much pain... It was just tiredness. It took alot out of me to get a shower and get ready for a few weeks. I've just recently in the last week or two felt completely back to normal when it comes to being tired. I was on a clear liquid diet for about 4 days, which was just strictly jello and stuff like that. After 4 days, I was on a full liquid diet until the 2 week mark. That was stuff like grits and mashed potatoes and SF pudding and egg beaters. After my 2 week mark, they told me to just start trying things as I felt my body could handle them. They suggested purreing stuff, but that sounded nasty to me. So I chose to purree with my teeth. haha I am now eating chicken and tuna alot for my protein. And I put cheese in EVERYTHING. I'm not very good about my protein drinks, but I try to get them in every now and then. I try not to eat many potatoes and white food anymore, because they generally have alot of carbs. I eat alot of cooked veggies and some fruits. Seafood is something that has worked really well for me, if you're a seafood fan. I basically just try to eat things that don't have alot of carbs, fat, or sugar. I try to keep the sugar under 10 grams in things I eat. Nothing has made me sick so far. I haven't had anything that didn't really work well. I've been really lucky about that. Vitamins are really important too!! My doctor highly recommends taking the Juice Plus supplements. I bought them and tried them... But the thing is, you have to break the capsules open and put the powder in your food or drink. To me, it made the food taste really nasty. If it was a BIG amount of food, it'd be different... But I don't eat enough to make the flavor go away, ya know? So I have turned to taking Flinstone's Sour Gummy Bears. They are for kids, but it gets the job done. I take 4 a day. And its like a treat!! I love them. I also take the Chocolate Calcium Chews... 2 a day. Once again, a treat!! I'm supposed to be taking Iron pills bc I'm anemic, but I don't. Shame on me!! It's just a pain to have to crush them up and stuff because they don't make them in any other form. I also take B-12. They make these little cherry dots that disolve in your mouth and they are pretty good too. But yeah, sorry this turned into a novel!!! It's the first time I've really told my whole story on here. I feel so much more comfortable talking to people my age... So I have a feeling I'm going to be posting on here alot. So I hope this helped. Good look with your surgery!!