Hello, I'm new and nervous

 Hello, I'm new here and lost on the forum. There are so many options and I have never been on a forum before and keep having to ask my husband for help to know what to do!
My name is Laura and I am originally from Louisville, KY, but have lived in memphis indiana for the last 30 years. I am married to a very supportive man who wants to help me through this process. I am scheduled for all my pre-op tests june 1,2 & 11,but I don't have my surgery date yet. The sooner the better! I have sleep apnea, gerd, arthristis and depression. I am hoping if I work real hard this will help me with all of these issues. Thank you for letting me be part of your forum.

Welcome to the group Laura.  OH can be difficult to work about when you are new.  I spend most of my time right here at bariatric buddy group.  Found the best fit for me needs here. 

Wonderful that you have a supportive husband.  You will be having your preop tests just around the corner.  If you need help with the OH site, let me know, I will guide you to the best of my abilities.

I have sleep apnes, diabetes, arthritis, depression and a few other issues.  My sleep apnea is better, the pressure on my cpap is half of what it was at my highest weight.  I am off insulin for my diabetes, yayyyyyy.  My knees no longer cause me distress and I walk most days.  Stick with the pre op process and let us know if we can be of assistance. 

Try to stop by monday evening chat sessions if you can.  I send out reminders for chat monday morning.  Hugs

Hi Laura,
    Welcome to the site. We have wonderful and supportive people here. I'm only 4 months out from surgery. These people have been my lifeline for information and support. A really great group.
 I'm in Arizona now but was raised in Indiana up just south of Lake Michigan. Where is Memphis, Indiana?     Mag  

 Thanks for all the kind words and support!  I love this website although sometimes I have a hard time finding my way around, there is so much info here. Memphis Indiana is in southern indiana close to Louisville Kentucky where the Derby just occured. It is right outside of new albany. I am having all my tests and surgery at Nortons hospital in Louisville. I can hardly wait, and have good attitude but I'm nervous. I am a vegetarian and worry about protein, however I meet with a dietician on monday for screening and pre-op advice.I look forward to the info and support of this site, everyone is so positive!

Welcome Laura! If your pre-op tests are early and mid june, I have a feeling your surgery will not be too far behind those tests. Congrats! And so happy your hubby is supportive and caring! Welcome to our group. Ask away with any questions you may have. I had High blood pressure, gerd, depression, severe fatigue, and lots of pain, as well as severe pitting edema before my wls. I still have GERD, but everything else is gone, or well in control (depression) The only time I have much trouble with edema now is when I travel or sit too long, or do not get in enough good fluids, but it is wayyyyyyyyyy better than it used to be before my wls.

Congrats on your soon to be wls.

 I am glad to here that the surgery did so much to improve your health! Hopefully it will do the same for me, I am tired of waddling from both my fat and arthritis. My sleep apnea scares my husband half to death and my doctor said this should help or eliminate that. My therapist said this should help with my depression also. Are you on meds? Do you have to break or crush them now? I take several so I just wondered. Thanks again!

Hey lady! Many of the problems you are facing now WILL at the very least improve, if not resolve. As far as meds go, I am still on my antidepressants, but am better managed than ever. When I first had surgery, I needed the dose increased to allow for the malabsorption issue the surgery creates. I am now back down to the initial dose and doing great on it. I know I will never be able to get off of them completely, as clinical depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, andf weight loss doesn't change that, but it takes away alot of the depression the obesity causes, and the health problems as a result of the obesity get better, which makes us feel better emotionally too. I yhave never had to crush my meds. Larger tablets can be cut into halves or forths. Anything enteric coated will not stay in your pouch long enough to be utilized so either change to non coated, or break them into 1/2 or 1/4 so the coating is broken and the liquids in your pouch and intestines can break them down. Also another consideration is that if you are on any time released medications, you will have to have them changed to immediate release. They won't hang around long enough to work if they are time released. You may want to address this with your doc pre-op.

Many people who have the RNY are off of insulin before they even leave the hospital. And off blood pressure and other meds pretty quickly. Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones! Do be prepared tho, that for the first 6 to 12 weeks after wls, some people go through increased depression. There are a couple of reason. One being food seperation issues, and just trying to learn the ropes of being a post-op, but the biggy is the release of hormones and chemicals that have been stored in the fat for years. There is an article on this in our group blog. Here's a link to that article: http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/bariatricbuddy/blog/2009/08 /23/did-you-ever-wonder-why-after-/   Also there is a lot of other useful info there as well.

I hope this was all helpful for you!

Welcome to the group, Laura!

Colleen