Things I Didn't Expect

[Guest guest]

These are some physical things I didn't expect from the surgery.

This is not a warning, just informational. It's just nice to

know about things that are going to happen to you.

I didn't expect the scar (small though it may be) on my neck

from the " main line " that they put into your jugular and stitch

into place during surgery.

I did expect hair loss, but didn't expect how annoying it would

be clogging up the shower drain, getting all over my clothes

and towels and such.

I didn't expect the " pulling " feeling on my incision when I stand

up and walk. The weight of my stomach pulling at my incision was

not painful, but rather uncomfortable and I would walk around

with my hands under my belly, lifting it and " carrying " it

while I walked, so as not to feel the pull. I still feel this

pull sometimes, but it's not nearly as distressing because my

incision is all closed and healed and doesn't feel like it might

" pull open " when I walk around any more.

I didn't expect how " delicate " I would feel after surgery. For

the first week or so, I was afraid of my newly-sewn insides

coming apart at their newly-sewn seams every time I moved. You

can't underestimate the need to have someone to help you do things

for the first couple of weeks out of the hospital. Especially

if you have your procedure " open " , as I did.

On a positive note, I didn't expect how relatively pain-free I

would feel so soon after surgery. My incision kind of felt like

a big paper cut sometimes, and I would have this dull, punched-in

-the-stomach feeling, which sounds terrible, but it was so dull

that it was not that bad. My pain meds were more than adequate,

and I didn't have to take them for that long.

I did go through the exact same phenomenon that almost everyone

does right after surgery and even for a couple of weeks after

surgery - having the feeling of " what have I done to my body -

why did I do this??? " and truly regretting it. But thank God

that feeling goes away as one heals and begins seeing the benefits

of this surgery.

At 10 weeks out as of today, I'm feeling whole though smaller;

feeling guardedly optimistic of the future (I'm a hard-sell);

and more and more convinced that this surgery is the single best

thing that ever happened to me - and I did it for myself.

Good luck to all of you pre-ops, recent post-ops, success stories

and everyone in between!

-Sherry (Lake Marcel, WA)

BPD/DS Feb. 2, 2001

self-pay

5'5 " / 359 pounds / 33 years old

Lost 9 pounds in pre-op weight loss efforts

Have lost 52 pounds since surgery!

Total of 61 pounds gone forEVER!

http://www.fluffynet.com/wls/