I am down 49 pounds and have left the 300s! I am having post nasal drip stuff and it has really upset my stomach the last three days. Using Nasonex, but no relief. Anyone have a suggestion? 

Was released from the hospital on Sunday and it feels so good to be home. I actually was able to eat today. I had 1/4 of a red pair (they are really soft) and broth from tortilla soup for lunch and dinner. I also have been able to get about 20 ounces of water down. Hope to get some more before bed. I ventured out on my own tonight with my 4-year-old. We went to Wal-Mart. It was really nice to be out. I have to admit I am EXHAUSTED! NO food for 18 days and almost no activity has left me pretty weak. Things are on the upswing though. My wife took some pictures for me last night. I am blown away at the difference in my face. 42 pounds down now and I am so excited by the difference. My clothes are so different and so many things are already too big to wear and it feels so good to be in the old things again. Really looking forward to loosing the next 7 pounds, as I will move out of the 300s and will be at the 50 pounds of lost weight mark!

Looking forward to all that is coming up! 

I can't believe I am here again. The doctor put me back in the hospital on Wednesday of this last week. I had my surgery 18 days ago and have been in the hospital 13 of those days. Still had lots of nausea, vomiting, and pain. Got dehydrated again and without the ability to get liquids down, I understand why I had to be put in here again. It has been very hard to be away from my family. With an 8-month old and a 4-year old, they can't be here much. My 4-year old has cried the last two nights on the phone for me to come home. It has broken my heart.

They started me on a new medication which I think has helped, but the side effects of the medicine are...undesirable as well. I know this is going to be worth it and once I am feeling better will forget about these problems. My doctor has basically said this just happens to some people and I have a bad case of it (whatever it is). He said I may be able to go home tomorrow or Monday. So I guess the good part - I am down a little over 40 pounds - right at 30 of that is post op. I know I wont feel normal for a long time, but I sure am ready to feel better. 

Also, I have been thinking about the stigma of WLS. Only my inner circle of friends and family know what has gone on. I am so afraid for other people to know. Do any of you feel this why and why should we feel this way? A friend came by the hospital to see me today and he had surgery 4 years ago and said he has stopped telling people because over the last few years people have become so derogatory to having the surgery. 

 Well friends, this was a much longer journey that I had anticipated. I had some unpleasant encounters while in the hospital after the surgery. The first day was very painful from the air in my abdomen. That two about 2 and a half days to go away. The my first night after the surgery was also difficult. I woke up unable to breath - my away had closed off. I hit the call button and screached out HEELLLPPPP. A nurse come in and realized what was going on and ran back out, almost a minute later she comes back and sees my still not able to breath. She leaves again. This point my wife walks over to me and starts praying for God to open my airways and heal me and within seconds my airway starts opening. Minutes later 3 nurses come in with my chart and kind of...meander around the room. They decide this must be because of my diagnosis with sleep apnea and order a CPAP machine for me. Never mind that I have never had an issue like this and NEVER use a CPAP machine. So they bring it in hook me up and say you are going to be all better now. But no doctor checked me out or anything. Then the pulse ox machine started going off every 5-15 minutes saying that I did not have enough oxygen in my body. So I finally take the CPAP off and just use the oxygen nostril thing but notice nothing is coming out. I was reassured by my nurse that it was hooked up and working. Despite my last please that their is nothing coming out she says, just lay back and you will be fine. Five minutes later the alarm is going off again. This time she checks the tubing and....it was not hooked up as I had said. Things got some better and finally the night was over. 

The major issue that I was having was that I could not get any liquids down without super intensive pain to my stomach. Pain that could last up to 30 minutes long and would rate 8-10 on the pain scale. It was really bad. I was set to be discharged on Friday, but it was clear I could not leave with the amount of problems I was having. I was on the morphine drip and getting morphine boosters through the IV periodically. They decided to send me home Saturday afternoon even thought I could not drink anything on my own. So Saturday and Sunday I was at home in pain and unable to stay hydrated and after trying some of the doctors tricks for home remedies, I was readmitted to the hospital on Monday. I was really dehydrated. They additional swelling in my stomach was still causing the largest problem because it would not allow me to put anything into my stomach. They decided to start giving me an ant-spasm medicine 30 mintues before trying a "meal" (of all liquids of course). It took almost 24 hours for the hospital to work those details out. My doctor's nurse practitioner was really upset when she found out what had happened. The pill helped just a tiny bit and on Wednesday they began in i.v. treament of a steroid to serve as an anti-infamatory to stomach. Throughout Wednesday, I could feel the change taking place. By Wednesday night I had my first post-op meal a jello cube and 1/2 ounce of diluted gatorade. IT WAS MAGICAL AND EVERYONE WAS VERY EXCITED!!!! Today was even better, got more liquids in by mouth, had allmost an entire bowl of jello squares and some broccoli cheese soup for dinner. They took me off of fluids late in the day and as long as I can keep getting liquids down and the swelling does not return I can finally go home tomorrow. 

I have not lost any weight the last two days, but have lost just over 30 pounds total. Pre-op diet until now. I have been very dedicated to getting up wand walking the hallways. I try to make laps around this floor at least 5 times a day. That will hopefully help my exercise program be a little easier to get started once I am out of here. 

No, everything isn't perfect now - but I do feel my body is now functioning and I don't feel like I am in the process of dying! I have started smiling again and cracking jokes. Both are really good signs for me. Now I am just ready to see what comes next on this journey into my new life!

The last two days have been really rough. The doctor is admitting me back into the hospital tonight. If you are a person of prayer, please pray for me.

Thanks OH community.