Hello everyone!! Yes you read my title right. I am home again from the hospital. I was discharged on Sunday morning and came to be with my brother and sister in law in a suberb of Dallas. I was feeling weak and sore (typical). One of the SPECIFIC instructions given to me by the wonderful nurses at Baylor was to use the breathing maching they sent home with me! Now let me preface this with the fact that prior to surgery I have had pneumonia 2 times in my life...therefore my respiratory system isn't 100%. I am NOT telling this story to scare ANYONE I am telling it so that you do not make the SAME mistake as me if you are reading this pre op or very recent post op. I used the machine once but it was painful and hard to do so not every hour like the nurse had instructed me to do. About 7:45 pm on Sunday I took my pain medication. My sisternlaw help me adjust my pillow about fifteen minutes later and when she did she asked, "have you checked your temperature lately?" Well no. So we did and it was 102 degrees. Which is a little alarming two days after surgery. Low grade temp is typical but when it gets over 101 my surgeon wants a phone call. So I called. He had me check my heart rate and it was at about 112 beats per minute. EEK!!! He told me to get to the ER at Baylor and he would call ahead so they would get me in right away. I was in a lot pain and I was afraid something was wrong internally. We made it to Baylor about half and hour later and they had my name and got me into the ER in about 5 minutes (this with a FULL waiting room) By then the pain meds and helped my fever subside but it went up again after a bit. Long story short...I had to get a CT scan and at about 2:30 am in the morning the doctor camed and told me I had developed pneumonia. Just like that... So they go me a room and started pumping antibotics in me through IV. The resident Dr. who had been wiht me in the surgery room came in that morning and was like "you are back again! we can't get rid of you" Haha. (I had stayed a day longer after surgery) He told me he checked out my CT and that in actuallty I did not have pnemonia but a collapsed lung (like that SOUNDS any better rigth?) Needless to say after another two days in the hospital with LOTS of EXTRA PAINFUL respitory therapy and more pokes than I ever care to have again I am home..feeling MUCH better. Thank you Baylor staff!! Now...how does this affect you??? DO WHAT THEY TELL YOU!!! The reason it is important to breathe deeply and cough even though it may be very painful is because your lungs are sitting there inactive for much of your surgery. While in surgery they collect "gunk" and this gunk if not coughed up or gotten rid of can cause complications like pneumonia. ALSO..because you will have pain..it makes it hard to breath deeply...so you kind of stop...well if you don't breath deeply enough and fill thosse lungs to get them nice and healthy again they will collapse. everyone got it??? Good...I do not want anyone to go throught the unneccesary pain I have gone through the last couple of days! I have lost about 14 pounds since friday unofficially. Although I cannot physically do the happy dance yet...I am doing it on the inside. With smile, Rita

oh my gosh! I have been so busy dealing with my pre surigical jitters I forgot about packing a bag! hmmm what to bring! Yikes.. this will keep me busy for a while! THANKS! Diane

So are you bags all packed and ready to go? Today is the last page of this chapter.....tomorrow begins the new chapter of your life. Best wishes!

Hey Courtney, When I met with my nutritionist prior to surgery we discussed my plan to lose 10% of my excess body weight. She didn't instruct me to adhere to a specific diet, but here are some of the things I did: The only beverage I drank was water. Soda and other carbonated beverages will be off-limits after surgery anyway and I knew I'd have to drink 64oz of water a day after surgery, so I got a head start to get used to drinking so much of it. You mentioned not wanting to eat many salads, but they worked for me. In the pre-packaged salad section of the produce dept I found an Asian salad mix with crispy wontons, dried cherries, and a super yummy sesame ginger sweet dressing. I ate it almost every day for dinner (the whole bag, mind you!) and felt totally satisfied. For breakfast I stopped eating carb-rich foods and switched to having an egg or two instead. If I didn't have time for that, I toasted a piece of bread and put peanut butter on it. Some yogurts have a pretty good amount of protein in them as well. Cottage cheese does as well. Lunch was more difficult and I ate out at work often. If I ate a salad I made sure it had chicken in it. If I ate a sandwich I opted for egg salad, tuna salad, or turkey. Soups and chilis were also lunchtime options for me. Fish cooks up very quickly - you can buy pre-cooked shrimp or broil some salmon very quickly. Try to stay away from pasta, rice, and potatos - little changes here and there will make a difference! Good luck and keep us posted! Nicole

Hello all, Well I go under the knife tomorrow morning! I am asking for prayers for a smooth and uneventful process, little to NO pain, and quick recovery and lots and lots of rapid weight loss! Thank you in advance and know my prayers are with you all! Blessings, Diane Fowler Haw River, NC