Alright Michigan board time to be truthful!!!

Dare to tell the truth about wls?

to the Post-op's: think hard now from the begining to now, with all the ups and downs, the known and unknown things ( total life change) WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE CHANGE (THIS ENCLUDES YOUR SURGEON)
people around you, nurse , medications. what ever what would you have or will change give me ( 5)

To the pre-ops what have you noticed from this board or someone you know that has given you strength even though we hear and at times see the down side. what or who gave you strength to see this all the way through
give me (5)


FOR ALL: WHAT IS ONE GOAL OR DREAM YOU HAVE
a) did you reach it yet.
b) at your finger tips.
c) little ways to go.
d) just started

alright Michigan!!! let me hear from you. can you handle the truth from yourself.

these are really good questions!   Here ya go THINGS I WOULD CHANGE 1.    I would have been in charge of my care from the beginning.  2.    I would have demanded a sleep study 3.    I would have gotten a surgeon who wanted to spend time on me, not rush 4.    I would have kicked that nurses a$$  at harper who made me cry 5.    i would have refused the morphine in icu The one dream i had was to be more active with my kids, i reached it at one year post op

THANK YOU LINDA FOR THE TRUTH, YOU GO GIRL, I WISH THE BEST OF EVERYTHING FOR YOU.

1.  I would have fought with my prior  insurance company to have gotten this done sooner. 2. I would have worried less. 3. Honestly that is the only things I would have done differently.

My surgeon was wonderful before surgery and still is a great support.

MOMOFMANY THANK YOU FOR THE TRUTH, KEEP ON DOING WHAT YOUR DOING RIGHT FOR YOU. SENDING BEST WISHES OF EVERYTHING TO YOU.

Things that I would have changed. 1. I wouldn't have worried so much about what I could eat afterword. 2. Had the insurance company not changed their policy to allow it, I would have fought for it.  Now, I'll just have to fight for the tummy tuck. 3. I'm thankful for the friend I had who'd had the surgery and the help that she gave me right after the surgery.  I don't know how I would have handled some of things that happened.  I know that my father who was staying with me couldn't help much, although he would have tried. On the other hand I'm sorry that this friend taught me early that I could eat things I shouldn't and now I'm fighting those demons again.  BTW, this friend just disowned us and stopped speaking to us. 4. The second night in the hospital I would have been more insistant on seeing the nurse that was supposed to be attending me.  a. she didn't tell me that they would hold the lovenox injection that night so that they could remove the epidural in the morning.  5.  I'd ask what kind of post op orders they would write so that I knew they had written a standing order for a breathing treatment (for my asthma) any time i needed it.  The nurse that noticed I was wheezing didn't even suggest it. 6.  I'd have asked the sleep doc or his respiratory therapist how to tap the O2 into my CPAP hose.  Remember if you use CPAP to tell who ever is with you how to hook the thing up. 7.  I wouldn't have taken my father to see the cutter Mackinaw that was docked in Detroit, and then taken the tour of it 10 days after my surgery.   I forgot how those ships are built and the stairs you need to climb various levels of the ship.  I'm sure that didn't help the incision and maybe why I have this huge incissional hernia now. I wanted to be able to walk without severe pain in my knee and not have to use a cane, also avoid having a knee replacement.   I don't use the cane, and I don't have to take the pain meds any more. My sugars have been normal and I'm off 2 diabetic meds, 2 cholesterol meds, one bp med. Jeanne

This is the kind of post I loved to read as a pre-op.! I don't think I can come up with 5 though - everything has gone really well for me and there are only a few things I can think of: I too wouldn't have worried so much about what eating would be like afterwards.  I wouldn't have worried so much about following the rules because it just kind of happened the way it was supposed to without a lot of "work" on my part.  I don't mean that I didn't follow the rules, I mean that it was easy to follow them.

I wouldn't have worried that it would be difficult to change my eating habits- - it hasn't been.  I realized afterwards that I actually had pretty good eating habits BEFORE surgery, at least the basics.  I just had to give up "my" demon foods and it hasn't really been that difficult. I wouldn't have bought so many brand new clothes as I was losing weight because I wasted a lot of money on things that I only wore a couple of times.  I would have shopped in thrift and consignment stores more often. I wouldn't have worried that life would be difficult or hard after surgery - - it hasn't.  Life has been much easier and happier.

Karen53

1.  I would have not believed that I would never be hungry again.   2.  I wish I would have researched more on the surgery 3.  I wish I wouldn't have thought that I could trust myself to eat like a non GAP again 4.  I would have taken some before pictures 5.  I should have kept some of my "before" clothes My goal is to reach my goal weight.  When I went for my first consult and they asked me what my goal weight was, I said 170.  Back then, at 319, that seemed impossible.  Now, I'm 190, and it STILL seems impossible!  I feel like I'll never get there.

well, mine will be a little different then most of yalls.  1. I wish I would have been more patient!! I went with a surgeon who was known for a crapy aftercare program - but because I just "HAD" to have my surgery NOW!!! (dont judge me, you know you all felt the same way preop) I went with him and it has almost cost me my life!!!! AFTER CARE is sooo very very very important to your long term health!!!!!!!!!!!  2. I wish I would have been a stronger person and able to stand up for myself better when my complications arose. I allowed them to send me home from ER when I KNEW I was not right!! But I've learned from this and now - I refuse to allow any doctor/nurse/nut/person to tell me how I feel!!! I know my body and I know when somethings not right. I've taken charge of my health.  3. I wish I wouldn't have stopped exercising after reaching goal..... it's soooo darn hard now to fit that back in to my life!!  4. I wish I would have saved money each week after surgery for my "goal clothes"...... now I'm at goal and don't have very nice clothes. It frustrates me to no end.  5. I wish I would have gone through some counceling during that first year after surgery. There were soooo many emotional things that were going on because of my physical change - and I allowed them to run my life and it just about ruined my marriage. We actually seperated about two months after surgery! I was STUPID!!!!!! Thank God we worked things out a few months later and now have never been closer in our marriage!!  There's my five! YIKES, I certainly can see that there's a lot more to having wls then just having a "surgery"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  PREOPS - TAKE notes!!!!! Listen to these things and appropriate them into your life accordingly. 

1. The biggest thing I would change would be how long I waited to make the decision to have surgery.  I thought it would be much harder to give up foods I love so I told myself I couldn't do it. 2. I would demand to have a different nurse than the one I had the night after my surgery.  He was male and very young.  I felt so self conscious when he had to help me put a binder on. He wasn't nice to me and I never should have put up with it. 3. I would NOT tell as many people as I did that I was having weight loss surgery.  It was hard on me after surgery because people expected immediate results.  4.  I wish I had been more patient with myself and others.  It took more than 4 months before people could actually see that I had lost weight.  I felt like I was much smaller, but in hindsight, it took many more months to show any progress. 5.  I am now having issues with the attention I'm getting.  People make the strangest off the cuff comments about how I look at weird times.  I feel very uncomfortable and don't know how to respond.  I also worry about when the attention stops and I become a "normal" person. My ultimate goal was to become more mobile so I could interact with my daughters.  I have reached that goal and have become a much better role model for them.