Iiiiiiiiiii'm Back! - My Sleeve Training made my LBL easier

First, thanks everyone for all of the well wishes over the past two weeks.

So I finally returned to work today.  I am trying to get back into all of my old habits and make each day a little more normal.  I had my final drain removed on Monday.  YAY - No more bloody grenades pinned to the inside of my clothes!  I still have quite a bit of swelling and am working my way back up to my pre-op endurance.  Right now I am only at about 60%.

So how did my sleeve make my LBL easier?  All of the rules I learned during my sleeve surgery helped me heal faster.  Heres what I learned:

1.  Walk, Walk, Walk - I started walking in the hospital the night after my 8.5 hour surgery.  The next day I walked laps around that floor at least 6 times - each time going for more laps than before.  When I got home I started walking around the house, then around the block.  I am not quite up to walking as far as I did before surgery.  The fluid starts accumulating and becoming uncomfortable so I have to stop and ice things down.  Each day I push a little bit further though.

2.  Protein - I prioritize my protein.  I am getting about 100 grams a day.  I haven't had any of the usual complications - sutures opening up and the like.  The incisions are healing very quickly.  Some of them already look very good.  I am trying to be reasonable with the calories.  The surgeon did tell me to not try and be a weight loss hero - I need calories as much as I need protein to heal.

3.  Water - I am getting as much as I can.  I definitely do NOT want my body going into the water retention mode right now.  Its 10 AM and I have already had 64 ounces.  Aiming for at least 100 ounces a day.  Hopefully I can pee out more than I drink in and get rid of some of my excess fluid more quickly.

 4.  (reminded by Alison) Listen to your body.  Right now my body is burning A LOT of calories just healing.  When I feel tired I stop and rest a bit.  When I feel tension or discomfort, I back off what I am doing.  Right now its about healing, not about being an exercise or weight loss hero.  Same for you guys who are just post-op with the sleeve!

I am thinking of my LBL as an out-of-body sleeve and treating it just the same way.  So far it seems to be working for me.

 

 

Welcome back! Missed your posts!!! Meanwhile I am a week and a day out already post op and doing great!!!

Thanks for the update stranger!!!!  Glad to hear no complications so far - I'l be joining you soon :)

You'll do great!

I really think that making sure I got as much protein and water as possible helped me bounce back quickly.  I know I am a bit unusual with the pain - as my support group leader makes me say actual results may vary - but I didn't have a lot.  surgery wednesday, quit narcotics Saturday, quit OTC pain meds on Tuesday.  

The swelling (esp down below when I walk too much) is worse than anything else.  Yesterday I blew up like a balloon on my afternoon walk.  Today I'll pu**** a little bit further.

Im reallllly not looking forward to all the swelling  - im more worried about that than the pain, especially since im cutting up my whole body!


Dont push too hard - you can still open up the incision lines.

I should have included that in one of my lessons learned from the sleeve:  Listen to your body.

 

As soon as I feel tension or swelling I back off.  The last thing I want is an open incision!

 I started freaking out after reading about someone's incisions opening up at 10 weeks out!!! I was like dammmmnnnn. 

Im gonna be a straight couch potato to avoid any openings haha.

Can't wait to see the results! I'm sure even swollen you already look awesome.

That's great!! So happy for you!!

IT's great to read that you are doing so well! Gives me hope that when I finally do it, it won't be as gruesome as I am imagining! Funny, I'm more worried about getting an LBL than I was about my VSG surgery. Go figure!
Keep up the wonderful healing. You inspire me!