Hello everyone.  After a 9 month road to surgery and 25 years of struggling with my weight after the birth of my two sons, I can now say I'm post-op.  I had my surgery on Thursday and came home from the hospital on Friday.  I spent the first 12 hours questioning myself and wondering what I was thinking when I went on this path.  The gas in my esophogas was very painful and it hurt to swallow just a tiny sip of water.  The expectation was that you get 1 oz cups down, ten at a time, for a total of 5 times.  I had no idea it would be so hard to do that!

Friday I was let out of the hospital about noon, feeling pretty good.  By the time I got home, I was a mess.  For those of you who are getting ready to have this journey, make sure that you take a pillow to hold against your mid section for the ride home.  My husband tried to be as careful as possible but it was an hour and a half ride home and my organs felt like they had been put through a salad shooter! 

This is day 3 for me and it does get easier.  I'm able to get all 50 ounces of water down fairly easily, like that I can have sugar free popsicles and jello along with Crystal Light in my water.  I have lost 9 lbs so far but I also had to part with my gall bladder so that accounts for some of the weight.  I am more tired today than yesterday but the dr's told me it would be a "two steps forward, one step back" game. 

My best advice is to get up and get moving as soon as you are able.  The gas pain will ease up the more you walk and I was also afraid that they would keep me more than a day so that got me motivated to get my butt up and walking around the nurse's station 2 hours after I got into my room. 

I'm happy to have found a support group online and I look forward to reading all of the posts here!  Please feel free to ask me questions if you are getting ready to have this surgery.  It's VERY fresh in my mind and I would be happy to share my experiences.