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Allergic to food and immune to diets: my gastric bypass story

Heelo stranger

Good to hear form you, dont yougo overdoing it........ Georgina is right you should wait 6 weeks!!!!!!!

Will text you too
 
so glad to hear your bulletin also, very informative. enjoy the beautiful days ahead now that you have more energy to do so.
susie
 
Hi everybody,
I AM BACK!! LOL LOL!!
Seeing as I have abandoned you for a few weeks, I think what I'll do tonight is begin to tell you all about my gastric bypass on May 31st and then tell you the story so far. I can't guarantee that it will be all in one thread, but I will begin tonight and then carry on from there...

The night before the bypass I got a couple of DVDs in as I knew I would be up late! Gordon went to bed before me and I stayed up until daft-a-clock because I couldn't settle. I wasn't even watching the TV properly, just thinking about my operation, wondering what it would lead to. For some reason I wanted to stay up to make the most of my time. in case I died, which I know is silly as the surgeon said that I ahd a 1 in 200 chance of dying from the op. Funnily enough, I wasn't nervous as such, just contemplative really. Eventually I went to bed and slept until my alarm sounded at 5.30.

I was tired, but strangely awake because I knew I had to be ready for what was before me. Gordon took my bag to the car and I made my excuses so that I could plaster pink, heart shaped post-it notes around the flat with little love notes for him for when he got home alone that night. I jumped in the car and gave my mum a ring, to tell her that I was on my way. I was quite snappy with poor Gordon in the car - probably nerves!

When we got to Spire hospital, there were around half a dozen people in the waiting room with their partners. I could tell that they were obviously going for the same type of surgery as myself. Not many of them spoke, so I guess they were nervous too, or tired because it was 7am!! Most of them left the waiting area before me.
When we were escorted- oh yes proper hotel style - to my room at the end of a wide corridor, I was disappointed to see the room next to me empty and all the occupied rooms had their doors closed. I wanted people to talk to who were going through the same thing! I left the door of my room open and continuously peeped out to see if anyone was going to stay next door, but, sadly, nobody ever did.
My room was decorated in neutral colours, with a shower en-suite. There was one picture on the wall, which I disliked the longer I stayed there and a ticking clock-great! It was like a cross between a hospital and a Holiday Inn! But, I wasn;t there for a holiday, but a life change...
 
Good to have you back Sara, loving your story already, can't wait for chapter 2. Hope things are going well x
 
well done for being so brave, hope your recovery goes well and you get to the weight you desire. Im still trying the diet route - being doing that for the last 20 years!!! - but still havent give up yet, still got that little back dress in the back of the wardrobe to aim for but it isnt easy. Why cant someone invent a super pill that stops you feeling hungry and burns all the fat away??? - anyway well done
 
will be watching closely each installment sara...coz i`m off to manchester too on the 28th...good to know wat to expect
 
thanks for the first intallment Sara, its great to read especially for members like me who are due to have their ops soon! I'll be waiting for the next one!
 
such a moving story sara, you had me in tears when you talked about dying and leaving the little hearts. i have to pull myself together before part 2 lol so glad you are doing so well. your in my thoughts and prayers.
susie
 
Thanks for all your responses. You're all so sweet. I'm writing in detail for those of you who have the op coming because, if you're anything like me, then you'll want to know EVERYTHING! LOL. Sorry to leave so quickly last night and keeping you all waiting! Am I forgiven? So here's chapter two...

I knew that I had to keep myself busy and decided to really make the room my own by unpacking absolutely everything! I made a point of reminding Gordon that there was a package for him in my suitcase. I'd spent weeks writing him a book about my thoughts and feelings in the lead up to the op. I'd actually decided that as I'd gone to so uch effort that I would literally MAKE him read it at some point anyway - poor Gordon again because, as you may have realised I'm not one to be brief. I'd organised the book, in true Sara style. The first section had several letters for Gordon and a letter each for family members (my mum, dad, sister and aunt) to tell them not to worry that I would be in Heaven, sat on a cloud, wearing size 10 and having a great hair day, keeping an eye on them until we met again! I told them to make the most of life, like I had decided to do in the last few years, because it's definitely not a dress rehersal. I mentioned that surgery was my choice alone and that nobody should feel guilty if I died. Just a few of the details that I'd written in the rollercoaster weeks before my operation. The second section had a page with instructions of what Gordon should do. I instructed him that if I lived we could do a page a month and if I didn't then he would have to. Some pages were whacky, like do an AFF Skydiving course (which we both want to do at some point-it's a real buzz!) and others were just fun, like go for a picnic, have a shopping spree or make a life book. The final section was the practical one. In this I explained the funeral arrangements and who I wanted to have various possessions of mine. I won't bore you. I'd decorated the cover with loads of heart post-its again in different shades of pink. Gordon isn't quite ready to read this yet. I think he just wants me to get even better first. Bless him! Nonetheless I felt better knowing that I was prepared for any outcome. Even the day before the op, I was stocking up on the dogs' and gerbils' food, buying the dogs new collars and tidying the place and car up - preparing for the unknown again!

I'd unpacked and had magazines sprawled on the table, my love heart snuggly cushion on the bed and all my Good Luck and Engagement cards (only 2 weeks since proposal, remember) on the shelves and windowsill. It was now my room for the night. So Gordon turned the TV on and sat in the chair whilst i laid on the moving bed (cool) text to keep everyone updated-naughty I know!

Nurses kept coming in and out for various reasons. One to take my blood pressure, one to measure my legs for those terribly unfashionable socks that prevent deep vein thrombosis, then another to put the socks on my legs (white with blue writing and a hole in the bottom-v naff), then to give me the hospital nightie to wear with my dressing gown over it and, finally, my pre op tablets. It was like Picadilly Circus and I didn;t have time to relax at all. The time really flew by. The stiff anesthetist came in to tell me who he was, to check my allergies and to tell me that I would be in threatre by 9.30am. Mr Ammori, my surgeon, also nipped in for me to sign the consent form and assured me that I'd be fine. Having said this, he also said that he wanted to operate on me before the others as I was nervous. I was surprised because I didn't think that I had been acting nervous at all in the hospital! My mum got through to me on my bedside phone to wish me luck, but I had to cut the call short because porters had come to take me in to threatre!!

I honestly had no idea where the time had gone and couldn't believe that it was now time. It all seemed too rushed somehow. Surprisingly too unprepared.
So I donned my ever so slightly immature penguin slippers and Gordon walked with me to the lift, down to the floor below and then the procession stopped. We were at the theatre doors and gordon could go no further. We had a hug and a kiss and I honestly can't remember what neither of us said, but as I walked through the automatic doors, leaving him near the lift, I will never forget the look he gave me. It was a look that I have never seen on anyone's face in real life before. The look said it all. I could tell that he didn't think he would see me again and that he had to do a double take to remember me...

Well, this made me a nervous wreck. I was hit by the clinical white walls and chemical smell of the theatre. By the time I was in the corridor type room meeting the assistant anesthetist, I was talking full speed and my hands were flapping!! He was really nice and asked me loads of questions about myself. i could tell that he was trying to calm me down, but it worked. in the end I was asking him questions about the hurs he worked ona Saturday - random I know! He found the vein in my hand fairly swiftly and then gave me an injection that made me feel really chilled out. I remember asking the anesthetist to warn me before he gave me the anaesthetic, but after the injection I could think properly, but my words were coming out in a slurred fashion. I couldn't control it, but I was very aware of the fact that I sounded drugged. I chatted slurrily for a while, until theatre was ready. I was given a silver shower cap to wear on my head to prevent blue dye, that would be poured into me to test the joins post op, dying my hair blue. I said that it was a very fetching shower cap and they said if i loved it so much, I could keep it to remind me of my operation. On that they told me that I would be given the anaesthetic. I watched as the white suring emptied and that's all I can remember before nodding off...

To be continued. Watch this space!​
 
Gripping read Sara, you have a fantastic way with words. Cant wait for part 3 - hope you are feeling well x
 
aaarrrrghhhh don't stop again! I need mooooorrrreeeeee!

Gordon sounds like an absolute sweetheart, congratulations on the engagement!
 
ah winky winky winky lol i notice by ur thread u didnt say that 1 of those engagement cards were from me lol, u have done so well with ur bypass, and yes folks old winky has won prizes for her writing bless her where shes concerned im thick lol, i even had to e mail her mum bless her, but im so happy for u sara and guess what ive got more winks than ul ever have so im challenging u once again lol i made my daughter sit at my laptop whilst i stood over her with a whip watching her get winks lol, take care winky xxx
 
Wow Sara, just caught up on your thread, thankfully I didn't start reading it before you did the second post not sure I could of waiting for that bit! Thanks for doing this it really does help!

Oh and Georgina has appointed me into your gang now and she picked the name Missy for me (was chuffed with that cos my Dad has always called me that and still does), your so clever Smiley!!!
 
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