Good luck to you. I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Was where you are in late April. I was high, low, scared, excited, and ready to bolt from the hospital the day of the surgery.

But it all went well. I'm down 70 lbs in three months, my blood work recently came back as completely NORMAL, I can walk again for more than 20-30 feet which was where I was before pre-surgery losses.

If you haven't heard it yet, when they want you to get up and walk after surgery. Do it. In fact if you can bug them to take you more often, even better. You will need to walk as much as possible the first couple of weeks to help get rid of the gas they insert in your abdomen. You can be sore from that in really weird places. I was sore in the chest and shoulders.

Oh, and don't be shocked when you first weigh after surgery. You are going to do some serious water retention as your body heals. I bounced up 9 lbs and was in shock.

As many say, you are going to get a tool that will help you lose well for anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Take advantage of it, work at learning or relearning how to stop eating before you get full.

Best of luck. I hope you have a problem free surgery and much success in your life change.

Good advice above. All true! Everything but especially the parts about the gas, weight gain, and tool.

Don't panic when you get home, because your stomach will be swollen (almost) shut because of the surgery (inflammation). It will be hard to get anything down - that means liquid food, medicine, and even water.

If you don't have access to nurses or doctors at night (my clinic is closed at night), have someone you can call if you're worried,.

You will NOT be able to meet your water/protein/etc. requirements for the first few days. Your stomach will be too small at first.

Try your liquids cold or warm to see what works for you. It's individual - people tolerate different temperatures.

Take your pain medicine even if you aren't in pain. It will help you swallow. You will need that help.

Try to get your medicines in liquid or chewable form (if possible) and all before the surgery (if possible). If you need to crush them, try them beforehand so you know what to expect. [My heart medicines taste like poison, and I had to fight to make myself take them. I started swallowing them whole again as soon as possible! (after only a few days) My doctor told me which meds I did or did not absolutely need to take.]

It will seem odd that your stomach doesn't like food (or water) in it. But that helps us not eat!

This is all not a big deal. It will get better with each passing day. The sleeve was the best thing I ever did. (after marrying my husband.)

Don't panic when you get home, because your stomach will be swollen (almost) shut because of the surgery (inflammation). It will be hard to get anything down - that means liquid food, medicine, and even water.

You will NOT be able to meet your water/protein/etc. requirements for the first few days. Your stomach will be too small at first.

All your points are excellent Paula, this though brought back memories. My wife thought I was crazy because I told her I could feel the water "back up" then slowly drain into my stomach when I was drinking for the first week or so. Really weird feeling.