I wanted to post my experiences from the first three weeks post-op. Everyone is different, but it helps to hear about other's experiences so here goes....

Week 1: The hardest thing was working my way up to the 8oz per hour that I was supposed to be drinking. Honestly, some days that is still a struggle if I'm not paying attention! But all in all this was a good week. I slowly weaned myself off of pain meds (except at night because laying down was hard for me). I walked a mile each day and slowly met my liquid goals. I was tired and sore, but I felt like I was making a great come back.

Week 2: This was the WORST for me. It had little to do with the actual surgery, except that anesthesia managed to crack one of my teeth. That tooth proceeded to develop an abscess, which hit me like a ton of bricks the night of my one-week post-op anniversary! OMG! I have never felt pain like that. It was all consuming... like I couldn't remember a time when I hadn't been in pain and I couldn't imagine a time in the future when the pain would go away. I got those pain meds back out and drank them religiously every four hours. I had to wait four days to see a specialist and have a root canal. I don't remember anything about those four days except a haze of pain and being stoned out of my mind on percoset.

I guess the good news is that my surgeon had warned me that week 2 would be tough because I would feel exhausted. I have no idea if I was exhausted or not so maybe ignorance is bliss?!!

Week 3: I feared this week. I had heard so many stories about the "third week stall". I hadn't lost that much weight in the first two weeks (wk 1=7lbs and wk 2=1.5lbs -- nothing to be ashamed of, but not LOTS of weight) and I didn't want to go in to my follow-up with my surgeon looking like a slacker (or cheater as the case may be). But, I set up myfitnesspal.com to allow 800cal/day, 90g protein, 30g carb, and 35g fat and I tried my best to stick to it. Alot of days I didn't make 800 cal (some days I didn't even get half of that) and I think my highest protein intake was 50g. But, I managed to consistently stay under 50g carb and 50g fat, which, while higher than my goal, was still not too shabby. I managed to lose 3.4lbs in my third week and I'm happy with that.

At the same time, I have been really lucky! I have yet to find a food that I can't tolerate. I don't drink plain water much, but its more because it doesn't taste good to me anymore, I can still drink it and be fine. I tried some sugar-free, fat free ice cream and while it went down fine, I ate it too fast because I didn't want it to melt so I've stayed away from that since. But, everything else from salmon to veal that I've tried to eat has gone down and stayed there! I will say that I chew everything to within an inch of its life and I've always tended to take itsy-bitsy bites, so maybe that helps.

So, to summarize: I started my pre-op liquid diet at 248lbs. By the day of surgery I was 240lbs. After week 1 I was 233lbs, after week 2 I was 231lbs, and now I'm 228lbs. These are not HUGE losses, but they are consistent and at this point I will take that! Loving the sleeved life so far!