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I liked the idea of dumping too, but it really doesn't happen for me. I can overeat (slightly, I still have a pouch after all!) sugar and carbs, and while I don't feel great, I wouldn't call it dumping. But I'm not that disappointed, although I do need to be more responsible for my eating now that I'm two weeks away from being two years out. It can be a struggle, but when I get back to basics, it's much easier! I have to be honest and say I have been far from perfect and even had weight gain. I'm learning a lot more about why I eat, things I'd never considered before. I admit this is something I've been working on for 30+ years but hey, I'm a slow learner!! And yes, I know I should have done that pre surgery, but I thought I had. Then I had to go back to work after a year of not working (nine months after surgery, and at my goal weight) and it took me a year of being back at work to realize how the compulsive urge to binge is directly related to work stress. Stick with the basics for as long as you can, and if you ever stray or have regain, just get back to basics again. Most importantly, no liquids with meals or 30 minutes before or after (or at least 15 minutes), meet your protein and liquid goals (whatever yours may be) and eat your protein first. That's the rest of your life. I might not be the right person to answer this because I'm still taking two steps forward, one step back getting back on track, but I do know the rules, even if I don't always follow them!! Bottom line? You absolutely have to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I wouldn't recommend following my path but if you do, don't beat yourself up. Just pick yourself up, and get back to basics asap. And stay plugged in to groups. Socialize with other bariatric patients, in all stages of the journey. You can do this!!

Congrats to you! That's one less thing to worry about

I used to weigh myself everyday but that was driving me crazy (didn't really need to drive, should have just walked it) so now I weigh myself on Monday mornings only. After the Mrs. leaves for work I use the bathroom, strip down and weigh myself.

It could work. The best plan would be to have them at the hotel while you are in the hospital. Recuperating in the small hospital room with a toddler would be a nightmare. Talk with your coordinator about whether they could stay in the hotel and have the valet take them around for the 2-3 days you are hospitalized. Then you join them upon discharge.

I'm the same height and small frame. I was told I would only get to 170. I just ignored them. When I hit a normal BMI I was told I was one of a handful who had done so. I was also told not to lose anymore but am hoping to get to 135. Like you I want to see what it feels like but may adjust it up or down depending on how it feels. Hang in there and trust your body.

To lose a lot of weight in the 1st month and then stall is normal. Your body has a memory and it thinks something is wrong and is trying to stay at your previous weight. Just stick with it, don't over due it, and the weight will start coming off. I myself have very very slow weight loss. only about a pound per week. but the doc says that is a healthy way to lose. Good luck. You got this!

Hi Allie - I can say that for just the gastric sleeve procedure, I was in the hospital for three days.. I have seen varying stays for the procedure - but was very glad I was in the hospital having someone watch over me for that duration My surgeon liked to make sure I could keep fluids down and I did the barium test.

Thought I'd give everyone a little peek into my life over the last few weeks... it's long, but I hope it helps anyone considering this surgery to look at all sides of it. Sorry I'm a rambler... I went to the initial seminar right after Christmas of 2016. Was a bit wishy washy on whether or not I wanted to move forward with surgery, but did agree to set up my initial appointments: group nutrition, individual nutrition and history / physical with the nurse practitioner. Everything went well pre-op, though I wasn't terribly impressed with the nutritionist at my practice. Not that she wasn't a good resource, just her personality got under my skin a bit. History: I've been overweight my entire life -- my highest weight was about 275 lbs about 7 years ago, and I've gone up and down a lot throughout my life. I realized that I have an inappropriate relationship with food, and needed a drastic intervention to stop spinning out of control. Luckily I had not developed any comorbidities and aside from my weight I was relatively healthy. So I wanted to keep it that way. So, decided to go forward with the sleeve. Everything moved along nicely, my entire process was less than 4 months. Pre-op liquid diet was only for the day prior to surgery. Surgery day: Everything went as planned, spent a little time in PACU then went to my room. I was so wiped out and the pain was insane, but I was very well-medicated! I was less than impressed with a good majority of my nurses, some of them just weren't nice. As a nurse I hold other nurses to a high standard :-) But they kept me hopped up on morphine so that's a winner! I had a lot of trouble urinating initially. Got up to walk and go to the bathroom, and I was shocked that I couldn't go! I'd had tons of IV fluids. Finally about 10 hours after my surgery I was able to go. That first day, I was not allowed to drink anything ... I can't even describe how dry my mouth was, I had never experienced anything like that before. Anesthesiologist put a scopalamine patch on me to help stave off nausea which made the dryness worse. I was given pain and nausea meds IV around the clock the first day and a half, which was helpful. I never felt nauseous thankfully. With the surgical pain I couldn't have imagined the added insult of vomiting. Got up and walked the halls a lot, which felt good. Went home 2 days after surgery with oodles of pills and the fear of failing! I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing but realizing the emotional challenge I was about to undergo. The day I was discharged home, I had family come from our of town for my daughter's birthday. I was exhausted, in pain and having to watch everyone eat all of the party snacks and birthday cake! It was way harder than I thought. While I wasn't truly hungry, I had a lot of head hunger, and like many others, I never realized the food advertisements are EVERYWHERE! When my out of town family left for home, I found myself with a bit of an empty feeling. I had them as a distraction for the weekend, and while I still had the hubby and kids to distract me, I felt that was the first instance since surgery that I really needed to face what I had chosen to do. 5 days post op I developed a rash starting on my abdomen and eventually spreading everywhere but my face. Raised, welty, hot to the touch, I had never seen anything like it (which is saying a lot considering the work I do!). I called my surgeon who said to stop taking all meds for 12 hours and take benadryl. The rash worsened over the next 2 days. I went to see my allergist who took one took at me and said "WTF". So it was initially attributed to the omeprazole prescribed post op so they discontinued that. I had also stopped taking the Norco they prescribed post op as my pain was relatively manageable. And the rash started to get better. 9 days post op I was feeling pretty good. Then I coughed, felt something "pop" in my belly. The pain was worse than anything I had experienced thus far, the surgeon's office wasn't calling me back, so I went to emergency. They did a CT abdomen / pelvis to make sure everything was intact (it was) and sent me home with the direction to start taking my pain medications again. So I did, and a few days later the rash came back, much less severe, but back. So now I imagine that's what I was allergic to. As I write this I'm still trying to avoid setting myself on fire from the itching. In the meantime, I have been working, walking just about every day, started doing yoga and trying to deal with the emotions of the whole thing. The regret, hormone dump and head hunger are very, very real. But I feel empowered when I stick with it. Thus far I'm down 18 pounds since I went home from the hospital. Clothes are looser and I don't tire quite as easily when doing physical things. Tidbits and conclusion: The surgery itself: Yea, it's laparoscopic. That just means they're small incisions... they really wrangle your insides. Give yourself time to heal. Don't be afraid to take the pain meds (as long as you can tolerate them and don't have to be anywhere). Work: Take as much time as you can afford. I think for me 3-4 weeks would have been ideal, and I have a desk job. I can say a lot for the distraction that working provides: forces me out of the house and lets me forget about obsessing over food for 8 hours each day. Libido: Absolute. Freaking. Zero. Exhaustion: I have never felt so tired and useless. Netflix is my new BFF and I have watched about 400 episodes of Forensic Files... That adds to the emotion, as I feel guilty that I'm not doing more around the house, not doing more to entertain the children. But between my youngest and the dog ... I've almost always had a cuddle companion in bed! Breath: Dragon breath. For real. Doctor says it's normal, but I'm buying stock in Crest because I'm brushing about 12 times a day. I imagine I won't have long term regrets, I am already experiencing positive changes and know those will continue as long as I continue to do my part. Thankful to have this board to come to and look at others' experiences.

Well I was sleeved on 3/31 and in the first eight or nine days lost about 13 pounds, then had a stall for about 3 weeks then lost about 3 pounds and am now the same weight for the past week. Going up and down the same pound. 30 lbs is a great loss in the first month!!! Keep up the great work and dont get discouraged by the stalls. Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app

Down 108 pounds, 96 overall inches. Feeling great!