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My surgery lasted six hours because I developed a leak before they closed me up. Surgery was on a Thursday (Feb. 15, 2018) and I went home on that Saturday (Feb. 17). I had five incisions, plus a JP drain, which I went home with. I also had some sort of allergic reaction to the hospital's no-slip socks, which apparently runs in the family. Notable: So far, I have not had any nausea/vomiting. Sometimes I get air bubbles in my chest after taking a drink, no matter how small; usually they just feel weird, but sometimes can be painful. Attempted to drink from a water fountain three weeks post-op; that was a BAD idea because even with a tiny sip I took in way too much air, and it gave me a very painful air bubble, though it went away within a couple minutes. Some post-surgery highlights: Feb. 18: bought a new mattress because my old one was so worn out it was too hard for me to get out of without help Feb. 22: post-op appointment; down 9.6 pounds (all weights per home scale for consistency); got drain out; started puree diet Feb. 23: switched from Norco to Tylenol, which helped more with the pain Feb. 24: slept on side for the first time Feb. 25: discontinued Tylenol; down 18.2 pounds Feb. 27: attempted to chew gum (OK per surgeon), but it gave me LOTS of air bubbles March 1: down 25.4 pounds; drove for first time since surgery March 4: was able to bend enough to get tennis shoes and socks on March 5: slept on stomach for the first time; scabs started to fall off incisions March 6: down 30 pounds; had hiccups for extended periods three times over the day March 8: started soft foods; tested (steep) steps up to my office at work (success); down 31.4 pounds

Wow, how time flies! It's been over 3 years since I had gastric sleeve surgery. I'm still glad I had the procedure. Some interesting changes after a couple of years - you find that you can eat more than you thought you would be able to. Your "banana" gets bigger than you think it might. I can put down two slices of pizza with little to no effort or discomfort. Which reminds you why this is just a tool; if you are not careful, you will gain back the weight. But I do have a 5 pound rule. If I consistently weigh 5 pounds more than my lowest weight after the surgery for longer than a week, I take steps to scale back and exercise more. This is why I have not gained back any weight from my initial loss. Before I pat myself on the back too much, I have to admit (sheepishly) I never got below 200 pounds like I was supposed to. I'm on a real push now to lose the rest of the weight - like I should have done in the beginning - because my other knee is now showing signs of wear. I am finding that following a ketogenic diet seems to agree with me. One thing that has really helped is to portion out my meals every day using a Jaxx lunchbox. Second, not having stuff in the house that has sugar in it that I like to eat. Third, instead of seeing this as a diet, seeing this as a positive life change.