Leaderboard

Just want yo say i have lost 140lbs. My surgery was September 17 2019. Thats under a year. Im in disbelief. I never thought id be here this fast. I fee amazing. Just needed to get that out🙂

I’m back and alive guys! But man, not smooth sailing! I had my sleeve done at 730am yesterday. Got to my room and felt great. Got some fluid and protein in with no problem, and walked walked walked. Around 5pm I started feeling terrible. Sharp pain in my shoulder an left side, straight down from my armpit. Pain meds wouldn’t touch it. Everyone kept saying it was just gas pains, but I was dubious. I couldn’t even breathe without these stabbing pains through my chest. At midnight my nurse came in to help me go to the bathroom, and I straight up blacked out and fell. Didn’t get hurt at all thankfully, but was told to take it very easy. This morning my nurses tried to help again, first by having me sit on the edge of the bed. Blacked out, hearing went, totally weird and scary. My labs were all over the place, super low blood pressure, and my heart was racing even laying down, so my surgeon suspected a GI bleed. CT confirmed it, but didn’t show where the bleed was. Back under the knife just a few hours ago, Wherever the GI bleed was, it had stopped on its own, but they suctioned 1500 cc’s (almost 50 ounces) of blood out of my abdominal cavity. I also got a blood transfusion. I feel brand new. Labs are coming back good, heart has slowed down. Whew! What a wild ride. But I tell ya I’ve been living off of ice chips and water for 2 days, and I haven’t had one single hunger pain. Looking forward to getting out of here. Don’t let my story freak you out! My surgeon has done 6000 surgeries and said about .025% of his patients have complications. I’d still do it again even knowing what was lying ahead for me.

Wow! Thanks y'all! I really appreciate the outpouring of advice here! I got booted off of a male bariatric board for this about a year ago and was hesitant to try again. Winston, I love the advice and your story above. Nut butter were mentioned and I’m down to try those too. Softer foods are definitely better and I do love pasta. I’ve recently started overcooking it to aid the digestion process. Rice is tricky for me. I’ll begin adding in more high calorie filler between meals and work to snack/graze every ½ hour or so. I did undergo Testosterone pelleting and I’m not sure it made any difference outside of “that area” becoming more lifelike (sorry ladies). I have hashimoto’s and I question whether the desiccated thyroid meds are contributing to chronic weight loss. Someone asked where in TX, (sorry I’m not good at stringing replies). I’m in the suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth. FutureFine Mama mentioned slider foods. Not sure what that is but heading to google to check it out. I was trying to keep it short and not sound like a little baby, so thank you all. I never added that I went from 254 to 120 in less than 8 months and the ride has been terrible since. I really, truly appreciate the replies!!

Sorry, I'm probably one of the really rare ladies that isn't experiencing the slightest bit of breast sagging. My girls have always been tiny - no matter what I weigh. When I was young and dating, I used to lament this fact. Now I feel really lucky. On the other hand, my arms are already a nightmare...and I'm only halfway.

you'll most likely have loose skin. But I think I can speak for the majority of us when I say that looking back, we probably shouldn't have wasted a lot of brain cells worrying about the loose skin. Most of us would take the loose skin ANY DAY over being 100 - or 200 - or whatever pounds overweight. The loose skin is a pretty minor issue when you look at the big picture. Plus for most of us, it's pretty easy to hide in clothes. And if it REALLY bothers you, plastic surgery will take care of it. So I know it's hard to believe now, but the loose skin should NOT be your biggest fear. Being 100+ lbs overweight should be. here I am, after my initial loss of 235 lbs (I've since gained 12 lbs), with tons of loose skin. See it? Doesn't it look awful?

Have you tried switching your diet to a carb-based diet with add'l fats added in? Considering your situation, maybe it's time to switch off of lean protein and go for more calorie-dense food. Also, there are nutritional drinks on the market designed to help people but on weight, and are very calorie dense and easy to tolerate if you have a problem holding onto solid food. I had a friend with a similar problem and it turned out that her thyroid was out of whack and she had to start taking medicine for overactive thyroid. I'm sure if you've been to other doctors, they have run blood tests but if not, that should be a priority. What you're going through sounds awful! Wishing you well and hoping you solve this problem very soon!

I’m post op day 2 and have pain mostly to my upper abdomen because they also did a hernia repair. I’ve been able to walk around and as of yesterday I was able to tolerate the 3-4 oz an hour. I can’t wait for this discomfort to go away!

Usually they don't start statins until cholesterol at 200. Most people with high cholesterol have it because their own body is making it as opposed to your diet. What was your LDL and HDL? The 190 is the sum of the two and could be less serious if your HDL is higher. HDL is "good cholesterol" and the higher the better. The ratio of LDL/HDL is more important than total cholesterol number. Statins can have serious side effects. Important to WLS patients, statins can make you gain weight. I wouldn't just take Lipitor because chosen by my doctor. Some doctors choose the same statin for all patients. There are statins with fewer side effects like simvastatin which I took for 25 years. I had VSG last week and was thrilled my doctor told me to quit my statin. If I were you, I would study the various statins and determine which best fits you. Then discuss with doctor. Lipitor is the most common statin prescribed but also has more serious side effects than others. Sent from my SM-T580 using BariatricPal mobile app

My favorite protein shake on the pre op diet has been fairlife nutrition plan chocolate - it's 30grams protein, 2 grams sugar, and 150 cals - and it's my favorite. I've tried all the flavors of Premier Protein so far. I have a sample pack from Syntrax Nectar. I also have tried Isopure tropical fruit - which was a nice change. I LOVE costco's organic chicken bone broth - it's 12g Protein, 45 cal per cup. I also got Liquid IV packets to add to water. I mix one in 52 ounces of water of the passion fruit flavor (I double checked with my surgeon and dietician that it was ok - they said to limit it to 2 packets a day - but I'm only using one). It makes it easier for me to meet my water goals, and I'm getting some electrolytes too. I've heard tastes can change drastically post surgery - so I'm trying not to stock up too much on any one thing, just in case I hate it after Wednesday. I got some unflavored protein powder too - but haven't tried it yet. I ordered a food thermometer, because some of those proteins congeal if they get hotter than 140F. I also ordered a measuring tape - so I can take measurements for when I hit my first 'stall' on the scale.

~600 or so. I eat till I hurt, which is a few bites, 3-4 times a day. I drink a lot of water and sadly can't tolerate milk. I've been trying to stretch myself with Bubly brand carbonated waters. Painful and hasn't proven to increase capacity.