BigTom

LOL Apple. You are so right. And I also doubt any ladies are trolling on here for we men on here. It seems if we are on here you know we are overweight.

I won't try to tell you how long you should be off, but I will tell you my experience. I was only off 4 days. I spend about half the day at a computer and the other half traveling to visit clients in their homes. I was very weak feeling and had pain in my side where the stomach was taken out. I wish I had taken off longer than I did. My body was just not ready for me to be getting up and down and in and out of a vehicle. If you got the time and they will let you off, do what you feel you need to do.

JoJo I can't really say what the complications would be, but my surgeon told me I would not be able to drink alcohol after surgery. I don't drink so that was no big deal, but the way it sounds he was meaning I shouldn't ever drink it. You may want to talk to your doctor before drinking alcohol, but I certainly would not drink it this early.

Someone please explain how to do these tickers. I know where to get them but I can't figure out how you guys get them to show up on your posts. I also can't figure out how to go back to it to update. Please help!!!!!!

My surgeon explained to me that they use a tube they run down your throat and into you stomach. The size of that tube determines the size of your sleeve. There are various size tubes and it is the doctor's preference on the size they use. Since each stomach is a different size, then the actual percentage would be different for each person. A larger person may have 90% removed and a person with a smaller stomach would have 80% based on the same tube size. I would ask tube size more than percentage of stomach removed.

Thanks Deb. I am glad I had the surgery, but I am not at the point where I think it is the best thing ever. I would have loved to be bale to do it without the surgery, but I know I wouldn't have. I think that is something I allow to bother me too. I just felt yesterday I needed to vent a little and get some of these feeling out there. I also would love for those who are thinking about this will really prepare themselves because this is a major change to your body. This website is a God send because we can share with those who have been where we are. I know it is all going to be ok, but I know I will have those days when I beat myself up over allowing myself to get to the weight I was and then not being able to get it off. I guess that is just part of it for me. Again, I am so glad I have support here and everyone is willing to share and lift you up.

Thanks for the replies and well wishes. I am thinking about seeing a counselor just to have someone to talk to. It is difficult to talk to my wife because she hasn't had the surgery and don't really understand. I would not say I regret the surgery at all, but I wish I had been better prepared mentally. I am also happy to report that this evening I put on some blue jeans that are three sizes smaller than what I was wearing before pre op diet. No one can complain about that kind of results. I hope no one is offended by anything I said because that was not the point. I have just found too often the posts here do not reflect the bad and we all know there is bad that goes with this. I also failed to mention the embarrassment of occasionally going out to eat and people seeing a guy my size only eating a very small portion. I avoid eating out, but there are simply times I have no choice. I guess that is one more thing for me to work on because I shouldn't worry about what people think. Thanks again for your comments.

Hello everyone. I know everyone probably has a different experience, but I need to share mine. I hope this will be helpful for those who have not had the surgery yet and in no way am I trying to influence anyone either way. I simply wish I would have really understood what my new life would be before I rushed into this. I am sure I still would have had the surgery, but I think I would have been better prepared. Take from this what you will, but I do hope it is helpful. Insurance was not an option for me. My insurance does not cover the procedure under any circumstances. I had gotten up to 375 lbs. I was literally twice the man my wife married 25 years ago. My health was starting to decline and I could really feel the weight I was carrying. I had always been athletic growing up and until my 30's. I suffered a hip injury at 32 that basically rendered me unable to do much at all for a year and a half. During that time I went from 190 lbs to over 250. Once I recovered I just kept gaining weight. I love to eat and basically lived to eat. I ate out at lunch time 5 days per week and would eat to the point I felt miserable, but boy I liked that feeling. I could eat food that tastes good even when I wasn't hungry, I would eat it simply because it tasted good. I guess by now you can see why I got up to 375. I guess I was actually lucky I wasn't even more. One day in December I was at an appointment with my General Practitioner and I told her I had to do something about my weight. I had tried diets and to be honest, I was just past the point of wanting to be hungry and refused to do the diet thing. I wanted her to give me a pill or something to make me not eat. Due to my high blood pressure there was no way she was going to give me diet pills. She talked to me about the sleeve and suggested a surgeon. She arranged an appointment for me and I went to see the surgeon. We spent an hour or so discussing what my desires were and why I wanted to lose weight. I told him I felt my quality of life was going to very low within the next 10 years if I wasn't dead. My weight was causing me sleep problems, I woke up hurting all over, I was always sleepy, I couldn't walk very far at all without being out of breath, and had no energy. We discussed Bi-pass which he stated he would not do on anyone under 600 lbs, gastric sleeve, and lap band. He told me of the pros and cons to all three. I have known people who had lap band and all of them lost weight for a little while then gained it all back because they didn't go back to follow up on getting them adjusted. I decided I thought the sleeve would work best for me and he told me to think about it a little while and call when I felt I was ready. The cost of the surgery would be 13000.00. After my visit with him I discussed it with my wife and thought about it for a couple weeks. I talked with a couple people who had had the surgery and decided I was ready. I contacted my Dr and set up my Pre Op appointment. He placed me on a pre op diet two weeks before the surgery and I lost 25 lbs on that diet. I had surgery on March 17th, a Thursday, and it hurt way more than I thought it would have. I ended up spending two days in the hospital because I thought I was having bad nausea. It turned out I was hungry, LOL. When ever I would even try to drink the liquids I would throw up. It wasn't until being home a few days that I figured out the new hunger feeling was not nausea at all. I did the whole liquid diet thing for a couple weeks and it sucked. I was wanting to eat something with some taste and texture until I was told I could move to more solid food, after about two weeks. The papers I was given when I left the hospital said I could eat soft boiled eggs, tuna fish, chicken salad chopped fine among other things. My experience was that when I would eat these things they tended to feel like they were coming back up in my throat. I was belching all the time when eating. I had to return to liquids for a little longer. At this point I have been told I can eat pretty much whatever I want and there is the problem. I want to make it clear that since the surgery hunger is not really a problem. Yes, you will know when you need to eat, but it is nothing like before the surgery. I tend to feel a little nauseous when I am hungry. That is the only way I can describe it. That may not be accurate, but it is the best I can come up with. I am only able to eat a very small portion. There is no multi coarse meal just one whatever. The need for Protein pretty much means you eat some form of meat or Beans. When I am able to actually able to eat a serving size portion of meat there is no room for anything else. I am finding this to be very boring and frustrating. My surgeon has suggested I eat some type of vegetable about an hour or so before I eat my protein at night. I have not done that yet because he just told me this on Wednesday and I had a handful of boiled shrimp last night so I will be trying it out this weekend. ****Here is the important part of my ramblings. The mental aspect of the surgery is the worst thing. I miss food and I get depressed when I think about the fact I will never again be able to eat to my satisfaction point. I long for the foods I can no longer eat. I eat too fast most of the time and the penalty for that is throwing up. I am tired of puking and I guess at some point I will learn to slow down when I eat. Also if you overeat you will be visiting the toilet to puke. This surgery is not a magic bullet. It is not a sprint, but a marathon. Yes, You will lose a good bit of weight in a short period of time, but it is still going to be a battle to get it all off. Research this fully before you decide to do this and understand this is a lifetime change. You will never be able to go back to the eating habits of your past unlike lap band seems to do. Be prepared for this because it is forever. Now to end on a good note. I am very pleased to say I saw my GP this week and was taken off two medications completely. My blood pressure medication I was taking twice per day was cut back to once a day. I am looking forward to getting off of it completely. I really hope this post helps you and prepares you. Again, this is not an easy way out, but a jump start to a new lifestyle. Good luck to you all and God Bless.

I am 8 weeks out. It only took me a couple weeks to be able to sleep on my side. Once the pain of the incisions were healed I had no problems. I can sleep in any position I want now.

So sorry to hear of your troubles. I had to pay for my surgery because insurance would not cover it. You can still work on your weight on your own. I was sleeved on 3/17/11 and this has not been an easy road. I still have to be disciplined in what I eat, how I eat, and how much I eat. The sleeve limits the amount I can take in at one time and it makes me throw up if I overeat or if I eat too fast. I have found eating too fast is a major problem for me. I have thrown up more in the past few weeks than I think I have my entire life. I say all of this just to let you know that even the sleeve is not an easy way out. I also struggle each day with the mental aspect of knowing there are certain foods that I can no longer eat or enjoy. I will never again get to have that feeling of being so stuffed I can hardly move. That feeling used to give me some type of satisfaction and now I feel like I will never be satisfied from food again. On Feb 25th I went to my Dr for my last post op appt. I weighed 375 lbs that day. I was put on a pre surgery diet which consisted of three slimfast shakes per day and one cup of steamed veggies. It was pure hell, but on the day of surgery I weighed 353 lbs. I was able to lose 27 lbs in that couple weeks on that diet and I will confess I cheated twice. Today I am at 324 lbs. I kick myself every day thinking I wish I would have stuck with the slimfast diet and tried to get my weight off without the surgery. I doubt I could have stayed true to my diet and then I think I may have done the right thing by having it. What I have learned though is it is all mental when it comes to food. Some people call it will power, but I think when we yo yo diet, and when we slip up we beat ourselves up over it and then throw in the towel. I would encourage you to find a diet you can handle and that works for you. When you slip up and eat something you shouldn't don't get discouraged but get right back to it. The main point I am making is the sleeve isn't an easy road just as a regular diet is no easy road. We have to battle to eat the right foods, fight the urge to over eat, fight the urge to eat just because we are bored, or because we are stressed. As my Doctor said to me, the sleeve is not a sprint race but a marathon, just like a diet which is basically a lifestyle change. In closing I want to share a couple verses which I found helped me before surgery. I can do all things in Christ which strengthens me and Greater is He that is in me than he that it is in world. I would repeat those over and over again when felt like I wanted to stop and get a hamburger or a box of chicken or whatever else I was craving at the time. If you will lean of God and know He can and will get you through this, I promise He will lift you up. Keep the faith and stay strong because you can do all things in Christ Jesus!!!! God Bless

I am 4 weeks out and still not getting anywhere near the protein I need. I am able to eat some things, but it is a struggle for me to find something that sounds appealing and that doesn't make me feel sick. I think I may be trying to move too quick, but I am doing what the doc says as best I can. I spoke to someone tonight who is 4 months out and she assures me it gets better with time. Just hang in there, but don't expect too much this early on. You have a few bad weeks ahead of you from what I gather.

I was sleeved on 3/17 and I am not having any problems with liquids. I can't drink as much as I could before, but I think your body will let you knw when you have over done it.

Thanks for posting this list. Today marks my two week post-op and I have been trying to figure out what to eat. Ate a teaspoon of mashed potatoes today, but they did not go down too good. I have also eaten baked salmon this week which tasted pretty good. This list will help me out with more options!

Good luck. You will be fine!

Hi Evagelist. You and I started at the same weight and have about the same goal. I had my surgery March 17th, 2011 so I am just over a week out. I was 353 the day of surgery and after a week am at 338. Seeing your post lifted my spirit thinking I could be at the half way point in a few months. Can you tell me how to get my Goal Ticker on here? I went to the site and downloaded one, but I could not figure out how to get it on this site. Thanks for any help you can give.