sasicas

Every surgeon is different, our hospital has us wait 2 weeks before adding in vitamins, I use the gummy multi-vits from Costco, I have never taken the calcium though and my labs were fine at 3 months.

Most people stall around 3 weeks, just do a search of 3 week stall and you will be amazed at how many posts there are. Also dehydration can make you feel extremely nauseous so you might need to get rehydrated by iv, many people deal with that too. Personally I don't think you need to worry so much about the protein shakes, get in what you can, try adding protein to jello or pudding too to get some additional protein in but your body will be fine. I have not been able to tolerate protein drinks since surgery and I did liquids for 2 weeks pre-op and about 7 weeks post op due to complications yet my labs at 3 months were fine. The MOST important thing is staying hydrated. Try different temps of water, some deal better with hot, some with cold, some with room temp, also many people use CrystalLite (sp?) to change it up some.

Anyone who I am good friends with or see often has been told about my surgery, my family knows too. I did have a few people who initially were very much against me having the surgery and they are now very supportive, except the person I thought was my "best friend", she completely abandoned me within weeks of the surgery. If people ask I tell them, especially those that struggle with their weight too and if I am going out to eat with someone who doesn't know I tell them too. I choose to tell those people because it honestly looks like I have an eating disorder to those who are not aware now. Between how quickly the weight came off and how little I eat I have had quite a few assume I have fallen into an eating disorder and I would much rather them know the truth than think that of me. In the end it is a very personal decision and you have to decide what you are comfortable with.

It sure is a great dvd. Day #1 kicked my butt and I am trying to talk myself into doing day #2 right now haha. My legs, arms and stomach are all sore haha

ANyone interested in doing the JIllian Michaels 30 Day Shred with me? A few friends of mine have joined in and thought maybe some here would like to start it up too. Start date is August 1. The dvd is on sale online at Overstock and Amazon. Target has it on sale online I believe too and some stores have a sale on it too. My Target has it for $12.99 but I found it at costco last night for $7.99. I also purchased Jillians 6 Week Abs too and plan to add that in once I can move again lol, last time I did the 30 Day Shred it kicked my butt ha. I am hoping to hit goal at the end of this challenge, 12 more lbs to go! WOOT!

I agree. I think for me it will just be the tummy tuck and boobs. And yes deflated they will be, some people though get lucky, not me though One of the ladies at my local group says if you start out at a 44 DD you will end up a 34 extra long haha. All of the younger ones in our group want a boob job and almost every single person has/wants a tummy tuck. The bat wings, well again comes down to your skin and how much your starting weight is. I started at 240, my arms are fine the way they are. THere is a little jiggle up by my arm pits but no one sees it. My arms look pretty normal from the outside view.

It is very wise to start saving for it regardless of whether you will need it or not. Just think, if yours somehow goes back to normal, which for most of us is very unlikely, you can use the money for a different surgery or for shopping Mine still has fat in it, the part that folds over has a good bit of it. It's enough that I can pick up the roll and it completely fills my hands and then some. And like I said I am almost at goal and still dealing with it. It has shrunk back some but it still has a lot of fat in it. I think a lot of how much it will shrink up depends on how much you need to lose, the type of skin you have, how much you work out and your age. I am in my 20s still so I had hoped I had age on my side, yeah, that didn't work out lol.

I wish I could say that my my stomach has bounced back but it has not and I'm almost to goal, the fat has shrunk obviously, but the skin is not getting any better. I had 3 c-sections and carried twins in the last pregnancy sooooo that probably has a lot to do with it.

My husband is not overweight, however I find myself watching what he eats far more carefully than I did before. His addiction to soda drives me batty. I rarely see him drink anything other than a soda. He eats way more than he should then complains that he is gaining weight. Duh. If you live on HUGE portions and tons of sugar from soda you are just asking to gain weight and become diabetic. He thinks there is nothing wrong with it and doesn't understand my concern. My concern is for his health though, not so much his weight, with the way he acted towards me when I was fat has made me vow to not treat him the same, even if he continues to gain weight. As I have lost weight I have found myself more annoyed with how he has changed towards me. Part of me is glad he pays so much more attention to me but the other part of me is mad because he pushed me away when I was fat. He would make me feel like I was too disgusting for him, it wasn't said verbally but the way he acted made it obvious. He wouldn't hold my hand, hug or kiss me around anyone else, well he really wouldn't do any of that in private either. He broke me and made me feel useless and not worthy of him by his actions, like he couldn't love me the way he promised because I wasn't the skinny girl he wanted. Now that he is all over me it upsets me that he would change so drastically towards me. He is all of a sudden protective, he wants people to know I am his wife, he doesn't keep me hidden anymore. If I get any attention from someone else he is right there to make sure they know I am with him. It just hurts.

Keep up the good work!

I still cannot believe I actually went through with this surgery. I look at it now and even with the complications I am glad I went through with it. It's worth it. I am finally getting my body back. The body that for so many years I wanted so desperately but never had the will power to make it happen. Now here I am wearing normal clothes. I've gone from a very tight size 20 pants to a 12-14 and a 1x to a medium- large in shirts. The black dress I wore for Church yesterday was a size large. I don't even remember the last time I could so easily fit into a size large dress. The first picture is the day before I started my 2 week liquid pre-op diet. The picture with the pink shirt was about the 3 month range. And the picture of the black dress was taken yesterday at 4 1/2 months out

Thanks! I love all the support this group offers

What a wonderful transformation! Keep up the good work!!

You look amazing! And I so get what you are saying about the skin and having had twins I understand even more so. My stomach was bad enough after the first two children and those 2 c-sections but the twins and their c-section really did me in lol.

I had a similar problem. Mine was due to several different issues from a stricture, to a minor hole in my sleeve, as well as a kink and excess swelling. Some of us end up with more swelling than others, no one knows why though. Are they doing a scope? A scope is a pretty easy procedure. They knocked me out, put a tube down my throat and looked through the camera to see what was going on. When the stricture was done, they ballooned it open.

Many of us deal with this. I have found many things that I used to love that I no longer can stand and some things I disliked before I now love. Like bacon. Hated it before, not I want it all the time I cannot stand juices anymore either, things are much sweeter to me now too and I can't handle them.

Most everyone gets nervous and has the same concerns. I considered backing out completely a week or so before my surgery and even on the day of surgery I was ready to walk out. Every body will react different. I have no food restrictions whatsoever. I eat what I want just in very small portions. I physically cannot get in more than what my sleeve can handle and you will quickly learn from discomfort when you have gone too far. I have Protein supplement intolerances. I cannot handle any supplements, I have tried several brands, I have tried hiding them in smoothies, pudding, Jello, my sleeve simply cannot handle it and I have done fine. Yes it is important to try them, especially in the first weeks when you are restricted on what you can eat BUT if you cannot handle it, you will be fine too. With stalls-it's just part of the program. Most people stall at 3 weeks, some later, some earlier, some for long periods of time, some for short periods of time, some don't experience stalls. The important thing is to not stress over the scale. It will move, just not always as quickly as we want.

Take a pain pill before you go to get your drain removed! For some it doesn't hurt and just feels creepy. For others it hurts a great deal, mine was not fun at all, it hurt and was beyond creepy.

Ibuprofen already? I know every place is different but most surgeons I have heard of expect patients to stay away from it for a few months at least. My surgeon won't let me take it at all. Anyways, good idea going to see the doctor in the morning. I had pain for months at my largest incision, it was enough to put me in tears many times. Never had any pain at my drain incision though.

You will always find people who disagree with going for weight loss surgery. I had some people initially supportive but once I went through with it and had issues, they bailed on me. Then I had people who were not supportive to begin with that are my biggest supporters now. Originally I wanted the band. I knew nothing of the sleeve. At orientation the head of bariatrics at my hospital told us point blank that they take out more bands than they put in now. Some people are very successful with the band, many are not. For me, knowing how many have to be taken out was not worth it. I wanted 1 surgery, not potentially two. I also did not want the food restriction. Now I realize some sleevers have food restrictions but I do not. I have no problems eating whatever I want, just in very small portions. And the weight has come off wonderfully! Even though I went through the initial complications, it was worth it. I feel so much better now being at a normal weight and not feeling like a fat slob like I did before. Ultimately you have to make the best decision for you and remember not everyone will support you in it. But all that matters is that you do what you need to do for YOU.

I did not notice any increase in hair loss after my previous surgeries but I sure have with the VSG. My hair is coming out in handfuls-literally. It's enough so that I had to put a strainer thingy in the tub to catch the hair. I went from washing my hair daily to only washing it 2-3 times a week because it comes out so badly. I run a brush through it and TONS comes out. If I straight, curl, blow dry my hair there will be hair all over the floor. I think it's more of a hormonal issue and the trauma our bodies go through with fast weight loss.

Thank you

It does feel great to finally fit back into those old clothes, doesn't it? I have been wearing stuff that I haven't been able to squeeze into in 10+ years lol. Where I messed up was not realizing that I was smaller than I saw myself and blew right past a whole bunch of clothes that had been sitting in a box

YAY for 70 lbs gone!! You look great!!

Congrats!!