sasicas

I can't possibly just choose one Crossing my legs was huge, seeing my collar bones, hitting my size goal of an 8 (and even better now having 8s being WAY too big and actually was able to put on a size 4 the other day!!), not being scared of the camera and allowing people to take pictures of me now, just to name a few

I had my gallbladder out 5 years before having hte sleeve done. I had no dietary guidelines to follow post op and was able to eat anything and everything that I couldn't eat with that awful gallbladder in.

About a week before surgery I nearly chickened out. I started thinking I could do it on my own without having to go through with surgery. Even sitting in the waiting room to go back for surgery I wanted to get up and run. But I went through with it. I did have complications, though rare, they can happen. I had a small hole in my sleeve, a kink in my sleeve (it's more like an L instead of a banana), I have a hiatal hernia now instead of pre-op like most people, I had increased swelling and did end up in the hospital for nearly 2 weeks between the 5-7 week post-op range. I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink. I was miserable and regretted having gone through with it. HOWEVER, once I was able to eat food and the weight was coming off fast I was so glad I went through with it. At 8 months post op, I am over 9 lbs below my goal and sitting at 99 lbs lost as of this morning I look like a different person, I can wear normal clothes, I can get up off the floor/couches easily, I can play with my kids in a way I couldn't before, there are so many things I can do now that I couldn't do at 240 lbs. Even if it meant going through with the complications again, I would still do it. The end result was worth the pain and misery at the beginning.

There is no way to tell when it will stop/slow down. Most people seem to lose between the 3-6 month post op range. Mine started at 2 months post op and is still going strong at 8 months ugh. I went from washing my hair daily to only washing it twice a week and trying to only style it once a week because of the amount that falls out each time

Don't set yourself up for failure by thinking you wont lose. Do a search of the 3 week stall and you will be amazed at how MANY posts there are, most people don't have a loss around the 2-4th week. You just had major surgery and your body is trying to keep up. Please save your sanity and don't compare yourself to others, we are all different and we all lose different. Just keep doing what you need to do One more thing, I know people worry about stalls, just try to ignore them, it will happen. I refuse to think of it as a stall unless I was doing everything right and still stayed at the same weight for at least a month.

Truthfully I do not exercise other than running around after my kids I did start doing the Jilian Michaels 30 Day Shred awhile back however I started experiencing some issues with dizziness and had to stop. My guess is that my dizziness comes from not being able to eat enough yet. Even at 8 months out, I can only get in about 1/4 cup of food at a time. I am getting ready to try Tae Kwon Do though, so we shall see how that goes.

I am one of those oddballs that still produced stones AFTER having my gallbladder out. In my case a year after having my gallbladder out I had produced more stones and they were in the common bile duct and caused pancreatitis and an inflamed liver. My numbers were all over the place. They did an ERCP, saw the stones immediately (they could not see them via ultrasound or CT), cut them out and eventualy I was all back to normal. All this was pre-VSG though.

My sleeve tolerates everything too (except protein drinks) and I LOVE it! I am so thankful that I can eat everything the rest of the family does, but I have the luxury of being stopped within a few bites

I am still on Nexium twice a day and Zantac once a day and am 8 months out. I pay for it if I do not keep up on my dosages, I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia after surgery too so apparently I am stuck with it. Definitely look into getting it in pill form. The pill is really easy to swallow. I initially was on prilosec and the bill was HUGE, it didn't work well for me either.

bwahaha! You men are SO lucky Women can just be downright crazy. GonnaLoseIt, hopefully she is the only person you have to deal with. I can tell you from personal experience that it can come from where you least expect it. I have a few former friends, people I thought would be there for me for life, that couldn't handle my weight loss. Even now my only remotely close friend tries to compete with me, even going so far as to lying about her weight and size. She is just a little shorter than me and probably 30-40 lbs heavier than me but reminds me daily that she is "10 lbs" heavier than me and says she wears a 9 in juniors. Uh yeah, there is no way. I just let her ramble on because really I don't care if she is heavier than not, the lying about it is the only thing that bugs me.

My pain was pretty bad in the same spot, I was told it is very common. Mine lasted at least 2 months.

My family all know and all my friends I see weekly know. Anyone who has asked how I have lost weight also knows.

You look fabulous!

I had so much pain on the left side of my belly button and it would vary between just a nagging pain to intense, it was all around one incission and the area where the drain had been inside me. The pain lasted for the first 2 months or so. I had tons of pain in my sleeve too, at the top under the breasts. After nearly 2 weeks in the hospital the sweling finally started to go down and some of my issues were fixed. From what my surgeons said, some people have increased swelling and it tends to come to a head further out from surgery and tends to disappear around the 6-7 week mark.

My sleeve does not like Protein shakes so I have not used them at all since surgery. Our hospital wants everyone off the shakes by 3 months. Meals, well I still can only take in about 1/4 cup of food at a time so I eat about 6 times a day.

Congratulations!

It can be so easy to fall back into old habits, so much of this surgery is mental, YOU have to work on YOU. It is time to get back to basics, go back to following the Protein first rule. Fill up on that, then veggies, and you likely will not have room for all those carbs. Perhaps start measuring what you are eating and stop when it is gone. Don't go back for seconds. Slow down on your eating too so you will feel when you are full and retrain yourself to learn when to stop. Make sure you are getitng your Water too. I have heard great things about the "5 day pouch test" perhaps that will help get you back on track, try googling it to read up on it. And get moving! Force yourself to get up and exercise.

Good reminder! We need to remember that people are people, no matter their size. I try hard not to let it get to me seeing how much more people go out of their way to help me now, but it hurts to know that I was just invisible at 240 lbs. We should never forget where we came from and always be there for anyone who needs us....

Women can be so annoying and so competitive! It sounds to me like jealousy, I just don't understand why we can't just be happy for eachother instead of turning everything into a competition. I get far more snarky comments than supportive from other women You have to decide what you are willing to deal with. Since it is family, I would say just to ignore it, appease her and comment on how great it feels to be losing weight. It sounds like she just wants some attention too and is scared of being the "fat" one *sigh* Ignore it the best you can but be prepared for more comments, especially once you pass her up.

I had the same situation. I stopped using it after surgery and did not start again until my husband began complaining that I was snoring. Most people, about 90%, per my surgeon and pulmonologist, will lose their sleep apnea all together, some pretty quickly after surgery, some not til goal. That other 10%, like me, will continue to have it even after the excess weight is gone. snoring again doesnt mean you will end up like me but I would suggest continuing to use your CPAP until another sleep study is preformed.

Well if you are like me, stress will cause restriction so stop stressing over it. Just let your body do what it wants to do and if you get to a point where you feel you are getting too thin, start playing with the foods you eat, eating more carbs, adding more healthy fats, etc and you will be fine.

Not one person in my local support group has gotten that lucky Mine started at 2 months and is still falling out at 8 months. Thank goodness I had super thick hair to start with because it is quite thin now.

I hit goal at 6 1/2 months and am now at 8 months, so my weight has slowed quite a bit but still coming off. I have been losing about 6 lbs a month over the last 2 months.

I went to my seminar in September, got the call in December to start the official program. Spent the next few months doing nutrition classes, the shrink, etc. Met my surgeon and had my surgery at the end of February

YAY! Congrats!!