Estella

Took me 9 moths to get the op, from the universal health care system we have here. It takes time, yes, but I can advise you to make good use of the waiting period by trying to adjust a little to a healthier lifestyle.

Celebrate / Bariatric advantage - They don't sell those brands in my country. There is a "bariatric patient friendly kit" sold by Bariatrix, I didn't bother spending good money on it because everyone who ever bought it claims the taste is atrocious, and that they rather stand in front of a firing squad before tasting it ever again. :s

My surgery was 9 days ago. I heard it can be done by a nurse, but I don't know when to have the stitches removed, what's the standard time? What happens if I linger and don't remove them fast enough? Thanks.

Yes, I can see the staples (they look just like office supplies, hehe) - I wasn't as lucky as you were. What I'm afraid is that I'd go to the nurse and tell her to remove them (I am 11 days post op), and she'll be clueless about VSG and won't tell me if it's too early or too late. I have no phone number to call and the next time I see the surgeon is in 8 days. Is there any harm in lingering and having the staples removed 20 days later instead of 7 or whatever's standard? Thanks. Another question: Is the belly supposed to look more swollen than usual at this stage?

Before the surgery I did the low-carb diet, and the dietician allowed me to drink 0% fat white yogurt instead of the protein shake. Is it okay if I drink this yogurt instead of the protein shake? I read that protein shakes taste like hell, and they are quite costly too.

Very helpful, thanks! I do have an appointment for 2 weeks post-OP. I'll leave it as is till then, stitches and staples included.

No drain tube. I don't know if my stitches are the kind that melt by themselves tbh.

Thanks for the concern, I'm mostly fine. Any little burp stresses me easily, but I think I'll be okay. My surgeon indeed does not perform leak tests but I had a drain for 3 days.

The time I started doing the required errands for the op, I was really in the mood to try and change my life. I was dieting (without external guidance, which proved ineffective before anyway) and managed to lose a few kilos. But it took me 9 months to enter the operation room, as the queue was very long. During those months I wasn't restricted yet to the low-carb diet, so I broke my diet and ate too many last meals. I regret that. If you gained weight it might have a bad effect on your liver. In extreme cases, some surgeons refuse to operate on people who gained significant amount of weight, as it is highly possible that they suffer from a fatty liver.

Such posts really encourage me to hold on, I'm only a week post-op and still in pain + digestive distress, and sometimes I wonder if it was worth it at all. You give me hope.

Thanks for the lovely recipe! Is it really okay to eat PB and a banana a week after the surgery though?

It is too late to turn back time and untell what you told, but on the bright side, it appears that all the naysayers haven't managed to talk you out of it and I'm glad to hear you're getting closer to the goal. You'll prove them wrong eventually.

Totally understandable. I am prone to panic attacks too. On the day of my operation, I shivered down my spine in the waiting room all day long. I was even scared when they drew blood from me before the op. Fear isn't necessarily rational, and while I believe it is important to express and not necessarily suppress negative thoughts, it is also important to keep in mind several points: 1. The doctor who operates on you is not a newbie and essentially has the expertise to do his job. He's done dozens and hundreds of sleeves and he knows his job, so as much as exciting and scary it is to you, it is a routine for him. He is surrounded by medical staff to aid him too. 2. I looked up several researches about the mortality rate among sleevers. One researched mentioned 4 out of 1,000 people and another 6 out of 1,000 people. A Greek research mentioned 0 casualties. Those who passed away were extreme cases and often died from other unrelated issues that manifested post-op. 3. It is much more likely to die from obesity related diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases. You'd be taking a greater risk by not dealing with your weight issue. I really loathe the while "be optimistic" thing. I prefer cold, scientific, non-disprovable facts to convince me that everything will be alright, regardless of my thoughts and fears. I hope this convinces you too.

Either the sugar or the acid, yep. The sugar itself can cause "dumping", a syndrome common among bariatric surgery patients. It occurs when one consumes highly sugared foods at once, and causes nausea, weakness, dizziness et cetera. Yet another good reason to avoid refined sugars in large quantities. Personally I think a good glass of lemonade tastes just fine with only 1 teaspoon of sugar, preferably brown sugar (less harmful), hand-squeezed lemon juice, cold water and ice cubes. The acid could be the reason too. I was ordered to take Omeprazole 20mg for 3 months post-op, to lower my stomach's acidity level and induce quicker, easier recovery. One would imagine that lemon might have an adverse effect, not sure though.

1. Well. 600 calories a day sounds way too low. The diet I was requested to do had 1,440 calories a day for 3 weeks, and included low fat meat and dairy products, vegetables and a lot of Water. The emphasis was on high protein intake and low carb intake. Something about the diet you're on strikes me as odd, but I'm not a doctor or a specialist. I'd get a second opinion if I were you. 2. Almost everyone who is heavily overweight has a larger liver. isThe purpose of the low-carb diet is to reduce liver size. An augmented, brittle liver poses a higher risk because the surgeon is more likely to nick it inadvertently, and cause hemorrhage. This is why those diets are so strict. They are difficult to adhere to, but knowing that it's a matter of life and death helped me refrain from pastas. 3. If your BMI is only 32, how come you're going for a bariatric surgery? I thought the minimum requirement was 40 or 35 with related diseases.

Hey there. I was allowed to trade the Protein shakes for non-fat (0% fat) yogurt. The white kind, without any fruit, chunks, sugar or artificial sweetener. Consult your dietician and ask whether it is a suitable replacement for you too.

I'm 4-days post-op. Is there anything I can take to make me less constipated? Most bowel-movement inducing meds and yogurts and such are not sold in liquid form. When is constipation considered really severe? Is 4 days without a bowel movement a risk to one's health in any way? Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. The problem was solved without any chemical aid or special effort. I was worried for nothing. I hope it wasn't TMI.

I was operated 2 days ago by Dr. Hadar Spivak, not in the US though. It cost me roughly 108 NIS (28 USD), because my country has universal health care and everyone is entitled for medical treatments they require, regardless of their income. The operation went fine, though it's difficult to measure its effectiveness after such a short amount of time. There were no complications, if that helps anyone inquiring about him.

There are many things I dislike about exercise, but what I hate most is the music in gyms. Aerobics classes, kickboxing, zoomba, everything involves music for the dull-minded masses. It's usually extremely stupid pop or dance tunes, and I simply cannot stand this torture. I listen to alternative and rock music on iPod, and the mere thought of performing various dance moves to the sound of Britney, Shakira, Rhianna or whatever it is they force-feed to yours ears - sounds like a nightmare. I wish we had gyms like http://punkrockaerobics.com/ in my country. But unfortunately we don't. Any suggestions? Here are the sports I've already tried and grew bored of: 1. Speed-walking with my iPod. If I do it 4 times a week like the doctors prescribe, it turns very, very tedious. 2. Swimming. Got a music player that works underwater. Boring as hell. Any thoughts, suggestions?

This could be related to consumption of carbs. The problem with carbs is that they increase the secretion of insulin, and when there's a lot of insulin in on'e blood, it often signals the brain that one's hungry and needs more food. It's a vicious circle. I don't know if it can beat the sleeve's limit, but that is the mechanism that caused most of us to gain weight (also known as "the metabolic syndrome").

Perhaps there are further exams to throw? I know some health care providers ask their doctors not to order PET scans, because they are substantially more expensive than other tests. I'm no doctor and cannot say if it's required in this case, but try to make sure the doctor you is unbiased.

"TRY to develop a tolerance for the "stupid" music?" - perhaps a lobotomy would help? Seriously, this isn't going to happen. I rather weigh 500 lbs than having to listen to pop music. It's not just that this music is bad, it represents the exact opposite of what I stand for. "Get some videos to do at home" - are there any exercise videos that use alternative or rock music? The gym I linked is the only one I know of. Do you know of any video like that?

Pics look awesome, you've really come a long way!

To the OP: I totally know how you feel. It's just that society treats fat people as lazy, dumb and weak, not to mention a burden on the health system, so that people who lost weight the 'traditional way' are considered rehabilitated and no longer indolent. Most of the people I talked to still view the surgery as a 'shortcut', which sustains the presumption that they still see us as lazy and of weak-character. Thinner but lazy. The truth is that the 'traditional way', that involves diet support groups and/or plans, utter self control and a lot of exercise, is mostly a myth. Statistically speaking, a research conducted in Berkley proved that only 5% of the people who wanted to lose weight have managed to maintain the loss after 5 years. 95% of the test subjects returned to their original weight, or gained extra. This demonstrates that in most cases, the body is stronger than the mind. Starve it and it'll demand more food. People expect us to do the (almost) impossible, and when we fail repeatedly, it's because something is wrong with our minds. I hate hearing "why don't you just diet instead" from everyone around me, including my GP (!). I've grown tired of telling people that I've tried dieticians, weight watchers and various plans. I used to exercise every day for 2 years in a row before I'd grown tired. All those plans made me hungrier. I'm choosing to lie on the operation table because I don't want to be so hungry anymore. My only advise to you is to keep it to yourself. Don't tell anyone if it's not necessary or beneficial to you. I plan to pretend that I was skinny since the day I was born and act as if the fat chapter in my life never existed. They judged me enough, they don't need to know.