Derp

hahaha I love how your having WLS isn't *fair* to other people. In what universe does THAT make sense? Thank you for adding another reason to my arsenal of "Why I'm keeping my WLS private": Old judgmental people. Even though I am having a relatively easy time with my recovery and weight loss so far, this has been one of the most difficult things I've done - and one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. I'm not sure how you were able to let that slide. That in itself is an inspiration. <3<3<3

I think your feelings are totally normal - and you're pretty much at par on the recovery timeline. I started getting better on days 6 and 7, and I can attribute it to finally being able to start getting my Protein and other calories in. Don't worry - you got this. <3, *hugs*, &

What wonderful inspiration; thank you so much for posting. Your starting weight and body type at that size is very close to mine. You look absolutely FANTASTIC, and just gave me so much to look forward to. <3

Lisa, My mom is a nurse too, and was the one who took care of me throughout my entire surgery and recovery and she said the same thing you did about nurses being bad patients, so I got a chuckle out of that. The success rate of the surgery itself (not even including the long term outcome) is so high - In my research before deciding to go with surgery, I read every single article I could get my hands on. I was happily relieved to see such low numbers of complications both in the OR and during the immediate recovery stages. Provided you pass all of your pre-op tests, you really should be just fine. I'll be thinking about you tomorrow, and looking out for an update. Get some sleep and good luck tomorrow <3

I had the exact same concerns regarding my emotional relationship with food. I'm 2 weeks out from surgery and feeling very much back to normal. I'm at the full liquids stage of my post op diet, so I'm not just eating anything I want yet, but I will say this. Where I am now in my recovery, I'm planning my "meals", because if I didn't, I just wouldn't ever eat. When I do sit down and have a meal, it's about 2oz in size, takes forever to eat, and when I'm done, I have the feeling of having just eaten a huge meal, but not the emotional satisfaction of having eaten a huge meal. So that's my biggest struggle with food so far - I WANT to eat more, but I can't. It feels frustrating at times. I can talk myself out of being upset by just reminding myself that WLS is designed to do exactly this. WLS forces your hand into making your meals smaller, and I'm so grateful for it. *hugs* You can totally do this. I think you'll find that pretty much everyone on these boards feel the same way I do about my sleeve - we wouldn't trade them for anything. <3

<3 thanks Lash!

Thanks for saying that Melissa <3<3 I worry that I didn't paint the picture clearly. I don't feel like i have to drink in my professional life, I don't think i have to be like a man in my male-dominated career (ever. Ever ever)... I just have one of those types of jobs, where that's what I'm surrounded by. That's the back story. What happened Saturday night is that I just had a couple of cocktails because i wanted to. I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a fun young completely healthy person, and I experimented because I feel awesome and back to normal, and just wanted to Celebrate and see how it would go. I'm not going to start going out every night, i'm not going to turn into an addict. I researched beforehand, I was incredibly cautious, I coupled the drinks with Water, and everything went fine, which is the point of my post. Everything's cool, I promise! <3

I noticed that too! I felt completely normal by the time i got into bed, like nothing happened. So weird!

We'll be thinking about you - please let us know how it goes <3

Ok, I need to make a clarifying statement, it seems. I love everyone here. I appreciate every piece of input, it's all noted - but not anything I don't already know. I spent hundreds of hours researching, I have WLS patients in my close friend circle and WLS professionals in my immediate family, so I know what's up. Last night was a test run to see what was going to happen. I am not planning on boozing every night of the week from now on, or even again until I'm further down the road. I probably need to say it publicly so I can maybe stave off some of the assumptions and strong advisements and reactions. Note: I called it in the original post I am a healthy young professional out on the town, my life is just different, that's all. (What's happened in this thread is exactly why I am keeping my WLS private in my real life - I don't want "gasp, no don't do that" reactions to my decisions - My intent is to share my story on these boards - I would have given anything for a story like this when I was researching. I don't need counselling, I'm not an alcoholic, I just had 3 weak cocktails on a Saturday night with my homeboy.) Everything's cool, promise!

Heh, that's pretty much exactly why I posted my experience - not to ENCOURAGE people to go out and get wasted... just to put it out there, that I didn't die, and my worst fears (vomiting, getting hammered off of one sip, etc) did not come true. I am very aware that I'm still healing, and aware of the risks - however, this is an unavoidable part of my social and professional life, and it's not going away any time soon. So I am just happy to know that it is still possible (in small doses). 3 cocktails in one night is going extremely light for what i'm used to. It was the cheapest bar tab I've ever seen in my life! I am feeling it today - I can tell I'm a little dehydrated, so I've up'ed my Water consumption to help remedy it. Going to head to the gym after I feel fully hydrated and walk off some more lbs. <3

RD2010: well said. I want to add though, that for me, I didn't want to talk to people about it beforehand, because I wanted the decision to be 100% mine, and not tainted with the opinions of other people - especially those who would want to talk me out of it because of either their own prejudices, misinformation, or just general negative attitudes. This has always been my choice to make and my fight to fight. The less "outside" input, the better. This is not to say that I won't cop to it later on down the line, but for now, it's private, and I don't want the input of people who's opinion doesn't matter.

If your situation is anything like mine was, you probably won't be in the mood for all that *just yet*. I'm 12 days out and just now feeling normal. Before yesterday, I would get tired way too easily, either because of the limited calories, or just the recovery stage from surgery. I would recommend against the trip, but I know what it's like to have commitments like these - in life, you can't get away that easily, so when something fun is on the books, it seems RIDICULOUS to pass it up.

One thing I can think of right off the bat: Learn how to sip without taking in any air. It's a lot harder than it sounds, and harder to learn after surgery. You really only need to know that for the first few days, then you can drink like normal. But the first few days are the longest!

Lord, I hope not - I have way too much money invested in my shoe collection

My answer to this is pretty simple: Because people can be terrible. Once it works and I'm down to at least CLOSER to my goal, I'll probably be more open about talking about it, but for right now i'm keeping it close to the vest.

It varies for everyone, but day 4 or 5 seems to be the point where things start to calm down. For me it was day 6 or 7. The nausea is pretty frustrating, just find an incline position that you like, and try to be still. Hopefully you're not worrying too much about getting in the Protein drinks and that stuff *right now*.. i talked to my nutritionist on day 3 and asked her, because i was so nauseated i couldn't even THINK about putting anything down the hatch other than minuscule sips of Water. She said to concentrate on fluids until things calm down then you can work on the other stuff. My liquid Lortab didn't do anything for my pain, but it did help me get comfortable enough to sleep when i just couldn't. Maybe try your pain meds to help get you off to sleep? Hang in there, darling! <3 <3

I hope you can find someone close. I can't IMAGINE travelling too far just after. I was in the hospital for 2 days and the 10 minute drive from the hospital to my bed was something i'd rather not do again. Although, a bunch of people on the boards here have gone as far as out of the country, so it's technically feasible to travel...

I love the wide array of views on this subject! Just to put in my $0.02... I haven't told anyone except my mother, brother, boyfriend, and best friend. Everyone at work thinks i'm out for something else. When someone asks, i'll just be non-committal, and point at my fancy new diet and exercise regimen. Dallas (well, specifically my circle of Yuppyville) is rife with overly-gym'd bleach blonde spray tanned judgmental A-holes, though. I'd rather talk about getting a boob job or lipo than WLS.

Skinnyagain, i want to hug your NECK! I didn't get to feeling right until around day 6 or 7, and i TOTALLY feel your words in your post. They mirror mine exactly at the time. Today was the first day I was able to get up without pain. I ran a bunch of errands and even did 30 minutes on the treadmill (walking fast). It DOES get better, but the first few days seem to take forever. Lots of love!!!!