emily_0192010

My pre-op was a bit different... it was two weeks super low carb (which I was doing anyways) and then two days of Clear liquids. I would go with whichever is lower carbs.... lowering your carbs helps your liver shrink and that is the ultimate goal of the pre-op diet. Also, from personal experience the EAS carb advantage from walmart aren't horrible. I can't drink any except for the regular chocolate one, but that ones tastes pretty good to me. Good luck!

Those should not prevent you from passing. I believe the goal of the psych eval is to make sure you understand the permanence of the procedure, your support system and to make sure you are doing the surgery for the right reasons. I know quite a few people who have moderate or severe depression and they were approved. Most of them go to regular therapy, their personal choice, just to help them along. My mom is bi-polar and she had no problem with the psych eval. Good luck! You'll do fine!

Yes! I had this, it definitely got better but I still get them sometimes, though now they don't hurt (i'm a month out). I found that warm liquids were the best. So on clears that was broth for me. Anything cool or cold made it a lot worse, but warm liquids went down very well. Good luck! It will get better!

You're welcome It helped me a lot too!

Ahh, the wicked carb withdrawal! I can't imagine doing that and full liquids at the same time I cut my carbs during my 3 month supervised diet, so I didn't have to go through that during my pre-op. Try drinking some propel Water or Powerade zero. It helped me get through the carb withdrawal. You are right that there isn't a lot of long term data on the sleeve... by itself. But it was used with the DS since the 70's. Also, gastrectomy's have been performed on people with cancer or ulcers for years and years, some people even have complete gastrectomy's and live with no stomach at all. The long term data for those people is very promising. They manage to live long, healthy, complete lives. The awesome thing about the sleeve is that our stomach will function just as a normal stomach does. It is simply a lot smaller. I also never had surgery before, and to be honest it was no biggie. My pre-op nurse was great and he got the IV (the thing I was most worried about) in the first time. I did not get numbed, I told him to just get it over with, but many people do get numbed first. All surgery is a big deal, but our surgery is about as safe as a surgery can be. If you are that anxious they will probably give you something to help keep you calm. You'll do great! The pre-op and the post-op op are the hardest, but a couple weeks after surgery it will be so much better!

Hey! Welcome We have quite a bit in common! We are both in our twenties and we were both sleeved in September! You are doing awesome!

Wow! In 6months that is just amazing Congrats on doing such an awesome job!

My surgeon actually sent me home with a prescription for dissovable zofran. He does absolutely everything he can to prevent it because he is super cautious. I only took it a couple times and mainly as a precaution, but if you aren't up to pills you could ask about that. Good luck and I hope it works out for you!

About the list.. I did that and I literally just handed it to my surgeon! He was great about it though and answered each one! This is definitely a good idea.

When I was at my surgeon's office last week I was sitting next to this lady and we were talking and I asked her which surgery she had... she looked at me for a moment and said "there's more than one?"... this lady is two months out after having the band. She was absolutely clue-less about the sleeve. She said she went to the seminar and I know that at the seminar they talked about all of the types of weight loss surgery, including the sleeve, so she must not have been paying attention. She then goes on to say how she only lost one pound that month but she had just been on vacation. She also couldn't understand why she kept getting a "stuck" feeling. I suggested she lower her carbs and up her Water (she said in the last week she had only had one bottle...) and she looked at me like I was saving her first-born. I just can't believe how un-informed people are. I seriously thought that the psych evals were meant to make sure people understood their choice and their options... but I guess not!

I am in a very similar boat! I am 20 going on 21 and have been overweight ever since I was 8ish. I'm not necessarily scared of being harmed or by what people think, however I am a very quiet person. I'm not shy at all, but I prefer small groups to large ones and I don't mind being left alone. I wonder how I'll act if I get more attention as I lose the weight. As for personal safety, why don't you plan on taking some self-protection courses once you feel you are able? I plan on it myself. I have to admit that being a big girl has given me a bit of the "they won't attack me, cause who attacks a fat chick" mentality... I have to work really hard to squash that especially since I have lived in many cities and often would go out (like walking, not partying out) alone, which is dangerous no matter what size you are. But I do think I'll have to be more careful once I'm smaller than I do now.

I don't think you'll need to worry, for most people those last 20 pounds are the hardest to get off! From reading on here it seems like most people eat fairly low carb during their losing stage and then up their carbs during maintenance. The low-carb while you lose is to make sure you get your protein in, generally there is just no extra room at first for carbs, but after a year or so it seems like people are able to get in both their protein and some extra carbs.

If your pre-op was during Thanksgiving then you should be either on mushies or just starting to eat "normal" foods around Christmas time. I think for me it would have been worth it, but at the same time the beginning is the hardest because there is just so much that is new. I think if I had to turn down even just bites of my christmas dinner because it wasn't pureed it would be an emotional rollercoaster and I'd be in the in "what the heck did I do to myself" stage. That being said, if you are on the stage where you can start to eat "normal" foods again I would say it would be fine because you could still have the food, just in tiny amounts. It would also be a pretty awesome gift to yourself and I bet it would be the first year you wouldn't gain during the holidays!

I would word it more like "is there anything that can be done to prevent acid problems?" And he isn't going to kick you out of his office!! My first appointment with my surgeon he said "well I have no questions for you, do you have any for me?"... I literally handed him a sheet of paper with like 15 questions on it. He looked surprised but answered them all.

I have never heard of this before, however it kinda makes sense to me. The smaller your stomach the more problems with acid you will have. Our sleeves produce more acid than there is room for, so if someone has a 28 bougie they may have more problems than someone with a 42. That being said, I am pretty sure acid problems are the most common side effect for sleevers. I know my surgeon automatically prescribes antacids to everyone of his sleeve patients.

I have heard of the same thing, only with chicken, hot sauce and blue cheese as well! I am just starting to incorporate regular foods and one of the first things I am going to eat once I get there are chicken wings! Or wing... maybe two... lol.

The bougie is a straw shaped (and pretty much sized) tool that the surgeon uses as a guide to form the pouch. The anesthesiologist puts it down your throat into your stomach and then the surgeon cuts along it. The size ranges from a 28 french to a 42 (and maybe higher) french.... it sounds like a lot of difference but we are talking millimeters so the difference is really minimal. My surgeon used a 42 but he said it was a "tight" 42, meaning that he literally goes right up against the bougie and then he over-sews the staple line on the top and bottom. It sounds like your surgeon was telling you how much your stomach would hold overall, not the size of the tool he uses. 15 cc's is about the size of a tablespoon. I would definitely not worry about it being too big! I cannot say which bougie that is, because it isn't only the bougie that determines how much you can eat. It also depends on how long your stomach is naturally. No matter what though it is going to be tiny!

Hey everyone I am 4 weeks out and I am never hungry however I find if I don't "eat" every few hours I get this odd clenching feeling in my sleeve. I am pretty sure this is my new "hunger" signal but I'm not sure. It isn't painful but it is pretty uncomfortable until it passes. Water or Protein shakes don't seem to help. Anyone else have this? Thanks!

We went to outback and I ordered the french onion soup (just be careful to drink the broth separate from the bread/cheese) and I asked them to give me more broth than onions. I also had a couple small bites of my sister's sweet potato. If you go to an Italian restaurant, you could order some type of cheese-filled Pasta... and just eat the cheese filling. It is super yummy and full of Protein. Going out during the soft foods stage is difficult but luckily it doesn't last long!

I am definitely going to ask my surgeon about it... I am probably going to see him this week because of my incision. I t happens at least two to three times a day and it does wake me up at night. At first cold Water made it clench and it hurt, but now I can handle colder liquids just fine. I am very glad to hear that I am not the only one! Thanks for the input everyone.

Many people get a blood thinner shot in their belly. I did and it was no big deal. You are connected to the monitor and the IV of course. Most people are up and walking as soon as they are able, it helps prevent blood clots and it helps reduce the extra gas you may have from the surgery. I was not allowed to drink or have anything by mouth until the second day. Then at that point I had to just sip sip sip until I could get in at least an ounce every ten minutes. I wasn't in too much pain, but I also had a hernia repair so that may have made it a bit worse than most. It was a soreness type pain, nothing sharp. The liquid pain meds don't taste pleasant, but they weren't horrible for me. It was worth it for me since I didn't do very well on the pain pump. I had no problem laying flat and I could sorta sleep on my right side, so sleeping on my bed wasn't an issue for me once I got home. As for the drain, not every surgeon uses one. Mine did and I had to keep it in for a week. It came out on my left side and was stitched into place. It didn't hurt but it was a bit of a pain. I ended up keeping it tucked into my bra to keep it out of the way. When it was removed it didn't hurt but it felt weird since the other end of the drain is up near your stomach. Hope that helps

I have a prescription for protonix that I have taken daily since the surgery so I don't think it is an acid issue. I have only had a little bit of heartburn when I switched from taking it in the morning to at night. I switched back and haven't had any problems. The feeling is very odd, almost like it is being squeezed and then released. It normally goes away after I eat though I sometimes feel it while I eat (even though I take really small bites and eat slowly). Afterwards though I don't feel it for at least a couple hours. Which is why I thought it could be my sleeve's way of saying "hey i'm empty".

First off, you look amazing!!!!! I'm just curious, do you have loose skin? I don't really care if you choose to answer or not but if you do, that could be where that last amount of weight is. Skin actually weighs quite a bit, so if you have a bit of it hanging around (even just a little here and a little there) that could be those last few pounds. I've read stories where once people are a year or two out and they get their skin removed they drop another 10-15 pounds (in moderate cases, some less and some more). I am nowhere near goal, but I've decided once I'm close to go strictly by how I feel and not by the number. Congrats!

17 pounds in 5 weeks is almost 3.5 pounds per week... which is really awesome!!!!!! Especially if you were able to avoid the 3 week stall. I know that everyone wants stellar results, especially during the first couple months but please remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. 3.5 pounds per week is above average and is a lot more healthy than dropping a ton right away (like the by-pass patients...). I am four weeks out and have lost 56 pounds, but that includes what I lost in the 4 months pre-op. At first when I was seeing numbers like 3 pounds in two weeks, 4 pounds, etc... it was discouraging. But looking back... I'm really proud of it and happy that I was able to do that. Chin up and don't worry! Keep up the good work on the Protein and keep drinking your Water and you'll get there!