Nancy Rivers

Possibly, although not very likely. The gas they pump into us usually dissipates in a week or so. Did you do something different with your arm recently?

There is this thing called the "3 week stall" - a stall that usually occurs around the 3rd week after surgery. You and I both are entering that time frame. It is completely normal for us to stall at this point. I haven't lost any weight in a week. IT WILL PASS THOUGH. Meggiep had posted this link before, but I think it's a good one because it describes what happens when our bodies stall. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html My surgeon and dieticians say to NOT weigh yourself daily, but to do it at the very most weekly. The reason is your weight fluctuates on a daily basis. At the last support group meeting, there was a gentleman who had the sleeve done 2 weeks before me and he was pissed that he had lost 43 pounds in 2 weeks, but nothing since. He said that he destroyed (literally through it out the window onto the patio where it shattered) his scale when he weighed himself one morning and then AGAIN an hour later and found it went up 3 pounds. Everyone who had surgery, the psychologist that was there and the dietician all said in one voice - don't do that! If you weigh yourself frequently, you're just gonna make yourself crazy when the scale starts bouncing around like that. Weigh yourself once per week. Trust your surgeon and dietician - they know what they are doing. Follow their plan and stick to it. It WILL WORK.

My surgeon told me that leaks do not typically happen after the first 30 days or so. Most frequently they are found in the first 48 hours. Some exceptions include not eating the appropriate things which cause the leak. Sorry, I don't know about revising a bypass.

For me, it's fast food. I used to eat fast food every single day - sometimes multiple times a day. Now just the thought of it turns me off.

As the others said, this is normal. Try different temperatures of liquid - that may help. Personally, ice cold plain water is what worked best for me - but I'm unusual in that. Many report that warm or room temperature is better for them.

Ok, now I'm hungry.... LOL

liquids in, liquids out. Yeah, diarrhea is normal. When I spoke to my surgeon about it, he said that unless I was going like 7-9 times every day, he wasn't worried about it as it was normal. If I had been going that often, then he would be concerned about a complication (not lactose intolerance - but something else that I forget the name of). When I had some episodes of lactose intolerance - it happened within an hour or so of my ingesting a particular weight loss shake and it would only happen then. The doctor that I was seeing at the time suggested that I take lactaid tablets and that helped.

Well, I am at 16 pounds lost - which is just over half way to my goal. However, I know I am entering a stall (haven't lost anything in a week and Tuesday will be 3 weeks). Hopefully the stall won't last too long...

I was fine a week after surgery - I drove from Cincinnati, Ohio to Michigan (about a 5.5 hour drive each way) and back in one day. Yeah, I stopped and walked for a few minutes each hour which made the trip a bit longer, but I needed to do it. I didn't have any pain or nausea after surgery and bounced back really quickly.

Like many others, I had no pain or nausea after surgery. For me, the worst part after I finally woke up (it takes me a while to wake up from anesthesia) was the dry mouth and throat and not able to drink water or anything. My surgeon would not allow me to swallow anything until after the leak test the next day. Fortunately, they had little sponges on a stick that I could use to moisten my mouth and lips. But I still could not swallow it, so my throat remained sore.

Yes, Nectar has one called Roadside Lemonade. It's not bad. I got my samples of it from nashuanutrition.com

I decided on the sleeve because 1) it did not re-route my insides like the by-pass does, 2) it does not have the mal-absorption issues that the bypass does, 3) I did not want a foreign object restricting my stomach - there are way too many horror stories for my comfort about that. My blood pressure has returned to normal as well - I've always been borderline high and in the months prior to surgery, I was actually high when they checked my bp. Yesterday at my followup appointment it was actually in the normal range! This will also help your cholesterol because you are eating differently with the sleeve - and exercising (in my case much more than I was before).

Congratulations! That is great!

Thanks to some genetics and my weight, I have rather bad knees and back problems. The result was I would get really tired just going up one flight of stairs - and would try to avoid them whenever possible. I couldn't walk more than 5 minutes without getting winded. I couldn't even stand in place for 5 minutes without breaking out in a sweat. Then I had VSG. Today - just 2.5 weeks after surgery, I was moving some stuff into my new apartment. I totally forgot about the stairs. There are 4 steps up to the front entrance, then 8 more down to my floor. I did all 12 steps at least 8 times today (both ways - so 16 times total I suppose)! I also unpacked my trunk twice taking stuff into the apartment and putting it away immediately. For me, this is a MAJOR NSV! Boy am I tired now though. Oh, and because I forgot to pack my lunch, I stopped at Big Boy for lunch (plus I wanted to sit in air conditioning for a bit - my apartment has air, but no furniture yet). I ordered the Grilled chicken dinner that came with 2 sides (I chose cottage cheese and baby carrots). My eyes are still bigger than my stomach. I barely made it through the cottage cheese (which was about 1/2 cup). So, I asked for a box when the waitress brought my meal and immediately packaged up the chicken and the carrots that turned out to be glazed carrots. I left the roll on the plate. My "doggie bag" will be at least 3 meals for me - I just have to puree it first. So although I'm really tired, I am proud of myself today. Now to rest up a bit (my back is really bothering me right now, so I'm resting) and then re-pack the car with more stuff for moving tomorrow. At least tomorrow my furniture will arrive at some point in the afternoon, so I'll have a chair to sit on!

I agree, there are a lot of success stories on these forums. Just look around at the different posts. In the 2 weeks that I have been sleeved, I have lost 16 pounds. I'm thrilled with my progress so far.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to check in. I've been meeting goals every day this week. In fact today, I've gone way over on my exercise since I'm moving into an apartment and I will again tomorrow. My typical day has an egg beater for Breakfast, 2 or 3 ounces of pureed meat product for lunch and dinner along with a couple of Protein shakes each day. I'm still in the pureed stage, so my diet is pretty much the same each day. Occasionally, I'll throw in a Soup instead of pureed meat - that I will usually add Protein powder to the soup. Can't wait for next week when I get to have mushies! I'm already planning to make a meatloaf.

My surgeon won't let me do anything but walk until 6 weeks out. He said it is to make sure the stomach is healed as well as some of the tissues he had to cut through for the incisions so they don't get "ripped open" from the exercising.

Well, I had my 2 week followup appointment today. Everything went well. Officially (according to their scales) I have lost 20 pounds. I have been cleared to start mushies on Tuesday and I'm thrilled about that. Is it Tuesday yet? LOL My surgeon also wanted me to see a "local" doctor for PCP to manage my diabetes within the next week. (I live in Michigan, but am moving to Ohio and hadn't gotten a PCP in Ohio yet.) So, the girl at the desk tried a couple of offices that the surgeon recommended and neither could see me before October. She then told me of a doctor in a different town, but was still with the same hospital system and said that she was good. I told her to go ahead with it. Well that doctor couldn't see me, but there was another doctor in the same practice that could see me today (an hour after I left the surgeon's office actually). So, they setup the appointment. I get to the PCP's office, and the girl at the desk tells me that I'll love this doctor and she herself had the sleeve done in April and has lost 60 pounds with it. As we start talking, she also tells me more about the office and how they are getting "specialists" to come in one day a week in the "other half of the office" and gave me information on a couple of other specialists that I will eventually need to see. I then went back to talk to the doctor - who is young and good looking. As we are talking, he tells me that he still has family in Saginaw, Michigan and goes to visit a couple of times each year. Well, what a small world - I grew up in Burt and have been living in Clio - just about 30 minute drive from Saginaw. I was liking the doctor before this, but this kind of sealed it for me. Today was a very good day....

Yeah, I'm pretty lucky. I thought though if the people in my surgeon's office recommended someone as a "good doctor" then they probably would be since I like everyone in the surgeon's office. I'm just glad it worked out that way.

It does get better each day. The first 2 days were the worst for me. I had clear liquids for the first 2 days, then full liquids and pureed starting on day 3. I have to say that the first time I had pureed tuna mixed with a bit of low-fat miracle whip on day 3 I immediately started feeling better. However, that may not be allowed on your plan because it is a puree. For full liquids, broth, Water, crystal light/mio, Isopure (although I couldn't stand it), Jello, etc. I would start with those. Then as you can tolerate it, include things like pureed low-fat cream Soups that are rather runny or pureed vegetable soup - again make sure it's really runny. Check with your surgeon and dietician to know what exactly they will allow you to use. Each surgeon is different in their requirements. Try different temperatures of liquids too. Many people say that room temperature or warm water goes down best for them. For me, it was ice cold plain water that went down best.

The thing to remember is the sleeve is a TOOL - it is not the cure-all. You have to make the commitment to making the lifestyle changes that will ultimately allow you to maintain the weight loss. If you choose to eat poorly, not exercise, eat too much, etc. then yes, you will regain the weight - just like any other weight loss procedure or diet. If you make the commitment to making those lifestyle changes, the sleeve will help you be successful. By having the surgery, it forces you to immediately make changes otherwise you will be very sick. They say the first 6 months are critical - that is because that's when the tool is most effective in helping you modify your lifestyle. Use that 6 months to learn and permanently change your lifestyle. It's not easy, but it is worth it. After all, we have to UNlearn years of unhealthy and bad habits. That is never easy. Fortunately, the sleeve is a tool that can help us in that. The really hard part will be after that 6 month mark - when the tool isn't nearly as effective in helping to modify your lifestyle, because then it is all you. If you slip back into your bad habits, then yes, you will end up regaining the weight again. If you think there may be a really good chance that you would fall back into the bad habits that you had before surgery, then you really should talk to a psychologist about why that may happen and try to work that out if not before, then at least during the 6 month honeymoon period.

I have been very lax in checking my sugars. I also haven't been taking my meds (5mcg Byetta 2x day and 1000mg metformin 2x day). Yesterday, I saw a new PCP who told me when I should be checking again. I did check yesterday about 2 hours after eating and was pleasantly surprised that my sugar was only 138 (it had been over 200). This morning when I checked right after getting up (when the new PCP told me to check) I was 103. I am thrilled. I've never been this low since I was diagnosed in 2003.