ahoy

Thanks! I realized that graph wasn't the best example, cuz I only log the lows. So right now I'm 256. Which means that in 2 mos, I've lost just under 4lbs in actuality I got down to 250, then boom, up again practically overnight, basically negating 2 mos of progress… soooo frustrating.

Hey y'all, long time no type. It's been six months since I had the vast majority of my stomach removed in a hospital in the Austrian countryside! The highlights: I've lost up to 60lbs (down to 253). Went from a tight size 26 to a size 20. Am fitter & more able to exercise than ever before, even the last time I was this weight. I've been on & off very sick (sinus/upper respiratory issues, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia -- all predate surgery, but I wish they'd improved more than they have) I'm worried I'll be stuck here forever Here's a little pic montage! All photos are post-op. I forgot to take pre-op photos (yes really!). In the first ones, I've lost about 20lbs already. Newest ones were yesterday in a fitting room for my new sz 20 jeans. I'm VERY excited about the size 20 jeans. But I'm also super frustrated This graph from the ticker factory kinda shows why: The lowest weight I reached was 250 on Dec 1. My weight shot up 6-8 lbs overnight one night, and fluctuates wildly 3-4lbs on any given day. On Monday, after a transatlantic flight, I weighed 260. Today, 256. Obviously this *can't* be fat. I mean, I don't always stay below 900 calories, but I surely haven't eaten 21,000 calories in a day or even a week or two weeks. And, as I keep trying to remind myself, 60lbs in just over 6 mos is a pretty good pace! But the weeks on end of no real, positive movement are getting to me. I struggle with exercise. I still have pain in the muscle areas under my incisions. I have back and hip problems due to an injury/genetic disorder. My ankles are screwed up from an injury, too. Some days, just 10 minutes of aerobics will leave me exhausted & unable to do anything else, not even think… that's a chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia thing. I take D-Ribose and magnesium, & they help, but don't solve the problem. And it seems like once a month, I get sick enough to require time off and antibiotics. Luckily I run my own biz, or I'd be sooo fired right now. Post-op, I'm definitely better off than I was. I'm definitely *fitter* than I was, in terms of how far/how long I can walk, how fast I can walk, stairs, etc. But it hasn't seemed to help my immune system at all -- and it certainly hasn't made the CFS/FM go away When I'm sick, I don't have the energy to be Super On The Ball Girl with what I eat. I don't eat fast food, and I don't binge… I feel so lucky that I never had an eating disorder, but I'm an "eat to live" girl and when I am so tired or ill, I just don't have the energy to be fussy. I'll eat whatever's easy… my ability to resist is low. It could be (part of) a sandwich or grilled chicken wrap, schnitzel (which is always breaded) or some chocolate. I feel like I'm still eating an appropriate *volume* -- when I weigh my food, I eat about 4 to 5 oz of Protein at a clip. Anyway, that's my rave / rant. I'm so thrilled to be in the size 20. But worried & anxious & frustrated that it's not a size 16, or even 18. And worried I'll be stuck here for ages, since I've been stuck here for over a month. Worried that I don't "have what it takes" & won't ever, not physically and not mentally, to be hard core about it, and that I'd have to be hard core to get much further than this. Blargh!! If you've got something to say that you think could help me, I'm all ears.

Hey Juzmejnee, I'm in the same boat you are! Altho I eat more like 900 cals and don't get as much exercise due to my ongoing CFS/fibromyalgia issues. I got sleeved in late May, so 6.5 mos out, and have lost up to 60lbs - down to 253 - but then it spikes back up and seems to barely move. Just this past Monday, I flew back to the US from Europe, & weighed in at 260. Today, it's 256. My body can't seem to decide what it's doing. It's super frustrating, isn't it? Still, tho, 60lbs for us in 6 mos is a good place to be - that's an average of 10lbs per month. (And I don't know about you but for me, that means 12 mos total will be goal, if I can only keep that up.) I'm going to try the same things these kind folks suggested for you & will report back. Hope you will also let us know how these tricks have worked for you (or not)

Mine lasted 6 weeks! Then I lost 10lbs in a week and it stayed off. Now I'm in a 2nd stall. But as long as I drop 10 lbs after this one, I'll be happy.

Hey folks! So I'm firmly in another weeks-long stall after dropping 10lbs in a week following a 6-week stall. GROAN. But that's not what I'm writing about. I'm coming to simply accept it. What I've noticed the past few weeks is, well, prickly pain around my ribcage on both sides. I'll be sitting still, or moving, and suddenly it'll feel like a couple hot needles in my side. Like when you get the blood flow back in a limb that fell asleep. It'll last just a second or two and then gone. Or I'll be sitting still, or moving, and there will be a "bubble" of achiness… it'll start small, grow, and then stop hurting, all in just a second or two. Sometimes it feels like my muscles are being "tugged" on, which reminds me of post-op pain. It doesn't seem to be related to when I eat or don't eat. Sometimes it happens when I haven't put anything in my tummy for hours. It FEELS like muscle pain. It's not bad pain. But I had surgery 3 mos ago. I hadn't had this pain until 2-3 weeks ago. I wonder if I hurt myself by helping to lift suitcases and boxes in the past month. Does this sound like I need to see somebody? I'm in the US, my doc is in Austria, and I don't have health insurance here. I can afford to pay if it's important, but obviously I'd rather not waste hundreds of dollars if it's NOT. What do you think? Thanks for your help! Amy

Same for me, june13sleever. Well, damn close anyway. I lost just under 30lbs in the first 3 weeks post-op, then stalled for SIX WEEKS with, then lost 10lbs in a week (!!) when the stall broke, bringing me to a total of 40. 40lbs in 2 mos seems totally worth it now that the damn stall broke! but before that last WHOOSH, I was definitely grumpy.

40.0 lbs! Since May 26. "Only" 2 days ago I found out that I could wear ALL my size 22 jeans, not just that one "generous cut" one -- including jeans that were a bit tight in Aug 2008, right before my wedding 3 YEARS AGO, and which now are totally comfy and not tight at all! TOSSING OUT my 26s and 24s foreeeeeveeeeeeeer!! Yay… yay us!

ATLGirl, I stalled for 6 weeks from week 3 post-op. Maybe you need to eat fewer calories and more protein… but maybe you just need to wait. I came back from a trip and ate pretty much just Protein for a few days, drank more Water, and suddenly I lost 10lbs. I doubt it could have been due to either of those changes because they were not really dramatic. I think it was just "time." It'll happen. Relax.

Oh, Samantha! Look at this story in another light. Guy: TOTALLY FLIRTING WITH YOU You: f**k off! Guy: PRETENDING HE WASN'T REALLY FLIRTING WITH YOU Guy: STRIKE OUT AT YOU TO COVER SOUR GRAPES That's what actually happened. You shut him down and he had to cover his fragile little ego by pretending he didn't mean it and then striking back at you with the cousin thing. This is a tough thing to practice in every day life, but oh man! So little of what people do to us / in front of us has anything to do with us. When looking at a person's actions, you must always ask "What does this say about THEM?" and in this case I'd bet good money that he was genuine in his flirting, but then he got his panties in a twist when you shut him down. And when fragile little babies get shut down, they attack. Like cornered rats or yippie little dogs. Now your mom was being a total jerk and I agree with anonynurse who said she "wants to punch her in the neck"

Marilyn, your doctor is simply NOT taking good care of you. I know you're tired and sick and the hardest thing is to go and advocate for yourself, but that's what you have to do! Tell him that his neglect of your issue is unacceptable, and that you refuse to accept another SURGERY instead of investigating what is WRONG with your sleeve. I know it's hard but you can do it, and we're here to help!

Wow! I'm SO glad you came out of this okay and without having to have your sleeve turned into a RxY or something equally terrible!! That said… It makes absolute sense that you are grateful to the team for saving your life, but I believe they acted irresponsibly to start with! When I had 2 days of being able to eat less and less until it started coming back up, my surgeon saw me immediately. Even though I could still drink Water just fine. It turned out to just be a spike in swelling, but what if it hadn't been? My surgeon told me to drink cold liquids only and if it didn't better in 24 hours, or if it got worse, to do another leak test. Your doctor should have treated you like that, too. Maybe then your surgery would have been less urgent and less scary, and you would have suffered much less!

Oh yes, I've wondered. I have all these other health problems… maybe they've wrecked my body to the point where it WON'T work for me. I am often too sick & tired to do much more exercise than move from the bed to the sofa, too. And I have to eat starches sometimes when my tummy gets really upset because that's the only thing that helps (other than this freaky cholesterol powder that you have to drink 6x a day which makes my other meds not work, ha). So yes, the "it won't work for ME…" is the fear that keeps me up at night, too. I actually just ended a 6 week -- yes SIX WEEK!! -- stall. I lost for 2.5 weeks after surgery and then MEGASTALL. Well it broke a few days ago. And I lost 10lbs in a week. No matter how bad the stall feels, it will end. It's got to end. Whenever I moped to my husband, "What if it stays like this forever?" he basically told me, "That would be breaking the laws of physics." And he's right You just have to keep following your guidelines, eat enough but not too much, drink enough (lots!) and exercise if you can.