LindaS

I was heavier after surgery too. It is just all of the fluids they give you. It was gone within a couple of days.

The scale is fickle. As you've already done, look for other ways to document your loss as well. Here are a few ideas: photographing yourself in the same outfit from the front, back and side at regularly intervals take measurements cross (or attempt to cross) your legs.Note where your foot is -- is it pointing up in the air? After a while, do it again and see if it is coming down. consider your energy levels pay attention to your breathing when walking and/or climbing stairs -- how much huffing and puffing is going on and does it get better? notice how your clothes fit. Where are they looser? (I've had shirts that were tight that are now loose and billow around me.) When you weigh yourself, do it the same way every time. This includes the same time of day, wearing the same thing, placing the scale in the same spot on the floor, and making sure your feet are on the same spot on the scale. This will help you get consistent readings. I hope this gives you a few ideas. Personally, I recently gained a couple of pounds. The scale wasn't moving in the right direction. I reevaluated what I was eating (I had let some excess carbs slip into my diet). I upped my intake of Fluid and increased my activity/exercise. I still haven't been able to record an overall loss, but I have lost those two pounds I put on, and I think I am finally headed in the right direction again. Even with my struggles with the scale, I have had other successes including getting into a size 16 jeans that are loose. I was wearing size 20 (tight) when I started this journey in July.

We can't answer that for you. I recommend you contact your doctor and let him know the issue you are having, and he can recommend a course of action and possibly a change to your prescription.

My surgeon used the BMI charts. At first, he said my goal should be 135 (the lowest on the chart). He then said 145 would be OK. I weighed 145 in high school, so I know it isn't a bad weight for me, but 135 seems too skinny at this point. For my goal weight, I went in between them. I also have teenage daughters with healthy normal BMIs. They weigh in at 115, 130 and 145 and range between 5'4 and 5'6 in height. I'm 5'7 (and a half to be technical). I would like to be 140, but frankly anything under 170 will be gravy.

For my psych exam, we talked for about a half hour. She did sort of a family history and asked about weight issues with my parents, siblings and children. She asked me about the surgery (to see if I understood it), and she asked about why I selected this particular surgery. It was very conversational. When she was done with that, I went into another room and took some type of personality test. It was about 200 questions, and they were all true/false. The first one was "I like to read mechanic's magazines." I remember that because it was such a weird question.

Congratulations on your fantastic weight loss! How inspiring!

Julie, you look absolutely fantastic. I am so amazed at how short a time it has been and how much change it appears. You look young and gorgeous! Congrats!

Thank you, Ruby! I'm blushing.

Thank you so much for sharing your NSVs! There have been so many times that I've tried on jeans and haven't been able to pull them up over my thighs -- it would be fantastic to be able to try on those same jeans and zip them up. Very inspirational!

Wow! At this rate, it sounds like buying a wedding dress that will fit you is going to be a challenge. Congratulations on your fantastic progress!

Congrats! That is so great.

SuperMom, I love your goal for the year! I know exactly what you mean about wanting to be in pictures.

You might want to consider other things as well. Are you weighing yourself at the same time every day? Are you wearing the same things? I usually weigh myself in the morning after using the bathroom while naked. This happens around 6 a.m. every weekday, so the results are pretty consistent. But if I were to weigh myself at different times, the weight would be different. My husband also recently pointed out that you can get different results by standing on our scale in different spots. He had a doctor appointment where a nurse asked him to adjust his stance because of this. So you will want to make sure your feet are the same as well. On our home scale, where you stand can change the weight by as much as 1.5 pounds, and we have a digital scale. Other than that, I recommend you don't worry. I have days where I don' t lose anything at all and days where I lose a couple of pounds. Right now, it has been several days since I've lost any weight. At the same time, I am paying attention to the non-scale things like how my clothes fit and the inches I've lost. If you haven't done before and after pics, it is never too late to start. It is strange the places you can notice the weight loss. I recently noticed my wrists are smaller.

I loved your response! I have had that. My mother-in-law was commenting about how fast an aunt lost her weight after gastric bypass and comparing the aunt to me. My MIL basically said I was losing weight slowly. At that point, I had lost 30 pounds in 30 days, and I said I would hardly call that slow. She insisted that it was slow, but she thought it was good that I was losing "so slowly." Grrr. I didn't have anywhere near as nice a comeback as you did.

I really like the 0 calorie Sobe waters. They have a lot of flavor varieties.

I was on clear liquids with protein for two weeks, six weeks of full liquid and then mushies for one weeks. I can officially start adding food in sometime in October. Unofficially, I started mushies early, and I am slowly adding foods that I can chew up well.

I had the same thing. As soon as the redness arrived, I removed the steri-strips that were elsewhere, and I'm glad I did. I put Neosporin with pain treatment on them and tried to let them open to air as much as possible. I washed the area daily and also used rubbing alcohol to help dry things up. It lasted just over a week, but it did clear up before my three week check up. It started after my drain was removed at one week.

I went to an informational seminar. There were about 13 people there, but I live in a rural area. It was most beneficial in helping me figure out about my insurance -- what questions to ask, etc. This is also where I learned about the sleeve. Prior to the meeting, I was looking into lapband. After the meeting, I began doing research online, and this forum was one of the places I found.

I gained weight during surgery because of the fluids and things they put into me. It take a bit for those to leave. I know that I lost 5 pounds in one day about a week after surgery, and I suspect it was finally the fluids leaving. I went into surgery at 245, and I was back up to 250 immediately after surgery.

I take Celebrate vitamins. You can get free samples sent to you by registering at their website. I order them online. I've recently switched to capsules for the multivitamin, but I really like the chewable iron (orange), so I'm not switching that.

I haven't had mood swings. If anything, I am happier than I was before the surgery (my husband even says so). However, I didn't/don't have a close relationship with food. I don't get a lot of enjoyment eating/cooking. I gained weight because I was on the road a lot and didn't make good food choices. I think it would be different for someone who really enjoys food pre-surgery. After surgery, I had a drain for a week. It was gross, and I hated it. This was the only thing that impacted my sex life that first week.

When I came out of the surgery room, my husband said I looked like death warmed over. He actually said I looked a lot like his dad did the year before after his dad had heart valve replacement surgery except I didn't have the hoses coming out of me. He was not prepared for me to look like that even though I told him the day of surgery would be the worst. I also kept having my blood pressure and heart beat drop very low, and he was getting worried. It isn't unusual, and I was fine. He started worrying if I was going to make it. I did. When I came home, I worried that cooking was going to be difficult for me. He volunteered to do the cooking for me. I appreciated it but for reasons other than I expected. I thought I wouldn't want to cook food I wouldn't be eating. Actually, I was still tired and recovering from surgery, so it was nice to not have to cook too. I do cook now though. The biggest adjustment for me was the weight restrictions. I couldn't believe the things I couldn't lift. It meant I had to take people with me to go shopping for groceries (dog food and a case of Water was too heavy). My family told me they felt guilty eating in front of me. I told them not to. I wasn't hungry and didn't want what they were eating anyway. I do like to eat with my family even if all I am eating is a liquid lunch (that term has new meaning since this surgery!).

I notice really strong tastes, and I don't like sugary things. I didn't have a big sweet tooth before surgery, so I felt like cheese cake and fudge were too sweet to really like. Since surgery, just about any kind of sweet is too sweet. I think this has to do with our diet more than the surgery. Many of us had strict pre-op diets and then post-op diets, and we sort of weaned ourselves off the sugary stuff. We retrained our bodies/taste buds. (Isn't that how South Beach diet starts?) The weirdest thing? i don't like plain Water especially the Aquafina brand. It tastes horrible to me. I prefer my water flavored but not too flavored. I drink a lot of Sobe waters. Yesterday, I asked my son to add some Mio to my plain water. He's 12. He must have squirted a heck of a lot in there because we poured half out into a glass for him and diluted both of them with more plain water, and I still thought it was too sweet.