Lissa

VSG275, It sounds like you are currently where I was when I decided it was time to do this. I had a slew of co-morbidities and, even now, I weigh more than you do! I was told I wouldn't live another year if I didn't get this weight off. I had dropped 50 pounds last year, but one bout of pneumonia and the resultant antibiotics put that, plus more, back on me. Pain - I had some pain. What I remember most clearly is that my legs hurt like heck from using them instead of my stomach muscles for the first couple of days. I was given liquid pain meds in the hospital, which I refused after the third dose. I didn't really feel that I was in enough pain to need them. I did need the pain meds my second night after surgery, when I came home, but I didn't know the conversion from metric to english measurements and didn't take them. So I still have an unopened bottle of Loritab liquid. I need to see if my doc's office will take them. Leaks/Complications: There have been a couple of people here who have had one or the other. Read their stories, then read that they ALWAYS say "I'd do it again". There is a slight risk of death during any surgery. Make sure you're confident in your surgeon and do your own research into his or her post-op stats and outcomes. Lifestyle changes - Yes. There are many lifestyle changes, the biggest of which is eating less food. I'm nearly 3 months post-op and, try as hard as I could today, I didn't reach 1500 calories. I ate ham, sweet potatos, devilled eggs, pecan pie, whipped topping, stuffing. In short, I ate anything I wanted today and logged every bite. Normally I avoid sweets, but I gave myself permission to eat whatever today without any guilt. I also tracked every morsel in a food tracker online and, despite indulging myself, didn't get to 1500 calories. I normally shoot for under 1,000 daily, but I don't think this one day is going to kill my weight loss. Not Losing Enough Weight - You are in control of this one. You CAN put junk food in the sleeve and it will feel just fine. You will have to decide what's more important to you, eating junk or losing weight. I think that you will decide it's losing weight as soon as you see that scale going down. From the sounds of things, you used to be really into exercise, so you probably won't have a problem getting back on track once some of the weight comes off. Your co-morbidities will resolve as you lose weight as well. Excess Skin - Many people have excess skin once they lose this weight. I've met a few people IRL who are at goal and have some excess skin. They have decided to wait until they have been maintaining their weight for a couple of years before moving forward on that. I'm still undecided myself, and I have a long way to go before I need to make that decision. You will decide what is best for you when you get to that point. You've made the right move by signing up here and reading about other people's journeys. Good luck on your journey!!

I just figured out my total weight lost, which is 58.6 pounds this morning. My goal weight is 170, which means I have now lost 1/3 of the weight I want to lose! I'm happy dancing today!!

Thanks, Sweetums! I appreciate the feedback! I'll be back here once I'm more ready to do the C25K... and I'll be watching everyone else's progress!

I don't live alone, but my son and I are both very busy, so we often end up eating at different times. If you can find a small George Foreman grill (or are willing to turn on the stove for a few minutes), you could do up a couple of chicken breasts and chunk them into pieces. Keep the extras in a ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer and reheat them in the microwave. I like canned chicken breast as well, but sometimes I just want that grilled taste. The little grill is also good for doing a piece of fish, a small steak, or a burger and it doesn't take long. IMO, the food tastes better than in the microwave. Soups are great, although I usually end up dividing one can into four or five servings. I like the meat from dinty moore beef stew and a can of that takes me several days to eat as well. Some of the fishes come packaged in individual servings. My local Save A Lot sells 8oz Tilapia filets for 99 cents. I get two, sometimes three servings from that, depending on how hungry I am. That is a really cheap meal, too! I usually buy a bag of precooked shrimp for about $5 and then have 4 or 5 at a time with a dollop of cocktail sauce. The bag is resealable and lasts a LONG time. Good luck on your journey!!

I can't do citrus yet. It makes Rex go "Heck, No!" For a sleeve, he's pretty picky, IMO!

coffee, No panic attack is allowed!! You can fret and worry, but you need to ultimately let go of the anxiety and let God handle this. You will be fine! Remember, whatever is bothering you, if you can do something about it, then do it. If you can't do anything about it, then let it GO. That's the serenity prayer, rephrased of course. I was pretty scared pre-op and even KNEW I was going to die on the table. But, I went through with it because I already had a death sentence hanging over me. If I hadn't had the surgery, I would be dead within a year or so. I know these last few days are tough. You're SO excited and SO worried, all at the same time. But, you will be on the loser's bench soon and then you'll wonder why on earth you ever got so scared. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, the first few days and the post-op liquid diet will be tough. But, you control HOW tough it will be. If you have a good attitude and you do what your surgeon recommends, you'll have a much easier recovery period. Before you know it, you'll be back on solid foods and adjusting well to your new life. Good luck with these last few days. I'm saving you a spot on the loser's bench between me and Longer Life.

Thanks, Sweetums! I had basically figured I'd be better off to start slower, but thought some real world experience from others might be good. I actually did a little more than a mile today before I had to stop, which is good. My only concern is that the heart rate monitor on the treadmill seems to be wacky! It kept jumping between 98 and 180 for my rates. I have my own heart rate monitor which I will take with me next time. On the bright side, after I did my walking, I did a few strength training exercises for my arms and had no difficulty with that. I can't believe that I'm willingly working out at less than 3 months post op!

Be sure to enjoy the "Dang, I messed up!" look in his eye when you nonchalantly smile, say hi, and walk right on past him.

Longer-life, Of course you're NOT normal! You're extraordinary, just like the rest of us!! You don't feel restriction because you are still on liquids. You will feel restriction when you get to more solid foods, rest assured. As for the 370 calories, that is VERY low, but not worrisome this close to surgery. I'm eating about 1000 calories a day now, and I'm still losing, so your 700-ish calories isn't bad either. Everyone's ability to eat and drink is different, especially very early post-op. As long as you are getting in your liquids and Protein, you're doing fine. And, when you are within the first month or so, liquids are more important than the protein. So, truthfully, you are both doing fine.

Gas pains are normal and the only resolution is to walk and sip. Congrats and welcome to the loser's bench!

I didn't have any issues except that it took me a couple of days to figure out what "full" felt like for me. I must say that I've had a relatively easy post-op journey. Good luck on your journey!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here!! I have lots to be thankful for this year! I'm still alive after major medical problems earlier this year AND I got my wonderful sleeve! I woke up this morning to a loss after being stalled for a couple of weeks. I know that this time next year I'm going to be at goal and rocking my new life!! I hope everyone spends lots of time with their family and friends! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

jill, 52 pounds is amazing! I bet that your clothes will get looser this week. I was stuck for about a week and a half and I actually had a pair of pants fall off me last week! And, Wishes, I wish we'd all get out of the habit of putting "only" in front of our total weight lost! 35 pounds since surgery is an amazing number! I mean, when before would we have been able to drop 35 pounds in less than 3 months without lopping off an arm or leg? I'm finding that now my weight loss is directly related to my effort expended. I did a good bit of cardio last night and saw a drop this morning on the scale. I'll take it! Good luck to us all!!

I have pics of my scars, but don't really want to put them on a public forum. I did take one picture right after surgery for personal reference, but it's naked and I def don't want that one floating out into the 'net! Mine are healing up very well. I can still find all of the lower incisions, but they are a very light pink. My drain hole is the least healed, and it looks like a pink spot on my side. The upper incision, under my left breast, is almost completely healed and takes a minute to find, even for me. I've been using Neutrogena body oil since right after surgery on all of my skin except my face. It has helped with the dry skin issues I was having, plus it smells great!

Congrats on making Onederland!!! You're really working that sleeve!! Good job!

Michell, Everyone here is right. That three week stall is a bugger!! Just keep doing what you know you have to do: work on getting in your Protein and your Water, walk as much as you can, do a little light weigts for your arms (to avoid the jiggle arms) and don't worry about it. I'm a classic control freak, but I've found that I have to let go of what I can't control here and let my sleeve do it's job. I'm on MFP as well (Lissa912 if you want to friend me) and, at two months and three weeks out, I've lost nearly 60 pounds. I've been floating between 295 and 299 for over a week, but I didn't let it frustrate me because my clothes were getting bigger and bigger. Have you read about NSV's yet? Those are Non scale Victories. Check out that thread in success stories and definitely keep your eyes open for them. It makes letting go of the scale obsession so much easier when you start seeing all the other positive things that happen besides dropping pounds! Good luck on your journey!!

Okay, I'm interested in getting started on this. However, I'm still at 295 pounds and walking 2.4 mph on the treadmill for a mile wears me out. Am I too heavy yet to start this? I have dislocated my kneecap twice, both at much lower weights than I am now. I'd really like to do the breast cancer 5k walk here at the end of January, and I won't be embarrassed if I have to walk the whole thing. Should I work towards walking the 3.1 miles on the treadmill and then start the C25K program? Hopefully someone who has BTDT will chime in for me.

Okay, so I finally broke down and did the online food logger. I've been using a book, but noticed that I often "forgot" to write down my Water or food. I'm Lissa912 on there, if anyone is interested. My question is this: I'm not trying to keep my calories to a specific limit right now. I'm still tracking water in and Protein (64 oz of water, 70 g of protein). I stuck 1,000 calories in there because that seemed like a nice round number...and the program is having a fit. Every time I log in, it tells me that I'm eating too few calories and I need to eat more to stay out of starvation mode. Having lost 55 pounds so far, I don't think my body is in starvation mode, but SHOULD I be adding more calories each day? If so, how on earth do I add them? I am literally making myself eat now to get my protein. I'm not avoiding anything specific, except bread, rice and Pasta, because they all make me feel way too full very fast. I can use that space for protein instead. Also, I'm looking for sleeve-friendly veggies that are NOT dark green, leafy veggies. I'm on Coumadin and the green stuff I love makes my Coumadin readings go through the roof. I've done steamed carrots until I'm about to start going "What's up doc?" I need some ideas here. And, I need to know if I should just up the number on MFP and then eat what I need, ignoring it's comments?

Oh, I adore Egg Face's blog!! She does have great recipes. Her ricotta bake is a favorite here. Unfortunately, I think I'm probably allergic to the Coumadin I'm taking, but my pulmonologist won't agree with me. My reading yesterday was at 39.5. That is NOT a typo. The suggested level is about 2 to 2.5, so I'm WAY over it. I've been avoiding all veggies and eating strictly Protein for at least a week, trying to make it balance out. If it's still high when I go back next week, I'm taking myself off of it permanently, even if it's AMA. Biker, I love Schwan's veggies...and their ice cream! LOL I might look into finding a Schwan's guy once I'm back on veggies. They do have really good stuff, and the nutrition info is always available in the book or online, so it's convenient. I need to look at some other questions around here. Someone posted about eating the exercise calories. i need to look at that.

SleeveDreamer, It sounds like you're in a great mental place for this surgery! Good luck!

I don't know if my leak test was barium. I didn't ask what the viscous blue fluid was. I just stuck the straw in my mouth and tried to swallow it without turning my teeth blue!

Oh, Gina! I am LOL here at your wanting the surgeon to pinkie promise, but that might not be a bad idea. Good luck!!

It sounds like you've tried nearly every option I can think of. You may have to resort to using a timer to remind you to drink. I do this with my Vitamins and meds. I set them as repeating events on my iPhone and when they go off, it tells me what I'm supposed to be taking now. Good luck!!

markajd, Why is your liquid diet so long? I don't see your weight posted, but I was one of the heavier women here at 352 and only had to do a 2 week liquid diet pre-op. It is tough getting through the pre-op portion of the liquid diet. Afterwards, you'll be working so hard to sip and get your water/protein in that you won't be hungry. Plus, the smaller stomach and sleeve swelling will eliminate the hunger feeling, or it does for most of us. I confess that I did eat a pureed Wendy's chili during my liquid diet, but that was my only "cheat", and I lost 13 pounds pre-op. I don't recommend doing that, but it is tough to make it through. I didn't start drinking broth until after surgery, but maybe some warm broth would give you a soothing feeling now? Also, I have read that some folks chewed ice to get through. My teeth won't handle that, but you might try that and see if it helps with the head hunger. It's just frozen Water, so not bad for you. If you're allowed SF stuff, maybe have some pudding or a popsicle to change up the texture? Good luck on your journey!!

LML, I thought that blue stuff was yucky, too!! I'm jealous that he took your drain out in 5 days. He made me go 8 days with it! So, did you LOVE the hospital? I adored my nurses, except the one who kept pushing the pain meds. I missed the support group meeting this week because of work, but will be there next month, I hope. Glad to see you're doing so well!