Lissa

The drain is how I got my post-op (8 days) leak test before it was removed. My doctor almost always uses a drain. I've never heard of a patient he didn't use a drain for, but there may be 1 or 2.

Great, HONEST, post!

that's possibly your signal that you are full. Try to stop eating before it hurts. If you're newly post-op, like I suspect, then your nerves in your sleeve aren't sending much info back and the pain is actually showing up in places other than your sleeve. You might also try slowing way down while you eat and see if that doesn't help you avoid that pain.

I could barely walk pre-op, and I started out very slowly with "just" walking. By three weeks out, I impressed myself by being able to walk around the lake in my apartment complex! I added in recumbent bike at around 5 weeks out and could only do 5 or 10 minutes without being exhausted. I was cleared for weights by 6 weeks out and started doing 10 reps a day of 2 pound weights for very basic arm exercises. 9.5 months out, I go to the gym every single day. It's not negotiable. I do half an hour of cardio at least every single day. Every second day, I also do every weight machine in my gym. I also walk 4 flights of stairs regularly, 3 times a week or so... and I try to go up and down them 4 times every time I walk them. Start slow and build up. Make sure you're pushing your body, but only a little at a time until you're further post-op. It will get easier and you will be able to exercise. I also suggest that you join My Fitness Pal. It's a great place to log your food/water intake and to track your exercise and weight. Good luck!

I lose some, but nowhere near as much as I expected. I started taking Biotin about 2 months post-op and I've been a fanatic about keeping my protein intake high.

aviiva, LOL at you wanting me to call! Going to the gym is as simple, and as hard, as Just Do It! You need to find a way to motivate yourself to do it. It takes 21 days to make or break a habit, so commit to yourself that you are going to go to the gym for 21 days. Then fit it into your schedule where it works for you. Once you've done it for 21 days, you'll be so used to going that you will MISS the gym if you don't go.

That's awesome!! You are looking amazing and I bet you feel amazing too!

Spiffi, Welcome to VST! There is a ton of information available here, for certain! Good luck on your journey!

I've been told that it's worse than giving birth, and, after watching my brother pass a couple in the hospital with a morphine pump, I'm a believer! So glad you passed it without needing surgical intervention!

I agree that the best one is the one you actually do! I just did 60 minutes on the elliptical. My plan for today was 30 elliptical, 30 bike, but I had such a great workout going on the elliptical that I just stayed there! I love it when I hit the endorphin high! I posted my beauty shot, taken after that 60 minutes, on FB! LOL

Up your Water intake, for sure. Call your doctor on Monday about the pain, but it's probably just a slightly pulled stitch. If the pain were severe, I'm betting you'd already be at the ER. The dizziness is probably related to dehydration. If you keep getting dizzy, you may need to call your doctor or hit the ER for some IV fluids.

I try to remember that not all of our posters speak or write English as their first language. However, some things still bother me as well. I often read my own older posts and cringe. I have to work to write in "normal" English, rather than in formal English. I am a paralegal and I'm used to writing briefs. I don't always phrase things as if I'm talking. I have a tendency to do if/then writing. My spelling has suffered from the Internet, too. I used to be able to spell words properly, and now I have to stop and think when I'm typing canceled, automatically, publicly, etc. None of those three words looks right to me. And, like Wheetsin, I'm guilty of "teh" far too often.

I've had severe hives from stress before. Benadryl took care of them, but, yes, talk to your doctor before you take anything since you're so close to surgery!

Congrats!! Glad to hear that things went well and now you're on your journey to a new life!

I had my hair cut into what's called a graduated bob on the advice of a hairdresser friend. It looks good, can be parted where needed to cover thinning spots and gives me enough length to still put my hair up at the gym. A friend commented last night that my hair seems to be growing faster now, so I think the losing stage is over for me. I certainly hope so! I did have a lot of thinning, but the cut helps to disguise it.

This just goes to show that ANY thread can jump the shark! I'm just surprised this one took so long!

Before and After photos for weight loss products? I always think I should post " *Results not typical" next to my photos... then I realize that these results ARE typical of the sleeve! Go us!!!

If I do fast food, I always buy bottled water. I carry Mio drops in my car to flavor them. It's kind of funny, now that I'm losing weight, I'm carrying around my own mini-kitchen in the car. It has mio drops, protein bars, spoons, napkins, tuna lunch kits... I could probably survive for a week with what's in the car. During the cooler months, I carry a couple of extra bottles of water, too, but I don't like to do that now that it's getting warmer. I should just install a mini-fridge in the back of my car!

It says NSV, so you know I'm here!! I think this is a terrific NSV!! I just tried it and I can't do it yet!

I swore I wouldn't do plastics earlier in my journey, and now I'm thinking that I might. My tummy is shrinking, but not really absorbing yet, so it may be on the block later. I definitely think I'm gonna have to do something with my breasts. They are NOT faring well in this journey. Thank goodness for good bras!

LOL Gman! Keepin' it real today!!

I'm afraid I may be in the same boat, Gman! Hopefully, I'll find some muscle underneath all the fat layer once I whittle away at my abdomen!

Amen! So, this means that you're going to be sleeved sooner rather than later, right???

Welcome to VST Kay!! Hopefully you'll be on the loser's bench sooner than July, but that's not really that far away! Good luck!!

I vaguely remember some guy that I think was the anesthesiologist right before surgery. I had to really think about this one, but I do remember someone coming in, talking to me for a minute, then I was given something that sent me into happy land. I barely remember someone else (female) holding an oxygen mask up to my face and telling me to breathe deep. I said "Goodbye", then I woke up and went What? I think they guy was the anesthesia person and the woman must have been his assistant. Thank heavens for good drugs!