Tai29

I wouldn't be nervous or afraid...you're most likely okay but skipping your diet progression constantly and eating as you did before the surgery. Everyone stumbles a bit but you just have to do better the next day. I am 4 months out or so and I decided to eat a spoonful of ice cream a few weeks ago... BIG MISTAKE. But I learned from it and move forward doing better the next day.

I drank soo many protein shakes, even found a bar with 20 gm of protein per single serving! Hair loss is inevitable and one of the main reasons i put off this surgery. You absolutely cannot get a sleeve or any WLS and not expect hair loss. Your body can't absorb protein the way it used to do we are always going to be lacking which is why we have to take all the supplements, etc. The great thing about hair is it does grow back. I reached the point where I was much more concerned about my health than my hair!

I talked to my nutritionist about this and she also discourages the low fat yogurt. Most often low fat means high sugar. They have to make it palatable in some way. She also discouraged juicing. People don't realize how much sugar fruit adds to a beverage and they don't consider that especially since its just a beverage. The only juice I have is a "Healthy Smart Light" apple juice that has 5gm of sugar per 8 oz. One of the main things I notice with people who don't watch out for the sugar intake, is they will complain the weight is coming off and they don't know why. Every little bit matters. I just found a protein shake I could tolerate and kept it ice cold.

Omg!! I tried everything to prevent this and my hair has and is still falling out. I just started to notice shedding at first which was barely noticeable and then it became worse. My hair is so thin now I'm contemplating just cutting it into a pixie cut once I loose more weight.

You have to really be careful to exercise discipline. You've only just started and you have a long way ahead of you for that restrictive diet. Sometimes something's wont make you sick but it can cause damage to your sleeve. Just like the breads, pastas, rice.. You may tolerate them but they could cause an obstruction. I wish you the best of luck & happy healing!

I know of people who have had diet soda after WLS for Sleeve patients - and it's made them crave sweets and derailed them a bit. I would say to stay away!

Anytime Nixi! Sometimes less is more but I definitely know how exciting it is to be down and feeling motivated enough to exercise. Perhaps increase the length or incline of your walks to give you that extra challenge you need. Good luck & best wishes to you

I've lost 50 lbs so far... sleeved 1/23/12 ... I'd like to know what others have lost in comparison. Am I on target? Am I slow??? Just kind of curious. Thanks in advance for your replies!

Post op I absolutely cannot stomach them. I don't try to booze it up often, mostly I have no desire for it but when I'm having a grown up dinner with my husband I do like to have a glass of wine ... and on Valentine's Day I so wanted to have a glass of champange with him. The first sip and I mean barely wetting my lips with it - I could not tolerate it. It immediately made me feel bad ... a cross between nausea and just turning my stomach completely. Has anyone else experienced this? Or are you guys able to have a drink?

Where was your surgery performed? The AMA standards are quite different than those abroad and sometimes things like this happen because of it. To be discharged without pain medication is completely inappropriate. If you live in the US I would recommend seeing your primary for pain Meds or going to the ER. You definitely need them. I know I was in so much pain I took them regularly for an entire week and I won't even take an aspirin. Best of luck.

Thank you for your reply Dawn I just wanted to know if it was just me. I had the same exact experience and was so blown away by it. I used to be able to drink alcohol like it was Water. Lol. My life has definitely changed in so many ways but I do enjoy it more now. I was just wondering if others have had similar experiences. Thank you

Lissa I had a similar revelation. I was fixing a small plate for myself at a get together and my portion was smaller than normal but when I looked at other pwople's portions I thought the same thing. No wonder everyone is obese. We tend to put too much on our plates and then feel obligated to clean them. And for many, they just don't know when enough is enough. If you eat huge portions all your life it's okay and normal to you. This morning I had 1 c of Special K & 1 c. Of skim milk and hadn't even ate it all and was FULL. I thought oh my Gosh how did I ever used to eat as much as I did. Eating slowly sure does let you know when you've reached your limit.

Oh and thank you guys for your replies!!

I just wanted to gage others experience with the sleeve. Sometimes I feel like that is a lot of weight to lose so quickly then other times I think maybe I should be further along. Am I stalled? I'm not rushing the process. At this point I feel like the person in the back seat enjoying the scenic road trip. I'm taking it all in and having a good time on the way to my destination. I was just wondering because when I think about it I didn't become active until actually this month. Before that I wasn't really working out or aiding my sleeve so I guess I am doing okay.

That is completely normal when your drain is removed upon discharge. My drain was left in for 7 days post op and I preferred it. I had quite a bit and the discharge didn't become the straw colored discharge until just 48 hrs before it was removed. Once your drain is removed it will heal quite quickly just as any sore would. Mine started forming a scab just days after the drain was removed. Once it scabbed I followed doctors orders and didn't agitate any part of the surgical sites and maybe a couple weeks later I showered and noticed the scab was gone and there was just the surgical scar left. A very small one. Hope this helps & welcome to the loser's bench!!

I would suggest to allow your self time to heal. When in doubt, don't do it. My surgery was 1/23/12 and I waited a month and tried just a 10 lb weight and I felt a burning sensation at the incision where the scope is. I did not pick up a weight again until just the beginning of this month and they are 3 lb weights. I do a high intensity short circuit training where it's mostly focused on my core but I do boxing with the weights and I have found this to be suitable enough for me. I don't want to be ripped, just lean & tone. I waited until a little over 2 months to start. The worst thing would be to rupture or tear something because you're pushing yourself too fast. Best of Luck!

When I was in this stage I made a hummus consistency tuna. I had a bit of egg, relish (no sugar or fat in this surprisngly) and onion with low fat miracle whip (i'm not a mayo person) .. It was the best food I'd ever had especially coming from just liquids.

I think the excitement of the big day causes you to overthink, and then rethink and think again. I bought SO MUCH stuff and used none of it. After surgery I was so out of it, I didn't listen to my ipod, I didn't look at my iphone and I certaintly did not think about my laptop. I wasn't experiencing a lot of pain, I was just tired. I have never experienced a fatigue like that in my life and even 3 months post op, I still feel tired to the bone sometimes. Of course everyone is tired in life, but I experience fatigue much more severely since I've had my sleeve. I bought tons of comfy clothes and ended up using none of it.. correction, I wore an oversized tshirt that I bought with me on the day of discharge, but I kept the scrub bottoms they gave me because they were so comfy and I wore a pair of crocs. I would advise to pack light because you really won't be thinking about any of that stuff more than likely. I Would suggest to have a pillow. I had a bumpy ride home and it was horrible. By the time I reached the front door I was almost ready to faint and was completely nauseous and had a fever. The bumps were the worst and I didn't bring a pillow to lean into to protect myself from that. Best of luck to all those in the planning stages.

I initially thought I would only need one week because there were a couple of people that I knew who were sleeved and were actually driving like 3-4 days later. I ended up taking 2 weeks. I went back to work exactly 14 days later and working full time. I feel completely fine. I didn't experience any of the exhaustion that other people mentioned. I was so afraid that going back at 2 weeks I was going to be dead tired, but I was really okay. I'd just say make sure you take your B12 and Multivitamin...maybe that's where I got that extra boost. I work a full 8 hr shift and I'm alright at the end of the day. As a matter of fact I run errands and do a lot of things after work.

Excercise is good and will make you feel totally brand new but just 8 days post op I wouldn't recommend it. I'm a month out and still am only doing walking because I still have swelling and severe pain at the incision where my stomach was removed from. I would recommend to only excercise & start you work out after you've had your evaluations with your surgeon. They usually tell you not to work out anyway until your 4 week visit. I know at my week visit he told me I needed to be resting more and doing too much too soon will prolong healing.

It really does... and speaking of sleep.. I think I'll take a little nap myself. Lol

Golden Raisin, I totally know what you're going through. I'm about a little more than a month out and for two weeks I just felt horrible. Everyday I felt like I was regressing. I had HORRIBLE shoulder pain and abdominal pain at the site where the stomach was removed. Even now, I still have horrible stomach pain at that site that will take my breath away. I've had barrium swallows, X-rays, MRI's and everything and there is no hernia, or any other complication but I'm told that this one site heals the slowest and hurts the most because the large scope is placed there and that is where all of the pulling, tugging, cutting, etc is done. I found myself sleeping the days away and really hated it but I will say sleep a lot, rest a lot and do as little as possible. Give yourself time to heal and invest in Gas-X strips or chewables. The shoulder pain is just bad gas. That's common for weeks to even a few months out.The carbon dioxide that they put in your stomach during surgery takes time to be absorbed into your blood stream - and until this excess gas is absorbed by the blood you're going to have bad gas which will cause horrible pain. My shoulder pain stopped a couple weeks post op. Happy healing & welcome to the loser's bench! Wish you the best!

The gallstone med is call Actigall or (generic) Ursodiol. My surgeon prescribed 300MG capsules, twice daily. Hope this helps!

I am finding that I need to get in more Protein and I find that I do too much running and I'm out in public and suddenly hunger hits and I panic because I look around and all I see is fast food places as far as the eye can see. I am so over fast food. I now prefer lighter, healthier meals and Snacks. Can someone recommend an awesome Protein Bar? Many Thanks!