Matt Z

They might taste sweet, but they have 0 sugar. Anything at this point is going to help!

Search for "stall", the 3rd week and anytime you make large dietary changes, your body has the potential to "stall" and weight loss will appear to stop, or you might even gain weight. Just stick to your diet, ensure you are attempting to get upwards of 128 oz of water and don't stress about the weight loss. Also, when you start working out, expect the weight loss to slow, or a gain to happen, this occurs because of the fluid your muscles will retain when you start working them out again. It won't stay that way, but the first week or 2 can be frustrating. Also, recent studies are showing that daily weight-ins result in more weight loss.

First few days my protein intake was around 50ish, it helps if you use some of the clear protein drinks as they are much easier to get down. Check out Protein2o and Isopure Zero Carb RTD. Both have around 20 grams of protein and are as thin as water.

Getting enough calories isn't going to be a problem. If anything, it's making sure you don't over do it that's an issue. As far as your reason for this post, how do you chose, that's going to be purely personal. Both the Sleeve and the Bypass have similar loss, success rates, and how long you keep the weight off, with the Bypass beating out the Sleeve on all accounts by a small %. The Sleeve has a habit of creating or making any GERD and Acid Reflux issues worse, whereas the Bypass resolves GERD and Acid Reflux issues. The sleeve is not reversible and contrary to popular belief, the bypass actually *IS* reversible. Granted, bypass reversal is rare as it's a complicated and risky surgery, but it is an option and reversals do happen (we had a member here go through a reversal sometime this year). Please don't listen to those giving you advice that don't have any experience with these surgeries, 9 times out of 10, the information they give you is more hearsay, myth and false information than it is fact. Good luck!

Everyone's healing time is different, I would advise taking it easy as your team has suggested. Are you drinking with your meals? Are you chewing those items that give you issues to a baby food consistency? What else are you eating with those foods when you get sick? How much of those foods are you eating?

Congrats and good luck!

Well, I'll go out on a limb here and say that the pain isn't from the chicken, but that super sugary Dulce de Leche. Really need to watch out for things that will cause dumping this close to your surgery date, you can end up causing leaks and other stitch and staple line issues internally. Stick to the diet plan, no matter how hard... there is a reason for it... we all understand it sucks, but this is when you need to be making those changes in your eating habits.

Fat stores estrogen, as you lose fat, your system gets flooded with estrogen, unfortunately your sex drive is controlled by your Testosterone levels. But, the good news is, that once you flush out a good amount of fat, and your body has a chance to balance out again, your sex drive should come back with a vengeance! As far as the dryness... get yourself some lube. Water based stuff doesn't hang around long, but it's condom friendly. Oil based stuff works amazing, but isn't condom friendly. Silicone lubes are more expensive typically but are both condom friendly AND has good staying power. And no need to go to an adult store for lube, all pharmacies carry lube and personal massagers now.

Biggest advice is to really hammer the water. The more you can consume, upwards of 128oz a day, the better you'll be overall.

Length recovery is pretty common, this is because of the tendon that supports the penile tissue from the pubic bone. As far as not having enough skin, if you've been overweight for most of your life, or at least from mid puberty until now, this would make sense. Good news is, your skin will stretch, it just takes time.

Go Sugar Free. Check out Protein2o and Isopure Zero Carb RTD. These are both protein heavy, low or no sugar protein drinks that are clear. Also, push the water, HARD!

https://www.newsweek.com/weight-yourself-often-linked-weight-loss-1199105

How's your water intake? Are you taking the narcotic pain meds? If you aren't getting enough water, this can be a cause. If you are taking the narcotic pain meds, that's another potential cause. If you are not getting enough water AND are taking the narcotic pain meds, that's going to pretty much guarantee issues. Please call your doctor soon, this long and while taking a softener is concerning.

I took the step down approach, it takes 2 weeks to make or break a habit. So make a small change, and keep that change up for at least 2 weeks, then make another small change, then do that for 2 weeks, keep doing that until you are where you want to be, I've found that somethings, just stopping them ends up in a relapse or rebound. I went from 4 packets of sugar in my morning coffee down to just 1 in a little over a month pre-op. It's helped out quite a bit, I don't "require" the same amount of sweetness as I used it in all things now. Good luck!

I wanted to post this ongoing photo grouping that I've been working on with my sons. It started as a great way to show their aging, but it's also showcasing my weight loss. 2010, pre-band. I was around 370 in this photo. 2014, post-band. I was around 310 in this photo. 2018, post-bypass. I was 237 in this photo. Just wanted to show everyone that, even just 4 years can change things so drastically, 8 years is even more amazing. Looking forward to going back and taking another update in 4 years, I can't wait to see what 12 years of changes looks like. So when you are just a handful of days out of surgery and are feeling like nothing is changing. Or when you are stalled out for a week and are super frustrated. Please remember, this is a long term adjustment. Some folks are lucky and do see really fast results, but that doesn't mean anyone that doesn't see fast results is a failure. Just keep looking at the horizon and taking 1 more step forward. Soon enough, you'll be where you want to be.

Very normal, You only need to contact your doctor if it gets painful, swollen and/or hot (or if you get a fever). Some folks get JP drains installed to deal with this, some don't. But it is normal and as long as it's not bleeding fresh blood, is green, really smelly or hot/painful/swollen... then you are healing up as expected.

Congrats!

No Joke! I the attention before was very much "Ugh, fat guy" Now it's more "Hey man, you using this equipment" "You want to jump in and work out with me" stuff. It's an amazingly different feeling, sad, seeing people's unspoken bigotry over weight really is interesting as well as very sad, but, it's nice to be on the other side of that issue again.

Search "what to pack" for threads on that topic, lots of people overpack for surgery. Search for "Stalls" and read up on those, you WILL experience them, best to get ahead of that ball of stress and understand it happens and it's normal. Not all pre-op diets are for liver shrinking, but a good 99% of us have had to do some form of pre-op diet. Google "Log Roll" and "Log Rolling" for a great method of getting in and out of bed when you have had abdominal surgery. Very helpful for reducing pain and stress on those incision points.

2 lbs a week is quite a reasonable rate of loss... you are losing 8 lbs a month, that's 80 lbs in 10. Just keep doing what you are doing and don't really worry about how fast you are losing, it's not a race and it's a sprint.

Have you called and tried to expedite things? For me, there were long waits, but when I told them I wanted to speed things up and that I'd take any appointment I could, they were able to move me up a lot. What concerns me is your "this is like a diet and I'm ready to give up" this surgery is exactly like a diet and you will need to continue following that "diet" for the rest of your life. If a year is too long to be doing something, What's going to happen post op when you still have to follow that diet?

Typically it's done endoscopically through your mouth, they insert a balloon and just stretch it all out. From what I've read it's a rather short process where you might not be fully put under, just like getting an Upper Endoscopy. Recovery is liquids only for a bit and I've heard it's kinda painful afterwards for a while as well.

I'd say 99.9% of users on this site have either had their operations or have dates. Not many people here without dates in the overall scope of all users.

How fast does your hair grow normally? WLS caused "hair loss" isn't really "hair loss" it's just that your way more of your follicles entered their normal rest phase than would typically happen due to the surgery (it can happen with any stress, diets, etc) So now that your hair has started to regrow, those follicles are dropping / shedding the hair they were holding onto during the rest phase. So you'll notice the regrowth in a few weeks as it starts to make it's way out of the follicles. https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/effluviums#1

Lower water intake, pain meds, etc can set you up for some issues. Have you really not gone at all in 10 days? If so, please reach out to your doctors and talk to them, you could end up with a blockage or impaction and those can be very very dangerous. Check with your docs before going too far with the laxitive stuff, just to be safe and so they are aware of the situation just in case something goes wrong.