SunnyCox

Anesthesia causes a lot of people to retain water. My scale was higher immediately after surgery for almost a week. Then, I dropped several pounds pretty quick - nearly a pound a day. Then, I stopped for four weeks. Just keep doing what you know is right. It will come off. I know it is hard to not judge it by time frames, but when you look back, you will wonder why you were worrying so much in the beginning. I was so bothered by my early stalls. Now, I really don't care because I know the weight will drop eventually.

Four nights before my surgery, I ate my favorite meal at PF Chang's (Chinese). I got back on track the next morning. Remembering to keep yourself on track and not letting one mistake derail your efforts will lead you to success. Everyone makes mistakes. Success is over coming them.

Your body will hold onto water if you aren't taking in enough fluids. The more fluids I get in the more weight I lose.

This may be posted somewhere on this thread, but there is a group that gets together in the Dallas / mid-cities area once a month for lunch. This month, it is the second Saturday in December in Lewisville. If you are interested in attending, I can PM you the email address for the hostess so you can RSVP.

I have had those moments. The first two times it happened, I kept thinking... "I've failed at every other diet. I'm going to fail the sleeve too." I was sleeved 6/28, so it has been five months for me. I believe my first real stall was about 2 weeks post op (so 4 weeks of dieting when you count my 2 weeks preop) and lasted nearly a month. I fluctuated around the same 2-3 pounds for a month. I was a little disheartened. Then, things perked up again, and I steadily lost for the next month. The fourth month, I had another period of almost 5 weeks were I would fluctuate up and down 2-3 pounds, but I wasn't so worried this time because I had already done it once before. Moral of the story: I've been there. I'm five months post op and 62lbs lighter including two months where I did nothing but fluctuate. Don't let those bad months mess with your head!

Agreed!

One of the perks of the sleeve is that it is SOOOOOOO easy to stick to my eating plan. If I get off track one day, it doesn't derail all my efforts like it did pre-sleeve. I also don't need as much of the food I am craving to feel satisfied. I will eat 3 bites of cheesecake and am happy!

I was sleeved 6/28. I have had a white Russian on select occasions since surgery. I was 3 months out before I had my first one. I have never finished an entire drink, and I have never gotten sick.

I am very interested in your before/after pics. I sent you a PM.

It makes things easier if you have one, but they will not deny you entry if you have other supporting documents. More than one person who had surgery near my date in June did not have passports. They re-entered with birth certificates.

Sounds like a sugar issue. Have you ever tested your blood sugar? If you have assess to a meter, I would take your blood sugar throughout the day and see what it is before and after eating and again an hour after eating. Some people who are insulin resistant will over produce insulin after a meal which causes blood sugar to drop.

Mine look bigger because my stomach is smaller, but I notice my old bra is a little less full. I've only had to buy new bras once, and I went down a band size, but cup size remained the same. .

My surgery was with Dr. Kelly, and his assistant, Omar, took care of all of my and my partners needs. I believe we tipped him $100. We also tipped our cleaning lady $60 for the four days of our hotel stay. She went out of her way to make us comfortable.

When I had my gallbladder out, I couldn't sleep on my stomach for a week. Once I could sleep on my stomach, I was uncomfortable for another two weeks even though it was doable. With the sleeve, I slept on my stomach the same night as surgery. I think it helped relieve the gas.

3 days. No problems.

God gives us all lessons to learn, and he provides us with tools to be able to handle those lessons. He gave obese people skilled surgeons who can perform the sleeve surgery. I know how you feel about being scared. I made with myself which prompted me to have WLS. Just before Thanksgiving, my parents talked to me about my weight, and I told them I had considered WLS but decided against it. I just wasn't there yet even though I had held a stable super obese heavy weight +/- 10lbs for the previous 7 years. Even though I told them that I decided against surgery, I schedule an appointment for a consultation to discuss the lapband at a bariatric surgery center. After I talked to the doctor about all the issues I had with lapband (foreign body, fills, slippage, all the complications), the doctor recommended that I have the sleeve. I told the doctor that I was just not ready, and I only came for information. The man who does the consultations is a family practitioner who specializes in bariatric medicine and not the actual surgeon. He told me that he does medical weight loss in his family practice as well as pre and post op care for people considering WLS. His clinic is an hour away from my home, but I told him that I wanted to come see him. He warned me that while he would help me, he found that very few people that had BMIs as high as mine were successful at dieting (5'1"@ 265 is a BMI around 50). He said maybe 1 out of 100 will lose the weight and keep it off. This made me even more determined to be that 1 person. So I made a deal with myself, if I could lose 70lbs over the next year (which was half of my excess weight), then I would not even consider WLS again. If I was unsuccessful, I would take the steps to have surgery. Over the course of that year, I would save money for the surgery. If I didn't need WLS, then I would spend it on new clothes or a breast lift as a gift to myself. In January, I joined Weight Watchers. By the end of Feb, I was down 13lbs. I also took a cheat day on my SO's bday trip to San Antonio, and I never went back to a meeting. At the end of March, I decided to go see the bariatric family practitioner. He gave me a full work up. He started me on meds for the deficiencies I had and on appetite suppressants. He gave me an outstanding eating plan which is very similar to the solid food stage of the sleeve diet except that it had a 300-400 more calories a day. I couldn't stick with the diet, and I never went back to see him. By the end of May, I had regained the weight I lost on WW plus a few pounds, and I had been reading this forum off and on since my initial surgical consultation. I saw the women who had surgery 5-7 months ago who had lost 60lbs. I decided I was tired of failing at diets. I figured even though I had 7 months to go for the year I promised myself to lose 70lbs, it wasn't likely that I was going to lose anything because I had actually gained weight (265 to 279). I scheduled my surgery. My advice is to give yourself some kind of measuring stick by which to hold yourself accountable. You can put off doing it forever if you don't.

I don't think you can go wrong with Dr. Garcia or Dr. Ponce. The major surgeons discussed on this forum are all excellent. Here are some things that may help you make a decision outside of surgeon experience & complication rate: Where will you recover? Who will take care of you after surgery? Is it a friendly/private environment (especially if you are bringing someone to stay with you)? If you are going alone, is anyone else from the forum going to have surgery near the dates you want that you can become friends with before and after surgery?

The surgeons in Mexico are generally able to handle all of the same complications and issues surrounding WLS. I know Dr. Kelly has fixed hernias during surgery and removed gallbladders.

I paid $5500 for Dr. Kelly. The surgeons in Mexico have more experience, and there are a fewer number of physicians that cater to US patients that are highly recommended on this forum. There are so many more physicians and number of hospitals used in the US to drive the complication rate higher. My insurance wouldn't cover WLS, but it would cover any complications once I came home. Several of the surgeons in Mexico provide complication coverage, but I am not sure what it entails.

I have heard several people mention they have gone from straight to curly, but I don't know much about it. I read about it on the obesityhelp website. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3990512/My-hair-turned-curly-after-RNY

I told my doctor I had the Mirena when we talked about birth control and sex. He said, just be careful as stranger things have happened. Hahah. Seeing as how we don't have kids yet, we would consider it a blessing as well.

I had roasted corn on the cob around 8 weeks. No problems.

My surgeon said as soon as I was ready. Three days after surgery, and it wasn't an issue.

In addition to seeing a physician to talk about your medication doses are you seeing a therapist? I've always felt like taking medication is only half the battle. Finding someone who can teach you how to combat / cope with the thoughts in your own head is the other half. Do a search for 'cognitive behavioral therapy.' Here are some things that helped me when I was at bottom with my depression a few years ago: 1. Get up at the same time every morning. 2. Take a shower. 3. Get dressed all the way to the shoes. Do your hair, put on make up, where shoes that tie so you won't be as likely to take them off and crawl into bed. 4. Exercise & 5. Get some sunshine. I would take a walk in the park and knock out both at once. I would go every day whether I wanted to or not. 6. Talk to someone. Call an old aunt, your grandma, siblings, friends. Connect with someone. It helps you to feel loved and wanted - like you belong. Hearing other people's problems helped put mine in perspective. 7. Volunteer. Nothing helped me feel better than helping others and knowing they depended on me. 8. Positive thoughts. Tell yourself positive things. My therapist told me to 'fake it until you make it.' Say things such as, "I am going to get through this." "People do love me." "I'm important, worthy, loved, smart, etc. and I am not going to let this hold me down from the life I live each day." 9. Combat negative thoughts. Ask yourself, 'is that thought really true?' For example, if someone didn't call me back, I would think, "she doesn't care about me." Then I would ask myself if that was my emotion or my head? It was usually emotion. I would then tell myself the truth. "She probably didn't call back because she forgot as she is busy with her three kids. She does care about me." Doing these things were not easy. When I got to this point, I had no way to go buy up because I had lost most everything I felt was dear to me at the time. I kept telling myself that I had nothing better to do than to try it as everything else I had done on my own had failed. AND, I still at the things on this list pretty consistently, but I didn't beat myself up over it. I just took it one day at a time. I took me 4-5 months of steady effort on my part to have better days. Finding the ability to make the effort when you are depressed is the pits, but it can be done. After suffering from depression for ten years and hitting bottom in my life, I checked myself into a day program. The tips above where the best things I got out of therapy, I was finally able to get off my meds (I am not saying this is possible in your situation, but it could/may happen). It took 3 months of intense therapy (group and one-on-one), and another year of antidepressants before things were consistently better. I am no longer on meds. I no longer go to therapy unless I start feeling or having the thoughts of depression for more than two weeks. I still follow the rules I have for myself listed above except that I do take naps on occasion as a treat to myself.

I bring ready to drink shakes with me on the plane (international and domestic). I ask the flight attendant for ice. It is so much easier than trying to deal with powder on the plane. You are allowed to bring liquids as long as it is a medical necessity, and it is declared to the TSA. You usually have to go through additional screening procedures. http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1059.shtm