MinaT

@Philly, the more you walk the better you will feel, take your time and try to get up once in a while. @sexys Sipping out of a one ounce med cup used to take me 3 sips per cup. I did this all day and if I got up to potty at night I would do at least 2 cups before laying back down to try to get in all my Water. I still can only do like 3 ounces of sipping at once time before I need a break. My hospital sent me home with a big pack of them, my mom bought me plastic shot glasses so she could try to home make me some popsicles in a shot glass lol (I hate artificial sweeteners they cause headaches for me so I only use truvia) It's fun to make the decaff peppermint tea with truvia in them and then put them in my glass to cool off my tea. I promise you guys each day is better than the day before.

Did they give you med cups (like one ounce cups)? Ask for them or a small cup. Sometimes warm decaff tea helps (i like the peppermint decaff tea with truvia). If you get home and still have issue, maybe use a shot glass to drink out of, taking small sips. It gets better, I promise you. The first week or so is difficult for some people. I know it seems like a lot of people have no problems, but some people heal differently and no one surgery is alike. Keep walking and sipping and try to avoid drinking out of a Water bottle for while. It took a while for me (I still would rather drink out of a glass) because I pull too much air in and the air bubbles going down is a bit painful. Sending healing prayers your way.

Congrats and good luck to you. Keep on walking and keep on sipping and use your spirometer if you have one. Welcome to the loser's bench

My parents and husband and son know. That's all. I also had a hernia repair and adhesion removal. It's a personal thing, some people are fine to be out about it, I would rather just keep my business my business. If I want to tell someone that's fine. It helps that I lost 30 pounds last summer and then 10 pounds a month during the 6 month pre-approval phase and then 10 pounds during the pre-op shake phase. During that phase, I literally stayed in and worked out a lot (liquids in - liquids out) and I didn't want to be that far from home) and I didn't want to have a lot of temptation during the 14 day pre-op shake phase. Surgery, since I had a hernia and adhesions, everyone knew about it, since I had so many surgeries in my life (including c-section, hysterectomy, several laparascopies, cysts removed and my gallbladder removed, bowel resection). Most people knew my insides were a mess. During this phase, I still sorta am a bit reclusive, I don't do fairs or clubs or bars, or restaurants because I just went on purees and tomorrow I am suppose to start on softs. I know a lot of people say just "be honest". I am honest that I lost 70 pounds from the day I started the program until the day I had surgery. I lost 30 pre calling the surgeon's office. I have been on a high Protein, low carb diet since November. I have told people who notice the weight loss since surgery is that I since I have to wait to heal from surgery I am trying to do mostly shakes and protein to speed up my metabolism until I can start working out. I was afraid to gain weight after surgery. Now that I'm exercising, and I start soft foods, I will be able to find ways to integrate myself with family & friends. I made sure I was loud and proud since November about my diet, though I think some people will see me now and it will come as a shock, since I haven't seen them in a while. Do what you are comfortable with. There is no right or wrong answer to this, it's what feels comfortable for you!

Hope you had a good time!

Are you using myfitnesspal.com or anything to chart your food and Water? If you aren't try using it. You have the willpower to do it, and you need to stop saying you feel like you are going to fail. The more you tell yourself that the more you are ingraining it into your subconscious that you will fail. All things like Cake, Ice cream, Cookies, donuts, breads etc. end up being chewed and go down in a liquid form. Those are carbohydrates. If you didn't have any of the pre-op stuff, then perhaps we should concentrate on giving you tips on what you should be concentrating on. #1 Water. #2 Protein. What you ate is strictly carbohydrates. The reasoning behind this type of diet, Protein first is your body will use up the carbohydrates first, then when it uses up all the carbohydrates for energy it will convert your fat stores to carbohydrates. If you keep taking in high carbohydrates, you will never end up losing the fat. I am not trying to alarm you, or make you feel bad or purposely setting out to be mean or judgmental, as stated by someone else, so I am grateful you see that I was just trying to give you a wake-up call. You CAN hurt yourself. Though there is nothing sharp in the cake or ice cream, you could throw up, gut wrenching barfs could cause your stomach harm, it could cause a stricture, it could cause dehydration. Going from no carbs to high carbs when you come down from the high sugars you could have some problems with insulin and then hypoglycemia which would shock your system. These are dangerous for your health. Throwing up too much could cause dehydration, which again is dangerous. Sometimes we all need wake up calls. I had a rough surgery I am still struggling to get in 450 calories and I'm almost 6 weeks out. I'm 49 years old, I have a brain tumor, I have Lupus, and I refuse to tell myself I am a failure, why should you tell yourself you are a failure. You made a mistake, just don't make it again. If you are struggling, make a post on what your biggest issues are. If it's family gatherings, eat before or after them, find a way to socialize around the eating and not with the eating. If you can get some psychological therapy, in which I think anyone that goes into this surgery should have, because I've seen so many posts saying, food is their best friend, their comfort, their this or that, that is something that needs to be dealt with because all your food issues will still be there after you remove 85% of your stomach. If you need advice, I'll be happy to help you with tips to deal with it. Instead of cake or treats, try 1/2 a cup of skim milk, that fills me up, walk around, brush your teeth (the thought of eating after brushing my teeth deters me). I hope you are feeling better this evening, and I hope you know that the depression you may be feeling is something we all have dealt with. It is a long road but you need to start giving yourself some positive affirmations. I was 6 days after surgery I was actually up 6 pounds and I was only drinking water, decaff tea and could barely get a few ounces of Isopure in a day. It could have had me all depressed, but I know it does get better. Next year if you want a bite or two of cake, you will get to have it, but until you are healed and you reach your goal go into this knowing you are going to be a winner and failure isn't an option. Best of luck.

Did you need to do a pre-approval phase at all? Did you need to have psychological counseling? Did you need to pre-diet or do a pre-op shake phase? People that haven't been sleeved that read this - go into this 100% invested in it, because without that, you could hurt yourself. At 4 weeks I got in trouble from my nutritionist for eating 1% cottage cheese (3 teaspoons!!) I was told I HAVE to be careful because the first 6 weeks you can get a leak, you could hear the strain when I said I also tried a few bites of a poached egg. Albeit, my nutritionist and surgeon are a lot more strict than many I have seen here, but really, you should know that the sugar is HORRIBLE for your sleeve, horrible for your diet and not good for you, period. I think calling your surgeon, nutritionist, or getting some psychological counseling is what you are going to need. 8 days after surgery I could barely get down Water and a Protein shake. It's as though you are completely and utterly trying to sabotage yourself, you need to look at the big picture. Many of us have families, and gatherings, and I have to cook for mine, but I don't get to eat what they are eating. I would stay away from them when they are eating things I can't eat. The sleeve is a tool, you need to learn to use the tool and I'm going on six weeks out and I wouldn't even remotely think of ice cream or cake. You need to realize right now you are just recovering from a MAJOR surgery. Having 85% of your stomach removed is extremely major. Your entire *stomach was cut in 1/2 and staples were put in. You are most likely suffering some depression after surgery and my suggestion is if you feel like you are going to lose control, go brush your teeth and drink some more water, take something for acid, take a gas-x. The grumbling you feel in your stomach is NOT hunger, it's acid, gas, or your stomach attempting to heal after a very serious surgery. Best of luck.

I was a 3 shake a day person with sf-popsicles/sf-jello and crystal light. I had 14 days of it. If you did a big meal before you started this you are probably going to suffer more. Day 3 & 4 are the hardest. The cookie, bad idea. You keep saying you want to do it, and you keep saying you want this, but yet, you ate a cookie. Dust it off . Each time you cheat you are justifying it, by your job, your kids whatever, you are making it "ok" in your mind, it's not okay to cheat though. There was a woman in the last few months that did the same thing and went into surgery and was told..sorry your liver is too big, and got it postponed. The sleeve is a tool, it's up to you to use the tool. You actually get REAL food. People that only get 3 shakes a day were able to do it. Blaming this on obesity isn't helping either. It's just another excuse. Tell yourself YOU CAN DO THIS, and you will. Get a behaviorist or psychological help somewhere along the line. Food cannot be your "best friend" it's not living and breathing. it's nourishment, that's all it is. If you want comfort hug your pillow, a friend, your kid, a dog. Tell yourself you can do it and just do it. Good luck to you, I am sure you will get lots of hugs and encouragement from others, I'm a realist. You need to up your positivity to make it through this and you need to depend on yourself. The sleeve is only a tool, it's how you use the tool that depends on your success.

I get migraines and I can only take tylenol for it. The only thing that worked for me was Excedrin Migraine and I was told I was never allowed to take it after the sleeve. May I suggest a few things from someone that gets occipital nerve blocks and botox in my head, neck and shoulders, take a warm shower, throw on a night gown. throw a cold rag on your neck and ice pack on your forehead. Lay in a dark room. I basically do whatever I can to get my head as cold as I can. (usually the heat first, because it rushes hot and the cold). I resort to something that helps me also with headaches and that's Mrs. Grass chicken Noodle Soup -You can ignore the noodles just drink the broth. Make sure you get all your fluids in. If you can tolerate Vicks Vapo Rub, I smell it or I put a little on my forehead. Every three months I go in for botox injections*, they put then in my scalp* above my ears behind my head, my neck my shoulders - I wish they would hit by my eyes...but darn they won't lol. I am allergic to imitrex and all pain killers. Occipital nerve blocks (that go into the back of the skull on each side are quite painful and cause golf ball size lumps for weeks but don't often work. The botox has helped immensely. I still get break through headaches as injection time looms but 2 a week right before injection time is better than getting 4-6 a week every day. I usually have about 2 months with none then 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the injections I get them. Cold seems to ease the pain, if you can have someone rub your neck and shoulders that could help too. Stay cool.

Let them bring you the Water, it saves you and the busy waitress/waiter who works on tips and an extremely small salary less embarrassment. You know there are actually some restaurants that the managers would yell at their wait staff if they noticed no water put on the table and they wouldn't do it in front of you, it's something that would be brought up later. Let them bring you the water. It's up to you to drink it or not. From a person who was a paralegal and a waitress sometimes at the same time, trust me, customers don't realize how customers and management use them as personal punching bags.

12 days out I was sipping Water, decaff peppermint tea with truvia, and taking a shake that I had to gag down and I had days I was getting in 17 grams of Protein a day. I didn't want to barf so I stopped myself before that happened. I tried getting in some Isopure Green Tea with lemon and I added Mio to it. I hate the taste, but I would try to get 4 ounces down because the shakes were literally fighting me. I tried every Protein Shake I could find and they all tasted like flavored disgusting elmers glue to me. I loved my shakes pre-op. It scared me because my taste buds changed so much, but I said oh well...I'll work on my water because dehydration can cause more problems than anything and you won't become protein deficit in a short time. Every day I would retry another shake I couldn't tolerate and I would get down as much as I could. Water is the most important thing. If it bugs you to drink it out of a water bottle try using a shot glass, it goes down with less air. I am just starting to be able handle drinking out of a water bottle. I always drank out of water bottles, I've never gagged in my life, but even brushing my teeth made me gag, and I didn't stop brushing my teeth over it, I just found a way to make it through. Dehydration is the worst thing for you, just do your best. *On Full Liquids at 12 days - 3 weeks I could only get in less than 1/4 cup of Soup. All you can do is your best, keep up with your water more than anything and let your body heal. That's really the best thing for you.

Try thinking about how not to get dehydration. Make sure you spend your days sipping your Water. I used a med cup (one ounce cup) and kept my water bottle nearby. Fill up a glass with water and pour into a smaller sip cup. Keep working on your fluids, have a sugar-free popsicle, more fluids. Keep the water at your bed stand at night and each time you wake up have a few ounces of water. I used to get up 3 times at night to potty, and each time I would pour myself 3 medicine cups of water before I got into bed. I got up in the morning and I started back on my water. Do your best, if water gets rough try some decaff peppermint tea (which is refreshing warm or cold) with your favorite artificial sweetener and it sooths the belly. Remember something since you are newly sleeved. You may feel like you get hungry a lot (your tummy goes in waves, or knots and grumbles. That is often a sign of acid, gas or it could be something as simple as your stomach having healing pains (like the pain you get from cutting your finger) it happens in your tummy too. A lot of people consider it constant hunger. Unfortunately, being hungry, full, acid, gas & healing all feel about the same. Good luck, sip, walk and rest Welcome to the losers bench.

I had the same rashes you are talking about during an angiogram from the leads. I can't regret having that because I had an allergic reaction. You lost 25 pounds since surgery and today you gained .6 pounds. I suggest perhaps staying off the scale for the next month then. You are going to have days that you hop on that scale and you weight 1 lb or 2 lb's more. It depends on sodium level, heat*, bowel movements, body readjusting, muscle tone, and everything. I stayed the same a week and I can hop on the scale 4 or 5 times a day and weight something different each time. You know during the time you don't lose weight is usually the time where you end up losing more inches. That's when your body readjusts. You are going through a normal reaction of depression right now. It's all over this website starting at about 9 days out for a bit everyone seems to get depressed. Part of it is the rest of the medication and anesthesitics leaving your body the other part is where you are actually starting to burn fat and there are hormones that are trapped in fat and these usually cause more depression. I had a lot of problems during surgery and after surgery, I'm going to be 49, my surgery was 7 hours long, I was in pretty bad pain for 2 weeks and I was on full liquids for 5 weeks. You lost more than me within your two weeks. You lost more than me after 3 weeks, I'm not comparing, I'm just saying, be happy for what you lost and wait until the rashes go and the emotions from surgery go and your body has recuperated from a very serious and major surgery. You lost 85% of your stomach. That's a BIG surgery. Stay away from the scale and if you can't, then realize your weight is not important for the first few months. Let your body heal, let your mind heal, let your body get used to the sleeve. Every day there is a I feel like I am the ONLY person in the word that is going to fail and it's usually someone that's 5 days out to 7 weeks out. If you tell yourself you are going to fail enough...and then say screw it and decide to start eating carbs like Cookies and ice cream and cakes and not following the high Protein and low carb way and start drinking soda that's the only way you are going to fail. Failing is only an option if you decide to take the path of failure. If you follow the simple rules of Low Carb, 64 ounces of Water, High Protein and daily exercise of at least 30 minutes, you will not fail. Buyer's remorse is okay if you have a car, you cannot change what you did now. You can only change the way you look at it. Concentrate on your Vitamins, water, sipping, and charting your food and healing up let the rest the one up 2 down - 2 up 1 down go for now and if you keep doing what you are suppose to doing the weight will come off. I hope the rash goes away soon, I hate hives, and I have had to deal with it before and it's horrible, the surgery hormones and depression that invariable follows all surgeries can suck, think of this as temporary and try to pull yourself out, if you can't, contact your doctor's office and maybe they can help you with the depression. Best of luck.

30 pounds is great weight loss. You can't compare what you lost to others. People that have a lot more Water weight to lose or with a higher BMI tend to lose weight quicker. Men lose weight quicker. I haven't seen anyone lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks and they may be including their pre-op diet in that. You really need to be tracking your food, calories, Protein, carbs, sodium and potassium if you aren't. You can get Myfitnesspal.com on your computer, not just as an app for your phone. It's easier to set up. Make sure you set it up for the stats you want. (they default to 1200 calories 157 carbs or something ridiculous like that. You need to make sure you are getting in your waters, and this will chart that, and you can track your exercise. Exercise can be walking 30 minutes a day. You should try for at least 30 minutes a day for yourself, even if it's chasing your toddler. Since not sure what your starting point was, how much you lost prior to surgery, what your bmi is, it's hard to tell what the problem may be, I think actually tracking everything is the first thing you need to work on. Second, someone very wise just told me not to compare yourself with anyone else. Is your clothes looser now? Have you measured yourself during this time? When people stall that's usually the body trying to catch up with the fat loss and readjusting, this is usually when you lose the most inches. As long as you are doing what you are suppose to be doing, you will eventually lose. I understand wanting to see the scale go down daily, but it's not going to happen, it's not realistic. Good luck to you.

Amen to this. The surgery is the tool. I lost 70 pre-op while in the program and 30 pounds before I decided to do it. I lost 128 since last summer and I just had surgery June 4th. The surgery or the sleeve is not the one that did this, I am. The sleeve helps me go a little faster, and will help me keep it off, as long as I do what I am suppose to do. If I meet someone that would benefit or seems interested in the surgery, I will of course tell them, but I have relatives I just don't like, I have people in my life I have to smile and be polite to even if I don't care for them. It's much more practical for me not to have to tell them off if they make rude comments. I may have to have them in my life, I don't have to have them in my business.

It's normal. I have weighed 203 for a week now, and I'm 5 weeks out. I step on the scale and I go up a pound and I'm not sure what else to do but to kick back and let the scale catch up to my body. I know I'm hitting 400-450 calories (barely) and I'm hitting 55 Protein and about 20 or less carbs. I'm exercising to the point that my daily calories are in deficiet. I can't keep doing the up 2 down 1 up 1 down 2 up 1 thing forever, eventually the scale will have to catch up to the muscle tone and the fact I'm losing inches says something. I know I have to up my calories a bit, but I'm struggling with pureed food at this moment and I'm doing the best I can. It will even out eventually and the drop will happen. It's normal.

I wasn't allowed to drink the first day of surgery, the 2nd I had a leak test and it was really rough for a while. I am 5 weeks and just started pureed food and it's rough again. I noticed drinking out of a Water bottle or regular glass at first was hard, it made me take bigger sips and I also got a lot of air bubbles. Ask for a med cup or if you are home, use a shot glass, pour your water into the shot glass and take small sips from there. As far as eating, I had an issue with it, for the first week I lived off decaff peppermint tea and Isopure and it was rough and I poured EVERYTHING into a one ounce med cup to sip out of. I was able to get a bite or two of sugar - free Jello down. I just started pureed foods and I'm 5 weeks out and I'm struggling because I went from full liquids for 5 weeks to the pureed and if it's not moist enough it's rough. Not sure what you are "eating" at this point, is it just sherbet and jello?

If It's yellow it's fatty looking it's fine. Bad colors = Green, Brown (coffee grounds or black) Normal Red, Pink and Yellow. I was told Yellow (fatty color substance) is normal. Mine had slicks of yellow in it and it was fine. Sometimes there are "clots" and you have to make sure you express the drain, but yellow is a good thing.

I could have written this entire post. Is it any better? I'm 5 weeks out and I just went to pureed food and this week has been rough. I find myself reverting to shakes, clears and mostly liquid. The only thing that really goes down well is sugar-free pudding, which I try not to eat because I get headaches from artificial sweeteners. I haven't thrown up because I stop once the twist and turns happen in my throat, esophagus and tummy. Today I got in 1/2 ounce of tuna (two small tiny less than 1/2 teaspoons of tuna mixed with fat free mayo and I added cottage cheese to it, to make it moister and I got in one partial teaspoon of cottage cheese. I am suppose to start softs next week and I am not seeing that happen. I also am only pulling in 300-400 calories and I end up with a calorie deficit with all my exercise.

Thank you for your post. I'm 5 weeks out and I am on pureed food. It seems like my calorie and food intake is a lot less than other people. I made 2.5 ounce bag of tuna with ff mayo and I halved it which left me with 1.25 ounce of tuna salad, and grabbed 3 teaspoons of cottage cheese. I mastered chewing cottage down, and I chewed the heck out of the tuna and I was able to master a whopping 1/2 bite of the tuna and I had to mix the cottage cheese for the second bite of the tuna it seemed like it was stuck and sliding down and when the first hit the entrance from the esophagus to the tummy it was like someone was wringing my stomach and esophagus. I went for my second bite and and that's all she wrote. After that got down I relaxed a bit and decide to try one teaspoon of cottage cheese and call it a day. I basically ended up eating a little over a teaspoon of cottage cheese, and two 1/2 teaspoons of tuna salad. Equaling 1/2 ounce of food. Wow great dinner. I am hoping that I can pick up the pace a bit. I have a deficit in calories every day...because of my exercise. I am doing shakes, I'll probably have to get another in now. It's kind of got me wigged out a little bit because I'm suppose to be starting soft next week and I can't seem to get purees down. Please someone tell me is Tuna a little harder on the system. It's all I have craved since pre-op shake lol. ps I got nauseated for a while and I had to tell my husband to stop playing the fake drums during dinner because he was making it worse.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!! I am so happy for you. I hope the next year is an amazing year with lots of wonderful dreams realized. Congrats!

I had pain every single day up until a few days ago. I walked every single day in my home though and then when it didn't hurt to walk on the concrete (I had a drain 9 days) I walked outside in my backyard in a big circle and about a week out I did tiny little walks to the corner and back with my husband. Every now and then I have a twinge in my belly. Realize though everyone heals differently. Just do what you think you can but also don't baby yourself too much, if you can walk 20 minutes, do it, if you can't do 10 and 10 and 10. Do your best.

It was hard for me to walk right after surgery outside, so I walked from my living room, dining room to kitchen in a big circle, I walked 20 minutes - 3 times a day. Then I started doing it outside. I would say try to walk 20-30 minutes every day, each day that you feel better, pick up the pace. If you have to do it really slow, do it really slow, any amount of walking is better than no walking. It's hard to say how much you should be doing, when we don't know your physical status, how much weight do you need to lose, how many comorbidities do you have, do you have problem with your feet, knees, hip, breathing, etc. There is no set standard you walk until you feel tired.

I think you are going to have to play it by ear, try to stay positive. I had surgery on the 4th and I had a drain until the 13th. I spent 5 days in the hospital. You don't have any clue how extensive your surgery will be. Do you have extensive adhesions, what is your age, your health. I spent the better part of 2 weeks sipping, walking and I had a nap every single day even for a little while. I spent 5 days in the hospital, and I spent a week at home not able to sleep in my own bed and going down to the recliner every night. Everyone is different. Try to stay positive and have that I think I can spirit, but don't compare yourself to others that could go back to work after a week if you can't. Everybody is different and everyone heals differently and every surgery is NOT the same. Best of luck and I hope your surgery is fast, easy and you feel fantastic right afterwards.

I am so very happy for you. It's such a big and wonderful achievement. I was hoping to hit it by July 18th, but it looks like it's not happening for me, I'm at a little stall, but I'll hit it eventually I honestly think it's my fault and I'm not getting in enough calories but I can't find a way to force it down. My exercise is completely canceling out everything and I'm at a deficit but I can only get in so much as I just started purees. Eventually the scale will move in the right direction, I think I'm looking great. Congrats again! I'll do a happy dance for you