Kayargh

Yeah I know what you mean....I can't fathom how on earth I'm going to fit into a size 16, 14, or even 12!! My sister bought my heels in a size 9 for later....and a pair of thongs in a size 10 so I can wear them around now Lol. it must be such a thrill to fit into smaller clothes. I have lost 16kilos (or there abouts.....depends on what my body has decided today!) and that would be a huge achievement without the sleeve....yet I feel like its no where near enough. I still see the same reflection and bulges everything just feels looser. Crazy hey!

You guys are doing so well! I LOVE Guess!!! My sister just bought me 2 pairs of Guess jeans, a Guess top, pair of Guess heels and a Guess watch all from Vegas. I told her to buy size I asked her to buy size 6-8 us size (12-14aus) she ended up buying 30 and 34.....as in inches!! ....Like men's pants. Which is like a size 6 and 8 Australian size :-/ doubt they will ever fit and they are soo pretty too. Top is a size 12 Australian so I have a wait to wear the top- will never fit into the jeans! but at least I can look at them!!! Lol.

Welcome Kate! We look forward to hearing more about your journey. Everyone here is very supportive and will always offer advice to help guide you! I went to see a surgeon on the gold coast about Lapband. He told me he no longer performed the procedure due to the rate of complications. So I started looking more into the sleeve. I also had a friend who had the Lapband done and has lost 10kg in 18 months. What's worse is she feels like a failure because it hasn't worked for her. Terrible that she has spent all this money and gone through the surgery and she feels worse about herself and her body more than she did before the surgery. I ended up getting my sleeve done with a wonderful surgeon in Brisbane.

Puppyphat wow what a transformation!! Lol, you need to change your name now!! I have found a photo that I will use as my before photo, but will wait a little bit longer for a progress shot. My body is playing its usual tricks on me, my surgeon weighed me on Friday and I was 118kg. I weighed myself yesterday at 119kg....but today the dietician weighed me and I came in at 120.6! Grrrr. I know it's not good to weigh all the time but a gain of 2.6kg in under a week? Hopefully new food plan and start running on Tuesday will help stop any more gains at the very least!!

Hey Lila, every day is just a little better for you! In the first 2 weeks, my surgeon said you can eat anything that will fit up a maccas straw....I told him that was not a good analogy! Once I was allowed free fluids, the hospital gave me liquid beef soup- which I continued when I got home...bought canned stockpot soup (something i would never do pre sleeve!) and liquified the crap out of it! It hit the spot for savoury- they also served custard, jelly, ice cream, strawberry milk and tea. I had made a chicken broth at home, custard, jelly and had the Optifast too. Also bought pumpkin soup from wollies and tomato Soups. For fluids, I found that a teaspoon of juice in a bottle of Water made water go down just a little easier, had benefibre and green tea was great when friends dropped by for a cuppa. Hope this helps! I went to the dietician today- first time post op. found out for week 5 I was eating all wrong!! Still eating like I was in puréed and not eating enough Protein and Calcium. So now I have a much better idea of what I can now try to eat so am happy about that. Not happy I had to pay $140 for the pleasure- no Medicare rebate :-/ oh well. Next week I can start running again- super excited about this!! I was a runner before, averaging around 2k per day and 10k on week ends, but would never loose weight, only maintain it. If i stopped running I would put on weight....this is one of the main reason i had this surgery, exercise was never a problem but food wise i was clearly out of control. I can't wait to run and actually loose weight now!! I was 110kg when I competed in the 10k marathon...crazy!!

Hey Mimz, don't be too disappointed, time will pass quickly! I had to see a dietician, psychologist, exercise physiologist and the cardiologist for an ECG and have bloods done. This took around 3 weeks to do them all. Luckily all came back great and cardiologist was happy otherwise I would have had to have the exercise stress test and other things as well. My surgeon wanted me to do all these things and then make another appointment with him when he had all the results. Only then was he happy to make a date. But it's all for the good of your health!

Yay!! Lila that is some great news!!! I am so happy for you and you must feel so relieved as some good news for once! Plus 17kg down, shows how hard your body has been working to heal for you despite the extra kj they had you on. I hope you can go home as soon as possible and be with your family. Everyone is losing such great numbers, must be inspiring for all our pre- sleevers on here. I wonder how Bella86 is....I thought her surgery was Monday? If so I hope all went well bella and you are resting nicely!!

I have read on a few other threads that people swear by the compression suits and the like for saggy skin, and if nothing else it does give you a smoother silhouette! I haven't bought any but intend to at least the the running pants when I loose some more weight and I will need something to hold it all down when I start running again. Well Done Kelliv on starting some exercise! Don't feel guilty at all...you know yourself best and if you felt that concentrating on the food side was more important than that was the right decision. I took my girls to the park today and turned play into a circuit training session! They loved it too. I had a trainer for 4 years until this April, so exercise techniques are easy to recall. We had a great time, just doing light exercises like squats, lunges, sumo lunges, push ups, step ups and they did star jumps while I ran lightly on the spot. Plus the 45 mins round trip to the park and I'm pretty happy with today's exercise sesh! Lol.

Oh Puppyphat, I am in your shoes tonight. I feel aweful, ate too much too quickly and am now lying down in bed teetering on the edge of vomiting. I don't think I will vomit....but it's damn close :-/ I went to see the surgeon for my 4 week check up. Weighed in at 118- weighed in at 120 at home- asked to have his scales as they are much kinder!! So a loss of 16 kilos since I started pre op 6 weeks ago. He was very impressed and very happy with the healing. Im sure he would be shaking his head if he could see me in agony right now!! Aussiegirl thanks for your perspective and experiences. Interesting to read. At the moment I can make friends very easily and talk to anyone- I wonder if I will experience the same things as you? Like sue I imagined it would have been the other way around. I hear you on body image problems....I have already started researching the cost of reconstructive surgery and private health to bring down the cost. I can see skin heading south already!

Puppyphat, I have been lucky enough not to vomit as yet (touch wood) I hae however had moments where I have over done it by either eating too fast or too much. I feel so aweful I have to have a lay down to ease the feeling of wanting to vomit. At first I didn't want to do this because I thought it would make the food come up, but I found if I lay on my side and close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing I can get through it. I too am watching Jamie Oliver....how good was the first meal! Yum!! (sorry, please don't vomit!)

Yes congratulations Aussiegirl on such a wonderful achievement. And great questions Sue, I look forward to the answers as I too have wondered these things.

Breath!! It's ok! First, let's look at the positives- as mentioned before, you have taken the step in admitting that you are struggling and falling back into some old habits- that's great! Now we can work on a way of helping you through it. Now, I know it may seem either daunting or drastic but I personally would be heading back to the psychologist. They are an even ground to voice your fears, struggles and concerns to and they can give you tools and strategies to put in place when you start to feel overwhelmed or panicked or the old head hunger rears its fugly head. I know that you didn't spend all this money, time and put yourself and your body through all that hard work to start going backwards, that is why I would be hitting this head on, straight up. Second, breathe...yes, breathe! Trying yoga, meditation, or something that relaxes you can help keep your mind calm when you are feeling this conflicted and disappointed. It helps put the issues that you have in perspective and that helps to diminish the enormity of it to a more manageable feat. Thirdly then it's about getting back to basics. Going back to what u were eating 4-6 weeks out again, it may take a few days but u will fall back into good habits as you have done this already!! Remember, you have achieved this before, you CAN do this again. And of course- light exercises to bring you back to center again. Don't be too hard on yourself, there is absolutely nothing you can do about how you ate and drank yesterday, but there is something you can do about it right now-look ahead, learn from past behaviours but don't dwell on them, attack this from all angles and you will succeed!!! Sorry, long post, but I hope it was helpful. Best of luck to you!

I have mine too at the moment, so that could be a reason....u may find yourself under 100 in a few days time- when our bodies let go of all the fluid they are retaining. I think this too and fro with the weight will be the way my body balances out after each initial drop in weight- I feel frustrated too but I have to respect that this is the way our bodies are designed, so we don't just waste away during a famine.

Lila!! So good to hear from you!! Girl, you have been through the ringer:-( I am praying that you don't need another chest drain, I can't imagine the pain and stress you have been through, I eagerly await the day I can hear how much better you are feeling and reading all about your weightloss. Xxx

I'm currently staying in Coolangatta- just near the hospital- till tomorrow for my dads birthday, but I didn't want to go see her incase she didn't want any visitors so if you do see her please let her know we are all thinking of her and would love to visit when she is up to it!

My surgeon was also expecting to see a hernia when he went in- I only had indigestion for a few weeks prior to seeing him but he reported I had a rather large hernia and it took over an hour to repair- what was supposed to be a 60 minute operation was 130 minutes. I was not given any different instructions for it and I have 5 very neat incisions, which apparently is normal for a sleeve anyway? I have felt more tired than others report but that could also be due to other factors like calorie intake. It does seem to be very common and I'm sure you will be just fine.

In regards to shakes, I have an optifast every morning and a optifast dessert mousse at night. For myself I feel like I am not getting enough nutrience from food, I am on puréed but find eating difficult, so I add these in during the day to suppliment my intake. I am four weeks on Tuesday- wow that has gone fast! - so will be on soft foods. I feel I will be more confident to try different foods when I am on soft foods so I plan on reducing the optifast as I eat a better range of foods. (atm I am paranoid of over eating and causing a leak so I am not experimenting very much) But it is very much each to their own and everyone is different, you may find that you do not require or your dietician doesn't require you to be on the shakes.

Didn't someone say- I think it was Julie- that her name isn't Lila, it's something else? If you know her name, can you call up and say that you want to visit her and what ward is she on? Or the number for the phone next to her bed? I am hoping that she is just concentrating on getting well. Maybe she isn't in the frame of mind to read all the success stories on here when she is doing it tough...I know I would definitely have moments like that if I was in a similar situation.

Thanks Kelli, great advice and tips there. The exhaustion is getting to me the most! I am so tired all the time. Luckily my children are with my sister at the moment, the other day I slept till 2:30pm!!!! It was like 15 hours straight! I set my alarm for 7am every day but can't seem to even wake to hear the alarm. Waking at 9:30 like i have today is actually early for me and it shits me!! Maybe when the girls come back it will be easier to wake up. As I study from home and work part time I am eager to get over this before the start of next week when life returns to normal and I am off sick leave. I will start by changing up the food choices so thank u for your suggestions!