Fixerupper

I was initially scheduled for gastric bypass ( I initially wanted sleeve but I had reflux that was not being controlled). I cancelled two days before surgery. I got scared and decided I could lose weight on my own. I put on twenty pounds pretty quickly and scheduled an appointment with my surgeon. We talked about my fears, developed a plan for addressing my reflux, and scheduled sleeve surgery. you have to do this in your own time. But, I am so glad I did. That feeling of powerlessness and helplessness is gone. I am 3 months out and down 47 pounds from my pre-sleeve weight at this point. It is so to have this tool and see things moving in the right direction.

I had surgery on Thursday and went back to work on Monday. My husband drove me and I have a private office where I can shut the door and lay down for a bit during the day and I did do that a little during the first few days. I think I was back up to par in about a week.

I bounce up at least two pounds and hold there for two weeks.

I was given pudding in the hospital. I could easy a lot more of that than other foods.

That actually sounds weird that they are telling someone they have reflux who has no symptoms (no burning? no cough?) and even stranger that it would prevent you from being sleeved. My reflux involved vomiting multiple times a day. I think you should get a second opinion.

I was initially scheduled for RNY because of my reflux although I wanted the sleeve. My reflux was horrible. I chickened out of my RNY two days before surgery and met with my surgeon. We talked a lot about the sleeve and he told me there was a chance my reflux would worsen but that it was not guaranteed. I have been sleeved now for three months and my reflux is actually better. I still have it and I do still have to take my PPI everyday but if I do that and avoid eating right before lying down it is very manageable. I think the hernia they repaired during my sleeve surgery may have had something to do with it as well. My surgeon told me that if my reflux was worse after sleeve it could be revised to an RNY although I really didn't want anymore surgeries. It's a hard decision and I wish you the best of luck! I still have the RNY talk app on my phone and still check in with the group I would have been with from time to time

Why would you not be welcome here? There are people here in every stage of the process.

Thanks ArtSong. Love that name by the way. I do feel like it is good weight loss and I am happy to be heading in the right direction. But, most of my fellow May sleevers are moving along at a much quicker pace

Thank you Cheri! I got to 199 for one day then back up to 200 for two weeks! Finally down to 197 from 240 on May 16. So 43 pounds down. Not exactly where I hoped to be at my there month mark but I'll take it.

This frustrated me to no end. I realized that it was making me overeat because I knew I probably wouldn't get anymore of something I really liked. My husband is a night owl and well eat everything while I'm asleep. I explained to him nicely once that he was sabotaging my weight loss and he's pretty good. Now I just say "touch my food and I'll kill you! "

Week three stall. Totally normal. Almost everyone of us gets it. Don't worry it will pass. You're body is rebalancing.

Thank you so much for posting this. The covered are ridiculous and what certainly feels like real hunger!

Hello and welcome! Sounds like you're doing great!

You're welcome. I have two suggestions: 1. Start a closed or private facebook group for people who were sleeved the same month as you. Most of our group still comes here to get wisdom from the vets and to share our experience with people newer than ourselves (we're still pretty new too . But, my FB group is a lifesaver. Often we hit stalls at the same time, emotional issues, etc... or someone a week or two before me can say "Hey my stall just broke finally!" It is so helpful to have a group at a similar stage and they will become some of your closest friends. 2. Chart your weight loss through fatsecret or some other website or app. I know now that I only lose weight every other week at the most. If I lose 3-5 pounds one week then I will almost certainly not lose the following week and may even bounce back up as much as two pounds but I can see from that chart that my weight will continue to go down if I am on program. Seeing this pattern gives me great comfort those weeks that nothing comes off because I know I just need to hang on for a bit and not give up. Hope this is helpful. hang in there!

Geez guys if someone wants to ask a question let them. Those of us who don't mind answering multiple times will. If you do then just scroll on by. Sometimes when you're going through this it just helps to reach out and have someone reach back in real time.

I have heard of band over plication which would be somewhat similar. The problem I see is that the purpose of the band is to restrict and limit calories when it is working properly. Since you are already doing that how does your doctor expect the band to help? Perhaps there is something going on that makes you someone who truly needs a malabsorptive procedure? Also as someone who suffered terribly with the band I say ask your doctor what happens if that band slips and erodes the little bit of stomach you have left? Not as uncommon as they'd like you to believe. Where would that leave you in terms of options? I agree you need a docs opinion but maybe a couple of them.

The is a week three stall for many of us. It seems to be the body rebalancing. It will pass. It hit me too.

FYI - relaxed my hair yesterday. It had been ten weeks and I couldn't wait any longer. I was so scared it would all fall out but everything was fine. I use no lye regular strength.

I had one and it actually gave me a weird kind of comfort. I could look at that drain everyday and have some reassurance that I didn't have a leak or an infection. It is a little cumbersome but I went to work with mine and nobody even knew. Mine was taken out after a week and I didn't even know the doctor had done it. I was still holding my breath waiting for him to pull it out.

You look great! You don't even have batwings! I was 5'6" and 240 to start. I would love to see 140 again.

Good for you! Great attitude!

I had reflux and a hernia before my sleeve. It was horrible causing me to throw up a lot. I am ten week post op and I still have reflux but it is not as bad. In fact, as long as I don't forget to take my PPI I have no symptoms at all. If I do forget the reflux causes a gnawing and burning sensation. One of the reasons I went ahead with my sleeve was because it can be converted later to bypass if the reflux is unmanageable. I'm hoping I'll be able to come off the ppi in a few months and everything will be fine. But for now at least, it is very manageable.

I'm May 16 and down 40 pounds post op so pretty close. I have a 2 pound bounce EVERY SINGLE TIME I LOSE! SO FRUSTRATING! And, I only lose weight every other week. One week I lose sometimes up to five pounds then the next week the bounce ending in 0-1 pounds that week. My body just seems to need to do this to rebalance. I'm not changing anything from week to week. I do enter my weight on fatsecret everyday almost and that little chart lets me know 1)my weight is trending down despite the little bumps so it is okay and 2)I am in a week when I am likely to bounce or not lose. Being able to see those two things helps keep me from going crazy.

Yes. A lot of people are hungry in the liquid phase.

This happened to me a lot in my first few weeks and then one day it just didn't happen anymore. I took Gas-X and Tylenol and found that it helped some. I'm just over nine weeks out now and it hasn't happened in a long time.