JayhawkJess33

I think it was almost two weeks till I could sleep in a bed, and even then I had to be careful about my position and put a pillow under my stomach. I had a JP drain in for a week and it is an extra hassle for sure. I have a very marshmallow type couch and I was very comfortable sleeping on that after about 5-6 days but still couldn't rest in a bed. Hang in there - it gets better quickly after that first week or two!!!

You look beautiful! Keep rockin it! I hope to be where you are when I get to 4 1/2 months out (am 7 weeks postop now)!! Thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks Gman! I just got a new iPad and have a skin for it so we at least can avoid dropping it but this sounds like something I would really like - will check it out!

I am happy with my decision to have the surgery and I am pretty happy with the total amount of lbs/inches I have lost. However, I am very frustrated with my current rate of loss. I had a teeny little mini-stall at 2 weeks postop and broke on through it within about 4 days (so I'm not sure I could really call it a stall). Now I am 5 weeks out and haven't lost (actually have gained) ANYTHING in almost 2 weeks. Maybe this is more my stall than the first one was? I am working really hard to get in my calories and protein and getting in all my fluids. I go to the gym every morning at 530 for 45 minutes to an hour. I know this is probably my body adjusting and getting used to the new lifestyle but it is so disheartening. Can some of you tell me what a typical day's food is like for you as well as exercise? I'm trying so hard and have just gotten started - I didn't think it would get this difficult to take off the lbs. this soon....would love any tips or encouragement!

favoredone - that is interesting! I am anxious to try and figure out where my body's "happy calorie number" is! Thanks for sharing yours! It really is interesting, isn't it?? That is really interesting Jay! I would love to believe that actually because I stress about it! ha Most days if I don't really try, I get in around 500-600 calories and feel good with that mostly. But then I think about what the nut said and I start stressing about how to get in enough to keep losing. Dorrie, I think you are totally right - its a lifelong journey and I will get there.......It's just hard in the moment. I think I fully realized it would slow way down after a while - I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. But I also know I am trying/working hard so it should happen. I irrationally sometimes think that I will just stay where I am now and my body won't let me lose any more but I know that is silly. Thanks so much for the encouragement

Thanks Dorrie!!! I will definitely check it out - I appreciate you sharing!

VERY good points! Thanks! I am really glad to know I'm not the only one this seems to happen to You are SPOT ON with the comment about the weights you stall at being the weights you have stayed at for longer periods of time in the past. I am currently stalled at the lower end of where I have been a few times over the past few years and its like my body is just hanging on, not wanting to break past that. I am tracking every single thing I put in my mouth on myfitnesspal.com - I have a guide from my nutritionist on calorie/protein intake, etc.... I have the opposite problem as it sounds like you do. I have struggled to get in enough calories for my body not to go into starvation mode and I first thought that was the problem, but even when I manage to get in my "minimum" number of calories, I'm still not losing. Probably just my body trying to adjust I suppose. My nut told me I should not go below 900 calories or I won't lose - well yesterday was the first day since surgery that I actually manage to get over 900 calories and 72 g of Protein. I felt like my carbs were too high though. The sodium thing is something I hadn't considered and may be a factor - its so hard to balance it all at the same time! I stepped on the scale this morning and had gone up about 2 1/2 lbs. so that does suggest Water retention so this is a very real possibility. I haven't done any weight lifting as of yet. I am rotating between treadmill, elliptical and recumbent bike right now. I have taken my measurements twice since surgery - the first time they went down dramatically when I was still losing fast and the second time was last week and there was only a small difference. I'm still happy with that but you know how it wears on you to know you are working so hard and paid all this money and it FEELS like you aren't getting anywhere at the moment....... Thank you VERY much for the post - it was a great help and pointed out things I hadn't thought of! Exactly why I love this board!

I looooove the pintos n cheese! I had them twice during my mushy phase. I could eat about 1/3 of them so I stretched them for 2-3 "meals". I was about 2 weeks postop the first time I tried them and they went down easy. I think I could probably eat a little more than 1/3 of them now but maybe not 1/2 and I am 4 weeks out today. I am still figuring out the full thing too - its not a completely distinct feeling for me but I am starting to notice little things that I *think* mean that I am either full or going too fast.

I (and my husband) only want to know when this might kick in for me!!!! LOL - I have had hardly any sex drive at all for the last couple of years and I am really hoping my sleeve/weight loss will get back what I used to have!!! Congrats to you

I am SO OVER Protein shakes. I can hardly stand to choke them down and they usually make me feel icky afterward for a while. I am wondering how soon I can try to get protein in with Protein Bars instead. I will be 4 weeks postop tomorrow and can start on soft regular food then. I have been mostly blending food during my puree/mushies stage but I have just mashed some things with a fork and chewed really well also and have done great. I have had no problems with any food. I know protein bars are pretty dense so I wasn't sure how they would go down but would like to know when you all started having them. Lissa, I know you said you use protein bars on the go sometimes - when did you start?

Great! Thanks so much everybody! I'm glad to know I am not alone in hating the shakes I'm really trying hard to get in all my Protein and calories and it is a real challenge for me - I'm hoping I will have a little better time with the bars . I bought 3 different kinds to try when I get ready. Carol, where did you find the diet Protein To Go bars? That seems to be a little lower in carbs than a lot of them I have looked at - I would like to try them!

Thanks! I have my next postop checkup next Monday with my surgeon and I will just ask them then - I'm not in that big a rush to try them Especially since I can start regular foods tomorrow, I can probably get in more protein than I have been.

Awesome! I am almost a month out as well and chugging right along - loving my sleeve! Keep rockin the sleeve - what a great start!

Great job! I think you look younger already!

I feel amazing today! I am 3 weeks postop today and am down 35 lbs. from my highest weight (287), 21 since surgery day (273). I had a stall of sorts for almost a week but the scale is moving again now (252). My incisions are completely healed and really feel like I never had surgery, except for the lack of hunger and the tiny amounts I can eat I am still on purees for another week and am doing great - everything has really gone down quite well, I just get full really fast. I am getting in liquids just fine and still struggling to get enough calories and Protein, but working on it every day. I've been hitting the gym since last week and doing just cardio for now - elliptical and treadmill. I am still able to wear most of the same clothes I started in (mostly size 20) but they are getting really baggy and feel way different and TODAY I put on a top (size 14/16!!) I bought quite a while back to "shrink into" and it fits! It is just a stretchy knit top and isn't super loose but with my shapewear (ha!) I feel comfortable and confident in it and that hasn't happened to me for AGES! I am by no means in a 14/16 in pants (I think I am solidly in an 18 now) but I will take what I can get, considering I am only a fraction of the way to my goal weight I think this is just one of many wonderful days to come and I just cannot say how happy I am that I took this huge step for myself and my family - I would recommend the sleeve to anyone contemplating WLS!

I am 33 and started with a BMI of 40.2. I was sleeved on 3/20 and have lost 20 lbs. since surgery day, 34 from my highest weight. I had a one week preop liquid diet. My BMI is now 36.2 at 3 weeks out!

For me, every swallow gurgled at the beginning and I thought it was annoying as well. Mine only last about 1 1/2- 2 weeks and now I don't really ever have it (I'm just 3 weeks postop tomorrow). Not sure if it might be related to swelling of the stomach after surgery or something? I have heard other people say they still have it further out.

I didn't have staples from my sleeve surgery but I have had 3 c-sections and had a big row of them for each of those - they aren't bad at all to have removed. They used a removal tool that bends them up on both sides at the same time so its really quick and you don't feel much. As far as the drain removal, I did have a drain for my sleeve surgery and had it removed 1 week postop. It was a completely weird feeling like nothing else I have had. Mine was a little bit uncomfortable but it was done so fast I hardly had time to register the feeling. I have heard others describe it like the drop you get when you ride a roller coaster but it didn't feel quite like that to me. Plus, I was so glad to be rid of the drain after a week, any weird sensation would have been worth it! ha Good luck to you - you will be just fine!

I was sleeved 3/20 and hit my slow-down (I hesitate to call it a stall with me because I was still going down about .2 lbs every couple of days and it only lasted about a week for me. Now I seem to have passed that and am going down again. Sounds like you are perfectly normal and doing great!

I am two weeks post op today and am very pleased with how I feel and how much I have lost total. That being said, I have pretty much stopped losing now and I am pretty sure its because I am not taking in enough calories and also struggling to get in my protein (most days I am ending the day with between 300-500 cals). I need some ideas about getting my calorie count up, especially since I plan to start going to the gym tomorrow as I am cleared for cardio and light strength training now. I know if I am already not netting enough calories, burning a few hundred at the gym isn't going to help things. I am still on mushies/purees for two more weeks and have been trying a wider variety of things but since I can't eat much at a time, its tough to get a lot of calories/protein in. I can choke down one protein shake a day but many of them send me to the bathroom within half an hour so I try to be careful and not have more than one a day (plus, I am SO sick of them). Tell me what you guys do to get in enough calories in the mushies stage!

I'm also struggling with this........Not much appeals to me and I could easily not eat anything for much of the day every day. I'm trying really hard to get in what I know I am supposed to but am having a hard time. Although I don't regret my decision for one minute, it is frustrating to only be able to take in a few bites and be finished. I am lucky enough to actually be liking water MORE than I did before surgery and fluid intake is the only thing that is not a problem for me. I am doing great on getting in my water but struggling mostly with getting in enough calories and it is showing on the scale now. I am not losing now and know that is probably the reason. Hang in there, you aren't alone

I walked a ton in the hospital and actually asked too the first time because the nurses hadn't come and gotten me up to walk - it was about 4-5 hours after surgery I think. I buzzed them and asked and they said, "SURE!" So I used the bathroom and then just took right off. I just wheeled my IV pole with me anytime I wanted to go walk and that was fine (also gave me something to hold on to when I was a little shaky the first couple of times.

12 days.....very carefully. My husband thought he was going to croak waiting even that long. YEESH.

I think you are fine. My incisions healed very fast and my surgeon removed all SteriStrips at my one week postop appt. he also removed my drain at this appointment and told me the hole would close up within about two days and when that happened, it was fine to go in the pool or bath. He was right on and in two days my drain wound was completely scabbed over and I took a bath the next day. Since then, I have taken one almost every day - I love my hot baths too! I am a fast healer but at 11 days postop, I am pretty much completely back to normal and my incisions look like they are months old, not a week and a half. Btw, I am a Kansas girl transplanted to Florida. Hope you are getting along well after surgery!