Carly4HandinSD

Thank you both I am by no means giving up... I'm just worried that in 3 weeks the only thing thats happened is I've gained a pound, have this gurgling stomach and have swollen ankles.. I am not taking a PPI, when I call my Dr maybe they can just help me without me having to go in... the swollen ankles really concern me more than anything else.. because the only part of me that was ever skinny were my legs in the past LOL.

I haven't tried anything yet, I just want something chewable. I am on solids now and am 4 weeks out I think it is more stress of being back at work LoL. I have some tums just wasn't sure if they were ok. Thanks for the answers

I went back to work yesterday and seems like my stomach is more bubbly eating at work then it is at home. It's weird.. but I was wondering are we able to take tums after being sleeved? I'm so scared to take anything like that and I haven't had a call back from my Dr.'s office yet.

I am 4 weeks out and even though my outside is healed and not sore, my stomach still is. If I do too much I get a pain right on my left side where my stomach is. It is different for everyone and their healing process, but just take it easy.. don't push yourself too hard. Just take the time you need to heal, rather than push it and end up hurting yourself

My stall is now going on 2 weeks and I seem to have gained a pound.. I don't know how that is even possible being the amount I eat. I hope it doesn't last too much longer! I know it is normal, but it can be frustrating when you are doing everything right. I just have to hang in there and will be relieved when the number starts going down again

I thought the same thing about soup... My nut said eating before filsl your stomach leaving less room for the good you need, leading you to think you are full when y ou are full on liquids versus on food which can lead you to get hungry sooner, same thing for drinking after it can wash the food through faster. My nut said to not each 2 hours before you go to bed.. also not to lay down within an hour of eating it helps with digestion and heartburn and such...

Wow! Congrats on your loss so far! I have lost 35 in my first month (just hit my 4 weeks Friday) and still have about 180 to go. It is a long journey ahead but it is so worth it. I love reading about people who have a similar amount as me that they want to loose, because it makes me feel like I am not out there alone! Keep up the great work, 100 pounds in 4 months is amazing! I hope to follow in your footsteps

I usually warm up 1/4 cup at a time, that way I dont have the whole bowl in front of me. I usually warm it up in a coffee mug, and it for some reason seems easier to kind of drink it out of a mug then eat it off a spoon..

I just joined myfitness pal about a week ago, I don't know how to add people on it yet.. guess I haven't taken the time to try and figure it out... so please add me I would love to be in on this! My name on it is Carly4Hand

Yes, it is so great! I haven't found anything not in there yet. You can set up your own daily goals so you can input your calories, protein and all that. Makes tracking so much easier and it's a free app

Im in my first stall now and today I am exactly 4 weeks out.. It started this week and hasn't stopped yet. I think it is partly because I am on solid foods now so even though I am still not even reaching my 800 calories a day my body is getting use to solids again after being on liquids for a month... I hear a lot of people have one around week 3 and it usually lasts for a week. I'm hoping that is the case and mine will be over soon.. I've already lost 35 pounds since surgery so I guess a stall isn't going to hurt me..

It's what you can use to track all your daily food, liquid and activities, it tracks all your calories, protein, fat, carbs and sugars for you.... its a very helpful tool that I just have on my phone so I can check things before I eat them.

I was just thinking the same thing! I don't know how to add people on it though

I don't get cold sweats or feel nausea, however after I eat I always get cold! I feel find after eating but I just get cold with goose bumps! I get it no matter what I eat or if I eat slow or not.. it's really strange.

Thank you everyone for the kind and encouraging words It truly is a life changing decision. I am thankful everyday that I wake up that this is the journey I am taking now!

So.....this is me and my journey of what brought me to where I am today.... This blog may make you laugh, smile and even cry.. but I just want everyone to see who I am and what brought me to this amazing experience... As of today I am 29 years old and 35 pounds lighter than I was a month ago... but what got me to the point of having to have the sleeve? Well let me lay it out for you... I have always been fat...from the day I was came into this world I always had more padding than was needed! My parents and sisters are both extra fluffy as well so growing up I didn't realize how different I was or what I was missing out on or not doing because of my weight because being around my family I seemed normal...I never really got teased in school for my weight, there were occasional times where kids would tease me..one time I walked past a girls desk and she started shaking like there was an earthquake. I grew up in Arizona where there aren't earthquakes, the thing is she was the same size as me so I tried not to let it bother me. Then there was the time when I wore a red shirt and kids called me the kool-aid man. After that I started wearing blacks, grays, browns, darker colors that never really brought attention to myself.. wow I just realized as I wrote that why I tend to still to this day wear those colors and shy away from anything bright! In middle school my mom had me do weight watchers in the summer, I lost a good amount of weight, but I was still chunky, by the end of the school year I had gained it all back and then some. The thing is, I still wasn't bothered by my weight. Boys were interested in me and had been since the 4th grade, but that probably was because I was the only 4th grade girl that was already a full B cup.. In high school I always had a boyfriend, it seemed that was not an issue that my weight let get in the way. There were even times when I had a few boys interested in me at once, by the end of high school I was already in a size 18/20. But that didn't seem to bother me or stop me from doing anything. My weight was something I felt would never stop me from doing what I wanted. I was happy and that is all that mattered. I started college and the same thing, still had boys interested in me. Met boys in classes and made me feel like there wasn't anything wrong with my weight. I always heard people say oh boys won't like you because of your weight, but to me it wasn't an issue. I seemed to be the serial fat girl dater. After a few years of the college life I decided to move away from my family and all I knew in Arizona. It was time to branch out and I felt as though I was going no where in this town... So I packed up my car and moved to San Diego at the age of 21. A city that I loved, though didn't know a single soul in. A big move for this girl who actually was shy! You wouldn't have guessed that with all that you've read so far, I bet So I started a new job, had my own place and that's when I realized that being fat, was being fat and there was nothing good about it. Living in California and a beach city to top it off there were beautiful girls everywhere. Going to the beach I felt like a beached whale and that everyone stared at me... but then again I started meeting men.. they were interested in me and I thought wow if they are interested in me and there are those barbie girls out there then I am doing ok. I did start to work out and eat a little healthier, tried to get into the California lifestyle.. But even working out and eating right didn't seem to matter my weight stayed the same and eventually I gained more and more. I had a few serious relationships, one right after another and they all loved me for me and thought I was beautiful no matter what size I was. I was always told I had such a pretty face, so again never let my weight get to me. I've done walks and the more weight I gained the more the simple things became harder... I would determine if I would go somewhere based on how far I had to walk, if there were stairs, how crowded it was. I wouldn't go to a restaurant unless I knew there were tables instead of booths for the fear of not being able to fit into a booth.. Now I mention that the men I date were not fat, they were in good shape some in great shape with six packs! I really started to become self conscious of who I was, what I looked like and who I had let myself become. My older sister had the lapband, lost a lot of weight but then had issues with the band and is slowly gaining the weight back. I started doing boxing and kickboxing at a boxing gym and loved it. I struggled but made it through every single hour long class! Weight loss surgery has been something that I've thought about, but always thought I know I can lose the weight without it.. it will be my last resort! Then I met this new guy,... and we fell in love and got married! Going on just over a year right now. He is amazing, but he is fit, very active and health minded. That didn't seem to bother him, he always told me I was beautiful and loved me no matter what.. Then we decided we wanted to have children.. the thing is I hadn't had a period in years... I mean probably since I was in high school and college... and now I was 27 years old. I know what needs to happen to have babies... I was scared to tell him that I didn't have one and that I knew right now I would not be able to get pregnant. I so went to my OBGYN and started talking to her. She put me on medication to force me to have periods every 3 months... it worked, but still I was not ovulating. So she sent me to an endocrinologist.. and there is where I realized for one of the very first times in my life being fat is taking something from my life that I wanted so badly. So they found out I had PCOS, a condition you get being overweight that causes you to resist insulin, you don't ovulate you don't get your monthly cycle. I felt like I was the only woman in the world who wanted to have regular periods every month! So they put me on medication for it to help me lose weight and get my cycles back.. well I never happened. I was thinking about weight loss surgery again, after all it would get me in the best position to have children the fastest. But I was worried too.. what if it doesn't work? Then I have tried every option possible and I am still left fat and childless... then will my husband still love me? Then the true nightmare began... as I mentioned my entire family was over weight. Well as the years went on my mother was extremely overweight. She was 55 and struggling so much she was in a scooter..... my mother became very ill very fast.. she went to work on A thursday and became so ill that Saturday my dad took her to the ER. By the time I got into town, I knew I was going to lose my mother. Sunday morning at about 5 am my mother passed away. Her weight was the factor, they thought she had arthritis, which is why her back hurt and she had a scooter. Turns out it was kidney failure, and my mother had an infection and became septic. There was nothing that they could do for her in the hospital. My sister and I lost our mother, our father lost his wife, my grandmother lost her daughter and her siblings lost their sister.. because of weight. That scared me because I was heading down the same path.. was that could to be me in 30 years? This happened June of 2012.. Then I had a dream a few night later... We were all back at the hospital and my mom was laying on the bed, she suddenly woke up and said, " Now that I'm ok, we all need to work on getting healthy". That was my breaking point, my vow to do whatever I had to do to live a long healthy life. So I went to my Dr and said I want to do surgery, I went to the seminars and decided that I wanted to do the vertical sleeve. It was the best option and I have a little over 200 pounds to loose.. I was ready and willing to sacrifice anything to get my life on track. Being that I had already been going to the weight loss center I only had 2 more months until I could qualify through insurance since they required 6 months of visits.. So two months later my surgery date was set for Sept 14th, 2012. And I was ready. Insurance approval went through easy and I was set! Surgery day came and I still didn't feel like it was going to happen. My surgery went amazing, no complications I was on the table an hour. My recovery was just as great, I was discharged the next day by noon. I was at one of the best hospitals possible so I knew the care I was getting was what I needed. Now here I am almost 4 weeks later and 35 pounds lighter. THis was the best decision of my life and I don't regret it. The only thing I regret is not doing it sooner. Maybe even sooner so maybe my mom would get to see how life changing it was and maybe make the decision to do something about it herself.. then maybe just maybe I would still have a mom... As today marks 4 months from the day she was taken from us all too soon.. So next time I think that being fat doesn't mean anything, I will think again because to me fat is no longer an option or a lifestyle.. it is going to be the old me, the me who really didn't think about what it was doing to me or my family.. Fat made me who I am today and without being this way I probably wouldn't have met my husband, but it also took my mother from me... So here is to the start of the new non-fat me... seeing where this journey takes me. I know that wherever it does I will not be needing to ask for a seatbelt extender any longer

Hey All, Just wondering at what weeks you experienced your first weight loss stalls? I know it happens to everyone, but I'm about 3 1/2 weeks out and have not lost anything this week. I was sleeved on Sept 14th and have lost 35 pounds so far which is great, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. I'm just seeing what it is like for everyone and if anyone else had one this early. I'm wondering if it could be because I started more solid food this week?

I wouldn't worry about it.. I was 356 going into surgery.. they gave me blood thinners before and after surgery. I didn't have any blood clot disorder. I did have to get the cardiologist clearance because I have a high heart rate all the time. I only had to do a 5 day liquid diet prior to surgery because it helps shrink your liver and make surgery easier. My surgery only took an hour and I had no complications, only had one night in the hospital. You will be just fine, I think the more you worry the more bad things you imagine can happen. My dr said this is a pretty safe surgery, yes you will have pain, but you will recover much sooner than anything you mentioned above. Stay positive, having a positive outlook is key! Good luck

Glad to hear that its just not me on week 3. I am being super patient, just wondering if this was normal or not But it seems week 3 is a stall for a lot of people. Thanks

I took 4 weeks off work. While I only have an office job I've never had surgery before. I needed the time to heal becuase my job can be very stressful. Trying to heal and be stressed out about work would just lead to me getting sick and that is a big no no right now. Plus, my Dr. recommended it. I do feel like I could have gone back after about 2 weeks, I just get tired so easily. I went to my cardiologist on Friday and he took me off my blood pressure medication becuase it was too low! I've never had that issue of it being to low! I am not able to get in protein, only about 40 a day and maybe hitting 400 calories a day. I'm working up on it everyday though. It's a lot harder, but the results are what matters, our health is what matters. I have a lot to go still. About 180 pounds I want to lose, but would be happy with another 150 which is what my Dr would also be happy with. Good luck on your blood work

I had surgery on the 14th and so far so good. I only had to stay one night in the hospital and haven't had any problems. I was sore the first few days, but I slept proped up on the couch with my feet on an ottoman. I have a very tall king size bed so it was impossible for me to even try to get in it. I had my first follow up yesterday and it went great. I was walking the day of surgery, they didn't take my cath out until right before I was going to be discharged, then I had to pee a certain amount before they would let me go, which I had no problems doing. I did have a drain and when they pulled it out it felt like a worm was crawling across my belly under my skin, weirdest thing ever! Everyone is different and reacts different to the surgery. I was nervous becuase I had never had surgery before. Mine took about an hour, I was worried becuase I am a lot bigger than a lot of people I've known to have this surgery. But I"m doing great and already down 33 pounds! Monday I get to start semi-solid foods! So anyone who just had surgery or is about to, hang in there, once you get past the pain you will see how much it is worth it. I was second guessing my decision right until i was rolled into the OR and the next few days after. But now 2 weeks later I know it was the best decision of my life

Hey Everyone! Sorry I hadn't responded until now. I've been since surgery. I had a great surgery experience. I was sleeved on Sept 14th and was home by noon on the 15th. I had no coomplications and the care I received at Scripps Green was great! I am about 2 1/2 weeks out and alrady lost 33 pounds. I had my first follow up yesterday with Dr. Fuller and the dietician Janet Nash. They are both really great, very helpful. I am on pureed foods, but starting next week I was given the ok to go to stage 4, and start some solids. I did have to get the unfalvored Protein powder becuase I am having a hard time getting protein in. The shakes just make my stomach hurt at the smell of them. I have tried so many and they all do the same thing. Other than that I'm doing great, haven't had any issues. Which is surprising because of everything I read its not uncommon to have some issues. Hope everyone is doing well Keep me updated on your journey!!

So exciting to find people with the same date!! Good luck to you as well

I am having my done in San Diego. My best friend had it done in Mexicali about 6 months ago. If my insurance wasn't going to approve me that is what I was going to do. I will be at SCripps Green hospital, I am using Dr. William Fuller.