orthoman

I was a lousy sleeper before surgery and guess what? I'm STILL a lousy sleeper haha. At least the snoring is gone!

For me the tired thing was pretty much over by 4 weeks or so. But by then I was probably eating around 800 calories a day so I might want to try that...

I am finding that the further out I get from the surgery, the less problem I have with hunger. I experienced hunger way more often in the first month after surgery than I do now (currently I'm two months postoperative). Your mileage may vary

I'm an orthopedic surgeon and I didn't operate for two weeks postoperative. I just get my fluids in between cases because we have a good doctors lounge very close to the surgery area so food and liquids have never been far away...

I think what really happens is that after losing the belly you look down and go "oh my God I haven't seen YOU in a while!"

Guys - reality check here... I'm a guy, I started out at 260 and I'm 5'9" tall. Tomorrow will be my 6 week postoperative and I've lost about 26 pounds and I'm freakin' unbelievably HAPPY about it!!! When was the last time I lost 26 pounds in 6 weeks? Uhhhh let's try, NEVER? Losing over 20 pounds in under a few months is crazy unbelieveable, and all you guys should be head over heels happy about this!! It's really not physically possible to lose weight at a faster rate than this, unless you started out at 400 pounds or something like that. You can go on the Internet and find out how many calories a day are required to maintain your starting weight. Then of course you subtract what u are eating to get your deficit. Multiply that by thirty days, divide by 3500, and you get a really rough estimate of how many pounds you can expect to lose. But don't forget, the lighter you get, the lower your maintenance calories become, and thus the slower the weight loss gets. It seems most people here can expect to lose 5 to 10 pounds a month after the first few months of more rapid loss. Hang in there!

I know to stop eating when I start getting hiccups - I guess the stomach gets full very fast and then that stimulates the diaphragm. Now I totally get the term slider foods - stuff that is liquidy goes down so easily, but Protein fills me up almost immediately - like a chicken breast or a piece of beef. I have always been a fast eater but I've had to learn to slow it down because you've got to give yourself enough time to get the "full" feeling because if you go much past that, you are going to feel like throwing up if you much past that. You very quickly learn almost by instinct how much food you can handle before you reach that point - the sleeve "trains" you very quickly! I used to get that terrible "overstuffed" feeling with every meal, but now at 5 weeks out, I think I e got it down.

I was a diet coke ADDICT prior to surgery - I probably had up to six a day! Now I'm five weeks out and haven't had one - I remember taking a sip or two and being amazed at how much AIR they put in those things!! So far, I'm off diet cokes and pretty much off caffeine, and as far as I'm concerned I'd probably be better off if I never got back on to those things ever again. Well see how it goes...

Wow what a transformation! Did anyone ever file a missing person report for the old you?! You look like a different person completely.

Thank goodness I have all you guys telling me this is normal because it sure is annoying when you hit a plateau and you wonder if 23 pounds is all you r ever going to lose. It is always been a major HEAD game losing weight, and for me, stalls are a major reason why i would always fail at dieting. It was always so demoralizing I would just say, "f" it and start eating again!

I was sleeved on 12/28 and so far I'm down about 23 pounds. But I lost most of that in the first three weeks. For the last two weeks I've only lost about 2 pounds and its driving me crazy! I know about the three week stall and I hope that's all it is. I'm 5'9" and started out at 260, now at about 238, but the scale actually went UP a pound over the last few days which really kills me! Anyways, do these stalls break themselves? Do you have to exercise to break out of one? Do you have to go ultra low carb to break out of one? This stall is why I always failed at diets in the past - when they inevitably occur, it's just so demoralizing! This

I was so sick to my stomach after surgery it was crazy! But when I stopped the pain meds it all went away. I can't do narcotic pain meds - hope I don't ever REALLY need them!

The nerve really should not be a factor in the surgery. In fact , it keeps functioning after the surgery, which is why your stomach still produces acid afterwards...and why most surgeons recommend proton pump inhibitor for 3 months postoperative

I'm five weeks postoperative today and I have one portal incision that got a reaction to the suture, and so it formed the scab that was preventing it from forming granulation tissue at the base. So, I removed the eschar and put neosporin on it daily and covered it with bandaid so clothes wouldn't bother it, and it is slowly healing up fine, although it may leave a permanent slight depression. But hey, whatever, it's not like I was going to win a beauty contest anyways.

Yeah the nurse at the hospital weighed me the day after surgery and I was shocked to see I had gained 10 pounds - but I figures it was water weight, because by that time I was pissing like a racehorse into that nasty bedside jug o' pee. And like a week later, I had lost all that and another 10 pounds besides. Stay away from the scale for a week - you'll have a pleasant surprise.

Sleeved December the 28th. Down about 21 pounds so far . I hope i don't slow down

Sure r a lot of nurses here. I'm a doc and I was sleeved Friday December the 28th. I went back to seeing patients in the office the following Wednesday, but my office manager said I looked "yellow" and sickly. I did not operate for the first 2 weeks, and I think I was barely ready then. I thinks there something about working in the medical field that makes a lot of people overweight - I thinks it's the stress.

I was sleeved one month ago and so far I have lost about 20 pounds (started at 262, and I'm 5'9). Today i saw a pic of myself from last summer and I was soooo big! But I was not at my heaviest yet at that time - I was probably at 253 or so. Soo now in my mind my 20 pound loss has turned in to only 15 pounds from that picture. Anyways at 240 I have so much further to go!! And your mind plays all these head games with you, and I'm so glad I've got you guys to keep me sane. This journey is going to take a long time and I just have to settle in for the ride....

I'm 3.4 weeks out and I just had a half sandwich and it went down pretty well I was surprised!

The problem I have with all those drinks and sodas is I never realized how much AIR they put in those stupid carbonated drinks! I take one sip, and all that co2 just fills up my stomach. I think I'm kit gonna give all that up, and I'll be better off for it - consider another addiction conquered

I've been cursed by a gypsy to lose weight until I'm gone! I feel like I'm never going to be able to eat again! I was sleeved 3 weeks ago, and so far I've lost about 20 pounds, which Im happy about, but when does eating get easier? Every time I try to eat anything with any kind of texture to it. like Soup with a few chunks, I fill up so fast and it feels like the food it stuck in my throat and that I might upchuck. Today I tried to eat some green Beans, which went down ok, but when I tried some pork loin, that did me in. I'm about 5'9 and I started off at 260. Now I'm at about 240 which I'm thrilled about, but if this eating thing stays this hard, I'm going to be a pencil neck geek in a few months! I really don't want to get down to something ridiculous like 140 pounds. I don't want to weigh less than my 15 year old son! I still need to be able to kick his ass if necessary (kidding)! Come on people! I mean, when and how does your body reach some sort of equilibrium? And when does that happen for most people? Losing weight is awesome. Not being able to eat anything sucks!

James you and I started out at around the same weight. I can't even dare to dream of possibly getting down to 160 pounds like you - that's crazy-insane! I have'nt been anywhere close to that weight since high school! Truly do you realize how nuts that is? To go from 280 to 160 in FOUR months? REALLY? All I can say is, wow. I am not currently losing weight at a rate anything close to that. I'm at 20 pounds in 3 weeks. Good job, dude!

Well I'm a doctor so people I'm sure gossip about me all the time anyways. I told my partner about the surgery of course, and all the girls in my office know, and a few of the techs who assist me in surgery know, but I really have not made a point of telling everyone else that I am likely to come in contact with on a daily basis. I come in contact with tons of people every day of course. So, I'm not sure how Im going to handle it when people start asking. On some level, I feel embarrassed that I am a physician and I had to get this done to lose weight, but I truly had a problem, and I decided to get something done about it, because I was not having any luck losing weight by myself. So I have tried to keep level-headed about it, and tell myself, "Look, you have a medical problem, you tried all the conventional stuff without decent results, and if you kept on going at that weight, you were going to wind up with a bunch of medical problems." So, I went and got some help. And you know what? I'm glad I did. It's what I needed. But back to how to handle this when people start getting nosy. I don't want to lie, so I guess I'm going to tell the truth. Maybe I can use it as an opportunity to tell patients about what I did to address my weight problem. Because I am an orthopedic surgeon, I see lots of overweight people in my practice because their condition has caused them to have bad knee and hip arthritis, and now they need, or soon will need, a knee or hip replacement. I guess I'm deciding that Im just going to tell people if they ask. If they get judgmental, they can go jump in a lake, I guess. All I know is, I had a problem, I needed help solving it, so I finally got the help I needed. What's wrong with that? If that makes me weak in someone's eyes, I hope they never have a problem they need help with. No matter how great, how strong, how virtuous, how thin, how smart, or how wonderful a person thinks he or she is, that person always has a big problem or two, whether you are aware of it or not. Being a doctor has actually made me more humble, because I can tell you, we all wind up in the same place in the end! So while we are blessed to all be here, let's all help each other out, okay? Life is hard! We should help one another. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has an "Achilles Heel". We all have weaknesses, we all have "chinks" in our armor. Especially doctors! My best friend has always been fit and trim, and I have always been jealous, but he came down with lymphoma last year. (Thank God he is going to be fine) So don't go wishing you were someone else. We all have our own problems.

Yeah guys I shoulda known better - it wasn't dry or anything, but as I was eating the pork I loin I was thinking, "man this sure is dense" - yeah dense is a good word for that, Dean! I cannot currently foresee a day where I might enjoy a steak again! That may never happen. Dean - I cant believe you've lost 66 pounds in 10 weeks? That's insane!

I was a total diet coke addict prior to surgery. I am now 12 days out, and for some reason I just don't care that much anymore. I don't know if it is because I know it will be unpleasant - I was really surprised how much "air" they put in those drinks when I took a sip the other day!! I really have not had much caffeine since day of surgery but u know what? It would be great to be free from that addiction, too! I'm tired of all these big powerful food companies doing everything they possibly can to get us all addicted to their products!!!! I fell like this surgery is giving me the power to get all that stuff out of my life, and I guarantee ill be better off for it! I'm pretty sure it was not in Gods plan for me to drink 6 Diet Cokes a day!