sharonintx

Yep - it happened to me too. Then about every other week there is a stall for a while then a couple pounds will finally drop off. I wanted it to be faster and more consistent but I'll take what I can get. keep the faith!

Woohoo knowledge! You look awesome. Thanks for sharing the pics. It made a Friday evening a whole lot better:)

Me too!! Just this morning I got on the scale to find a number 1 as the first number instead of a 2! It was extremely awesome:) Congratulations to you!

We've discussed this in many threads. It's not that fun dealing with the emotions that come along post op. I thought I'd go out on a limb and share some of mine and see if anyone else has experienced the same. I wasn't prepared for the emotions. I haven't enjoyed them at all. This is what has happened in my case. Understanding the food part has been easy. I like food, its been my friend, and depriving myself of it and the comfort it brought me has been a major adjustment. Not fun but knowing how my own mind works I can grasp it and move forward. Not so easy to grasp is how this emotional merry-go-round has made me think of my entire life spent as the fat girl, the names I was called in school, the dates I never went on, the men in my life that I allowed to tear down my self esteem even more, and the great deal of time I have let myself waste because of these things. Why? Why did I have to be the fat kid? Why did I let anyone influence the way I felt about myself? Why did I choose food as my escape instead of something more productive? Why have I raised my children to always recognize their own value and teach them that they are special and can be anything they want to be and not teach myself the same things? These are the things that are hard to understand. Yep - its too late to change the past. I see that I can change my future and know I have to do it. Facing these issues is way harder than having an operation or changing my eating habits. I'm and doing it day by day but it sure is hard to face the cold, hard truth. I was the unattractive fat kid growing up that got picked on. I was the one that let others knock me down even more. And now I'm the one who can change everything and finally see myself as someone worthy of being beautiful and successful. What a wild ride. I'll ride it though and see where I land.

Spirit Airlines - DFW to SanDiego - $240 total round trip

Yes! Every day. It's so hard to break old patterns of eating. Last night I had about 3 minutes to grab some food before I had to leave the house. Picked up a rib, crammed it down, and spent the rest of the evening wondering if I would explode.

Hey Mike. I can tell you firsthand that its not the easy way out at all. Its easier to get full - a lot easier. But the same diet issues still arise. What you eat, when you eat, and the emotional changes are very much like a regular diet. It is a lot easier to follow your chosen diet plan because most of your stomach is gone and the hormones that indicate hunger are gone too. But the want to is still in your mind. You still have to overcome the same desires for food. The thing is - if any of us were going to do it on our on with regular diet and exercise, we would have done it already. I'm about to be 47 too. I've been on a diet lots of times. Lost weight then gained it back. Then gained some more. This is the last diet I'll have to be on. I got this surgery to give myself no choice in portion size and self control. It works pretty good too:)

Thank you bombshell. It would just be great if some of the others could possibly grasp what you are saying. Unfortunately I think they may be unable to analyze themselves as well as they can analyze others.

That really bites! I can only imagine how disappointed you are. The good news is this - your dr's office is highly motivated to get you approved. A doctor may be the most caring, giving person in the world but the motivating factor is still money. They like to make money especially with the inflated prices they charge to insurance companies. Hang in there! I'd be willing to bet they find a way to get you approved.

That's way cool Fiddleman. I hope you have the best vacation ever:) Hawaii is definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

I must have a sleeve of steel too. Pasta doesn't bother me at all. The only things that have caused trouble are very rich sweets or restaurant food that seems to be infused with lard or some other offending ingredient. Its always amazing to me how different everyone's experiences are with the sleeve.

Oh can the ridiculousness just stop? Be supportive or be quiet. Don't call someone out on their opinion unless they have addressed you personally. Your anger and self righteous indignation does not impress too many people. Your long winded analysis of another persons mental state is irrelevant. If yours is the only "correct" opinion then keep it to yourself. If you are going to respond in a manner that suggests your educational level is superior then think again. No one came here to be judged. No one wants to see belittling comments or explanations of Freudian theory. Wanna call me out on this post? Go ahead. I'm not impressed by you either. Be polite or just shut up.

Hey Frankie. Congratulations on making the decision to change your life. I understand your concerns and agree that having an operation to remove the biggest part of your stomach is a scary one. I can only speak from my own experience, but what I can tell you is this - There are certainly risks with any surgery and the sleeve is no exception. The risk factor is small especially when compared to the benefits. To take the risk or not is a very personal decision that only you can make. I do know that the risk of dying or developing complications from the sleeve procedure is very small when you consider the very real consequences of living the rest of your life as obese. That's why all of us are here. Recovery from the surgery is different for everyone but most will say its not so bad. The biggest issue that is guaranteed for everyone is changing your relationship with food. It will start with your pre op diet. You will learn right away that its not fun to change. Change is necessary yes, but that doesn't make it enjoyable. After surgery your real journey begins. You will have no choice except change because your body can no longer hold more than a few ounces and the simple act of putting food in your mouth and chewing it is completely new. You just can't do it like you did before. The emotions that run rampant post op are very real and hard to deal with. You will have to face your demons head on in a way you never did before. But face them you will and overcoming them is not optional. Having said all this, I can also tell you that when you see the pounds melt away and feel your body changing even more emotions appear. Except these are joyful emotions that only us fat folks can understand. Its like a dream that you never thought you could have. As an extra benefit you will become healthy. If I had to give a moral of the story I would say don't fear the surgery. Its the least of your worries. Make sure you understand the changes you will make post op. Then make them. Its a gift to yourself that will make you not only thinner and healthier physically, but healthier emotionally. That in itself is worth taking a chance. Let us know your progress and I wish you the very best:)

You look just awesome! Congratulations and thanks for sharing some inspiration:)

Ask your Dr of course, but you should be fine. I was actually in the tattoo shop 5 days before surgery. I was just about to sit in the chair when it dawned on me how soon the surgery would be. I asked the tattoo guy and we decided to wait in fear of them refusing to operate because the tattoo would still be new and healing. So I got it 3 weeks post op. I would think a couple weeks would be plenty of healing time but check with the Drs office anyway. It would suck to have to reschedule you sleeve!

You go girl! No I didn't get much sleep the night before. I was too apprehensive. I hope you have a good trip and and an easy surgery and recovery. Let us know how it's going!

It took me nearly 4 weeks until the fluid retention was gone. Just ridiculous. But it finally went away. I was sure happy about it too.

Yeah me too. I wonder why it had to come to this for me to maintain any weight loss I ever had. Thinking of all the times I lost it only to have it come back plus some. Why wasn't I strong enough to make it on my own? I just don't know. Before the surgery I was angry with myself and disgusted at the same time. Right after surgery I was a little mad too. It has taken several weeks for me to get a grip. Now I understand that I wasn't disgusting after all, just an emotional eater and genetically predisposed to obesity. You should see my father's side of the family! Good lord its like a fat-o-rama with those people. You'll make it Molly I promise. The 1st few weeks are the biggest adjustment and oh what an adjustment it is. You'll get thru it just fine and come out with a better understanding of yourself. It really is a journey. A journey of losing weight and also of digging real deep emotionally and finding out what you are made of. Don't be afraid of who you'll uncover. She is strong, healthy, and beautiful:)

haha - hunkier works. Congratulations and I hope you morph into the hunkiest of them all.

It's ironic isn't it? We want this surgery for many reasons including making ourselves unable to eat too much or compulsively, then we get apprehensive and even angry about it after we get what we asked for. Just human nature I guess. I remember immediately post op I would see someone eating something that I wanted. I secretly hoped they choked on it. Then the self pity set in and I just felt like I would never smile again. But I did. It is indeed a rocky road to get to the acceptance stage and finally contentment or happiness.. By all means prepare yourself for an emotional journey. It'll be ok though. You will run thru every emotion imaginable and finally come to terms with it. And by then you will be looking at girl in the mirror who seems to be shrinking before your eyes:)

A couple women's laxatives a couple times a week.

Hi Molly. I'm taking 2 Zantac a day. I never had this problem before. Now if I forget the Zanatc I know it right away. What a nuisance.

My stomach, which has shrunk a lot lately, is all jiggly and disgusting. Before I lost any weight it was bigger but firmer. Now it's like a wiggling bowl of Jello. Eeewww.

Yeah. It happened to me too. I also got a weird sensation under the incisions that felt like an electric shock of some kind. I was told that it was nerve endings growing back together. I would just be doing whatever and suddenly it felt like someone gave me a poke with some kind of electric thing and I would jump because it surprised me. My kids found this to be very funny.

Sure. That may make them a little less distasteful:)