Shells_Almost_There

I will hit my 11-month mark this week, and I basically have no restriction - and haven't had for months. It has been extremely frustrating. I still want to lose 80 more pounds and it is a real struggle. There are so many people like Georgia above who still have restriction,and I sure wish I was one of them. People always say that this surgery is a tool, and wow, they are truly correct. I had 4 months of an awesome diet without hunger before it started to be like pre-surgery - and that's when my new struggle began. While I really appreciated those 4 months of "help" from the surgery, I thought I would be like most people and have a longer honeymoon period. And of course, I thought my small stomach would continue to have restriction for years to prevent overeating! So I say this, as my own personal experience, but in no way do I want to discourage you from surgery! That may sound contradictory, but it's so true. I would do it all again in a heartbeat! Many people feel restriction for a long time. Many people's hunger never returns or is very minor when it returns...and there are many more benefits that you hear about. Despite my frustration and disappointment that I am not one of those people, I would still have the surgery because it got me this far. The rest just has to be up to me. Good luck with your journey.

I don't think it will halt your surgery, but I will say surgery will make it worse. Be certain to get a prescription for the Clotrimazole before you leave because the antibiotics during/after surgery will cause it to flare up even more. I hope you have a great surgery day!

Sounds like you have made up your mind and know what you are doing -- go for it! Mini-rant aside, it's good to know some of the uphill challenges you might have post-op (like the "I told you so's" ) and work past those towards your own goals. Best of luck on Wednesday! You'll soon be on the loser's bench again.

Go for it! I am consistently the largest person at the gym that I joined 2 months ago. While there are the usual "look me up and down with that judgmental look of disgust" people from time to time, the overall feeling and attitude is super positive. Do what you need to do for you and to heck with the rest!!

Thanks for this post! I am mystified by the calorie indicators on most of my tools. Today, for example, I did 20 minutes of moderate elliptical ("jog") and 45 minutes of recumbent elliptical, again, moderate. The machines told me based on my weight and age that I burned 451 calories for that 65 minutes. My Fitbit said I burned 1,170 calories (please note that it only picked up "38 active minutes"). Add onto that my Spark People fitness minutes - they say I burned 900. So which is it? This is just too crazy for me - I just assume I've burned enough to eat my 210 calorie Atkins pretzel bar, which I count as a "treat" each day.

"Better than Bouillon" was a lifesaver during liquids phase - the beef and chicken are both great tasting.

As already mentioned, food bill way down but clothing bill way up. I like having this issue!

I'm sad to say that I got slammed pretty hard by my surgeon during a recent follow up for doing this. Apparently Atkins is high protein/high fat and my post-op diet is supposed to be high protein/low fat (obviously this is my program and not everybody else's)... It really sucked because I thought I was doing pretty good on the nutritional guidelines, but I guess not! I did change up my diet (as instructed) and it broke the stall I was in, but now I'm in another one. So frustrating. Congrats on your amazing success, btw! That's so awesome!

I have just had an ultrasound as well, after having weird right side pain, and it looks like I have gallstones that aren't inflamed. So in a couple weeks I have a consult with a surgeon to see if I need surgery (I'm 100% certain she will say that it's time for a quick outpatient procedure) - I'm irritated that I've been religiously taking the Ursodiol since surgery and it didn't work! I really don't want a 3rd surgery in a year's time (I had knee surgery a couple months ago), but I don't want to have an attack either - sounds very painful!

When I experience dumping, it is absolutely because I either had too much fat or too much sugar (or both). I suggest reading labels as a great place to start. For example, eliminating the candy and the pb is a great plan, but also check on the sugar content of the raisins, applesauce and the granola - you might be consuming more sugar than you realize, which could be contributing to the dumping. It's the little things that tend to trip me up, so maybe the same thing is happening to you. Good luck!

Excellent post! I actually left the site and took a nice long break because so many of the recent arrivals were being really nasty when provided with answers they didn't want to hear, and so many vets who I really liked had left out of frustration. I recently decided to give the site another chance, since it was so helpful for me pre-op and during my first couple of months post op. I find myself needing a community of support again, and am happy to see that a number of the users who were being vicious back then seem to be gone Thanks to all those uber-patient vets who are still here, handing out solid advice and reason!!! (I'm specifically looking at you, @RJ'S/beginning !)

I looked at getting the bariatric bear, but ended up using a stuffed bunny that I already had. Definitely helpful to have a pillow/stuffed animal to help you through the early phase when standing up hurts like mad, and to create barrier between the sore tummy and the seatbelt on the way home.

Although this video talks about bypass/band, the concept is exactly what my surgeon told me about this prior to getting my sleeve done. Her rule is no drinking 30 minutes before and 30 to 45 minutes after I eat. The demo starts at 1:54. Hope it helps!

@@BigGirlPanties sorry, I just saw your message! Let me get the box and all the stuff and figure that out!

Just checking in on what you plan to use it for? (Protein smoothies, etc?) I spent about $150 on one of these pre-op, thinking I would use it post-op, and never used it a single time! it's in my garage sale pile now. I guess it all depends on your plans for meals in the first 6 weeks or so after surgery (seems like every surgeon's plan is different in this regard), but I was on liquids for a few weeks and never used a blender other than the hand/shake blenders I'd been using pre-op. Between the RTD shakes, my broth and other shakes, I ended up not needing any kind of specialized machine. Once I moved to mushies, I still didn't need a blender. That being said, if you plan to juice, or get really creative with the drinks, a blender like this might come in handy. Just some "food" for thought!

As mentioned, please consider going to a psych person that is recommended by your surgeon's office. My surgeon has 6 nearby psych people who specialize in the eval of people getting ready for WLS and they are open to continue seeing patients before and after surgery. it's nice to have that choice! The guy I went to had a recumbent bike work station and has had RnY himself - I really liked him. Sorry that this happened, but I hope that you can take some additional steps and be back on your way to surgery! Good luck!

I too have been struggling. I'm at 9 months tomorrow and have been stuck for 10 weeks. It has been total hell, and like Gomekast says, an absolute mind game. Ritz crackers and my favorite Chex Mix just seemed to jump into my shopping cart week after week. So, I met with my surgeon this week and she really nailed me on everything - it was harsh, painful, and really embarrassing. Once I got over how horrible she made me feel, I realized I needed to take back control of this journey. So I'm on track- at least for the last few days - and have even managed to lose a couple of pounds. Plan your work, and work your plan, friends! We can do this!

Although this didn't happen to me, someone on my surgery team (maybe the PA? Can't remember now) warned me that I might have a sore throat after a couple of days, because of intubation for the anesthesia. I would say that if it's not better by Monday or Tuesday, give your surgeon's office a call to check that all is well. Good luck!

Hydrocodone freaks me out - I feel like I'm floating on the ceiling and then I have crazy dreams for a couple of hours. I swear, that is not a pain med for me, it's a psychedelic!

My doc and nut were quite lenient about the alcohol consumption during the weeks after surgery, so at about 4 weeks out, I had 3 or 4 sips of wine for my birthday. I didn't feel any effect until the 4th sip. I experimented gently from 1 month out to about 6 months out, never drinking much, being very cautious. This is going to sound strange, but while the alcohol barely had an effect back then, now at 9 months, it is really affecting me. I went wine tasting last Sunday, and I couldn't finish even my 3rd sip because I was feeling it. (And I do mean a sip - I always ask for half pours and I don't gulp it all, since I know it will go to my head ). So weird. I think it's strange that it would affect me more now than early out, but there it is. We go wine tasting pretty often, so I will continue to be really careful with it.

I thought I'd follow up to say that my surgeon basically kicked my butt during my appointment. Listing off all the things I'm obviously doing wrong, etc etc. It was painful. But once I got over my hurt feelings and had a little pity party of one, I got back on track on Friday and today. Tracked my stats closely and added exercise, and my weight is down in just 2 days. This was just the shot in the arm that I needed to break out of the doldrums and start working my plan once again, with purpose. The last thing I want to do is waste this awesome opportunity!

I'm almost to my 9 month surgiversary and I'm in the 10th week of a stall from Hell! It's a nightmare. I was already a slow loser, but I kept losing despite it being at a snail's pace. This stall, on the other hand, feels like the hardest thing I've ever had to overcome. Sure, I'm not gaining weight, but I'm SO frustrated, it's driving me insane. Each week I think I'll find that magical thing to break the stall, but nothing dietary has worked yet. Today I'm checking in at my surgeon's office, so I will ask the awesome staff there. Then this afternoon, I'm checking in with a trainer, to see what to do to jump start my workouts. Fingers crossed that something clicks and my body realizes that I AM GOING TO WIN THIS BATTLE. Seriously.

@@hrhlaurie I had the same reaction - allergy to the glue, I think. The itchiness about drove me crazy but it doesn't last too long, luckily. Everyone, hang in there - it will pass.

Ah, yes, the sneezing, the hiccuping, the burping! I burped a lot when I started on solid food. Sometimes I still do the burping thing, but my new symptom is a really loud and squeaky hiccup. It's really embarrassing when I do it at work. It can be even 20 minutes after I've eaten. All is well, then suddenly... "HIC!" - the hiccuping didn't start until at least month 5 post op. So embarrassing.

On my first WW attempt (at age 21), I went from about 187 to 163. I'm not very tall, and I'm pretty built (big boobs, large thighs, etc) When I lost that weight back then, I felt really good about how I looked, although a number of people said I looked "too skinny" (which I found so funny at the time - I definitely wasn't "skinny"!) -- fast forward 25 years and I have in my head that the 165 area might be a nice weight for me. I have my goal weight listed here as 199, but that's more to be below 200 than anything else. Once I hit 199, my focus will turn to my long-term health and what my body tells me to do next. I would love to weigh somewhere between 160 and 185 again! Regardless of what my final weight ends up being, I really look forward to the healthiness of that next chapter of my life. I sure wish I could speed this darn process up! As for sizes, I'm happy to fit into whatever looks good at my new weight! I can't wait to shop the smaller sizes...