Shells_Almost_There

I haven't told many people about surgery, and I pre-planned my time off as a stay-cation for 3 weeks. Best 3 weeks of my adult life! I hadn't had a vacation in 4 years and well, it was like having the surgery was a bonus. No one questioned it at work (and they still haven't many weeks later) and everyone was happy to see me when I returned. Best decision ever.

The issue with questions like "Are you happy with the sleeve?" and "Would you do it again?" is that that people might read the responses and expect MY experience to be THEIR experience. I am thrilled with my sleeve, but Gelica's story above is a perfect example of the struggle and regret that some people have post-op. I've been on the sleeve web site for 9 months and have seen a large number of positive stories and a much smaller number of negative stories. Walking through the door of the hospital back on 9/16, I knew that I had good odds of having a positive story, but I had mentally prepared myself for the negatives (including death). That way, I felt as prepared as I could be and as determined as possible to go through with this momentous decision to have most of my stomach removed and live with whatever came after. Only you can decide what's best for you, and your experience could be completely unique as compared to those of us who've answered. That being said, good luck to you. Gelica, all the best to you - stay strong and keep fighting!

I'm curious about your height? I'm barely 5'4" and started 2013 close to 350 - I find that as a short person I have a harder time losing weight BUT as a very heavy person I lost a lot of weight initially after surgery. Since then, things have evened out. I look for 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss per week. It's slow going but still a loss and I'm loving it. As for my long-term goal, I already know that with my height I'd have to lose an incredible amount of weight to ever be in the "normal" range so that is not my goal. I like the number 199 because it's below 200 and for me, any weight between 170 and 199 and I really do look like a normal weight person. I don't know if you can relate to this, but I've always been bigger, even at 135 (sigh, those were the days) or 170. It's just the way I'm built. These days, I'm striving to lose the weight for my personal goals and my health/longevity, not for a medical chart in a doc's office or a particular BMI. If that means still being tagged as obese (and eventually "overweight"), I will shrug that off because those charts have never really applied to me. Besides, to be in the overweight category instead of (super) (morbidly) obese will be a major victory for me. To weigh 199 or less after a highest weight a few years back of 357 will be an enormous win. The sleeve has been the best decision I've made for myself!

Congrats! It only gets better as each day goes by.

I only told a crucial few and it's been a good choice for me. At this point, those who know about the surgery watch everything I put in my mouth and ask "can you eat that?" and it drives me bonkers (mostly I'm talking about my mother who I wish I hadn't told, but it was impossible to avoid. She is the food police now. Yuck). Thank god I didn't tell anyone else, I'd have to quit my job AND move to another country. LOL but seriously, it's a very personal decision and people have varying reasons to tell or not to tell. I'm just a super private person and no one needs to know my personal medical business. Good luck with your choice!

So happy for you - the big journey begins today!

Good morning! Is it better today? I hope so. Yeah, I had an "egg" under my large incision for a while, but it faded away. That spot is still tender though.

LOL, and this is why you're my favorite! As far as instructions, I totally agree. I think my take-away has been "our doctors all have different plans and rules, but that doesn't make my doctor any better or more right than yours," or something like that. I've been mentally compiling a list of all the things my surgeon does differently and I've come to the conclusion that she's quite liberal as far as pre/post op rules. Plus she's brilliant, so I just stick her to plan all the time!

So I've had something similar since about week 3 - but for me it's migrating pain near (and below) my incisions. The one that scared me was under my largest incision on the left. My doc's office says that it's all about healing around the staples, and how you are scarring on the inside. I frequently get a pain below my belly button if I wear pants with a button that sort of jabs me during the day (that's embarrassing to admit but I'm wearing my smaller clothes now because I'm excited they almost fit me! you understand LOL ) Anyway, you might want to call your surgeon's office to double check that all is well. I've had these weird pangs since about week 3 and they come and go. One day all is fine and the next my belly button hurts again. So bizarre. The PA called the lump under my largest incision a "surgical ridge" and said it would be tender as things heal over about 6 months. Hope you feel better soon!!

My surgeon had no pre-op diet, only a "liquids only" 1 day before surgery and nothing to eat or drink after midnight. I'm always fascinated to learn about the variance between surgeons and pre/post diet plans since it seems like there is no single rule to any of this.

Your local super market might sell "Better than broth." If not, it is available online. It saved my life during full liquids because the flavor was so much better than anything else I could find. I tried both the chicken and beef flavors and they were great. Good luck!

Go, you! It will be finished before you know it and you'll be walking and sipping, walking and sipping! Keep us updated.

"He said that the sleeve may stretch 3-5% over time but then it stops. He said it is like taking a t-shirt and cutting off a sleeve. You can stretch the sleeve but it will never be nearly as big as the shirt." This is really interesting information. In particular I like the sleeve/t-shirt analogy for the stretching concept that we hear a lot of misinformation about. Thanks!

I'm great - I'm grateful to have experienced such an easy post-op recovery. My surgeon was amazing and the office staff is super helpful when I have a question or concern. They never seem impatient with me or annoyed, which is nice. They know that for us, we had major surgery and bizarre things are going on with our insides. It's easy to psyche yourself out when you have a weird pang in your stomach area. So speaking of which, probably the weirdest thing for me has been the traveling twinges of odd "pain" as the staples heal over. One day, it's below my belly button - just this odd tight feeling - not quite pain but twinges of warning. Then a few days later it will be on my upper left. It's truly bizarre to think about what's going on in there as I heal. My largest incision, on the left side (it's about 2 inches long is all) actually had a lump at about week 3 that freaked me out a bit. It was a "surgical ridge" of scar tissue. It was very tender but is much better now. Other than that, it's all on me - if I eat the wrong thing, I pay for it. If I don't take Milk of Magnesia or some colace, I have terrible constipation. If I make bad decisions, my weight loss slows. I forget to drink Water, my lips get crazy chapped and again I don't lose weight. This list could go on and on. The way I see it, the surgeon did her work, and now it's all up to me! I'm a slow loser so far, and I couldn't be happier with my decision and my outcome. My overriding thought is how much I can't wait to be a full year out and really be reaping the benefits from this huge decision I made.

So true! Since surgery, going #2 is like an exciting life event because it's so infrequent now...I get very excited to weigh myself afterwards. Oh the things that make us happy...

Miss Mac's synopsis is quite good. I will add that they will ask you what surgery you are having a number of times. They do a lot of check and cross check. They will put heated blankets on you and will attach these massaging leg things (sorry I'm sure there's a technical term for it but I have no idea what it is) - they help prevent blot clots. An hour pre-op, I met 4 or 5 nurses, 3 anesthesia people, saw my surgeon and her PA multiple times. It's very busy. For my surgeon, the surgery is a 45 minute process, barring any complications or issues, like hernias, etc. After surgery, my experience was to wake up in my hospital room, with a nurse talking in my ear asking about my pain level. I actually shushed her (LOL) because my stomach felt like it was cramped up really tight. I could only whisper because loud noises seemed to make it worse. Anyway, once I came more fully out of the anesthesia, I was happy to be alive and was amazed at how great I felt despite the tummy/incision pain. The staff was amazing, checking on me, giving various drugs, and monitoring my drinking -- they immediately start you on Protein shakes in these tiny cups (1 ounce, I think) and monitor how much you drink for the entire time you are in your hospital room. At first it was difficult but then it got easier. My hospital actually has a white board in each room and they write your "goals" for discharge. As a former school teacher, I thought that was hilarious and pretty awesome too. Probably the worst thing for me was getting up and down out of the hospital bed (they want you to walk, and they measure your pee [ew]). The moment you use your core muscles...ouch! I had 5 incisions and there was one just above my belly button that was sewn so tightly the roll of flesh was sort of suspended over my belly button. That hurt pretty bad for the first 2 days - gravity + stitches = ouch. I felt extremely lucky to have zero gas pains, but be prepared with Gas-X strips because it's a common side effect post-op. Anyway, I checked out the next morning (once I met all my goals :-) ), and was at my house and recovering within a couple hours. I drank broth and protein and tried to not move too much for the first 2 days. Day 4 was probably the worst as far as pain in the tummy but then I think it was Day 5 I could finally stand up straight without incision/muscle pain in the tummy. By Day 7 things were really good and I slept in my bed for the first time (reclining couch was a lifesaver for me during the first week). Post-op, I had pretty bad insomnia - still do, really. I only took the strong pain meds for the first couple of days, then I relied on the children's Advil and Tylenol that my surgeon recommended. It was amazing how exponentially better things got after the first week. I hope this is helpful, and that all goes well for all of you getting surgery this month. While everyone's experiences are different and personal, it is nice to read about the step-by-step that some go through. Reading everything I could on this website is how I prepared myself mentally for the surgery, and I am really happy with my decision to have the sleeve done. Best of luck!

I appreciate this post so much. It's a bit easy to start feeling like a walking billboard for the surgery, especially when we sail right through without any major (or even minor) hiccups during/after surgery, then have nice steady weight loss that "speaks" for the procedure. I have a great friend who is just a few months from getting RNY and it's partly because I had VSG. She asks a lot of questions now that she is officially pre-op. I feel like I have to be so extremely cautious - I mean, it's 2 different surgeries (same surgeon though) and we aren't the same person. I am worried that she'll have an experience like your co-worker and she'll look to me for answers. I want her to sail through like I did, but it's not in my control. So, fingers crossed!

That's completely normal and expected...and could last for many weeks. Stick to your plan: Protein and Water. Track them and do your best to make your daily goal. Try to not obsess over the weight on the scale, because even in the stall most people lose inches like crazy.

I have told almost no one about my surgery - by the advice of the psych doctor (who had gastric bypass himself). What's annoying is the very few people who know will monitor and comment on what I eat which drives me nuts. I'm so thankful he advised me not to make my private decision too public - it has worked out pretty well for me. I was on a strict diet pre-op to qualify for surgery and people at work probably noticed my change in eating habits. Since surgery (I was on "vacation" ) I have slowly lost another 30 pounds and no one has said a word - my weight loss has been slow and natural. Maybe 3 people have noticed some slimming down and been nice about it. So, if anyone asks, I tell them I am "working with my doctor and a nutritionist and I'm on a high Protein, low carb diet." That's all they need to know and it's 100% true. No one has questioned me about it.

It's never too early to Celebrate, in my opinion, especially when you conquer something that gave you trouble in the past! I too have stayed "stuck" at certain weights and then slowly gained. I recently hit 299 and celebrated like mad (lowest weight since 2007!) and today I finally hit 290 (I swear that 9 pounds took forever) - to make 30 pounds off since surgery. I'm so excited for the next pound - haven't been in the 280s in a longggggg time. Keep it up! It only gets better from here!

I received a Prilosec prescription post-op, but didn't end up taking it very long because I had no acid (or hunger) issues at that point. My surgeon's office advised to take it if I ever had acid symptoms. So, around week 7 post-op, I suddenly started waking up with a terrible acidy stomach. So, now I'm taking it again. As for the miralax, yes, I would recommend finding something you can stand. At this point I have the Phillips brand magnesium caplets to help with this darn constipation. Good luck!

Yeah, things are still really messed up around here, which is a bummer. Under my name it says "pre-op" and for the life of me I can't figure out how to change it. Oh well at least my ticker is correct. I really miss the old, normal version of this website!

I started on gummies at 4 weeks post-op - I do Fiber Gummies and sub-lingual B12. My recommendation is to chew chew chew that gummy until it is practically a liquid and not sticky/chunky.

Protein goal and water goal is what it's all about at this stage - don't worry about calories yet!

I would chime in to also say no to the peppers. Veggies weren't allowed on my plan til week 4 (introducing solid foods slowly) - and even then it was a tiny amount of super soft veggies after my Protein - no tough veggies for a while. Soft egg is a lifesaver when you've been on mostly Protein shakes - have fun!