dustin551

Just wanted to see if anyone else feels this way post surgery. One of the things I had always done when eating out prior to surgery is that I would look at the menu and make decisions about what I would order based on how much food I thought I would get. It was the quantity that was most important. It didn't matter if it was something I might have liked the taste of as much as whether it would fill me up. It actually took some time after surgery to get to where I was out of this mindset. But now, it is really liberating to sit down and know that I can't eat like that even if I wanted to, so I now can focus on the quality and taste when in choosing what to order. For example, my favorite item might be ceviche or something like that, but I never would have ordered it presurgery because it was a small plate of food. It's very liberating now. It was amazing when I realized that i was actually stressing about whether something was going to be enough for me.

I'm scheduled for surgery, but I'm still awaiting approval. I have BCBS of IL which I was told approves very quickly. It's been a week so far and I thought it would take 24 hours. I have a 44 bmi and severe sleep apnea (the worst my doc had ever seen) and borderline high blood pressure, as well as reflux. My surgery is not scheduled at one of the blue centers, but I'm only $3k from my max out of pocket for the year. I would probably self pay if I got denied, but I'd rather use insurance. Should I be concerned that I'll be denied?

Believe it or not, the drain being pulled before I went home was the worst part for me. They didn't warn me it would hurt when they pulled it out. They just said "take a deep breath". It took about three seconds, but damn. Ow.

That first stall will last 2-3 weeks. What you are feeling is totally normal. I posted something similar at two weeks out. You can't fail with this. You'll see. I'd tell you to put the scale away, but I still haven't been able to do it. I like weighing myself every day.

I was sleeved 8 weeks ago and I'm down 50 lbs. I've been in a stall for almost two weeks now however (I actually hit 50 lbs lost at 6 weeks). Love my sleeve! Here is my pic the day before surgery and my after is from a couple of days ago when we were on the Virgin Islands. I haven't been exercising at all so I need to get on that, however.

I had my surgery one month ago yesterday. 5 weeks ago, I began my one week liquid diet at 338 lbs, my highest weight. I weighed 330 the day I got home from the hospital. Today, the scale read 296. That's 42 lbs total in 5 weeks. It definitely comes off in waves. I had a week and a half stall at two weeks where I was at 306 forever. Then I dropped to 300 in a couple of days and stayed there for almost a week. Finally broke through that yesterday. It seems like I'll go about a week and then suddenly the scale will move dramatically. I know some people will say that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day, but it kind of becomes an addiction.

Unfortunately, I haven't been exercising at all. Might have been even better if i had. Strangely enough, I seem to lose better when I eat "normal" soft foods compared to just Protein shakes, yogurt, Soup, etc. What I mean is, even if it has a decent amount of carbs, as long as I only have a bite or two, I do much better. I'm convinced that what broke my least stall is that I had a few bites of some over-cooked rice. My calories are around 800 per day.

I'd highly recommend you begin using Morton Lite Salt if you aren't already. It has a good amount of potassium, which will help to keep your water weight down. Try it for a week. Even if you don't have a meal where you would use salt, pour a small amount in the palm of your hand and eat it once per day. It will also help if you are having leg cramps or headaches.

Premiere Protien Shakes from Costco. If you look at convenience and the amount of protein you get (30g) for the calories (160), I think they are the best bet.

In my experience, head hunger starts to lessen a few weeks out when you can start having bits of (almost) normal food. My wife makes meals where I can eat something that everyone else is having. And when we go out, it's nice to be able to eat something at the restaurant. You are far more satisfied. We went to a buffet yesterday and while it was a waste of money, it was nice that I could have some variety. I was satisfied for the rest of the day just from going to a normal brunch. It's amazing how satisfied you can feel with the sleeve. I used to worry that not being able to eat a whole plate of food would bother me- like I would be missing something. But it isn't that way at all.

If you are in the Kansas City area, be sure to visit Downtown Diner in Olathe. They have a bariatric menu. Just had breakfast there and it was great. The owner Rich had sleeve surgery a couple of years ago and dropped 125 lbs. He was really frustrated that restaurants wouldn't let him order off the kids menu so he decided to come up with a solution when he opened his own place.

I lost 27 lbs my first two weeks and then stalled for a week and a half. I felt the same way. I thought I was doing something wrong. I just stuck with it, keeping my calories around 700 per day, and suddenly I've lost 6 lbs in the past couple of days. For me, adding some additional carbs did it.

I'm in the same boat. I was sleeved a few days after you were and I lost about 25 lbs the first two weeks but have been stuck for a week and a half. I'm definitely not getting the water intake I need so I'm trying to step that up as well

I bought my first batch of vitamins from my surgeon's office (Fusion vitamins). Then I got a bariatric food catalog and found out I paid twice what they cost in the catalog. Anyone else have this happen? Kind of ridiculous.

I was sleeved two weeks ago today. I had a one week liquid diet prior to that. In those three weeks, I've lost 32 lbs. I'm getting around 700 calories per day right now the day. The protien shakes are a decent chunk of that. I'm a big guy, so I'm sure I burn quite a bit during the day. But for the past 3 days, I've been stuck at the same weight. Everyone says that you stall 3 to 4 weeks out, but I assumed that was after the surgery (not counting the liquid diet). So I'm stalling after 2 weeks. Anybody else stall this early? I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong because I just started to add some really soft foods in, but my calories are always right around 700/day. Thanks

I got sleeved at KC Bariatric as well. I had Dr. Hamilton. My surgery and post op has gone extremely well. I'm two weeks postop today. By day 4 after surgery I felt great. You'll be glad you went to KC Bariatric. They take great care of you. The nurses are fantastic.

During my follow up this week, my surgeon told me not to take a b12 sublingual and to instead take a b complex vitamin. He said that b12 isn't as big a concern as getting B1.

My surgery was two weeks ago tomorrow. I weighed 327 on my surgery date. I weighed 305 this morning. Highest weight was 338 which was three weeks ago today (I took off 11 lbs in my one week preop diet).

I can honestly tell you that it was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. And if you have some sort of fear that you will never enjoy food again, don't. You are going to be amazed to how quickly you will adapt.

I was sleeved one week ago today. I had a one week liquid diet prior to surgery where I lost 11 pounds. But I've also lost another 15 pounds in the last 7 days since surgery. If someone had told me a while back that I'd lose 26 lbs in 2 weeks, I wouldn't have believed it. Not being hungry is a bit weird. I'm still on liquids, and I've been really good about getting my Protein shakes in, until today. I had a small amount of Malt-o-meal for Breakfast (this is allowed by my surgeon from day 3 after surgery) and I had such a busy day at work that I realized I hadn't had anything else all day. I never even thought about it all day. (Not that this is necessarily a good thing!) I only have a bit of pain if I forget and try to sit up in bed instead of roll over. The incisions no longer hurt. I've never been nauseous. Never vomited at all since being sleeved. My point of all this is, I'm loving this sleeve already. And it has only been one week!

My surgery was last week- 8/5. When I got home the next day, I weighed 330lbs. Some of that was surely Water weight, but...when I weighed myself this morning I was at 308. That's 22 lbs lost in 9 days, and 30 lbs in 16 days (counting my one week liquid diet). I had my follow up a couple of days ago but my doctor didn't even look at my weight, just telling me not to worry about paying attention to it for a couple of months. I'm getting about 600 calories a day right now. I feel great, have plenty of energy, etc, but wondering how healthy it is to lose so fast.

Well, I never thought it would happen, but it finally did. I was sleeved early on Monday morning. Just some observations for those that might not have had surgery yet. 1. You probably won't remember when you went to sleep. My surgeon gave me some anti-anxiety drug through my IV, not because I was anxious, but it is standard procedure. Apparently I was saying some pretty funny stuff that I don't remember before they gave me the drug that puts me to sleep. I remember (vaugely) being wheeled back to the operating room but I don't remember when I passed out. 2. I was really worried about being sick and nauseous after surgery. I'm not sure if it was drugs that they gave me, but I wasn't nauseous even one time. 3. I didn't feel any pain while I was lying still in the bed in the hospital. There was pain when I moved, but I really didn't have to use much of the morphine pump for the 24 hours or so that I was in the hospital after the procedure. 4. The only really painful part for me was when they pulled out the drain above my stomach right before I left. It feels really freaky and hurts like hell for about 3 seconds. 5. My surgery was at 8:15am on Monday and I left the hospital at about 11am the following day. I went back to work the next morning. Note that I don't recommend this, and it was only because I have a desk job that I did this. But I really felt kind of lousy all day because I started to get sore in the belly area. Soreness will increase after you leave the hospital, but only for a couple of days (at least in my case) 6. Make sure you have an enema kit on hand for 2-3 days after you get out. The morphine will make you even more constipated than the liquid diet did. I had to use an enema when it was finally time to go. Not a great experience. 7. You're going to have to sleep on your back for the first few days. I'm a side sleeper, but I couldn't go more than a couple of minutes on my side before it got painful. If you have sleep apnea and haven't been using your cpap, you'd better break it out again because sleeping on your back makes the apnea worse. 8. On Wednesday, I realized that I couldn't take two sips of Water within 30 seconds. If I did, the second sip would stop right above my stomach and sit there for a few seconds before it finally went through. And it didn't feel good while it was sitting there. 9. It is very strange to not be physically hungry. I'm definitely still "head hungry" where if I see a cheeseburger or something I definitely would love to have a bite, but if I stay busy, I would never even think to eat. I've still got swelling so I don't know if it will always be that way, but it sure is nice at the moment. 10. I was a smoker before this, but I stopped a few days before surgery. I know I was supposed to stop before that, but I cheated regularly. I will say that I don't have a desire to smoke after the surgery, and not just because it is dangerous to do so right after. It seems like the body having to adjust without food is also helping me to adjust to not smoking. 11. On the morning when I left for the hospital, I weighed 327 lbs. When I got home, I weighed 330 lbs. This is because of all the IV fluids you get in the hospital. On Tuesday evening, after being out of the hospital for half a day, I weighed 322. I literally peed out 8 pounds of Fluid in a few hours. This morning (Friday), I weighed 318 lbs. I had a one week liquid diet before surgery. So: 11 days ago: 338lbs After one week on liquids (surgery date): 327 Today (4 days post op): 318 That's 20 lbs in 11 days. Yay! That level of weight loss won't last but it is nice at the moment.

There are certainly those who worry about our having the surgery because they fear for us. There's another group that worry that it will affect our relationship with them in a negative way (usually the spouse). The last group are those who have taken a secret comfort in the fact that we're fatter than them and don't want that to change. Some don't even realise it. I would imagine that sometimes it forces others to confront their own fear and procrastination about their own health when they see a friend or family member take this step.

Make sure you avoid using a straw...

8/5 for me too!