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I would suggest having a drink or two in the "Safety " of your own home before going out on the town. Like trying any new thing postop, you never know how your body will react. You want to make sure you won't puke or dump. You also want to gauge how alcohol affects you now. So many people report how they get tipsy on just a little bit. I was looking forward to that. But nope, I can still out drink a football team. My alcohol tolerance followed me into postop life.

Ditto to what everyone says. In the beginning, shakes are the only way you will be able to get in enough Protein. As you get farther out you will be able to get more and more in via solid food. My doctor had no rules about when or even if to stop protein shakes. Just to get in at least 60g protein and minimum 64oz Water. I'm over 9 months post op, 11 pounds under goal and I still have a protein smoothie every day. I don't count or track anything, but I know my smoothie has at 30-40g protein and 24-32oz liquid (and 8-10g Fiber which I need for constipation issues). I am taking care of almost 1/2 of my water and protein requirements in one drink so I can concentrate on other things the rest of the day. Getting my protein this way also allows me to eat more fruits, veggies and whole grains/fiber instead of just filling up on protein at every meal. I truly believe a balanced diet is important for long term health. And Beni is right, the protein drinks don't fill me up, only solid food does that. But I always eat when I'm hungry and just until satisfied, not full. So far this has been a very easy plan to stick to. There are dozens of different "rules" and plans out there. Just find what works for you..postop life is not a one size fits all. Good luck to you!

I used unjury unflavored Protein powder both pre and post op. Mixed it with chicken broth, beef broth, Swansons Tortilla soup base, Chinese Hot and Sour soup base, strained miso and wonton soup broths. When I was on full liquids postop I also mixed the Protein Powder with diluted strained cream Soups.....shrimp, mushroom, tomato, asparagus, lobster bisque, butternut squash, etc. The best Way found was to mix the protein powder with a tiny bit of Water in a Blender Bottle first. Then stir the protein slurry into the soup. Make sure it is not over 140 or it will clump. Soups were a welcome change from the sweet shakes and warm felt better on my healing sleeve.

Yes, you will be able to do it. I have always carried my weight in my legs and butt. Even as a fit ski instructor in my 20's I gad a hard time finding boots that would fit over my huge cankles. I can now pull on any boot I see. I went from 238 to 139, and lost a lot more circumference in my legs than I ever imagined I could. In fact, I was fitting into regular boots 30 pounds ago. It's so cool!

Everyone 's surgeon has a different plan...what are your instructions? 1 did 16 days of 3 Protein shakes /day plus unlimited leafy green veggies (spinach, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts). I could substitute broth with unflavored Protein powder added for one of the shakes. I think I was allowed SF Jello but never had any. I made Popsicles out of Protein drinks for a treat. Drank lots of Water. Lost 22 pounds in 16 days and had a smooth easy recovery from surgery.

I get my vitamins from the local whole food store but they are also available from Amazon online. I order all my protein powders, quest bars, Torani syrups and fiber supplements from Amazon, GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe websites. Unjury I get directly from their website.

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Follow your pre and post op diets to a T. They are designed for your health and safety. You will feel very empowered with confidence once you make it through without cheating. Don't weigh yourself everyday. In fact, twice/month for the first 3 months is plenty . It will save you the frustration of stalls. If you stick to the meal plan you WILL lose weight. Measure your success by NSV's, how your clothes fit, and how you feel. Stick with thrift stores until your weight stabilizes or you will be out a lot of $$$$. Eat until you are satisfied, not full.

For my feet and ankles and knees to not hurt all day at work.....check! Crossing my legs....check! To wear size 12 jeans....check! (actually in 7's now) Swing up into my saddle without needing a rock or log to stand on....check! Go hiking again without feeling like my lungs are bleeding....check! The only goal I've really got left is to stay this way for the rest of my life.....

I would love the links to the reports of leaks and infections you found. I had surgery at OCC and like Slvrsax, had wonderful care and great followup. I recommend them all the time, so I'd like to include the bad with the good when I do. And, BTW, Dr. Ariel Ortiz did not report a 0% complication rate when I spoke with him before surgery. I think the figure he gave me was 0.1% in the 12,000 bariatric surgeries he's performed (including bypass, band, VSG, and plication). I didn't ask him specifically about his VSG stats.

You have to realize you are less than 2 weeks out from a MAJOR surgery. You have to be patient and give yourself time to heal. Would you expect to be playing basketball 2 weeks after a knee replacement? You can't expect your stomach to be "performing" normally quite yet. As for the exhaustion, you are operating on very few calories which means less energy. I actually found I was a lot less tired once I started adding carbs (blended peaches, mangos, bananas, etc ) in my Protein shakes. Using milk instead of Water to mix my shakes also helped because dairy has a decent amount of carbs. I have never treated carbs or fat as the "enemy". A well balanced postop diet has worked great for me. And yes, of course it gets better.

HW 238 SW 216 CW 139 TPL 99 TGP 88 Down 2 more pounds....despite my best attempts to stop losing. I'm sure I might piss someone off, but seriously, This week I had mac and cheese, a bacon cheeseburger with guacamole and mayo and fries (took me 2 days, but I did it!), bagel chips, pretzels, cheese popcorn, blueberry muffins, pancakes with butter and syrup, mikes hard lemonade, hard cider, and corn bread with honey. I make my Protein shakes with 2% milk and eat a lot of fatty foods....4% cottage cheese, bacon, Peanut Butter, avocados, and at least a 1/2 cup mixed nuts with craisins everyday. It's a lot of work to eat this much!! I really really want to stop losing.

I have a friend who had lab band over 5 years ago. She was the first person to dissuade me from getting one. Basically for the reasons already stated....all of the postop management issues, slippage, and failure to lose. She has struggled the whole time trying to find the "sweet spot" and her fills and unfills result in her weight yo yoing up and down. She had to have emergency surgery when it slipped. She is now looking at VSG or bypass. But like everyone said, research research because VSG can have issues, too. And it is irreversible which freak out some people. Personally, I love it and am living a totally normal, stress- free life already under my goal weight so I'm a big VSG fan. Good luck with whatever you decide!

I ate (and still eat) a lot of veggies.....squash, spinach, broccoli, beets, cauliflower, edemame, carrots, brussel sprouts, zucchini, etc. The spinach is easy to incorporate with protein (ie spinach/egg /cheese scramble). I also drink V8 juice....veggies AND fluids. I was told to cook the veggies really well so they were soft for the first 3 months. After that even raw was OK.

@@gtmikki good for you! You totally got this! As for the flight thing, I was really torn about staying longer vs going home. On the one hand, recovering in TJ sure beats recovering in Idaho in December. On the other hand, I had a house and dogs and cats and horses to take care of at home. My flight was only 2 hours but then I had a 5 hour drive home from the airport. I was definitely tired. Maybe a compromise would be to stay in San Diego one extra night and get an early flight out on your 4th morning. If you do fly out on the 3rd day, you can't leave until mid -afternoon because you have to go to OCC that morning for drain removal and barium fluoroscopy before going to the airport. Makes for a really long day. Also, OCC will give you compression stockings which you should wear on the flight. You should get up and walk the aisles as much as possible. Make sure you have plenty of liquids to sip. I brought crystal light and propel zero packets to mix in water. Also walk in the airport, don't get a wheelchair (I've seen some people recommend this, but that just increases chances of clots).

I vote don't weigh. It will save you a lot of stress. Better yet, you won't even know if you have a stall or not. You can concentrate on drinking, getting in Protein and making healthy food choices. Judge your success by how your clothes fit and NSV's. F... K the numbers on the scale. I don't even own a scale. I weighed myself at the doctors office maybe 4 times in the first 2 months. After 4 months, I have stepped on the scale at work about once a week so I have something to post on my ticker. And I've always lost weight whether a I weigh myself or not.

I, too, have fine curly hair. At over 9 months out I have not had any excess hair loss. My recovery went smooth, I never stressed over surgery or the post op diet or stalls. I always got in all my protein and regular vitamins. Did not use any special hair supplements or products. I think it's like Forsythia said, if it's gonna happen, it happens, if not, then great. For me, It just wasn't worth worrying about because it was something out if my control. And temporary even if it did.

Sounds like he needs a better preop psych eval protocol.

no doubt that's where the WLS regain stats come from.....

I have a 32oz protein/fiber shake with 30-40g Protein everyday plus a protein or whole grain bar bar with 5-20g protein. So that's 35-60g protein before even eating any meals. Then I eat 4-5 meals with protein, veggies, fruit and whole grains. I have no idea how many calories I consume (or carbs or fat for that matter ). My nut told me not to worry about calories, just to eat healthy. It's been a simple, basic, very easy to follow and very effective postop plan. Just what I wanted. I didn't have surgery to be on a diet the rest of my life. My personal thoughts about limiting calories..... If I let my body get used to functioning on a low calorie diet, it will be a lot easier to regain and harder to lose once I got to goal and switched to a "maintenance" diet. But since I basically always ate whatever I wanted, when I was hungry, within reason and in moderation, that's what my body is used to so the transition to maintenance was seamless and anticlimactic. In fact, Even at 9 pounds under goal, I'm still losing and it's a daily feat to try and eat more just to stop losing. I guess one of these days I should try and track carbs/calories just to post for all the number crunchers on here. And just FYI, our bodies can only absorb a limited amount of protein at a time. Be careful you aren't consuming more than 20g/hour to get the maximum benefit. I take 2-3 hours to drink my protein smoothie in between appointments. I've never used the GENEPRO but have read good reviews on here. I make my smoothies with Muscle Milk, Premier, unjury, Spirutein, Syntrax Matrix, Syntrax nectar, and Garden of Life products.

I went to college in NE PA, just 2 hours from Manhattan. In all those years I never bothered to visit. Guess I'm just not a city gal. Crowds give me hives

Have you been drinking coffee the whole time and just now it's starting to hurt or is the coffee recently new? Decaf or regular? I switched to decaf before surgery and only drank decaf herbal tea immediately postop. I tried coffee a couple times and it always upset my sleeve. Finally, at about 4 months I could drink decaf coffee comfortably. I'm over 9 months postop now and never bothered to switch back to caffeinated. But sometimes I will have a cup of regular if I'm at a friend's house or on the road and they don't have decaf. It usually ends up irritating my sleeve. But decaf will, too, if I drink too much. Regular just does it sooner. Coffee is acidic and if it's hurting, you should tell your doc and check out the possibility of an ulcer.

I never bothered counting calories. My nut actually laughed when I asked her about it. She explained that as long as I got in all my water, ate protein first and stuck with healthy food choices (veggies, fruit and whole grains), calories didn't really matter. I was never told to limit healthy fats, either. It's a super simple plan that requires no measuring or tracking or stressing over numbers. And has worked fabulous for me. Sure, I had stalls along the way, but I just stayed with the basic plan through each one and eventually would start losing again. And at 10 months postop, and almost 10 pounds below goal, I still drink a huge protein smoothie everyday....it's an easy way to get in fluids, protein and fiber.

I had my surgery in a Mexico and my surgeon does 3 leak tests.... One while in surgery (fill the sleeve with air, submerge in saline and look for air bubbles). The drain is a second test...will alert you to any bleeding or abnormal discharge (ie. leak) into the abdomen. Drain was pulled the 3rd day and then they do a barium swallow fluoroscopy. This could show potential leakage, but it also shows any strictures and allows them to assess how well Fluid is passing through the esophagus, sleeve and intestines. All of these tests certainly didn't make me want to go out and eat the wrong things. I still followed my postop diet to a tee. That seems weird that your surgeon needs his patients to be scared they have a leak in order to not cheat their postop plans.

I do eat a Protein bar or whole grain bar for lunch M-F because I don't get a lunch break at work. I snack on my protein smoothie, protein or whole grain bar, mixed nuts and Jerky all day instead of eating an actual " meal" for Breakfast and lunch. And I couldn't stand artificial sweeteners, either. I drank diluted 100% fruit juice and regular (not low cal) Vitamin Water and Lifewater. I even put a little fruit juice in some of my protein smoothies to help mask the artificial taste. Herbal decaf teas also helped me get my fluids in. I drink them both hot and cold, over ice. No sugar or artificial sweeteners. So stick with healthy food choices and make whatever adjustments you need to fit your life. This isn't a one size fits all thing, there's lots of ways to succeed...just be patient and enjoy the ride.