AvaFern

Medically once your stomach has healed (6-8 weeks) you won't hurt yourself with a few drinks. In theory you should get drunk faster and your tolerance should be lower after the surgery so you need to be careful with how much you drink. I am almost 2 years post-op and I'm not a big drinker, but sometimes I'll have a glass of wine or a shot or five of tequila and I've been fine. I didn't drink for probably a year and a half after the surgery and I still don't drink very much, so possibly not the best comparison experience, but strictly medically speaking, you aren't banned from booze after the surgery.

I had all the same concerns you did, but really after the sleeve you can still technically eat anything you want to, just in much smaller portions. I really like Mac and cheese from Panera, so every few weeks I'll order a cup, scoop out half and give it to my boyfriend, and then I'll eat about half of the other half before I'm full. I had ice cream and cake last week at a birthday dinner, but only a few bites of both. Sometimes I drink tequila or wine, around Christmas I eat my face off in chocolate and Cookies, and for my birthday I am going to have cake, drink some wine, and maybe eat some steak. I am currently below goal weight, I eat healthily and like a normal person the majority of the time, but when I want a bit of something bad for me, I enjoy it. Oh and that not drinking while you eat thing....I stopped that garbage at about 4 weeks in. It's only a rule so that you don't flush the solid food through your sleeve faster than you would if you weren't adding Fluid to the pouch at the same time. You just need to be cognizant of how much you eat and there's really no medical reason to eat for the rest of your life with a dry mouth. Life is about living and part of living involves food. Food is fuel, yes, but it is also something to be enjoyed with friends. The whole point of the surgery is to actually get to live a happy, healthy, and FUN life. The sleeve lets you do that. So...no regrets.

You and I are close to the same age- I was 29 when I got my sleeve and I am 31 now.I worked out hardcore until my first plastics surgery when I weighed around 153. I ended up losing my last 27 pounds without doing much in the way of working out other than powerwalking. Fortunately, thanks to plastics I look decent, however every once in awhile I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror at the gym (I've started working out again in the last week or so) and I think, yikes, why do I look so anorexically weird. I'm not even really skinny! I think it is primarily because the skin over my cheekbones is a little taut, I apparently slouch, and you can see my ribs and my collar bone. Then you look at my butt and clearly I am not anorexic, lol. Adding excercise should help you feel better and give you more definition and potentially expedite your way to goal. I tend to gain weight when I first start working out again, which always frustrates me, but you just need to tell yourself that working out is ALWAYS good for you. No matter what state of health you are in, exercise that is adapted for you, is never a bad thing. So if you watch your calories and you go to the gym, you're doing the right thing, even if the scale doesn't seem very cooperative at first.

The times I have experienced traditional dumping are almost always with food that has high sugar content like a milkshake or rich chocolate. My skin flushes, my heart rate increases, I feel a little woozy, and I get really hot. When I eat foods that are high in fat such as oil or milk fats, I end up with projectile puking in 5-10 minutes. To my knowledge that isn't dumping, but it's been a lovely side effect of the sleeve.

The reason they tell you not to drink and eat is because the liquids flush the solid food out of your stomach so you eat more than you would have otherwise. It won't stretch your sleeve or hurt you in anyway. I decided I wasn't spending the rest of my life having a dry mouth with food so the entire time I have had the surgery I have had a drink with meals. I still have very good restriction, I'm below goal weight, and I can enjoy food which would not be the case if I had to choke it down with a dry mouth. You just need to be cognizant of how much you're eating so what you're drinking doesn't get washed right through your sleeve a lot mroe quickly.

I just told people that I work out more and eat less- which is true. If someone makes me a birthday cake, I cut myself a slice with everyone else, I sit down and have a few bites, and I toss the rest away. My sleeve doesn't like sugar, fats, oils, milks, creams, or anything other than things like crackers, so when I'm out to dinner I just eat a bite or two, which is just enough to look like I'm eating but not enough to make me sick or derail my diet. My family is out of town so last time they saw me I ate my usual small portions which apparently started this big discussion over whether I'm bullimic or anorexic or whatever was wrong with me. My logic is eh, let them talk. I wear size 0 jeans...I don't care if someone wants to make comments about how I got to where I am. My sleeve is my business and no one else (except my 3 best friends) needs to know I have it.

I drained the chicken and noodles out of chicken noodle soup and the rice and veggies out of rice soup during the clear liquid phase. I would think both of those are probably fine as long as they aren't milk based (which is generally the big difference between clear liquid and full liquid) and you strain out all the chunks.

I'm not sure when in June you had your surgery, but if you're at the phase where you can eat regular food, three bites of something bad for you isn't a big deal. That probably would have made me sick too, but now you know it doesn't agree with you just yet, so you don't have a need to try it again tomorrow. The whole point of the surgery is so that at some point you can be healthy, thin, and normal, with an emphasis on normal. Some days I have a few bites of ice cream, last week I was baking a lot and I had WAY too much caramel sauce, and the other day I had some calimari. 90% of the time I eat very well, 7% of the time I eat almost whatever I want, and 3% of the time I eat like a chunky monkey, just in very small portion sizes. It is ok to sometimes have something that is bad for you. Enjoy it and then get right back on the healthy train.

Sliders are anything that you can eat too much of without feeling full as you much away. For example, Wheat Thins and most types of bland crackers are sliders for me. I have not had pork rinds since I was probably 19 or so but I feel like they might not be the most optimal choice because there is a lot of fat and sodium, despite the level of Protein. If you can pour yourself out a single serving as a treat, nothing wrong with that though! Just be able to walk away from the rest of the bag..

Technically you don't need a 2 week pre-op diet. I only needed one week and my friend's dad wasn't even put on one at all. Three days of Fluid only is enough to make sure your liver isn't too large for surgery and realistically with a low BMI your liver is probably just fine with a healthy diet right before surgery. That being said, I'm glad I did the week long liquid diet beforehand purely because I read a story about how a woman went out and binge ate before her surgery and they ended up cracking her liver. That made an hour surgery 6 hours and had major health implications. I was sufficiently terrified to mostly not cheat during that week (I had one day where I had some Smart puffs and something else small). My friend's father though went out for a big Italian meal the night before his surgery because his surgeon didn't make him go on any kind of pre-op diet and he was just fine. Therefore, depending upon each place and the information the woman had on the phone, she may not have been as misinformed as it seems. All surgeons seems to have different rules.

I am also a scale junkie and I have been my entire life. The only times I have gained weight have been when I stopped weighing myself every day. Much as the scale can put you in a foul mood, it keeps you accountable. As an example, I recently started a new workout program and in 2 days I gained 4 pounds. Logically I know that since my program is major cardio based the weight gain is a combination of an increase in glycogen stores and an increase in Water and that in 1-2 weeks I will start to drop weight. Now, just because logically I know that doesn't mean I didn't want to sob when I saw the scale this morning. I didn't eat more than usual and I worked out hard the last two days so while I know this is not real weight gain, it does make me feel very cranky this morning. The scale is like your mirror- you can't avoid it forever. You can hide from it and tell yourself that you're only going to weigh only at the doctor's office or that you're losing weight and you don't need the scale to validate you, but ultimately, the scale gives you a quantifiable value to know whether or not you are actually doing good or not. Some days the news isn't good, but you know when you gained a pound or two and you can make an immediate correction as opposed to finding out you gained 10 pounds because you wanted to live in blissful ignorance of the scale. I hate my scale. It routinely makes me cry. It is also the only reason I am still thin because every single day it reminds me that I can very easily go back to being a fatty again. So this morning while I may have stubbed my toe kicking my scale, I may have shed a tear or two, I also cut down my Breakfast to a half serving, I'll skip the smoothie I was going to get after the gym, I'll skip carbs at dinner, and by tomorrow I'll be back down a pound or two. If you give yourself the chance to modify your diet everyday as needed, you don't have to worry about getting on the scale and having gained far too much weight to lose quickly.

You will be fine. It does take a little while to regenerate red blood cells, but 48 days is more than enough time. Good for you for being a regular blood donor!

I like tomato bisque, but sometimes it is made with cream, which my stomach hates. I never had an issue with milk or fat products until after I had the sleeve and I was way more sensitive to it the first few months than I am now. Perhaps you had a bit too much soup or perhaps your stomach wasn't a fan of one of the ingredients. The idea to walk has also worked well for me, so good thoughts by the other people who replied!

I had surgery on a Monday and was back in the office at a desk job the following Monday. I was sitting at my desk at home by Thursday working and I wrote a report the day after surgery from my hospital bed. I was high as a kite and I remember nothing, but in hindsight reading my report, it looked pretty good. I think you can swing a return to work that Monday, especially if your surgery is on Tuesday. It is not a matter of physically being unable to do it- it is entirely mental. I worked a 12 hour day at 5 days out from surgery at home because the work needed to be done. You will feel miserable and tired and cranky, but in the end, sucking it up and going back to work in 5-6 days is purely a mental thing.

Carbonation won't hurt you- I drink carbonated beverages everyday. Avoid them for the first 6-8 weeks and then you're fine. I don't like sparkling ice just because I don't like the flavor, but put a little lemon in some Perrier and that's pretty good tasting.

Are you wearing the right shoes? I have one flat foot so I have to wear stability shoes or my feet hurt. This was a lot worse when I was heavier. You can go to a running store and they will analyze your gait. Something as simple as getting the correct shoe for the type of foot you have can significantly help with pain after walking.

I was pretty bummed out the first 2 weeks because I felt so horrible. I wouldn't say I was depressed because I could rationally recognize that it was a phase that would pass, but when you can't turn to your familiar foods for comfort, you're stuck drinking liquid that tastes bad, and someone put 5 holes in your stomach and then sent you home to fend for yourself...you get a little whiny.

My slider foods are crackers, Smart Puffs, and chex mix. These are pretty much the only things that I can sit and munch on and eat more calories than I should without getting sick. I still eat them occassionally- I just limit how frequently they are in the house. If I don't buy them, I can't eat them!

You can totally drink beer again after the surgery. There is nothing that you actually cannot physically have after about the 2 month mark. They frown on caffeine, soda, and booze, purely because they don't want you drinking your calories. I drink diet Pepsi everyday and while I'm not a big alcohol drinker, I haven't had an issue the few times that I've had a beverage (or five).

I use Flinstones! They gave this fake sugar stuff over the top of the gummies. I take twice the dose because they tend to have less Vitamins per dose than solid pill vitamins. They taste great. I do tend to forget to take them a lot, but all of my blood values were perfect at the year and a half mark, so not taking the bariatric vitamins doesn't seem to have hurt me.

I was always active, I had just become fat and active before surgery. Therefore it wasn't hard to get right back into working out for a few hours a night within about 5 weeks of surgery. I started running again at about week 3 and then I went back to running and doing boxing classes by week 5. The same was true after plastics. Because I was very much in shape I had no problem walking a few miles at a time within a week or two of surgery. Now I'm done with the sleeve and done with plastics and I am sitting at my desk debating if I really want to get my butt up and go to the gym this morning. When you're at goal weight it's easy to be a little lazy, however when you're newly sleeved, take as much advantage of that honeymoon time as possible. Eventually the weight stops falling off no matter how hard you work. Also...maybe consider aqua aerobics! Very low impact and still a good workout.

I don't think it's rude to ask on here, although I'll admit that I find it to be a little rude when people ask me about the cost in public. The only people who know about the bulk of my surgeries are my few best friends and they knew the price, but people can see my brachioplasty and they like to ask what it cost. If I bring up my arms, then by all means, I'm open to questions, but when random people at the gym ask me what they cost it makes me really self-conscious about the scars because it reminds me that people really do notice. I'm fortunate that all of my other scars are hidden but I am a little sensitive about the brachioplasty scars, even though I would have them done again (scars are better than wings!). So..not rude on here to ask about pricing! Also, I've answered this question a few other times, so you should be able to also search and find more results. For your reference, a quick list of my prices: Tummy tuck: 12K Breast lift and Augment: 8K Brachioplasty: 8K Thigh Lift: 7k Posterior Body Lift with Auto Augment of the Butt: 8K Lots of Lipo- roughly around $1800 per area I also went to a very good, expensive doctor in Florida so I'm sure these procedures are far less expensive in other areas of the country and Mexico. I had two complications (a seroma on my stomach and a giant wound separating abscess on my back) that made me really happy to be able to go back to my doctor to have it fixed for free. Also, my doctor redid my thigh lift because I didn't like the first version which would have been a real hassle if I had to go back to Mexico or travel to another state.

Have you tried taking Osteo Bi-Flex? My knees and hips like to pop and when I regularly take Osteo I notice that my joints do sincerely feel a lot better.

Drinking before you eat isn't that big of a deal and the only reason they tell you not to drink after you eat is because it washes the food through your pouch faster and you eat more. I decided the first time I started eating solid food that I wasn't spending the rest of my life with a dry mouth while I ate food and I have drank and eaten at the same time the entire time I've had the sleeve. I hit goal in April and have stayed under it for months. You just need to be cognizant of how much you are eating.

I'm almost 2 years out and most days I average about 1200-1400 calories. On a major food day I top out at around 1800. I weigh myself every day so if I find that I've gained a pound or two, I drop my calories for a day or two, and then I'm right back to my normal number. Weighing everyday is the only way I can maintain, otherwise I will gain and find that my butt is suddenly too large for my pants.