AvaFern

Love is patient, love is kind, love will punch you in an elevator. Hahahaha.

I carried a 70 pound suitcase 5 days after surgery, because it was either move it myself or leave it stuck in my car. You just need to lift with your legs and keep your core muscles tight. At two weeks out, you're unlikely to injure yourself carrying a 30 pound child (as long as he or she is not wiggling around). A few times when there is a neccessity won't hurt you. Good luck with your new sleeve!

Have you tried using a straw and drinking something you actually like? Surgeons tell you not to use a straw because it can cause gas, but if you don't find that it gives you a stomach ache, it's fine. I hated Water...I couldn't drink even close to what I was supposed to be getting. I tried flavored water and gatorage and without a straw it felt like I was swallowing rocks. About two weeks after surgery I got a pressed juice from Whole Foods, which comes with a straw and I totally forgot the no straw rule and had drank the entire thing, issue free, in about a half hour. From that point on I used straws to drink things I actually like to drink such as tea, gatorade, water with lemon, and now that I'm further out diet sodas. When you're as bad off a you sound, liquid is liquid....forget the water, drink something you actually like, and try using a straw. I am 15 months out and I still can't drink without a straw because it still feels like the Fluid is a swallow of rocks going down my throat.

I was on it...and it's like legalized crack. As soon as you stop taking it, any weight you lost comes right back. I was not really a fan of it because I felt like peeling off my skin...I was so amped up, it was unpleasant.

I was not one of those people that was not cooperative about walking the first week. I was miserable and whiny, lol. The idea though that you feel better if you walk is a good one, so at about the 4th day, my first day back home, I walked 10 minutes on my treadmill every few hours. After the first week I was walking a few miles a day, and by week three I was jogging about 2 miles a day. At 5 weeks I was cleared to go back to boxing class, and then after that the first year I ran 3-5 miles a day and did about 2 hours of cardio classes at my gym 3-5 days a week.

I just read your article- the author is a bit of a cry baby who is in the absolute minority of people. First, this surgery is no more risky than if you were the same size you are now getting your gallbladder removed. It's a very straightforward procedure using laparoscopic tools, so your risk for infection is minimal and if you have a good doctor, your risk for everything else is also pretty minimal. If you are obese, any surgery is a risk, but the number of people who die or have major complications during this surgery is not very high- you're more likely to die in a car accident on the way to the hospital. As for dumping, I am a lucky person who gets portions of the dumping syndrome and I would still get the surgery all over again. I do not have the uncontrollable bowel movements that he notes, but sometimes if I eat the wrong food I start to get hot, my skin flushes, my heart beats fast, and I end up barfing. Sometimes I just barf for no apparent reason because my sleeve decided that today it was not going to like something that yesterday it had no problem with. The major symptoms of dumping for me are pretty much limited to when I eat something that has too much sugar or too much fat. Example, melty cheese and melty chocolate don't tend to go over very well. This is ok with me because the whole point of the surgery was so that I don't eat stuff that makes me fat anymore. I can have a few bites of everything without getting sick and in the end, that's all I really need. So, keep reading your articles....and then when you get surgery you will, like most of us, laugh a little when you think about how freaked out you were and how happy you are that you went for the surgery anyway.

I can appreciate your fear of eating, although with the sleeve what you are eating does not sound that horrible. I have found that when I go grocery shopping I am a little obsessive about how much I put in my cart because I'm afriad I might eat it all again like I used to. I have a weird eating issue developing the last few months too so I can also understand wondering if you might be developing an issue. For the most part I eat fine, but lately food that is dense in Protein makes me super sick. It is far easier to just go barf than to sit in misery for a few hours until it decides to settle. Usually I just lean over the sink, open my mouth, and it all comes spewing out (gross, yes I know) but sometimes that doesn't work so I make myself puke just to get the miserable feeling gone. I've never had issues with bullimia and I don't tend to think I do now, but being cognizant of the disorder and watching your activity to make sure you do not develop an eating disorder is a good idea. Seeing your therapist is also a great plan. Good luck!

Maybe try using a Fitbit or similar device. I was fortunate in that I had remained pretty active despite having gained a lot of weight before surgery, so the first year or so I really didn't need motivation because I liked working out. After I had two plastics surgeries though over the course of 3 months, I couldn't work out for 6 weeks after each one and oddly enough I lost weight (which was probably partly muscle). I found that I can easily maintain and still lose a few pounds a month without any form of exercise so I got super lazy. I would still go to boxing class, but before I was running miles everyday. As of this week I decided it's time I get my lazy butt back in gear, so I bought both the Fitbit Charge and the Aria scale to serve as a motivator. The scale is a pound heavier than my regular scale so that was annoying, lol, but the Charge has been fun to have because I can see my progress so much better. I find it motivating to work toward goals and if you set your goal at 10,000 a day you can see throughout the day how close you are.

I tried it at 2 months and as long as you chew it really well before swallowing you should be good. Oddly, my sleeve really liked steak for about months 2-5 and ever since then it has been completely intolerant of it. I can have maybe a bite or two before I start feeling a little sick.

I regretted surgery for about 2 weeks. I think the idea of chopping out my stomach freaked me out because it's such a permanent solution and then I was massively sick for the entire first week. I remember talking to my friend on the phone saying "omg, what if I just ruined my life?". I am now 15 months out, 104 pounds down, and I am 100% happy with my decision, even though I am reminded every single day that I only have 20% of a stomach. So..be prepared to regret it a little at first, but I think for most of us, it ends up being something we are happy with.

I'm big on adapting directions, so if you want to 100% follow your NUT's advice, ignore me. There is not a substantial difference between the hard way of making oatmeal and the easy instant way. I have done both and I far prefer the instant oatmeal, particularly the Weight Control version with has 7g of Protein. You pop it in a bowl, pour some Water in, stick it in the microwave for 90 seconds, and then, in my case I add just a bit of honey. I usually eat about half the bowl and then I'm good for a few hours. No hassle, no mess, way more protein than traditional oatmeal, better tasting, and way less irritation. Clever advice though for the muffin tins. I have heard that you can also do that with eggs, which is another great idea for Breakfast and an easy way to add extra protein in the morning. P.S. Until just now I read your post wrong- I thought you were complaining about the hassle of not using instant oatmeal as opposed to just sharing your idea, so not to hijack your thread or your idea, but for anyone else who may be struggling with that version, instant oatmeal has been fine for me.

I just had my brachioplasty and while I am not in your area, if you ever want to take a vacation to Florida, I had an excellent surgeon! Before my arm lift I was really worried about the scar, so I had asked anyone and everyone who had a brachioplasty how they felt about it. In the end, I asked my surgeon to place my scar between the two regular versions of placement, which has the scar positioned where I can't see it from the front or the back, which has made me very happy. I keep pausing at mirrors to look at my arms, lol. I would ask the surgeon you find if they can get you the Embrace scar therapy strips as well- they seem to be doing a lot to minimize scarring although I'm not far enough out from surgery to be 100% sure that they work, but other reviews are very good. Oh, for reference, my arm lift was priced at $7,999. I had a thigh lift at the same time, so I received a multiple procedure discount which knocked about 2K off my total bill.

@@My Bariatric Life I used Dr. Ankit Desai in Jacksonville, FL for all of my plastics. I was very happy with both him as a surgeon and his entire office staff. I fully intend to have them do every procedure for me in the future, which if all goes according to plan means I will be getting my face lift in about 20 years from the same person who gave me my boob lift, lol.

Weight loss is slow the week after surgery because not only is your body swollen from the inflammation reaction associated with the process of hacking your stomach out, but you were also flooded with fluids during surgery and after. I didn't lose much weight the first week after the sleeve, and after both of my plastics surgery I gained 8-10 pounds and did not get back to where I was before surgery for 5-7 days afterward. As for walking....do loops in an area where you can control the distance. I started out walking around our tennis courts because I knew if I got sick or it started to hurt, I could just cut across the middle and go right back inside. It took me a few days to be confident that I wasn't going to keel over and die mid-walk before I went on any longer walks where I couldn't cheat and stop fairly quickly.

I say lie next time. If you are 100% sure that doing so will not hurt you, as was the case in this situation, straight up lie or lie by omission. The psychologist has a legal responsibiltiy to sign off on you and if you tell her all of that and then do have PTSD she could lose her license for not suggesting further treatment. Give your providers plausible deniability and the process will move much faster. Think about it...if you had a medical license and you could lose it because you were not cautious enough with a person who has experienced multiple traumas and has a hard time sleeping, wouldn't your response have been the same as her? Now, if you never tell her any of that, she is cleared to sign off on you without having to cover her own butt first. Problem solved for everyone.

I started jogging at 3 weeks, which was the soonest I could run without feeling like my stitches were pulling. Within six weeks I was back in the gym doing boxing classes. If you're bored with walking and cleared to run, go for that- nothing burns fat faster in my experience. Other options include walking up stairs, doing light lifting, or picking up the pace on your walking. I think two weeks is a little early to get too crazy with the workouts, but only you can really judge what seems like a good idea and what doesn't.

I had like a 2-3 month stall from the 166-169 range. It was very frustrating, but I added in more cardio and broke the stall, only to get stuck yet again at 156. I find that the more you lose the more often you get stuck. Most recently I spent a month at 137 and two weeks at 135. As long as you're monitoring your calories and working out, eventually the scale will move.

I am 15 months out and my major hair loss stopped at about the 7 month range. Like you, I also have super pretty, long hair, which always made me feel better about myself. I now have shoulder length hair, which fortunately does not look as thin as it is because I found a girl who does a great job on my cut. I don't feel like it's really thickening up yet, but I am vey relieved it has stopped falling out!

I am 15 months out now and I don't feel nausea as much as I can immediately tell when I've either eaten too much or eaten something I shouldn't have. It results in excessive burping and near immediate barfing. Then I feel all better. Every once in awhile if I try something crazy (like Peruvian ceviche) a few weeks ago I get not only barfing sick but nauseous for a few hours. It's fairly rare but there has been at no point after the first week of surgery where I was as sick, dizzy, and otherwise miserable as those first three days.

I do! Haha, I lost a pound this morning and one of the first things I did was update my weight on MyFitnessPal and then update my ticker here. 4 pounds to go until goal!

I massively overpacked, but the things I ended up using were: Heating Pad- I was super sick after surgery for days and I was freezing. I brought the pad to put behind my shoulders to minimize the gas pain, which it did, but it also was nice to have when I was shivering. Pajamas- I am so glad I had pajamas and a sports bra. They make you get up and walk as much as possible and this way you don't have to worry about flashing anyone. Warm fuzzy socks with grippies on the bottom- the socks they give you are junky and as long as the socks you bring have the grips, you can wear them and have nice and warm tootsies Pillow & Blanket- My own pillow and blanket made things so much better. Gas-X Strips- Helps the pain in the shoulder Phone Charger A really good eye mask and possibly ear pieces- I didn't have a roomie so it was quiet but the blinking lights of the monitor would have bothered me without my mask Otherwise, I brought shampoo, my hair brush, tooth paste and brush, my computer, my kindle, ipad, changes of clothing- I didn't use any of it. I was like a blob laying in the bed and alternately stumbling a few paces down the hallway the entire time. I needed to complete a report on my computer, which I did the day after surgery but would not have if it didn't need to be done. I don't even remember doing it, but apparently I do good work when I'm high, lol. Good luck!

I puked my guts out the entire 3 days I was in the hospital after sleeve surgery. Yacking, dry heaves of misery. My sleeve did not suffer any damage from it, so I'd say you're fine at 7 weeks. I am 15 months out and periodically I still puke when I eat something my sleeve doesn't like. cheese and dry chicken tend to be instant barfing for me, so I try to avoid them. After plastics I had to wear a compression garment and I felt like I was throwing up every day. Did wonders for my weight, lol. Good luck to you!

If you want to take them off now, you can. 10 days is enough time. It helps if you do it right after a shower or if you take a washcloth run under fairly hot Water and then dab it over the strips. It makes it easier to pull off. Also, Maggy's Mom had a good point about the black goo. I found that baby oil on a soft cloth works to get it off. Good luck with your new sleeve!

I was 29 when I had surgery. I weighed 237 and I am 5'3. One year after surgery, was one week after I had my first plastics surgery. At that point I was around 153, and 3 months after my first plastics surgery I just had my second plastics surgery when I started at 137. I was SO bummed about how I looked. My boobs were saggy, my stomach was saggy, my arms had huge wings, and my thighs were a nightmare. I think a major factor for me was that I had lost and gained weight numerous times, which likely did not do great things for my skin elasticity. In hindsight though, I was 137 about 4 years ago and my pictures really don't look that much different than I looked before plastics. I think it really has to do a lot with genetics. Also, you're young! Drink Water, do weight work and cardio, and think about all those women on the Biggest Loser who are not only older than you but bigger than you and come out of it looking totally ripped without surgery. If they can do it, so can you.

I also LOVE chocolate. I could happily eat it for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A few years ago I just gave it up completely and now I have the rule that I can eat as much chocolate as I want in December, just not the rest of the year. My sleeve unfortunately is not a fan of chocolate, so this year it's December but I've only had a few bites and it has completely satisfied the craving. I'm not sure how far you are out from surgery, but you can have chocolate again and if you're like me, one or two bites will make you completely happy as opposed to a few thousand calories like I loved in the past.