KatCan333

I am 4 years post gastric sleeve surgery. I've lost 86 lbs. Rather, I lost 95 lbs and gained 10 back. I got furious with an orthopedic surgeon and ate to get even with him, cutting off my nose to spite his face. When really the plan that I found was to have a knee replacement surgery in another city by a doctor who was more than confident in my ability to recover at the BMI I was at. And also found in that city (Jacksonville, FL) the most INCREDIBLE rehab hospital (Brooks Rehab), with awesome therapists who pushed me to my limits with the result that I can do anything I need to do (including drive), which I haven't been able to do for 2 years. In rehab I lost 10 lbs. The most important thing I can say as a gastric sleeve patient is that it is easy to overcome all that you have gained in eating smaller amounts and stuff your stomach and overcome what you have gained (lost) by having the surgery in the first place. I was 69 when I had the surgery, and I had (have) a whopping food addiction. It didn't go away when I had the ghrelin removed. It didn't go away when I had my stomach reduced to a banana-sized tube. It is deep-seated and has been the way I've dealt with stress, fear, anxiety, etc., my whole life. It now takes a concerted effort to eat half of what I am served because it is all I need. I hope I will lose more weight, but I am content to stay here, 85 lbs lower than I was and let my body, mind and inner child get used to this extraordinary weight loss & bask in the accomplishment. I dieted my way up to 350 and I don't want to do that again.

I'm using Flintstones Complete chewables and Wellesse liquid Calcium and D3. The liquid tastes like orange creamsicles and you can put it in your smoothie or in yogurt, etc.

I had my surgery 7/30. I am an amputee (cancer, 1992) and need knee replacement, so I could not get up or transfer after surgery. I went to rehab for a week, so my immediate post-op surgical experience was overlaid by this confusion and improper diet, bad nursing, etc. I got home finally and started to normalize. I had terrible "buyer's remorse" for the first 3 weeks and only in the last few days have I felt glad to have done this. Amazingly I have had no stomach problems unless I ate too fast, when I felt terrible for an hour or so. Luckily this has only happened a couple of times. I was on full liquid for 2 weeks before and after surgery. I feel like if I ever have to eat another protein shake I will go mad, though my partner made one for my niece out of rice protein and fruits and almond milk and it was delightful. I think I am sick of whey. I get a runny nose when I eat a lot of dairy and eventually the snot goes from clear to green, and then I know I need to back off. I have not followed the injunction to eat pureed food in weeks 3, 4 & 5. It doesn't feel necessary. I am chewing everything to a pulp, mostly to make it all last longer, and I have had no problems with this. My friends & family are horrified by this but it seems to be working for me. My stomach seems to be in good shape and pretty happy. I can eat slightly more than 1/2 cup of food at a time. I forgot to say, my top weight was 350, though I was slightly under than by the time I went in for my first surgery consult. The full liquid diet took me down to 327, but surgery brought me up to 339, which I have to attribute to water retention, because it certainly wasn't food!! It took me a week or two to lose that, and 3 weeks post sleeve gastrectomy I weighed 323. I have a small skin infection in the site of a vertical scar (they had to open me up rather than full laparoscopy). I'm seeing my doctor weekly because of that and using the scale in the bariatric surgery center to weigh myself. I'm open to questions and comments.