Lissa_S

LOL yep I haven't weighed this week though - was going to this afternoon but spent it in ED/ XRAY getting my nephew's foot fixed after what he tells me was an "awesome" leap off the picnic table at summer camp. Apparently the landing wasn't quite as awesome So I am hoping it's a little close to 110

Me too Deano I try to have six meals per day - in this heat though, I am lucky to get two in...but in theory, I'm supposed to have six small meals a day (as directed by my surgeon).

Congrats!! Where abouts on the Coast are you getting yours done? I had mine done by Dr Silverman at John Flynn. Dr Silverman was awesome!!

Hi Puppyphat, I think that you look amazing! Honestly, I can't ever imagine weighing 58kg, even after all my weight loss. So I think you should be really proud of getting basically to your goal. With regards to the comments of others, it is really hard. If I was wearing my psychologist hat (sorry for this), I'd ask myself not why I didn't think people are proud of me but why I am looking to others to be proud. We all do it but maybe you could start to look at why you're externalising feelings which really are only internal one's. Pride in yourself can only come from yourself. It's really about self-confidence and self-esteem. Like, what does it mean if they aren't proud of me even after I've lost the weight? What does it say about my relationships? Or you could just write them off as jealous b-atches lol. Anyway, from looking at your photo's you look really healthy not sick. People will get used to it and before you know it, it will cease being an issue Cheers, Lila

Hey Deano - just noticed you've hit your half way mark!! Congrats!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone for your kind words I am pretty excited and happy with the sleeve and am glad I did it...most of the time lol. For those who are about to get your sleeve, know that while it's tough at times and yes, things can go really wrong, once you get through it, it's everything you dreamed it might be. The weight loss does happen, your health does improve and it happens quite quickly. It's the hardest thing I've done but also the best. Good luck to you all!!

OMG so I am down to 120.2kg from 167kg day of surgery and a "top weight" of 173kg. So that is about 53kg in just over 4 months. The most exciting thing is that I realised that I am only 27kg away from my surgeon's goal weight (of 93kg) - 47 kg away from my personal goal weight but anything under that 93kg is gravy It's bonus weight-loss time!! 27kg to goal doesn't sound too unreasonable - it actually sounds do-able. So excited!!!!

Oh no Aussiegirl:( Hope you get well really soon!!! Thinking of you and sending you lots of wishes for your speedy recovery!!!

Sorry this happened - at 3 or 4 weeks out a sausage roll might have been a bridge too far I haven't had a sausage roll cause I am pretty sure I'd have a similar reaction and I hate chucking up! I can't drink frozen coke etc cause they are too sweet now but I do have a bit of soda Water or soda and lime if I'm out somewhere. What I did have was a bite of a cheeseburger the other day. It tasted okay and then it hit my stomach and sat there like a brick for AGES. I won't be in a hurry to do that again What I am trying to learn to do is to have stuff in my bag to eat when I can't find anything appropriate (which happens quite a lot). Mostly it's nuts and le snack's - but again, at less than four weeks out I am not sure if it's okay to have this - so maybe check in with your surgeon/ dietician? Don't worry about making mistakes - I think it's unrealistic to think that the sleeve alone will change lifelong bad habits overnight. Try these things, remember the outcome and move on. I don't think beating ourselves up for "bad" choices is helpful otherwise I wouldn't have been so overweight as I would always be beating myself up for stuff I've eaten! The one thing I've had since surgery from my "old" life that I can still eat is a piece of thin crust pizza. I now like the vegetarian one's better than the old meat pizza's and I can only eat a small amount but when I'm out with mates, it's great being able to pinch the smallest slice of their pie! I am always eating off someone else's plate these days - I rarely buy my own meal. I'm saving a crap load of cash on my food bill (saving it to spend on my new clothes lol)... Good luck though! Let us know how you go! Cheers, Lila

Ugh had a rough day yesterday Had my first puke in quite a while despite the fact I only had 4 crackers and a piece of toast all day. Still feeling a bit yuck today but am definitely less sick. Blaming it on the heat - still having trouble balancing the need for fluids with getting in enough food which makes me sick cause I am not eating enough...hope I work this out soon!!!

Wow puppyphat, you look incredible. Congrats!!!!!

I am from Australia and it was my surgeon's first ever leak. She was devestated apparently - all Iknow is that I had amazing care from here, saw her nearly every day I was in hospital and she got me through what was honestly one of the worst things that had ever happened to me. That being said, now things are relatively normal for me, I am starting to love some of the aspects of the sleeve. I've lots of friends that have had the sleeve and I am the only one that got a leak...so I guess I was just unlucky on the day. It's not the norm but I agree with Iggychick, you need to know the risks and weigh it up before proceeding. Had I known there was no way I would have done the surgery which is probably the wrong move because I really needed it and have lost so much weight in such a short period of time - there was no way I would have lost this kind of weight without the sleeve!!

Thanks Deano for pat on the back I was a bit surprised when I got on the scales that I'd lost almost 3kg over the Christmas period - but I've been so busy and active that it probably shouldn't have been I wasn't trying for a big loss but funnily enough, since there has been so much food around I've almost been put off eating. That and it has been so HOT out here that I've struggled to eat much due to needing to drink more. Doesn't help that my aircon died the week before Chrissy and I am still waitingon the part to fix it (its only 6 months old damn it!). It's been good for the weight loss though so I won't complain. I've never been one for writing down resolutions but mine are pretty simple - to eat as healthy as possible, to increase my fitness and general health and to finish what I started - both personally and professionally. For 2013 this means loosing all my excess weight (another 40 kg or so) and to wrap up my private practice so that I will be ready to study again in 2014 (am thinking of either doing a PhD or if I can commit, studying medicine with a view to becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist). So it's a year of ending things in 2013...2014 will be the beginning of new challenges Best wishes to you all and I look forward to sharing our stories in 2013!! Cheers, Lila

Aw thanks

Responses to Atul's questions Lila S I have few questions to gain insight from your experience 1. Did yout get stent? if yes, did it change the leak characteristics? No I didn't have a stent. All my operations were to treat massive infection etc (In my mom's case, it made big difference. But even 10-15 days later, the discharge still is there, though reduced from max of 100ml per day to 50ml per day. The mucousness also reduces.) 2.Did the drain discharge continually go down or it had up and downs? (in my mom's case, it is bit bumpy). Initially it did. It then slowed right down to almost nothing. One drain literally fell out on it's own - I woke up during the night to go to the bathroom and went to pick it up and it was just hanging out. This was at about week 7. They left the other drain in until the day I was discharged. 3. Did it stop altogether, or at some point, lets say 1ml or 10ml per day, the doctor decided to pull the drain out? See above 4. How long have you had drain in you? were there mulitple or just one? (my mom had 2 drains, but one was at the bottom of the peritoneal cavity and had clear Fluid after 3-4 days and was pulled out after 10 days. The main one still is there). Two drain in the stomach, two in the back. The back one's were due to fluid on my lung (it collapsed). 5. In another thread I think you said, you had leak test by using a dye. Do you know the name of the dye? Do they just mix in the food or you did that in the CT? I had two types of these tests. One was a blue dye I drank and they waited to see if it came out of the stomach drains. The other was the barruim swallow which they did both in CT and via xray. 6. If you got stent, did you do the dye test afterr stent? no stent 7. Which antibiotic were you taking? How much, through IV or orally? I was on a LOT of antibiotics and I honestly can't remember them all. At one point I was on 3 different one's...they made me very ill. I spent the week puking my guts up 8. What tests did you do on the drain material itself? Did you ever do culture and sensitivity test? They stopped testing it after about week 3. 9. Were you having food by mouth or through nose pipe before or after you got the stent? I was being fed via drip (TPN) the entire two months. (My mom got food through nose pipe for a week but once she got the stent the noise pipes were removed.) 10. Did you have some fever in the night while you were recovering? (My mother gets 99-100C fever by night but not taking any fever medicine. She is on continuous antibiotic (Merepenem or Ertapenem).Most of the time she is around 98.6F. My temp would spike at different times for no apparent reason. They didn't seem too worried until it got over 39 degree's (not sure what they is F). Then they would give me heaps more antibiotics. Sorry for so many questions - no worries! It must be very difficult being the person who has to watch their loved one go through a leak. I feel so sorry for my family who had to watch me go through everything. Cheers, Lila

I tried a pre-made woolies salad for dinner tonight and it was great. It wasn't probably the greatest option (it was the one you turn upside down and has Pasta salad in it) but it was my main meal of the day And I have been out at the local Dam with the family all day, running around in the sun. I will attach the sunburn photo with this - not great. See, before the sleeve I would NEVER have gone to the dam, there was no way I'd be running around after the kids or sitting having a picnic under the "shade" of a tree. No possible way. It was awesome to be able to do so and to have no trouble getting up and down off the blanket. Anyway to get back to the salad, it has 1500kj in a serve (there is one per pack) but I would guess I could get 4 meals out of this thing...well, for me pasta is always a bit of a hard task - can't fit much in at all. But it was satisfying and I feel so healthy. Everyone else was having take away rubbish and I was eating my salad and really enjoying it. No rolling around groaning cause I was too full or feeling yuck because of too much salt and fat. I feel like it's a big thing for me, anyway to have made this choice. Tomorrow night I am hosting a New Years Games night. Traditionally I would have cooked some pretty yummy but very unhealthy snackies to get us through to midnight. This year? I am going to do crackers etc but instead of tarts or pies, I am doing a tropical fruit salad and greek yoghurt. I am sure that my guests will enjoy it (mostly lol) but I will only have stuff out that I feel good about eating - what a great way to see in the New Year! Anyway here is the evidence of my shame I am a kid of the "Slip, Slop, Slap!" generation so I should know better!!

I guess when I read your post Stef, I felt well, kind of attacked. That might not have been the intent but given the voracity of some of the responses, I am guessing I am not the only one. I think that there is a valid point here about taking unnecessary risks but it seemed to get lost in the language. I agree everyone has a right to their opinion but I just wonder if sometimes, some things are best left unsaid? Much like my post, I imagine

Aw thanks Lessofmeismore And I see you've only got 2 pounds to go to goal! That's amazing! Grats!

I totally get it - I keep watching the sales people to see if I get "the look" , like the "what the hell are you doing in here" - look. It sounds like it might take a while to go away

I am sorry to hear about your mum. My drains were coloured, mostly yellow and green, some had blood in it at one point. It was never dark brown that I remember. But after reading some of the responses here, wow, mine perhaps wasn't too bad. I spent 56 days in hospital but haven't been back. I have been eating normal food for a while now and things seem to be getting back to normal. I have even started exercising. I've lost over 100 pounds since my operation in September 2012. A leak sucks and it's a really hard road to recovery and way longer than I ever expected. If I could turn back time there is no way I would do this again however now I am here, healthy and loosing the weight, I am really glad it's done. Every day I see new benefits from it - I will post a before and now photo (I still have about 100 pounds to loose) - and there is no way I could have lost this amount of weight in 3 months without this op. People used to tell me it would get better - I thought they were lying lol. But it does and it really has been worth it for me (now I am well I can say that lol).

OMG OMG OMG I went shopping today for new clothes - it was getting dire lol. But I was able to shop at Katies. That's a "normal" store! I didn't even go into Autograph or anything! What an absolutely amazing feeling! And the sales people didn't look like I'd grown two heads by walking in the door. Admittedly, I still bought the largest size in the store (an XL) but it was awesome!! Love my sleeve!!!

It's amazing how this holiday has changed for me. I still really enjoyed it but it so wasn't about the food! I ate a small amount of my favourite things and really enjoyed it but managed not to over do it and need to have a little lie down I still over fill my plate even though I am being careful but I am sure that will get better! All of my guests have now gone, so it's just the clean up now and then I can enjoy the remainder of my holiday. I am really pleased with how I went with the food over the past few days but it is so weird as my friends are all still really big guy's and when I consider that I used to match them plate for plate, it's extraordinary! I don't care how much other people eat but it still amazes me how much this has changed. Non-sleeved people don't seem to get it - I've tried to talk to a few friends about this and I don't think they really understand the fundamental and massive shift this is, well was for me at least. I can't wait for next year - I should have lost all my excess weight by next Christmas and that will be brilliant. The other cool thing is that my friends and I have decided to go to Supernova in Brisbane next year. I think it is in August or September. And I am going to go in costume I would never have been brave enough to do that before and now I can't wait. I am already looking for a speciality costume designed online to make my costume for me lol. Before the sleeve I would never have considered doing this in a million years - now I can't wait!!

So tired...Christmas is killing me! It's 2:30 and I have just finished wrapping the presents and have stashed them safely away from enquiring minds Friends arrive tomorrow and I'll have a full house until Christmas. I am not sure if I will have much of a chance to jump online before Christmas so I just want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to thank you all for your amazing support and advice. I can't quite believe that I am here but am so grateful and thankful that I am. A very Merry Christmas to you and your families - and here's to an amazing New Year for us all!!

Wow, congrats Puppyphat! That is amazing! What an awesome Christmas present to yourself!!!

Awww thanks you guy's for the kind responses!