CoffeeGrinDR

I'm glad you started this thread. I have been trying to get some cardio in but I have been too tired and dizzy (i'm only two weeks out). I'm hoping this improves in the next two weeks. I add in more walking to my day but I can tell I'm not ready for hardcore workouts yet. I just bought a treadmill instead of a couch for my living room I prefer lifting weights to cardio so I'm looking forward to clearance for that. It tends to help my weight loss much more than anything else. Right now the lack of energy sucks.

I have kept it private. I wouldn't call it "secret" -- I certainly wouldn't call it a dirty little secret. I have no shame in it either way. I'm a rather private person; when I had other medical procedures done I kept those private as well.

Congrats! What kind of bike did you buy??

They weren't joking when they said this is 90% in our minds. I'm only 11 days out and I'm so impatient to have lost everything. Right away. Most of the vets would probably say "stalls happen" and to cycle your calories or the like.

I got really obsessed with daily weighing. I wanted to see the scale move...so I put it up on the shelf and decided to weigh only on Sundays. ANY GIVEN SUNDAY you can reach a new personal best

To live.

Hi, hang in there. I was sleeved on 1/16 and thought I was going to gnaw my arm off until a few days ago. Suddenly, at 8 days out I lost most of my appetite. Remember to keep hydrated, that should help.

The band was much more painful for me than the sleeve. I used liquid tylenol for two days after being released and was fine. It really isn't that bad. I was back at work 5 days after being on the operating table.

On the third day after surgery I traveled back from Mexico, walked through the entirety of a large airport, dealt with luggage, walked a long walk to my car, and then drove 30 minutes home. I was fine. I had my surgery on 1/16 and was out shopping and running errands on 1/20 (much to my surprise). On 1/21 I went back to work. Yes, you'll be very tired after exerting yourself but if you are NOT on pain meds (narcotics) you should be fine. My last pain med was given on 1/18 and then I had some liquid tylenol but that is it.

I want to do what will be most beneficial for my weight loss. To that end, does it make sense to weigh only once a week? I have been weighing daily (per doctor's instructions) and it is messing with my mind. I'm down 12 pounds since day of surgery but the scale hasn't moved in 2 days (I attribute this to only sleeping 4-6 hours a night). I thought I would pick Sunday morning as my weigh-in day to keep me focused and on track and be able to wake up Monday morning to a fresh week of possibility. Thoughts?

What Gman said. Remember: you don't control your breathing from your lungs, you control it from your diaphragm. Singing should come from deep in your belly. Losing weight gives more room for that. From personal experience I was singing and playing guitar just last night (exactly one week post-op). No worries.

This is NOT medical advice just personal experience: Chanca piedra (also sold as "stone breaker") can really help. You should be able to find it at any whole foods type store (or I order mine online). It is natural and has been used for a very long time (basically a digestive bitter).

Thank you for sharing. Yes, I can relate. Your words on filling the emptiness resonate so strongly with me. I understand what it means to grasp for control (of any sort) because of the trauma of childhood where you are trapped in an abusive environment. I also understand what it means to repeat those relationships as an adult. What I choose to take away from this is one of my own mantras: the choice to live. All these things you have faced, you could have stayed where you are. But you chose to keep going forward. I feel so impatient as well. It's as though I want to just fast forward past the day by day of this and be at my goal weight. That said I think there is some important internal healing to do that no one will ever see. I think this inner healing is what really gets us to our external goals (whatever "weight" that happens to be). Living belongs to us only one day at a time, you've chosen to live and you are amongst a community of people who are here fighting to live right along side you. I wanted to offer one of my favorite poems for you: You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things. Wild Geese, Mary Oliver

Good luck! My surgery is tomorrow as well.

I am three days away from leaving for surgery! Intake is January 15th with surgery happening on the 16th!! I'm excited, anxious, and a wee bit nervous. WOW. Can't believe the day is almost here. Hang in there, board buddies!

Hi LGBT sleevers, This is general relationship stuff but given that I identify as an "L" in the LGBT crowd I thought I would post it here. Also, I'm really emotional this week and concerned that is clouding my judgment. I don't know what my problem is...hopefully this will pass after a full night of rest. At any rate... I went through a zinger of a breakup this past year and am focusing on self-care. One major aspect of that is my WLS and getting to a weight that I am happy with. I'm not saying I will put off dating until I reach that weight but I know I tend to get distracted from self-care when get into relationships and I want to ensure that I am totally focused on myself for a good while to make sure this major effort gets my full attention. Long story short, I just moved back to the country after a year abroad and a friend and I have been growing closer and closer. She wanted me to spend time with just her when I got back and I have put off doing so. I'm now moving across the country and she is leaving to go abroad for 4 months. Am I silly to put off our rendezvous thinking that my weight will be a determining factor on the success of our relationship? I can lie and pretend that my hesitation isn't about my size but a good deal of it is (coupled with the getting over the last breakup). I know it is ridiculous to say I will lose 100 pounds before I start dating again but right now that is how I feel. Fortunately, with her headed abroad it gives me time to do my self work. But I worry I'm missing out on seeing her before hand because of my stupidity. I sent her flowers that she will get this week so she knows that she is special to me (and hopefully doesn't think I'm not interested because of my dragging feet). I really like her. And it's not like she doesn't know my shape - we've been friends for 9 years or so - I just want to get to a different place before I begin something. THOUGHTS??

Just an update... SouthernSoul was spot on here. We ended up talking about EVERYTHING. I didn't get to see her before she left the country but we will when she gets back. She called me on Christmas to tell me she has feelings for me and that she totally supports my goals and plans for self-care. Turns out she loves me just as I am. This surgery has always been for me and me alone but it was an incredible experience to have prior to losing weight and means a lot.

Hey January Sleevers! When I wake up tomorrow the t-minus 10 day countdown begins. WOW! I thought it would never get it here and now...here we are. I started a liquid diet yesterday and besides being a bit grumpy I'm good. Any other January 16th Dr. Aceves folks out there??? Best wishes to all! -coffee

I agree. I can't do malabsorption - it nearly killed me due to loss of iron and severe anemia that required 4 hour IV iron infusions 1-2x a week for four months. To take iron intravenously wrecks you. I didn't want to EVER go through that again. Gastric sleeve is the only thing I would consider because problematic malabsorption doesn't really occur. My surgeon (who was supposedly running a center of excellence) told me the band worked because of restriction not malabsorption. Then the awesome surgeon I saw to get the jaws of life out of me said "of course it's malabsorption." So the science behind the band was switched up in the middle of pushing the product?? Yep. This time I have waited, read the medical journals. To me, gastric sleeve is the gold standard for sustained health. My mom had gastric bypass and I don't think her health is as robust as it used to be. Just my 2 cents.

ONE MONTH AWAY! (Also, happy birthday Jane Austen!) December 16th was supposed to be my date but I pushed it back to January (due to a xcountry move).

Hope it all goes smoothly for you! Ask for that wonderful "relaxation" shot they give you up front -- best part of surgery! According to the revised BMI calculator (from Oxford) that would put you underweight. Maybe spot yourself 5 pounds? To each their own but the new charts recommend 123-166 for your height. http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html Good luck!

Sheldon, not to throw a spanner into the works here but I'm curious about your goal weight (being 118). At 5'8" a lot of charts have a median healthy weight at 147 (with a range of 136-150).

I understand. I'm pre-op and feeling really emotional! I am not telling the object of my affection about surgery (i'm not really telling anyone except my mom and my therapist). I want to lose 100lbs before I start dating again.

I hear you! The vets can give you good advice about making clear decisions and why your hormones are going nuts (the release of estrogen from fat cells coupled with the loss of our usual coping mechanisms). They helped me. Here's where I landed on this decision: you don't need to wait to live but you do need to be true to yourself. My problem is that I put other people first. Always. And this surgery is a big step toward living my life for me. Getting involved in a relationship right now (pre-op soon to be op) is too much for me to manage on top of all of these other major life changes. Not to mention that I still need time to heal from my last breakup. I suppose if someone really cares about you they will honor and respect that. If you have strong feelings for this person (I have strong feelings about my person and was afraid of missing "the moment") then you have to trust that all in good time everything will work out. I used to think timing was everything. Now I think we make our moments in life. Good luck to you. ps. Isn't it nice to like and to be liked by someone?!!

True, I think Geneen Roth's work is good because it speaks to these issues but (forgive me, this is my humble opinion) she does a lot of pitying of the victim. And that just doesn't work for me. I want a structured recovery plan. She is mostly repetitive in her books and I appreciate it takes a lot for most of us to open up to soft parts of our insides that have led us to this point but where is the next step? I think that's why I find the forum here so helpful, these are people actively living the next step and living to tell about it from a place of strength. Much love to everyone in their journey.