yodasplash

Kaylap, talk to your medical providers, and be honest with them about your concerns. Quitting smoking is probably going to be a requirement prior to having surgery. I have asthma as well, and had no issues with the surgery. In fact, I've had less issues with my asthma, and no longer need to use my CPAP for my sleep apnea since having my surgery. My wife had a harder time recovering from her hernia repair than I did recovering from my surgery.

Good job and keep up the good work!!! It's definitely not an easy decision, but it was definitely one of the best I have ever made. The sleeve is just a tool.

Listen to your body. If it hurts to lay on your stomach, then don't try to sleep that way. There is no set date as far as I know. When your body allows it, then you should be safe.

You'll know when you've eaten too much. My mouth fills with saliva, sometimes I break into a sweat, and then I know it's time to find a bathroom because a PB is on it's way. Remember that with your new smaller stomach, one extra bite may be an ounce too much.

On January 1st, I weighed 381 lbs. Dropped to 37 lbs to 344 prior to surgery. Am now currently at 265, 79 lbs since surgery, 116 total. I haven't had any trouble with foods, except eggs don't sit well first thing in the morning. I don't count calories or grams of Protein, may not work for some people but it works for me. I eat the same foods my family does (two teenagers and a toddler), I just try to focus on protein first, with a bite or two of veggies, and I stretch meals out over longer periods of time. For example, If I grill burgers for the family, I'll eat about 1/3 of it during "dinner", but then snitch little bites throughout the rest of the evening until I've eaten the whole thing or it's bedtime. I struggle with not drinking during meals, ordering too much food and eating too fast. I still PB on occasion, but not often. When you can only eat 4-5 ounces, 1 extra bite is an ounce too much.

As others have stated, you can have dumping with the sleeve. My experience came when I had a spoonful of PB that I shouldn't have. It's not a pleasant feeling, but it's not the end of the world, and goes away after an hour or so. I had more issues early on with PB'ing from eating too much, or not chewing enough. Neither experience is fun, but don't stress out about it. It's just part of learning how to eat again with your new stomach.

Keep up the good work!

Hang in there. The liquid diet really was the worst part. It really does get better.

I would just call some local hospitals and just ask about follow-up appointments. Surgeon's in my area actually had high opinions of several surgeons in MX.

So, prior to surgery, I was a self-confessed Dr. Pepper addict. Since I started dating my wife, I had pretty much switched over to Diet Dr. Pepper. My nutritionist obviously told me to steer clear of soda because of the carbonation. However, I really miss the flavor. Has anyone tried using a soda flavoring like the SodaStream line, with plain Water instead of the carbonated water?

piercedqt78 - Unless Sonic has changed their recipe for the slush mix, no thanks. I worked their when I turned 16 and had to make the slush mix. It was just basically sugar and Water. And the flavoring is just soda from the fountain. A 20oz "Real Fruit" Lemon slush has 290 calories and 72 grams of sugar. jalyn96 - thanks for the heads up.

I'm just over 2 weeks out from surgery, and I've lost 19 lbs. However, I also just started pureed foods, and the scale hasn't moved since then. I think my body is just excited to have some substance. I would say you are doing fine, just keep following the plan and don't get stressed about it.

I was also curious if I could just open a Diet Dr. Pepper and let it sit till it goes flat. Not the ideal solution, just a thought

I've always been under the impression that weight loss and muscle building didn't go together. I would say go with cardio and muscle toning (light weights, high reps). Then once you get close to goal, then you can go back to focusing on muscle building.

Walk, walk, walk, walk!! Did I mention walking? Contrary to other posts that I've read in this post and others, I'm not convinced that the Gas-X strips help other than as a placebo. The pain you are feeling is from the gas they used to inflate your abdomen during surgery. Gas-X is designed to treat gas build up in the digestive tract. These two things aren't the same. I tried the Gas-X, and didn't notice any improvement. However, walking certainly helped with the gas pains, and it helps avoid blood clots.

I'm less than two weeks post-op, and I can tell you that what you are feeling is normal. For me, it hit about two days before surgery. You have to trust your research and trust your doctor in regards to leaks. Express your concerns with the doctor, and let him/her reassure you. If nothing else it puts a seed in their mind, "hey this patient was concerned about leaks, let me make sure I double-check that there aren't any". As for the pain, the worst pain I had felt like indigestion, it would bubble up in my chest and then go away after a couple seconds. I was up walking within 12 hours of surgery, and I have felt completely fine since about 5 days after surgery, to the extent that I have to remind myself that I need to take it easy while things heal. As for the friends issue, things will change. My wife and I have a large group of friends that get together and eat all the time. In fact, they had a get together a few days after I had surgery. I let my wife go, and explained to her that I didn't feel comfortable at this point being around a bunch of food. And these were friends that have been extremely supportive of my desicision, they WANTED to see me and see how I was doing. If it had been drinks, I could have gone and had Water or tea. But food is different, I walked through a grocery store and was bombarded by "head hunger". I haven't been hungry since surgery, but I had thoughts like "I need to buy this pizza and take it home" or "those chicken quarters would taste sooo good off the grill". And I'm confident that eventually, once I'm back on solid foods, I'll feel comfortable rejoining the group. You just have to do what feels best for you. Your friends will understand.

Gut instincts are what allowed our ancestors to survive. These instincts take cues from things our brain can't perceive. The biggest mistakes I've ever made came from ignoring my instincts and trusting my superior intellect

Remember that Soups, juices and such are liquids, and won't stay in the stomach pouch as long. I had the same thoughts, and decided one night that a spoonful of Peanut Butter wouldn't hurt. I was wrong. It was the most uncomfortable feeling I think I've ever felt.

Telling family can be stressful. My mother was supportive of my decision until she found out that I was having surgery in Mexico. After that, she constantly reminded me of every bad story she had ever heard, and about the down-sides of surgery. Not telling your family before your surgery is your decision, and I can understand it. But I would tell them after it's done. They can't talk you out of it at that point. They will have questions, and they will express their opinions. But you are doing this for you, and if they love you (which I expect they do) they will have to accept it. If not, let it be their problem. The only opinion that matters is yours. Use them as motivation to stick with the diet program, and lose the weight.

Just an FYI for OCC patients... the new Vitaleph site is up. I know I held off buying different bariatric vitamins and shakes, because they told me the new "brand" was coming soon. Vitaleph is replacing the Enspira stuff they used to sell. www.vitaleph.com

I had my sleeve done in Mexico on Monday, 3/31, and flew from San Diego to San Francisco then on to Kansas City Missouri on Friday. No problems at all. Just make extra preparations to allow for your diet plan.

Spring and summer are right around the corner. One of my goals with this surgery is to get back into playing sports on a regular basis. How soon after surgery would it be okay to start playing sports like golf, tennis, and softball? These aren't really intense sports, but they all have a torso twisting movement to them. I've sent a note to my surgeon's office, but thought I would post here as well. Does anyone know if there are concerns with twisting motions that could affect the sleeve?

Have my surgery in 8 days, and was thinking about what I want my end result to be. Started wondering, "How does one decide what their goal weight should be?" I'm 5'10", my HW was 380 and I currently weigh 352lbs., so my BMI is just a shade over 50. A "normal" BMI for me would put me at between 129 and 174 pounds. I can't envision myself at 200 lbs. much less BELOW 175 lbs. Is BMI a realistic measuring stick? At this point, I would rather measure my success by how I feel, and my general health. But if I had to pick a number, I would say my goal is between 200 and 220. I'll be ecstatic when I get under 300 lbs, and elated when I've lost 100 lbs. But my real wins aren't going to be measured by a scale, rather they will be doing things that weren't possible at 350+ lbs. Like teaching my daughter to ride a bike, riding a roller-coaster, water-skiing and dare I say, RUNNING a 5k or longer. What are your thoughts?

Wanted to follow-up on this topic. Had my surgery on 3/31. Talked to the nutritionist that day. She recommended a goal of 205 lbs, ~24.5 BMI, or less than 18% body fat. She said that focusing on the body fat number was more appropriate for me, since I have a pretty solid build anyway.

Apologize for the delay in posting a reply Sleeveless. We just got HOME home today. And I have a small correction, I had my surgery with OCC, which isn't at Mi hospital. Regardless, everything went GREAT! Wasn't (and still not) a fan of the paper underwear that had you wear. But surgery went smooth. Had a little nausea coming out from the anethesia (but apparently that's my MO, my mother said anytime I've ever been under, I've gotten sick). But I was up walking around later that evening. Since my body clock is on CST, I ended up waking up about 3:30am, so I just walked the halls until they finally discharged me around 9am. I only ever had minor pain, similar to indigestion, and it would just come and then go away after a couple seconds. Went back Wednesday so they could check me at and remove my drain. And they cleared me to go home. The broth at the hotel was delicious when I had it the day before surgery, but after surgery I found it to be too rich. So I just drank my Water, with some True Lemon flavoring, until we got back to San Diego. Border crossing was not a big deal. That was a big worry leading up to surgery, because my wife's passport hadn't come when we flew out to SD. But we had her birth certificate, Social Security card, and her driver's license, so they let her back into the US with very little problem. All in all, a GREAT experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.