Iambeautiful

I am a newly sleeved patient of almost four weeks now. I have not been able to eat anything but pureed foods and very little of that so far I know I've lost more than twenty pounds since surgery but Lately I've been reading a lot of articles on people that have had the sleeve and or the bypass who have gained most of their weight back. I hadn't seen this so much on those having the sleeve vs. The Bypass. It seems as though after a couple of years that a lot of Bypass patients can and do regain some or all their weight back. It also seems that after a while that the malabsorption feature of the bypass stops working. I wonder what anyone else has found to be true about Gastric Sleeve patients and how many of them actually gain their weight back after losing a large amount within the first year. I know a lot has to do with the person staying with the diet even after they have lost all their weight and not grazing or going back to old food habits that led to us gaining weight in the first place. I want to take full advantage of my surgery now that i no longer have real hunger issues anymore. When I start eating regular food again, I plan on staying on hight Protein and low carb to achieve my weight loss goals. This surgery is only a tool to lose weight and it won't make anyone thin just by having the surgery. I don't want to be a failure story after I endured so much to have this drastic surgery. Any thoughts of others here would be appreciated.

That's very interesting. I think it'd be very hard to completely stretch out the sleeve but one could gain wait with the sleeve by 'grazing' They use that term for people that eat very frequently and even in small amounts that could add up to a lot of extra calories which would lead to weight gain. Thanks.

I too had researched the sleeve a lot before I finally made my decision. In fact my doctors team was concerned about my undecisiveness on which surgery to have. But I reassured them that i just wanted to make a decision that I wouldn't regret. The reason I couldn't make up my mind is because it seemed like the bypass people lost weight so much faster than the sleeve but now I'm seeing that the weight loss is almost comprabable to the bypass. Doctors will even admit that there is not enough long term studies to determine the success of the sleeve vs. the bypass. I think with the Sleeve that we are Forced t make positive long term changes in our diet that will benefit us in the longrun. I think some ot the bypass people go in with the wrong idea that they can still eat a lot of the stuff that got them overweight in the beginning because of the malabsorptive feature of the surgery. I wanted the sleeve because I wanted to make permanent lifestyle changes. Now I'm not sayint the all bypass pts. do this but some have the wrong mindset going in. I knew a lady who still age chocolate cupcakes after her bypass.....and bragged that she could still lose weight and eat junk. I met one lady before i had the surgery at the grocery store and we talked a bit. She had bypass and lost a lot of weight but was stuck after four years out at 200 lbs and couldn't lose anymore. She asked the doctors if they could do a revision and do a sleeve on her.... They said absolutely not. I see that some bypass pts. do gain a lot of weight back after a while if they are not careful... I do believe it's easier to stretch out the stomach of the bypass pt vs. the sleeve although there can be some stretching of the sleeve as well but i don't think it could ever get the size of the origianl stomach. I know i have trouble eating and drinking as it is...... I can't imagine ever eating like i did before again ever. I think that i made the right decision to have the sleeve as well..... slow but sure is good for me. And I think it's healthier than losing so fast like the bypass people with less lose skin i believe. Time will tell....... I'm determined not to gain my weight back and hoping for a big weight loss as well.... The great feature of the sleeve is the abscence of Ghelin....... I am never really hungry..... I feel empty.... true but fill up very quickly once i eat or drink.... I can get full just by drinking liquids now..... In fact today I've only had one small meal and been trying to catch up on my drinking today...... it's so hard to be able to have time to eat three meals and drink all the Fluid. I don't want to get dehydrated. I can tell when I 'm low on fluids.... I feel bad and drained and sometimes weak....... This is NOT the easy way to lose weight like some think. We still have to diet and excercise when it all comes down to it or it will not work effeciantly. The sleeve is a great tool to lose weight. I'd do it again in a hearbeat and wish I'd done it long ago. There does seem to be a certain stigma associated with those having this surgery to the general public. They consider us weak...... On the contrary we are the strong one's We took a proactive step for our health.

You might want to consider having the gastric sleeve. I weighed the risks of both surgeries and found the sleeve to be the safest and you can lose just as much weight as the bypass patients in the long run. The bypass patients might lose faster in the beginning but us 'sleevers' catch up usually and sometimes even surpass the bypass patients in the long run. I think us that had the gastric sleeve have the advantage really and less nutritional deficiencies occur..... I think the sleeve is much safer in my opinion. I've done much research of both and came to an informed conclusion that the sleeve was my best bet.... I'm very happy with my decision. I think it's much safer than the bypass operation.

THAT is why I didn't tell anybody but one of my daughters and a daughter in law about it because i knew they would be the only ones that would be non judgemental.... I will never tell anyone that i had this done. Don't let that get to you... please..... you will be ok.... I'm sure..... I had a bad time with surgery but i survived..... She probably really is only concerned for you. I don't know about other people but i always consider maybe jealously is a factor in some cases. I didn't even tell my very best friend because I knew that she'd try to talk me out of it. Have the surgery. Do it for you! You'll regret not having it done. I'm sure that your doctor has put you through all the pre op testing or he will to see if you are healthy enough to have it done..... I've seen so many success stories here and I am so excited about finally beating my weight problem. I now have the tool to accomplish this and I am so happy that I've had it done..... It's been almost four weeks and I've lost twenty five pounds.... it's so encouraging. and I'm not tempted to cheat on this what so ever. I just don't have the hunger like i did before and i couldn't eat a lot even if I wanted to...... I go by fast food places and have no desire for any of it..... the cravings are gone....... I feel so free from this food addiction that i once had!!!!

Every once in a while i have to take just a sip or two to get some food down. I am only three weeks out and sometimes the food feels like it's stuck...... even soft food. I never take more than a couple of sips and never a lot of liquid with a meal but for the most part I never drink and eat at the same time except in those rare situations. I did forget one day and ate too soon after drinking a lot of Water and I felt so bloated. I'll NEVER do that again.....

Didn't you have to lose a lot of weight and keep it off for a year before you could have this done...... your profile pic info here says that you lost 0 lbs but obviously you must have lost a lot of weight to have the loose skin that you had?

I wonder how long after surgery we have to wait to start working out. I'm three weeks out from surgery and my doc said i could ride a stationary bike but he said nothing about the gym yet.

the high fat content on that shake is not allowed on my diet. I need a low fat shake. and low carb ...

Has anyone tried the nectar brand..... I heard one person say it was good. So far all the Protein drinks that i found that are low cal low fat and low carb taste like crap...... any suggestions.....??? I'm tired of spending my money to try out different Protein shakes that are horrible..... The shakes help me a lot to curb hunger between meals and for energy and healing....

@RJ'S/beginning Did you have this problem before surgery and the big weight loss? I am also post menapausal for many years but have not had any dryness problems whatsoever nor pain. I attribute that to all the fat cells that i still have as I'm only three weeks out from surgery and have only lost 30 lbs or so. You see woman store estrogen in their fat cells and it is released as needed I believe. I wonder though if I lose a big amount of weight and as my fat cells shrink and then estrogen may be depleted as well. I also wonder if the use of natural plant estrogens would help you. I would talk to my gynecologist more about this if i were you or research the local estrogens on line. I think the local estrogens come with warning labels too. Btw..... You lost a lot of weight. I'm impressed. I hope I can do as well as you did.... Any tips for what diet you followed to lose so much and how long did it take to lose most of it.... I want so bad to succeed. I'd like the advice of those who have lost an impressive amount of weight. You've lost as much or more than the bypass patients i think. I hope you find a solution to your problem here....

Did you have this problem before surgery and before you lost a lot of weight? I'm post menopausal but don't have any problems like that. But I still have a lot of fat cells left and I think that's why. Estrogen is stored in fat cells and I have an ample supply of Estrogen in my body if i need it from my fat cells. I'm wondering though if I lose a lot of weight and as my fat cells decrease if my symptoms will occur at that time of low Estrogen. Just wondering.

I am so glad that you shared this. I feel cold all the time and I do not have a fever. It's been unseasonably cold here in the midwest but even when it's warmer out , I wake up feeling cold.... I never minded the cold weather so much but now it really bothers me and I use my space heater in my room to warm up. I guess it's a stress reaction to surgery and our body is adjusting to all the changes going on in our bodies. I am feeling chilled now and everyone else seems comfortable as it's a really nice day today but windy. I guess that too will pass in time. I'm only three weeks out from surgery now and still in the healing stage. I had terrible chills when i was in the hospital. Another side effect of surgery that no one can warn you about except for others that have gone through it I suppose!

No one is bickering here except a few... It's not a 'bunch; of us.... all we are trying to do is keep it real and give constructive advice and help each other. I personally don't think it's funny that people are so petty to argue when people are trying to help each other. But anytime there is a forum anywhere there are always the few that like to start arguments. some people thrive on that. I am trying to get well and don't need nor like arguments. That's why I unsubcribed to this forum now.....but the messages keep coming in my E mail..... I DON't find it amusing at all..... it's weird what some think is amusing. I don't like conflict myself expecially when i'm still not well as I'm only three weeks out from surgery...... Yes the person that posted this confession was brave and I think she wanted someone to help her.... get back on track. I admire her for that and wish her and everyone here success..... We all need to be kind to each other but not pat someone on the back if we know they are on the wrong path. I think our advice helped her as she said to get back on track so if she is happy then why do people here want to k eep on with the complaining..... you wouldn't complain if the nurses or Doctor told you that non compliance could lead to complications. Most of us have researched this operation well and know the do's and don'ts and the reasons why compliance is so crucial in the healing stage of the game.... Nuff said

How long did you wait to try those? I'm cleared for puréed but I'm nervous since I feel so full with puréed soups. I'm hungry but then instantly full. I am really wanting to move forward but I feel like I need to be a little farther out to try it. I had my surgery last Thursday.

Mashed Potatoes with a couple of spoons of cream of chicken Soup on top. oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon and stevia or other sweetener. Dannon's light and fit greek yogurt ... vanilla. the individual containers not the large containers has no sugar in it and is low carb. My dr. won't let me have the chicken salad or tuna, refriend Beans or any of that stuff yet. My favorite meal is southwestern style egg beaters I add a little almond milk in it to make the eggs soft as I had problems eating them at first , The milk makes them soft and then I eat it with a wedge of laughing cow cheese.... Also you can take the egg beaters. Measure 1/4 cup and pour into a muffin or mini cupcake pan after you spray it with non stick cooking spray. Bake in toaster oven at 350 until egg rises and is firm and a little brown on top.... it's like a frittata.... and it's yummy. you can either mix the laughing cow cheese in the egg mix or spread it on top of the baked egg when done. It's very yummy but be careful if you bake the egg like a frittata that you eat it slowly.... I can't wait until my five week check up when I'll get to add some real Protein foods like ground turkey, soft chicken...or ground beef, low fat cheese and a few more things..... I am tired of yoghurt and all that but i make the best of it..... I can't have all the foods that some of the others here are allowed on athis stage. I wonder why each doctor has different foods in the phases.... I guess it's good to be careful. I don't think I could tolerate any salsa at this time. I'm afraid to try fat free refried beans.... I think it would make me more gassy than i already am...

I wished that I had done this long ago too..... The only regret I have is that i didn't lose more weight on my own before getting it done..... I could always lose weight rapidly at first on a diet but usually came to a stall and was disappointed by starving myself and still not losing..... Now I feel in control of my eating for once in my life.... it's a great feeling. The surgery is rough at first but it gets better every day. Don't go into it thinking it will be easy because it isn't at all.... no way. I told myself before surgery not to think about it too much.... just do it. If I had thought of every little thing that could go wrong or the possible outcomes or suffering I'd never had done it..... Don't think about it..... just do it. You'll be glad that you did. I am almost three week out of my surgery and it's getting better every day...... I can tell that I'm losing already but I won't get back on the scale until my Dr. visit in nine days.... I refuse to be a slave to a scale. I feel so much lighter already and walkiing seems so much easier than before..... I can only imagine how much better I'll feel later on. Make sure you have a good Dr. that specializes in this surgery and has a great success rate.... I can proudly say that my Dr. is fantastic. I had this done laparascopically and I only have five little tiny spots on my abdoment that are very pink now and hardly noticable that i ever had surgery...... I am complying with what he said about the diet afterwards..... that is crucial to your success. Follow all the directions exactly and you will have success..... It's so much easier now to stay on a diet plan because the hunger is not an issue anymore..... Good Luck.......

I have done all my reseach and know that I am not supposed to drink anything (I am on soft pureed foods now) fifteen minutes prior to eating and at least 30 minutes after eating. I have seen that it is reccomended not to drink for at least an ;hour or two after eating. I have been having a lot of trouble getting my fluids in because of this. I HAD to take a sip or two of tea one day because my food felt like it got stuck in my chest while eating.... (esophagus) to get the food down. If we do drink when we eat I know it leaves the stomach faster and leaves us hungry sooner. Some people drink with meals when they want to eat more food. This is not the case with me. I just wish that sometimes i could just have a sip or tow of liquid with my meals..... this is hard for me to get used to. so today I skipped eating any meals so I could catch up on drinking my liquids... I felt llike i did a poor job yesterday of getting my fluids in and have to make up for it today as I started feeling really bad today.... and my urine was dark. I don't want to get dehydrated and end up back in the hospital.... This has become quite a delima for me..... I can't drink fluids fast now like before. It takes a lot of time it seems to drink drink drink and then be able to eat.... then wait.... then drink....... it's now a chore to do all of this. Any suggestions?????

Hello, I had my sleeve gastrectomy done on February 26,2014 I had been preparing for surgery since September of last year. I had all the pre op testing done including the echocardiogram and stress tests. I passed all the tests with flying colors and was assured that I was healthy enough for the surgery. I started out at 333 lbs at 5'7. I felt great before surgery. I went into this surgery thinking that I'd do fine as that is what all my tests indicated. I woke up the day right after surgery with extreme pain in my left shoulder and under my left breast. I panicked a little wondering why this was occuring and thought maybe it was my heart. The nurses told me that the pain was from the gas accumulation and was from the pressure on the phrenic nerve as they have to fill the abdomen with gas for the laparascopic surgery and that gas will cause much pain and discomfort after surgery. The tiny insicions on my abdoment were sealed with skin glue and my abdomen didn't hurt at all at first because the doctor I have uses long acting injections in the abdomen surgical sights that numbs the pain locally for up to three days post op. I was given morphine in my IV for the phrenic nerve pain which was intense. They said I had all the pain med allowed while I was in the recovery room and after waiting for hours in recovery, I was finally taken to my room bed and all. My back was hurting so bad from laying in the bed flat for so long and from the time I spent in surgery as well. I wanted to get out of bed immediately when i got to my room (they let me sit up in a chair) My back was killing me by then. I asked for pain med and they gave it to me as it had been enough time now to have it again. I had Iv's in my arm and went back to bed after the pain subsided. To my dismay I was told that my blood pressure was dangerously high and so was my heart rate. They had to give me blood pressure meds through the IV and still it was hard to stabilize my Blood pressure and heart rate. I had extreme nausea and could hardly even drink Water without intense nausea. I was given a sugar free popsicle (in place of ice chips) with my Clear liquids tray. The popscle was the only thing that i could tolerate without nausea and even that was hard to finish. My face was flushed and red, my head was hurting so bad and my heart was racing. I've never been on Blood pressure meds so this was new for me. I felt feverish yet they said my fever was not high at all. I remember ordering chicken broth, a Protein shake, and Jello. I took one spoon of the broth.... it was horrible. Then i took one bite of jello.... i felt nauseated. I couldn't even look at the Protein Drink. The next time I ordered hot tea ... I drank a few sips of that and it stayed down. I tried some apple juice diluted half and half with Water. I immediately vommited that up. I did get the test for leaks in my stomach and had to swallow this nasty white solution ..... Good News... I had no leaks. The nausea never got better in spite of three different nausea meds I was only able to drink my one ounce of water down every fifteen minutes on Day three after I was given Reglan IV.... Then the horrible part came. they made me take my pain med in a liquid form to drink. It was a red liquid version of Hydrocodone..... OMG It was the most discusting thing to try to take especially with my nausea. I fought with every ounce of strength I had NOT to vommit this horrible stuff. I was only able to keep it down if they gave me two anti nausea meds before the medication. The doctor told me that nausea is common after the sleeve gastrectomy and that the sleeve patients seem to suffer with it more than the other sugeries..... I wonder why? Finally to my delight i was able to go home on Day 4 but I still felt so sick and my blood pressure was still high but now I was told that i had to be on blood pressure medications but that I probably would not have to stay on them as he said that many patients blood pressure stabilize after a few weeks after surgery but I'd have to see my primary care physician to determine that. First day home, I felt so bad... but I was able to keep my water down as i was still on clear liquids and Protein drinks which still I wanted no part of at all. Since then I've gotten a lttle better every day but still very weak I lost almost ten pounds in the first week after all this I went through. I had my one week post op visit and Doctor said i was doing well. I was able to start my Protein shakes finally and did well with the liquid diet ... now he said I could progress to soft foods that were given in a list.... plain yoghurt, cottage cheese, soft scrambled eggs as tolerated, laughing cow cheese, oatmeal and creamed Soups and then mashed potatoes ..... no more than one half cup of one item per meal...... Had a hard time with soft foods at first but now I'm doing better except with the scrambled eggs. it's a struggle getting all my water in though. I am so happy though I had this done. I finally feel free from my food addiction. I no longer am tempted to eat fast food or things I'm not supposed to have as I know that I CANNOT eat them.....as it would cause me great discomfort. I am doing well with measuring my food and can't wait to my next visit in ten days from tomorrow when they will let me add protein foods to my diet so I will feel like I finally can eat some REAL food. ground beef or turkey, white fish.... but I'm worried if I will be able to tolerate this or not. I am still drinking at least one Protein Shake a day but need to be drinking two.... It seems so very hard to get all my liquids in since i have to wait before meals to drink and then afterwards. I just wanted to tell anyone that wants this done that please don't think this surgery is going to be a piece of cake.... it's not. And make sure you do everything the doctor tells you to do. I was upset at all the pre op testing that i had to do but now I understand that it was for my own good and still wonder why i had such a bad reaction to surgery while others do not. My surgery in itself was a success and I have very little scarring on my five little incision lines..... My doctor is excellent and I'd refer him to anyone but my reaction to surgery was a stress reaction to surgery that cause my blood pressure to skyrocket. so any of you with Blood Pressure issues out there please get it under control before surgery..... I am looking forward to seeing my weight drop and for the first time in my life i feel so free...... I won't even try to overeat..... it's not worth it. I am sticking with my diet one hundred percent....... I didn't go through all this and risking my life for nothing. I plan to use this tool I have suffered for to my greatest advantage that will help me to get healthy again. I am taking all my Vitamins and Calcium faithfully........ I am getting better everyday......

P.S Danielle.... if they told us everything that we could experience in detail after surgery then we might not have wanted to have it at all..... Good thing they didn't tell me EVERYTHING that could happen...... I'm still glad that i had it done.... No regrets....

you are like me Danielle.... it seem like the days when i get my food in are the days that i can't get all my Fluid in.... what to do? I'm having a 'drink' fest today and nothing to eat so far..... The Zofran didn't work in itself for me.... I had to have IV reglan as well before i could take my liquid pain meds or I'd vomit them right back up. My DR. said that the nausea seems worse in sleeve patients for some reason than with the bypass patients. Oh great! I also had the hiatal hernia surgery done at the same time so I had more reasons to be nauseated than some I guess. Is the carnation essentials low carb...... I'm trying to stay with low carb now to enhance my weight loss. I've never heard of nectar strawberry mousse.... that sounds yummy.....? Where can I get that from and I wonder how many carbs is in it. I hope anyone reading this posts will realize that this surgery may not be as easy as they think. I had no idea how bad it would be really.... No one told me about the severe nausea and pain..... and the high blood pressure that would occur. I spent 4 days in the hospital and i was told it would only be one day. I'm glad I was at the hospital longer because I would have REALLY freaked out if i went home after one day and was vommitting like i was there for three days..... I had to take prescription nausea pills when i got home too. Lucky the insurance covered it because without insurance the meds would have cost me 240.00 for one script for thirty days. I had to get prior authorization for this med. The insurance refused it at first.... I was panicking because i couldn't afford that much money for one script.....I get very little nausea now thank God but it does hit me sometimes after drinking some of the Protein drinks.... ugh.....

I cannot eat chicken yet but when i am able to .... I am wondering are the grilled chicken strips or nuggets tender..... I'm afraid to eat white meat chicken now as many people have problems chewing and swallowing it. I am only two and a half weeks post of and won't be able to eat chicken for some time. I think at five weeks out i will be allowed to have deli shaved chicken only

I had the EGD before surgery as one of my pre op tests. I swear this was the easiest test of all of them that i had. After they gave me the anesthesia in my IV...... I don't remember a thing. The next thing I know is that I'm awake and never felt a thing. I had no side effects whatsoever but a little bit of a scratchy throat. it was a breeze. The only thing you have to remember is to NOT eat or drink anything after midnight before the surgery and to stick to the diet that they tell you to be on the day before the procedure. I am so glad that i had it done as that is when he discovered that i had a small hiatal hernia which he was able to repair during the sleeve gastrectomy. Good Luck!!!!!

I'm sorry you feel that way @alwaysonadiet. Apparently you are the only one complaining. We are just trying to give 'constructive advice' and if that is considered rude then forgive me. We are all trying to help each other here. 'Stole your picture' ? please.... i got my profile pic from a google search and it's a public domain photo. Now you are the one being rude or do you just want to start an argument here? I'm not playing your game. I'm trying to get well here as the others here that don't want to hear your whining. Get over it!

They offer Optisource or Premier Protein drinks..... I had the Optisource protein in the hospital and I didn't like it..... it was horrible or maybe it was just becuase i was so sick then....