Babbs

Immediately after surgery (well, the next day ) : Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip. Someone said those words to me, and it was my mantra for days! Walking really does make you feel better! Do it as soon and as often as you can! And sip all day long to stay hydrated! Weeks after surgery: Head hunger sucks. I hope you don't get it, but some do. Work through it by staying hydrated and finding the liquid Protein you enjoy the most. When you get cravings, read, walk, knit, do WHATEVER you can to divert your attention to how bad you want a cheeseburger! Realize that this liquid phase doesn't last forever (well, it did for me, but that's another story), and as soon as you start more solid food, the head hunger subsides. Also remember that you really won't feel the restriction from surgery on the liquid stage, so don't worry You will feel it once you start more solid foods. The dreaded 3 week stall will happen. Maybe not right at 3 weeks, but a stall will happen. Don't panic. It's normal. Follow the plan and it will end. Like Lipstick said, take pics to see your progress! You will see although you may not lose on the scale for a couple weeks, you will see the difference in the photos! Good Luck, good healing and congrats on your new life!!

How long until you feel like "yourself"? Well honestly, it took me 5 weeks. How long before I felt okay enough to do something like a craft show? I think at 2 weeks you should be fine. You WILL be tired though, so plan on that. Make sure you bring enough water/shakes for the day to stay hydrated. Oh, as far as caffeine goes, I have a half a cup every day, and switched to tea so I'm not getting as much. My NUT recommended none, but gosh darn it, I gave up a lot to have this surgery (smoking,for instance) and I wasn't about to give up my caffeine!

One of my favorite sayings: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanor Roosevelt

I've got news for all of you who don't tell people....they know. And if they don't, they will figure it out. But I respect your decisions to keep it to yourselves. I couldn't. But then again, I'm an "open book". Sometimes to a fault

I had my husband with me. He stayed until about 3 hours after surgery, then went home. Honestly, you are pretty out of it the first day, and I wasn't really up for visitors. I felt better the next day and was glad to have a few visitors, but really just wanted to sleep the entire time when I wasn't up walking.

What an awesome friend you are! And you gave me a great dinner idea, too! Yeah, my hubby got the RNY 8 years ago, and although he can eat much more now, I remember he could barely eat anything for several years. I think as a sleeve patient we will be able to eat much more a year out. But yeah, I am learning the hard way right now my eyes are MUCH bigger than my stomach!

I'm down a jean size too. Luckily, I can shop in my closet because I have about 3 different sizes in there Congrats!

The worse part of the surgery so far in my opinion. The hunger will decrease once you start more solid food. Hang in there!

I was told.the pain was the equivalent of my gall bladder surgery. That was bull. I was in pretty severe pain on my right side when I woke up and was until I got my morphine pump Once I had that, the pain was was totally tolerable even after I got home. Everyone is different!

Why aren't these doctors taking the gall bladder out with the WLS anymore? Seems so counter productive to have to have it out anyway after the fact! I'm glad I had mine out several years ago!

Your stomach is as delicate as a baby's right now. That's why they want you to do the liquid diet. It needs to heal. You are running the risk of developing a leak and putting yourself in the hospital again. Please just be good to yourself and follow the plan. Take a walk if you're bored. Remember WHY you had the surgery to begin with? To be healthier!

Yes, but what does WHOOPIE have to say about it?! Really, WHO CARES. It's a silly chat show where they spend all of their time talking over each other anyway. And not one of them would influence any life altering decision I would make by what their "opinions" are on the subject. I leave that to professionals, family and friends. Not some overbearing, self serving buffoons that flap their jaws for a living and think people really care about what they have to say. Just sayin'.

Have you been to a doctor about it? Just to make sure everything is okay and it's just your skinny butt? I don't want to alarm you,but I had a friend with the same symptom. Turned out he had bone cancer that started in that area...like 8 said I don't want to alarm you but I would feel better if you got it checked out

I'm almost 5'5" and I look smashing in a size 8 I'm old, so I don't want to lose too much to prevent the "old lady, wrinkly,drawn in look". I can't wait to get to a size 8!

I love this post so much! And at almost 4 weeks out and having a little complication, I NEEDED to hear your eloquent words! THANK YOU

I am almost 4 weeks out as of tomorrow, and as you can see in my stats, I am considered a "slow loser". I lost 5 pre op and 17 post op and now I am in my dreaded 3 week stall. Could I have lost 17lbs in 4 weeks without surgery? Absolutely! Done it a hundred times! Did I KEEP those 17lbs I lost off before my surgery? HELL NO! I might be losing a little slower than other surgery patients, but I don't care because I know when I ultimately lose all the weight I need to, I will not pile it back on quicker than I lost it! Keep things in perspective. We did this for lifelong results, not quick weight loss. Work the program and let it work for you, whether you lose 25lbs a month or 5! Congrats on your current weight loss!

I felt the same way you did! Once I started purees, I had one too many spoonfuls of re fried beans( because they tasted so darn good!)and I was MISERABLE for about 20 minutes! The restriction came with a vengence! Now i'm careful to measure and stop when I can start to feel it. That will be something you will have to learn also when you start feeling restriction. The fine line between "full" and "satisfied".

My hubby had RNY 8 years ago and did VERY well. Lost over 100lbs and was in the normal range for BMI. He complained to his surgeon that everyone thought he looked sick and he was "too skinny". His surgeons response? There are so many obese people these days, they don't even know what "normal" weight looks like anymore. Made my husband feel so much better! You keep rocking your "scary skinny" girl!

@@HalloweenBaby24 What you are going through is SO NORMAL! I'm only 3 weeks out, but I remember CRYING that first week when my husband ate an egg mcmuffin in front of me! The hunger and food cravings was the absolute worst part so far of this surgery! As soon as you can start more solid foods when you get to pureed, you will start to feel more satisfied. I did, and my hunger is now limited to meal times and I'm not craving food constantly. I also tried to get a little creative in this stage so I would feel like I was eating real food. The World According to Eggface has some great recipes for each stage. I know you're not there yet, but hang in there it will be here soon enough! And as someone else said, "This too shall pass".

Hi Snowkitten ( I love your name by the way)! I too am 3 weeks out from surgery and am currently on pureeds easing into soft. What I ended up doing instead of waiting for restriction to stop eating is just went out and bought these 4-6 oz little glass bowls. I put 4oz of food in those and STOP when it's gone (whether I'm feeling restriction or not). I did that because I found myself wanting to eat until I was almost uncomfortable, and I didn't want to get into my "old" habits of eating until I was stuffed! That's how I got fat in the first place . Anyway, try that and see how it goes? It takes some getting used to, and I find that amount of food usually gets me satisfied and not miserable. As I'm able to eat a few more "tasty" foods in the soft phase, it is a little harder to stop at a quarter cup, but I make myself. That way you will feel in more control. Good Luck!

I would suggest going to the Veterans forums. They seems to have solutions for getting your weight loss back on track...an example is something called 5:2 program. I don't really know what it is because I am only 3 and a half weeks out but I hear it really works for some who need to jump start weight loss again and "re set" their pouch. Good luck!

I am a Realtor and had 2 closings the week I got out of the hospital as well as a buyer client I was showing homes to (My husband was my chauffeur). I would say although your work may not be too physically demanding like mine, the issues I was having were the post surgery fatigue and MAKING SURE I was getting my water and protein in. You have to make sure you aren't "too busy to eat" or get your water in. It's critical for healing at that time! I would tell you it can be done, but you will be tired! If you decide to go for it and have the surgery now as opposed to later, make sure you are taking the time to get all your protein and water in...your health depends on it

WOW! You look INCREDIBLE! And I agree, you should be renewing your vows in a new dress with your hot bod! Your arms look great! Did you have plastics for extra skin?

Unfortunately, those if us over 40 have to deal with the pesky sagging skin after weight loss. I've only lost 20 so far (surgery 3 weeks ago) and I can see it already in my tummy. I don't know what I'm gonna do when it starts happening in my face. I guess plastics will always be an option No matter, I'd rather be healthy with sagging skin than fat and firm!