JamieLogical

Fluids are not the same as solids. Many people don't experience much restriction with fluids, because they just pass right through your sleeve. Those who DO feel restriction with fluids do so only because of swelling. If you were able to watch your barium swallow test-post op, you would have seen an ounce or so of Fluid moving right through your sleeve in a matter of seconds. I got to watch mine and it was literally 2-3 seconds from the time the liquid entered my stomach to the time it passed through my pyloric valve. PS: as a general rule, you should be mixing juice with Water 50/50 post-op, not drinking it straight.

@@bikrchk I want to be clear that, past the restricted food phases, I never really felt deprived about WHAT I could eat (though I did miss some of my more high-carb favorites) as much as I felt deprived about HOW MUCH I could eat. It was very frustrating to me to sit down to a delicious meal of one of my favorite foods and only be able to eat a few bites. I had been a binge eater prior to surgery so, eating massive AMOUNTS of food had been a big source of comfort for me, along with just being able to eat a lot of something when I really enjoyed it. Let me give you an example. I used to LOVE lasagna. It was one of my absolute favorite foods. My in-laws always made a big lasagna dinner for Christmas. My parents, husband, and I would go over on Christmas evening and enjoy this large meal. I had my surgery on Sept 1, so this past Christmas, I was almost 4 months post-op. I was cleared to eat all foods by then, so that wasn't a problem. But of course, all I could actually manage to eat was the filling from maybe one square of lasagna. No noodles and obviously no garlic bread. I definitely felt deprived in that situation. All of my loved-ones around me partaking of one of my favorite foods and I could hardly eat any of it. Now, I don't think I'd feel that way. I've definitely come a long way since then in terms of accepting what I can eat, how much I can eat, and not depending on food so much in social situations. But it was definitely a period of adjustment for me.

For me that time came after some trial and error, once I was allowed solid foods. I eventually got to where I could eyeball the correct amount of food to eat without getting over-full, but it definitely took some practice. I would joke that my eyes were literally bigger than my stomach. I would say I was really good at it by maybe the 3 month mark?

I had to fly while on my pre-op diet, because I went to Mexico for my surgery. I brought individual protein powder packets and a collapsible funnel in my carry-op. I bought bottled water at the airport and used the funnel to pour in the protein powder. Since you will likely need more than one bottle of water on the plane, then maybe just keep asking the attendant for water and mix a little bit of protein in at a time, since those cups they give you on planes are tiny.

It can still be gas at 5 days out. I definitely experienced that sensation for a week or more. Don't remember exactly when it went away, but I know I still had it sometimes when I was home from surgery and I spent my first 4 days post-op in Mexico. So it was definitely 5+ days out and I was still having it.

As I have read many times on these forums, they perform surgery on your stomach, not your brain. Your emotional issues with food will remain post-op and that is something you will really struggle with and have to work on. In my early months, I often felt sad and frustrated that I could no longer turn to food for comfort. I also was disappointed when I could only eat a few bites of my favorite foods or not eat them at all. The good news is, I did adjust, both mentally and physically. Now I am 9 months out and I rarely feel deprived. But, yes, it is highly likely that you will deprived in the beginning and will have to make a lot of mental adjustments to go along with the physical changes.

I'm burning way more than I'm eating and I'm losing.. stalls will happen though. Well, obviously, to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you eat. That's basic math. However, if you are burning more calories through intense exercise alone, than you are eating, that is a form of anorexia (anorexia athletica) and it can cause severe health issues and drastically slow your metabolism. So if you are eating 1000 calories a day, burning 300 through exercise, and 1200 through just living, then you have a 500 calorie deficit and you will lose weight in a healthy way. If you are eating 1000 calories a day, burning 1000+ through exercise and 1200 through just living, then you have a 1200+ calorie deficit and may be doing serious damage to your health and metabolism.

Congrats on joining the losers bench! Glad to hear you are feeling okay so far. Take it very easy. Don't push yourself too far too fast. Sip, sip, sip and walk, walk walk!

Well chicken and fish are fantastic sources of protein. So definitely keep that up! If you need to supplement a little more, then I suggest Protein shakes or bars that are low in carbs and sugar. My favorite ready-to-drink shakes are EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control, which are available at Target and Walmart. I prefer the Rich Dark chocolate flavor. As for Protein Bars (may be a little too much for you to eat right now), I like Quest Bars, which are available at GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and some grocery stores (I buy mine online). My favorite flavor of those is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

@@Cupcake I hope you manage okay with only 10 days off work. The muscle repair is NO JOKE in terms of pain and limited mobility. Best of luck to you!

@@allycatt98 I preciously posted some more before/after pics on the first page of this thread if you hadn't seen them: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/337866-plastics-before-after-post-your-pics-here/

Are you allowed to swallow pills now? I was allowed to swallow pills at 7 days post-op. Might be easier for you to handle than a chewable.

Are you working with a coordinator? I didn't have my surgery through Bariatric Pal, but I have had surgery in TJ twice now and both times I worked with a patient coordinator who answered these sorts of questions for me.

I'll be 9 months post-op this weekend. I don't know if I could eat a whole bagel or not, since I haven't had any bagels since surgery. But I do know that I could probably eat an entire large muffin from my grocery store's bakery. A couple of times now I have bought one and split it with my husband, but I am pretty sure I could eat the whole thing if I tried. The muffins are pretty "cake-y" though and I know cake is way easier for me than breads. Since a bagel is so dense, I think it would be more of a challenge. I was just recently able to eat an entire piece of multi-grain toast with peanut butter on it. It was the first time I was able to eat a whole piece of toast at once. I had tried a few months earlier and only been able to eat about 3/4 of a piece. Anyway, that was after having been sick with a stomach bug for over 24 hours and I wasn't able to eat any meat or protein bars, so I thought I would give a piece of toast a try, since pre-op, toast was always recommended for situations like that. I put peanut-butter on it, just so I could get SOME protein in.

If you like the taste of SlimFast, I would recommend EAS AdventEDGE Carb Control ready-to-drink shakes. They taste a LOT like Slim Fast to me and have more Protein and far fewer carbs and calories than Slim Fast. I buy mine locally at Target and Walmart. Edit: I like the Rich Dark chocolate flavor the best. They look like this:

@@gtmikki Congratulations!!! Your loss seems pretty fast and consistent. I was only losing an average of 6 pounds per in my first 7 months or so.

I am beyond thrilled with the results of my tummy tuck. Like WAY beyond thrilled. I ultimately regained 80 pounds after my plastics and my TT held up through it all. Now that I have re-lost the weight post-sleeve, my TT still looks perfect. You can see some photos in my gallery, but the most recent ones were from March. I've lost about 10 more pounds since then. The fat grafting held up surprisingly well through my weight re-gain and re-loss as well, but I think it would have been better had I not had such huge weight fluctuation. I think (though I don't know with certainty) that having the TT and fat grafting done at the same time may have contributed to the complication I had with soft tissue swelling in my lower back. Because my tummy tuck was so extensive, there was only a 3-4 inch "gap" in the scar near my butt crack. If you consider that that little gap was the only place for fluids to move between the upper and lower halves of my body, with all of my other lymphatic channels being severed by the TT, then you add to that the fact that I had to have a lot of fat injected into the top of my butt (since that's where it was most hollowed out after my weight loss), then it's possible that the fat grafting served to block the Fluid movement between my upper and lower body as well. So the fluid had no choice but to build up in my lower back. That's my theory anyway. So I guess I would say that if you have to have a lot of grafting to the TOP of your butt and you are having an extended TT with a very long incision, then it might be best not to do both at once. However, my swelling issue went away years ago and I've just been enjoying the results of both my TT and FG since then, so I really have no complaints at this point. Edit: I really cannot say enough about how happy I am with my TT. My scar is very symmetrical and it is so low that you can't see it even when I am wearing the skimpiest of panties.

Good luck and let us know if you still have any lingering questions when you get through the whole thread. It really does cover almost EVERYTHING in one way or another, but I'm happy to answer specific questions as well.

I traveled from Western NY to San Diego, with a layover in Chicago. I was picked up at the airport by one of the nurses from the recovery house I stayed in. She brought me across the border to the recovery house, where I met with my surgeon. My surgeon marked me all up with a marker and explained everything she was going to be doing. I slept in the recover house that night and then was taken to the surgical center early the next morning. Had my surgery. Stayed that night in the surgical center. Then went back to the recovery house the day after surgery and stayed there for two weeks. Then I was taken back across the border and flew home with a layover in Chicago again. My surgeon was Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas and I stayed in the Beauty Care Recovery House, which provided me with 24/7 nursing care and all my food and everything. They even gave me slippers and robes to wear all the time, so I didn't have to bring my own clothes (except underwear).

I think you already know my story from other threads, but I'll recap here. I had plastics almost 4 years ago. I was 32 years old. I had extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift with implants, all-over lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. I spent two full weeks in Mexico and then I was scheduled for 2 more weeks off work once I got home. However, I had a complication with serious swelling of the soft tissue in my lower back that prevented me from sitting up in a chair (I have a desk job) for more than a couple of hours at a time. So, I ended up working half days for a couple of months. I had my surgery at the beginning of August 2011 and I would say I wasn't really comfortable sitting at a desk for a full day until January 2012. However, like I said, I had an unanticipated complication. Had it not been for that, I probably could have handled going back to work full time at 4 weeks post-op as planned. I would probably have rather had 6 weeks though....

Yeah. I had to stop caffeine with my 2 week pre-op diet and couldn't have it again until 30 days post-op. WORST TIME OF MY LIFE!

If you are on the desktop version of the website, there are a couple of areas you can go to, depending on what you are trying to do. Click on your name at the upper-right of the screen and choose "My Surgery" from the drop-down list. Click on "My Progress" on the left-hand navigation bar. Enter your goal weight, current weight, etc. Click on your name in the upper-right of the screen and choose "My Tickers" from the drop-down list. Click the "Edit Ticker" button, then step through each screen and make any edits you want to make to your ticker's appearance and which stats you want it to show.

@@Chrissyg Are you on a PPI? Waking up with nausea after eating late could be caused by some acid issues.

So sorry you had such an ordeal, but happy they were able to accommodate you and schedule your surgery for today! Tonight you will be on the losers' bench!

I didn't. I had a gown and little booties they gave me in the clinic. But I put on my yoga pants and regular socks as soon as I could do it myself. Walked the halls of the clinic like that.... gown, yoga pants, and regular white crew socks.