JamieLogical

In the early days, especially while on liquids and purees, it's best to just measure out your food. You won't feel restriction with liquids and purees the same way you will when you eventually move on to more solid food. I was supposed to eat 2 oz. at a time on purees, so I just weighed everything on my food scale and ate it slowly. Trust and believe that you WILL feel FULL when you get to more solid foods. You will definitely know you feel full then!

It's definitely not hunger. Like others have said, it may be thirst or acid. My surgeon prescribes a PPI for the first two months post-op. Another thing you will very likely experience in the coming days is head hunger. When you see commercials on TV, smell foods others are eating, or just have cravings for your comfort foods.

Marching in place helped me with my sipping.

I struggle to eat protein I am always ending up eating carbs or something quick There are lots of "quick" options that are high protein. Ready-to-drink shakes and Protein Bars are VERY quick. My go to Snacks are nuts, string cheese, light greek yogurt, and meat sticks (like beef sticks, but I usually go with turkey).

I've been in a "stall" for over a month now. It's tough, but I'm trying to stay positive. Rather than think about the numbers and the slow loss, I'm just trying to focus on living my new life. I bought a whole bunch of new dresses while I was on vacation last week, went swimming in public for the first time in like 15 years, got to ride a bunch of roller coasters I couldn't fit on last year, running in a 5k race on Saturday, and I'm trying to get back into a normal food/exercise routine now that I'm back home. I'm really just loving life so much right now that I think I'd still be happy if I didn't lose another pound. But, I do want to eventually make it to my nutritionist's goal of 165 at least, so I will keep working at it.

The first little bit is rough. There's just no way around it. Be patient and you will see improvement day-by-day. Once I was approaching 3 weeks post-op and allowed to move onto soft foods/purees, I started to feel a lot better. Still took me to about the 3 month mark to feel "normal" the vast majority of the time. But even one month out was a HUGE improvement over those early days. Hang in there and be patient!

I was allowed to swallow pills at 7 days post-op, but you should ask your surgeon.

I am scheduled for my first 5k (well, first in recent history) on Saturday morning and i'm pretty nervous as I haven't run since the week before last. I was out of town on vacation all last week, and despite my intention to go to the gym there and run at least once or twice, I never actually did so. Tonight I'm scheduled to finish up Week 8 of C25k with my last 28 minute run and then on Thursday I hope to get a 30 minute run in before Saturday's race. I know I won't be able to run the full 5k non-stop on Saturday, but I want to try to run as much as possible and finish in under 40 minutes. We'll see!

I'm really sorry you have decided to move away from this site. I agree that it's unfortunate that coordinators and advertisers infiltrate a lot of the threads, but I don't see how that can be completely avoided in an open online community. It's usually pretty easy for me to spot the fakes and just ignore them. And it's worth it to me to put up with the crap in order to get to all of the really great stuff this forum has to offer. I never would have made it through my pre and post-op experiences without the support and information from this community.

Ha! This post made me chuckle. Sometimes when I see others asking about other surgeons and facilities, I've been tempted to say this exact same thing. But, then I remember that while OCC was the best choice for ME and I am thrilled with my decision and my outcome, not everyone has the same priorities that I do. So a different surgeon or facility might really be the best choice for them.

I financed my surgery by borrowing against my retirement account. If you have a 401k or something similar, you should look into whether that is an option for you by contacting the brokerage company. The great thing about it is that you aren't actually withdrawing the money from the account, so you don't have to pay any taxes or fees and then you are essentially paying yourself back with interest.

I am leaving for vacation on Friday after work. We'll be driving down to Gatlinburg, TN where we'll be staying in a cabin with my parents, my sister's family, and my sister's best friend's family. There will be 17 of us in all, but 7 of them are children under 10. Anyway, the cabin we are going to is up in the mountains where the roads are very twisty and narrow and I don't think I'd feel safe jogging on them. We WILL be doing a lot of shopping and trips to the amusement park where we'll do a lot of walking, so I think I will get lots of walking in throughout my days, but no intense cardio. My current cardio routine is working on couch to 5k every other day and alternating between rest days and stationary bike the other days. So my schedule is basically: run, bike, run, rest, repeat. Friday would be one of my running days, but we will be straight into the car after work to drive about halfway down there, staying in a hotel Friday night that has a fitness room, but we won't get there until around midnight. Once we're to the cabin on Saturday, I won't have any access to fitness facilities. I tried finding a local gym that had daily passes, but zero luck there. So it's looking like no intense cardio for me after tomorrow night until we get back home on Sunday, the 5th. I plan to bring my free weights so I can at least keep up with my strength training. Does anyone have any ideas for some cardio workouts I could do in my bedroom in the cabin? I will have internet and my laptop, so I was thinking about some videos off youtube or something, but so many of those involve plyometrics (jumping), which I can't do because of my knees. Would love suggestions!

Are you eating for comfort or boredom or both? My first instinct is to advise you to try to fill your time with activities so you don't get bored and overeat while just watching TV or whatever. Try to get out of the house and walk around the mall or a park. Maybe even do some volunteer work while you look for a new job?

Two weeks is the standard amount. I went back at 15 days post-op and my main issue was fatigue. If you have a desk job, there shouldn't be any real physical limitations or pain at that point. But you will likely still be on a liquid diet (I was on full liquids until day 18) and not getting enough calories. So you will be very very tired. Just the process of showering and getting ready for work in the morning was pretty tiring for me. By the end of the day, I was ready to go home and nap. So just be prepared for that. I had more energy and felt better once I was able to move onto more solid foods and get more calories in.

That's what I recommend. Put in the work. meat your Protein and Water goals. Get some exercise. And you WILL get where you are going eventually!

Nerves are perfectly normal, and while complications can and do happen, they are very rare. What kind of health are you currently in? If your main health issue is your obesity and you don't have any other comorbidities or medical disorders, you should be fairly safe. If you have three young children, you must not be very old. Age can also play a role in the likelihood of complications. When you have people in your life that you love and care about, it's completely natural to worry about their welfare should something go wrong. You have weighed up all of the risks and benefits of this surgery. You say you have researched it for over a year. You made your choice with a clear mind and it's just these last-minute doubts creeping in. Trust in the choice you made when you were thinking more clearly.

You should easily be able to be up and moving around 4 days post-op. You should already be up and walking the night of your surgery. The main physical restriction post-op will be lifting. But as far as just walking and running errands, you should be fine. You may also be restricted from driving if you are still on pain meds a few days post-op. Just ask your doctor about that depending on what meds you are given.

Hang in there. It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Are you getting much activity in? At 2 months out you should be cleared for more rigorous activities now, besides just walking. Though if walking is all you can physically do, just maybe do more of it? How are you doing on your Protein? I assume pretty well if you are getting 1000 calories a day and only 200 of those are from carbs. Water and protein are definitely key. If you don't get enough of both, it can affect your loss.

@@dede0314 First, I met with my local PCP to make sure she was on board with ordering follow-up blood work and doing post-op check-ups. She absolutely was, and I definitely recommend you do that with your PCP. She ordered my first round of blood work ahead of time, so I went and had that done a couple weeks post-op then saw her at the one month mark for my results and a check-up. I have since had blood work and follow-ups with her at the 2 month, 4 month, and 8 month marks. Secondly, OCC provides you with email addresses and phone numbers for the nutritionist, the cardiologist, the radiologist, etc. So if you have an pre or post-op questions, you can contact them. I was also provided with my surgical report post-op (came via email a few days later because they translate it into English for you). That included the full surgical report including all the details about incisions, state of internal organs, types of staples and sutures used, etc. It also included the results of the blood tests and EKG that OCC did the day of my surgery. I gave copies of all of it to my PCP. OCC will send you multiple follow-up "surveys" in the days and weeks following your surgery. They include questions about whether you are taking your meds, experiencing pain or nausea, getting your water and protein in, etc. If any of your feedback on those surveys is alarming, they will contact you. The surveys become fewer and further between the farther out you get from your surgery. I only get one ever 3 months now. You will also have scheduled follow-up phone calls with the nutritionist to check on your weight loss progress, whether you are getting all your vitamins and protein in, how much exercise you are doing, etc. Dr. So is the physician you will most likely correspond with the most post-op if you have questions about how your incisions are healing or anything like that. Dr. Jimenez answered all of my pre-op questions about when I should stop/start my medications and supplements befor/after surgery. There is a whole team to support you and they will promptly answer your questions. I remember emailing Dr. So late one night on a weekend, because I was worried my drain hole might be infected (it wasn't) and he called me back immediately.

I just want to advise you against setting deadlines for your weight loss. Everyone loses at different rates and it might be pretty unrealistic for you to lose 37kg in just 7 months. I've only lost 57 pounds (~26kg) in 8 months and my starting weight is similar to yours. There is no rush and this is not a race. Unlike the diets of your past, you will never be "done" with your weight loss surgery. You are changing the rest of your life. So if it takes you a few more months than you'd hope to reach your goal weight, what is that really going to matter in the grand scheme of things? Ten years from now will you be looking back and wishing you'd reached goal in 7 months instead of 12? Of course not!

Welcome and good luck! I know that the couple of weeks before surgery can seem like eternity, but it will sneak up on you in the end!

Acid reflux can present with a runny nose and sore throat. Are you on a PPI?

I spent one night in a surgical center. Two days post-op I returned to have a barium swallow test done and have my drain removed.

Welcome! I think that in order to add a photo and profile info, you need to use the desktop version of the website on a real computer. I don't think you can do it through the app.

@@VSGAnn2014 I think the OP was just confused about where the appropriate place to post this information was. While disparaging a specific surgeon does sort of seem like "coordinator-like" behavior, the fact that she is railing against re-sleeve as a procedure entirely and asking what to do now that her re-sleeve has had no effect on her weight loss, helps convince me that she is for real. @@Popsicle530 I'm sorry you went through a procedure that didn't achieve any results for you. There are other options available, like revision to RNY or DS, but that will of course cost you additional money. If you can't get any of your money back from Almanza, then it might be hard to come up with the money for revision procedures, as those are quite a bit more expensive than the sleeve from what I understand. I wish you the best of luck and hope you can find your way on this journey and get back to where you need to be with your weight and your health.