JamieLogical

You should have received very specific instructions from your surgeon/nutritionist about what you can start eating when. If you have any questions about that, you should contact your surgeon's office. As for regrets, that's pretty normal the first few weeks post-op. The recovery is tough and miserable and it's easy to wonder if you will ever feel "normal" again. I assure you that you will! It will get better day-by-day and week-by-week and you will feel like a real human being again, I promise. Hang in there! Make sure you are doing the right things and getting in all your fluids. It's very hard the first few days, but if you can get in your Protein and fluids, it will really help with your recovery.

I had pretty strict protein/carb ratios to stick to with my pre-op diet. I also had to stop consuming caffeine pre-op and wasn't allowed to start again until 30 days post-op.

What exactly are you defining as a stall? No loss whatsoever or just very slow loss?

Yeah, every surgeon has their own requirements. Some just require high protein/low carb, some require protein shakes only, some allow for some vegetables, some allow sugar-free jello and popsicles. Some surgeons don't require a pre-op diet at all!

I went to Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the Obesity Control center and it was a great experience all around. What I really love about him is that you get an entire support team to help you pre and post-op. You get a patient coordinator, a nutritionist, and a couple of other doctors to help you with questions about prescriptions/medications, and follow-up questions post-op.

For ready-to-drink shakes, I preferred EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control, rich dark chocolate flavor. You can buy them at Walmart and Target. For protein powder, I liked Now Foods Unflavored Whey Isolate, which I would flavor with various Torani sugar-free syrups.

I was allowed pills 7 days post-op. I never took chewable vitamins at all.

My advice is to be patient. Immediately after surgery, I was so impatient about the rate of my weight loss and the pace of my recovery. I felt like I would never feel normal again. It was pretty rough and discouraging. On top of that, the pace of my weight loss was "slow" compared to others I was seeing. People losting 40+ pounds in the first month whereas I only lost under 15. In the beginning I had a lot of angst. But I'm over 5 months out now and so much happier. I would say around the 2 month mark I was feeling normal again. Or at least my "new normal". I could go about my day and felt like a human being. And I've embraced the slow loss as well. The scale IS moving down and in the mean time, I've realized there are a lot of advantages to losing slowly. I don't have to replace my clothes as often. I don't get as many prying questions about my weight loss. And my skin and body have time to adjust to the loss. I realized that this isn't like all the diets I've done over the years. I would always want to get to goal ASAP so I could be "done" with the diet. But, I'm never going to be done with my sleeve.

I've been barely getting my Water in most days post-op, which was disappointing, because I was a BIG water drinker pre-op. For years and years I had been drinking 14-16 cups of water a day after having cut out soda. I always brought a 32 ounce Rubbermaid bottle with me pretty much everywhere I went. Pre-op, I would fill the bottle with ice and water in the morning and then refill it in the drinking fountain at work in the afternoons. Well, post-op I was barely making it halfway through the first bottle by the end of the work day. I finally decided the problem was temperature. I have no trouble drinking hot beverages like tea and coffee post op and I have no problem drinking ice water, but anything in between is just hard for me to drink anymore. So once the ice in my bottle had melted and the water became more room-temperature, I didn't want to drink it. It seemed like it stuck in my throat. I got a new double-walled stainless steel bottle and started using it today. It has made such a HUGE difference! It's only 24 ounces instead of 32, but by lunch time I'd already refilled it and had to refill it again this afternoon! The ice from this morning is still there, maybe about half-way melted, but it's enough to keep the water from the drinking fountain nice and cold. Why didn't I do this sooner!?!?

@@Armymama Welcome! This is a great site with a great community. I hope you find he support and answers you need here!

@@Newlife@55 Glad to hear your husband is doing well. Good luck to you on your surgery later this month!

Happy to hear you are doing well so far. If/when things get rough, feel free to come here to vent. We've all been there! Welcome to the losers' bench!

Sounds like you are doing great! I'm so glad for you that you are able to be happy and healthy again and I love your "pay it forward" attitude. I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goal of becoming a personal trainer.

You would eventually be able to eat out with your friends (a couple months post-op), but you have to be pretty choosy about WHAT you eat and won't be able to eat very much of it.

I came here to suggest the same thing.

Good luck and welcome to the site!

What is your definition of "success" here? Are there people who haven't lost as much weight as they hoped? Yep. Are there people who have regained weight after losing? Yep. Are there people who experienced horrible complications? Yep. As for the first two questions, VSG, like any WLS is simply a tool. There are many rules and guidelines you will have to live by in order to lose weight and keep it off. If you don't adhere to those guidelines the vast majority of the time, you aon't be successful. There are many ways to work around or against your sleeve that will prevent you from losing weight or cause you to gain weight. Eating slider foods (foods that move through the sleeve easily and don't make you full), grazing (eating small amount food all day long), drinking your calories (soda and juice), not getting enough Protein, not getting enough Water, and not exercising regularly. As for complications, this is surgery. The are cutting out 80% of a major bodily organ. Of course there are chances for complications. Fortunately long-term complications are few and far between. Most of the issues that people experience post-op, if any, are temporary.

Can you elaborate on that? Why is it more important to be particular about your surgeon with this procedure and how did you choose yours?

I know laving the country for surgery can be daunting, but there are hundreds of people on these forums who had positive experiences in Mexico.

For sure! The long-term effects of the acid are much worse than the potential long-term effects of being on the medication.

I no longer need to chew a lot in order to comfortably eat solids, but it's still kind of a mindful eating thing. Chewing a lot forces you to eat more slowly.

I was automatically prescribed 40 mg of Omeprazole for the first two months post-op. My surgeon prescribes it for all his sleeve patients. At two months I was to go off of it and see how things went. I started having reflux issues right away when I went off of it, so I am now on the over-the-counter dosage of 20 mg per day and that seems to be keeping it at bay.

I had surgery on Sept. 1 and returned to work Sept. 16. I just have a desk job and it was pretty tough making it through the day when I went back. My main issue was fatigue. I was still very tired all of the time.

@@MisforMimi Mine are silicone gel... also known as "gummy bear implants". I LOVE the feel of them. The weight and consistency is exactly like real breast tissue. I'm only having them removed because of the malpositioning and my new ones are going to be pretty much exactly the same... same brand and material at least. The manufacturer is replacing the implants themselves free of charge, which is nice. I am only paying for the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and hospital fees.

Good luck to you! I am sure you will be well taken care of. I've been to Mexico for surgery on two different occasions now and I was treated incredibly well on both trips.