JamieLogical

I was prescribed 40mg of Omeprazole (Priolesec) by my surgeon to take for two full months post-op. I was then allowed to try to go off of it, but immediately stated experiencing reflux, so I went to the over-the-counter dosage of 20mg per day and that has held the reflux at bay. I hope you have similar success with it.

@@mhuntoon Sounds pretty normal to me if you are only 2 weeks out. I'm a little surprised you are already on solids. I would say it was about 1.5-2 months out before I was 100% okay with most solids.

One thing I've come to understand and appreciate with my "slow" loss is that early on, I was still in a "diet mindset" about my weight loss. When we've dieted in the past, we've always wanted to lose weight super fast, because we wanted to be "done" with the diet. Well, news flash: our sleeves aren't going anywhere. We will never be "done" with our sleeves. So if it takes 6 months or 16 months to lose the weight, what does it really matter? We will get where we're going eventually. And there are actually some advantages to losing more slowly like: replacing clothing less frequently a chance for our skin to adapt and recover not getting so many prying questions from friends and coworkers about our drastic weight loss

As far as Vitamins, you are better off following your dietician's recommendations and having regular blood work post op. The blood work will let you see if you are getting too much or too little of anything and then you can adjust accordingly. I've had blood work twice so far post-op (at 2 months and 4 months) and both time everything was in normal ranges, so I have continued to take all the vitamins my nutritionist suggested. I would be VERY shocked if a nutritionist or surgeon only recommended multivitamin and not at LEAST calcium +D3. I could see some not bothering with B12 or iron, but calcium +D3 seems to be pretty common across the board.

Your trainer may have a more accurate way of calculating your body fat percentage.

If you are doing weight training now, then you are likely building muscle. Muscle is much denser than fat. So if you still weigh the same but your body fat percentage is dropping, then you will become leaner. A 140 pound person with 17% body fat is much "thinner" than a 140 pound person with 25% body fat.

I had an extended tummy tuck in 2011 and it didn't go super well for me. My results are amazing, but I had this situation where I had a LOT of swelling of the soft tissue in my lower back. It should be less of a concern for you, since you are only having a panni. My incision for my tummy tuck went almost all the way around my body, leaving only a couple inch gap above my butt crack. Because that was the only place my lymphatic channels weren't severed, ALL of the Fluid in my body only had that small area to travel through and so it collected in my lower back. It was very painful and uncomfortable and lasted several months, until new channels were established. I was supposed to be out of work for 4 weeks. I ended up being out much longer and only working half days for a long time after that. Since you are only having a panni and your incision should only span across your stomach, not around your back, you shouldn't have that issue. The other major source of pain for me early on was in my abs, because of the muscle repair that is done with a tummy tuck. Again, since you are only doing a panni, that shouldn't be a concern for you. Good luck! I don't see why you would need 6 weeks off work. Four seems more than adequate for what you are doing, barring any complications.

I don't get a "full" feeling. I get an "overfull" feeling. I've been getting better and better at knowing how much food it will take to cause that feeling and just eating slightly less than that. My overfull feeling is a discomfort in my lower chest... a constriction feeling. It's not painful, but very uncomfortable. I often feel like I need to lie down when I have it. And if I really overdo it, I get what I call "productive burps". Burps where I can taste/feel the food in the back of my throat.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha! You are seriously concerned that you ONLY lost 24 pounds in a month? I "only" lost 14.8 pounds my first month. Tomorrow is my 5 month surgiversary and it's looking like I will have under a 5 pound loss for January. And you know what? I couldn't be more thrilled! I'm down 40 pounds... 64 since I started working to lose weight pre-op. I promise you, a year from now, when you are at or near goal, you won't care how much weight you lost the first month.

The main thing that has changed for me is that I am really "all in" on this "Protein first" concept. Anytime I eat something that was one of my old favorites (pizza, ice cream, nachos, Cookies, etc.) I am HYPER aware that by eating that thing, I won't have enough room for the protein i need. I still do and have eaten those things on occasion, but it's very rare now and, like I said, I am very aware of what it costs me now. The other thing I am getting better at every day, is knowing how much I can eat without getting overfull. I was always a binge eater, so this has been quite an adjustment for me, but I am definitely improving!

Amazing! Congratz!

I can't. My nutritionist requires 100 grams of protein a day and I simply just cannot get there through food alone, so I eat two protein bars per day (QuestBars, one for breakfast and one before bed). If I replaced those with some other "high protein" snack, like greek yogurt or string cheese, I'd end up about 20 grams short on protein every day.

I've been trying to get to that "full" point less and less by planning better with my portion control, but when I do get it, it's an uncomfortable (not painful, just very uncomfortable) feeling in my lower chest. If I get overfull, it becomes more uncomfortable and persists for a good 45 minutes to an hour. I often feel like I need to lie down when that's happening. I also get a lot of gurgling and what i call "productive burps", where I burb a little and I can taste the food at the back of my throat. I've never vomited, post-op though.

That is the most true statement in this thread!

I used to go through probably 2-3 glasses of water with every meal pre-op. Post-op I realized that I had definitely used drinking while eating as a means of eating more. Post-op, once I moved onto semi-solid foods, as soon as I started feeling a little full, my first instinct was to reach for my water. I never recognized that before my surgery. So I stick to the rule about not drinking while eating, because I worry that if I were to drink while eating, I would eat more than I should. VSG is all about restriction and if you bypass that restriction by flushing food out of your sleeve prematurely to make room for more food, it defeats the purpose. That being said, the guidelines that some people are given about eating and drinking make NO sense to me. Like stopping an hour before and not starting again until an hour after? How would you possibly even get all your water in? What purpose can that possibly serve?

Huge congrats! You definitely deserve a reward and a new bra sounds perfect!

My favorite pre-made shakes were EAS Carb AdvantEDGE, rich dark chocolate flavor. I bought them at Target and Walmart. For shakes I blended myself, I used Now Foods unflavored whey protein isolate (you can buy on Amazon) and mixed in some sugar-free Torani flavored syrups.

First I want to say that, while you are young and maybe haven't done as much yoyo dieting as the rest of us, the vast majority of us would say we'd have rather had the surgery years earlier! You have a great opportunity here to have the surgery while you are young and can recover quickly and spare yourself needless years of suffering! Now, to your questions: 1.How many of you needed your gallbladder removed? Was the option on the table to do it with the sleeve surgery? I have not had any gallbladder issues as of yet, though I know some do. It's usually more of an issue with RNY and I know a LOT of surgeons remove it when doing the RNY procedure, but I believe it is much less common with sleeve. 2. Long term what Vitamins do you take and how many? My dietitian requires me to take 2x bariatric Multivitamins, probiotic, calcium+D (comes out to two pills twice a day), and B12 for life. I already took a regular Multivitamin, Calcium, and D3 for years prior to surgery, so this wasn't a big deal for me to add a couple more vitamins to my routine. Main difference was that I learned I should not be taking my multivitamin and calcium at the same time, so I've had to learn to space those out. 3. I got two body piercings a long time ago. Nose and ear. Both of which i got keloids from. Will my stomach react the same to the staples, infections? Anbody else who has piercings/ had keloids? I never had any piercings and never had any other scars keloid, so I can't help you with this one. 4. I have a retroverted uterus. Anbody else have it that has had this surgery? Any complications ( The two questions above are noted in my file to be discussed with my surgeon on nxt visit) Can't help with this one either. 5. Are there ever times when you can eat and drink at the same time? Even just a sip? I understand all the reasons why you shouldn't, just curious if months on out if its possible..my mind is having a hard time wrapping around that thought. You will definitely be physically capable of eating and drinking at the same time post-op, you just shouldn't, for all the reasons you are already familiar with. There have been a few times when I've had food stuck in my throat and taken a sip of Water to help wash it down, but you really will get used to not eating and drinking at the same time eventually. My surgeon has pretty lax requirements for this. I only have to stop drinking 5 minutes before eating and I'm allowed to start again 20 minutes after. So it's really no big deal for me at all. I usually go longer than 20 minutes after eating, though, just because I'm very full from my food for about 40+ minutes and have no desire to drink sooner than that. 6. What happens if i do all the required visits and chicken out at the last minute? The dietician visits are included in surgery cost, would I end up having to pay for them? I don't know about this one directly either, but I have read posts on here about people who have canceled their surgery at the last minute and were able to reschedule for later after they's calmed down, without incurring any additional cost. It will really depends on your insurance company, I assume.

I enjoy eating at 5 months post-op. It's just in a VERY different way than I did before. I can eat anything now without my sleeve objecting. I am getting WAY better at not eating too much and making myself overfull. It's a process and there is a LOT of trial and error involved. But, don't think you will not enjoy eating ever again.

For those of us that are stuck at work, please come back and give us a recap.

Congratz! You must feel amazing!

It will get WAY better.

Food funerals are pretty common with WLS patients pre-op. I tried to not go overboard, but I had a couple myself.

Sounds like the flu. I had it earlier this month and I had ZERO appetite.

Maybe there is that perception because it requires surgery, which puts your life at risk? Some people are just opposed to "elective" surgery in general, because with ANY surgery (no matter how safe) there are still serious risks associated? Or maybe it's because it seems like a drastic solution to a problem that many think can be solved by less drastic means? Or maybe it's because it's "unnatural"? I still think a LOT of people will equate the "easy way" with being the "wrong way". In life we are taught not to take the "easy way out" a lot. So we associate "easy" with "bad" or "wrong" most of the time. I like to apply a little more logic to my decision making than that. So even if WLS was the "easy way", which in some ways I think it is and in some ways it most definitely is NOT, that wouldn't deter me from choosing it. I don't feel ashamed of having had WLS. I am, however, aware of the stigma associated with it therefor don't tell many people. I know most people don't understand what is truly involved in WLS and I don't want to have to try to explain it to them.