Tashabella

They say if you don't ask for something then you're not going to get it, so I'm asking for support if anyone is willing to lend it. I could especially use some encouragement from the longer-timers out there. Since I started the bariatric program in May 2014, I have lost 90 pounds. I was sleeved in November 2014 and have lost 71 pounds since surgery. My surgeon's office told me I "was not doing as good" as I could, but that was "OK." (This was probably not the best thing for them to say to me.) I have been in a stall for the last three months. This is mainly because of my actions and allowing other people to negatively affect me. My father-in-law made a pass at me and it triggered me to start binge eating -- even with the sleeve. I have been under an enormous amount of stress. I am grateful that I have now figured out what triggered my downfall and I am getting help from my pre-op psych eval guy to work through unresolved issues, which apparently are still causing me to make the same decisions about food. I look back today and I say 90 pounds is a lot! I can also say that 71 pounds since surgery is a lot. I don't think that's "OK." BUT -- I know I can do better and I know I have lost three months of success because I let someone mess me up. This is my pattern - I allow other people to mess me up. I need your help because I want to keep going. Not only do I want to lose weight for me, but now I am mad and I want to show the people in my life that they can't do this to me! No one is going to take away my success and my joy!!! I want to prove that I am stronger than any of the crap that people throw at me! I need to reclaim my life. Any encouragement you can give me would be a great help!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!

You have to love yourself more than you hate what another person did to you. They aren't worth it. You are letting them win if you let it affect you. I have just been through this. Right now you might *not be able to eat*, but that doesn't last forever so address your issues now. Forgive. Love yourself.

I'm glad I found this thread. I have been having issues. I was stressing over my stall, but then I had some enlightenment. I am addressing the issues that triggered me to mess up and am learning more about myself and how to really change all of the things that need to be changed. Stalls aren't bad things as long as you don't waste the opportunity to let them help you. We really need to dig in to our lives and find out what caused us to be this way in the first place -- with the same zeal we used to dig into a bag of potato chips! Get me? It's a hard, slow process, but I truly believe I will be better for it when I come out the other side -- no matter how long it takes!

Try making sure your foods are moist. Use lowfat gravy, etc. It helps me.

Mine started the week after surgery. I was supposed to be resting, but after they said I could drive (a week after surgery), I went out walking two to three hours in stores every day to get exercise. It is not from sitting. My doctor has me on magnesium and potassium right now and they are monitoring it closely. That also is under control. I bought compression hose, but it hurts to have anything on my legs right now. I prop my legs up at work. It has gotten much better and is nearly resolved, but that was one of the complications I had after surgery.

I am having trouble following the rules also. I was sleeved in November. I am having a really hard time drinking all of the required fluids. I almost can't stand anything flavored anymore because everything is sweet -- flavored drinks, shakes. I mostly enjoy Water now, but still have to force it. I never was a huge drinker before so it is hard to keep this new habit going. I am only eating three meals a day also. I find it hard to eat four. They are balanced like they are supposed to be, but it is one meal less. I also never ate a lot before -- I just made really bad decisions about what I was eating. I didn't eat large quantities though. I always got full before others were just getting started. I also need to be exercising, but haven't done that much either. I'm going to have to really buckle down and make sure things things get done every day. I would appreciate any words of advice or wisdom that anyone has to share.

Mine is Fluid. I have the same thing and I've had it for over a month. It is pitting edema. I always carried a lot of fluid in my ankles before surgery and now there is less body to handle the fluid. My doctors say my body will regulate on its own, but it will take some time. I had the sonogram to look for blood clots and there weren't any. I am on hydrochlorothyazide (fluid pill) to help with this, but this has made me low on magnesium, which will also make your legs hurt, and potassium. You should tell your doctor so they can manage this. If it gets out of hand, you can get infections that will really mess your legs up. I am doing fine and you will be to -- but please talk to your doctor about it. Don't try to treat it on your own! Good luck!

I am in phase four -- two meals consisting of 1/4 cup fruit and 1/4 cup Protein, and two meals consisting of 1/4 cup vegetables and 1/4 cup protein. I did fine on every other phase. Problem #1: Phase four is giving me massive constipation! Problem #2: I can't each much food. (I was able to consume much more when it was all liquid.) Every time I eat, it feels like the food and the air in my stomach are fighting each other to trade places. I never had this with liquids. My "manual" says to eat and drink more Water for constipation, but I can't hardly stand to eat because of what I described above. The food feels miserable in my stomach. It doesn't hurt, but it feels funky, especially if I am backed up. Has anyone else had these problems and how did you remedy them? My "manual" says not to take laxatives. I tried prune juice and it did nothing. Help!

I have tried bananas, but it isn't a help. And I'm not allowed to have Gatorade because I've got pitting edema in my legs. My doctor did a blood test and I'm low on potassium and magnesium and have started taking both. Seems like these are my side-effects of the surgery. I always held a lot of Fluid, but now there's less body to process it. The surgeon says it will work itself out eventually. And I can't wait until it does!!!

Thank you! I have thought many times that I might be eating too fast, but now even the shakes make me queasy. I think it's because I'm constipated. I got some Miralax and am going to try to add some of that. It is supposed to hold the Fluid in your stool to make it softer. I forgot to mention that I have pitting edema and I am on a fluid pill so that is robbing my bowels of some fluids as well. I am going to try that app. It is really hard to know what speed to eat at. I am having some trouble with that.

Hi, everyone. I'm four days out and sitting on my couch recovering. It is good to be home. I was showing my husband my incisions last night and we counted six. Later, I went to the bathroom and because of an itch, I looked again and found another incision. Anybody else have seven incisions? I'm just curious. I thought they were supposed to do five so I'm surprised there were seven.

I am type II and was taken off of my diabetes meds during the pre-op diet phase. I am taking nothing now (almost 1 month out of surgery) and my A1C was 5.8 when I went to see the doctor this week. I no longer require meds. The doctor also was able to cut my blood pressure meds in half prior to surgery. These are HUGE blessings!!!!

You're so welcome. Don't let the negatives deter you from coming here. You'll find negative people everywhere. I'm glad we could help!

Bufflehead, Do you know if the coffee flavors are caffeine free? I'm only 3 weeks out and we were told not to have any caffeine. Thanks!

T - Another way to know how much you used to eat is to look at your grocery bill. We have actually had money left over each week since I had surgery!!! We're actually saving money now. Plus -- I was able to get off of my diabetes medication (already) and cut my blood pressure pills in half!!! We aren't paying for diabetes meds anymore and the bp meds won't have to be refilled as often.

Just hang in there. I got to the point where I wanted to vomit the more juice/water mixture I drank. You will be so thankful when you get to the doctor for post-op and he tells you that you can have shakes. You have to keep looking ahead -- that's how I'm getting through it. When I had liquids, I was looking ahead to when I could have shakes. Now that I'm on shakes, I'm looking to next week when I can have soft foods. From there, I will be looking forward to when I can have food food. I keep telling myself, "It's only this much longer," and it makes it a lot easier to continue. I also did a lot of stuff at home while I was recovering. Now my home is totally organized and I can go back to work Monday and not worry about all of the crap waiting for me at home. You will find other ways to occupy your mind. Be kind to yourself and be patient!!!

I used a shot glass the first few days at home. A shot glass is 1 ounce. My doctor also told us to drink 1 ounce every 15 minutes. It worked out just fine. Eventually, you will get tired of the shot glass and you will figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid and try to relax. It will go better that way. You will be fine!

You just have to go slow and try it at your own pace. I started with tiny bites and now I'm chewing them up half at a time. They aren't going to give you anything that you physically cannot handle so don't be afraid. Just take your time! The first time they wanted me to take a pill in the hospital, I questioned them over and over. Surprisingly to me, I was able to swallow it just fine. Your throat and esophagus are still the same -- it's just your stomach that has changed. Don't be afraid! You've come this far -- you will make it the rest of the way!!!

It does get better. I had my surgery three weeks ago tomorrow. The first hour after waking up was my worst. I prayed the whole hour and pushed that pain button over and over. I started watching the clock to see when I could push it. My first thought was, "What did I do to myself?" But then I thought with even as bad as I felt right then, both of my parents have had heart bypass surgeries and what I was feeling was nothing compared to how they felt after having their chests cracked open! It was then that I knew I did the right thing. I had the sleeve to keep from following my parents footsteps and having heart surgeries in the future. My pain at that moment was worth the possibility of not knowing the pain of heart bypass surgery!

You do get really fed up with the sweet stuff. I have been having fat free Soups (no lumps, chunks, etc.) with Protein powder in them at least once a day to break it up so it's not so monotonous. I don't get soft food until the middle of next week. I bought GENEPRO Genetic Tri-Protein Peptide Powder online from Amazon and it came the next day. I saw a post on this site where someone recommended it. It only takes 1 tablespoon and it mixes well with my soups. What I do is put the powder in a glass and add a few teaspoons of hot soup and stir it to make a paste and then slowly add more soup and stir, repeat. It blends really well this way. Other people say they mix it in their beverages, including Water, and can't tell it's there. This Protein Powder has been a blessing for me!!!

You can definitely tell in the rear facing photos! Good for you!

You can definitely tell in the rear facing photos! Good for you!

You look great, sweetheart!

I learned it on the post-op liquid diet, bigdogdad!!! And can anyone tell me why my a** burns when I poop on the 2-week shake phase? Too much Protein? Eeek!!!

Hey, Steve. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery. I had mine four days ago. It isn't pretty, but you get through. I think you will be fine. I know what you mean and understand your health issues you have had to deal with lately. It sucks, but everyone tells me it makes us stronger. I suppose there is some truth in that. We all have some hope now in this surgery. You don't need to be spending your time negatively with this arguing that is going on here. You need to be positive right now. People are going to do what they want to do, whether we want the best outcome for them or not. The reason I gave the drug and alcohol analogy is because I have a young nephew who has screwed his life up so bad for the last few years no matter how much good and useful help he gets. He's going to do what he wants to do. I have accepted that. I would love for him to change his habits and turn things around, but I have done everything I can do and it just isn't up to me. A year ago, if he had told me to put down the doughnut and go get surgery, I would have told him to go screw himself. I think denying you have had surgery doesn't mean you are in denial, it means you have some reason that you don't want people to know the truth. Women's dynamics are difficult. Men just say stuff to each other and move on, but it isn't that way with women. (Ask your wife.) We have to protect ourselves. If protecting ourselves means that we are going to be successful with the sleeve and get the weight off, then that is the best outcome. Once you have had the surgery, you have to do whatever it takes to reach the best possible outcome. None of us can afford to let anyone get in the way of that. Good luck with your surgery and I wish you great results!