Proud2BMe

Everyone seems to worry about excess skin yet doesn't seem to understand that if you were really big before surgery that you will likely need plastic surgery to remove the excess skin after your weight loss. There's no need to have to spend the rest of your life carrying around all that extra skin. Depending upon your specific situation, you may need a tummy tuck or even a full body tuck, not to mention arms and legs. For me, I will be getting a tummy tuck and my chest done.

I was scared of the dreaded "gas pains". However, I experienced nothing. There was only soreness in my belly, as if someone had punched me. The only painful part for me was when they removed the drain. When they removed it my entire abdomen cramped up something fierce. I only had a very small amount of nausea just once. They do a good job of giving you medicine to prevent it. Honestly, the gastric sleeve surgery is a breeze. It's the plastic surgery afterward that's going to be the most painful surgery.

I'm not really tracking anything because I eat so little. Once I got onto regularl food I just stuck to Protein, like meat, cheese and eggs. So I might have an egg and some bacon for Breakfast. A few crackers with Peanut Butter for lunch and then try to eat a normal dinner. Of course I use a kids plate and even then I can't finish it. Congrats on almost reaching your goal as well!

I'm not sure if I'm getting in all the protein. Fluids are iffy. However, I don't have any of the signs of dehydration, no cracked lips and no dry hands. Due to my work schedule most of my exercise has to be on the weekends. I run around like a dog on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for me to lose 4-5 pounds over a weekend. However, now I lose nothing. I'm really tempted to return to my pre-op liquid diet. However, I'm scared because I experienced nasty side-effects such as constantly feeling like I was going to faint. If there is one good thing about this it is that I have yet to gain any weight.

OMG! I just discovered these! I hate regular broth and was dreading having to eat broth for weeks. However, now I'm happy. I tried the Mexican tortilla variety and to me it tastes just like Spanish rice. However, there is a downsize. You will definitely need to freshen your breath after eating it! I love it. Can't wait to try out the other varieties. I could totally be fine with this. Oh, and just so you know, all the spices actually gives you the illusion that you have actually eaten a meal and not just broth. It's great. http://swanson.campbellskitchen.com/SBOurProducts/Products

I've finally had enough of this site. It just gets worse every day with fake posters and spam. My threads are being taken over by spam and patient coordinators pretending to be posters and trying to drum up business. So I'm off to find a real site where weight loss surgery patients can discuss the issues we face and not have to put up with this garbage here. Audios amigos!

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You know what, I'm really sick that my thread is being turned into an advertisement for Dr. Lopez. Get your own thread and stop spamming mine. I'm getting sick of this forum as it just gets worse and worse every day with fake posters, with spam and coordinators competing for business. I need a forum with just weight loss surgery patients so we can discuss our issues.

This is just my opinion, but if I were you I would simply save up the money for the procedure. That way you will pay less and give you time to collect what you need and to lose weight before your surgery.

@@Janice1968 I'm doing good. I'm 5 days out and can drink a whole lot more than on day 3 when I came home. So it seems each day I'm improving greatly.

So I got sleeved on the 12th but feel like I'm definitely not getting enough calories in on just one bottle of Gatorade a day (130 calories). I'm thinking of making the change to regular jello and no more sugar free. Anybody else do this and felt a bit better? Because I feel like I'm on day one of pre-op diet and am about to pass out at times.

@@liannatx Starting Monday. However, I don't know if I can make it that long.

May 12! I've been on this journey for so long that I can't believe it's almost here! I'm nervous and want to begin my pre-op diet immediately but I think I should have some "food funerals" first. I plan on going to my fave Chinese restaurant before starting the pre-op diet. Man, I can't wait for the brand new me! Wish me luck!

I'm not sure what to bring.

So today I start my pre-op diet. I'm so excited! I will be having protein shakes during the day and lettuce with some skinless grilled chicken in the evening. If I crave something sweet I will be having either sugar free jello of a suger-free popsicle. I can't believe 2 weeks from now I will be having my surgery! I've waiting for so very long to save up money for this and now it seems to be moving so very fast!

My flight leaves early tomorrow morning. My nerves are just now kicking in. I was never scared of dying during surgery before but now I'm getting paranoid and am writing lists of directions to friends and family just in case I don't make it. I know it's crazy, but still, I want to be prepared. I guess in a way a part of me is dying, the old me, the obese me. I still can't believe I've lost 22lbs on the pre-op diet. I technically have one more day to go and it wouldn't surprise me if I lost another pound by then. And I never slipped up and ate any sweets. I did slip up and have some steak, but that was during the phase where I could eat some lean meat and lettuce for dinner. Thanks to all the good people here who have given great advice. I'm about to make the transition to the other side and become officially sleeved. Wish me luck!

Okay, I was embarrassed to ask this question but I became so paranoid over it that I just have to know. How was the plane ride back from your surgery? Were you embarrassed by passing gas or did you have gas on the plane (gas from the surgery)? Did you have a bowel movement on the plane?

@@RellaBelle One hour layovers may be your friend. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for my surgery and my layover is 36 minutes and I'm so scared I'm going to miss my connecting flight. Plus, more time allows you to eat like Soup or what not and get some exercise in because there is still threat of blood clots and you need to be up and walking to help lesson the chance of them forming.

So sorry to hear of your situation. Why does it say "banned" under your picture?

@@VSGAnn2014 I know. I thought it as implied that this would be like broth or some other liquid.

Update: I've finally hit 20lbs lost on my pre-op diet. I'm so happy! And I have a couple more days to surgery so I'm sure I can lose a couple more pounds on top of that. Again, for those just starting out on your pre-op or about to start on your pre-op, the first 2-3 days are horrible and I do mean horrible. However, it gets a lot better after that. Once you are used to the diet it's really easy to follow.

@@ogleland I would listen to what the doctor recommended. However, I do think you are on the right track with RNY. Stay away from the lap band. It's not effective for people who need to lose hundreds of pounds and it has high complications further down the line. I think you are probably not a good candidate for gastric sleeve right now. However, if you want to diet and get your weight down to at least 200lbs in order to have gastric sleeve you can. That is an option for you. If you go on the pre-op diet you will lose weight fast. I'm not even finished with my 2 week pre-op diet and I've already lost 20lbs. So keep that in mind.

May 12, Dr. Verboonen in Tijuana

@@CanyonBaby Thanks!

Update: So this is an interesting turn, the day before yesterday I ended up not losing any weight on my pre-op diet. I didn't gain any weight either. I was exactly the same as I was at the day before. So I was trying to rack my brain to decide if it was because of something I did. The only thing I could think of is that maybe my Protein shakes have too many carbs. So I thought about halving the Protein Shakes. However, later that night the family had steak for dinner. Now, I'm not a steak person. But I was hungry and they smelled so good that I could not resist. I ate one hot, juicy steak with some salt-n-pepper with no other condiments. Later on I was curious to see how much calories it had. So I looked it up on Google and was shocked to learn that one steak has over 800 calories. So I started to freak out and just assumed that I had ruined my diet. I was dreading weighing in next morning. To my surprise I ended up losing a pound! I've come to realize that both God and the pre-op diet works in mysterious ways because I have yet been able to figure them out!