pumpkin07

Wow, I had my surgery February 9th - so we'll share this surgerversary. You have lost a LOT of weight in 1 year. OMG. How was your journey and what diet, if any did you follow? I am very happy for you, so happy.

I have had the same ache in my back since surgery. I want to go to chiropractor but honestly I don't feel ready for that. So I was thinking to get a massage tomorrow on parts of me other than stomach. Anyones doctor advise against that for any reason? Did you get a massage? Anyone else have a back ache following surgery? My back ache started right after surgery. It is in the middle of my back mostly on the right side. It feels like a very tired ache.

Just don't drive yet!!! It's a process.

I joke with my husband that I'm gonna lose all this weight and he better not leave me for a fat girl. lol It is fun to dream....I'm not there yet. Scale is stuck at like 22 lb.

Recently I started looking up the things important to me in a doctor and I found Dr. Scarborough at TLC Surgery in Houston. I did not go to the seminar, on a leap of faith I just made an appointment and went to talk to him face to face. I liked him. Less of a marketing person (I can relate) and more of a surgeon. I can deal with that. He really did not recommend the lap band for me because he felt I might have trouble losing enough. He did not recommend the bypass for me b/c he felt I might lose too much. He really recommended the sleeve b/c he felt it would be the best long term solution. When I saw the diagram of how this works, I thought, this is the simplest thing I have ever seen. Totally common sense. I can tell reading everyones posts this will be a journey and not all easy times. So I am planning to have it done soon, but will wait for a couple of my work projects to pass so I can be more relaxed to heal. It is hard to pick just the right time. My question is, how many weeks after surgery does it take to feel really good or at least as good as you felt before surgery?

I'm so tired of that. Maybe it means I am eating too much, or that I have acid reflux. I eat cream Soup, for instance, and want that satisfying feeling in my tummy. But all I can feel is it is in my throat for about 30-45 minutes. I read to only eat 2 oz, hadn't heard that before. But of course with soup they say you can eat 1/2 cup. I'm probably rushing things. I wonder if I have head hunger. I want to eat big amounts of good food. I am just wanting to RUSH through this whole healing process so bad. It is really hard for me. I don't think I made a decision fully knowing how little I could eat during this time. I paid cash so they rushed me through so fast. So I think a lot of it is my emotions are really having trouble catching up with the physical limitation. I can see most of you don't struggle with that like I am. The weekends are the WORST for me cause I gotta cook for everyone and there is not enough to do for distraction. I took a prilosec tonight for the first time. My doctor said he doesn't prescribe an antacid normally unless needed. Am I just as well off with Prilosec as with a prescribed antacid? Tomorrow is another day, thank GOD it is Monday for me.

Well, I"m glad you enjoyed the dining out experience. I went too soon and wasn't too successful. Mini-Me - it is interesting with whom people choose to share or not the WLS. I had a time in my life I had to hide stuff and I hated it so much. Plus, I am a terrible liar and will get it allllllllllllllllll mixed up. So never again, I vowed. I have told people I know well and people I hardly know about the surgery. Probably 30 people or more. No one really has any bad reactions. Most people are very curious, some know people that had it, some are planning to get it. Some people you tell and they never mention it again although you are a shrinking violet. But whatever, I think that part is funny. Some people are so uncomfortable with ANYTHING personal. I'm not, I don't care.

Well, no you are too soon to eat bread of any kind. It would make this even dryer. We are mexican food eaters b/c my husband is from Mexico. We love black Beans and eat them so often. Today I'm 12 days out and I ate aboutg 2 oz of beans with a little egg when I felt I could handle it and one wedge of homemade potatoes. OMG it was awesome. I have realized anything slightly slimy does better than something 'grippy'. Scrambled eggs are kind of grippy. You could do a poached egg with a sauce I guess, but if you like pairing beans work well. That is the second successful meal I've had - last nights Soup (homemade) was outstanding as well. I'm getting to be able to eat more normally just picking and choosing what works for me that I'm already making for my family. I can't eat much, but heck it tastes good. I'm also stuck on cottage cheese and one Protein drink a day. I just feel it puts me over the edge for my protein. Otherwise I don't think I'd get enough. Starting to like this thang.

Well, you sound like me a long time ago, and you might wait and see what happens after you have all your kids. Maybe it is just too soon for you. Honestly, I wouldn't have done this if I planned to have more kids. I didn't do a boob job for the same reason.

My nausea went away when I left the hospital, but it was kinda bad when I was there. HOnestly there was some stuff from surgery that I needed to get outa my body. Some nausea is PRODUCTIVE so I'd be careful how much meds you take for it. If it is a matter of something needing to get out, then it is needed. The only way I knew is b/c it was brown blood from my surgery. THe last time I threw up I knew that was the bottom of it. ANd wala! the nausea was gone.

For me so far, only 12 days out it depends on the day and what I ate the day before. One day I just was not hungry after eating a protein breakfast. But the next day I was starving. Cottage cheese fills me up better than anything so I like to eat that once a day. It is even more filling than soup for me.

I went back in exactly one week, and it helped me to have some structure. But I worked part-time the second week cause I still had a lot of personal things I needed to do like doctor appt/spending time with kids, etc. But I have a desk job.

I think you are really really smart to weight the factor that you can't pig out very heavily. This is why my brother says he'll never get the surgery. I honestly don't think I gave that enough thought. Including the size of the stomach that is made for me, I wish I had researched it myself more heavily. Before my surgery I had a major pig out pizza lunch. For me that really isn't too much pizza probably have of a large pizza. I had a big perfect Pepsi with it. But I'm so glad I did that. But I'm only 12 days out and yeah, that is the part that is real sad for me. But I try to figure out if I really 'got it' ahead of time (which I think I had my blinders on) would I have still done it? I think I would because I just don't like being fat. But I really understand what you are saying b/c I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my favorite pig out foods. So I guess I would say I'd still do it if I realized then what I knew now, but I'd do it with great loss and sadness to never be able to do that again. I think the truth is you do eventually become satisfied with less. And you look and feel a lot better. So I guess the goods really do outweight the bads. And over time maybe we will forget what it is like to eat half a pizza with a really great Pepsi

My doctor used a 34 on me he said. I asked him how they made the decision and he told me in his research he found that 32-34 had the highest weight loss but also the highest happiness with their sleeve. I have no idea if that is true. I wanted a 40 and he just said there isn't a lot of difference, but that he really recommended the 34. I was sleeved 12 days ago and have lost about 21 lbs overall. Last night I ate a hearty bowl of homemade chicken Soup and felt satisfied for the first time b/c I had been hungry all day.

Perhaps go to doctor and get your blood work checked. Get enough sunlight. Stay outdoors as much as possible during the day. I would think losing so much weight so fast would effect immune system. Maybe change your diet for a while just listening to your body for what it needs/is asking for. Extra rest. That is what I'd do.

Well congrats all you new sleevers! I guess I'm a veteran now that I've already been sleeved for 11 days, huh? I went to doctor today and he said I was okay. I really hear a lot of concerns about surgeon offices. I have some too, and I decided to share them with my doctor. He was so embarrassed. His staff is just not in tune to how big a deal this is and there is NO advocacy whatsoever. I kindly told him I felt this would eventually hurt his practice if he did not find a social worker/nurse/short-term case manager. Hopefully he LISTENED. To top it off when I went in today he looked at his computer and finally said, I did do the bypass on you, right? I'm like holy crap - you don't even know which surgery you did for me? No wonder no one knows who I am when I call.......I am hoping he forgets to cash that check too, right? I was soooooo kind and caring, and yet sooooooooooo confrontive. He is a good surgeon, but I kind of feel he is not getting the hang of the psychosocial/advocacy part of this - but heck, then again he doesn't even know the surgery he did. But as a business owner I totally get it. He is a NERD. He is not a business owner/manager. You can see he is lost and overwhelmed b/c his practice IS fairly busy. I kind of felt for him but I do NOT NOT NOT need another job as I have 2 businesses of my own. But I will refer someone to him if I meet the right person. Every business needs the nosey office manager person that meets a customer once and knows them forever. But he did write me a prescription for my thyroid medicine so that is good. Worse yet, in his lobby I met a pretty old lady that had the sleeve with him Dec 28th and had a leak and was in the hospital for 30 days. That scared me shitless. She had a weird color to her, but she seemed to be recovering. She looked pretty old, I was wondering how old can you get this surgery. I would guess she was close to 70. She said they kept saying it was her spleen, but it was a leak. I mean crap people, is the doctor so overconfident that he wouldn't do a test as a precaution? Then she said, HOW are you getting your Protein in? And then they quickly called her to the back and I never saw her again. My doctor is a decent surgeon from what I researched, so I don't want to bash him. He is a really nice man. But I won't personally refer him to ANYONE. I've lost like 21 lbs but I can't figure out how to update my ticker.....I'll figure that out next.

That is sooooo great....good for you! Keep up all your hard work. You have done great.

It was very encouraging to read this line of posts. I'm having a really bad/emotional pity party day, but it is so wonderful there are people ahead of me having better days.

I cannot stay on my diet. I tried to go out to eat today and eat the liquid part of a Soup I normally get and it was spicy. I never noticed that before. I literally started crying right at the table. Then we went to costco and I saw they had Frozen Non Fat Yogurt and I was like wow - I think I can have that and I ate a few spoons, probably 2 oz. Ran to bathroom within a few minutes with slight diarrhea. Then came home and saw yogurt-no sugar added on my list. It probably had tons of sugar, huh?. I have not dieted honestly, in years. So perhaps this is why it is such a shock. I gave up dieting years ago and just ate what I wanted. That made me fatter and now these habits are making it horrible. It is like I'm trying to go from one extreme to another extreme and it is so difficult. I did go to the store tonight and bought more things that are on the list. I think the best advice on here is just to stay home. The liquid part of this stage is an absolutely nightmare for me, even though it is full liquids. My doctor did not prescribe an anti-acid. I will call tomorrow and see if that was an error. Maybe that is another reason why I'm so unsettled. I am trying to settle down. I am going to take tomorrow and do better. I don't want to mess up my surgery or get into bad habits right from the start. I am worried I've already messed up, but I'm determined to do better tomorrow. I would imagine the weekends are the worst. I have a lot of energy, and I do feel I'm hydrated pretty well. So at least that is something. It isn't so much the hunger as much as it is just wanting the foods I'm more accustomed to. I will be honest with the dietician tomorrow at my doctor's office and see if she has some good advice. It was interesting to watch my family eat today while I did not eat much. I realized the monsters I am creating with food. All of the choices my children have been allowed to make are the things I taught them. I can see we all have a lot of work to do, not just me.:001_smile:

I really needed that lecture, honestly.

I know. I tend to get major adrenalin after surgery. It happened with both my C-sections too. And when I was a kid I had bladder surgery and I was literally all over hospital having the time of my life. I don't know why - maybe I heal fast or whatever. I am miserable and then I am running around like crazy. I had no pain meds today, no real pain just a little itching there the incision is healing. We did a lot today but my husband was with me so he did anything heavy. But honestly I could have walked a mile today. But I didn't. But you know what I just looked at another section and saw the Cornell Weight Loss Surgery Program. This is something I could do. It is the damn Protein drinks drinks drinks that are gagging me. It isn't the quantity it is WHAT I am being asked to consume. I'm not really into artificial this and artificial that. UGH. I am going to ask my doctor about this diet tomorrow or maybe at my appt this week. If he says I can switch I am going to because that is more up my alley. I love things that are natural and make sense to me. I don't mind cooking b/c I can cook and eat the same thing for a few days no problem. But yes, I will wait and get his permission first. I think he will see I'm physically doing great. I didn't have a BM until today btw. So I was kinda glad. I little gas oopsies but no BMs until today. I wasn't sure if that is how everyone is. I have not been nauseated since I left the hospital Thursday.

Well this looks like a more reasonable plan to me. I'm going to ask my dietician tomorrow. Thanks.

I was sleeved on Tuesday, February 9th. The gravity of what I've done is just starting to sink in. I somehow didn't read about a lot of complications before going into surgery, but now I find so many people speaking about complications and it is very scarey. I felt so bad the day of the surgery - it was just the most awful day. The next day was pretty awful too. I was very nauseated and threw up a lot of brown blood which I guess was bleeding during or after the surgery. Finally I passed through the last of that and I was so grateful. I actually just tried to stop taking the nausea medicine because my body was telling me I gotta get all this junk out of my body before I can move forward. For me that was a good decision. I felt so lost in that hospital bed which was incredibly uncomfortable for some reason. I was in a real brain fog and could never find the right cord I was looking for. I was so relieved to finally get unhooked from everything and deal with liquid pain medicine so I could really see what I was taking. I also filled the nausea prescription but haven't needed it at all. I came home to a dog having puppies (she had them on the 11th) and my 2 year old who had missed me and was very confused, and my 11 year old who was needing help with the puppies. I overdid it and yet it is so hard for me not to overdo it b/c I am afterall supermom. My husband stayed home and he has helped, but it just seems there are so many mom jobs. But I could feel I was overdoing it and I just stopped and went to bed and slept and I do feel so much better. I hope I didn't hurt my sleeve, but I think I'm okay. Once I had to pick up my son and I was so mad at myself afterwards. But I guess emotionally I am just shocked I did this, very fearful of the permanency of it and the fear what if I don't like it and I've already done it and changed my body for the rest of my life. So I kind of panicked about that, but then just tried to encourage myself to take today only. And today wasn't bad really. I see foods other people are eating and I feel like I could get it down too. But I don't dare. I really don't like the sweet stuff and crave real food and my favorite junk foods or just good healthy homemade type foods. But I'm taking it slow and it seems to be working out little by little. I laughed b/c I made a bowl of Tomato Soup. I actually mushed down 2 saltines as I ate it (is that awful?) and then had about 3 spoons of the soup and I was done and full. So the whole bowl went back in the fridge for tomorrow. That is the best thing I've eaten by far. I think my surgery must have gone pretty well, because actually I haven't had a lot of problems even though I did over do it when I first got home. But I dunno - I sure miss my foods. I wonder if this will be a decision I regret or am happy about over time. I just can't tell yet.

My surgery is complete and I am back home today. The first day was a lot of nausea - I threw up quite a bit of brown stuff which I guess was bleeding from the surgery. I had a lot of trouble with my veins so I got a lot of sticks. I think I was a bit dehydrated My surgeon was Terry Scarborough in Houston, TX. He seems confident that all went well. He is a quiet man. He said the signs of a leak are fever, severe abdominal pain, and something else (?). He said he only had one leak and they were able to treat it with antibiotics. I will say this. People said this is easier than a C-section. Okay, that is NOT true. This surgery feels much more major. I started realizing that before the surgery and I was nervous but it was too late to back out. Now I'm just focusing on the future. I need to figure out how to get that weight loss ticker going b/c I already lost a lot of weight. Oh I didn't realize that I planned my surgery when my period is due. Duh. I would think anyone considering surgery might plan around that better. Fortunately I started on the day I was leaving so it wasn't a problem.