Cervidae

24 (23 when I had the RNY) in NY here.

tons of Water and tons of sleep! Especially sleep. Hope you get well soon!

ahhh it always gives me an intense feeling of contentment and joy to see others being successful, happy, and healthy. Congratulations to you!

Welcome! Good to have you here. If we can help in any way, don't hesitate to ask. - Abby

@@Pink Ninja I'm 10 months and 11 days post op. I've lost 163 pounds since surgery and 218 pounds since I started this journey. My weight loss has slowed wayyyyyyy down, mostly because I've been laid up recovering from knee surgery for two months, so that's a bit of a bummer. However, even though I'm still 224 pounds and about 50 pounds away from my goal, I'm happy to be here. My life has changed drastically in the last year and a half, and I have changed drastically as well. I used to wear a 4x top and size 32 jeans (which were sometimes snug!) and now I wear a large or 1x top and size 18 jeans. By all accounts, I'm still "fat". But I feel amazing, I look VERY different, and many things in my life have improved. I'm going back to school to finish my degree in August, and I don't fear walking up to the building from the parking lot or climbing two flights of stairs anymore. I just got a tattoo to Celebrate all of my effort and change. I'm excited to see wonderful things happening for you too! And everyone on this forum! http://i.imgur.com/aRzKKlq.jpg http://i.imgur.com/iIHyMOG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/fWK2zPV.jpg

Congratulations! I hope this surgery is all you ever wanted/needed to be happy and healthy. Keep us updated.

Beautifully and eloquently written, thank you. <3

If you've come this far, you already know the answer to all of these questions. You know that you've tried and failed, or tried and regained, and that you need help to become the person you want to be. There's no shame in seeking help for yourself - quite the opposite! Your choices are to either deal with the possible negative side effects (including ignorant, judgmental people who have no idea what they are talking about) and regain your health and self-confidence, or to continue on this same path that will yield the same results until you get sick and die decades early, never having lived to the full extent you could have been capable of living had you been healthy. You deserve a full and healthy life! Don't ever let anyone convince you otherwise. I'm over ten months post op and have lost almost 220 pounds since I began this journy a year and a half ago. I would do this all again a thousand times if it always brought me back to this wonderful place. I'm still about 50 pounds from my goal but I can't even express how worth it this whole process has been - the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can do this! Even if you lack support on the outside, you still have all of us here who support you 100% and understand the difficulties, anxieties, and triumphs that come with weight loss surgery. Use the resources at hand, do your best, and you will benefit greatly from all of your hard work and dedication. Good luck to you! Feel free to friend or message me anytime if I can help you in any way.

Wipies! Trust me. You want these. I brought lavender moisturizing ones, and they honestly felt like heaven.

I would highly suggest myfitnesspal.com to help you track carbs, protein, calories, etc. Also, get the bad stuff out of your house if possible. you'll be doing anyone who lives with you a favor anyway by bringing healthy food into the house and taking out the junk. I would also suggest you raise water intake as much as possible. The more hydrated you are, the less hungry you'll be. Eat protein with every meal, and cut way back (or eliminate) extra sugar and soda. Just doing these things will bring you a long way towards meeting your goals. hope this helps!

I think having surgery and losing a lot of weight has a many-faceted effect on our lives in terms of changing them and opening doors. Not only do you become much healthier, but taking an entire person or more worth of weight of your body can do wonders for your energy and pain levels. But there's more than that - you get your life and control back. You start seeing yourself as a person who is worth every bit of effort and love you put into yourself. Most people I've seen stop accepting their lives as they settled for them previously, and start actually living and enjoying life. If that means a career change, so be it! I'm going back to school and finishing my degree finally, and I'm absolutely thrilled. Less than two years ago, I was ready to give up and accept my life - however short it would have been without surgery- the way it was, and just wait for death. Now I truly want to live and love my life, and that means finishing my degree and becoming a professional artist and photographer! I hope you have the same wonderful results. I hope every person has a chance to experience such hope and excitement for the future.

I had my RNY in August of last year, so if you ever want someone who is a year ahead of you to give you pointers/advice/commiseration, feel free to message me. Good luck!

I've been drinking shakes every day for over a year. Sometimes two a day. I have never gotten sick from them, and I've tried several kinds. Sometimes I encounter one I don't really like, or it doesn't sit well, but it's never made me physically sick.

"Well, open up your mind and see like me, Open up your plans and damn you're free. Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, love, love. Listen to the music of the moment, people dance and sing, we're just one big family And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved, loved, loved, loved, loved."

The first couple days will probably really suck. Some people have smooth sailing, but most of the time, you're in pain, and you're tired, and it's hard to move around. However, it improves so, so quickly! Just make sure you're doing what the doc and nurses tell you to do. Walk, walk, walk! And sleep. The difficulties and discomfort in the beginning are so worth the results. I'm over ten months out now and down 164 pounds since the day of surgery. It took me about 6-7 months to feel wonderful, as before then I was still struggling to get my calories in and I was losing so rapidly that I was exhausted all the time. But now, I feel amazing! And you will too! Just do your best, and never forget that this will soon pass, and you'll have the rest of your life to be happy and healthy.

@@curlysue86 I believe I was on liquids for 2 weeks, then I moved to pureed food for about a month, then to soft foods. In the beginning, I drank a scoop of protein powder in 8-10 ounces of milk twice a day, and that alone was enough protein. Other than that, I just sipped water as much as I could. It really does get easier! I promise you the great things coming your way will be worth this effort and discomfort. It took me about 7 months to feel completely normal again, and now I feel FAR better than my pre-surgery normal. Feel free to friend me or message me anytime if I can help at all. Hang in there.

Hello people! This isn't a topic I'm super comfortable discussing so publicly, but it's too late to call my doctor at the moment and I'm going insane with this UTI that flared up rather suddenly and I'm just looking for some of your experiences. It's pretty rare that I get UTIs but I've read they are pretty common in the months after surgery for various reasons. For any of you out there that have had UTIs after bariatric surgery, what medications/remedies did you use that worked? Were there medications your surgeon forbade you to take based on absorption issues? Were there any methods you used besides medication that helped relieve some of the pain? It turns out (based on recent studies) cranberry juice is actually not effective in ending a UTI, though it can prevent them. I don't think my stomach can deal with cranberry juice yet anyway, even watered down. Here's hoping some of you can help me even a little bit. This is really, really no fun and extremely uncomfortable. Thank you

Hey @curlysue86 I know things are rough right now, but I PROMISE you, it will get better. Did you do the right thing? Of course you did. You knew what you needed, and you put in the time and effort to get to where you are. No one said it was going to be easy! Right now you're healing from a huge physical and emotional trauma, and everything feels like it's so hard and like you'll be stuck this way forever. But guess what? Soon, and sooner than you think, the weight will be falling off, your body will become perfectly healthy, and a whole new life will be unfolding faster than you can even comprehend it. I felt much like you did in the beginning, but now I'm over ten months post op and down 164 pounds since surgery. I eat healthfully almost always, but every now and then I am able to have a bite or two of an old favorite, and be satisfied. I'm still losing steadily, I'm perfectly healthy, AND the greatest thing of all - food and my obesity no longer has control over me. I have control over me! Now you do too! Hang in there, and it will get better. Remember all the reasons you did this in the first place. Take pictures, measure and record your measurements, and soon you'll forget how miserable you felt in the beginning.

That, and my hands. I've always had "baby hands" (thanks mom. ) with dimples in my knuckles. My hands are still chubby but I can now see bones and tendons, and when I see my hands in pictures I sometimes find myself thinking "hmm, you almost can't tell I'm overweight anymore." It's weird, and very nice.

Wow, this is actually the first time since surgery that I've thought about this. I guess I would say that as I lose weight and my face thins out, I can now see cute dimples and high cheekbones. Turns out I actually have a nice facial structure. Who knew?!

@@summerset - No one said it was "just so wrong". I think you may be a little sensitive. In fact, no one here, including myself, said anything about anything except their own perceptions of the product. I think everyone who commented has even said "I think this is gross, but hey, whatever works." Since this post asked for opinions, there are going to be opinions. There aren't even rude opinions here. Anyway, I'll continue to follow this thread of out sheer curiosity, but the best way to scare people off (people who are already really shocked and weirded out by this) is to make their valid opinions and reactions into "outcries" and "angry comments". Regardless, as I said before, the perceptions of this product have nothing to do with the success of it, and I wish everyone nothing but success. If this works for some people, then great! Success is success is success.

Hey there! I had surgery 10 months and two days ago, and I can definitely still remember how intense those last days were before surgery. There are huge changes coming, and since you are prepared, you know just how big of a deal this is. Honestly, it would be weird and concerning if you weren't at least a little nervous! However, being prepared is the best thing you can do for yourself, and the best way to remain calm. You've got this! Now all that is left is to take the plunge! We're all here to support you, and soon you'll be on the other side, starting a whole new life and on a road to a whole new happier, healthier you. Hang in there!

I don't think anyone has been angry in these comments. We're allowed to have opinions about the product. that's sort of the point of a public forum. And if you think our responses are negative... just wait till you see the initial reactions of people who think wls in general is bad. It's not a personal attack on someone who has had it. It's just an initial reaction and shock to such a device and the way it works. That does actually matter in terms of selling it and whether people will be interested. Whether it has worked or not is a different story.