Rev Me Up!

Wow! What a story! Reading your band experience makes me so mad. I was banded in 2007 and I know my regular doctor was completely clueless about how to treat me (I was given a scrip for 800 mg Motrin for pain once - WRONG!!). I am happy you are no longer in imminent danger. I am curious, have you found it difficult to turn around your eating habits at this point with the sleeve? You sertainly seem to have whipped yourself into shape.

My doctor recommends all patients to be on PPI for six months whether you have symptoms or not. I am taking Zegerid OTC and I am not going to stop until the 6 months have elapsed. Better safe than sorry :-) I am just under 3 months out. I used the nexium and then prilosec in the first month, but still had evening acid. Since I switched to Zegerid, everything is great! I am not even tempted to stop taking it at this point. Lara

I am just starting to go through sizes. The first 2 months - no change. THe last 3 weeks - I have moved form 18 jeans into borderline 14 jeans. I am shopping at Sears because everything there is pretty cheap. I only buy 2 of anything. For example, I bought 2 pairs of slacks for work in 16, which I know I will drop out of in about 2 weeks, I also bought 2 slacks in 14 so I have something to wear. I just keep it to a few essentials just to get by and I shop where I can find things for $15 or so a piece. I bought 4 slacks (montioned above) and 3 skorts in size 14 for a trip I am going on and spent less than $100. That should at least get me through June. Good luck- Lara

Hello! I am also a lap-band revision and I had my procedure done in March with Dr Aceves. It is normal to be afraid and that can manifest itself in a bit of denial. Once I made the decision to go, I purposely blocked it out of my mind as much as I could until it was time to go to MX. This is stressful, no doubt. But, you are seeing the absolute best revision doctor - seriously. Dr Aceves is very experienced and he will not perform a surgery on you that is too risky. If the damage is bad, he won't do the sleeve. You will be in a real hospital with a real trauma center in it - so you can rest assured that there is sufficient equipment / personnel to handle anything. Its almost irritating how often women come in to clean the place (several times a day). On another note, Mexicali is a very laid back kind of place. It isn't a crazy border town, so you should feel relaxed when you get there. WHen you see the facilities and the doctor, that should help. ALso, they give you some Ativan the night before so you can relax and sleep. You may want to ask your MD here in the States to give you some Ativan to deal with anxiety before you leave - it helps :-) Good luck!

Sleeve-o-pause, good one! I also had the same symptoms (except the sex thing) for the first few weeks. I am back to normal emotionally. My internal thermostat still runs a little on the cold side compared to before surgery, but not nearly as cold as I was in those first few weeks. I would say I am more normal now - not too cold, not too hot. I think the sex issue is more about your body being really depleted - your body probably does not have much interest in an extended session. Also, you may not have the capacity mentally to slow things down, you know what I mean? Your brain is also starved and you may not have the bandwidth to "talk it down", so to speak. After the first month goes by, most systems return to normal - no need to worry. I'm sure there are other things you can do to enhance your partner's experience Lara

OK, so I started logging my food again because it has been a while. I was assuming I was still between 600-800 cals a day. Ha!! Not so much... After 2 days of logging, it looks like I magically stop eating at 900 cals. I even ate completely different things on both days and still came up wthin12 cals of each other. Very interesting. I will admit my heart started to pound a little when I saw I was at 900. But, then I talked myself off the ledge because 900 is still very restrictive. I have to eat what I am eating to keep my energy up. I am feeling so much better now than I did when I was getting 600 cals a day, so I can't be concerned about it. I am still losing 1-2 pounds a week which is fantastic! On a side note, I have 14 pounds to go to move from "overweight" to "normal weight" according to my BMI. Holy moly - wont' that be a great day!! Keep on truckin', everybody!

Great to hear from you!! Yes, moving to mushies is awesome. I know my energy got much better once I was eating real food. I found that cottage cheese was the best thing for me in that initial transition. It wasn't sweet and it had lots of protein in it. I literally lived on cottage cheese for about 2 weeks. I would also eat ricotta cheese with soft bits of meat in it - heated up, of course. It was bland and creamy, but gave me some protein and calories I needed .

SLow and steady - another 1.5 pounds this week!! SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Revmeup..........175..................169.5.............155...............14.5

That is truly amazing - what a relief for you!! It is so great that you are seeing the progress with your health this early out. So happy for you--

Yep, the stall stinks. It could last up to 2 weeks, so stay strong!! As far as hair loss, I haven't experienced it yet. From what I have read, it happens around the 3 month mark. Happens to some people, but not all. It doesn't seem to matter if you eat all the right things or not - it may be more of a reaction to anesthesia and surgery. Good luck-- Lara

Hi- How much time dos it take for you to eat your portion? Depending on what I eat, it takes from 5 to 20 minutes to eat. I think that is pretty normal. I am 2 months out.

Boy, those first 2 weeks are the worst!! It is normal to feel like you do. It is hard to deal with the liquids. It is hard to feel bad all the time. It is hard to watch the house fall apart while you are too exhausted to do anything. This journey is very emotional and there is no way to really prepare for it. Hang in there, it will get better. You'll be able to eat regular food again, but in smaller quantity. Focus on getting better :-)

Hi- I had a lap-band removed, adhesions removed from liver and anterior stomach, and sleeve completed in just under 90 minutes. I was in recovery for over 2 hours, though, becuase I have a hard time waking up from anesthesia. That was a little longer than other folks who had surgery in the same hospital. The surgery itself is the easiest part - you sleep through the whole thing :-)

Hello-- Yes, the first couple of weeks is all about learning and healing :-) First, the growling / bubbling is not hunger. Are you on an acid reducer? Your doctor should have prescribed a dissolvable or crushable acid reducer for you to take every day - it really helps!!! Also, your stomach is going to make a lot of noise for a few weeks. I remember the bubbling while I was drinking Water (or anything else) in the beginning. The noisy tummy will get better over time, but mine will still make odd noises at 2 months out. The diarrhea should get better - it may be because of all the sweteners in the sugar free products. I had brief diarrhea when I got home from the hospital, but it went away. All things are better after the 3 week mark--- Lara

Fantastic!!!!! Look at you in those jeans!!!!!! SUch a good idea for a pick-me-up. It is so important to find a way to get out of those blues. Thanks for the idea and the constant inspiration. YOu look like a million bucks!! Lara

Hi- I know that my post op directions from my surgeon in MX were SO much more strict than the directions I received from Kaiser in my follow up appointments. Kaiser follows the Cornell WLS eating guidelines. Most doctors in the US try to follow some medically documented precedent, like the Cornell guide. I think that is is safe to have mushies that early, as long as you can tolerate it. I had a terrible time with the Protein drinks and I had to get moving with some cottage cheese a little earlier than my surgeon wanted me to. I was wasting away and needed the protein / calories. Follow your doctors guidelines, measure your food, chew it really well, and see what feels good to your tummy. There are a few threads out there debating why the post op instructions are so varied. I don't think there was a definitive answer :-) Lara

Hi-- I'm not Tiffykins or LilMissDiva, but I am currently a little over 2 months ourt from surgery. The short answer is: you are not doing anything wrong. The stall happens to almost everyone. It sucks. It usually last from week 3 to week 5, which is why it is commonly known as the 3-5 week stall. Sometimes just changing up the food will help to get things moving. I added a little oatmeal to my diet at that point for the extra Fiber. It helped to get things "moving" in the bowel which can help weight loss as well. THe bottom line is that you are already eating a very restricted number of calories and you will lose weight. Youe body is going through an adjustment period after the surgery and initial weight loss. Make sure to concentrate on your hydration and maybe take a break from the scale until closer to the end of week 5. You are doing great!!! Good job sticking to docs guidelines - that in itself if a great achivement. You will see the scale move again, just let the process happen - this is perfectly normal for the 4th week post-sleeve. Take care, Lara

I can confirm that I don't have hunger in the way that I used to. I still want food - the mental part of the equation does not necessarily change. However, the sleeve makes it easier to choose the right things. Sugary stuff makes me sick. Bread does not sit well. Because of those reasons alone, I will almost always choose the high Protein food that is best for me. I think that I have also been so terrified about being malnurished, that I end up choosing the protein every time - its like the sleeve gives me enough of a pause and encourages me to choose the right thing. That said, I sometimes get the "munchies", usually around that time of the month. The plus with the sleeve is that the restriction is very consistent. EVen if I grab something "bad" I can't eat very much of it. I have had days where I eat every 2 hours because of that "munchies" feeling, but I ate string cheese, yogurt, flax crackers with hummus, etc - only 2 oz at a time. None of it was going to derail me completely, especially in low quantities. With my band, the worst food always went down the easiest :-) Lara

Yay for you! I was so happy when my band was gone!!!! I have found this recovery to be harder than my lapband recovery, but the sleeve also works about 300% better :-) Real restriction!! The sleeve is so much better and I am so happy for you that you were able to make the transition. Good luck on the rest of your recovery! Lara

Hi- UNfortunately, you won't know until you get there. Also, the true results won't really be set for at least a yeara fter you are finished losing weight (kind of like when you have a baby). I am 2 months out and have lost a good amount of weight for my frame. My face looks great! My stomach looks awful! My knees looking not so good. The weight has dropped so quickly that my skin hasn't caught up yet. I am going to wait at least 10 months before I worry about what the skin looks like. It will take that long for my skin to try and tone back up. I know that my stomach will never look perfect - I was huge when I was pregnant 6 years ago and there are too many stretch marks to count. I still have hope for my legs, though. I think it will just take time.

As you will hear, this is a highly individual process. 12 pounds sounds great!! Now, be sure to prepare yourself because you are on the cusp of your first stall. The 3-5 week stall makes a lot of people crazy. Your body drops this initial weight and then stops to take a breath :-) I lost around 10 punds in the first week and then a couple of pounds for the next 3 weeks. Now I average 2 pounds a week. I am slow, but I also started at a lower BMI because I had a lap band before. Hang in there and focus on your food-- Lara

Hi-- Was lucky on both fronts, I think. No nausea, but they may have been controlling that medically while I was in the hospital for 2 days. Once home, no nausea. I had awesome pain control in the hospital. Once home, I took pain meds for one day and then pitched it because it made me feel weird. No pain except for where the drain had been. That was more of an ache that I would feel when movong from bed to standing up - it would be around for a few minutes and then go away. Nothing too major. It took about 2 weeks to completely disappear. I didn't have terrible gas pains either. I slept with a heating pad for a couple of weeks, but I tink that was more psychological :-) It just made me feel good. Everyone is different...

I had to laugh reading about being "worried" at 800 calories - isn't it crazy?? I had the same concern one day and then I had slap myself - IT'S 800 CALORIES!!! There is no way you are going to gain 100 pounds by eating 800 cals a day. Too funny--- I stopped counting cals once I realized that every sitting was about 130 cals and I eat 5-6 times a day without fail No need to do any math on that one. Interesting: yesterday my schedule was all messed up and I only ate 3 times by 4:00 pm and I felt HORRIBLE. I ended up eating a double dinner (once at 5pm and again at 7pm) just to get my head and strength back. You need those 800 cals to survive and be somewhat human :-)

Hi- Congratulations! They should have you on a dissolvable Nexium every day for the acid - that's what is causing the rumbling. Make sure to pick up one month's worth of dissolvable Nexium from the farmacia so you have it at home. A good acid reducer will be your best friend for the first few months :-) Lara

Hello! So glad you have learned to love your sleeve! The first month is so hard, and I am truly happy that you have found your way to the other side. I am still thankful every day that I don't have that band :-) Lara