Newtum

Stalls (especially around 3 week mark) are so real!!!! They defy logic, can go on for an unreasonable amount of time, and usually have little do with your actions. Just stick with the program and wait for your body to reorient itself.

@@LowBMISleever hurrah!!! best of luck with surgery and recovery, you'll do great! i do work out, but actually somewhat LESS than i did before surgery. i've always been very active, but having gained so much weight, i struggled with this debilitating stress to prioritize working out/dieting over family/work/sleep (especially sleep). Post-surgery, I've found that while I need to work out for toning and health reasons, and it definitely does help with the weight loss (plus i think its a crucial habit to get in prior to maintenance), the fact that i can work out for 30-45 min instead of an hour plus and 3x a week instead of 5 has really helped me stay more balanced in my life. This is a purely personal thing, there are lots of others who really push long, hard, frequent workouts post-surgery. it just depends on what's right for you long way of saying that for me personally, this surgery has just given me the freedom to live a healthier, balanced life instead of jumping from one desperate attempt to lose weight to failure to another and repeat. SUCH a feeling of freedom.

Sure: SW: 185 1 month out: 164 3 months out: 151 6 months out: 141 9 months out: 135 After the initial drop, I've always felt my weight loss was "slow", and maybe it is, but it's always moving in a downward direction, however "slowly", and lord knows its nothing I could ever have accomplished on my own -- I TRIED!

@@LowBMISleever - 185. We have pretty similar stats! I started at 185, GW 127, CW 135.

I had a decent amount of hair loss in the first 6 months, but it's stopped now, by 9 months and seems to be growing back. it didn't get to a dramatic point, but was noticeable to me and disturbing to my husband to find so much hair in the shower drain! as far as loose skin, i would say my stomach and upper leg skin is not as tight as it might have been when i weighed 135 "originally", but i still feel comfortable in a bathing suit. working out as you lose apparently helps, but who really knows.

what's making you feel that way? are you making sure that the small portions you're eating are healthy food? sometimes when i go a week or so eating crap i feel that way - like i'm not healthy even though i've lost a lot of weight. but it really can be easily turned around by some veggies

you need to stay off carbonation for 6 months (or at least that was my requirement). i'm back on seltzer now but have only had one or two sodas since surgery 9 months ago -- my nutritionist said even no cal soda can be kind of a "gateway" drug that we associate with our prior bad eating habits and i've found that to be true. i have a soda and next thing i know i'm craving pizza. brains are weird!

hi all, just checking in because we have some newbies and i remember how desperate i was for information pre-surgery! i tend not to come on these forums much anymore, i consider that part of the success!! i was sleeved on october 19 last year at a weight of 185 (i'm 5'4) and a BMI of 31.8. I now weigh 137, BMI of 21.8. I truly couldn't be happier and it was a relatively painless process. yes its difficult at first to get in your liquids, fit in to our massive portion society and struggle with whatever other little side effects you have (i had relatively bad acid reflux which i still have to manage with Protonix), but the results make it all worth it. i am healthy and happy and full of energy and wouldn't take it back for a second! best of luck to all!

@ - i'm planning for kids as soon as everyone (surgeon and obgyn) are on board! they think 12-18 months from surgery depending on weight stability. i didn't feel comfortable getting pregnant at my starting weight and knew i never would, so it was a big driver for me in deciding to go for it.

ughhh i KNOW you're right @@sleevenv!! i am hooked on the scale... thanks for the intervention.

@ - so sorry the talk didn't go as well as you might have hoped! give her time, hopefully she'll come around to it. and let her ask LOTS of questions and ask you to consider other options! i am currently facing down the dreaded 3 week stall! haven't lost any weight in 6 days. how long did it last for you all?

the MORNING of my surgery, one of the surgical nurses said "and why are you having this surgery"? being sort of flustered, I said "because I'm sick of struggling with this". and she said "you know this isn't a quick fix, right?" while the other nurse dramatically rolled her eyes and they exchanged looks. I was pretty furious. Yes, lady, I did my research before having this massive operation. Sorry I didn't have my solid reasons all stacked up and ready to go at 5:30 a.m.!!

@@all4him welcome to the other side!!

@ -- definitely happy to share the FULL story!! almost 3 weeks post op and i have to say that i think i've been VERY lucky so far, so i'm not really the best person to give the full scope of what recovery can be like. a lot of other people who got sleeved the same time as me are having a much harder time, so i'd recommend reading the different forums (for example there's one for people sleeved 10/14, 10/19, etc.) to get a sense of how people progress in their recovery. for me, the 2 days in the hospital were pretty tough. i had a lot of pain the first day and was CRAZY thirsty, the second day i had nausea and struggled to drink the required amount. the first week i felt generally ok but just very very tired - lots of naps. around 1 week post op i had a crazy allergic reaction -- big red circles around each of my incision sites that itched like CRAZY. i felt like i was going to claw my skin off!!! no consensus on what the allergen was - maybe the surgical glue, maybe the dried blood inside, but in any case it made for a rough, sleepless couple days. i haven't had really any problems getting down Protein or Water or (just this week) cottage cheese/yogurt/apple sauce so that's good. and the weight has been coming off fast and steady. i know there is a long road ahead still -- i will have stalls and maintenance is something i have never once succeeded at, so i know that will be a whole separate adjustment. but i already feel amazing. truly. my sleep apnea has clearly gone away since i am WIDE AWAKE at work for the first time in years. i can feel the lost weight when i walk, there's just a lightness that feels awesome. and the depression that pushed me to do the surgery in the first place is easing up in a major major way. life just seems very bright! one thing i keep reminding myself of is that i have lost all the weight in the past (with doctor-supervised Protein shake diets) and as soon as i was "done" (met goal), i just stopped with the program. didn't continue getting support from the doctors or keeping up with group sessions or therapy. and so i gained it all back and then some both times. so while i am totally basking in my current success, i'm trying to remind myself that this is a different game -- a PERMANENT change, vs. a couple months of shakes. ok that was a very long-winded rant. i will definitely keep you all updated - its nice to be able to share progress here. i haven't had any negative experiences in other forums but i would hesitate to talk numbers given where other people are at and where they started.

I'm 2.5 weeks post op and got back in the swing of things ~ 10 days post op. For me a "spooning" type position seems to feel best with a still-sore belly!

@@Yaberhoo has already heard this but I named mine Sleeven Tyler because right now he has a BIG MOUTH (gurgle growl gurgleee) and is kind of gross. Hoping to rechristen to Bruce Sleeve (for kicking a$$!!!!) once he learns to pipe down

I named mine Sleeven Tyler because so far he's kind of gross and has a BIG MOUTH!!! (gurgle gurgle growllll) I'm hoping he can eventually be re-christened Bruce Sleeve for kicking a$$!!!

i got the impression the private practicioners (not hospitals) like lower bmi/self pay patient. i can imagine they hate dealing with insurance companies as much as everyone else!

have you come across doctors who weren't on board with it? the first one i saw was very supportive. but i did go in armed with a list of all the diets, exercise programs and medications i had tried and their various results. plus a rough graph of my weight over time.

Nooo, definitely not. Total cost was $14,500 and that includes a year of post-op visits. Obviously it's a ton of money, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure its money well spent.

i cannot imagine!! you're lighter already I did it stateside - in VA - and had a 3 day clear liquid pre-op diet and just wrapped up 2 weeks of clear liquid plus Protein shakes. As of yesterday can add in tiny amounts of apple sauce, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, grits that kind of thing. Next week on to eggs, canned tuna, etc (soft food). Then it kind of continues to progress from there. I've been lucky - I don't have trouble getting my Water or protein in and so far so good on the mushies (although LOTS of gurgling!!).

yay!! so glad! it really does warm my heart, we will all face many naysayers but support from people we love just fills up the space where their negativity tries to creep in! yeah, @, fill us in! to keep you guys all jazzed up, i'm 2 weeks post op today and down 16 lbs! man i'm pumped.

Very!!

I just had my first none-liquid in 2.5 weeks!! <1/4 cup warm ricotta. It. Was. Amazing!!

I think focusing on the positive is a great approach but I don't think you should feel you can't turn to us. If not here, where? Feel free to continue to share, we're all on your team and sorry you're having such a hard time