heidikat72

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your father. Three years ago I lost my boyfriend and father within 4 months of each other. Undeniably the worst period of my life. All I can offer you is let yourself grieve and also allow yourself to still experience joy without guilt. That last one was hard for me, for a long time I felt horribly guilty if I had a good day. Also, don't expect to go back to your "normal" state before the loss of your dad. You will never "get over it" - it used to make me so mad when someone would say 'it's been x amount of time, you should be over it already". What will happen is you will figure out how to go on and define your new "normal". Many hugs to you. Take care of yourself and be kind to yourself during this time.

i was told after 3 months, as long as I am getting in at least 64oz of non-caffeinated fluids a day, i can have one 8oz cup of coffee or tea a day

you lost 40lbs in 2.5 weeks. that's amazing. give your body time to adjust. I was sleeved 6/17 and have lost...nothing, nada, not even a tenth of a pound. I was very frustrated Thursday at my two week post op appointment. after a lot of thought that night, i'm not as upset. I just did major trauma to my body. my body is reeling and confused and trying to repair itself. the weight will come off - at this low a calorie intake it can't NOT come off. now is time to trust in the process and stay the course. after all, don't really have much choice, the surgery isn't reversible.

For small goals, I plan to get regular pedicures. I consider this a reward for increasing my exercise, need to pamper the feet and take care of them for taking care of me. And investing in some good face products to hopefully help firm and reduce the sagging in that area since they don't make spanx for your face! For bigger goals, I have some vacation ideas. A big part of doing this for me was the be able to travel comfortably and be able to really get out and walk and explore/enjoy the places I visit. The vacations get "bigger" the closer to goal I get. The ultimate will be a trip to finland to sleep in a glass igloo under the northern lights - sounds weird I know but truly a once in a lifetime experience. I like the jewelry idea too as a permanent keepsake. As for tattoos - I also hate needles, have to give myself a peptalk before each blood thinner injection (only two more left!) but I have 3 tattoos with no issues. It's a different kind of pain on those and my last one wasn't even painful - just a vibration. Just really do your research on your tattoo artist first.

You should feel very proud! You have done amazingly well!

While it might be the staples it could also be a case of any scar tissue around them showing up as a more dense area. I say that because I have really bad lymphedema in my left leg and for the last few years, every time I go through the body scanners I have to have my left leg patted down because the fluid buildup shows up more dense on the scanners. Annoying but at least I know to expect it now.

I have 6. 5 in a slight arc across my abdomen. and the 6th is up higher - practically under my left breast. at a week and a half out, the steristrips are just starting to peel off now.

I'm a week out today and agree - that first 28hrs for me without swallowing anything - just moist swabs in my mouth were rough. my mouth kept getting so dry. I still have some pain near the largest incision - not really the incision itself hurting but deeper in that area - just nerves and stuff regrowing I guess. Otherwise the pain has been surprisingly minimal and i'm thankful I was really struggling with getting 64 oz of Fluid in (even counting my Protein drinks) until yesterday. Each day I made progress though and today it is surprisingly easy to get the fluid in so it definitely gets better - hang in there! Now the biggest issue is really just lack of energy but even that gets a little better each day. I'm intentionally not weighing myself until my two week post op follow up apt next Thursday. Hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprised

I don't think the size of your sleeve is the issue here. You need to figure out why you would decide to go off plan so soon after surgery. I would suggest some counseling to help you establish a healthier relationship with food

I had mine done on the 17th and yes the biggest incision still hurts. the others have pretty much stopped hurting now. Although I've noticed it isn't really the incision itself with me that hurts but the area around it and a deeper pain - not the surface skin. I'm thinking there may have been more muscle/nerves cut in that area in order to get room to remove the stomach. I try to hold my side as I'm getting up or sitting down and that helps some. it will get better - remember we had major surgery and everything needs time to heal.

So Penn Medicine where I'm going to get my surgery is doing a 12 week exercise research study on pre-op patients. I apparently lost my mind at the last support group meeting and signed up for the study. First session was this morning (it is once a week for the 12 weeks). I know it is about making progress over the 12 weeks and not trying to match or outperform anyone other than doing better than my performance today. It was still just so frustrating and depressing that in a class of obese people awaiting surgery, I was still the least fit by far. We started with a plank test. I could barely hold the position for 12 seconds...12 teeny tiny seconds, that's it. Most people did around 30, one lady went over 2 minutes! Then there was the 6 minute walk test - basically up and down the hallway as many times as we could in 6 minutes. I didn't really count how many laps but I was seriously huffing and puffing by the time the 6 minutes were up. We did it in pairs, and the lady beside almost lapped me. Granted a few months ago I would not have been able to do the distance I did today. And then some of the exercises we did afterward - push ups, squats, lunges and some other exercises down on our knees on the floor. Some I them I couldn't even do the number of repetitions we were supposed to because my knee hurt so bad having that much pressure on it pressing against the hard floor. So I left feeling very defeated. Even during, I had flashbacks to middle and high school gym class where I struggled, especially with the dreaded yearly presidential physical fitness tests - I was always the worst in the class. Again, I know it is about making progress, just right now I feel so far behind and wondering how I'm going to manage next week when after 30 minutes of those exercises, we go outside on the streets of Philly and walk for 30 minutes. Like in public, with other people on the streets. How am I even going to keep up with the rest of the class? I know my poor performance from today proves how much I do need this class, just worried about whether I can even do it... Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent and get it out.

So today was the last class - hard to believe 12 weeks is up already and I'm getting surgery tomorrow morning! Thought I'd post an update since we had the end of class assessments today. To recap week 1: Weight 394lbs 6 minute walk test - 414 meters plank hold - 12 second week 12 Weight 364lbs 6 minute walk test - 463 meters - a little disappointed here but i'm blaming it on zero energy since starting the 2 week pre-op diet! plank hold (did this before the walk test) - wait for it....47 seconds!!!! yep from 12 seconds to 47 in just 12 weeks! and frankly i'm still just amazed I can get into a plank position let alone hold it for any time oh and guess what? after all my concerns about being in the worst shape in the class (and I had to travel the furthest to get to it - over an hour), I was the ONLY one who had perfect attendance

I'm towards the end of my preop diet, surgery is Friday morning. Lack of energy? Check. Lightheaded? Check. I keep having to stop and take a break every few minutes while trying to give my house a thorough scrubbing. I did too much Saturday and ended not doing much of anything Sunday except fold and put away laundry. And even with that I got lightheaded every time I went to put something away. I just keep reminding myself this part is temporary and worth it in the end.

Considering it...but it really depends on where I am with my job search - as in if I just started a new job, then no. I'm being laid off from my current job at the end of the month (it's ok, I've known since last October and it's the reason I'm going ahead with surgery since I won't have to worry about returning to work afterward). So if I'm still unemployed I'm going to try to attend.

those numbers look good to me. would you mind sharing your recipe?

Most likely not. I too had an insurance required 6 month medically supervised weight loss period - it requires monthly appointments with a report for each appointment. Some insurance just requires that you don't gain during that period whereas others want you to lose a specific amount to show commitment to making the necessary lifestyle changes. Don't be discouraged! The time will go much faster than you think. You will be busy with going to all your pre-op testing appointments, meeting with the nutritionist etc. Use the time to start making changes in what and how you eat and to start building up your activity level. As well as researching the procedure and post-op life. Also, working on the head part of this which is a big part - changing your whole relationship with food. Remember - it's stomach surgery not brain surgery - you have work on the brain part. Again - do not be discouraged! Two years from now when you are so much healthier - that 6 months will seem like a flash and all worth it!

My NUT recommended the low sodium Boar's Head deli meat products (turkey, roast beef and ham - said to avoid things like salami and bologna). You could make roll ups by putting a little cheese on the slice of meat and rolling it up. Even grilling the roll up in a frying pan if you want melty grilled cheese effect.

also with the smaller volume of your stomach there simply isn't the room for the food to churn around and mix with your stomach acid as much and thus can't digest and break down in your stomach as much. Pre-op when you eat bigger chunks they don't just sit static in your stomach but there is actually motion that mxes and allows the acid to really do its job in breaking it down.