LittleLizzieLilliput

I bet you are flying high right now!! Enjoy the floating. lol! The first few days are rough, but I bet you will do amazing!!

YESSSS!!! lol! so awesome...

Could be water retention. could still be healing, yes. I don't know really where to point you to, I guess my next thought would be sodium sneaking in your diet somehow? Like I was using the unjury chicken broth. Well, ends up I was getting like 3 time the daily allotment of sodium. lol! I am SO glad to hear your doing well with the gallbladder removal. I was one who had diarrhea like every day and now...not so much. hahah!

I haven't found one cream that actually works - except hemorrhoid creams I guess? lol! So that's why I turned to this crazy face stuff. lol!

Ok, so I am the same way. I have at least 20 lbs of excess skin on my thighs, tummy and arms. I thought I would hate it, I thought i would be repulsed by my own body. But something crazy happened...I LOVED my sagging skin!!!!! Every time I see it I see all my hours, days, weeks months, years of hard work, dedication and commitment. I think back to me weight 375 lbs and how I hated every inch of my body, how horrible I looked. Now, when I bend over I have this waterfall of skin that cascades down...that used to be filled with Fat and Self-Loathing. Now? I LOVE me, I LOVE how hard I've worked. Yes, I want to have the skin removed - but the cost is high, I'm in debt, it will take years to be able to afford it. I realized how much I loved that ugly sagging skin. Every inch of it is proof of my success. Every shake and waddle is confirmation that I've deflated myself, I can ride a rollercoaster, I can weave my way in and out of seats and tables at a restaurant, I can walk past a mirror or window and really like what I see!! My extra skin, which I was so scared of, which I was sure I hate, it's now a badge of pride for me. I wear sleeveless shirts now, I wear skirts with tights. I am LOVING my body. It's not perfect, some might think the extra skin is gross...well, if they do they aren't for me. I am so proud of what I've accomplished and I think everyone who loves me or cares about me should be as well. It's proof of what I've done. Sure, I'd love to look like a model or not have that extra 20lbs on my belly and thighs hanging down - but I love who I've become way more. I apply cocoa butter to my body - toes to nose basically - everyday. That has helped heal the stretch marks and keep the skin supple. I try to love my skin, to run my hands all over it every day, because it's my evidence of how much I kick ass.

Google Face Yoga. or that crazy japanese mouth thing where you work the muscles in your face and neck to tighten things up. I do something like that and I barely have excess skin on my neck. And I've lost well over 200 lbs so I have TONS of saggy skin. but not on my face!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!! Mostly because I work on these crazy exercises...I think at least.

Ok, crazy question here, but what about bowel movements. Are your bowel movements equalling what you took in the day before? Could you be experiencing both constipation followed by diarrhea or something like that? The gallbladder helps with digestions and our fats, helps it slide through the system easier. It could be your bowels are no longer working the same? I have my gallbladder out and if I'm not careful I can go 3 days with no bowel movements and thats where a lot of the weight fluctuations occurs for me. Also, I find that just me, as a human, I have a +/- of 3 lbs. Could be food, could be water/salt, could be my period, could be how much air I have in my lungs...lol! Ok, maybe not that last one but you know what I mean.

WOW!!!!!!!! You look so good and I can tell how hard you are working!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!

That would happen to me as well. I take omeprazole with magnesium twice a day. One AM, one PM. I then also take Pepcid AC Complete chewables (the pink fruit flavored one to be precise. lol!) which I have to use every few days as well. I use it the moment I feel any acid happening. My doc moved me from once a day Omeprazole to twice a day, and my life improved greatly!! I don't go anywhere without the Pepcid Complete either. The thing is, because our stomachs are now very susceptible to ulcers and thinning of the stomach lining, my doc considers excess acid as a major concern. I've woken up a few times choking on acid since the surgery and that's when I made my SOS call to my doc. I wasn't even afraid of a bleeding ulcer at that point, I was afraid of drowning in my own acid. I had aspirated some acid both times and it took a few days to stop coughing up that sweet/bitter fluid from my lungs. UGH, so scary. So talk to your doc, there is prescription strength Proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole) you can be prescribed, there are other avenues to go down as well. Just be sure to keep mentioning it to your Surgeon. In fact, if I continued to have a problem I would call as soon as tomorrow if I were you. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you are feeling great soon!

actually, interesting note, acid reflux can come across to Sleevers as hunger because the body misinterprets the sensations. I upped my meds and the "hunger" and acid went away. Don't know if that will help you but I read your post and thought it might.

I wish I had the time to do homemade lunches/meals everyday, take the time to take a picture, sit and enjoy. instead I eat at my desk, I get grilled or roasted chicken and the last time I took a picture of my food was for my mom's 75th. lol! I need a new life where I can sit and enjoy a meal.

My recommendation would then be to go to your General Practitioner if your Surgeon continues to not be concerned or doesn't have more options for you.

Oh!! And regarding pain, take some Gas-X maybe and keep walking. I had pains too. Your tummy had 80% of it removed and each laparoscopic incision is the same as getting stabbed. So you have 5-7 stab wounds, your abdominal wall was punctured, your stomach has a hundred or so stitches and your body is in a bit of shock. They also blow air into your abdominal cavity to be able to see what they are doing, so there is all this gas floating around your body, walking is what helps push the gas back into your different functions and works itself out - literally. So the Gas-x strips have helps folks out in the process. You are going to have some pains and odd sensations. Just keep walking, try the Gas-X strips, get a liquid tylenol pain reliever as well. It's OK to take pain meds and stay on top of the pain, you had something major done to your body. And don't worry, if something is really wrong, tylenol would NEVER be able to dull the pain. So don't worry about masking a problem with taking an OTC pain med. If your pain level stays below a 4, you are probably just experiencing post surgical pain. If your pain goes above a 4 it's time to call your surgeon's office and tell them. If it goes above a 7 just head to the ER. It's ok to have a false alarm but dying really sucks. Hang in there, it sounds like you are going to do great, I know it's rough. The 1st 3 months were a real gauntlet for me, but I'm 15 months out and so happy and healthy. It's gonna be ok!!!

First off, congratulations on a successful surgery and welcome to the new journey!!! You are only 2 days post op, best I could do then was just sip sip sip at the liquid protein meals and my water. Basically non-stop. There is no "full" right now in the sense that your tummy is like a swollen banana. All that can get through is about a straw sized amount of liquid. So don't worry about that right now. Just sip sip sip. Did you do classes or have any kind of data given to you like a binder with information? You should know that once your stomach heals you can hold about 1/4 cup/4oz of food/liquid. This means that you can simply avoid overeating - since that is your primary concern in this post - by measuring your food. Get a cheap small food scale and a measuring cup. Some foods measure by weight, some by size. Anyway, you just measure your 1/4 cup/4oz of food and you know for sure you won't overeat. Then you will eventually find you can trust yourself. But this is all months down the road. Right now you just know you can't eat solids as that could kill you by ripping your stitches. You know that you have your water and protein goals. Did they tell you that your protein soups and drinks count as both protein AND water? So there is that. Anyway, my point is, right now, unless you do something really stupid like try to eat solids or pureed foods, you can't really overeat right now. You can just sip sip sip. Jello is fine, but it's got a bit of mass so of course it's going to fill you up. Your tummy is swollen and only has a tiny passway for the "food" to go through and jello is not liquid at first unless you strain it through your teeth to make it liquid. Sounds to me like you are doing GREAT! This is exciting, you have a good outlook, you are trying to do the right things and following your protocol, you are going to do fantastic!!!!!

Hi there, have you spoken to your surgeon about this? What did they say? #1 - What food stage are you at right now? #2 - What are your protocol goals on Protein, Water and vitamins, and are you able to meet those goals? #3 - Dehydration can be a deadly complication, do not take this lightly, that you are unable to ingest liquid or food. You should consider going to the ER right now. Having chest pains, abdominal pains, these are no good. Above all I think you should immediatly pick up your phone and call your surgeon's office. Many people have come here asking this kind of advise and the next time we hear from them they are in a hospital room on an IV drip. It's no joke.

Agreed Little Green, I'm curious how she is doing as well. I hope she's on the mend now!

I eat the pizza Topping, I can’t eat salads or lettuce. Jealous of this that can eat salads!!

Individual per each person, and even while you’re in the middle of a stall – which I call a pause – you can still make a lot of changes in your body. All the working out you’re doing, walking your 10 K steps a day and following the protocol, you continue reshaping your body and then the pounds will drop off again. Also just make sure you were keeping to the protocol. I’ve gone months without losing a pound and yet dropped three clothes sizes. The scale is only part of the journey. If you put too much importance into just your weight-loss then any stall is going Is going to be difficult for you to deal with. You have to understand that even while not losing a pound, if your keeping to the exercise, you are converting fat into muscle which weighs more. If you’re not following the protocol then you may hit a stall that lasts a long, long time. I originally weighed about 375 and I currently weigh 150, i’ve spent more time in pauses than I have actually losing weight. it was a long hard journey but I just kept at the protocol. Focus on your water at 60 ounces, Protein at 90 ounces, walking 10,000 steps and finally your vitamins. Pauses happen, at any point in time for anyone, but if you keep to your goals each day and just keep working towards them... you’re going to feel great regardless.

Ok, I think this last line is the most important. Keep that at the top of your mind when you go in next week - hopefully sooner!!! Because the fact that you've already been in the hospital for dehydration makes me even more concerned. Just and FYI, you can skip your surgeon's office completely and just go to the ER. You could be having a gallbladder attack as we speak and they would probably be much more concerned and perform tests right there. I have some serious doubts about the quality of your surgeon based on what you are telling me he's conveyed to you. You've already been in the hospital for dehydration and he's not more concerned????!! I'm still stunned at that.

I'm concerned that your surgeon is not more concerned. It seems to me you are exhibiting severe side effects and they should be doing more testing on you to see if your sleeve has a stricture or something else is going on - have they checked you for a hiatal hernia? Also, you said your gallbladder has sludge in it and you may have to have it removed - did you know that nausea, vomiting and pain can be signs you are having a gallbladder attack? It could be your gallbladder is causing these problems as well. I highly recommend you go back to your surgeon's office, calling them I mean, and tell them your life is almost unbearable right now and you need help figuring out what is wrong. IF they aren't willing to help you than you need to see your GP ASAP. I honestly believe that, based on what you are describing, you could easily end up back in the hospital due to dehydration. Please try to be more of an advocate for yourself with your surgeon. You need to tell them that you are at the end of your rope and can't continue to function like this. I called my surgeons office crying, freaking out, scared, etc. They didn't fire me as a patient, they had me come in. Good luck, I'm worried for you.

OMG I wish I had one of those to go to!!!!!!!! How Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, I'm diabetic but my Endo INSISTS I get a certain number of carbs three times a day and she says, specifically!, for brain function. lol! I am severely diabetic and try to go for 0 carbs. It's no bueno to the brain as the brain requires sugar to function. It helps the brain's synapses communicate with each other. Which I wish wasn't true as I'd rather eat zero carbs than be on insulin 4 times a day. lol!

I would recommend going back to your post surgical protocol. Hitting your water, protein, vitamins and 10K steps goal. That's what I keep doing, going back to the Stage 3 numbers. I also do a low carb high protein diet and now either do an hour of boot camp a day or get my 10K steps in. 60oz water, 90oz protein, 10K steps, Vitamins. That's what I focus on. I don't' know if this will help but it's the only advise I have. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!! I know you can do this, with commitment to the protocol you were successful before, you will be successful again!!!!!!!

I had that feeling for a little while, you are only 4 weeks out, I think I felt similarly around that time. It does go away, your body will find it's new homeostasis. You are just in a transition period right now. Are you on a vitamin regimen? Keep up on your protein shakes and make sure you are getting all your water. Those things really help. Even if you are moving to solids. I kept up my protein supplement drinks for a few weeks as I needed help hitting my protein numbers. Finally, Sugars. Are you diabetic? If not, consider throwing in about 15 extra grams of carbs if you can in the AM, carbs help the brain function better as well. Good Luck!! I hope something helps!!!

Oh sweetie!! I am so sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can do this, it WILL get better, you are struggling and this is so hard, you are probably being a hero at every moment because you have to handle your health issues and keep your life afloat. I know how hard that is. Are you taking Prilosec twice a day? I had horrible acid reflux and my doc had me take one in the AM and one in the PM. I still do for periods of time and I'm 15 months out. I want you to know it took me 12 weeks to get to the pureed stage. I just took longer to heal as I had a lot going on, i had my gallbladder removed, a massive hiatal hernia repair and the VGS. I wasn't back on my feet in full swing for MONTHS. And I'd read here where people are like "Wow, surgery yesterday, back to work today, feeling great!" and I was SOOO jealous. I also had a LOT of regret. I was a reluctant Sleever, I had a lot of major medical issues and was very close to dying so this was my choice - Sleeve or Die. That's what my doctor actually said to me. But my post surgery complications were difficult and my emotions were at their lowest. It is SOOO hard. Have you tried the Unjury Chicken Broth protein soup? I was like you and nothing stayed down well and I was in a lot of pain. The Unjury CHicken Broth soup saved me. Sure, I was loading up on Sodium but I didn't care at that point. Maybe it will work for you? Also, I was unable to drink anything but water till 14 months out. I also could only eat really soft chicken for the first 12 months. Even now I just mostly eat chicken or pork, I can't eat beef, I can't eat veggies, I can't eat sugars as I get a dumping syndrome. But I am SOOO happy now and I feel amazing. Here is a post I made a few months ago for a young girl who was scared to have the surgery. On it I list the things I used to keep me motivate. Maybe it will help you?? I am so sorry, I am sending you a Word Hug. You got this, even if you think you can't. This is my previous post: