mylighthouse

Congratulations on the weight loss... I remember when I was 334 and the day I dropped below 300 felt so wonderful! Awesome job on that! And congratulations too on reaching your surgery date. I wish you the best and I hope that you have a very speedy recovery.

Congratulations on your surgery day! I wish you the very best and a speedy recovery.

I like Unjury and Isopure unflavored protein powders. Unjury is more expensive, and I needed to watch my budget, so the last 3 months I have been using Isopure. I love it because it tastes great (to me) mixed in my non-sweet iced decaf tea. You can also mix it into other drinks such as Crystal Light and Powerade Zero. Plus, if you need to get a little extra protein in some of the foods that you eat, it mixes into those as well.

Hello, It happens to me all the time... just like you said. I have seen my doctor about the problem twice, because it has been going on almost daily for over 2 or 3 months. I definitely am getting in more than enough fluids, so it's not that for me, but it could be for you....so make sure your fluid intake is good. I am hypothyroid and the last time I saw my doctor for the dizziness and lightheadedness, he did my bloodwork. Everything looked good except that my TSH level (which is related to thyroid) was high. He increased my dosage of thyroid med about two weeks ago and said that it might take a few weeks to help with the dizziness. At least we think it's related to my thyroid. I googled it and dizzy spells are fairly common when your thyroid is off. Otherwise, I agree with Deactivated and Marina, it could be your blood pressure (that was ruled out for me), blood sugar levels, or not enough fluid intake. Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you everyone

Hello friends, I just wanted to share something that I am really happy about. I was approved for WLS last August. At that time, I weighed 334 (highest weight). I had 2 incisional hernias from previous open abdominal surgeries. I have been in constant pain ever since. My surgeon, who is super, told me that I needed to lose 80 pounds before he would perform the hernia surgery on me. Yesterday I went in for my 6 month sleeve check (my sleeve was 11-14) and also to discuss hernia surgery. I have lost 100 pounds! I can now safely have my hernia surgery.... he said that I am no longer considered "high risk". The news as to what the open hernia surgery will involve was shocking. I will have to have about a 12 inch cut down the middle. Complex surgery... painful recovery. I felt really down about it yesterday, and I felt very scared at the idea of needing this open hernia surgery.... I was afraid of the pain, as last time they cut me open I spent 2 months in the hospital. Today I woke up with a different perspective. I have lost 100 pounds. This time around, I will be able to move easier... I might heal quicker.... I will be able to do things more easily on my own that I could not do with my last abdominal surgeries. All this thanks to my sleeve surgery and weight loss. Losing this weight so I could have hernia repair was the #1 goal on my list. GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!! Called to schedule the surgery today, just waiting for a call back.

Wow! You have done an amazing job... way to go, you look super!

Four weeks post op is way to early. Your stomach is still healing. I have had a little white wine since my surgery, but that wasn't until I was 4 months post op. It's really best and safer on your new tummy if you can avoid it altogether. Also, check with your surgeon about the matter, he or she may tell you that alcohol is never allowed. Each doctor is different.

I agree, not a good idea to do bread until you are maintaining goal or close to it. I found this recipe for cloud bread and I've heard it's good, but I just haven't really had the desire to make it yet. Here's the recipe and nutrition info: Ingredients: 3 eggs, separated 3 Tablespoons cream cheese ¼ teaspoon baking powder (or cream of tartar) These ingredients are optional and highly recommended: 1 TBS Brown Sugar (or honey, or your favorite natural sweetener) I like to use Coconut Palm Sugar because it is low glycemic and adds a subtle sweetness to my baking and is perfect for coffee or tea) Also optional are salt, garlic powder, rosemary and other fave spices/herbs Directions Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius) Separate the eggs, there must be no yolk in the white. In one bowl, mix together the egg yolks, cream cheese and honey until smooth. In the second bowl add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder (or cream of tartar if you prefer, I just didn’t like the taste of cream of tartar) to the whites and beat the whites on high speed until they are fluffy, form a nice peaks and hold their peaks. Please read carefully, because I received a handful of comments that the “breads” didn’t come out right from the first try. As you read through directions, you need to remember that the KEY to success to this recipe is you need to fluff up your egg whites to stiff peaks. It takes about 5 minutes using electric hand mixer. The one that I use is Hamilton Beach . If you look at different options try to get the one that looks like an iron. It has a storage compartment that serves as a storage for mixer’s tools and a stand. Slowly fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites and mix carefully, you don’t want to break the fluffiness of the egg whites too much. Do this as quickly as possible or the mixture may start melting – Spoon the mixture into 10-12 even rounds onto lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with rosemary or your favorite spices and put it in the oven. Bake for 17-20 minutes on the middle rack. Then broil (cook the top) for 1 minute and watch it until they become nice and golden brown. At this point make sure you watch them so they don’t burn Remove from the oven and let cool and enjoy! Calories 38.5 Total Fat 2.9 g Saturated Fat 1.3 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g Cholesterol 60.6 mg Sodium 83.1 mg Potassium 28.4 mg Total Carbohydrate 1.0 g Dietary Fiber 0.0 g Sugars 0.8 g Protein 2.2 g

Maxi dress and no bra. Stayed home, noone to see that I had no bra on, except my family and I was fine with that. Did light activities such as cleaning kitchen, preparing food for family and stayed in my day loungers with no bra the entire time.... it worked out great. Get as comfortable as you can after you are home from your surgery.

I may not be far enough along yet, but I started losing some hair (I have real long hair), and it is coming out very slowly. This has been going on for about 3 weeks, and I am about 5-1/2 months post op. Not losing much at all over the past 3 weeks, but I know for sure I am losing a little. Really happy about this so far. From what I've read here though, hair loss can continue for a few months, so hoping that it is just a little like it is now. I haven't tried Biotin, but have read that others think that it helps (it is supposed to strengthen hair), and you could try that if you want to. Maybe some other people can let you know if it helped. I always take my vitamins (multi with iron and calcium./D3). To my knowledge, that's about all you can do.

Are you referring to your pre-op 2 week diet? I was allowed a protein shake a day, which has 3 grams of fat in it. Then for lunch, 3 oz lean chicken or fish for lunch and dinner--which can range from 3 to 8 grams of fat. That would put me anywhere from around 9 to 15 grams of fat or so a day. If you are concerned to know, ask your surgeon what the limit of fat grams per day is. Every surgeon is different in what they require for the pre-op diet. Some say liquids only, some allow food. My diet was lean chicken or fish, small amount of veggies and no starch/sugar. So it was a low fat./low carb diet.

Are you allowed crabcakes? Are you on a 2 week pre-op liquid diet? If you are on a liquid diet, then yes, you are "wrong" to eat crabcakes, a baked potato and a small salad. Even if you are on a 2 week pre-op diet that is not a liquid diet, I don't think the crabcakes or the potato would be allowed. Those two things are very high in carbs. Also, crabcakes are usually fried and full of fat. That won't help shrink your liver at all. The idea of the pre op diet it not to lose weight, although that is nice, but it is to shrink your liver, so that it is not too large and they can easily do the surgery on your stomach. If your liver is too large when they go in to do surgery, they will literally stop what they are doing and cancel your surgery! You have to get in the mindset that you can reward yourself, but not with something that is detrimental to your health. Don't make the wrong choice, make the right choice. If you feel like you need a reward for sticking to your diet, ditch the crabcakes and baked potato and go with something that you are allowed to eat. Good luck!

No, not at all. I have sleep apnea and it was actually one of the things that qualified me for sleeve surgery.

You look great! Great advice too. Congratulations on your weight loss!

My favorite post op drink is unsweet, decaf iced tea. Love it and also mix unflavored Isopure protein powder in it and it tastes great... goes down easily and gives me the fluids I need plus my protein. I have had trouble with water too, I have to have it ICE cold, lots of ice.... if it's just cold or cool, forget it... I get a gag reflex going. It's so weird.

I use Isopure unflavored protein powder and it's no carb and sugar free. It's great because you can mix it into drinks such as Crystal Light, Powerade Zero and my favorite, decaf iced tea. You can also mix it into foods like cream soups, broth, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.

When you eat the yogurt and other things, are you eating slowly? If it's a small yogurt, it might be normal to be able to eat the whole thing. The thing to keep in mind is that you want to eat very slowly so that you know exactly when enough is enough. I personally could not have eaten a whole small yogurt at 10 days post op. As far as the drinking goes, I never had any problems at all with drinking since day 1. I was getting in my 64 ounces plus almost from day one. A lot of people have trouble with that, so it's great that you are doing so well with it. Congratulations on your surgery!

Congratulations! Keep up the awesome work!

Glad you were able to get in enough hours for them to determine that you had sleep apnea. Believe me, a few months after using a CPAP machine and you will feel so much better during the day. It really does make a huge difference. Plus, you will have the peace of mind knowing that you aren't going to possibly die in your sleep because you stop breathing. I love my CPAP machine, for me, it only took about a week to get used to. Been using it for a year now. Good luck!

From what some of the veterans have said on here, you should be getting around 1000-1200 calories a day. Are you getting that many? Especially with the exercise. Also 100 grams of protein, under 30 carbs a day and lots of liquids... at least that is what is helping me lose. Good luck to you.

@evesta I totally know what you mean.... you really can get a withdrawal illness. I have been there and it was hell. People that have real anxiety issues, depression, or bipolar seriously need their medication and have problems when they miss their meds. That's why I was so glad that I only had to miss my meds for one night after my sleeve surgery.

It may be that you aren't getting enough calories eating one meal a day. Also, you probably hit on something with the crackers... they have a lot of carbs and you need to keep your carbs low. Also, are you getting in enough protein? Try to get it up to 100 grams a day. And you need to be drinking over 64 ounces of liquids a day as well. Doing all of those things should get the scale moving. As far as the nausea goes, why don't you let your doctor know. I have dealt with constant nausea and I take Zofran (generic) for it and it does the trick. Then you won't have to eat the high-carb crackers.

Glad to hear you are doing better today and feeling good. Congratulations on your surgery and I wish you a speedy recovery!

Didn't have to do a liquid diet... just a 2 week low carb, low fat and small portions. I lost 12 pounds in that 2 weeks. But it really doesn't matter. The pre-op diet is to shrink your liver so that they can get to your stomach easier. If your liver is enlarged, they will abort the surgery.