jillybeanRN

Amazing!! I am in the same boat as you -- I want to hike, explore, never have to worry that my size will prevent me from doing anything. Great job!! Love the pics, Ireland is on my bucket list too, so glad you shared your experience!

Now that I'm feeling more like my normal self -- I can look a little deeper at the positive changes (sleeve on 4/18): -Clothes I haven't been able to wear in a LONG time now fit (not sure why I kept them... but glad I did) -People are starting to notice and complimenting me. -My face is getting thinner, and it makes my eyes look bigger -I actually WANT to exercise, but have to tell myself to chill out a bit as the calorie intake is so low. For now yoga almost daily and about a mile and a half of walking per day. -That feeling of being satisfied without being completely full to the point of feeling ill -- previously that was the only way I could really be satisfied after eating. Can't wait to see what another month brings!

I drink ACV with ginger, stevia and water, literally only a couple teaspoons of ACV in a large glass. It didn't bother me at all. Before WLS I would drink this concoction regularly and found my acid reflux actually improved. Counterintuitive, I know!

I think it's head hunger, I've been struggling as well and also 3 weeks out. I recognize it as head hunger and find myself thankful that I had the surgery because I know I can't give in to those cravings. Also, if you are pureeing any carb type stuff, go easy on that, it can make the cravings worse. Good luck!! Try to distract yourself, for me the head hunger chills out if I keep myself busy.

I was just sleeved 3 weeks ago. But one eating plan I love is called Trim Healthy Mama -- focuses on whole foods, protein and good fats, good carbs (and avoiding the bad ones!). There is a book and a cook book. I regularly make stuff out of the cookbook. I would also add in some strength training -- having muscle revs up your metabolism!

I use a small plate for dinners, and use the containers from Beach Body 21 day fix for bringing stuff to work.

Thought I'd give everyone a little peek into my life over the last few weeks... it's long, but I hope it helps anyone considering this surgery to look at all sides of it. Sorry I'm a rambler... I went to the initial seminar right after Christmas of 2016. Was a bit wishy washy on whether or not I wanted to move forward with surgery, but did agree to set up my initial appointments: group nutrition, individual nutrition and history / physical with the nurse practitioner. Everything went well pre-op, though I wasn't terribly impressed with the nutritionist at my practice. Not that she wasn't a good resource, just her personality got under my skin a bit. History: I've been overweight my entire life -- my highest weight was about 275 lbs about 7 years ago, and I've gone up and down a lot throughout my life. I realized that I have an inappropriate relationship with food, and needed a drastic intervention to stop spinning out of control. Luckily I had not developed any comorbidities and aside from my weight I was relatively healthy. So I wanted to keep it that way. So, decided to go forward with the sleeve. Everything moved along nicely, my entire process was less than 4 months. Pre-op liquid diet was only for the day prior to surgery. Surgery day: Everything went as planned, spent a little time in PACU then went to my room. I was so wiped out and the pain was insane, but I was very well-medicated! I was less than impressed with a good majority of my nurses, some of them just weren't nice. As a nurse I hold other nurses to a high standard :-) But they kept me hopped up on morphine so that's a winner! I had a lot of trouble urinating initially. Got up to walk and go to the bathroom, and I was shocked that I couldn't go! I'd had tons of IV fluids. Finally about 10 hours after my surgery I was able to go. That first day, I was not allowed to drink anything ... I can't even describe how dry my mouth was, I had never experienced anything like that before. Anesthesiologist put a scopalamine patch on me to help stave off nausea which made the dryness worse. I was given pain and nausea meds IV around the clock the first day and a half, which was helpful. I never felt nauseous thankfully. With the surgical pain I couldn't have imagined the added insult of vomiting. Got up and walked the halls a lot, which felt good. Went home 2 days after surgery with oodles of pills and the fear of failing! I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing but realizing the emotional challenge I was about to undergo. The day I was discharged home, I had family come from our of town for my daughter's birthday. I was exhausted, in pain and having to watch everyone eat all of the party snacks and birthday cake! It was way harder than I thought. While I wasn't truly hungry, I had a lot of head hunger, and like many others, I never realized the food advertisements are EVERYWHERE! When my out of town family left for home, I found myself with a bit of an empty feeling. I had them as a distraction for the weekend, and while I still had the hubby and kids to distract me, I felt that was the first instance since surgery that I really needed to face what I had chosen to do. 5 days post op I developed a rash starting on my abdomen and eventually spreading everywhere but my face. Raised, welty, hot to the touch, I had never seen anything like it (which is saying a lot considering the work I do!). I called my surgeon who said to stop taking all meds for 12 hours and take benadryl. The rash worsened over the next 2 days. I went to see my allergist who took one took at me and said "WTF". So it was initially attributed to the omeprazole prescribed post op so they discontinued that. I had also stopped taking the Norco they prescribed post op as my pain was relatively manageable. And the rash started to get better. 9 days post op I was feeling pretty good. Then I coughed, felt something "pop" in my belly. The pain was worse than anything I had experienced thus far, the surgeon's office wasn't calling me back, so I went to emergency. They did a CT abdomen / pelvis to make sure everything was intact (it was) and sent me home with the direction to start taking my pain medications again. So I did, and a few days later the rash came back, much less severe, but back. So now I imagine that's what I was allergic to. As I write this I'm still trying to avoid setting myself on fire from the itching. In the meantime, I have been working, walking just about every day, started doing yoga and trying to deal with the emotions of the whole thing. The regret, hormone dump and head hunger are very, very real. But I feel empowered when I stick with it. Thus far I'm down 18 pounds since I went home from the hospital. Clothes are looser and I don't tire quite as easily when doing physical things. Tidbits and conclusion: The surgery itself: Yea, it's laparoscopic. That just means they're small incisions... they really wrangle your insides. Give yourself time to heal. Don't be afraid to take the pain meds (as long as you can tolerate them and don't have to be anywhere). Work: Take as much time as you can afford. I think for me 3-4 weeks would have been ideal, and I have a desk job. I can say a lot for the distraction that working provides: forces me out of the house and lets me forget about obsessing over food for 8 hours each day. Libido: Absolute. Freaking. Zero. Exhaustion: I have never felt so tired and useless. Netflix is my new BFF and I have watched about 400 episodes of Forensic Files... That adds to the emotion, as I feel guilty that I'm not doing more around the house, not doing more to entertain the children. But between my youngest and the dog ... I've almost always had a cuddle companion in bed! Breath: Dragon breath. For real. Doctor says it's normal, but I'm buying stock in Crest because I'm brushing about 12 times a day. I imagine I won't have long term regrets, I am already experiencing positive changes and know those will continue as long as I continue to do my part. Thankful to have this board to come to and look at others' experiences.

Yesssss! Mix it with boiled egg for an avocado egg salad, love it!

Yes, I think most go through this, at least momentarily. The feeling does pass when you start to see results (at least it did for me). The worst for me was at about 1 week post-op (tears and everything!). Now I'm 3 weeks out and though not totally thrilled, I know that I'll feel better about it soon. I think you will too!

Dumped BP on standing, paired with an increased heart rate is orthostatic hypotension. If you take BP meds might be time to review dosing or if you need them. Also can happen in dehydration. Sometimes happens to me when I first get up in the morning. Make position changes slowly. Good luck!

Awesome!

And that's why they didn't put you on antibiotics! I'm glad your follow up labs were good. Lots of stuff can cause a bump in a white count (even stress). Indiscriminate antibiotic use has contributed to a rise in antibiotic resistant superbugs, so gone are the days are just tossing out antibiotics for anything and everything, especially if the patient is asymptomatic.

Keep reading and learning more about what to expect post op. Get prepared with all your protein supplements, multivitamins, etc. that you'll need for after surgery. I was in the same boat as my BMI was also on the low side, so I splurged pretty hard right before my surgery.

Stay away from the scale! I know easier said than done. I had the same experience. Surgery takes a lot of your body, hormones of inflammation make you retain water, in addition to the IV fluids you likely got while hospitalized. If you're doing everything you should be the weight will begin coming off before you know it!

Because it's liquid you won't feel much restriction. I really didn't either. And I had the head hunger to boot. Mentally, one week post op was when I felt the worst emotionally and you sound just like I did a couple short weeks ago. Make sure you're getting your protein with your soups and drink as much water as you comfortably can. I was shocked when I moved on to purees a couple weeks ago and I actually got that "full" feeling. Give your body time, you've just been through a LOT!

Just benadryl. Lots and lots of benadryl! Zyrtec during the day. It's itchy like crazy!

Thanks for sharing! We are human, just keep it in perspective. We will all have some days like that, and probably won't know why. Just like an alcoholic or drug addict, we will ALWAYS be addicts. I am realizing it more and more. This surgery is a great tool -- but we still make the choices on what to put in. You should be proud of how far you've come!!

I also had H Pylori -- the antibiotics are brutal!!!!

I am a nurse but currently in an office job. I tried to return after a week, made it through a half day, then took 4 more days off. I think 3 weeks would have been ideal -- as I am now feeling like I can function! Unfortunately, I am the only person that does my job at my organization, so that factored into my decision to return early.

I wish I had known the recovery would be harder than I thought. I had the misconception that a laparoscopic surgery would be easy and I'd be back to my normal self within a few days. Had my gall bladder out 12 years ago and I recovered quickly so didn't think this would be much different. Little did I know!! 3 weeks post op and I'm still not my self, still experiencing pain, and still exhausted like whoa!

A couple things -- could be related to hormones (which I'm sure you know can go nuts with rapid weight loss after surgery). I developed a rash 5 days post op that is still around (I was sleeved 4/18), and I am not taking anything I hadn't taken previously. I think this surgery messes with our body more than we initially think! So it could be a combination of things. One person I spoke with even suggested it could be the metals in the multivitamins that we can develop a sensitivity to.

I hated every Greek yogurt I tried until I had the Oikos triple zero. While it isn't my favorite thing ever, I actually like the taste. Sometimes I'll add a spoon of pb fit to the banana yogurt. While I'd obviously rather have pizza, for the amount of health benefits and protein from eating the yogurt, I can deal!

I couldn't have said it better!! Congratulations on your success!

One thing that's nice about the ninja is you can sneak veggies in. So I'll do chocolate vega protein and greens powder (20g protein), almond milk, pb fit, and some frozen chopped spinach. I don't taste the spinach and it's a great source of potassium and other nutrients. Occasionally I'll also toss a banana in there but that's the only fruit I'll have for the day. If you can focus on berries rather than other fruits, the glycemic index is a little less.

Forever!! But seriously, everyone is different. I'm 2 weeks post op and my incision where all the action happened is still not all the way closed, and finding a good sleep position is still challenging. The incisions themselves don't hurt, but all the pain from the internal manipulation. Getting back to work, though I'm exhausted, has helped take my mind off the hurt though! Mentally, I feel like this is always going to be a challenge, at least for me.