EagerPenguin

Well, not necessarily. In my experience, both personally and professionally, a liquid diet can lead to constipation. We can easily assume the OP has been on an at least mostly liquid diet since she's so early post op. She's clearly constipated, so in her case, a liquid diet has at least contributed to constipation.

Nope, not the only one. I don't know how I'd get all my fluids in with all that eating.

That is great! It shows dedication to a healthier lifestyle. It'll be good to have a tool (the sleeve) to help keep that off. Your appetite may or may not decrease after sleeve surgery. Mine is still there, but I've read of other who aren't hungry at all for up to a year. I've read that you can expect to lose about 60% of your excess weight with the sleeve, but some have lost more and actually achieved a normal BMI. I've been having some trouble with the diet; I didn't expect it to be this difficult to tolerate. I'm so sick of liquids, of protein shakes, and now of pureed textures. I want something crunchy, a cucumber with greek yogurt ranch dip perhaps. I'll get to regular foods eventually, but the wait is a lot longer in my mind than I was expecting. My weight loss has also been slow so far. I was sleeved on 12/7/17 and have lost about 12 pounds since then, which seems low. I suspect it's due to my medications, because there's no way it's due to excessive caloric intake. And it turns out that the timing is harder than I anticipated. Having the surgery before the holidays has been really hard. I was having a little bit of regret at first, when I was more bummed out about these issues, but I don't regret the surgery at all. I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I totally feel a difference from the band. I had a more difficult recovery with the sleeve than the band (a week of mild nausea, stomach cramps), and as I wrote about above, the inital diet is typically long and in my opinion sucks, but it'll be worth it. So far, instead of my food getting stuck at the top of my stomach, it slowly makes its way to the bottom until I feel satisfied. You still have to eat slowly, and take small bites and chew chew chew, but I've not had any regurgitation, "stuck" foods, or "slime-ing", even now that I've started puree. Also, NOT HAVING A PORT. That's glorious. I hated the thing. It flipped on me shortly after placement, so I had to have another surgery to fix it, the fills were painful, and it was plain uncomfortable under my skin. The sleeve is like night and day from the band. It's becoming very common to revise from the band to sleeve. Best wishes as you make your decision.

Gallbladder pain can be in your mid back. That's one place I had pain before I had mine removed. That's also a location for stomach pain, though, so it could go either way. Are you having pain anywhere else? Good luck on your scan tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if it's your gallbladder, a lot of us have to have it removed. Hope you get some answers and some relief!

Couldn't read my message eh? Bull. Here's the message again for you: keep your judgement to yourself.

More like you know "bollocks" about this subject.

Good thing this is just your opinion. And you even marked it as such. Wouldn't want someone to steal it, lol.

A "true comment" (in this case a bit extreme) can still carry a lot of judgement! The bigger problem is creating an atmosphere in which sleevers are afraid to admit to their transgressions and seek support.

Does anyone know of specific meds that can slow down weight loss after a sleeve? I'm wondering mostly about psych meds.

"Not to judge", eh? Sounds a little judgy to me. As if you've never eaten something off plan.

I just wish I knew which ones so I could approach my psych about them.

I'm regretting it a little, but I think it's just because of the diet right now. I just got to my puree stage, and I haven't eaten real solid food since the day before Thanksgiving. That has been a real downer, especially when I see other people eat or am around real food. I think most people find WLS a very positive thing long term.

Um yes. I've been naughty too. I had sweet potato soufflé three weeks out, the very day I started my puree diet. It was pretty much sugar, with some sweet potato. My sister brought it to the Christmas dinner I hosted last week, and I realized it was technically a puree, though definitely not on my diet. It was delicious and filling, but I felt guilty afterwards. I then got back on track. That's the important part, not turning one instance of weakness into a bad day, week or longer.

Swimming I think would be your best bet, though I know you said it's expensive and there's the issue of swim suit size. Can you explore other options? Or cut something else out of your budget so you can afford the pool? Also, often times a swimsuit isn't even require. You could swim in your clothing, or order a swim suit online. Otherwise, can you move your arms ok? I would start there. At first just use your body weight, sitting in a chair like TX_KB said above. Once you've gained some strength in your arms, hold soup cans in each hand for some extra weight. Also, try stretching a resistance band between your arms, like this one: https://www.target.com/p/exercise-flat-resistance-band-3pk-light-medium-and-heavy-c9-champion-174/-/A-51944022#lnk=sametab For your legs, try lifting your feet one at a time, or even just tapping your feet instead of lifting. I hope you can find something that works for you. Good luck on your journey!

I've chosen to tell all just about my entire network, including coworkers. I'm an RN, and work at a hospital and am easily the biggest person in my unit. I've gotten all positive feedback so far, and it has opened up the dialogue for acquaintances to mention they've noticed my weight loss, which helps keep me going, just knowing others are noticing. When I told my friends and family, a couple were concerned about long term effects of the diet, but were also incredibly supportive. I didn't tell my sister or my extended family on my mom's side because we don't get along the best, but that's the only reason.

Way to go! This took a lot of hard work and dedication!

I also had misgivings prior to the surgery, totally normal and absolutely uncomfortable. I was anxious in preop, and I'm not normally anxious before surgery. I actually continue to question whether I did the right thing. I think it's my depression, made worse by hunger, seeing other people eat regular food, and sluggish weight loss. I just want out of my liquid/puree stage, and I'm hoping my weight loss will pick up here once I start getting more calories and activate my metabolism. So, be watchful for continuing doubts. I'm working through it with my therapist though, and am confident that the feelings of semi-regret will go away, as did the feeling that I shouldn't do it went away.

Looking for some support here. I was sleeved 12/7/17, three weeks out today. These past few days I have been having the most difficult time emotionally and physically. I went back to work on the 24th, and was so fatigued; it was so busy at my job. The next night was even worse. And I'm so sick of this liquid diet. I knew what to expect going in to this but it's a lot harder to tolerate than I anticipated. I'm having my family over to dinner tomorrow, which means I've been cleaning house and planning a menu (which I can't touch!!) like mad. I'm missing food, and watching those around me eat is really bring me down! I feel like if I could just have some regular food (all I want right now is a couple slices of deli turkey and cucumber) I would feel so much better, but I can't. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yeah I can barely manage my job as an RN at this point, 3 weeks out.... Working out at the gym, besides walking, just isn't happening, even on purée. I need food for fuel.

Could it be bloating pain from the broccoli? That gives me terrible gas pains. Hope you started feeling better fast!

Those are pretty classic symptoms of a deep vein thrombosis (blood clot). Call your surgeon or go in to the ER.

Thank you all, I feel very encouraged!

I've had two 12-hour shifts so far.

I'm not on regular food yet, but if I try to sip too soon after eating something soft like yogurt, I'll get nauseous. There're also the issues of sending food through your stomach more quickly and potentially stretching out your stomach if you eat and drink at the same time.

You are, of course, going to want to check with your surgeon, BUT I'll tell you my experience. Sleeved on 12/7. At first, I had two options, either crush the pills/open the capsules and mix with a liquid (my group's pharmacy team actually suggested water!! yuck!), or break the pills up into pieces less than 6mm in diameter and take them one at a time, 15 minutes apart. I chose the latter. I take a lot of pills so it was kind of a lengthy process. That was just for the first week. After that, it was really up to my tolerance. I split my pills for probably the first ten days, and actually ended up swallowing capsules whole because there's no way I'm letting my tongue touch that powder, then started taking everything whole. I still take the big ones individually (my biggest is a little bigger than a dime), but the small ones (tip of my pinky finger or smaller) I'll take multiple at a time. Everything goes down fine for me but your level of swelling, etc., or your surgeon's directions may differ. Hope you find something or some way that works for you!