Losebig

Haha, but a good and true comment. They should put that on the brochure. As my dr said weight loss seems to improve everything

Great job! Very challenging and it sounds like you nailed it. I had 2 big parties during mine and it was super hard.

I'd talk through it with the surgeon. I used to have acid relfux a lot (though wasn't medicated for it). They said that by fixing the hiatal hernia during surgery I'd be less likely to have it even though a sleeve can make it worse. Turns out they were 100% right, no reflux at all now. Worst case if you have it and the hernia fix won't solve it then you can still do a bypass, which solves reflux totally, which is nice.

That's really good weight loss! If I hit 3 lbs a week I'm super happy. You're doing great!

Looks good. I think getting the surgeons recommendation is a good idea. I did it and it helped a lot with my comfort. Getting your centers stats is great, the one I went to hasn't had a leak in over 2 years (close to 1k surgeries), which was comforting. I asked to go with the surgeon who was more senior and asked his staff what they felt his "best day" was when scheduling.

At a WW meeting at one point someone said something about "wasting food". It was along the lines that if you eat extra food that you don't need it is also wasted, but way worse than just throwing it away because you carry it around with you afterwards as fat. I really hate to 'waste food', but when at a restaurant if I can't get a smaller portion I just remember that throwing it away is less of a waste than eating it and I'll be WAY happier not having tried to eat it and being in pain.

I find the phrase "it was good I'm just getting over something" works well. I usually try to order things that are in small quantity or share with my wife. In cases where there are things like potatoes etc I ask for them to be left out. That way I don't waste them and am not tempted to try them. Some places give a discount when I do that. If I need to meet someone for a meal I always push for breakfast as it's easy to order ala cart.

Pre-op diet was 2 weeks and basically a minimal no carb menu plan of about 600 calories a day. I really struggled on week 2. I was 304 when I started it and 296 on the day of surgery.

Not sure why, but I watched curling for a couple hours the other day. Its weirdly relaxing.

Back on track. I think part of the issue was hydration, so I upped my liquids to 80 - 90 oz the last couple of days and that has helped. I also had some fruit, which made a major difference for some reason and I felt satisfied for the first time in days. I also tried to exercise or be busy during the harder parts of the days, which worked well.

Just wanted to post about a few challenging days. I was away the last couple of weeks to someplace warm. I did pretty good while I was away and probably under ate, though I did have a few days where I had ice cream (tiny amount), but generally hit protein goals. It was HOT where I was, so I had a ton of extra liquids. I was exercising a lot, usually a few miles of walking, 3 - 5 miles of kayaking, swimming and just generally not standing still for any moment from 6am - 10pm. I didn't weigh in officially, but had noticeable weight loss (clothes stopped fitting during the trip). Anyway now to the venting part. I was so busy during the trip that it was pretty easy to stay on track. Coming back I was off track a due to the travel/ flight. The last couple days I'm back in the cold and doing less activity (wife is sick so I have the kids 24/7). I am STARVING. I've also eaten some carbs that I shouldn't and some nuts. Nothing crazy, but my calories are up 300 - 500 the last few days. I'm still hitting protein and fluid goals. I just can't figure out why I'm so hungry all of a sudden. Today I decided would be back on track so I removed foods I was struggling with (nuts and cheese-its) from the house and am focused on doing better. Hopefully I can get some exercise in today as well... Do you have similar stories? Ideas for getting back on track or curbing spikes in hunger?

Yes - it wasn’t a good time. Stay on top of your pain meds, if you need more or they aren’t working call your DR. It’ll get better within a few days and much better in a couple weeks.

Hunger decreasing isn’t a myth. The surgery reduces the level of ghrelin, which is the hunger hormone made by the stomach reducing hunger. This is one of the major reasons surgery helps along with the volume constraints and the feeling of being ‘full’ with very little food. With that said early hunger seems to be pretty common (I had it too), but for many people it fades and a few weeks out you have little to no hunger. When it does return it’s not the same as it was pre surgery for most people. In my case I had a lot of hunger early, then no hunger at all and now it’s there - but not that intense and I can easily distract myself. I’m not sure what it’ll be like when I’m further out, but many people report it returns to a more normal level after several months, but may be less intense. Once you are on purees and solid food you will also get a ‘full’ feeling quickly and that will help satisfy hunger. Hang in there, you’ll be in good shape.

Thanks. That is hepful. I was also doing 4x motrin 2 - 3 times daily right up until 2 weeks before surgery. Haven’t had one since and it’s been ok.

A couple basic ones you already probably know. Use a cocktail fork or spoon or baby silverware to help you take small bites. Chew 25 times (I actually count a lot of the time). Put your silverware down in between bites. For me the chewing is the most important, if I do that then I can eat relatively quickly.

I was in 2 nights, home for a bit over 12 hours and back for another 4 nights due to a complication. The looks I got coming back onto the floor were priceless

No abnormal feelings. In fact I've had a few times where I forget and gulp a drink or eat too fast and am reminded quickly!

X2 on the climbing my kids were 20 months and 3 yrs when I was at that stage. I did pick them up a few times after about 3 weeks and was ok. Spent a lot of time with them climbing on me

Awesome, looking great! Congrats on great progress so quick!

Yes for sure. I think it was at its worst maybe 2-3 weeks out and totally gone by 4 weeks. Just be careful with lifting and it should heal fine

That’s crazy that they didn’t do more for pain. I was on up to 3mg of dilaudid when it was bad (i’m Also naturally resistant to opioids it turned out so they doubled the dose twice). Hopefully things are on the upswing!

I was going to post and see when it starts. When did it start for you guys? My understanding is that its up to 30% or so that can fall out, but not all of it and it has to do with activity cycles of folicles (only a portion are active at any given time and the portion active during the early days lose their hair). It is suppossed to grow back too, though some people have said they don’t think it does.

Hate to tell you, but if you are passing out you at least need to call them and tell them. Likely you need to be at the ER. If its a blood pressure thing or certain nutrition deficits you could be risking your life... don’t mess around. I’ve come close to fainting a few times myself and my surgeon said if I did I needed to call immediately.

I have psoriatic arthritis as well and its great to hear the WLS helped! My rheumatologist thought it might, but didn’t have anything specific. I was treating it with NSAIDS - I tried a biologic, but it didn’t help. One fear was not being able to use NSAIDS. Do you use them now at all? My pain level went down a LOT even just 2 months out (mostly back pain). I haven’t had a flare up yet, so hopefully those will go away too.

There is a difference for sure! Great work