Losebig

If they're too rushed to adequately answer questions for you I would question your choice of surgeon. MGH is a great hospital, but in MA we are blessed with dozens of good hospitals and some great bariatric practices. I went to Emerson Hospital and they're practice is super attentive, they take plenty of time to go over everything and answer questions (even the surgeon does). They're a center of excellence for bariatric surgery, so do things like track their own complication statistics and a bunch of other best practices. I don't have first hand knowledge, but Lowell General also has a well known center of excellence. For the consent form - at least mine listed things that were talked about (you mention many, though there was nothing about a liver biopsy). The stats they used in the consent were the national stats for complication (VS the practice ones, which were far better). Unfortunately this is major surgery and while complication rates are very low - the normal risks of any surgery apply (including everything up to death). The important thing is to understand what the rates are for your specific practice and what the surgeon thinks your personal risk is. In my case I was less risky than the average case and the risk of complications for the practice averages was so low that the drive to the hospital was more risky than the vast majority of the complications.

I was eating similarly initially and then the nutritionist said that I should only eat when I was hungry outside of 3 normal meals. She did say if I needed more meals to hit protein goals I could do that too. Since I switched to that the loss sped up again. I'm often so busy during the day that I've only had 3 normal meals by 7 or 8 pm and then to catch up for protein I'm eating dense protein from 8 - 10. If I do a better job spacing things out I will often treat myself with something as an evening snack (like nuts or cottage cheese), which feels great.

I’ve been tracking everything on a xls sheet so I can keep running average. I’ve been between 800 and 1200 calories on average since probably 6 weeks out. In the last 2 months I averaged 1100 calories daily, around 95 grams of protein and 75 ounces of fluid. I also exercised on average 5 days a week (anything from biking 10 miles to a 30 minute walk, but usually a few days of something very intense). My daily food ranges from 600-1300 calories. I’m low carb as well. My nutritionist wants me having slightly more calories because of my high level of exercise. Weight loss has been around 3-4 lbs a week and seems to be staying around that level.

I recently tried a drink after 3.5 months and it had WAY more impact than pre surgery. I don’t know if it was extra strong, having lost 70 lbs or the sleeve, but it had the effect of maybe 5 drinks pre sleeve.

It’s tough. Early mornings tend to work best. We often take walks with the kids (put them in the backpack) or go to a playground and chase them or i’ll Put my son in the kayak with me. Finding time is tough, but now that there is more daylight in the evening it helps.

My group had us come up with a weight and then made sure it was realistic. My nutritionist agreed that my “healthy” weight is obscured given my build (fairly muscular with a long torso). I selected 190 based on having been that weight and been very slim and feeling great. Below that my ribs start to stick out... honestly I’ll Be super happy around 200. Try and balance reasonable and healthy with what the charts show

Looks awesome!

My pre op was only 2 weeks so at home I use that weight (304), at the drs office they use the weight at surgery (296). The dr likes to think in % of excess lost since surgery as well. They all work for me as long as I’m losing and feeling good!

Definitely have done this, it’s easy to forget. The challenge is if you don’t catch yourself a few bites while making dinner and you are full and whatever the bites were become dinner

Glad you are doing better!

Rarely if I have ice cream I usually just have a very small bit of the regular stuff. For me that has two advantages: 1 it satisfies me 2 if I have more than a kiddie size I feel very nauseous so I never over indulge. halo is great, but has sugar alchol so could be an issue if you are sensitive to that.

Awesome way to go!

I did have someone ask if I was ok, so it definitely could be that people think you could be sick and so don't comment - especially if they know our were out of work for a few weeks

I had something similar where a referral had a diagnosis (sleep apnea) that turned out to be false. It showed up on an insurance background check and I had to get my pcp to add a letter to the file stating that it turned out I did not have that. The drs office new exactly what I needed when I explained it so it seems common. If they require it you may need to go that route. If the primary dr won't do it then the psych who did the eval might.

I never had indentations, but had another surgery that caused one. In that case it was due to tissue removed and it took nearly a year to improve. Depending on the cause I think may disappear as weight comes off too.

Definitely know what your talking about! There have always been break points that I would stall at or not get over when dieting in the past. Moving past those was a huge motivator and when I'm near one I really push to lose extra that week to blow past it. I also only weigh in once a week at a set time, that way I don't get discouraged or too excited

I kept it to myself except for immediate family. Some folks have commented on the rapid change, but no one is fishing. I did realize that most people pay little or no attention to what you're doing, eating etc so that part goes unnoticed at least with a group. I've told people about my strict diet, exercise and supervision by a nutritionist - which is all true. I do feel bad for other severely overweight people and wish I could encourage them to make the same change, but feel like that is not my place

I had the hernia repair as well and had a lot of what you’re describing. Really my only pain was from the hernia and at first it was pretty bad. I think I had a lot of swelling so had a major restriction, which made swallowing pills impossible and liquids challenging. I ended up back in the hospital for a few more days and after that it got much better. I’m 3 months out in a few days and it’s now totally fine.

I can’t remember the exact one, but there is a nexcare bandage that is designed for surgical incisions and stays on for a week and is totally waterproof. I used one after another surgery to go in the pool and it worked great. The only downside is it was like $20 per bandage.

I ended up just donating my clothes to goodwill / salvation army. It was a very good feeling to be rid of them. I have a policy where I keep clothes that are too small, but not ones that are too big. That's paying off now as I raid my closet and put on clothes that I haven't fit into for 10 years. My goal is to get to the smallest section of clothes, which will be things I haven't been able to wear for nearly 15 years... it feels good to put on some of that old stuff and remember the last time I wore it.

Glad to hear, welcome to the next chapter!

Yes, my 3 year old keeps asking how small I’ll get and if he’ll be bigger than me. Pretty funny... I have to watch it because he wants to eat like me, so he won’t finish his food because he’s like daddy.

I had a lunch meeting today and tried a new trick. You know how you can get a salad and for x dollars extra add protein like chicken or salmon? It turns out some restaurants will let you just have the protein without the salad for x dollars. Today I got 4 oz of chicken for a few dollars. The waiter was confused at first and questioned if I really only wanted 4 oz of chicken, but ultimately cooperative. My wife does it all the time and suggested it. I was actually able to eat my whole meal for once!

Make sure to check the batteries in your scale if it has them. Mine were low and it was adding weight and not being consistent. I also discovered if its not in the same place on the floor it changes the reading high or low. Very annoying when it flips in a range of 4 lbs and you have no idea if you lost or gained!

Funny how it always happens around a major weight too. It’s like the scale knows!