sideeye

I'm using a smart scale - I step on it, pay no attention to the number it records and then look at all the stored data at the end of the week on the app on my phone. Hoping to keep this trend up as it stops me from fixating on numbers and lets me focus on how I feel and look instead of what the scale says.

I hear what you're saying but high-end designer retail aren't looking for the dollars above size ten or twelve. At all. It would depreciate their brand. There's cachet in being able to wear clothes that everyone subconsciously knows only cater to a specific range of people, and those people are rewarded and envied socially (as we are all painfully aware). Not a pretty view of the world, but a realist and capitalist one. Being able to wear their clothes into meetings clears the "but can you really understand us?" barrier right out of the gate.

This one is huge for me. I have high-end retail clients and it absolutely kills me to have to walk into a meeting knowing I lose points right off the bat by wearing mid-brand, quasi-tailored stuff. They can tell at a glance, and nothing says "I don't understand your business" more than showing up on their turf wearing inferior brands. I am dying to reach maintenance and then assemble two or three killer designer outfits that I can have on-hand for that sort of meeting. It just wasn't possible at pre-surgery weight. I'm also looking forward to being able to select food based more on my body's signals rather than head hunger. Before a lot of my meal choices were either opportunistic ("I better eat this now because I won't be able to later") or comparative ("As long as I eat less than Bob I'm fine"). But with the deck cleared so thoroughly I'm really starting to figure out what my system is asking for rather than what tastes good. I would love to get to a point where I'm more regularly choosing foods based on how I want to feel physically for the next two hours instead of picking what will taste good in the next 10 minutes.

I took three days, then part-time remote for the next week and a half. Realistically I’m going to have to up that based on the project I’m running (looming deadline, pushy client), and I’m also stuck working this weekend... In retrospect I probably should have taken a full week off and then part-timed next week. So far I’m without complications and healed fast, so if you’re looking for a benchmark I’d suggest at least one week and very likely two.

Today I am REALLY feeling the calorie drop - woke up a little lightheaded and am still a bit woozy after my first protein shake. Not so bad that I couldn’t walk the dog for 30 mins, but certainly a different feeling than I’ve had before. I’m going to have some blended thinned soup soon to try and boost sodium. Incisions are still pulling and causing that sharp pain feeling when I do certain things, but bearable. Still not hungry, which is interesting - this surgery is really making me analyze what I think my body needs to operate well, rather than thinking of what will taste good.

The chocolate Orgain was the only shake I liked (I did extensive pre-op taste testing), and I didn't like the vanilla Orgain - pretty specific, but it tastes like the chocolate flavor has a lot less artificial sweetener in it. I've been drinking three of them per day, if I had to drink any other brand I'd probably have trouble with it. Try your doc again about the nausea meds - if nausea is making it impossible for you to drink liquids, then obviously nausea is CAUSING the dehydration. His mind might have changed in the intervening day.

I'm definitely not lying down flat often; I bought a couple of firm pillows that I put on either side of me and a body pillow running along the headboard, so I've kind of made my bed into a recliner. To get in and out of bed I roll onto my hip a little and then sort of use my leg as a counterbalance to get upright, and I swing my leg up onto the bed when getting in too. I'm doing all of that because I definitely feel sharp pains in my abdomen if I try to sit up normally. This morning when I woke up I wasn't thinking and went to sit up and ZAP - very sharp pain. But I took Tylenol and went back to maneuvering carefully and it stopped. My surgeon encourages stretching to try and loosen up any tightness around the incisions. He also prescribed some nausea tablets, have you asked yours? As for the weakness, I'm definitely feeling light-headed, but not muscle weakness. Are you able to get all your protein and liquid in?

I only had Tylenol all the way through; most of the pain was gas pain that stronger stuff wouldn’t touch anyway.

I’m another March 5 - doing pretty well, seem to be on track healing and am able to get in all protein and fluids. I have noticed my feet are FREEZING at night, I’ve never experienced that before, in fact I usually have to kick the covers off. What issues are you experiencing?

Try a warm herbal tea, it's almost the same temp as your throat/stomach so it's easier to figure out what's surgery pain and what's temperature irritation. I've also been taking a small sip of a liquid, but not swallowing it all at once - I kind of chew/swish it a bit in my mouth and then only swallow a little bit at a time (one sip = 3 swallows). Spaces the sip out by around 45 seconds. Started doing that on Day 3 when I started protein shakes and it definitely cleared the path enough that now I can take pretty large sips and swallow in one go. And if you're not taking liquid Tylenol, try that to take the edge off.

Remind him that doing this surgery right now is a way to prevent doing even more surgeries in future. I do not want to get knee replacements. I do not want a hip replacement. I do not want mysterious foot ligament issues that make it hard to walk any sort of distance. ALL of those things were awaiting me, and that's not even taking into account all of the metabolic and cardiac disorders. My take on it is this is a preventative measure, and a good one with a very good chance of success. And having seen my father nurse my mom through two arthritis-related knee replacements? This surgery is FAR less complex and your recovery time significantly more compressed. If his objections are more along the lines of "but then who's going to cook my favorite gumbo" and "I don't want to feel uncomfortable if you're not eating during football games", then that's a different situation entirely. Similarly if he likes being the slimmer of the two of you, that could be an unspoken hurdle. But from the health angle, there's no question.

Mine was on the 5th too and yesterday was my grim day - didn't quite have regret, but certainly did get completely fed up with the combination of gas, nausea and abdominal pain. But today I've been able to drink a lot of protein and water with Crystal Lite in it, as well as some fruit teas and feel almost back to normal. I was able to put in a half day of work (remotely) before tapping out and climbing back into bed for a nap. I'm using an app called WaterMinder to track hydration and put all of my liquids into either marked mason jars or S'well bottles with specific volumes. I'm not on any pain meds other than Tylenol, I've got some pills for heartburn and anti-nausea. I'm weighing myself on a smart scale and deliberately not looking at the number, I'll just look at the pattern in a few weeks when I'm less weird about the whole thing. Right now I'm just going to focus on vitamins, minerals, protein and fluids. I'm looking forward to the weekend, the combination of walking and resting and just generally healing up feels like it will be accelerated. Luckily I'm not hungry or craving anything, the flavored fluids seem to be checking that box.

I'm really looking forward to donating clothes. Whenever I lost weight I'd be too paranoid to throw out the bigger sizes, even though when I did regain the clothes weren't fashionable anymore. So now I want to try things on, realize they're too big, and place them directly in the donation bin rather than saving them just in case. That also means I won't have to deal with the morning ritual of trying on everything in my closet to try and find the one combo that's event-appropriate and also fits, leaving a pile of clothing in my wake.

I can work remotely so I started half days on post-op Day 3. Will go in for important meetings next week, but otherwise likely to only go up to 2/3 usual hours. Then week 3 I'll be back full-time. I probably should have taken the entire first week off though, just to sleep as much as I wanted.

Since this is "elective" surgery, a lot of family members freak out about it. But guess what else is "elective"? Knee replacements, hip replacements, all of the invasive procedures done to keep your joints working. I told my family I'm doing one "elective" surgery now with the goal of never having to do another surgery. And yeah, your family is probably glomming on to the band because it's the only one that's reversible, but when I was in pre-op I saw a board of surgeries for the day and there were three band removals listed. I'm sure your family haven't looked into it deeply enough to realize that. At the end of the day, it's your decision. Their opinion is important, but take it as an expression of how much they care for you. It's a huge mistake to allow someone else's fears to undermine your own diligent research. Explain to them why you're doing it, why the sleeve is best, and just stand your ground.

This sucks a whole bunch. But this is only post-op day 2 for me, so I expect it'll get better. I'm sleeping a lot, I can walk the dog without problems (as long as I'm creative about getting the leash on her), and I think a lot of my gas came out this morning, though I'm beginning to get the left shoulder soreness. The doc warned that the largest incision would hurt the most because of the deep-muscle stitch he had to do, and he is correct; I'm doing some interesting maneuvers to get in and out of bed without clenching abdominal muscles on that side. I'm surprised at how generally nauseous I am. I'm on Tylenol, no other meds, just vitamins. I may call the doc's office today about getting something for the nausea.

Just got discharged - sore, but not impossible and don't need anything but Tylenol. Very VERY sleepy; load a hydration app on your phone before you go in, if you can, I had a hard time keeping track when writing or typing. I'm using WaterMinder and pre-set a 1oz measure so I could just turn on the app and tap each time I drank. My stomach aches, but it's not sharp pains. Incisions are a bit sharper. For whatever reason I progressed really fast and was fit for discharge about 18 hours after surgery. I'm now home sipping a protein shake and getting ready to nap again. Remember that anything you bring into the hospital, you'll have to sign an "I won't sue if this gets stolen" waiver.

Be honest with your surgeon. Of all the people in your life to tell white lies, a surgeon isn't one of them.

March 5 for me. Very glad a friend suggested doing a taste-test of protein shakes beforehand, some of them are disgusting.