SATSleeve

So I am officially 5 weeks post-op today. This past weekend my wife and I moved into a larger place where our kids could all have their own bedrooms. I was somewhat frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t really help moving a lot of things and had to rely on the movers, family, and friends to do much more than I could. By the second day of moving I had reached my end. The 600 calories I’m taking in with the post-op soft foods diet just gave me no energy to do much of anything. That night I had a bit of a break down. Like most of us I’ve had varying success of losing the same 20, 40, or 80 pounds over and over again. With every successful diet attempt I’ve tried in the past I’ve allowed myself “cheat days” where I could enjoy bingeing on what I had deprived myself of all week. While this journey has been somewhat easier in the sense that the weight comes off more easily, and the hunger pains are relatively non-exitant...in some ways its so much harder, because there are no days off. I mentioned to my wife, that I feel at a bit of a loss. Before my surgery I would turn to food, or alcohol, or an occasional smoke to relieve the stress. But now, I don’t have any of those things available to me. I know it’s for the betterment of my health, and that my decision to have the surgery was in large part because I knew that I had to make drastic changes to the way I consume everything in my life. More than that...as strange as it seems, I loved food. It was a great friend to me that always made me feel better. And ever since the surgery, it’s weird to say, but I kind of hate eating. I hate how it makes me feel, I hate the process of chewing so much, but even worse...I hate that I hate it. Because now it’s like this friend that I had as a physical and emotional crutch is just, gone. To end this on a positive note, I only weigh myself once a week on Monday mornings. This morning I saw that I lost 9 pounds over the last week. (Moving was certainly the most excercise I’ve done since surgery!) I’m down 62 pounds since I first walked into the Bariatric center eight months ago, and over 40 pounds since my surgery. I know this is going to get better, and I’m happy with the choice I made. But I know that not everyday is easy. I read that a lot of people seem to hit this same buyers remorse feeling about a month out, so it helps knowing that I’m not alone. Here’s to the better days. Hang in there...it will be worth it.

Hey Everyone! So glad I found this site, been looking for a way to connect with people who are on the same journey with me. I had my sleeve surgery on December 3rd, so at this point I’m 16 days post-op, figured I’d share my experience for anyone about to have the procedure. This was my first surgery of any kind so I was extremely anxious going into it. The director of the surgical center called the Thursday before the procedure and told me to drink lots of water, which I did...but not as much as I should have on the day before the surgery. That added to the Magnesium Citrate left me really dehydrated the day of...it took 5 sticks to get 1 IV in before they brought an ultrasound machine and got the second. Drink water...lots of water before surgery. I had an unexpected hiatal hernia repair and blood pressure spiked to near 200 during the procedure. Not gonna lie, waking up from the surgery is the worst I’ve felt in a long time, but that subsided after about an hour and started to get better. Immediately after surgery I had the typical dry mouth and chest pains, but I tried to get up and walking as quick as I could (1 hour after I woke up from surgery). Keep walking, it makes recovery much faster and helps relieve the pain. I was the first procedure of the day so I was able to go home once I got 400ml of water/ice chips down, which was around 5pm. The first week was rough, but got progressively easier each day. I got a pain ball and liquid Tylenol with Codene that I only needed for 2 days after surgery. The first day after it was hard just to get 56oz of liquid down which included 1 protein shake and 1 protein enriched broth (both with 8 oz of water). By day 2 I was getting the recommended 64oz of liquid and 80g of protein down (2 protein shakes and 1 broth). The doctor has me on 3 weeks of liquid phase before the post-op consultation so it been nothing but 2 protein shakes, 1 broth, and jello everyday. I did the protein shakes with water the first week and then switched by slowly adding Lactaid for extra protein. I’m counting down the days for phase 2 which begins (hopefully) the day after Christmas. At this point I’m bored more than anything else, partly because of the liquid phase, and partly because I didn’t realize how much time of my day was spent drinking, eating, thinking about eating, or making/cleaning up food. So I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix/Hulu to pass the time (thank God for holiday movies). I lost 25 pounds on the pre-op diet and have lost 16 pounds since the surgery. I need to be happy with that, but I’m just so impatient, especially without getting to eat anything else. Thanks to everyone for sharing...knowing I’m not alone in this helps.