kalí̱ ygeía

I've read a lot about food progressing slowly down your esophagus and the feeling of it getting stuck or about to get stuck. Ugh, hate it. I wonder if it's just part of the process or if I'm not chewing well enough, taking too big of a bite, or that particular food isn't agreeing with me. I was feeling so blessed when everything was going down smoothly, but the more I inch towards regular food the more it's happening. Everything else is going great. I hit my stall at 3 or 4 weeks just like everyone says it happens. I lost fifteen pounds beforehand. I really wish it had been more. Oh, well. Still happy with the loss. I haven't started working out at all, so maybe once I start my walking it'll help with the stall. My goal was to start lifting arm weights at 4 weeks. I'm now a week behind schedule. I need to FOCUS!

We did it y'all! Congratulations! Our surgeries are behind us.... time to double down on our efforts as we go through the ups and downs that come with this drastic change in our lives. It's well worth it and we're going to be fine. It's not easy for everyone, but the veterans on this site tell us that it does get better. My experience has been relatively easy. I've had some moments where the food didn't settle well and caused me heartburn, but fortunately no major issues. The incision sites do bother me from time to time, but I feel that soon enough I'll be able to lay on my tummy. I've been cleared for exercise, but haven't yet started. My arms are looking rather flabby, so am going to do arm weights! I'm in the soft food stage and am looking forward to getting to solid. I have noticed though that food isn't calling me like before. The family had pizza, but I didn't feel deprived. I didn't feel bummed out. Although I did get annoyed and frustrated at all the changes (e.g. wanted to gulp down my water), I didn't have buyer's remorse. In the short term, it's already helped me with my health issues, so am grateful for that. I think we're all so blessed that we got to have our surgery this month considering that Covid cases are in the up everywhere. @CelinaLambeth Sorry that you had such a crappy experience. Hopefully the rest will be much more smoothly. @MommaJay Was your surgery outpatient? My surgeon didn't have me do a fanny pack. He just had me on pain meds, but fortunately by the second day didn't need any so never touched the ones at home. Does anyone have a specific take on how often to weigh yourself? Do you do it daily, weekly, monthly?

@TracespaceCongratulations! I was sleeved on the 6th and so far things have gone well except for issues with BM. It's so interesting how surgeons/dieticians due post-op differently. There is no one blanket approach. My dietician had me on liquids for two weeks post-op and I'm now on to soft foods. I was annoyed hearing of people who went straight to soft foods after a week or less, but I trusted my surgeon and his team. I'm very fortunate that I was able to handle the stages okay so far. I might have had uncomfortable moments, but they were few and far in between that I don't remember specifics. Except for one, I was having my first bite of soft food that was too dry and apparently not chewed well enough, it was horrible. Felt like the food was going to get stuck with each bite. I then purred my food and I was perfectly fine. I suppose the food wasn't soft enough yet. Everything does keep getting better. Listen to your body and follow it's cue. Don't push it if it's feeling uncomfortable. After reading these message boards and may others, I realize that following your body's cue are sometimes the best approach. By the way, I read on some post that for some hiccups is when they know that they're full.

Hello! Newbie here! I received my insurance approval a week ago. My pre-op appointment is on the 21st and I'm scheduled for surgery on Nov 6th. I have read hours upon hours of people's experience. I have devoured this site and others as well. I want to believe that I'm mentally ready for what's to come, but the reality is that I won't know if I am until I'm fully into the process. Thanks to all of your contributions to this site, I have a clear picture of the many possibilities. The gas pain, the incision sites, the stalls, the liquid stage, the emotional roller coasters... the list goes on and on. I'm praying for the best, but preparing myself for anything. All I hope is that I won't regret it. I've read enough to know that there is a regret phase that most go through. I just hope I don't stay there! LOL I am 5'5 with a BMI of 34. I tend to fluctuate between 200-210 for the last 7 years and at most have never weighed past 213. I am a Type 2 diabetic. My A1C climbed to 7.4. My body responded well to a low dose of metformin so after 3 months I'm at 6.6. I DO NOT want to travel down the road of medication and I also want to do away with fatty liver. My stomach looks as if I'm 8 months pregnant, because my weight is mainly distributed towards my stomach. I've slowly stopped living life to the fullest. I am holding on to the thought that the gastric sleeve surgery will help me move towards a healthier self. I look forward to the support from those who are walking this journey. Please share the greatest and most important thing to keep in mind while going through the journey.

Wow, you did exceptionally well to go home so quickly. You seem to have everything under control. I hope that your pain is manageable. Did you get any pain meds? The day of surgery and day after I was feeling pain, but the meds helped. By night fall on day two, I didn't have any pain. Congrats on all the walking and the BM!

I'm home now and doing great! Still doing fine with my liquids. Sometimes I get a mild discomfort probably because I forget to sip instead of gulping it down like a horse. I'm on phase 1 of postop restrictions...two weeks doing 1- 2 ounce liquids every fifteen minutes with the goal of getting to 64 oz of liquid in the day. I'm allowed my protein shakes, broths, diluted apple and grape juice, crystal light, decaf coffee and tea and some other drinks. My surgeon also allows for watery yogurt and apple sauce. I'm also on 4 medications. One (muscle spams) I'm suppose to take for 2 weeks, second one (stomach acid blocker) is suppose to go for 4 weeks. The other two is an as needed basis since they help with pain and nausea. Fortunately, I didn't need the pain or nausea medications yet. Crossing my fingers it continues this way. I am not hungry, but do feel mental desires. However, while going through the pharmacy nothing made my mouth water or ache to have it. When I got home and saw the food I normally eat, I did have a moment of " I wish I could eat that" but I overcame it very quickly. I don't have a choice, but to keep going forward and there's no turning back which I'm quite happy with. Besides in time, we'll be able to eat again just smaller portions. I'm moving about, but I have to remind myself that a few days ago I had surgery. My body has so far handled it well.

I don't have any bruising just yet, but I still have the bandages on, so maybe I'll see them when they come off. Your bruises will be gone before you know it!

Thank you so much for that schedule!!! I’m so going to stick to eat, but how long did it take you to reach 8oz in one sitting? I’m a gulper so can’t wait till I can drink beyond an ounce at a time! Haha

I should probably change the name of this post from I’m doing it to...I did it! Cant believe that I’m on the postop side now. I’m looking forward to seeing how this journey progresses. The preop liquid diet was not my friend. I messed up here and there but fortunately the surgery went well. I’m mobile and no pain as of right now. I’m super excited of what’s next. I do have gas that comes and go, but I think the medication really helps with that. After surgery my stomach felt like a balloon! I was sooooo bloated. Now it’s feeling much better. I’m feeling really great except for my energy level going up and down which is expected after surgery.

Hello I’m back to report that I have been sleeved! Coming out of surgery was rough! I threw up two or three times which I’m told is very normal. I wanted to sleep most of the time, so I wasn’t immediately up and walking. I had this terrible ache in my upper stomach that was not incision pain, perhaps hunger? It was strong but the pain meds and sleep helped with that. Eventually, I got several walks in and used my lung breathing thing. Can’t recall what it’s called, but it helps your lungs expand and avoid pneumonia. So far, I can tolerate liquids well. I went a whole night without pain meds and feel great. Your first two night may be a lil rough, but just remember that it gets better.

Thank you to the 1st week of November people that have posted! I appreciated reading your posts. Hopefully you're having a smooth recovery and acclimating to the new change effortlessly. My day is coming tomorrow. Whoohoo! I'm super excited! I'm all packed and am finalizing stuff around the house. I haven't been exactly the best with my preop diet, so hopefully my doctor won't take one look at the liver and send me back home. 😜 I lost only a few pounds, but I'm happy with that! As long as the scale is moving down not up, it's all good. My surgery is early, so I'll probably get zero sleep tonight. The hospital had me come in earlier in the week to get the paperwork done and they provided me with soap to wash the night before and day of the surgery. Wow... I can't believe it's happening! I'll do my best to keep y'all posted. Hopefully I can do so asap when everything is fresh in mind. Good luck Friday, November 6th day sleevers!

Throw your favorites in the dryer for one or two cycle until they shrink. I was doing laundry and freaked out to see one of my favorite tops which I normally hang dry, in the dryer. I thought "Oh no, my favorite top almost shrank" The light bulb went on! After my surgery and the weight starts to come off, I'm going to give this a try!

November is rolling in and the weight rolls off! Good luck to everyone having surgery this week! Surgery date: Monday 11/2 (Tropico78) Surgery date: Monday, 11/2 (VickieRenee) Surgery dare: Monday, 11/2 (Neller) Surgery date: Monday. 11/2/2020 (caitmarie) Surgery date: Monday, 11/2 (Giveitmyall) Surgery date: Monday, 11/2 (2xacharm) Surgery date: Monday, 11/2 (sassytigris) Surgery date: Monday, 11/2 (Cindydt) Surgery date: Tuesday, 11/3 (Meredith25) Surgery date: Tuesday, 11/3 (Chelsealauren09) Surgery date: Tuesday, 11/3 (Momswithamaster) Surgery date: Wednesday, 11/4 (futureshrink) Surgery date: Thursday, 11/5 (drake) Surgery date: Thursday, 11/5 (Love_thatgirl) Surgery date: Thursday, 11/5 (Timonty.fleischer) Surgery date: Friday, 11/6 (Kali ygeia) Surgery date: Friday, 11/6 (BoyMama) Surgery date: Friday, 11/6 (Esther20) My thoughts and prayers are with you. May God work through the surgeon's hands and everything turn out to perfection! May you heal and recover with God speed. Please check in with us as soon as you feel up to it. 🤗

Hahahaha... I think that's where I was.... rebelling and fighting it. It's probably how some of my moments of weakness occurred, but I'm optimistic about tomorrow. Day five will be a success!

I spoke to my surgeon today as I was really starting to doubt myself and was almost ready to cancel the surgery. I was very close to doing so, because I reasoned that if I can't do this diet how in the world will I successfully handle the sleeve. I got some reassurance from my support team, my surgeon, and this forum that I'm now feeling upbeat again! I'm genuinely excited and ready to take on the challenges that lay ahead. I'm on Day 4 and I've lost about 4 pounds. I'm doing most things right, so why only focus on the minor setbacks! I'll learn from them but not throw in the towel!

That's a good mantra. I'm going to start using it as well. I wonder if my new stomach is going to like eggs. I use to eat eggs almost every day. It's so strange to me that we have to discover our stomachs anew. How long do you have to do the straight liquids?

I hate to report that I'm not doing as great as we'd hope! You warned me to check my expectations and well... I don't think I did a very good job at it. I expected to do great with my preop diet and so far it hasn't been the case. Ugh!

Congratulations! Keep up the good work! Unfortunately, I haven't been stellar. I've probably done 85% of it to the letter. Surgery date is next week, so I better get my act together. The irony is that I read posts about people not following their diet to the letter and I thought, "Oh, that won't be me!" Yeap... it is me. 😬 I'm suppose to have 3 protein drinks plus 3-4 oz lean protein and 2 cups veggie. Each day has been something extra. Day one was a croissant. Day two was two small slices of cauliflower veggie pizza. Day three was a serving or two of eggs and potatoes. Today, day 4....I had a bite of a meatball in marinara sauce. My downfall has always been towards night. I think today was my best day and I'm feeling optimistic. I'm optimistic now, but may not be in another five minutes. This diet is making me so bipolar! 🤪 I found a protein drink that I'm mixing with Crystal light and is making me more satisfied. If I can't follow this diet, it's a huge red flag for me. It makes me question this decision all together, but I HAVE to push through cause I don't want diabetes to progress. I want to put out this small fire now before it turns into a beast.

I hope all of you come back and give us a full report of the experience!

You are so fortunate that you never went through that doubting period. On my 4th day now of preop diet and it's been a pain. I'm slowly starting to become more accepting of the process. I know I have to push through this and just deal with what comes at the end. I have to trust the process and somehow believe that I will be fine. I will be one of the lucky people who has an excellent postop experience. Also that my stomach will be able to handle food and I'll be able to eat like normal just small quantities, because my normal wasn't terrible. I could go all day without eating and then at night eat a huge meal. This surgery will help me with that.

That's very interesting. I'm going to ask my surgeon during my next visit.

Wow! Congratulations on your success! Hopefully I too will be as successful. Starting to doubt myself as this preop diet has not been easy for me. I reeeeally hope this is not a precursor to what's to come. It makes me wonder if I'm ready for this.

I'm okay to have decaff coffee. I'm prone to constipation now, so I hope that I get to drink coffee postop.

@Mandogetsleeved Of course you can be the favorite, as long as I get a wardrobe too! It's suppose to be for 14 days, but the surgeon let me start off on the weekend which means I do it for 13 days. I'm looking forward to tomorrow (day three), since today was not the best. To some extend, I wish that I had never learned that not all surgeons require the preop diet, because it leaves in question its necessity. Is it really to shrink the liver or to help ease you in to the life style change? Or both? You only had to do 1 week?! Was it all liquid or where you allowed solids in that week? There are people here who went from a full course meal to surgery and seemed to do fine. What's the deal with that? Yes, that's my head rationalizing why I should be allowed to eat. LOL No worries... I know better! I woke up today with a pounding headache at about 9 a.m. That was my brain screaming "Where the f*!@ is my coffee?!" I didn't give in and grab a cup although I was so tempted. Did you have any GERD or the throwing up problems that accompanies it? I can't believe that I'm going to go through with this surgery. Did ever almost change your mind?

I'm on day two also! I'm not doing as well as I should. You're allowed fruits? Lucky! I wish I could have fruits. Today I got in two out of three protein shakes and I'm suppose to have 64 oz of liquids. Not good. Tomorrow is a new day and I hope to do better. As much as I was wishing that my surgeon didn't require a preop diet, I'm glad that he did. I think it'll help me in the long run, because it's a good way to prepare for what's to come after surgery.