hills&valleys

Regrets? What you are feeling is not unique so you are in good company. The first few weeks can be difficult but WLS veterans almost unanimously say their only regret is not doing this years ago. WLS is a lifestyle change that takes discipline and dedication but it gets easier, especially when you start seeing and FEELING the results of your efforts. You got this and your Bariatric Pals are here to support and cheering you on!

Hugs and healing powers to you. I know it must be frightening not knowing the cause of your issues. We are all rooting for your speedy diagnosis and recovery. Please keep us posted.

Bravo! You should be proud of yourself. Contrary to popular belief, WLS is not the easy way out or cheating; instead, WLS is filled with sacrifice and determination. I was sleeved on March 3rd. I have had no complications and zero moments of doubts or regrets. I continue dealing with two challenges: (1) drinking too soon before and after meals and (2) eating too fast, which often results in the foamies or one bite too much which I inevitably throw up. I am a slow but steady loser. I hope to reach my goal by my 1st surgiversity. Let's hear updates from other "Marchers to Better Health".

Whenever we lose a lot of weight in a short period of time (15 pounds in 16 days), a substantial amount of the pounds lost is actually water weight. To lose a pound a fat a day, you would need to burn an additional 3500 calories above what you are consuming, which generally is only achieved consistently by peak athletes. If you are sticking to your program's plan, you are still losing fat pounds during a stall as your body regains the excess depleted fluid. Once your body reaches healthy fluid levels, your scales will start reflecting losses again. Please don't get discouraged. For most of us, weight loss is not a steady decline but achieved with periods of losses and stalls as our bodies adjust to the changes.

I am so sorry. To feel so bad without answers is disheartening and scary. I can imagine the fusing of your stomach sleeve and gall bladder could cause severe constriction and complications. It sounds like your gall bladder surgery was recent. Your body is still healing from the repeated surgical assaults over the past six months and your sleeve needs "rest and relaxation" from being stretched and contorted from the stress and contortion of being stretched by the gall bladder fusion. Be gentle with yourself. I hope things start improving for you. Please keep us posted on your progress. **Hugs**

My daughter suffered with Pilaris Keratosis from a young age. Fortunately I found Amlactin, resulting in her achieving smooth, flawless skin! It smells like sour milk (it is lactic acid) but the smell dissipates after about 20 minutes. Because of the smell, we applied it at night before bed.

The less you eat, the more you have to drink because the fluid runs through you quicker, reducing absorption throughout your body.

I can't help but laugh.....you live in Colorado (as do I), of course it is normal! Dry skin is an epidemic in Colorado. Is it more common after surgery? I think that would depend on your water intake. One thing I have discovered through years of extreme dieting, the less food you take in, the more rapidly your body eliminates the fluid. The more rapidly it is expelled, the less the fluid circulates through your body. Food acts as an absorber of liquid and keeps the fluid from running through you too quickly. The less food you consume, the more you need to drink to maintain adequate fluid levels to keep you hydrated so that the fluid can spread through your system including the extremities of your skin. In dry climates such as Colorado, lotions and creams are necessary to provide a barrier or the dry atmosphere will just suck the moisture out of your skin.

Weight distribution is unique for each individual but one pattern is universal.....the first area of a person's body that fat collects is the last area which fat is lost and the last areas to show gain is the first to show fat loss.

greeneyedgirl79 .....Thank you for sharing this. I have been in and out of stalls since the 2nd week and have started to see a gradual drop in the past week.

My excess weight distribution is mainly on my trunk from the neck down and only radiating down a few inches on my upper arms and legs. My shoulders had become heavily padded including the dreaded "buffalo hump". Although I only lost 6.5# during the one week pre-op and an additional 18# since surgery on 3/3/23, I have noticed substantial changes. I have lost (don't want to find it) the buffalo hump and my neck has gotten longer (optically). I have started losing the "football pads" off my shoulders, revealing the promise of regaining my former graceful neck which has been encased in shoulder fat for 10 years.

I am so sorry you are having such horrendous complications from your ESG. Thankfully, you listened to your body and reacted quickly! I hope you are now on track for a speedy recovery. If negligence is confirmed, please share the name of your surgeon and the bariatric practice/facility with the group as forewarning. Sending healing prayers to you.

I had surgery on March 3rd. I weighed 202 on the morning of surgery and lost 9 lbs the first week. I then stalled for 7 days but have started losing again this week. My initial 9 pound loss included a lot of water weight (at least 4 to 5 pounds). My second week stall was my body replenishing the excess depleted water to normalize the body's healthy hydration levels. During that stall, for every depleted water pound I was "regaining", I was actually losing a fat pound. So although the scales showed no pounds lost, I actually restored the body's healthy fluid levels and lost an equal amount of fat pounds.

I'm so excited for you! I had my VSG surgery March 3rd. I was never nauseous and had no problem getting my fluids down. Other than minor muscle soreness, as if I had overworked an adominal exercise session, I felt great from day one! I wish you an uneventful, successful surgery and speedy recovery. Keep us posted!

When I started considering WLS, particularly VSG Surgery, I researched extensively. I read medical studies, case histories, personal blogs and watched hundreds of hours of YouTube videos posted by patients and bariatric surgeons. I cannot remember where I read or saw the European study called "The Three Month Marker", nor have I been able to find the article or video again. The "supposed" study was of VSG patients and their success rates. The results of the study indicated that the total average weight loss at 12 months post-op was double the amount lost at the 3 month post-op mark for patients who closely followed the bariatric guidelines. Has anyone else heard about "The Three Month Marker"? For those who are at least 12 months post-op, does this study relate to your experience?

I really like the Fitbit food tracker. I can enter the nutritional info manually for recipes that include multiple ingredients or I can scan the barcode for packaged items and it automatically enters the nutritional information per serving. The serving sizes of both the manual (custom) entries and the barcode scan can be easily adjusted. Any item which is not in the Fitbit data base can be easily submitted through the mobile app. The only downside I have found is that the information is only stored for 28 days. I am hoping to find a way to store the information in another file on my computer.

Thank you for your responses. Maybe this does apply to some but it sounds like it is more of a hit and miss and should be taken with extreme skepticism. I'm just over two weeks out from surgery and lost 9 lbs the first week and nothing since. I realize I am in the dreaded stall but it certainly doesn't bode well for my progress if using a 3 month formula to calculate my total loss!

Thank you for sharing your experience and the video!

I had one sibling....an older brother by 18 months. Sadly, he died in an accident several years ago. We were very close, which also gave us the ability to cut each other to the quick during arguments. By the time we were in our twenties, I shut him down with little effort with one directed exchange....."Never underestimate how well I know you. Based on some of your activities and decisions you have made, I am glad I am living my life rather than yours. If I want your advise, which is highly unlikely, I will ask for it, until then, shut the hell up." My brother never knew what "activities and decisions" I was referencing. When asked to elaborate, i just smiled and walked away and he never pressed the matter. I gained a new level of respect from him by standing my ground. He never challenged or criticized me again. People can only treat you the way you allow them to treat you. Learn to either walk away or tell them to leave. The next time you see them, they will have more respect for your boundaries because you took control in the relationship. You don't need anyone's approval but your own!

When did you restart your vitamins after surgery & did they cause any nausea? I purchased chewables for all the vitamins and supplements on the doctor's list. The only one which is not chewable but in caplet form is the multivitamin w/iron. The doctor preferred chewables but said pill form could be taken but if larger than an M&M to cut in half. Having only consumed clear liquids for the past week, I am wondering what to expect with the chewables hitting my stomach.

Strangely, after being on clear liquids for a week and finally moving to full liquids and restarting the vitamins today, the gummy type vitamins were like a nice chewy treat. One thing I hate about the chewables is the calories!!! By the time I took all the vitamins, I had added 55 additional calories to my daily total......yikes! Fortunately, I only have to use chewables for 30 days and then I can resume pill form forgoing the added calories of the chewables.

I have been watching this post to keep updated. I hope you are feeling better and on the mend. 🙏

After spending $50+, I hope I can tolerate the chewables!

My surgery was in Mexico on 3/3/23 and I just returned to the States on Sunday. I had no issues but I think your safety is greatly dependent on where you are crossing the border. I had my surgery with Dr. Alvarez at EndoHospital (endobariatric.com). The hospital is blocks from the USA border crossing at Eagle Pass, TX which is a main crossing point immigrants are being smuggled by the cartels. The cartels use certain points of entry to draw the US Border Agents there so they can carry out illegal activity along other areas of the border. There was a lot of police presence on both sides of this border crossing (Eagle Pass, TX/Piedras Negras, MX)

My post-op schedule is one week clear liquids, followed by two weeks full liquid, next one week pureed, finally a week of soft foods. So, a four week progression before solid foods. I think the longer period gives our stomachs more time to heal and establishes a habit of consuming more liquid in our daily diet going forward. Plus the longer you abstain from sugar and carbs, the less you crave them making sticking to a diet easier.