FifiLux

Don't let this make you feel bad as it will only stress you out. We all have days where we have a little slip and that was all this is a little slip, you just start anew today Next time you have an event just be prepared and bring something with you that you can eat, that way you won't be hungry and hopefully not tempted by the goodies. That is what I have to do as tomorrow my company has its Christmas lunch (yes I know it is March) and there is nothing on the menu of the restaurant that I can eat as either fish which I am allergic to or not such great choices. I have already told my boss that the menu isn't suitable for me (she knows about my op) and that I will not eat with them but have a drink instead during the meal.

A yay for me is that when walking down the street if the path was busy or narrow it would happen sometimes that someone coming in the opposite direction would move so wide as to let a truck through probably for fear of catching obesity if they got too close to me! Now they just go past as normal. Also I love that on the bus now my backside only takes up one seat so someone else, if needed, can sit beside me. On the planes I fit comfortably in the seat and seatbelt, I can walk further distances (if I have to ). I no longer feel I'm the fattest person in the room, that always made me feel like people were looking at me and judging me. I still am overweight but comfortable with how I look and feel. I love being able to try on such a wide, as in choice not size, range of clothes and go into 'normal' sized clothing shops.

I didn't have any expectations or set goals regards to inches or weight as I have found before that it is a negative thing for me if I don't achieve, even if I get close and adds more pressure. I am now 8 months post op and have gone in in my jeans from a 3XL to a EU38 so US6. I am finally finding my energy is coming back to me now so I have signed up for an exercise program to do at home. It recommends taking measurements weekly to see where inches are coming off even if weight isn't so I have started as of yesterday and hope to see the measurements improve over the next month or two.

Thanks. Just have no-one to compare my experience with so no idea what is usual. I'll see about going to the hospital next time it gets as bad as last night.

Hi everyone, Just checking in to see how you are all doing now that we are 8 months on from the start of July surgeries? As I posted before I had a terrible time with complications; leak, pancreatitis, allergic reactions, abscesses and infections, I even had to be transferred to a hospital in another country for a procedure to stop the leak! But most importantly I made it through and got home from hospital the start of November. I am only starting to get my energy back now and find an interest in doing more than just coping /trying to get through the day, can see small improvements each week. My weight loss has slowed down over the last few weeks but my body, and mind, have been through a crap fest the last few months so not surprised, it will happen when it happens. I still can't always hold food down and get bad pains in my stomach at times, have refulx but it is all an improvement from a few months ago. So far I am down 38kg / 83lbs which is good going considering when in hospital I was on a feeding tube for quite a while and my weight went up due to the nutrition I was being pumped with. I may have to get a revision to bypass if the leak doesn't heal (won't know for another month or so if the treatment worked) but I'll cross that bridge if and when it comes. I hope everyone is doing well.

I went through similar, op in July and only finally home from hospital start of November. While in hospital I found it difficult to hold anything down and was put on a feeding tube for a couple of months and then the second time I was put on a tube it was because I had a leak and they wanted to bypass the area so it could try to heal. I am also on daily medication for my stomach, have to take before I eat anything, and I have strong meds for nausea if needed. Over the last few weeks I have slowly started to increase the calories I take and exercise I do, gone from about 500 cal a day to approx 900 cal but for me the more important aspect is ensuring I get enough protein. I am able to now hold food down but it is hit and miss, like Sunday my dinner did not stay down but it was something I had eaten before without issue, it just depends. I have to push myself to eat three meals a day as I just don't feel the hunger (or interest at times). I don't sleep well and am exhausted all of the time which is why I have tried to push myself the bit more on food intake and exercise. I do see small improvements but I am not where I thought I would be this far out from the op and it can upset me at times but I try to focus on the good things. My weight loss as slowed down over the last 6 weeks or so but I am hoping it is just my body is still in recovery mode after going through so much stress since July. I would think your body is probably going through the same, a lot of trauma has occurred and it is trying to cope. Don't compare yourself to others, everyone has a different experience with the op and we all recover in different ways, just try to focus on the progress you can see in yourself. If your doctor is ok with how you are doing that is important and it will get better for you, just need time to recover and destress. Hopefully you will be slowly able to up the food intake or find a source of high protein that you can keep down. I don't know how you are on fluids but for me I can now take coffee again (even the smell of it turned my stomach for the first six months or so) so I take it with protein powder which means I am getting protein through fluids as well as the food I can eat. Same for collagen, I put it in my coffee also and it is another dose of protein so in two coffees a day I get 20g of my protein requirements. Happy to chat if you want. We can do this. 💪

I had one as a complication after sleeve surgery and it was found a month later when I collapsed at home and had to go by ambulance to hospital. The cause was suture failure. My symptoms then were weakness (could barely stand), fever, nausea with vomiting and abdominal pain. It is a rare occurrence so if you are not suffering with any of these I think you don't need to worry, you are just causing yourself unnecessary stress when you are already going through enough to deal with following surgery and coping with food planning etc. I also had other complications post surgery with pancreatitis and abdominal abscesses so basically anything that could go wrong did, I ended up spending three months in hospital over a period of four months. They closed the gastric leak by using clips and mesh via gastroscopy but that failed, twice. I now have a tube coil like thing that was inserted in order to drain fluid and hope that the hole will then have time to heal and close. The only information I was given in advance of the surgery about it was that it could happen but the surgeon did not go into detail and just said she had never had a patient have a leak, guess I am her exception if she will admit it to others in the future. No other details given to me such as cause/effect/symptoms.

I had one as a complication after sleeve surgery and it was found a month later when I collapsed at home and had to go by ambulance to hospital. The cause was suture failure. My symptoms then were weakness (could barely stand), fever, nausea with vomiting and abdominal pain. It is a rare occurrence so if you are not suffering with any of these I think you don't need to worry, you are just causing yourself unnecessary stress when you are already going through enough to deal with following surgery and coping with food planning etc. I also had other complications post surgery with pancreatitis and abdominal abscesses so basically anything that could go wrong did, I ended up spending three months in hospital over a period of four months. They closed the gastric leak by using clips and mesh via gastroscopy but that failed, twice. I now have a tube coil like thing that was inserted in order to drain fluid and hope that the hole will then have time to heal and close. The only information I was given in advance of the surgery about it was that it could happen but the surgeon did not go into detail and just said she had never had a patient have a leak, guess I am her exception if she will admit it to others in the future. No other details given to me such as cause/effect/symptoms.

I am the same with the jeans, feel like I am buying a new pair every fortnight. I also had to get a new swimsuit within a couple of weeks of starting aqua aerobics as the one I bought a short while ago was holding too much water. I also like that I can now sit comfortably on a bus seat and not worry that I am taking up a seat and a half. I am able to get the seat belt on a plane closed without any issues where as a year ago I had to get an extender piece (was mortified).

Hi Fifi0523 from FifiLux I am in a similar situation to you, 8 months post surgery and between January 11th and February 12th I only lost 4lb. On Jan 11th my surgeon said my goal was to lose 10kg (22lb) during the rest of the year so I guess he based that on his knowledge that my loss would slow down. My goal is to lose 17kg (37.5lb) and that seems way off, if not impossible, given the stall I have now. This is even after I have upped my exercise, not by much due to suffering from exhaustion, but certainly by more than I was doing pre-op. I have started to track my food and drink to see if there are places I am slipping up and it has already helped me highlight areas as I was eating more carbs that I realised and I hadn't been counting my protein correctly at times. I also have started to go into menopause in the last couple of months and I am not sure if that is impacting the weight loss as I know it is already impacting my energy and sleep. I hope and think it is just our bodies recovering from rapid loss and now that it will continue but at a slower pace - I just hadn't expected it to be this slow!

I had been keeping a daily notebook since the start of January as I wanted to be prepared in case I was asked about my meals at my last check-up (I wasn't asked) but it was just a note of what I ate or drank, no nutritional info. Last week I started using My Fitness Pal. The reason I started tracking on the app is that my weight loss has slowed right down plus I wanted to be sure I was I was getting enough protein in each day as I have started to increase my exercise. I don't live or die by the tracking but finding it helpful as I can see already that I have been having less sugar than I thought and also more protein than I realised so am happy with that. Blonde me never realised that the daily scoop of collagen I put in my coffee also counted towards my protein 😂

I made them using protein peanut butter and only half the amount of maple syrup so very little sugar per ball.

You could also make some protein balls. So easy to make and last ages. I brought a few with me for the times I have taken flights as they fit in my handbag. https://thebigmansworld.com/protein-energy-balls/

A few similar tragedies being reported in Ireland lately as well from surgery in Turkey, not sure if same clinic or doctor.

Congratulations

I have pernicious anemia and it did not exclude me, I just had to make sure i had my B12 injection beforehand and started to take daily vitamins for the month before surgery.

My god that is terrible and I wish you all the best. I had sleeve surgery in 2023 and had side effects but nothing to that extent and I am not sure what was due to possible hospital errors or just bad luck for me. I ended up with severe pancreatis and then infections because of a hole in my stomach. The hospital tried a few attempts of clipping the hole but that didn't work and now I have a coil/tube in the hole to hopefully have the hole heal around it over the next few months. If that doesn't work I may have to get bypass. I spent three months in hospital instead of just the one expected night, some for weeks on a feeding tube , had to get a transfusion and a lot of antibiotics. I am suffering severe exhaustion, not sleeping well and at times feeling quite down. I can't walk far without feeling weak and if I do something one day (like go to supermarket) I need the next day to recover. At times I question if I would have been better going down the medication route, but as I don't have diabetes and there are no studies yet available on how the injections impact long term I thought surgery was the safer bet, I really doubt that now. I still get stomach pains at times and I honestly don't know if that is due to the surgery complications or if everyone gets them. I nearly called for an ambulance on new years day I was in so much pain. I keep trying to be strong for my family, as they don't live in the same country as me and get very worried, but I find it is adding to my exhaustion. Some days I just have a bit of a cry as I feel there is no-one to compare myself to and it is all such an effort.

Thanks all. I am still losing weight each week so it wouldn't be for any time soon, I was just wondering about it for an extra energy boost at a later date when I am sure I might reach a plateau. I had seen it really heavily plugged on a bariatric blog so was wondering about it.

Happy New Year all. I was wondering if anyone had pernicious anemia PRIOR to sleeve surgery for it then to be appeared cured AFTER surgery? I was diagnosed many years ago and have been getting B12 shots once a month however since my sleeve surgery in July my levels have been within the normal range and my surgeon has said I do not to do the shots anymore unless the levels go below. He has not come across this before. So many things went wrong for me as a result of the surgery that this might be one positive aspect if it lasts. I am very fatigued at the moment, recovering from almost four months in hospital, so I was wondering if giving myself a shot would help as a little boost anyway.

Thanks Kat. I figured it is best to keep up my shots. The doctors made so many missteps with me during and after my surgery that my trust in them isn't great anyway.

I had the sleeve surgery so not sure if same for bypass but I couldn't keep the chewables down and even the smell of them turned my stomach so I went onto the capsules early on. I do take a chewable calcium now as it is a raspberry gummy one which is more like a sweet.

I am struggling for energy also months after the op but did have serious complications so that is part of why recovery is slower but I hope it it kicks up a bit soon. I find I can do one thing during the day like go to shops or for a walk and then need the next day to recover. I am not sleeping well though it is slowly improving however I do struggle to get out of bed most days and I used to be a morning person.

I got severe pancreatitis after my surgery in July and ended up 12 weeks in hospital due to it plus also a hole in stomach and infections. I hope you are doing better now. I was told afterwards that it can be a side effect but not sure if that was just doctors covering their behinds!

Thank God. I am the same and was getting a bit worried about the fact I wasn't counting calories. I am just trying to eat small and regularly while including liquids. I am worried that I am not getting enough protein all the time but just not hungry enough to be able to fit more in most days. I didn't want to get into weighing out foods and tracking as felt that was putting too much stress on myself, just trying to be as healthy as possible in my food choices, with some occasional blips (slice of ready meal lasagna tonight). Some days I can eat slightly larger portions but figure a bit of extra bean stew isn't going to send me over the edge

Hi Fifi, from another Fifi I now into my 7th month since sleeve surgery but I had a horrible experience afterwards and spent most of July to Nov in hospital with complications so I have no-one to compare myself against and finding it stressful. I think we just have to remind ourselves that we lose what we need to and don't put pressure on yourself, you have already done great. If going by the BMI charts (which I don't believe in 100% as outdated and everyone is different) you are already almost out of the overweight category so well done. 70.7kg is already slim. I am losing about 1kg a week. Started out at just over 120kg and now down to just under 87kg so still have some way to go to my target but I am already very happy with what I have lost but do hope to get down to within the 'normal' BMI category.