Texarkolina

That is outstanding! Can you share your daily goals in regards to fluids, grams of Protein, grams of carbs, total calories and exercise? I would really appreciate it.

I really don't have that much of a diet plan--like I said, my surgeon's plan is "do the best you can" with no specific goals. I try to get protein in first and drink a lot. I am behind on progressing the diet due to some early complications. I would prefer a specific X grams of protein, X calories, and X carbs or less, but for whatever reason my surgeon's office is vague and evasive when I ask. From the tone of your post it sounds like I am not losing at the rate that one would expect. Can you share what your daily goals are regarding Fluid, protein, carbs, calories and exercise? Thank you for your advice!

If you can take off longer, you should. I had complications and needed 3 weeks. I would strongly recommend staying in the hospital.

I am 10 weeks out and they look way better than mine.

Congrats!

I so understand what you are saying. I had the sleeve so that I WOULDN'T T have to obsess forever. I know some people do, and they probably are losing faster than I am. I am living my life now. I am careful, but if the group at work wants to go out to eat, I go. I order something soft enough to eat comfortably and eat what I want of it. I don't get all upset and paranoid about the carbs, protein, etc. I am not eating ice cream for dinner or anything, but I think with the sleeve you can find a good balance between being the food police and living a life.

I am 2 1/2 months out so the memories of the post-op weeks are really fresh. I had a pretty rough time, too. I thought I had made a huge mistake, but now I am happy with my choice. It is hard. The hunger-like feeling for me was too much acid--an acid reducer made it stop. I couldn't get fluids in, either. I know they say to do sugar free everything, but a normal Popsicle really helped me. When you get to where it is allowed by your diet, you may want to try egg drop soup. Those two things went down well and gave me some energy. I didn't feel human again after the surgery for 6 weeks. I know most of us don't realize it going in, but it was a major surgery followed by a period of malnutrition. If you get through that without feeling run down and borderline depressed you are the exception, not the rule. I am 10 weeks out now, and I feel good again. I can eat--feel satisfied--and I am losing. You will get here.

So what does everyone's surgeon say about how much you will lose. I am losing slowly and I am trying to figure out if my expectations are unrealistic or my weight loss is less than expected? Oh--and my scale is a fickle little witch.....

I am about 2 months out and I am not losing very much. My surgeon's office has pretty much flaked out on me. I went back to get some guidance about what I need to be eating and got "Protein is preferable, but just do the best you can." I am about to drive myself crazy over this. I weigh every day (I know--bad idea--spare the lectures please) and I am losing basically nothing. I know some people lose slower than others, but I am pretty sure I am not eating right since I really have no idea what I should be eating. I don't have a nutritionist, and the surgeon's office is zero help. I have decided to find out what I need to eat daily, follow it, and trust that the results will come. So, if anyone is willing to help me out by passing along your surgeon's suggestions about the following I would really appreciate it..... Grams of protein daily? Grams of carbs daily? Ounces of Water daily? Daily exercise? Number of meals daily? Any other guidelines about living with the sleeve? Thanks in advance!

That is a combination of pre and post op. I was at 300 pounds when I started the pre-op diet. I was 286 on surgery day, and I am now 256. The majority of my weight loss was during the pre-op and 3 weeks following surgery. Since then....I am losing around a pound a week.

I am scheduled for surgery on July 23, and it can't get here soon enough. I just changed jobs and got a last minute call from the new job telling me that they wanted me to travel the first week. This involved flying to Chicago. Now I am the biggest I have ever been, and I am bigger than the airplane seats. On the way up I sat next to a very nice lady that threw the armrest up as I approached and said, "I am going to leave this up if you don't mind because they make these seats too small and it makes me feel too closed in." I appreciated her being kind so much I nearly broke down in tears right there. I was able, by some miracle, to get the seatbelt fastened but it was so tight I was in a lot of pain. I swallowed my pride and asked the flight attendant for an extender, but she never brought me one and I just couldn't make myself ask again. I sat there in agony--spilling into the next seat and into the aisle--and praying that the seatbelt buckle was strong enough to hold my mass in without exploding into pieces. I can just see the headlines, "fat woman explodes seatbelt--plane makes emergency landing". I chatted with the lady beside me and apologized for crowding her. She was very kind and said that she was glad to sit by me and have someone there to talk to so she would be distracted because she is afraid to fly. I had bruises on my legs and pain in my abdomen all week where the seat belt was during the flight and I was miserable. I decided to call the airline for my return trip and see what I needed to do. They told me to wait and ask at the gate. I did--humiliated--and was treated kindly. She moved me to a seat without a seatmate. The flight attendent brough me an extender--subtly--and I made it home without further bodily injury. I know this could have been a lot worse, but in my mind I felt so humiliated by the whole experience. I worried about the return trip all week and wondered if all the people I was meeting in my new job were judging me for being so big. I just want to live in a world where I fit.

I used precious little of all the stuff I packed. I had dry mouth so bad after surgery and I was grateful to have my own toothbrush and brand of toothpaste. I also picked up some bioten spray and mouthwash at the drugstore. It is designed to help with dry mouth and was a lifesaver for me. The chapstick helped, too. I didn't need anything to occupy my time as I was sleeping or walking the whole time. Good Luck!

I used it for 3 weeks after surgery. I also used it for 7 months twice a day during pregnancy. Some tips that I learned the hard way.....wait until the alcohol is completely dry.....insert needle quickly (less pain)......push plunger in very very very very slowly (decreases bruising), and do not rub the site at all. It was really no big deal for me, but if takes a little bit to get used to injecting yourself. Good luck!

I am a little over 3 weeks (sleeved July 30) and I can relate. It is harder than I thought to get solids down, and I miss being able to gulp water. I feel a little better each day and am learning to go very slow with eating. I am also in a stall, which makes it easier to regret. No answers for you...just wanted to tell you that you are not alone.

I have struggled myself, so although your experience is yours alone I do have an idea what you are going through. I had a hard time watching the kids have babies as I struggled to carry one to term. It seems like a punishment almost--like you don't deserve babies if you are too big but every other bad thing you could do is ok. I am sorry for your struggle and your loss. It takes quite a woman to continue to try...and know that she may have to pack a lifetime of love for her child into a few short months and that she may never be able to hold her baby. May God bless you and comfort you through your struggle.

Hi. I had surgery July 30. Since that time I have had really no appetite. If you told me that I could get in everything I need and not eat I would be ok with that. This is huge for me because before I had such a huge appetite.....like I had to force myself to stop at a restaurant sized serving and maybe an appetizer. I am not disgusted by food now or anything--just very disinterested. I have had a bite or two of things I like and still enjoy them, but don't have that craving food feeling. I would really like to hear from others about their experience with their appetite and surgery. Is the way you felt 3 weeks in the same that you feel now? Does your appetite come back over time? Did you feel similar to what I have described after surgery? I am actually so glad that I feel this way BTW. I have been a slave to my appetite all my life and it is so freeing to just put food into my body when I need it. I hope this feeling stays. I would love to live the rest of my life without the struggle of an appetite but still able to enjoy food.

Please note that I am posting in the "RANT" section and avoid this if you don't want to read my tantrum. OK so this surgery sucked royally for me. The pre-op diet was challenging to say the least. (Fat chick trying to muster up enough self control to eat only Protein powders for 2 weeks---give me a break) Then I go for surgery day and my heart stopped beating when they inflated my abdomen. Chest compressions, followed by panic resulted in my surgery being canceled....I was fine with that. A week later we try again....(please note that this required an additional week of the pre-op diet---grrrr.....) and once again--heart refused to cooperate. Took some extra hands and enough drugs to kill a horse, but I was sleeved. Because the surgery ran really long and my heart rate was low, I wasn't given anything for pain after surgery. They brought me to the room in so much pain that I was unable to see. (Seems if you are in enough pain your brain will start to shut down--vision goes first.) After the longest 4 hours of my life we finally got the pain under control.....sleep 2 hours.....then they want me up in a chair. OK. I can tough it out now. However every time they moved me I blacked out. It took forever for them to get me into the chair and I was terrified of blacking out--falling--and injuring myself. Forward a few days--I am out of the hospital and in a lot of pain. Severe sharp shooting pains in my upper chest and left shoulder---plus I can't get fluids down. Back to the hospital I go for tests and fluids. A few days later (9 days post-op) my drain is removed---I pass out and wake up with most of the pain gone. Seems the drain was on a nerve and that was causing the pain. Now I know that this could all be worse. But for the amount of pain--strike that---agony I experienced during those first two weeks after surgery I should have done my fair share of suffering. It still hurts to eat and drink--but I am managing. I can only get in 500 or so calories a day--at the most. Most days it is more like 300. By this past Friday I had lost 18 pounds. Then, I stopped. Now, 5 days later, I have GAINED 4 pounds back. How is that even freaking possible? I know 3 week stall....water weight....liver replacing glycogen..... menstrual Fluid retention...blaugh blaugh blaugh..... I AM PISSED....and rather disheartened. I told people that I was having the surgery done--now I am the go-to person for all those in my world thinking about WLS......but you know what---I AIN'T YA POSTER CHILD. This whole experience has thus far sucked in a big big way. Maybe I will lose and in a few months be glad that I had it done, but right now I refuse to encourage anyone to do it. What I tell them now is that they need to understand that this is a MAJOR surgery and they need to be prepared for complications. I also tell them they need to go to the support group because I haven't been sleeved long enough to be a good resource. That is the most positive I can muster up. I would really like to tell them that, at this point, I am not real thrilled about my choice and am hanging on and hoping for a change in my point of view.

If your drain is out contact your doctor. You may need a swallow study or something to rule out a leak. I hope it is nothing serious, but better safe than sorry.

I was seen by a cardiologist between surgeries. My heart is in great shape. The reason it stopped was a vagal nerve response from the pressure of the gas used to inflate the abdomen. It happens to women primarily who are in good health otherwise. Normally the heart rate slows and medication is given to speed it up to where it needs to be. In my case, my heart did not slow down, it stopped.

You should call your doctor---there is no way you can tell if it is gas or a leak. Most of the time the gas is gone by 9 days out. Question---has your drain been removed? I know most have by this point, but mine was still in at 9 days out and was the source of a ton of left shoulder pain for me.

I was sleeved on the 30th and I have severe stabbing left shoulder pain. I have had a leak test and CT--all are fine. There was a tremendous amount of drama with my surgery--scheduled on the 23 first time--heart stopped on table--chest compressions for a minute--surgery rescheduled after cardiologist oked me--difficulty keeping heart rate up during second surgery so they gave me extremely high doses of meds to speed up my heart rate---caused nausea--lots of post-op pain, etc. Anyone else have severe pain a week out and, if so, what did you do. I am worn out with this.

I was able to get down egg drop soup very easily. Greek yogurt has helped me with the protein. I am 3 weeks out and never want to see another popsicle again.

There is a "what to take" topic on the pre-op forum that lists a bunch of stuff. I took a bunch of crap and used 1. My toothbrush and my brand of toothpaste (even though the hospital provides one I was so glad to have my own) 2. Bioten spray. It is an over-the-counter spray that helps with dry mouth. They have a mouthwash and toothpaste as well. I was so very very grateful to have these as dry mouth made me miserable. 3. Easy to slip on slippers. That was it. Of course no one goes anywhere without a cell phone and charger, but the bag I so carefully packed according to the very long list on the pre-op forum just sat there unopened. The hospital provided everything I needed, and I was sleeping or walking most of the time so I didn't need any entertainment. Good Luck!

I was planning on 2 but had complications and took off 3. I go back to work tomorrow and I feel ready. I probably could have made it with just 2 weeks out, but I am really glad I took the 3rd one off.

I know how you feel---I could tell a change in my daughter the first day I started to feel better--so did she. I would advise family/friends help--perhaps taking the kids for the afternoon a little. You need rest. If that is not possible--just hang in there--it gets better.