Stacy160

I'm going to say something that might be a bit controversial, and I know the big rule is to always follow your surgeon's instructions, but.... honestly I do not know how you guys can stick to a TWO WEEK liquid diet. I made it through a week on the MasterCleanse (lemonade) diet last year, but was dying for some real food by that 7th day. Every surgeon does things differently, and mine didn't even make me do any kind of diet before surgery, other than clears the day before. I did put myself on strict low-carb for the three days before that. Back before my aunt had her second WLS (an RNY, after a failed stomach stapling way back when), her doc put her on a month of liquids... when she told him how hard it was to do that and that she'd snuck a few bites of real food here and there, he chuckled and told her that he never really expected anyone to stick 100% with the liquids and that it was OK to have some healthy, regular food here and there as long as it was low-carb and as long as she was still losing a little weight. (The point of losing before surgery and going low-carb is to deplete the glycogen stores in the liver and shrink it. A fatty liver is difficult to move and can actually SPLIT... staying high on the carbs, especially the simple ones like breads and sugars, will not allow the liver to shrink well.) Anyway... I guess I just don't see the harm in allowing some real, healthy food during the pre-op phase and I don't understand why two solid weeks of nothing but liquid is necessary. I'm not trying to encourage you to hit the Chinese buffet or anything, but honestly I don't see where the harm would be in having a little lunchmeat or cheese now and then to sustain yourself. Again, not telling you to go against your doctors' orders, but it might not hurt to call and ask if you can allow yourself some food (and hey, if you suck on cheese, it becomes liquid anyway! :bored0: LOL).

I had a LOT of hunger from about 4-10 weeks or so... it was almost constant except for the first hour or so after I ate, and really, really uncomfortable. Staying off coffee helped, and so did taking an acid blocker. Now at almost 5 months out, I can tell you that for me, the frequency and intensity of hunger has subsided HUGELY... once in awhile I get a feeling of hunger, but it's very mild and easily ignored or washed away with something to drink. Mostly I just get a feeling like I need to eat something, but it's not exactly hunger and isn't uncomfortable. And, I'm back to having a cup or two of coffee in the morning and not taking the acid blocker (although I DO find myself grazing more, not sure if it's related or not but it might be)... so the point of this rambling is that at least for me, that intense hunger did go away after a few weeks, so hang in there and see if a PPI helps at all. :bored0:

To really understand why staying low-carb is so important for us, I highly, highly recommend reading at least the first few chapters of Dr. Atkins' book. It explains so well how it changes your metabolism and forces your body to burn fat (instead of the existing carbs), reduces hunger, affects your insulin (and how insulin spikes affect you and your cravings)... it really is the best way to go to get the weight off. If you watch calories only and keep the carbs high you almost certainly won't lose as well, but there's also no way you won't lose either, it just might not be at a rate that you're happy with. It does make it so much easier to stick with low-carb if you understand how any why it works. :bored0:

Wow, that REALLY shows on you, nice job!!

I would think as soon as you hit the pureed stage, and then mushies if they're nice and soft and ripe. Heck, my favorite thing to eat on liquids was tomato soup. :biggrin0:

I couldn't really SEE the swelling, but I could feel it when I put pants on because it was much firmer, and didn't squish with the waistband like the plain old fat did. Probably took 2-3 weeks before I didn't feel that anymore. By then there was still some firmness around the biggest scar, but things were getting looser so it wasn't uncomfortable anymore.

Nope, no catheter...but at 44, being overweight, having had a huge child and now with a pretty significant pelvic floor weakness, when I gotta go, I gotta go! :scared0:

Me either, the entire time. They put anti-nausea meds in the IV, and I think I got shots of something too, I'm not sure. As far as actually waking up went, I was just really, really groggy and kept falling back asleep, but waking back up 'cause I had to pee so bad from all the IV fluids!

Not a DVD, but my doc copied my surgery to a thumb/zip drive for me. Yep, I've watched it and it's really cool... I just wish there was sound so I could hear the OR talk at the same time! :thumbup:

Good morning! HW - 258 SW - 246.4 LW - 194 Today - 191.6 (dang thing read 191 even two nights ago but I'll record today's)

I totally get ya! I just told my husband this morning that I think I've become obsessed with my collarbones. :scared0:

Isn't that the coolest thing? :scared0: LOL... YAY FOR YOU!!!

Well, that's just the way it works... the hospital, anesthesia, psychiatrist, etc., don't work for the doctor, so you pay them each individually. Not quite sure what there is to be angry about?? Just make sure you get receipts from them all.

Getting a what?

Good for you girl, way to be PROUD and STRONG!!!

Gooooooood Morning Everyone!!! It's a beautiful day here in mid-Michigan, let's get this thing started! HW - 258 SW - 246.4 LW - 196.4 (50 lbs. exactly since surgery, woo!!) Today - 194 even. Been straying a little too much lately, feel like I need to hit the 'reset' button and get my sleeve and my head back in the right place so I'm gonna try the 5-day pouch thing. Don't so much physically feel like I need to, but mentally just kind of want to so we'll see what happens. Have a great week everyone! :thumbup1:

Yep, looks like it's specifically excluded. Welcome to the club! Wheeeeee.... LOL. You should be able to apply your flex $$ to it.

Definitely! You shouldn't have any restrictions at this point. Have fun!

Thank you SO much for posting those, they give me hope! I was actually thinking of asking if anyone who looked like they were going to have batwings had some shrinkage further down the line. My arms also look like your first pic, at 5 1/2 months out and 62 lbs down (from my highest), with 36 - 48 lbs to go. If they skin was gone, they'd already be looking good but they're pretty not-so-pretty right now. Assuming you're doing the standard biceps and triceps exercises, but I'd be interested in knowing specifically what you've been doing too. Your arms look great!!

All I can offer is that even at only 4 months out, life is so totally normal... the only difference is that it's SOOOOO much easier to not eat bad things, and that we eat so much less than before. There are too many good things to list! As far as losing the stomach goes, what helped me was that I thought of my stomach as a toxic entity that needed to get out of my body. It made too much ghrelin, drove me to eat when I didn't need to, didn't tell me when I was full until I was stuffed so I was bloated and uncomfortable most of the time, and made me sick on a regular basis because of heartburn and reflux. Why would I miss that traitorous thing? Think of it as divorcing a cheating, abusive partner and move on to a healthy, productive life! You won't regret it. :thumbdown:

Good for you!! Doesn't it feel wonderful? It feels SO good to work hard and get just dripping-sweaty, then get cleaned up afterwards and feel fresh and energized. The hardest part is getting going and keeping it up regularly, but you're well on your way!!

I'm not sure if you were expecting anyone to not tell you the truth, but you've already answered your own question... the "truth" is different for different people. For me, I'd have been confortable sitting in class two or three days afterward, although would have been tired and not able to concentrate well. Probably at about a week it wouldn't have been a problem. My job is fairly physical and I went back 10 days later.

Mine's a 32, and at 4 months out I can definitely eat more than one boiled egg. I think he's talking about your initial capacity right after surgery (not that your stomach would let you eat a whole boiled egg at that point anyway LOL). Honestly, I wouldn't want it any bigger, although from what I've read the difference between a 32 and even a 40 is minimal. And no, there aren't any studies if long-term VSG in the elderly... but there are many, many people who have had full astrectomies for things like stomach cancer, who have gone on to live healthy, normal lives. If you search Tifffykins' posts, somewhere she's linked to studies such as those. :thumbup1:

I was still a little sore standing up at 3 days out, but was also out grocery shopping (just not lifting much) at that point also. Hard telling ahead of time how you'll feel, but you've got a good chance of being able to make it! :crying:

That's totally doable! I'd consider myself a moderate loser... not real fast, but not a slow loser either. I lost 20 lbs the first month and have been averaging about 10 a month since (I'm down an even 50 at four months and one week out).