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You won’t have to wait to drink before & after meals for ever. I wait 5 or 10 minutes now & less if I just have a sip before & after so I can order a glass of wine before a meal & finish it after without much issue. I can even have a sip while eating if I pace my bites & sips. If I drink too much to close to a bite I feel full very quickly & sometimes a little uncomfortable. Dint think there’s anything I really miss now. Sure, sometimes I see something & think that looks nice bet it’s delicious but I’m not really interested in wanting to actually eat it. Actually some high fat or high sugar foods or large portions turn my tummy. I feel repulsed by it. Maybe I’m strange, though.

Sleevediva you too should be incredibly proud of how far you have come in such a short space of time. I want to share what I have finally realised after months of saying I have no restriction, I am still getting hungry. My full feeling is no longer the same feeling it was before surgery at this point it's hard for me to describe how it feels as it can change from day to day sometimes it's just a " I don't feel like eating any more of that". It certainly isn't the hard stop eating or you will explode feeling I thought it would be. Most times it's very subtle and the further away from surgery I am the more subtle it seems to be. Now hunger omg I can get this "my stomach is an empty pit" feeling while I am eating and directly after eating it was the worst, this was happening almost every meal at one point it also happened to my surgery buddy we discovered that if we had a small drink before eating (10 mins ) and a few small sips after eating this helped. we then tried to drink more during the day this also helped so we figured this feeling was thirst related. Head hunger is the hardest to over come my head hunger is triggered by time, you know look at the clock oh its lunchtime and the obvious see something yummy and want it. So now I stop and think does my stomach need food or is it just my head. Most times it's my head my true hungry stomach feeling is a weird growly feeling and if I am honest I eat before I feel real physical hunger most times. Snacking/ grazing is something that is getting harder to get a hold of as it gets easy to eat and drink food so much easier. 😫. Anyway my point is our full and hungry cues after surgery can be very different to what they were pre surgery we just have to work out what they are for our bodies. I hope this helps.

I have found I can drink right before I eat, even seconds before and I am fine, but after eating protein or a meal I need to wait at least 30 minutes, otherwise I will feel pain when trying to wash down chicken or tuna or whatever. So for meals that I am eating soup, I will just eat the soup first and then can have the protein. My bigger issue is snacking on candy, junk. cookies, Its a constant struggle for. I realize my brain and body are not on the same page. My body needs to eat slowly and doesn't care to eat out since I would end up overeating and being in pain. But my mind is still thinking of eating out 3 times a day and in 3 more times and midnight snacks. I never cured my addiction, its tough, I find myself getting much quicker to anger at my wife or kids since i am having this internal struggle. I keep saying I need to see a good therapist or go to OA, get a sponsor and give it a good go. But i say I am too busy or its expensive. As is I am saving more than $1000 a month than before surgery. That is just for my restaurant bills , that I would go out and eat myself like lunch twice a day, like sushi with a friend and then Italian myself.... Its also tough since my energy levels are the same as before. I was always a high energy person. so i feel the same, except when exercising or walking I NOTICE A major difference. . I now weight 236 pounds( 107 kilo) and 6 months ago I was 366 ( 166 kilo) , like not out of breath, I started playing basketball twice a week and can play for 2 hours straight. But i lost that relationship that was my everything ( food) and I knew how addicted I was, I just didn't give a ****. It made me always soo happy. I did not get the bypass for looks or to feel good. I only got it so my wife is not widowed in 10-15 years, I am 35 and she is 31, and I owe it to her and my 4 kids to live another 40 years minimum. pre surgery my blood pressure was 175 /125, way to f**ing high!! Its just freaking hard as hell. Im venting since I need to right now. Im still the same funny as before, I know that and friends and family say it as well. But there is still a huge change. I am eating way to much junk but at the same time I dont even feel like I enjoy it close to as much as I use to, like only 20% as much ( If I could put a number) and that is because I cannot pound it. I used to love eating like 3 burgers in buns in 2-3 minutes, thats the part that felt so amazing when my mouth was stuffed and my belly filled. I cannot look to other areas, I already had a life of drugs from 13-23 , went to rehabs and now clean for many years, although I picked up smoking weed again right after surgery to help cope with the loss of my comforter, my right hand man, my happy self, my food... but I only smoke on weekends 1-2 times, since that is when I am not working. So not heavy at all. Cigarettes I stopped 16 months ago. But have had like 4-5 of them in the last 2 months, but wont let myself start again, so no wiggle room. I guess I am saying I need support, any support will be welcome. Its just hard. that is all !

So much this. My dad tried to get me to lose weight and promised me new clothes etc for YEARS. Once I got my biggest, I honestly didn't WANT to lose weight because of this reason. If they can't love me at my worst, they don't deserve me at my best, right? Luckily I found the love of my life while I was at my heaviest and he loves me no matter what. So now, I just get to be better and healthier for him and our bonus kids. I get to improve my health to stay around longer for them since their mother is 9 times out of 10, MIA.

I will say - the first few months were tough energy wise, and then it felt like I lost a lot of my ab strength. But, now pretty much 10 months out, my exercise game is so much improved! I'm doing those training workouts again, and back to my old weight levels (and heavier for some things). I've also added a ton more weekly workouts and it is just so much easier even as I push myself harder. All that's to say that the temporary performance set backs are quickly won back, and with extra dividends!

I had my first appt April 30th, 2019 and my VSG surgery was December 17, 2019. My surgeon’s office had me meet with and get signed off by my GP, a cardiologist (that I now see every 6 months!), a therapist for psychiatric evaluation, a dietitian, and a pulmonologist who recommended I get genetic testing.

I don't work out at the gym, but I work out with a trainer doing bodyweight exercises, heavy weights, and all that fun stuff. It was 2 months for me - when I was first cleared for exercise I still couldn't lift more than 10 lbs, so I wasn't very motivated to do it until I was a little further out. I also wasn't supposed to do a lot of exercise (beyond walking) until I was eating at least 800-1000 calories/day consistently. And that took me a while. Honestly, between eating so little and just the natural time it takes to recover from what is a major surgery, 2 months was right for me. When I started back with the trainer, I went slow on weights and ab work until I was confident with my body being ready for it.

How do you tell whether the pudginess you have left is loose skin or if it's still mostly/all belly fat? I am wearing a size 10/medium depending on the brand. I have a 32.5 in waist, and I'm at a BMI of 29. My weight loss has slowed down tremendously this month (today is exactly 9 months out). I thought it was all belly fat, but it's starting to feel a lot "squishier" and "looser" in the skin in my abdomen. I really don't plan to have plastics (although the FUPA is redonkulous!) but I am trying to gage how much more of my belly fat I can expect to lose.

Thank you. Good advice. Once you had your lap band removed did you gain all the weight back? I've had mine for over 10 years. I've been able to keep my weight down to it 25 BMI and I'm worried that I'll gain all the weight back.

Hey, I had my surgery on the 3rd June, and I haven't had a bowel movement either. I brought it up with my surgeon and he said it can take 10-14 days to have one. After surgery sometimes our bowel goes to "sleep" and takes a little bit to wake up again. Im going to wait till about the 3 week mark and then will let my surgeon know if I still have not gone. Hope your recovery is going well!

I had my lapband completely drained (removed 3ML) on Friday June 10, 2022 due to esophageal narrowing. The narrowing was causing food and liquids to get stuck. If you've have a lapband, you know that it only takes bending over a toilet to push it out of the esophagus as it never makes it to the stomach to vomit. I liken it to a funnel that gets blocked. It's not painful, just pressure that needs to be relieved. Once it's gone you can continue to eat. After it was drained I started eating normally straight away and have been having excoriating pain in my esophagus ever since, that feels like a heart attack. It radiates in my chest, back, jaw and bottom teeth. It makes me nauseous as soon it comes - I can feel it start and then gets more and more intense until I vomit. This happens every single day, at least twice a day. I went to the movies today and ate: Corn dog, 3/4 of a small popcorn and a drink. Halfway through the movie I had to leave; there's no getting comfortable, can't sit, can't lay down, I just pace until I vomit and then the pain goes away. Has anyone experienced this and knows what I'm talking about? Why is the pain worse without any fluid in my band? I have a video call with my doctor next Thursday. Just curious from my fellow banders. Thank you. Cindy

Over the counter stool softener Colace. If it's really bad senna. You can get senna plus it has colace in it. Senna is a laxative. I normally never constipated, but the increase of protein caused a problem, I now take colace daily and if it gets bad I add the senna. I was not drinking enough fluids . Walking and increasing my fluid intake it's helped. BTW I am week 4. I lost 10lbs the first 2 weeks, nothing of 10 days. They say that we lose water first then as we increase our fluids we are losing inches even though it appears we are not losing weight. I have increased my walking. I have changed up my intake. I don't if that helped or just time as my body adjusted but I lost 4 oz for 3 days in a row then 1lb. It's not much lost 2lbs in 4 days but it's something.

Not gonna lie to y’all … I’m reading about and looking at waaaayyyyyy too much plastic surgery content. Like my brain has skipped over all the VSG work/effort/difficulty. I need to rein it back in and concentrate on the next step, instead of 10 steps down the road!

My hernia repair, gallbladder removal and gastric bypass were last Wednesday, 6/8. I’ll try to answer your questions: I started the process in January of this year. Surgeon suspected and diagnosed a massive hiatal hernia- 2/3 of my stomach was in my chest. It explained my shortness of breath and heartburn. I was approved by CIGNA, surgery date was set. I was given a 6/8 surgery date on 5/16. I researched extensively prior to selecting my surgeon. There are quite a few MDs in my family (sister, daughter, etc) and I leave no stone unturned when I research. I looked up ‘complication’ rates, everything. My surgeon’s practice is a Cigna Bariatric Center of Excellence. I am 1000% totally pleased with every aspect of the care I have received. My doc’s personality and bedside manner is/was perfect for me. I relate well to intelligent professionals in the medical field and my doc and I communicated with very level footing. He never spoke down to me, we were very conversational and he has a great sense of humor which is an absolute must for me. He told me my stay would be one overnight but possibly two. It did end up being 2 nights. I do not metabolize anesthesia well, and he got my nausea under control immediately when it was obvious that the usual protocol was not going to work for me. I saw him prior to going into the OR. He was upbeat and positive as was I. He was leaving the next day on vacation and we chatted about that. His practice has a protocol of ENHANCED RECOVERY AFTER SURGERY, and it has been a great outcome because of that. The anesthesiologist saw me prior to surgery and he used a nerve block on each side of my abdomen an hour before surgery. He said it would last for 3 days and I believe him. I did not ever need pain meds post op. Amazing, right? The biggest issue for me was debilitating nausea and it was addressed immediately and the outcome was positive. My care in the hospital was five star! I could not have asked for anything better. My husband was in my suite with me 24/7. The suites are new and resemble hotel studio suites. No kidding. Two flat screen TVs. Spotlessly clean. Everything one might need to be comfortable was there. We checked in on 6/8 at 8am with surgery scheduled for 10:20. My doc was running ahead of schedule and he had booked the OR for 4 hours because of the extensive hernia issues. He completed the procedure in 2 hours. He told my husband it was textbook and I was a very easy patient. 🤗 My husband and everyone else whose loved ones were in surgery wait in a large area. They can follow the patients progress on a tv screen using an ID number for their loved one. It indicates pre-op, entering OR, procedure underway, procedure completed, surgeon on way to talk to family, recovery room, etc. I’ve boarded cruise ships that didn’t have as smooth of a boarding process as WakeMed Hospital and their surgical department. LOL I was in my room at 3:15- there was an emergency unrelated to me and I was held in recovery a little longer than is typical. Once in my room, my RN, and his nursing assistant were always there tending to me. The nausea issue developed immediately and was addressed immediately. I have used only ice for discomfort at one laparoscopic site, and I have showered and I am walking. I was nervous and antsy but the hospital staff was totally in control, responsive to any questions, and their manner put me and my husband at ease. I packed very little. Extra long phone charger, toiletries, extra undies. I went home in the clothes I wore to the hospital. Thankfully I had loose shoes. I think one might expect to be bloated with Fluid and air. The gas pain scenario that most seem to mention was not an issue for me. My husband would rub my back and ‘burp’ me…lol…for every burp I had, my husband would burp 6 times. 🤣😂 Seriously. Ask me anything you want to know. And good luck to you,

I am the same way! I am so tired of sweet things but have no problem with crystal lite and water! My nutritionist called to check on me the day after I came home and I told her how hard it was for me to drink sweet things and she said that I could have cream of chicken soup mixed with skim milk, so it becomes very thin, and then put it all in a blender with ricotta cheese and then strain it really well so there are no chunks and then warm it up on the stovetop. That has changed everything for me! It doesn’t have as much protein as a protein shake but it’s better than not getting any protein! She also told me about Gatorade protein which has 10 grams of protein per bottle. I haven’t tried them yet but she said they aren’t as sweet as protein shakes so I may be able to handle those.

Just wanted to vent a little, I have been looking for support groups to see if I can talk to anyone about all of this, but haven't found anything. I got VSG on march 31st 2022. The first 5 days were terrible, not only did I throw up everything but also had a really annoying cough, that made my abdomen hurt and didn't let me sleep. Got prescribed antihistamines and it got better. Stayed at home for 6-7 days. Went back to work and felt dizzy, so I had to go half days for a while (I am a veterinarian, on my feet all day). Two weeks after surgery, I started coughing again, and this time literally felt excruciating pain around the area of the incisions. I got to the doctors office crying, I was in so much pain. They did an ultrasound, bloodwork and X-rays, and sent me to the pneumologist and apparently I had bronchitis, because of the pain I had to stay home again, for a couple of days. I started treatment for it and it started getting better about after 7 days, but then three days later I started coughing. Went back to the doctor, and now had an inflamed lung. He did PCR and D-DIMER, and they were both super elevated (tested negative for COVID), and had to be put on anticoagulants and everything. Started getting better after two weeks, and lo and behold, 5 days later I get a terrible cold. Fever, congestion, and throat ache. Started getting better 3-4 days ago. Now on top of everything, I broke a toe while walking around the house barefoot. Asked the nutritionist and she said it might be because my vitamin D is low, and im not absorbing calcium as I should. Now I had to stay home as well for a week on doctors orders to rest my feet. I used to be a healthy person before surgery, never got a cold or fractured anything (and definitely have bumped my feet into chairs before). I was morbidly obese, and had joint pains but apart from that I didn't get sick. I feel very frustrated in this aspect. I have lost 50 pounds, in 10 weeks, and don't have any gastrointestinal symptoms (can tolerate basically anything, no vomiting, barely dumping syndrome), but still. I have been eager to start working out but with all these respiratory complications and now a broken toe, it's been an uphill battle.

Has there ever been an issue to where people have chronic back pain issues after the sleeve? I had a gastric lap band to sleeve revision about 10 years out. I've had back spasms in my back. It is in my back and in my upper leg and thigh area. Can you get the gastric sleeve be revised to other procedures? Can you get it revised to a gastric bypass? Can you get it revised back to its old way or to a duodenal stitch? Anyone heard of anything like this? Any ideas? Do you think a revision would stop the pain?

Shift work is the absolute devil - do you do it all the time? Anyway - one day's slip up means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the grand scheme of things @SleeverSk Just get back on the horse tomorrow. You've learned something (that slider foods do slide down REALLY nicely) and you will use that moving forwards until you reach goal - the goal that YOU want to reach. We all have better days and worse days - look at what you have achieved over the last 10 months - unbelievable.

31 year old, 10 weeks post op.

Oh for sure. People (in general not just WLS) would be so surprised in general the package cost isn’t the same as what you’re eating cost. So let’s make a hypothetical dinner for 5 people of steak, quinoa and mixed veggies with prices near me- Organic quinoa- $3.27 for 16oz bag with 10 servings Top sirloin $8.99/lb Butter (for steak)- $3.58/lb or 32Tbsp Frozen mixed veggies $1 for 1lb bag Total cost would be- $16.84 You aren’t using all the butter or quinoa so food cost for the meal meal will be different. Cooking 4 servings of quinoa, the 1lb of steak with 2Tbsp butter, and the bag of veggies makes dinner around $11.53 or roughly $2.31 per person. It also comes down to 395 calories with 29g protein, 17g fat, and 28g carbohydrates of which 6 are fiber.

I did the other day, I am 10 months PO and I didn't have any trouble

Finally hit my halfway mark. 138 down since 11/19/21 135 ish to go!

LOL... You're two weeks out and you're expecting your stomach to be tiny? In addition to what everyone else said, your stomach may still be swollen from the surgery process itself. I am 9 months out and my stomach still sticks out compared to what I expected for the size I wear (medium/10). Like others have said, it may be that it will always be where I carry excess weight and it may be that there's some excess skin in the mix.

Yep just been there I slowed right down to the point of stopping at the 8 month mark. Now at just over 10 months I have finally dropped again. Hopefully it will keep going but it's slow probably a kilo a month.

Day 10 of pre-op liquid diet. Surgery scheduled for 6/13. My dr has me on a very strict 2 week liquid only 800 cal 60 grams protein max. The nutritionist explained that it’s to shrink the liver and make more room for the surgery to work. I wish I was able to have some vegetables…. Kinda miss chewing food.