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Hello. I’m having lap band removal and gastric sleeve on May 10. Excited and nervous!

I love seeing everybody's stories too. My surgery was 03/24. I'm having trouble eating solid food unless its soft. I feel a wave of pain in my chest when I tried to eat chicken. It comes and goes for a few minutes. I'm guessing it's my esophagus muscle squeezing. I've had that before when I thought I ate too much. This time, I had very little chicken so I know it wasn't that. It scared me. So I'm back to eating eggs for protein. I did have a stage 3 hiatal hernia repaired. It might have been that as well. Joined the local YMCA. They don't have a swimming pool, but my membership is nationwide, so I can go to one of the other swimming pools in the county. My kids love it, and they have some workout machines outside a play area. There are glass windows so you can use a bike, row machine, etc while watching the kids play. Upcoming challenges: Still unable to take vitamins w/o nausea. Was considering ordering some patches, but I'm not sure about their efficacy COVID 19 booster on Friday. I'm dreading this most of all. I've had 3 shots and I had a strong reaction to every single one. Fever 104, headache, body aches, fatigue, basically flu symptoms for about 3 days. I don't want to eat or drink, so I'll be struggling with fluids.

I meant to make a post for six months, but then life happened. So here I am exactly seven months out from surgery. Current weight: 268. Down 128 lbs. from my measured high, down 98 lbs. since intake, down 89 lbs. since surgery. 17 pounds to goal. It's gotten a lot slower, and I expected it to. I hit a major stall for more than a month right around the six-month mark. I'd lose a pound, and then I'd retain water or work out hard and cause inflammation, and those gains would be erased. My week-over-week average did drop, but by fractions of a pound. Then this week—whooooooosh, I lost five pounds in two days which just means my body cleared out the water, the 💩, and whatever else might've been hiding in there. The big marker has been my body fat; at intake, my body fat was over 40%. At six months (the last DEXA scan I had done), it was 26.8%, and has dropped since then. Because I have been training like a madman, my muscle mass also went up quite a bit from the initial post-surgical drop. My goal is to be below 20% body fat, whatever that number is, so I recalculated it at six months and my goal weight moved from 240 lbs. to 251 lbs. (I'm a thicc boi, by which I mean "incredibly dense".) Last week I was hospitalized for an infection and spent two days in there. While the infection absolutely sucked, I did notice my vital signs were exactly where they needed to be, without any medication at all. My blood pressure was 111/67, my SpO2 was 100%, and my resting heart rate was 48 bpm. That alone would have made it worth it. Also, the first night, I did not have my APAP machine and managed to sleep without oxygen desaturation happening (to the very great surprise of the nurse). I need to make an appointment for a sleep study to see if I still need the machine, I don't want to just drop it if I'm still having apnea. I am wearing size 34 jeans (down from 52), large t-shirts (down from 4XL or even 5XL), and my shoe size went down again, so I'm in 11.5s now, which are a lot easier to find. I eat 1500-2000 calories a day depending on my planned activity level. On days when I'm going to work out and then coach, I eat closer to 2000 cal; on days where I am more sedentary, I eat closer to 1500 calories. It's about a 40/30/30 split between protein, carbohydrate, and fat calories. If I start feeling the restriction, I just stop, no matter how many calories I'm up to. I find that if I force myself to put the spoon or fork down between bites, sometimes my brain just forgets the food is there, so if I go, "Oh, hey, there's still food in front of me," I know I have had enough. Yesterday's meal plan was this, along with 3 litres of water: 0700: Espresso with 3g brown sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk, 8 oz. tropical chia pudding with a few very small cubes of mango and nata de coco (coconut jelly). It took me about 20 minutes to eat this. 1000: Protein shake (Core Power 26g) 1300: 4 oz. ground turkey breast with 1.5 eggs, some spinach, mushrooms, and roasted yellow bell pepper, with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, some salsa, and a high-fiber whole-wheat tortilla-type wrap. This took me an hour to eat. 1800: 6 oz. grilled pork chop with 2 Tbsp. sauerkraut and some cooked apple and caramelized onion, with 4 oz. steamed green beans with a tiny bit of butter. It took me 45 minutes to eat this. 2030: Protein pudding (instant sugar-free pudding with protein powder mixed in, made with milk) and one single Thin Mint crumbled on top Total was 158.3 grams protein, 122.3 g carbohydrate, 58.7 g fat for a total of 1650 calories. Athletically, my mile run has gone from 15 minutes to about 10 minutes (though I don't run as often as I should), my flexibility and mobility are way improved, and my explosiveness has improved—from nearly missing an 18-inch standing box jump to doing a 30-inch with plenty of clearance. I'm juuuuuust about able to do a pull-up (soon!) and can do ring dips and support my own weight on the rings. I can also climb corral fences a lot better now that I don't have to wait at the top to find my center of gravity. There's some loose skin, especially around my belly. There's a little bit of chicken wing in my thighs and a tiny, nearly unnoticeable amount in my arms. The belly one bothers me because I feel like it pooches out, but obviously I will need to be stabilized at a weight for a while before even thinking about plastics.

I am going in for surgery this morning. I am so looking forward until this is over. My nerves have settled but I am still a bit anxious and hungry. My wife is downstairs cooking turkey bacon and eggs for her and my daughter, while I upstairs wishing the next 30 days would fast forward. I just wanna eat some vegetables and a small piece of salmon! 10:30AM is not coming fast enough.

Hi good for you !! I’m just getting blood work etc so mine will be after last dietitian appt June 20. So maybe July. I did a lap band 10 yrs ago and the protein drinks were sold at my Drs. I’m not sure what’s the new thing and what my new Dr will ask for. Good luck you can do this!

So my 1 week pre op liquid diet starts April 26th (surgery is May 3rd). Just ordered protein shakes, protein flavored water, and protein smoothies. I ordered variety packs of everything. I got Fairlife shakes (10 pack), Premier shakes (15 pack), Designer Wellness smoothies (12 pack), and Protein 2o Electrolyte protein drinks (two 12 packs). I got them all on Amazon. This might sound really odd, but even though I have my surgery date already, there was something about ordering my shakes and drinks that just made everything feel REALLY real. Does that make sense? I'm more nervous about the liquid diet than I am about the actual surgery LOL

I am probably going to be a June surgery…obviously 🙄 my preferred date of 4/11 wasn’t to be. The last day of school is June 10-ish and I’m ready to go that day. My paper work won’t be sent to Cigna for about another week. I’m leaning towards gastric bypass and I’m meeting with my surgeon next week to discuss what he thinks. I’m looking forward to reading about everyone’s experience.

It gets easier after about 4-5 days. I am on day 10 of 14 of my pre op diet. but if you got unhealthy stuff at home, get rid of it. Its too much temptation lol. and keep busy so you are not thinking about food.

Slow loser here too. But the weight does continue to come off. My surgery was on 01/11, and so far, I've lost 34 lbs. Back when I was 50, I lost 50 pounds, but it took me 2 YEARS for that! LOL at my age, I don't have the time left! My doctor wanted me to walk more, and I just giggled--it's all I can do to work 40 hours a week at a desk job, much less exercise. If you are young, you have no idea. I think he wanted me to because the weight loss is so slow. Well, the fact that the scale continues to move down is GREAT for me. I'm not hungry-I still have nausea, but I think I have found the way out of that. So not hungry--none of that "oh God, I can't think of anything else but the cookies in the break room" stuff. 34 lbs in 3 months is wonderful for me!

I did my surgery 3/10/2022 in Tijuana with Dr.Almánzar, best decision ever. Everything went well and I’m already 26 pounds lighter.

Bakersfield, CA here just started my 10 week online classes

Hey y'all, I am 2.5 weeks post op (band to sleeve). No real complications other than this: about 5 to 10 minutes after I finish eating; I get extremely tired and sleepy. That "spell" last about 10 minutes or so and then it's gone and I am just fine. Anyone else? Thank in advance!

Just wanted to post an update. I am healing well, most of the glue is off but still have some scabs but those won't last much longer. Any bloating seems to be gone so that tummy is now all me. No lifting more than 10 lb for a few weeks yet but I'm anxious to get back to the gym - I feel my muscles are in a really weak state. I started the mushies today and am having a scrambled egg for breakfast. Two ounces is less than a whole egg! I assume it will fill me up though. So far so good. Down 32 pounds since March 7.

Luckily, my immediate family was supportive, but there are lots of people on this forum in your situation. I totally get your experience with weight loss, though. I'm in my 60s and spend literally decades trying every diet known to man. In my more successful attempts, I'd lose 50 or 60 lbs (but most times, more like 10 or 20). It was just a matter of time before it all came back on. The problem is, you're fighting biology. And biology almost always wins. Fewer than 5% of people can take off a large amount of weight and keep it off. Weight loss surgery doesn't guarantee you'll be able to take it off and leave it off, but it greatly increases your chances because it changes some of that "biology" that's been keeping you from doing it. Your sister could stand to do a lot of reading on this topic as she clearly doesn't understand it - that is, if she's even agreeable to reading up on it. And if it's even worth it to you to have her on board. If she's interested, she could even accompany you on the consult if the two of you want her there. In the end, she's going to need to accept your decision, even if she doesn't agree with it.

Good morning, I finally decided to take the step and do a surgery consult. I’ve been considering surgery for 10 years. I tried to talk to my sister about it and she told me I’m mentally I’ll and need to do counseling, that I have PTSD and if I just do counseling I’ll lose weight. Trust me I’ve lost weight before with diets and behavior modification! Then tells me I just need to do keto (also did that I need more veggies and fruits in my life). Anyone have not supportive family? I guess I’m sort of over working so hard (no I’m not constantly eating candy, chips and fast food like everyone says to me) and getting nowhere. About me: 41, she/her, work as a research RN, no kids, never married, 2 dogs. Living the fun life in the desert of Arizona.

I had my sleeve surgery in Mexico, with doctor Almánzar in Baja California Hospital (March 10, 2022). Best decision ever, the nurses are amazing, my surgery went perfect. When I came back to the States I went to the emergency room just to check and the doctors here were amazed, how good and perfect everything was. So don’t be scared my surgery only took 40 minutes, 3 hours after the surgery I was walking and talking like nothing happened. Also, I never had any pain or nauseous. My experience was amazing, will do it 10000000 times in Mexico.

Exciting! There are a few of us scheduled April 19. We should form our own group. Anyone know how??

How exciting! I am scheduled for 4/19 as well. Best of luck to you! Please keep in touch

Congrats! I am scheduled for 4/19 as well. We are almost there!!

I’m close! 4/19!

Just reading your comments, I've had to wait 5 years in the public system then covid hit! That added another 2 years on top of the 5! so eventually I gave up! I wasn't even thinking about it anymore and was just over it, till March 24th they called me asking if I would be ready for the surgery in two weeks April 7th 😳and I said NO! (That was too much of a short notice,) wasn't ready for that I needed at least a month for preparations lol I was happy to hear that they had a vacancy for the 27th of April lol so I accepted that one, I've done all my blood tests seminars and everything else I was asked to do I'm very low on iron its down to 10 where it should be 45 so im told I will be getting an iron infusion on the 14th otherwise I won't be fit enough to go in to theatre, but none the less I weighed at 109kg back in December and today I weigh at 99kg I'm really trying to lose as much as I can on my own by cutting down on carbs and sugar and resisting my usual Temptations just so I have a quicker recovery I'm on the shakes diet atm I've just done a whole lot of meal preps with lots of low starch vegetables that are on my "allowed to eat list" steamed and chopped chucked it in the deepfreeze! and loads of salad so they will be a companying my Optifast shakes before and after the surgery I realised my downfalls and mistakes were NOT doing meal preps ahead of time as I would just grab whatever was in the fridge when I was feeling peckish, I really want this to work as I've waited so long for this surgery, the only thing thats really stuck on my mind is that we have to take multivitamins for the rest of our lives 😳Other than that I'm ready for this journey and a whole new life style that will change my life for the better!👍🤞

Regret and Shame. I had a Roun Y 23 years ago. The first cpl years were maGical! The weight dropped off, my skin snapped back, I could do any activity I wanted. Then somewhere between 2-5 yr I started having one more bite, a glass of wine, a bite more dessert and so on. I don’t really have dumping or a ton of restrictions. I eat like everyone else eat the table. I started putting on 10 pounds at a time and finally reached my pre op wt. Because I had an open procedure it took a long time to find the right doc to do a safe revision. My revision was last Tue. I will stay true to the guidance for the long haul. It is a precious tool, but I have to take responsibility for what passes my lips. I’m great full for the community and the support.

Hello! So happy you are doing well. I had my SECOND gastric by pass on Tue. Please allow me to be a cautionary tale for you….. My first surgery was 23 yr ago. I had to travel to have it done and did not have much in the way of follow up. I lost over 150pounds. Then started to regain about 10 pounds a yr. I did not follow the guidelines after the first few years. I ate a cpl bites more, I had cocktails, stopped exercising, drank sparkling water. I struggled so much trying to diet and reverse the cycle. I am a registered nurse and I was unable to take some jobs because they became to physically demanding. I beg you to follow the guidelines of your doctor. Today and forever! You have completely modified your body. If it is not on your list do not let us pass your lips. The quantity and quality of foods today ensure your health and success tmw. Just because you Can eat or drink beyond the recommendation does not mean you Should. I recently read a good book available on Amazon ‘ Bariatric Success’. Be mindful of this incredible tool you worked so hard for. Make the lifestyle changes and enjoy the gift! Tina 2.0 🤗

yep. Water weight from the IV fluids. I've heard of some people gaining 10 or more lbs from it. It takes a few days for it to work it's way out of your system. In the mean time, if it's stressing you out, then just stay off the scale for a few days.

Man I am so touched by your post. I feel it so deeply your pain & struggle with not knowing how this will turn out for you. I was literally thinking the same exact thing like why did I do this because I was never an overeater per se. Or so I thought but I could have been overeating based on my body’s needs or under nourishing it. This thread is great because it affirms what your going through has also been experienced by others. I want you encourage you today HE_thebrave to stay the course like the other posters said to us. I still don’t know what I will look like or feel a year from now or 10 years but I’m going to stay the course because what’s the alternative? What’s done is done lol we can’t reverse the surgery nor wound we want to right? We’re going to continue to live out the life we envisioned for ourselves and focus on doing the right things, feeling amazing and the small wins will give us joy along the way then we’ll add allllll those up and be like I don’t even know why I was stressing in the beginning lol 💪🏽💪🏽 We took an amazing step and added something to our toolbox and it’s just that unfortunately a really expensive name brand tool lol Please keep in touch and let me and us know how it goes for you.