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@AndreaJD my doctor uses binders after surgery also. I also have to use a spirometer to breathe into for 2 weeks to make sure I am getting full lung expansion. I agree, the “before” pictures are hard to look at. But they are also motivation to make a change.

I actually had virgin sleeve/SADI surgery nearly 4 years ago now. I don't think SADI is an option for the "my surgery" part of the profile on this site so I listed DS as the closest. Honestly, I had a pretty easy surgery and recovery. Of course there is soreness and healing like there would be with any other surgery but I felt well enough to go back to (extremely sedentary) work in a week. Really, the worst thing for me was a sore throat from being intubated. My doctors gave me a three week eating plan to follow one week each of clear liquids, any liquids, soft solids before eating a regular diet. I followed this faithfully even though I felt like I could eat more and was a little hungry at times. Now, I eat pretty much exactly the same things that I ate before surgery, just smaller amounts. If I have a lot of sugar or simple carbohydrates, I will get gas and loose stools. It's not painful though, it's just . . . happening. Still, I usually try to avoid it but treat myself now and then. My iron got very low about two years out from surgery. I was getting lightheaded and they ran some labs to find out my iron/hemoglobin was tanking. I had to get a series of IV infusions and then take extra iron supplements. Almost two years after that now and I am able to keep my levels in the low-normal range with just the supplements. I take three doses of an adult multivitamin per day, no special bariatric formula (don't tell the admins!). Be prepared to explain your surgery to any non-bariatric doctors you deal with. Unless they are bariatric specialists, they will NOT be familiar with the different kinds of surgery and they will likely have no idea what SADI is. A lot of them generically call any weight loss surgery "bypass" (e.g. the hematologist I see for my iron tests). Get a big plastic tote and put it on the floor of your closet. When a piece of clothing is too big, take it off, put it in the tote, and don't think about it again. When the tote is full, bring it to your local women's shelter or similar. If you can, get one new piece of clothing for every two you put in the tote. Build your new wardrobe thoughtfully. My only regret is that I didn't do it 15 years earlier.

@Rosslyn how are you doing. You are about a week out now, right?

It sounds it! But also seems like you have coped as well as you could have and you have made it to the end of the week! woo! Yeah - it is like carrying the weight of a baby on my chest at all times 🤣 I don't THINK they have gotten any smaller just yet, but I know it is to come as I am still not even 3 months post-op yet! How are you feeling about the surgery? I am the same haha but I am so impulsive and I am always like "treat yourselfffffffff" so maybe I will get lashes...you should too! 😂

its been a weird week! Im glad its Friday here and my work day is done in 6hours lol! a GG?! wow I am sure you have nice boobies still even with the weight loss. I think with the weight loss and breastfeeding two of my children for over a year my boobs were like ya there is no way your coming back from this. So booby surgery is a must for me lol! Hoping to have a chillax weekend! You as well and get those lashes girl!!! I am thinking about it too but I spend way too much money on myself as it is hahahah

@AmberFL God that sounds like a hectic week so far and so much to sort out! Sounds like you are one tough mumma though and holding the fort down! 💪 And congrats to you and your degree! That is such a massive achievement!! ❤️ Kudos to you for continuing the workout, I would have been straight out of the door 😂 I am really trying to drink more water at the moment too, but I just hate having to wee all of the damn time 🤣 I am absolutely terrified of losing my boobs...I am a GG at the moment and I just know they are going to be such a state 😢I do however look forward to having that weight off my chest, literally - but just like you, I feel like surgery will be needed! I really hope it all goes well for you. Spa week sounds lush 😍 I am also going to get my eyebrows and nails done this weekend! Possibly also some lashes but we shall see! Good on you for treating yourself, and I am glad that you got this outlet that you needed x

My week has been decent, school for the kids is almost starting so that is exciting, I have a son who is going into 7th grade, daughter who is going into 2nd grade and a 2.5 rambunctious crazy toddler boy. So school shopping and haircuts are in our future next week! I finished my last final for my bachelors degree on Saturday so I will be getting that degree soon! Cannot wait!!! Probably the funniest thing that happened this week is that I went to F45 and my pants split right in the booty crack LOL!! So I ended up tucking in my top to continue my workout. I looked so silly but meh! still got a good workout in. My eating is not as strict as I was before but still tracking and maintaining a good caloric input and getting in around 120-150g of protein a day. Need to work on water more. Working on my food relationship and how its okay to have things in moderation is okay and healthy! Lately, I been having some accepting my new body issues, I went from a DD to A bra size and I am just not coping well LOL I officially am no longer wearing a bra because bralettes or pasties is all I need. The skin that is wrinkly and saggy regardless of how much I work out, its a reminder of how long I put my body through physical abuse and how there will always be remnants of it. I did however put a down payment on a surgeon for breast augmentation for Jan. Which I know I know I should wait longer but that will be a year and if I need them redone or fixed I'll pay for it. Plastics and my sleeve surgeon told me to wait the year. I will wait another year or 2 for my tummy tuck or 360 lift. My department lost 3 people within a month, 2 of which were tenured so this stings. My workload just got A WHOLE LOT BIGGER. Its going to be more stressful- so going to work with all my tools and make sure I don't eat my stress away. This week is my *spa week* Today- tanning & Brows, Monday- getting my hair did, Wednesday- Nails, so this is my week of treating myself for all my accomplishments thus far. I figure I should treat myself with something other than food. Anyways I needed this outlet more than I thought. LOL Thanks for reading if you did!

Congratulations on your loss and thank you for sharing your story thus far. I was 258 at my dr when I started my LSD 12 days ago and I was 244 on my home scale this morning with 4 days to go till surgery day although I think my scale is a few pounds below the dr so probably 11 pounds lost. Losing 30 pounds in 7 weeks post surgery is absolutely amazing!! I am so happy for you. I am a revision so I probably won’t be losing anywhere near that quickly after my revision but that’s okay. I didn’t gain it overnight either. As long as it does eventually comes off.. I will be thrilled. Okay, probably impatient at first, but eventually thrilled. I almost forgot about cold food. I am 3.5 years post sleeve so I am able to eat at a fairly normal speed again and I absolutely hated that too. Whenever I was home I would microwave it over and over and over…. And one of my biggest fears are the bathroom ones. My surgeon’s NP says that so far diarrhea bas been the biggest complaint with his SADI patients with one having it so bad that it interferes with work. For all of them they say it resolved at about three months. I am usually near a bathroom and can make sure of it for 3 months but I am really concerned about the smell. I already bought poo pouri 🤣 Getting past just using a public restroom to go number two is going to be a challenge for me. I can count the number of times I have had to do that on one hand I think. Having it be noisy and smelly is going to make it even more mortifying. Hopefully it will be a small price to pay, though. 🤞 I literally just got up and put my measuring tape in the pile I have started for the hospital so I will remember to take measurements the night before surgery. I seen it posted so many times before and never did it. Always wished I had remembered that and to do photos more often. Just like now I’m wishing I had started before the LSD. Thanks for the reminder. There is so much to remember with all of this. Even the second time around it’s an adjustment if you are like me and let old habits slip back. (Please don’t be like me, anyone, so you don’t gain it back) My sleeve portion is already done so they are not doing anything to my stomach. I can already eat a fairly normal sized portion so my issue shouldn’t be with getting food or liquids in a tiny pouch like most of you. It will more likely be that I will want more than my healing anastomosis will be able to handle so I will have to be very disciplined and eat the portions my dr sets for me. I am just hoping that I have some changes in my appetite still because this is gonna be like a really long pre op liquid diet for me that continues on throughout the purée and soft food stages if not. Aka not fun. You are so smart to only weigh once a week. I wasn’t that self disciplined to put the scale away. I did only record it once a week with my sleeve though so I could see the downward trend more easily and looking at that helped quite a bit when I felt like that scale wasn’t budging. Which reminds me I need to start logging my weight again. And such a good reminder not to compare myself to others. That is going to be especially hard as a revision. He did say it should be faster than a bypass revision though. So maybe on a tad slower than the rest of you here. I hope. Thank you again for sharing your experience. I hope to see updates of your continued progress and that the rest of us have as good of a handle on all of this as you seem to at 7 weeks post. Sounds like you are rocking this. Keep it up.

I had the SADI-S on June 14, 2024. Tomorrow (Aug 2) is my 7 week post op day. I was 278 when I started my liquid diet. I was 268 on surgery day. I was 275 directly after the surgery. Last week I was 238 and I had a combined inches lost of 31. I have been experiencing a stall for a few weeks. I’ll lose some and gain some but it’s the same 3 pounds. As such I’ve been trying to get more movement into my life. I’m eating, at the advice of my surgeon, in a trial and error way. He wants me to be able to eat normal foods as it is easier to get to your protein goals. I haven’t eaten bread, sugar, pasta, or potatoes. I probably won’t go back to those foods. The pain feels like you went hard on Abs day. It was pretty much gone after 3 weeks. Eating too much (even by a single bite) or drinking too soon after a meal hurts worse than after the surgery. If you feel full and you think it’s too soon, take a break then pick it back up. You’ll be able to get it down eventually. Your anastomosis will be swollen (the link between your stomach and intestines) so there’s a bit of backing up before it goes down. I found shaking my stomach helps the food/liquid go down. Get good with your food being cold. Even if it’s hot when you start eating, you can’t eat it fast enough for it to stay warm. This has been the worst change for me besides the smell of my 💩. Work on finding low fat/non fat substitutes for cheese, dairy, etc. Sugar free substitutes for drinks can help get water in. I like G Zero and the added electrolytes are helpful. Track your food in an app. Weight/measure everything. Avoid “eating out” even if you can find reasonable foods to eat, it’s impossible to know your macros when you’re only eating small bits of meals and maybe removing bread etc. I only have been out once and that was two days ago. I ate a few bites off my husband’s plate. I kept looking at everyone’s full plates and thinking about how I would have eaten all of that and still been hungry. You will be exhausted from lack of food and energy. However force yourself to at least walk laps around your home. Only weigh once a week. I had my husband hide my scale. It was pissing me off that my weight was fluctuating. You will see more movement in measurements than you see on the scale. Try not to fixate on the numbers and remember not to compare yourself to others. People with more to lose will be losing faster than you. Some will not follow a good diet and lose very slowly. Let your doctor guide you on follow ups. Trust the process. Im new to this message board but feel free to reach out to me if you want. I’m on instagram as @BariatricBunnyBabe and TikTok as @Bariatric.Bunny and when I find things that work I post about them. I also share my wins and my weight loss stats. SADI-S can 100% feel lonely but we’re out here doing the thing!

Hi! My packing list is super small. comfortable socks; compression socks: wireless bra; heating pad. Same clothes for arrival and leaving. Pillow for car seat belt pressure. For the liquid diet; I am allowed sugar free items like pudding and jello. I love pineapple too! I got Pedialyte popsicles and made some homemade yogurt popsicles too. Homemade cream (yogurt) veggie soups help a lot with hunger! On my clear liquid it’s broth, I made 3 types for variety , vitamin water sugarfree, Gatorade, sugar-free Popsicles, and Jell-o, as much as I want. The doctors are very big on staying hydrated so that’s my main focus. Very wise to stock up on meds!

I had bypass, but from illustrations posted on here it looks like the stomach gets smaller in the switch operations too. There is a healing phase which takes a while. It seems to take a 2-3 week longer process if you’re a person with reflux issues. Some of that process is testing what your body can tolerate at different stages. I had a hard time getting eggs or chicken down. I still have trouble with turkey 3 years out but it may be a sensitivity at this point. Mostly all foods are fine now. The funniest/cute thing is the regurgitation is like a baby burp. The new stomach is so small! Seriously, a baby burp that’s quick and fast and tiny. The yuckiest for me was a communion wafer. It’s made of wheat. It’s hard and dry, and Covid was still on so no sharing the wine. I still hold it in my mouth until it’s thoroughly wet, then swallow. It got stuck and I had the “foamies” which is basically like dry heaving for a long length of time and it was painful. The whole problem of foamies can be avoided by taking small bites, chew thoroughly and try to use some sauce type thing to help food slide down. Stick to the stages and extend them a week or two if you’re worried, but talk to your team about it first.

Oh my word! The gurgling stomach!! I joked with my mom that the 20% that was left for my stomach was awful chatty about getting rid of the rest of her!!!!! It isn’t as loud the second week I feel like.

I am in a stall but have gotten back to a comfortable, positive vibe where I just don't care. And hopefully it'll break my addiction to the scale. My work week has been fraught with stress and cleaning up other peoples' messes -- but I'm trying to remind myself that their bad choices are not my responsibility, and if they want to continue to make poor choices despite my efforts that they can deal with the repercussions themselves. I have entered my malicious compliance phase. Having a lot of trouble with foods lately, particularly lunch times for some reason. I reached out to my team and they told me that while it's not ideal, if I need to do protein shakes or protein-added soups at lunch for a while, it's not going to do any harm. They'd 'like' me to be eating more real foods and not relying on a shake for lunch everyday, but that's something I can 'work towards'. I really don't see the big deal, tbh. I get plenty of dinner variety, and while breakfasts have been pretty much cereal or oatmeal for a while I see variety on the horizon there too. Ok, all that sounded mildly unhappy - but honestly, I'm in a great mood -- especially compared to last week LOL. I feel energized again -- emotionally, mentally & physically.

My brother & SIL had one from their kids that they barely used, so they lent it to me. I used it once and was frustrated with the clean up lol. I ended up investing all of $30 (CAD) in a handheld immersion blender off Amazon -- mostly because I'd wanted one for a while anyway. It was super useful but I have to admit that after the puree stage, I use it maaaaybe once a week.

Egg whites & eggs themselves are still giving me problems. (And chicken. I give one or the other a try every week or so but even two or three small bites induce foamies, no matter how slow I take it or what other foods I bite in between. Ooh, how did I forget pea protein existed? That sounds like a win already. The mashed up chickpeas was... an experience. It wasn't bad, but definitely left the oatmeal with a different taste that I wasn't fond of. This morning was oatmeal with raw sunflower seeds and some chunks of apple. It was delicious but heavy, and still more fat than I want so early in the morning. The brightside of the experiment was when I remembered (gasp!) that I don't have to eat classic breakfast foods for breakfast. I was looking at the portion of un-mashed chickpeas in my fridge this morning (after I already made my darned sunflower seed oatmeal) and finally had the fecking epiphany that I could just toast them up as is -- or as a patty -- and eat them seperately (or instead!) of my oatmeal, and it still wouldn't take much effort in the morning when I'm dragging my feet everywhere I go. Like. WTH. I knew this. I knew this when I was on purees. I had sweet potato with bone broth powder puree for an entire week back then. Why am I overcomplicating my life trying to solve problems that don't have to be problems at all. So, these surgery hormones, can I blame them for making me slower on the uptake or is my age finally catching up to me? XP

@AmberFL In all your exercising have you found that your arms are firming up, if they were flabby before? Just looking for some tips as they remain a problem area for me and doing arm weights at home (mix between 1.5kg and 3kg) a few days a week for some reps doesn't seem to be making any inroads. My legs are always going to be a problem area for me because of lymphedema but that just stops me wearing shorts or a short dress leaving me still with plenty of options but having to keep my arms covered all the time (because I hate my arms) is a pain.

I’m terms of work it really does vary quite a bit person to person. I had my sleeve 3.5 years ago and physically I could’ve returned to a desk job the next day out of hospital in terms of pain but I was tired and took alot of naps. Some people that had same surgery around same time as me were in pain for a week. I think one of the main differences is whether any air gets trapped in there because that causes a lot of pain and takes a while to get it all out. I have been on these boards for a while though and honestly there are plenty of people with very little pain from day one like me and then there are also others who are in a great deal of pain for a couple weeks. I have even seen some that take a full month off. I’d say MOST fall somewhere in between. I would also keep in mind what your home demands are too. If you can’t come home and just rest then it will probably take you a little longer to be able to return to work because even when you do feel ready for work you most likely will not have your normal stamina for a little while. You most likely will need naps at night for a while after working full time. if you do a search on here for recovery time or time off work, etc. You will see lots of posts about this if you want to get a better idea.

I cant lie, I teared up reading this (I think I am due for my lady time so extra emotional LOL) Thank you so so so much for saying all this. You are absolutely right with everything you said. moderation is key. Following my program is key. Staying active and tracking is key. Being able to find what is sustainable for the rest of my life is key. your right ice cream is good for the soul damn it! lol! I need to be okay with just allowing myself that treat then overthinking a couple of bites. Being strict and depriving myself is how I gained my 100lbs back after I lost in my 20's so your right, allowing myself to eat like that, not in huge portions and tracking it, then not eating like that the rest of the week and self sabotaging because I ate something bad. I walk into my work, and they have a picture on the TV screen in the lobby, that shuffles through pics of the company, and I am in a couple of them at 300lbs. Its a daily reminder that I never ever want to be that big again. I looked so uncomfortable and unhappy. Thank you again! ❤️

This week has been disappointing. I didn't lose any weight despite not doing anything different. I got a dreaded summer cold, so I wasn't motivated to cook. So I ordered Pizza last night.. I'm really disappointed in myself, because there's a million better options. But what's done is done. So I'm back on the diet today. I'm still sick, but I can't use that as an excuse. And at least when I don't lose weight and gain, tomorrow, I'll know why. I've also joined a gym and I've got the induction on Saturday. I used to go to the gym pre-pandemic and just wasn't able (or maybe willing) to get back into the swing of things once they reopened. I do miss the water aerobics class I used to do. The new gym doesn't have a pool and I can't afford a gym with a pool. So up and down

Hi @SpinozaI’m pre-op so just going through the tests and appointments before deciding on which surgery and then waiting for the date of surgery 🙂 I’m trying to get my head around the requirements of WLS - types of foods, drinking, vitamins etc plus trying to lose some weight in the meantime. @NickelChipfingers crossed I will be in it before the end of the year 😉 Had steroid injections in both knees yesterday in the hope of easing the pains I have. I’m not going to lie, I was a big, moaning baby last night as the numbing injections had worn off and I was hurting like a b***h. This, coupled with the ridiculously warm night (in the UK, we don’t do heat very well and we certainly don’t have the infrastructure or air con to deal!) made for a crappy night. But it’s eased a little today plus I’ve lost another 1.5lbs so I’m now in a lower stone’s bracket 🤩🤩 Lots of (careful) happy dancing this morning when I got off the scales! I’m hoping to lose another 3.5lbs as my first target before my dietitian appointment 21st August as this will mean I would have lost 2 stones since beginning this WLS journey at the end of May. we discussed knee replacement surgery at my appointment yesterday and I need to have a BMI of sub-40 before I’m considered for surgery. This works out at about 2 stones more to lose. I will get a call in 3 months to see how I’m doing. I won’t be referred until I’ve lost that weight as it will be refused. I do understand the reasoning so I’m not stressing about it. I will have a chat to the dietitian just to make sure that I would still be considered for WLS should my BMI be less than 40 as that was the reason I was accepted in the first place as I don’t have diabetes or anything that would make me eligible with a BMI of 35. Hopefully it won’t be an issue 🤞🤞

I’d just use a blender too. Believe me, you’ll be praying for the purée stage to be over. It’s like food but not food, the texture & the temporary changes to your taste buds really kick making so much disgusting. It can be a struggle to find something to eat at times. Not worth buying a new appliance to use for two weeks. (Though if you haven’t got a blender they’re always handy to have 😉).

I wonder if your therapist just chose the wrong word. I think we all enjoy food (stimulating all the senses) but what we don’t do (or try not to do) is rely on it as a comfort or let it take up a great deal of our thinking. So may be glamorise wasn’t the best word and focus or fixate may have been better. But they should have given you some strategies to help. You may have to ask for some the next time you meet. You know that old adage of eating to live not living to eat? For many of us that is what it is like now. I still love to go out to restaurants with family & friends. I still like to try new foods. I still like the taste, smell, texture, & sight of food. I still love to cook & try new recipes. I just watch portions, ingredients, cooking styles, frequency, etc. & make adjustments accordingly and also make the best choices I can in the situation. But a lot of that has become second nature now & don’t think about it much. If you were someone who used food to comfort or sooth yourself, the first weeks after surgery can be challenging. Your emotions can be all over the place & you may be stressed, anxious, teary, …. If when you felt like this before surgery you turned to food you may want food more now simply because you can’t which can also make you more emotional. Plus being restricted about what you eat can often make you crave the food you can’t have even more. Though challenging, these things are temporary, not long term & certainly not forever. In the meantime try distracting yourself when you find the food voices in your head too loud or you think you may hungry. It’s a great strategy we all use. Go for a walk (as you’re able), read a book, craft, ring a friend or family member, play a game or do a puzzle, check your socials (like this forum), meditate, etc. Sometimes a warm drink can be helpful like green or herbal tea (counts to your fluid goal too - yay!). All the best.

@Onemealplan, that's a great question. I work from home, and my job is entirely sedentary, so I doubt that I will need three to four whole weeks off. But how do I know? I haven't done this before! My husband is having surgery on the 21st of August, so another big question is whether I'll be ready to be there for him after that. My surgery is on a Monday, and my plan is to take the first two weeks off (which will include my husband's surgery nine days after mine). Then I'll try to go back to work, but I may start with half-days if I need to. What are other people doing?

I am an overthinker too, so I totally get what you're saying and feeling. A few thing I've learned in this very short journey: 1. Your body will tell you when its done losing weight, don't fight it and don't work extra hard to lose either, follow your plan and whatever weight you lose you lose. If you work extra hard to shed pounds then it's not a sustainable plan for you and you will have to work extremely hard to maintain that loss, you want your lifestyle to be sustainable for you, some people understand that they can't cut out carbs and fat completely and they know the trade off would be a slightly higher stabilized weight and they are comfortable with that. Evaluate your priorities and lifestyle and what you can comfortably maintain. Also, if your body is not done losing weight, don't fight it, it's trying to reach its new set point. 2. If you're seriously working out, try to maintain a 250-300 calorie deficit only, this way your metabolism doesn't get affected by a whole lot and it allows you to lose fat but also perform in your workouts. 3. Balance and Moderation. I know this has been said to death but moderation is truly key. If you strongly feel like eating something, eat it in a portion that allows you to enjoy but stay on track. 100 calories from ice cream or from chicken breast are the same 100 calories, yes chicken will keep you fuller but ice cream is good for the soul lol! If you have a couple of hundred calories to spare, have something you enjoy AS LONG AS THAT'S NOT A SLIPPERY SLOPE. This is something I struggled with when I was overweight (the all or nothing mindset) but I am relearning how to eat and enjoy in smaller quantities and not eating for the sake of eating. 4. Having good habits will make up for slip ups. That means tracking, working out, being active, being mindful of portions and listening to your body (including adequate rest and sleep). If you do all that and end up eating a little more here and there, having a few bites of dessert/things that are not so good, it will absolutely not hinder your results. It is a mindset adjustment as much as it's a physical adjustment, if you have a strong mind, your body will follow suit. Cut the guilt, comparison to others and the overthinking. You absolutely got this!

Thank you for this post. It meant a lot to me. My bypass is scheduled for Aug 12, and I am on day three of my two-week liver cleanse. Your post just added to my excitement. Thanks again.