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Give yourself time:) "normal" is a learned behavior I think. My normal for last 10 years is wearing stretch pants and hoodies, avoiding bathing suit and pictures, and having a evening snack in front of the tv after the kids go to bed. Is that normal, or my normal? My date is dec 3 and I often worry about what life will be like after... What will my normal be? Will I mourn the loss if my Old normal? I think I am sick of my normal. It won't be easy but I can't wait for my new normal to be my normal lol. Good luck, we all need it:)

Congrats Gentry, Yeah, the only pain I had was port pain too. I never had any on the shoulder pain and I'm proud too. My doctor gave me 5 big bottles of the liquid loritab with a refill of 5 and I used about 1/2 of one and went back to the pills. I take the loritab 10's if I need one and break it in half. I couldn't choke down that liquid. yuckkkkkkk Sip don't take large drinks that was my biggest deal breaker. I would be thirsty and use to drinking big drinks and would forget. I think the walking saved my life. I walked and walked and at day 4 was vacuming, sweeping, laundry, dishes, everything and at day 12 was out riding 4wheelers and just very active. I think the walking is the key. Good luck and you'll be losing like crazy. The liquids were hard for me but enjoy them because now that I can eat the weight loss has slowed down.

When first making the decision to open up to the tool of bariatric surgery I simply assumed that the sleeve would be the procedure that I preferred. This was due to having the full run of my plumbing and perceived ability to eat the foods I wanted, but restrict the amounts. Seemed simple. My younger sister had bypass 15 years ago and I just didn't think that "aggressive" a procedure would be needed for me. After all.....I've lost large amounts of weight in the past through diet and exercise....I just needed a little help......or so I was believing. My physician who was discussing this with me eased me into the conversation and led me to find my way to the surgeon I've selected. I've been to his group presentation.....the first required step. Even after listening to my sister and seeing her progress.......for 15 years......and for secretly thinking in some small way that she took the easy way out.........I didn't "get" it. That presentation really altered my thinking about restrictive and absorptive restriction. I realized in that group session my "hero" status as the big brother doing it on his own......over and over again......was a stupid cycle. I needed to get all the help available.....every tool in the toolbox to get the lifelong results I strived for. Dr Carlson addressed the full room and fielded every question asked. An hour went by....then more.......he'd long since made his informative presentation.....yet stayed to discuss our concerns. A lot of "ah-ha" moments were had. I heard the lady seated behind me speak to her friend, "The sleeve is what will work best for me". My wife, seated beside me, was quiet. She reserved her comments until much later when we were driving home. She proceeded carefully fearing that she knew my mind had already been made up on the sleeve. It was a relief to her when I acknowledged that I felt I needed the bypass.......like my brave little sister did so many years ago.....doing her own research.....as a young woman on her own.......when most folks hadn't heard of such. One of my issues is reoccurring reflux. Some nights it can be really bad. It subsided greatly once I completely cut out alcohol from my intake on April 2, 2015. Back in early April of this year I'd begun resuming the fight to loose my weight. I'd taken evaluation of my current state of living. I loved to grill out.........really loved it. It is therapeutic. I loved to crack open a cold beer and fire up the coals. More beer throughout the cooking and serving everyone had me relaxed and happy. After dinner, I'd normally get drowsy due to several beers......then it'd be time to hit a couple tequila shooters and another beer......or a rum & diet coke or two. I'd get my relaxed and happy state back. It was clear which non-essential calories to drop first......cut out the beer and liquor along with seriously revising the menu on my plate. Guess what.....these were the nights the reflux was bad. Drinking + spicy food (the only kind off my grill ) = reflux. I discussed this "revelation" with my wife. She pointed out a few times since when I'd complained of reflux....since I'd cut out alcohol. I realized she was right......it was still occurring but less often. I have decided that I'd prefer the bypass.......but don't even know yet if I'm approved for it. The waiting and suspense of insurance is driving me nuts. Don't get me wrong.....I'm glad the procedure isn't something as easy to get as a bad tattoo.......but I wish it was more straightforward from the insurance company standpoint. Down the road the results I get from the bariatric will certainly lessen the costs I'd otherwise pose to them, right ? Sorry for the rambling. I'm just eagerly impatient and ready to get this ball rolling in the direction that will lead to successful and long lasting health provided I continue to do my part. I'm checking stuff off the mandatory list at least.....and this website and the folks here are already helping me find answers to the tons of questions I have. My mandatory checklist: Attend the group session---done in early June. Meet with the bariatric program's & surgeon's nurse to review my case and 8 pages of medical Q&A i was to complete--done this past week. Meet with surgeon on official visit----scheduled for July 1. Meet with program's nutritional guru----first of the 6 visits is on July 7. This I understand will be the "start" date of the mandatory 6 month timeline to surgery. Meet with psyche guru----awaiting appointment scheduling now. Internal scope evaluation of stomach and other plumbing-------to be scheduled after visit with surgeon I still don't have any type of official indication that bypass is a covered procedure (United Healthcare). I don't know if I can hang on 6+ months before getting this latest umbilical hernia taken care of. I want to get on to eating the foods I'll be living by after the surgery......eat like I've had the surgery......begin accelerated weight loss now......not wait until the surgery. I just want to be sure that I can't lose "too much" on my own that the insurance balks and says, "No way buddy.....you got this.....do it yourself". I can do a lot off by myself.....but I fail to keep it off. I don't want to sabotage my chances for coverage. So many questions that I'm sure will be resolved and clear in the weeks ahead......it's just right now I want to get going with progress of some type......no matter if it's from bypass or from my jumping onboard with the new plan. The compelling reasons for the need to get going are probably no different than most other folks here: I'm having back spasms from reoccurring back injuries due to herniated T-12 vertebrae. Spine surgeon stated that bariatric surgeon can do more for my spine than he could with back surgery. Sounds legit. Umbilical hernia is driving me nuts. It's worsened when back goes out and my posture and such gets weird. Knees are shot....ortho doc says I need knee replacements sooner than later....he's saying 5 years tops.....plus hip, too. He also stated that 200 lbs off my frame would push those replacements back a long time. I already feel some benefit in my knees from the initial pounds coming off. Swelling in my ankles is greatly reduced. Sorry again for the rambling. I'm jittery after finishing up the last day of miracle steroids (4th round with them since April) on my back. The side effects are sleeplessness for me. I get jittery after the 6 day cycles. I'm hoping for a good long sleep later today....tonight. Aside from dropping the alcohol, fried food and reducing sugar & starch intake (doing these).........what can you advise me to do? What other dietary-related actions? Breakfast choices now are oatmeal (made with Water and small amount of salt) vs sausage biscuits and such. lunch & dinner has me eating lots of salads. Snacks are nuts, fruits like blueberries and apples and occasional whole grain toast with small amount of health choice butter substitute or Greek Yogurt. Drinking tons of water. 40oz of coffee every day during the first portion of the day......a lot, I know. I use nonfat creamer and Splenda or Equal (10 packs for 40oz coffee). I'm still having 2-3 20oz Diet Mt. Dew's every day. Sounds like a ton....but it's way down over the number I used to drink. I go to one a day on days off....but do poorly during workdays. No more drive thru's and only salads from fast food restaurants. What else should I be doing? Should I order the "Big Book on Bypass" and get started on it ??????? Stir crazy and tired of my 46 years of fat fighting. 5 years ago I burned off 120 and felt like a new man.......still have many of the 2X & 3X clothes. I saved most of them.....refusing to toss them due to that being symbolic of me throwing away my hope of wearing them again. I lost that weight.....but failed to keep it off. The brief period at that reduced weight was enough of a taste of healthier living that I have craved ever since. Virtually painfree and full of energy. Leaner.......able to wear my old high school letterman's jacket and button it up......too small still, but at least it would button up. Another 100 pounds off that and I feel like i'd be walking around feeling like a Gazillion dollar lottery winner. I may never get a winning lottery ticket.....but I'll be supremely happy to get 200 lbs off........and MAINTAIN that level. So ready to get this machine krunk up and in gear and burn some rubber down the track. This waiting is like sitting there with the engine revving up but the parking brake locked in place...........

Hi Janifer! Just wanted to give you an update...I had my surgery on 10/29. I had quite a bit of pain for the first 24 hours or so until they finally was able to manage it with the correct pain meds. They said that since I have chronic back pain and I am on daily pain meds already, that the normal pain meds that they give someone coming out of surgery was not working for me. They adjusted everything though and got the pain tolerable. So after that, I only had to stay 2 nights and once I could tolerate full liquids they let me go home. I went through my first week with full liquids ok. I did get very emotional for a few days starting on the Saturday after my surgery. That was a little rough, but it seemed to last about 3 days and then I was ok. Now I'm just in the middle of my 2nd week and I am able to eat puréed food. That was exciting! I've never really cared too much for refried beans, but let me tell ya, those beans with some melted reduced fat cheese and just a little scoop of Greek yogurt tasted amazing that first day!! Everyday things are getting better and better and I'm so glad that I made the decision that I made! I wouldn't change it for nothing in the world! So how are you doing? Hope everything is well with you!

I felt the same way for about the first 10 days. I was on 20mg omeprazole twice a day, but still felt hungry all day and even waking during the night. Drinking a little juice or having some broth would help. All the sudden after 10 days or so it just stopped. I haven't felt like that since. (I was on full liquids for nearly a month, so it wasn't solids that made it stop)

Thanks! My meal plan is to limit carbs to breakfast or lunch but other than that I eat everything. The only real rule I follow is to stop eating the minute I start to feel full. I walk/run for 1 hour three times a week. I wasn't really exercising early on. I am going to get about 10 pounds of excess skin removed from my lower abdomen later this month thats been hindering my running. I am hoping to increase my workouts once I'm all healed.

You should be in the stage that your surgeon prescribed. All plans are different and you want to make sure you to follow the plan that was given to you. However, 10 days sounds pretty long for Clear liquids. Maybe give them a call and make sure you can't move to full liquids. Good luck to you.

I think 1 bite every 5 min is a little extreme you will have to eat slow and learn what to stay away from. I cant handle alot of bread if I order a sandwich I will remove one side of the bun.(everybody is differant) A burger might take 15-20 min. to eat and some days 10 min. My major adjustment was No drinking while eating and no sodas. I now wait over a hour to drink. Mornings will be differant than later in your day you just have to learn what your band does with certain foods and portion sizes. Good luck The band is the best thing I have done for myself. I am 16 month banded and down 110 lbs. (still need to lose 25-30 lbs).

I had the surgery on Aug.12,2009.Just had my first fill on Sept.19.Second fill is on Oct.20.I find that i am still able to eat way to much and not much seems to bother me to eat. I have only lost 25 lbs from the very beginning.15lbs.since surgery.I expected it to be more but am hoping.

I order mine through Celebrate Vitamins. I take a Multi-Complete 2x daily (AM & PM), an Iron + C 2x daily (AM & PM) and then a Calcet Creamy Bite (Calcium) 1x daily (mid-day). All are chewable and aren't that bad tasting. They are very reasonably priced, shipped fast and you earn points for discounts. I've ordered twice and I have a coupon for 10% off my next order. But, yes, my urine is usually bright yellow and does have a slight "chemical" smell to it no matter how much Water I drink. I attribute it to the vitamins.

I have to say I feel the same way. I was sleeved on 8/10/17 and have been trying to do this liquid diet. I am so over this! I am exhausted, I know I am not getting all my nutrients in, everything taste like prunes and I'm just over it. I have my follow up with my provider tomorrow and I am hoping to get started on my vitamins and maybe start the puréed foods a little early.

Just wondering if anyone knows one way or the other. The last time I had surgery (year and half ago) I was told no green tea for 10 days before surgery due to blood thinning effects of the tea. Did anyone get this warning for the sleeve procedure?

Happy Bandiversary to Me!!! One year ago today, I was banded. I was hoping to reach my goal by now but, I'm happy with my success so far. Hope to reach my goal this summer. So excited that my size 12 jeans fit me big and have to move down to size 10. Thanks for all the support this year follow Banditos!

It gets better, but slowly. I am at week 10 and I still have struggles, but they are less and less. In the meantime, as the payoff for my struggles, I have lost 78 pounds. I can stand up without exhaustion and walk every day on my treadmill and people don't look at me like I'm an alien anymore. So it's worth it. Those people who say this is the "easy way out", just don't know. Keep on keeping on!

A pre requisite to surgery is to lose 10% of your body weight. I understand this is good for a successful surgery and to show a commitment to your weightloss. The second reason may make sense but what can not be measures is the mental preparedness. I went to see my nutritionist today and i did not lose any wait form my first visit. It has been a stressful two weeks, i have lost my job and well life was a little draining. This will happen after surgery also .... I am aware of this. It sounds very pepeevish, but the Nutritionsit kind of aggravated me. maybe she just struck a chord idk but when she had said "We want our patients to wait 6months so we can track their commitment and see some type of weight loss progress, this is not just a quick fix." I may have taken it a little personal but i felt like saying to her ok I can lose the weight, don't worry about that, not a problem.. done it many times... I guess I feel they focus on that 10% but we all have lost that 10% that was not the problem, the problem was keeping it off. For safety and percaussion I can see the neccessity but to phrase it as a commitment just aggravates me. There is no real measure for mental growth where the real change happens. Sorry for the bitterness just needed to vent and wanted to see what other think of the 10% loss requirment.

At 30 days post surgery I was 9kg down from my surgical weight. At 3 months I was 16kg down. At 6 months I was at my goal of 60kg. At 10 months I’d lost another 9kg and have maintained between 50 & 51kg for the last 3.5months. That was my journey. Yours will be different because of all the factors @catwoman7 mentioned. Best advice is don’t compare your rate of loss with others. For every fast loser there’s a slow loser. If you’re determined, focussed & willing to make long term changes you will be successful. I’m very glad I had the sleeve surgery & I hope you will be too. Good luck.

I had no restrictions on stairs (I live on 2nd story). Restriction with driving only secondary to pain meds and my comfort level (about a week). 10 pound Lift restriction for 8 weeks, I think.

I feel like we had the exact same psych eval. I went home from my appointment so bummed out. I was told I need to seek outpatient therapy for coping with anxiety, and to abstain from alcohol for at 3 months before they will revisit my case. I honestly drink a few drinks a couple times per YEAR, like on holidays like New Years and 4th of July., but my mother is also an alcoholic so that pretty much means I am too. I've also been diagnosed with GAD (general anxiety disorder) and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) well over 10 years ago, and have been medicated since. (Prozac only- no benzodiazepines)...now he tells me I'm bipolar according to my testing, and questions. So frustrating!! I totally understand what you are going through!

Thanks for your input. I do seem to be getting better each day. The fever is lower each day and the pain is moving to different areas each day. I was so happy to hear I didn't have a leak but surprised others haven't had an abscess. It sounded common after any type of surgery on your stomach. Going on day 4 out of 10 for the antibiotic treatment. I see my dr on Wednesday. I have no desire to eat anything but have been pushing in the water. Hopefully this was just a blip on my radar and will get back on track ASAP.

My insurance doesn't require any weight loss during the 3 month monitored diet period, but the dietitian told me that I should lose at least 10. I'm down 2 pounds since my Welcome Group, and yesterday was my medical, dietitian and physical therapy required appointments. So the 90 days started yesterday, and will finish November 30th (approx). I was reassured that I should have no problem getting scheduled before the end of the calendar / insurance year on December 31st.

I started this process on May 4, and I had my surgery on September 12. In between, I lost 56 pounds. Since the surgery, I'm down another 39. I went from 5'5" and 285 to 5'5" and 190. I've lost 10 inches off my waist and went from a XXXL to a large. I stepped back through my old wardrobe so quickly that things I thought would fit for a while no longer fit at all, and I have to start from scratch on my wardrobe. My glucose is 92, I'm off the CPAP, I'm off the cholesterol drug on a trial basis. I look better than I have since high school. I go hiking multiple times a week, I swim multiple times a week, I just bought a kayak. And I'm still losing weight. The 100-pounds-lost mark is right around the corner. This is successful, but not success. Success is many years away, when I'm on my deathbed having never become obese again. And I expect that to be many, many times more difficult than the last few months have been.

banded on 1/6/10 in Port Charlotte, Fl:smile: