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Thanks so much for your encouragement! I found out my esophagus was dilated because I wasn't feeling a lot of restriction so they did a barrium swallow and found out that my esophagus was big. They have taken almost all of my fluid out of my band for 6 weeks. I go in on Tuesday to hopefully get it refilled.

@@scubasteph The first thing is congrats on your new band! The second thing is don't stress...take a deep breath and relax cause you are right on track. In the first few days to weeks after surgery you are going to be very swollen inside and the idea right now is healing. You don't want to force yourself to eat or drink anything right now. You want to rest and heal up. If you can take many many tiny sips of your Protein drink. Use a medicine dose cup. You are very much "babying" your band right now. You would not feed a newborn a half gallon of milk and neither can you feed yourself that right now. As you soon will see that as you are putting liquids in they will come out and soon enough the #2 problem you mentioned will right itself. Your not putting much in so...give it a chance. Feel good and let us know how your doing!!

If you were on a pre-op diet of liquids, liquids in, liquids out. 800 calories is a goal, not a mandate. No worries, if you're like all of us, you have plenty of reserves to last a week or so. Just consume what you can.

I'm two weeks post-surgery and just transitioned over to soft food. I was actually pretty surprised how easy getting fluids and things like yogurt down was. I can drink a 20 oz bottle of Water in 15-20 minutes, 6 oz thing of yogurt in 15 minutes, a cup of blended chili, etc.. That last two nights I've had tuna fish salad and scrambled egg. I was thinking my sleeve must be huge if I can eat 6 oz of yogurt or a cup of chili without batting an eye. 1/2 cup of tuna fish salad - I'm DONE. Can't even think of another bite. 1 egg with a little cheese on it - DONE. I'm glad to see the restriction kick in big-time for more solid foods. It does make me understand more about "sliders", "eating around the sleeve", "cheating the sleeve", etc.

Hi, I had to laugh because I write long things too. I do not have any hanging skin. I would love to have some plastic surgery on my face and neck, but this is because age has caught up with me. I am 66. I did have my eyes fixed but that was also because of my age. I had been walking for about 5 years before I had surgery and I think that has helped me a lot. My arms are a little floppy, but again that may be age. I am working on some exercises for the arms too. I think a lot of my good luck with no hanging skins has to be good genes too. Everyone is a little different. I still walk about 4 to 5 miles 6 days a week. I have recently started doing some Pilate's and I love that too. I will tell you I wasn't so sure about going to Mexico either--don't believe all the bad things people say about Mexico--so many Americans go there for their Health Care. I was very lucky and worked with a Nurse Practitioner who I trusted so much. She is the one who told me about Dr. Aceves and how wonderful he was. She had weight loss surgery. I trusted her, but she made me check things out for myself. Well, Dr Aceves's name kept coming up and I learned how Highly Qualified he is when it comes to weight loss surgery. So I knew without a doubt that I was going to go to him. I think his fee is about $8,750 for everything including a night in a 5 star hotel. That is the night before the surgery. You have to pay your own air fare and have a little spending money for dinner the night before the surgery. This fee includes the surgery, the staff, the test and blood work and all your aftercare--like sending you home with pain meds and anything else you will need for the first month. I just never looked at this surgery and thought what if I get home and something goes wrong. I think differently and knew what great care my friend had received and I had the same kind of care. My PC doctor was so in favor of me going and she did any blood work I needed when I got home, and my insurance paid for it. Mexicali, is a very safe city to go to. His hospital is about 5 blocks away from the boarder. The sleeve surgery has to be the best thing I have EVER done for myself. WLS has changed my entire life. I feel 20 years younger and I love everything about it. If you have more questions please let me know. I am more than willing to help you with anything I can. There isn't anything that we can't talk about. I try to be as honest and open as I can be about this. This is not a magical cure, it does require work and effort on your part too. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I just looked through the scar stages pictures to know what to expect, and I am really freaked out! Everyone's picture has a tiny incision right under the bra area, while my incision there (in the center of my upper abdomen, directly under my bra) is like three inches long! Also, my other incisions/scars are not positioned the same as everyone else's! Did my surgeon know what he was doing???

I am closing in on 6 weeks as well. I too was having issues eating/drinking. You know what worked for me? The Mucinex D that my Dr told me to take if I ever got nauseated or the foamies. It is kind of gross but when our stomach is larger, there is plenty of room for the sinus drainage that gets dumped there everyday. Not the case when most of our stomach is removed. When the tummy is overfilled with sinus drainage, it comes up as foamies. Give it a shot. Worth a try for sure and good luck!

It's not the final digestion so much, the exiting from the stomach and breaking down in the intestines, for me it's more the entry into the stomach and initial digestion. If I eat chicken, tuna, or eggs I can only eat an ounce maybe ounce and a half comfortably and even then it feels like I just ate a ball of concrete. I'm 6 weeks out. On the other hand, I think greek yogurt is the sleever's best friend.

So I was banded May 11th and have lost 17 lbs from my highest weight. Ever since I started my pureed stage my weight has stayed the same. I'm eating 3oz for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner (eggs, egg salad, tuna salad, chicken breast). Plus I'm having my Protein shakes in between. When I'm not eating or having a shake, I either drink Water or tea. I had my period this week and haven't been going to the bathroom regurlary if you know what I mean. Any suggestion? Only went to the gym twice so far this week. My allergies are kicking my ass and I feel like crap.

I don't get a fill until week 6. Besides drinking shakes, I only drink Water or decaf tea. we'll see what happens. Can't wait to get a fill, maybe that will help andof course get walking more.

I eat all day long. At least 6 times a day. We eat so little that every 2 to 3 hours I'm taking a bite of some kind of protein or veggie. During the week, it seems I eat way less than the weekends though.

I'm pre-op but I have pretty bad reflux now. I take Protonix and it is awesome. You feel the difference within days of taking it (not weeks like others). There is a generic for it now so it's less expensive than Nexium, etc. I'm worried that my reflux will get worse after VSG, but I'll keep taking my meds and hope for the best.

I was sleeved the same day. How are you doing? Im having to do just Clear liquids for 2 weeks. Im not hungry just trying to get all my fluids in before I havet to go back to wk. Days after it was hard sipping on 2oz of Water but has gotten better. It seems like i was feeling everything go down to my stomach. Its not really appending that much anymore. Did you ever feel that. Sent from my LGMS631 using the BariatricPal App

Keep reminding yourself of why you are doing this. This week is only a shhort part of the bg picture...but on the other hand this should be your last diet EVER! After that its just a lifestyle other than a couple of days of modified eating after a fill. NO MORE DIETS! For inspiration, if you havent already, I recommmend reading the whole blog of band_groupie from the very beginning...its very inspiring. A lot of us have done that and even gone back to it when we need to...she really keeps it real! Good luck and hang in there!

I was about two weeks out before I could sleep on my side. I had to prop my head/uperbody up and a pillow under my knees to be able to sleep on my back.

I'm getting my neck lipo with my TT. My plastic surgeon said I won't need a whole neck lift but I have lots of loose skin. I'm going to post before n after picks. I'm scheduled in 2. Weeks

my doc gave me a list, first 3 days after surgery = liquid diet days 4-7 full liquid days 8-10 = puree days 11-14 minced week 3 soft week 4 bariatric regular not a whole lot to choose from on the list, everything is fat free, sugar free, and you got the Protein first cottage cheese, mashed pototes, pureed meats, pureed veggies, sf yogurts, cream of wheat, oatmeal, then on week 4 you can pretty much eat anything just cut into tiny pieces, some things like raw veggies, tough fruit and hot peppers are to be avoided for like 6 months hope that helps good luck

I'm 6 weeks post op and now allowed to try new foods. If I try something that doesn't bother me at the time, can it cause nausea the next day? I thought if it doesn't make you sick right away you should be able to tolerate. Im nauseated today after eating chicken Caesar salad yesterday for lunch. Any ideas?

My surgeon had me start the 2 protein meal replacements shakes and one meal a day. I can have small snack in between IF I feel hungry. Okay so first week was great I was on track doing fab. Now sometimes I feel like I'm starving. I've got 2 more months before surgery and feel like I'm failing more and more each day. I knew going into this it wasn't going to be easy. Hoping after the surgery I don't have that hunger. Side note.... Only need to lose 10 lbs. I have! I drink drink drink water thinking that would help with hunger and does a little but I'm struggling. Can anyone relate to this? Any suggestions for me?

Hello everyone! I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced a migraine headache after a tough work out? I've noticed the last two weeks have been tough on me. It started after I began taking harder classes like Boot camp, Body pump and Step. I've made sure I had enough Protein before the gym and I do well with my Water but I can always up the amount. Other than that I'm not sure what else I can do other than dropping the amount of classes I take a week but I really don't want to do that. I've always been prone to migraines but this is just getting ridiculous!! Any suggestions? Any advise would help. Thanks

I'm getting ready to have my gastric sleeve this week and I have a friend really wanting to know more. She had stomach stapling (horizontal) in the 90s. Originally she lost lots of weight and later gained more than that back and more. Now she is having serious health conditions. She is wondering if there is a bariatric procedure she can have. She's very interested in the sleeve.

OK, I've been on a liquid diet for 5 Weeks - and I was SOOOOO excited to go to the doctors today and be advanced to 'soft' and then 'regular' foods. I had decided a portion of a Veggie Soft Taco from Taco Time would be my treat for a job well done. I didn't drink anything until the doctors office to maximize my weight loss (I also wore shorts and thongs). OK, I get there, I did well, my mouth is just salivating - I talk to the doctor - he asks me how I'm doing - I'm doing great - no problems - excep HUNGER! I tell him about a little stitch poking out, he says climb up on the table "I'm going to feel you". My physician has an accent - but I got ready, and he took a long time to get something to remove the suture with, and came back in with a cart. He started filling needs and I said, what are you doin? He said "I'm going to feel you". I queried "why do you need a needle to feel me?". I couldn't believe it - he was going to "fill me". Of course, I was excited. Then came the words. MORE liquids for 2-3 days, and then of course - restriction. I just feel like going and slurping up some ranch sauce - I want that taco so bad! Oh well. But hey - my sister decided to do my diet with me - and she lost 18 pounds this month! She's smaller than me - and DID GREAT. I called her and let her know about my loss (just slightly more than her) - He must have known I was going to eat - he just must have known! I thought it was funny - but I'm happy.

Hey there, I have BCBS of GA PPO. My work was submitted on April 7 and I got my approval on April 16. It may have come a day or two earlier but that is when I called my insurance company. I had been calling every other day. I called the number on the back of the card I did not wait on the doctor to call me because once you get approved it takes them up to a week to get the response to your doctor. So my advise to you would be to call on Friday and then again on Tuesday or Wednesday and you should have an answer by then. I had my surgery on 4/28 this was because I was suppose to start my pre-op diet which I never really did. I was just soooo hard to stay on it. By the way where are you getting banded at? Who is your doctor? Let me know how things are coming along. And good luck!!