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Nobody really cares enough, the old thought was" She'll outgrow,it," found out much later in life Mama was told ," it's just pre-puberty plumpness", plus that was probably the same approximate time I was told to stop being such a tombody, I wouldn't fall and get injured if I would start moving with deliberation and at a slower pace As for the knucklehead who said I would outgrow it, took over 60 years, slowing down didn't work , sending me to teen fashion academy only frustrated me and the owners, went through puberty, education, marriage , childbirth. and menopause, steadily putt- putting toward obesity. Finally after 60 years I gave up on the "Easy Ways" of every diet under the sun, think some they dreamed up out of revenge. Starvation made me cranky, passed out a few times, even fell , hit my face and head, was told I was only DOING THAT for effect, told I was still sneaky food, told I was NOT MOTIVATED, how much can you summon lying face down in dirt? And the current one of that time I WAS MERELY SPOILED did it to try being the Center of the Universe. and I SHOULD Know I wasn't ALL THAT SPECIAL. And I just "took" it , was a female, I was supposed to be self-effacing, compliant, never question society's Status Quo, at least that was how in my Area. And I would never get anyone to live me if I didn't follow their rules. And the only title to yearn for was a MRS. if I could find a husband HE would take care of me, no worries for the rest of my life. So I sold myself short, turned my back on what I could have been education- wise, didn't. kick against the thorns and prickles, became defeated, was told I'd never be a success, Rocky Balboa was told" he Could Be a contender" well I flaccidly placidly turned my back on what I wanted to be- a doctor. I had drummed into my dear little head, it would take too long, only emotionally lead to frustration , and besides EVERYONE knew I was unworthy, a total f***up, could never quite do things right, my future husband would not be pleased, and in OHIO in the 60s that was all any sane girl aspired to. And the saddest thing, the model I took off the showroom floor? He convinced me no one else could ever love me, I would be better off living as an extension of HIM. When I tried to talk to my family, I was told not to consider rebelling or I would lose them also. So imagine what a shock it was when the Late Lamented died, and I found out I could be ME, not someone's daughter, wife, mother . I had intrinsic value and I was likable on my own, in fact I came close to being respected for ME. Did I finally " grow up" ? Maybe , but as I shakily rose up on my own 2 feet, my emotional legs became stronger, and I started to seek a surgical answer to my overwhelming obesity. Well I might die, didn't have much of a life anyway, well I might still not succeed, but I would try and try until I could be listened to, until I could find a Bariatric Program that would accept me, because I now was past the optimal age, but I had done research when no one was looking,libraries, talked to a few successes, they were almost all VSG, but I still took hope from their stories. Finally found a Bariatric Program that would actually let me into it, went through their program not once but twice, quite a sub-story there, only to be told by their surgeon I was not worthy of their time or surgical prowess, yep kicked to the edge of a busy highway. But I had developed a resilence they didn't see, they may have thought. they had de-clawed me, but I still had a set of wings they hadn't noticed I had retained. I had chose that Bariatric group on someone else (my PCP's )Advice, sudden reality check- I would try 1 more time, I shall apply to the program affiliated with the institution I yearned to have my Medical Education at, yeah I was 72, but if they rejected me, I was just get fatter and fatter, less and less healthy until I died. And the General Consensus was I wasn't worth much, the world would only prosper by my death anyway. So I took Tomkitten , my son in tow, the last true friend and someone who DID BELUEVE in ME, we would attend this Seminar at the Ohio State University, what did I have to lose anyway? I was welcomed, made to feel this could be people I could trust with my life, now as a concession from program #1 , my only close-to-friend had actually bucked them, before she and them parted company she had made certain my records could be forwarded to another program without prejudice. Thank You Amber, wherever you are now, I hope you landed on your feet in a new job. If I was the straw that broke your employment back I am truly sorry. But this new group of people, thaey not only welcomed me, they asked if they could help ME to have a good Bariatric experience. And as time went on, only took 6 months to complete, only a few other specialities I had to meet with. The Seminar was March 9th, I received my RNY on September 5th at 7 AM, normally I am not a Morning Lark, more like an Evening/Night Owl, but this was worth the Early Arising. Those who have followed my Story as it has unfolded know my recovery has not been text- book, at times not even stellar, but it is what it is, I still inch toward victory and the good and positive outranks the pain, bewilderment at how my body healed, even the interventions and the endoscopies I have had in 10 months, because my 10-month-anniversary is tomorrow. I went in hoping for so little to achieve what I have achieved is WONDERFUL, I have lost multiple dress sizes , over 120 pounds in weight, have gained respect for ME, what my body still can do, even at 70+, I'm a pretty fine person, I think I'll hold on to life a few more years. AND MY STORY CONTINUES TO STILL BE WRITTEN!

Thank you so much! I am praying I can shed at least 5 more in the next 10 days!

I had surgery on 6/26/19. I woke up and immediately regretted it and can’t move on from it.

Hi everyone...how are you all doing? I am in Brazil since 04/30 because my mother had a heart attack followed by kidney failure, pneumonia and pulmonary edema ☹️ she was only able to have heart surgery (triple bypass) on 06/25 and is still in the hospital...I’ve been with her in the hospital since I arrived and will stay here until August to help her through recovery...needless to say, I haven’t really paid attention to what I eat and stopped exercising. Still, I managed to lose 16 lbs and am now 83 lbs down with another 35 to go! I started exercising this week and eating better so I can be at my goal weight by the obe year mark! It’s a daunting task but I’ll try my best to get there by 10/30 🤞 Best if luck to you all!

I just had my surgery on June 27, 2019, I just now made it to the one week mark, and I am finding that it is easy to gulp down water. I feel I can even chug water down, but am refraining to do so. Is this normal? Are there any consequences to my sleeve with drinking water normally this early on? will I stretch my stomach or cause a leak? Please help. Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

welcome to my world the first 10 days after surgery i was in horrific pain i had to take my pain meds every 4 hours...i could not sleep or lie down i had to sleep sitting in a chair.. good thing about the pain meds they made you very sleepy so i got some sleep in...

Yeah - after surgery the thick shakes were too sweet and just gross, Isopure also try Syntax nectar. I sautéed vegetables in my bone broth for flavor - carrots, celery, white beans. I strained them out, or ran through the Ninja and strained. At about your stage I could not get a whole scrambled egg in - 4 bites, done. You still have inflammation, it will progress nicely from here. Go slowly, wait 10 minutes after bite 3... that fullness is sneaky. Also some of us have a 'tell' - our noses run, sneeze or we hiccup. I still hiccup.

Looks like you are 5 days post op...at that stage, I was still on liquids/full fluids. But when I did end up eating actual food at the minced stage 3 weeks post op (i skipped the pureed stage on my own volition cuz it grossed me out), I waited 10 to 15 minutes between 1-2 bites. Sometimes I forgot, but then the pain in my chest would remind me. I'm just over 8 months post op, and I still take a long time to eat, but I do about 10 minutes between 3-5 bites now. You'll learn what your pace should be like...your body will tell you.

October 31, 2018 v. July 1, 2019

1. Latinos or anyone strongly influenced by your culture: HOW did you cope with losing this part of you? You don't loose this part. It sits on the back burner for a bit. 2. What do you all do at family gatherings, parties, and on holidays while everyone is eating? Early on I would bring my own food to events. It is hard to see everyone eat while you are limited but the more you do it the easier it gets. I see people avoid the situations, but lets be realistic, you cannot hide this way for the rest of your days. learn to deal with it and move on. I like to sit with family and friends while we eat. I used to eat more , but now I talk more. 3. What do you eat? recipes are welcomed! I’ve been told to eat yogurt, chicken meatballs, canned Soup, and all kinds of food I'm not use to... Have you found a way to make your Latin food healthy? I stuck to my teams meal plan for the first 8 months and then started to make it my own. I focus on protein and veggies, many Latin foods are both. 4. Peruvians or Peruvian food lovers: Can you still eat things like ceviche, aji de gallina, lomo saltado, and anticucho, just minus the rice? Can your stomach handle the spice and seasonings? I am Guatemalan, with 2 best friends who are Peruvian. I can handle most spicy things again, (can no longer deal with straight habanaro anymore). By 10 months out I was fine eating spicy. As for the foods above all are easy except the anticucho and lomo saltado. Beef has been real hard for me unless its ground, but I know people who have no issue, and yes rice I can no longer handle, but to me that's a good thing. 👍

Hello guys. New here. Surgery date next week 7/10/19!!!!

I had my surgery 7/1, so I guess I'm late responding- you guys are so on the ball! I've been pretty out of it. Still pretty weird to be on the other side of it. On Monday morning, I nursed my baby for the last time (not really baby, he just turned 2, so it was about time ) then dropped my sons off with friends. Was really nervous going to to the hospital. Once we started the check-in process, the nurse gave me a great cocktail of stuff that included an anti-anxiety pill; my husband got to join me a few minutes later and was like "wow, I can tell you're feeling better!!" . So that was really great. Surgery was at noon, and went well. The doctor found and repaired a pretty substantial hiatal hernia, so that's good to have that fixed. I guess I'm REALLY sensitive to anesthesia, because I was pretty out of it for the first 18 hours. Like, not staying awake for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. My husband sat with me for the first 6 hours, and though I was aware he was there, pretty much couldn't have a conversation because I would just say something and then go back to sleep. They made me get up to go pee in the evening, and the moving/sitting up was a very sharp internal pain, but other than that, wasn't feeling any gas pain or anything as long as I was lying still. Took my first walk in the hall at 4am (which was later than they would have liked, but I was just so out of it still), and then would walk every couple hours. They also weighed me then, and I was 3 lbs up, but they said that's totally expected because of all the fluids they pump in. I was surprised at how little I needed to sip to not feel it "slosh" in my stomach. People have talked about an ounce or whatever, but I felt like I had to take an ounce in like 3 sips! Jello was good right away too. They took me off the IV pain meds and started me on oral yesterday about 10, several hours before discharge. I miss the good stuff. 😢 Yesterday when I got home was AWFUL. That's when I started to have the gas pains. Or maybe I just wasn't aware of them earlier because of the higher dose pain meds and anesthesia wearing off. For me I don't feel them in my chest or shoulder, but it just feels like my entire abdomen wants to explode from the inside. The hydrocodone they prescribed is a pill, so I have to crush that and mix it with liquid, which is horrendous. My first 2 doses I actually couldn't keep down, which was terrifying to have my stomach spasm as I spat it back up. But today I just took one *tiny* sip, then waited 5 minutes, another sip, waited, then finished it, and I kept it down. I also was really concerned about getting enough hydration and protein, because yesterday I only had MAYBE 8 grams of protein from protein water and 10 ounces of fluid (they did have me on an IV until I went home though). Today I've been having a Pure Protein shake, which has 35 grams of protein in it, and I've already gotten half of it down, so I'm not as concerned about it. Anyway, sorry for the long post- I wanted to share my experience, and also saw some questions about pain and such immediately following surgery, so just thought I'd include it all. Good luck to everyone!

When I was first home from the hospital I was only able to manage a few 10 minute walks each day. I slowly worked up to 20 minutes at a time. About a week and a half post op, I pushed myself too hard and did a 3km walk, and felt awful for a few days. But I'm now managing 5km and other than some muscle aches I'm doing pretty well. Good luck with your surgery!

I just got my date for gastric bypass !!!! August 19!!!! I’m soooo excited!!! Yay.... I’ll have a life again!! Anyone else scheduled for August? Also.... I’m new to this site & I can’t figure out how to start a thread. Thanks for any help

I had the sleeve on 6/26/19. This day one week ago I still could have backed out up until 3pm! But, I didn’t and now I am living with such horrible regret,shame hate for myself for doing this. Why didn’t I have these doubts before, why didn’t I research more?? I feel the same as you.

I feel the same way as you all. Still trying to figure out/relearn how to eat again. Not really back on normal normal foods yet. Ive still been sticking mainly to softer foods but that's more due to the fact that I really like yoghurt and watermelon. Ive been surprised how well my pouch has reacted and wonder if the surgeon didnt make it bigger than normal since im alrealy able to eat about less than a cup of food. (Although I keep it under a half a cup most times.) Dunno though. My first follow up is on Monday. The gas pains in my shoulder during the first 10 days after surgery was something I never want to feel again. I realize that laproscopic surgery is much safer etc, but that side effect is HORRIBLE!

Hi everyone I am getting mine 7/8/19. Excited and nervous Sent from my SM-J327T1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Okay so I’m almost 5 months out from sleeve I started at exactly 40% BMI (which means I couldn’t lose any weight in the months leading up to surgery because i needed my insurance to foot the bill). Here are but a few of the positives: I lost 7 pounds on the 10 day pre-surgery diet and I’ve lost another 62 pounds since surgery day on February 6th. I’m 5’7” and I’ve gone from 253 pounds to 184 since January 27th. I went from a size 22 to a comfortable size 14, and the good news is I figure I have another 30-40 pounds I’ll lose before I’m finished. I’m 50 years old and I’m in better shape than I’ve been in since I was 28 I can now work a 12 hr shift (ALL of it on my feet) and not be in agony at the end of the day. I can shop in the non-plus size section of any clothing store. I don’t chronically worry if I’m going to “fit” into any space. I no longer feel as if people are watching or judging me based off of my weight. The negatives: Eating and drinking have to be planned to an extent. Every morning I know what I’m going to have for the day because I planned it out BEFORE I woke up in the morning. There really isn’t ever anymore free-styling food. Best have a plan. I have to be somewhat careful of when I time my food/liquids or it hurts. Nothing brings you into focus faster than accidentally taking a huge swig from your water bottle right after you’ve eaten lunch. Don’t worry.... all of us have done it and while it hurts like the dickens, it won’t cause any lasting damage. I have to convince friends and family that it is “okay” to eat with me or around me. So many people in my life still apologize to me when they order somethings “sinful” at a restaurant. Yesterday a coworker brought a box of Doughnuts in and then apologizes for the next hour. Here’s the deal.... the cravings for these kinds of things almost completely disappear and you find yourself not caring in the least that there’s a box of Crispy Kremes on the back counter because you’re trying your best to figure out how you’re gonna drink another 24 ounces of water and eat a boiled egg in the next 2 hrs. Holidays and special occasions are going to be a bit different. Anyone who tells you any different probably never had family who likes food, or something else weird like that, but the reality is that it WILL be different. Honestly though, now that I’ve gone though a few things like this, I’m HAPPY that things are different. Now instead of hanging around eating and drinking and all of the self-loathing that goes along with its, I can focus more on people and the party and not be chained by the food. Yes.... if it’s a special occasion , have a bite or two of cake. Who cares if you eat a tiny bit? Thursday on the 4th I’ve got a wedding to attend and I fully plan on grabbing a slice of wedding cake and grabbing a glass of wine. I’ll more than likely eat 1-2 bites of cake and drink ALL of the wine, but it will be so much fun to dance in my size 12 dress that I can now fit into and not have to always keep an eye out for the person taking pictures so I can run and hide. This time I won’t care if someone takes a photo of me because I will be having a blast and looking great!

Ok, y'all, my turn to post. I can't believe my surgery will be here in about 10 hours. I will spend tonight binge watching Law and Order SVU, packing my bag, taking my shower, and using my CHG wipes. I naturally overthink and panic about everything, but I'm trying to stay positive and just get through the next few hours by reminding myself why I started this journey years ago. Please send positive vibes my way and I'll post another update as soon as I'm feeling up to it. Thank you all for coming along on this crazy ride with me! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

You are going through one of the hardest times in my opinion. The head cravings are crazy! Things that helped me: 1. Closed my eyes and plugged my ears/muted TV during commercials so I didn't have to see the food comms. 2. Stopped all cooking shows/food magazines/limited FB or IG time so I wasn't getting the food cues shoved at me. 3. Got busy! I was a walking animal! Any time I craved, I would make myself drink water until full. FULL. Then I had to take a 5-15 minute walk depending on my ability at that time. 4. Started doing creative things - puzzles, coloring, paint by numbers, crochet/knit/needlework. 5. Play solitaire and word games on mobile 6. Got out of the house and got sunshine/deep breathed 7. Immersed myself here and got support both here and in RL support groups. 8. Immersed myself in learning about doing head work to change behaviors and relationships with food, doing research on WLS, nutrition, longevity, intermittent fasting. Watch a LOT of YouTube on these subjects. 9. Kept food as minimal and low reward/clean as possible. Spent as LITTLE time as possible interacting with food. (ie grilling chicken and fish for multiple meals/days then just adding veggies to the meal so literally it took 5-10 minutes to pull a meal together for us--clean, whole foods). 10.Broke up with thinking in terms of "treating" myself with food cuz I "deserve" it. Cuz honestly? Treating myself with food is actually self-harming behavior. It doesn't contribute to my long term weight loss plan/success or maintenance plan. It's an abusive activity. **I promise you, if you do NOT feed the cravings, the cravings go away and get less and less over time. For most of us, sugar, sweet tastes, and high glycemic carbs are the foods that light up our lizard brains (pleasure centers).

Yeah on mine, James M. it said " vomiting of a prolonged period" well I called my Bariatric Clinic in such a case, was told by one of their Nurse Practioners I was delusional, I knew dang well there was NOTHING WRONG with me and to stop bothering them. Oh I have not called them again, I will be 10 months on Friday next and I don't believe I should still have frequent episodes of emesis My local community hospital, knicknamed "the BandAid station" is even worse, sad to say. They are not sure WTF to do with me, maybe they hope for constipation, fever, headaches and other "easy peasy "things, something within their competences. But a bypass patient, like a purple- spotted giraffe, interesting to look at, but what DO YOU. REALLY DO WITH one?👈👩👉

I just wanted to check in and see how all of the May 2019 people are progressing. Personally, it has been a couple of weeks of ups and downs. I am struggling to stay consistent with my eating patterns. Some days I feel famished, other days I do not have a taste for anything. My main goal moving forward is to maintain an actual exercise scheduled. What about you all?

Welp, I decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and start my liquid diet about 6 days early so that I can work everything out before it "really counts". So far so good...I have to do things backwards of most of y'all because I work nights so my eating generally occurs between 10 pm and about 8 am. Thank goodness i'm still allowed my Diet Cokes...I know that I should go on ahead and quit them now but I'm hanging on to them as long as I can lol. Please pray for my kids and coworkers

Hey June 18 Sleevers, So happy for you both - excellent progress. You both must look & feel great. Unfortunately, I’m a sleeve failure story. Started out great & the surgery was a piece of cake - no complications at all. But alas, life had its way of catching up with you & all of the emotional & mental problems connected with my eating were not solved with this tool either. I said from day one that it wasn’t my stomach but my brain that needed this operation because I knew all along I wasn’t strong enough. I just really hoped & prayed that I would finally be able to conquer this lifelong battle. I have learned a lot & I am seeing a psychiatrist. Some medication changes for anxiety have been made - I learned what I had been taking for over 10 years was actually causing increased appetite so that wasn’t helping! I also learned, at 63 years old that I am classic Attention Deficit Disorder. Not ADHD but it explains so much. Of course, this “syndrome” was not “invented” when I was a kid so I have a lot of work to do on that front. People keep asking me why I just can’t accept myself for who I am? I guess I was just always hopeful that somehow I could conquer my demons. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. And most likely, as I head to my primary care physician next month, I will be back on diabetes meds. That & the shear humiliation I feel from failing in front of so many so publicly is the worst thing of all. Sorry to be a such a bummer but I guess it’s important for people to know that there’s a lot more to all of this than just the surgery. And sometimes even some very useful tools and great intentions just aren’t enough. I am happy for you and for the hundreds of people that have been helped by Bariatric surgery. I wouldn’t change having it done. But I wonder often if the eventual loss and gain - still down 20 pounds from original highest weight was really worth it. continue to fight the good fight fellow June 2018 Sleevers.