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Please stay encouraged. I was in a simular situation. My hospital stay went from two days to eight days. During my stay I had to get tubes placed down my throat, and could not eat either. No one knows what the problem was. If I could change I would still get the sleeve. Your stomach is still swollen and needs time to heal. Rest Rest Rest....your body heals the most when you are sleeping(I found this to be true)Trust that trouble does not last always.I prayed and cryed. This is a process but I bet you that when this is all over you will not regret it. Your body just needs to heal. I am 10 weeks out and still throw up at times. Please be patient. Your body will let you know when it can move on. Keep drinks with you at all times to avoid being dehyrated. As a matter of fact, that is all that I was able to do for a while. Keep the faith! It will be ok....Dont get depressed....it is light at the end of the tunnel....trust me...I had first hand experience. Inbox me if you would like to chat sometimes!

Today I stepped on the scale at home and it said 199. I am under 200 which hasn't happened in 9 years. Small milestone but still in shock. Surgery date 10/25 starting weight 289, now 199!!!

19 months and no regrets. Would do it again in a New York minute. Am down 115 lbs, maintaining and loving life.

It is still pending review. I swear I check at least 10 times a day. I am freak'n out..... I better get approved or I will hurt someone..LOL I am 110 lbs overweight. I have 1 co-morbity HB So they should have no reason to deny me. I am stressing way to much:scared2: Jennifer

OMG!!! You look like you're 19!!!!!!!! What an awesome post!!! You look B E A U T I F U L !!!!!!!

Here it talks about fatness vs fitness http://todayiwill.com/2010/01/fitness-vs-fatness-diet-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss-2/#.UEGTK5R5t3o But i also must mention that i would not consider myself lazy even without your typical workout routine. I work horses daily and have a job that keeps me on my feet 8-10 hrs a day. Before surgery i could easy run up several flights of stairs without being winded. My NUT actually told me I could cut back to the lower Protein requirements if I wanted to lose some of my muscle to not be so "bulky." (Her body mass thingy put me in the OVER category for muscle mass) I laughed and told her no thank you I will keep all the muscle i can. So it truly comes down to how "Lazy" you are talking. I have low pulse and blood pressure and absolutely no comorbidities. But I am active in my everyday life. I will choose to add some exercise plans as i go. But to answer the original question... yes you probably can lose the weight you want with diet alone. But don't expect to feel your best or look your best. And there are things to do besides the typical gym exercise routines...

So I had my surgery on Dec 8:bored: and I have only lost 16 lbs not good at all. I don’t know what to do I’m so frustrated, discouraged I have so many mixed emotions with this I don’t know what to do. I’m not going to lie I eat almost how I used to eat. I have had 4 fills my band is a 10 cc and I’m at 5.5 and I have no restrictions what so ever not even with bread. What I have been feeling is if I lay on my stomach in the middle of the night I want to throw up. To top it off this last fill that I had I feel like I’m always hungry all the time. I need some advice please help me I want to be a success like everyone on this page but I don’t’ know what to do.I’m so lost ugh I just get so upset:sneaky:. Sorry Band family but I need to vent…

1st NSV! Just went through all the pants in my closet. Found about 10 pair that were "too big" and only 4 that were "too small". The greatest thing is that I have some from 2005 and 2009 that were snug back then and now are "just right!" I also bought a new pair of pants yesterday, size 16! When I started this journey, I was a size 22! I'm so excited that I pulled all those pants from the "back of the closet" and can now wear them!

If you want to take them off now, you can. 10 days is enough time. It helps if you do it right after a shower or if you take a washcloth run under fairly hot Water and then dab it over the strips. It makes it easier to pull off. Also, Maggy's Mom had a good point about the black goo. I found that baby oil on a soft cloth works to get it off. Good luck with your new sleeve!

So sorry to hear about your dad. I know what that's like. My BMI is 48 and I'm thinking that's a little high but I think that every facility is different. 1 of the surgeons I was checking out said that if I lost at least 5lbs that it would help her (and me) a great deal. The surgeon I'm going with requires that I go on a liquid diet for 10 days pre-op. On that show 'Big Medicine' (anybody watch that?) they require you to do a liquid diet for a lot longer :-o In any case it probably is a good idea to discuss this with your surgeon!! Good Luck with EVERYTHING :-D

Crystal, you reminded me about an outfit I bought when I went through this the first time, a large T shirt I liked (normal sized) and size 14 pants. I did get into them once I lost the weight! Funny thing was, by the time I got into them, I didn't care about the outfit anymore cause I'd found cuter outfits by then, LOL! What was "cool" to me before the journey and after was different. But my priorities had changed, too, anyway... I'm going to look around for a few goal outfits. I'm currently in 18/20's on top and bottom, maybe I'll get some 12's and 10's so I keep going. Dave, my surgeon also told me to get PROPEL sports drink. It has electrolytes and low sugar, and is good for helping to heal right after surgery.

First, let me say how sorry i am for the recent stress in your life... Just remember ... This to shall pass.. I too would wait and let things settle before going back. continue with your self monitoring of your food. Pre portion out as much as possible..... My suggestion would be, next time only order the shrimp, stay clear of the fried potatoes and if the shrimp were fried too, next time ask for them to be grilled. Most rest. offer a Kids shrimp.. order that and ask if it can be grilled.... 9 or 10 will say yes... then ask if they have any veggies you can get instead of the FFries. Tell them to keep the drink if it comes with one in place of the up charge for the veggies if there is one. Don't give up on your band and keep positive....

I just went today and got a couple boxes of Quest bars. Also they sent me a $10 off coupon for my birthday if I spend more than $10. I have saved a lot since having my card.

I lost 10 lbs but they cut my pre op diet to 5 days because they open more surgery days during the holidays. Also remember some pre op is liquid, others are modified, heavier people lose more weight initially, males tend to lose faster than females etc.... as someone previously said it is about shrinking your liver and reducing the fat around it.

It all has to do with your weight and BMI. I had to do 10 days but I started 4 days earlier and came myself 2 weeks on the pre-opposite. But that's why some have to be on it longer to have time for their liver to shrink

Food was my way of comforting myself and relieving stress for as far back into my childhood as I can remember. There was alcohol and violence in my childhood home and I needed comfort. There was no human source for it so I created a source for it. Food "hugged me" and made me feel safer. In an environment with stressors beyond my control. I had a small something I could easily access to sooth myself. It was my mind deciding what to eat for comfort and it was my hand lifting the food to my mouth. I was in the driver's seat regarding something in my life and body, even if I wasn't safe in my home. Food was my best friend, provided comfort and gave me a way to manage even a small part of my life. By my teens, my chubby appearance morphed into actually being significantly overweight. At the age of 12, I jumped from a women's size 12 to size 18 and never looked back. By the age of 20, soon after my mother's death, I was a size 26 and 330 pounds. In my 30s, I lost 130 pounds too rapidly and much of my hair by binging and purging and in my 40s, I again lost 130 pounds after LAP-BAND Weight Loss Surgery in 2003. But because I had not done the emotional, internal work on my relationship with food and childhood trauma, my food addiction shifted to liquid calories I could easily pass through the LAP-BAND, which is common. At this time, for the first time in my life, I developed an alcohol problem and my dinner each night was a six pack of "vodka coolers" followed by a pint of low-fat ice cream for dessert. Nutrition was the last thought on my mind and my focus was on comfort calories that could pass through "the band." By 2006, all the weight I lost was back. I also continued to eat solid foods that would force me to vomit and caused my esophagus to become distended. When a LAP-BAND patient doesn't respect the "full" signals the body sends to the brain and continues to eat, the esophagus becomes a storage place for excess food and the esophagus stretches. This made the LAP-BAND useless and while it is still in my body, it no longer functions properly. At the same time, during the last 20 years, I developed back problems from bulging discs related to the weight I was carrying. I began using opiates under a doctor's supervision to combat pain and muscle spasms in my back and in my knees that resulted in five knee surgeries. At first, I viewed the opiates as a wonderful tool as they relieved or masked some of the pain and also provided an emotional high. Soon I was using the opiates for emotional reasons more than for pain and as my tolerance for them grew, I needed larger doses to get the same effect. Then I needed to graduate to a stronger form of opiate and that is when, 10 years ago, I began taking Oxycodone and OxyContin around the clock along with Flexeril for muscle spasms. Sitting for long periods became unbearable and I was forced to leave my career as a Court Paralegal and qualified for "permanent disability." I cried as I left the hearing in which I was declared disabled. I didn't want to be disabled but felt it must be true for a judge to decide it was. It was 2010 and I believed my life was essentially over. At 50 years old I was simply waiting to slowly die. I believed all my happy days were behind me. When my doctor suggested I try yoga before we take the drastic step of implanting electrodes in my spine for the pain, I began attending a very gentle yoga class for people with disabilities. Slowly, over a two year period, I began to build stronger core muscles which made the back spasms less severe and less frequent. But I continued to take the opiates because by then I had an emotional and chemical dependence on them. During this time, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea which was caused by the opiates and excess weight. Opiates disrupt the brains signals to the lungs and suppress the respiratory drive. On top of this - physical pain, addiction and emotional unhappiness - I was also caring for my father with Alzheimer's. Although in a safe and loving group home, I still felt responsible for my father's well-being and comfort. I was his only family within 3000 miles. As so often happens when caring for a loved-one, we stop caring for ourselves in every sense. Soon after my father's death in 2012, I developed pneumonia because my breathing became so inconsistent that my lungs filled with fluid. I realized at that point I needed to change everything about my life including losing the weight and decreasing, even eliminating, my use of opiates or else I would die. At that moment, in the hospital in 2012, the desire to live was sparked in me by the threat of death! After leaving the hospital, for 60 days, I detoxed and experienced cold sweats, tremors and anxiety as the opiates slowly left my bloodstream. Once I was drug-free, I began making small, sustainable changes to my diet and gradually increasing amounts of movement. (Yes, that means exercise!) Over the following 18 months, my weight dropped from a high of 333 pounds down to 185. As a 6'3" tall woman this is a healthy, lean weight for me. In 2013, I decided then to give myself the gift of nearly full-body plastic surgery. Since I was already severely overweight in my teens, at a time of life when many young girls look their best and enjoy being pretty, I decided "it is never too late to have a happy childhood." During an 11-hour surgery, 13 pounds of skin was removed from my abdomen, buttocks, back, chest and under arms. For the first time since the age of 12, no part of my belly and buttocks continue to jiggle when I stop walking, no part of me droops and my thighs do not rub together. The Sleep Apnea is gone and I now climb mountains instead of grabbing railings to pull myself up stairs! But the hardest mountain I've ever climbed was a "metaphorical mountain" in those first few weeks of starting to change my relationships with food and drugs, as well as beginning to move. I am enjoying a lovely renaissance in a healthy, lean, strong and coincidentally beautiful body. However, this transformation has not been about beauty. My goals are continued health and a desire to live with passion, and about choosing to do more than survive. I am driven from an internal source to live a vibrant, full life of joy so I can continue to enjoy the love of family and friends and so they needn't lose me to obesity and addiction. This photo (above) was taken on the highest mountain in the 48 contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. After 10 hours of climbing 6,134 feet to an elevation of 14,508 feet covering 11 miles, I summited at 2:00 pm and like every part of my weight-loss, fitness and "reclamation of life" journey, I did it! Yet, like during every aspect of my journey I had partners. My partners knew the lay of the land, my strength and challenges. I surrounded myself with people who knew how to help me get where I wanted to go. Physical and mental health professionals who coached me to express my full potential. What mountains will you climb in your life and who will help you get there? Build your team, including here at BariatricPal, and there is no "mountain" you cannot climb!

I'm 19 and 85lbs down and my stomach is a bit droopy, but honestly I'm ok with it, I'll see how it goes another 50 lbs from now when I'm at goal. And it's taken me a year to drop 85lbs so not too drastic. I was really scared too at first but once you start losing the weight, that skin don't mean shit :blushing: lol

I also had my surgerry on Fri 10/21. Been really sore in the abdomin, but haven't had any pains from gas. I wasn't really all that hungry in the past 2 days...yesterday I had a couple of Atkins Protein shakes, as well as, broth, and lots of propel Water. Today, I am starting to feel a little hungry this morning, so I will drink a Protein shake and see if that cures it.

My surgery was delayed 5 hours yesterday. Made thru just fine. Woke up in recovery in so much pain. It's from the gas, but I have not been able to pass any of it. Iv tried walking but I get dizzy and weak very quickly. They are keeping me another night in the hospital because I can not keep anything down. Not even small sips of Water. Within 5-10 mins I'm throwing it up. Mostly dry heaves, but it's painful and it sucks!!! I'm just so ready to go home Sleeve Date: March 28, 2013 First Goal 50lbs: July 13, 2013

I tried it in 2012 into 2013 for five months it was awful I hated it got less sleep with it then without if u move it leaks or the hose crunches or comes undone if u need to use the bathroom u have to unhook and readjust everything I felt like I was suffocating every minute it gave me such anxiety I'd lay there for 2 hours and not go to sleep if I want to have this surgery I have to do it and prove a 3 week compliance with a printout or I can't have surgery I'm so pissed I feel like I'm being held hostage in two weeks I missed three days of work because of it was awake so much I literally couldn't fall asleep took it off one night and proceeded to sleep so hard from extreme fatigue caused by not being able to sleep with that contraption on that I fell asleep and slept three hours past my alarm going off waking to my boss yelling on my answering machine where are you? At 10 am ...I never used it again now being told I have to not sure I'll ever get surgery really can't tolerate it

I’ve always dressed for comfort and style that suits my figure. I have an hourglass figure, that has ballooned over the last 10 years. I started treating myself with food treats, moved to an office job and got my drivers license. When I was younger I wore short shorts, minis, tiny string bikinis etc.... now, my shorts and skirts are closer to my knees than my butt, and I wear a tankini with little shorts. This will continue as I shed the weight. If I was younger... I’d go for the short shorts all over again 😀. As long as You are comfortable in what you are wearing you will rock it

You can definitely do it. I am. I am not a vegetarian, but I generally only eat meat/chicken/fish once a day and about 2-3 oz at most. I have a non-meat source twice a day. It would be quite easy to swap out that last meal and still hit my Protein goals. In fact, every 6 weeks when I travel, I generally do not eat any meat during that week (for simplicity) and it works out well. I eat a lot of Soups - split pea, bean and lentils based. I make big batches and freeze then for lunch. This is all part of my surgeons plan. He asks his patients to eat at least one non-animal protein meal a day. I have also found I've lost quite quickly (disclaimer: I'm male). I'm down 185 lbs in 10 months. And I've been in maintenance for the last 6 weeks or so. From 333 to 148. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I had my sleeve surgery 2/20/17 spent one day in hospital. Home now the first thing I did was weigh myself. I was heavier this morning post surgery. Maybe it because of all the IV fluids and gas pumped in my abdomen? I have cramps how long will this feelings of bloating last? I lost 16 pounds pre-opt came home weighed 10 pounds heavier. Is this normal?

Pam.. someone with the same ideas as me... I am 5-9 almost 5-10 and 252. I was 165-170 when I graduated and wow would I love to be there again.. and I was the big girl then. I will take big girl over giant momma anyday. My mom was 5-10 and 140 all my life and she was so thin. I am aiming for 16 and if lucky 165... good luck!

I was 170 pounds overweight and I thought I had tried everything. I had a LAP-BAND for 11 years, during which I lost and regained 130 pounds. The LAPBAND was ready to do its' job, but I was not ready to do mine. This is the story of how I embraced, life, living, healthy food and exercise, and finally shed 170 pounds 8 years into my LAPBAND journey. From needing a "walker" to climbing America's tallest mountain in 2 years, this is my story. Food was my way of comforting myself and relieving stress for as far back into my childhood as I can remember. There was alcohol and violence in my childhood home and I needed comfort. There was no human source for it so I created a source for it. Food "hugged me" and made me feel safer. In an environment with stressors beyond my control. I had a small something I could easily access to sooth myself. It was my mind deciding what to eat for comfort and it was my hand lifting the food to my mouth. I was in the driver's seat regarding something in my life and body, even if I wasn't safe in my home. Food was my best friend, provided comfort and gave me a way to manage even a small part of my life. By my teens, my chubby appearance morphed into actually being significantly overweight. At the age of 12, I jumped from a women's size 12 to size 18 and never looked back. By the age of 20, soon after my mother's death, I was a size 26 and 330 pounds. In my 30s, I lost 130 pounds too rapidly and much of my hair by binging and purging and in my 40s, I again lost 130 pounds after LAP-BAND Weight Loss Surgery in 2003. But because I had not done the emotional, internal work on my relationship with food and childhood trauma, my food addiction shifted to liquid calories I could easily pass through the LAP-BAND, which is common. At this time, for the first time in my life, I developed an alcohol problem and my dinner each night was a six pack of "vodka coolers" followed by a pint of low-fat ice cream for dessert. Nutrition was the last thought on my mind and my focus was on comfort calories that could pass through "the band." By 2006, all the weight I lost was back. I also continued to eat solid foods that would force me to vomit and caused my esophagus to become distended. When a LAP-BAND patient doesn't respect the "full" signals the body sends to the brain and continues to eat, the esophagus becomes a storage place for excess food and the esophagus stretches. This made the LAP-BAND useless and while it is still in my body, it no longer functions properly. At the same time, during the last 20 years, I developed back problems from bulging discs related to the weight I was carrying. I began using opiates under a doctor's supervision to combat pain and muscle spasms in my back and in my knees that resulted in five knee surgeries. At first, I viewed the opiates as a wonderful tool as they relieved or masked some of the pain and also provided an emotional high. Soon I was using the opiates for emotional reasons more than for pain and as my tolerance for them grew, I needed larger doses to get the same effect. Then I needed to graduate to a stronger form of opiate and that is when, 10 years ago, I began taking Oxycodone and OxyContin around the clock along with Flexeril for muscle spasms. Sitting for long periods became unbearable and I was forced to leave my career as a Court Paralegal and qualified for "permanent disability." I cried as I left the hearing in which I was declared disabled. I didn't want to be disabled but felt it must be true for a judge to decide it was. It was 2010 and I believed my life was essentially over. At 50 years old I was simply waiting to slowly die. I believed all my happy days were behind me. When my doctor suggested I try yoga before we take the drastic step of implanting electrodes in my spine for the pain, I began attending a very gentle yoga class for people with disabilities. Slowly, over a two year period, I began to build stronger core muscles which made the back spasms less severe and less frequent. But I continued to take the opiates because by then I had an emotional and chemical dependence on them. During this time, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea which was caused by the opiates and excess weight. Opiates disrupt the brains signals to the lungs and suppress the respiratory drive. On top of this - physical pain, addiction and emotional unhappiness - I was also caring for my father with Alzheimer's. Although in a safe and loving group home, I still felt responsible for my father's well-being and comfort. I was his only family within 3000 miles. As so often happens when caring for a loved-one, we stop caring for ourselves in every sense. Soon after my father's death in 2012, I developed pneumonia because my breathing became so inconsistent that my lungs filled with fluid. I realized at that point I needed to change everything about my life including losing the weight and decreasing, even eliminating, my use of opiates or else I would die. At that moment, in the hospital in 2012, the desire to live was sparked in me by the threat of death! After leaving the hospital, for 60 days, I detoxed and experienced cold sweats, tremors and anxiety as the opiates slowly left my bloodstream. Once I was drug-free, I began making small, sustainable changes to my diet and gradually increasing amounts of movement. (Yes, that means exercise!) Over the following 18 months, my weight dropped from a high of 333 pounds down to 185. As a 6'3" tall woman this is a healthy, lean weight for me. In 2013, I decided then to give myself the gift of nearly full-body plastic surgery. Since I was already severely overweight in my teens, at a time of life when many young girls look their best and enjoy being pretty, I decided "it is never too late to have a happy childhood." During an 11-hour surgery, 13 pounds of skin was removed from my abdomen, buttocks, back, chest and under arms. For the first time since the age of 12, no part of my belly and buttocks continue to jiggle when I stop walking, no part of me droops and my thighs do not rub together. The Sleep Apnea is gone and I now climb mountains instead of grabbing railings to pull myself up stairs! But the hardest mountain I've ever climbed was a "metaphorical mountain" in those first few weeks of starting to change my relationships with food and drugs, as well as beginning to move. I am enjoying a lovely renaissance in a healthy, lean, strong and coincidentally beautiful body. However, this transformation has not been about beauty. My goals are continued health and a desire to live with passion, and about choosing to do more than survive. I am driven from an internal source to live a vibrant, full life of joy so I can continue to enjoy the love of family and friends and so they needn't lose me to obesity and addiction. This photo (above) was taken on the highest mountain in the 48 contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. After 10 hours of climbing 6,134 feet to an elevation of 14,508 feet covering 11 miles, I summited at 2:00 pm and like every part of my weight-loss, fitness and "reclamation of life" journey, I did it! Yet, like during every aspect of my journey I had partners. My partners knew the lay of the land, my strength and challenges. I surrounded myself with people who knew how to help me get where I wanted to go. Physical and mental health professionals who coached me to express my full potential. What mountains will you climb in your life and who will help you get there? Build your team, including here at BariatricPal, and there is no "mountain" you cannot climb!