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I'm so thankful my surgeon only requires a two week pre-op diet of sugar free, low carb/high Protein foods. This diet will also shrink your liver. However he is strict with his post-op diet, as we are required to stay on clear liquid for 10 days then advance to full liquids for 10 days & after that its 10 days of puréed food. I know others sleeved patient who are cleared to start eating soft foods just one week post-op. The diets really seems to very with each surgeon. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hopefully it was just a fluke. During my two week liquid shake I got a case of the diarrhea after 3 days. You are very close. Keep a positive outlook and good luck and smile, you are almost there!

I agree with 2013sleevegirl, my fiance makes up most of our meals for the week on Sunday, then freezes them. That way, we have healthy lunches and dinners ready, no matter how busy our schedule gets.

My Surgery was canceled because my iron was to low. Any one else experience this? Any tips on how i can my iron up fast? My PCP prescribed Ferroud Sulfate 325 twice daily. How long will this take? Months? Weeks? Days?

You might want to ask your surgeon. Mine said no compression garments for the first couple of weeks. Maybe so the wounds could heal and breathe? I didn't ask why.

Holy crap! I was denied a few weeks ago. Today I got a verbal approval and what a huge sigh of relief that is! I thought by now is already have had it. I'm so glad to get the help I need! Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

So I am at my 5 week mark and the lbs have been coming off like clockwork, until last week that is. Started at 371, surgery at 330, down to 290 last week, now I have stalled and even gained a pound or two back. I'm starting to freak a little because of it. I just recently went back to actual food, but I eat protein first then veggies, rarely any fat (no fried food or anything). I exercise and walk, although stress over the past week from work is causing sleeping probs. I don't want to see that scale go the wrong way. Any advice?

Are you making your protein and fluid goals? It's really important to get in the prescribed amounts of both. Many people experience a stall at the 3 week mark or so. Your body is just trying to adjust to everything that's happened to it. Keep plugging away and I'm sure it will pick back up. After a loss, my body fluctuates up and down for a few days and then I lose another couple of pounds. I definitely never lose any weight the day after a good workout. I've learned to go with the flow!

I'm 4 weeks out tomorrow, but I've been more or less putting the brakes on when drinking. Today I was distracted and drank 17oz in less than an hour. No problems whatsoever - no feeling like I'm going to throw up, no weird abdominal issues, no strange sounds, gas or anything. Only difference is the liquid disappeared faster than normal and my urine was nearly clear. I talked with my surgeons office about this a while back, namely that I was able to drink much faster than 1oz over 15 minutes. They weren't concerned with my ability to drink twice to 4 times as fast. I've always been able to drink fast. Even with my lap band, I could consume 20oz in less than a minute, so consuming 17oz in less than an hour is still very, very slow for me. I'm worried I'm somehow doing damage or stretching the pouch, but like I said, I don't feel anything abnormal. Is this normal/okay only 4 weeks out?

8 weeks post-op! The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as Protein shakes. One thing to do now at this stage is to assess your protein intake. Your protein requirement is met by a combination of the protein from your meals combined with the protein from your supplements (protein shakes, protein bars). Since your meal volume is beginning to increase, that also means that the amount of protein from meals is increasing, especially if you concentrate on consuming high protein meals. Therefore you could be able to reduce your reliance on supplements and the calories they contain. I went from 3 protein shakes a day, down to 2, then 1 and finally zero when my meal volume increased to 1 cup per meal at a year and a half. I found that softer foods such as chili and Soups went down much easier than harder food such as steak, so I relied on them. I have included some recipes at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Well if you are talking about the larger incision then yes I have. This incision got an infection, took antibiotics for 2 weeks and it is healing nicely.

So Im gettin my band removed after a year of being miserable... i cant wait.. i feel for me, it was the worst decision i ever made... After dealing with severe acid reflux and esphogeal spasms its coming out... Ive lost 60 pounds, and i know that with hard work and motivation i can do it on my own.. ive done it before... my questions is the recovery time... im leaving for a two week cruise in Italy on May 11, and i just want to make sure ill be good to go.. I dont want to have any issues.. Can any one please tell me the recovery time... Im only taking 5 days off work for the removal.. i know ill be sore, but are there any issues!!!

started last week! I have more gas than usually but no probs with constipation.

Yes this is totally normal. I felt the same way no desire to drink anything, I started to force myself to drink because I was scared to become dehydrated. I also had no energy for a long time. So far this week I am just starting to really feel back to myself.

Long time member but i haven't posted anywhere in ages, but I used to be on the Lapband board. I was a long time very successful band patient i was orginally banded in Jan 02 (in Canada, pre FDC approval) lost weight at a great rate. My first band (Innamed) slipped a total of 3 times before it came out for six months, I also had surgeries to move my port and another because my tubing disconnect. Next we went to the J&J band and it was great until it slipped badly, I had it for about 6-7 years and it worked like a charm, restriction was great most of the time, lost to my goal size and then it self tightened and i left it there because of travel, personal stress etc and i thought it would release on its own when i went for a defill it completely slipped around my esophagus and it was horrible. With the J&J I had a port revision surgery in there too. Then we tried a 3rd band it never worked right, I couldn't get restriction because if we did more than i had instant reflux etc. I revised to the sleeve last week with a new surgeon in Philadelphia who told me the band was basically around my esophagus and i had no pouch which is why I had no restriction and why I could not be tightened any more. But I lost about 150 lbs in 12-16 months and maintained that loss for 10 years plus, with little to no effort. In the meantime because of the band with no restriction, some prescribed evil steroids that I had to take that put 30lbs on me in a matter of 8 days... (they change your brain chemistry in weird ways) hashimoto's disease (hypo thyroid) fluctuations for the last few years and a few other things I gained about 70-80 lbs that I could not lose weight I tried. I went gluten free and dairy free, nada, I tried the HCG diet lost 20 lbs gained it back and generally I don't eat more than 1500-1700 calories per day including when I am drinking wine, eating out 3 meals a day etc. I hired a trainer, almost went paleo not quite. Now in talking to my surgeon he has said there are new studies showing band patients 9-12 years out who suddenly gain weight they can't lose for love nor money. They try everything and it won't come off more restriction, calories restriction etc. So we made a joint strategic decision to go to the sleeve since I knew the risk, what type of lifestyle change I was in for, portion control etc. wouldn't be a problem since i had it already. In our conversations we talked a lot about Ghrelin which is produced in the stomach and it makes you hungry, when you are feeling that craving to overeat or binge typically it is ghrelin and obese people produce more ghrelin than non obese people typically with some exceptions. We also talked about leptin which makes you feel satiated and is produced in the brain. With the sleeve, about 70-90% of the ghrelin produced is surgically removed with the part of the stomach they remove. i am curious have you noticed a difference in how hungry you get, cravings and the satiation of cravings ie: I can eat two bites of cake vs. I want the whole cake now? Have you also noticed the full feelings getting different than before from the leptin. My surgeon has said in his conversations with his patients they noticed their cravings reduced which helps them with portion control and in making better choices which helps a number of other things. In other words the brain and stomach don't conspire to make cheetos seem like a great dinner choice or ben and jerry your best friend. Overall I eat very healthy without a ton of junk food in my life we cook at home, we make our own stocks and Soups etc. to help get me through the liquids phase. But we do eat well and drink wine, we might be foodies (we are told we are, I just like trying new things). I have never eaten out of control even with the last band and no restriction just trying to lose weight has been terrible, depressing and frustrating. Especially after my first experiences which was I lost well, ate well, exercised and it worked like it was supposed too. I am a consultant and I travel for my job excessively so hence the eat out three meals a day most of the time I don't have a choice in that, but you can make healthy choices even in eating out and I do. I look at fats and calories along with Proteins and make good choices. Any thoughts you have I would appreciate and any advice you have I would love to read. Thanks for reading and good luck

I went for my second fill last week and I could definately tell I had a fill. It's been several days now since my fill and I can eat a little more but still feel like I am getting full faster. My weight loss was only 4 and 1/2 pounds this last time. I think I've lost a few more since my fill. So I'm about 25 pounds lighter now since my surgery on Oct. 5th. I wish it were going faster but I need to exercise more. That's my goal after this week my life should start to slow down a bit and I can actually make time to exercise. I'm really happy with my decision to have the lap band. I know I have to keep working hard myself to loose this weight. I can do it!

I eat plenty of very high fat foods like Fresh avocado (which you can eat once you get to soft food stage), and bacon (which you can have once you get to solid food stage). I am 9 months out now and probably did not even try bacon until about 3-4 months out. But honestly whenever I have a stall I eat more fat (organic pastured bacon, and organic avocados) and it seems to do the trick. IMHO even saturated fats are not the devil when you do NOT combine them with carbs. That being said PROTEIN first still stands. I wash down my bacon with a protein shake that has 30 g of protein. Again this is NOT doable first months out when it's all you can do to get and keep the protein shake down but over time fat is your friend. It is THE best appetite suppressant around.

I got rid of all my old clothes. I do not plan on going back. I can wear a size 4 now. However, I will not expect to stay that size. So I will keep the siz 8 to 10. I lost enough in case I gain the 20 pound average at year three. I am 26 months out.

Me too! I'm noticing some of my shirts that were snug or even tight are fitting much more loose now! I don't have a scale either. I figured in these first months I will only weigh when I see my dr. I am 2 weeks post op today and while getting ready to go to the store I took my time doing my hair and make up and was noticing my face looks thinner. I love the way I feel! I don't want a scale to depress me with stalls, etc. I'm just enjoying the ride right now and looking forward to when I actually do weigh again!

Prior to my surgery on Jan 15.. I cleaned closets, drawers, etc.. just was determined to get it all done before I had surgery.. so glad I did it now.. we were able to make room for things in our closets and I even got my linen closet organized... My best friend came down from Alabama and stayed with me when I had my surgery,, she even spent the night with me in the hospital.. My husband is great but can't drive good at night so he went home... so, my house was nice and clean when she came..I also cleaned my bathrooms from top to bottom.. Now I don;t feel too bad taking it easy .. I Have about 2 more weeks of layinng low...

Same here, I am starting to clean the house, clean the fridge, clean the pantry and getting rid of things I don't want to be eating later. My grocery lists are done (pre-op, than post-op week 1-2-3-4), and i'm preparing myself to get that phone call from my doc to start my per-op diet. I'm ready, can't wait!

I was allowed tea and coffee in a week or two after the operation and I've had no issues with either. I was a 2 or 3 cup a day person as well (in addition to the soda). I still have coffee every day (no soda) but its more like half the size of an espresso shot. I just don't feel like I need more. My energy levels are pretty good through the day so I don't need any "pick me ups".

It's okay...you will be fine. Every surgeon is different so did your surgeon give you a preop diet plan? How long are you on pre-op diet for? I was on liquid protien for 2 weeks - what a nightmare, but I did it since I wanted a sleeve more than I wanted to eat whatever I wanted. Recommend calling surgeons office to get a plan or search through the pre-op diet section here or go to http://www.cornellwe...gastrectomy.pdf Diet is for sleevers, not just any WLS patient. Good luck you are going to love your sleeve.

im so blessed im one week pos op but i didnt have all those problem...no gas no nausea im feeling great...

Hi all. I just found this site today. yeah me. I am currently jumping through Cigna's hoops to get my surgery approved. I am following up with PCP this week and that will hopefully give them enough notes to approve. Anyone have any experience with Cigna?