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Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums here, I've been lurking for a few months reading everyone's stories and ups and downs. I'll definitely post my story in the introduction section, but for right now I have a question. How did you prepare for your surgery? Not talking about the pre-op diet, more like did you take pictures in a certain outfit or buck naked or anything of that nature? How did you prepare your house/bedroom/where you'd be spending your few days recouping when you're on pain meds still? I've got 3 kids, 3 8 and 12, and hubby will be home with me for a few days, so I'm not absolutely stressed about minding the kids, more about taking care of me! Thanks! ~tara

something soul crushing comes along. I am waiting for my husband to tell me to "curse God and die." *sigh* I had the total hysterectomy 5/25 and all of the carcinosarcoma was contained in the uterus (nothing had matastised, nothing in the lymph nodes). Alas, the oncologist wants me to do chemo because this is a very aggressive and quick moving type of cancer. Yesterday I had the portacath installed near my right clavicle (sore, but nothing horrible) and today I spent the entire day getting "infused" with various highly toxic substances that kill off fast growing cells (like the lining of my mouth and my hair oh, and cancer). I am doing 6 treatments, 1 every 3 weeks and they are highly intense doses. By the 2nd dose my hair will be gone. The thing that is bothering me is that I am doing this horrible thing to my body "just in case". And even then, there is no garauntee that it will find and kill any free roaming cancer cells. I'm not as scared as I was, now I'm just ticked. Anyhow, I just want to keep track of what reactions/problems I have due to the chemo. It has been 4 hours and nothing yet. 24 hours, nothin' (although I was horribly constipated from the anesthesia from the portacath installation) ...and yes, I am mad as hell at cancer and I am kicking it OUT ! 7/22: for the past 24 hours I feel like I have been run over by a train - every muscle, every joint just aches horribly like a toothache; I take Tramadol 50mg but it's not relieving this pain. This is not pleasant. 7/23: I didn't make it to work today. I still feel horrible. I did lose 17 lbs in 2 days. good grief. 8/6: the 1 chemo treatment knocked my white blood cell count so low that I succumbed to a strep A infection in my portacath; had to get 3 shots of neuphronim (?) to boost my marrow's ability to make wbc's and just finished a week of daily IV antibiotics (thank God the port doesn't have to be removed and the infection is under control); btw, my hair started coming out in clumps this morning in the shower :-( 8/18: had to postpone the 2nd chemo until this past Thursday due to the infection (which is all better now); today is Saturday and I am feeling fatigued but no horrible bone aches yet; I will be dosing myself with Tramadol; my hair is mostly gone - Friday was "Hat Day" in my work group to show support for me (nice people) 9/4: I spoke too soon... again, I wasn't able to make it to work the following Monday. Didn't start feeling better until the Thursday after "chemo Thursday". The neuphronim shot is doing a good job of keeping my wbc stable. Due to the IV antibiotics and 20 days of amoxycillin I ended up with a horribly painful yeast infection. Dr. Cottrill prescribed fluconazole pills but it didn't touch it - bought some acidophilus pills and monistat 3 day treatment. It's all better now. I was putting neosporin on myself to ease the pain and then realized that it was an ANTI-BIOTIC ointment !! I am an idiot ! Went to see Dr. Cottrill again today and she said after the 3rd chemo (this Thursday) she wants me to consult with the radioligist. I don't want to, but I told her I would. She thinks I am handling the chemo really well. I guess I am just used to suffering. This past weekend was hellish. I just don't have a solution for the Jamie problem. No one does. I don't know what to do but I really can't take it anymore. I even threatened to get a motel room on the weekends. Dr. Cottrill wants to give me an anti-depressant. um... right. 9/12: had 3rd chemo on 9/6 - reactions not as severe this time; except right now I am having a hard time seeing, which is really weird. Great... now I'm going to be struck blind. I met with the radiologist yesterday (she was wearing snow-leopard print high heels so I liked her immediately). I am going to do the radiation therapy - starting in a couple of weeks for 5 weeks, 5 days a week. All the way to Lexington. She said I shouldn't have any really bad side effects but that everyone is different. Yesterday afternoon it was like I had been abducted by aliens - barium enima, had to drink floor polish, laid on a CT scan table for 30 minutes perfectly still while they drew on my body with permanent blue marker... it was crazy. That was to map out my insides so that when they radiate me they miss my bladder and most of my intestines and other important stuff. Anyhow, the reason I finally said "yes" to the radiation treatments is because of the little voice in my head that told me 6 months from now if the cancer comes back I want to be able to say that I have done absolutely everything I could to stop it. Stupid little voice :-( Atleast I will get a rest from the chemo for a couple of months. 9/27: I had my first experience on the x-ray/radiation machine Tuesday morning - I had to lay flat on my back on a plank with my pants around my knees and my feet tied together for 30 minutes. Oh, and hold perfectly still. I had a hard time sitting up let alone walking after that. I asked her if it's going to be like this every time - "well, yes, but only this long 2 times a week. It should be only 20 minutes the other 3 times. See you tomorrow !" I have to figure out how to cope with this. Actually, Wed. & Thu. treatments only took 10 minutes. Much better. No reaction yet, as far as I can tell. My brain is getting a little foggier, but that may just be me :-) I haven't lost any weight in a few weeks. The defeatist jewish mother that lives in my head KNEW that something would happen and that the VSG would fail for me. The kind christian friend that lives in my heart tells me that everything will be ok. Me ? I'm not so sure, but I keep on doing the things that have to be done, come hell or high water or cancer. I should probably start exercising... 11/2: I finished the 5 weeks of full abdomen radiation on Tuesday. I have had diarrhea for the past 4 weeks (stayed home 4 days because I was in the bathroom more than I was working). The flesh under my "granny apron" on the right side is black (yes, black!) and the skin is kind of rotting off. I've been easing the pain by applying neosporin twice a day. The radioligy doctor looked at it and said I should be ok. There has been some pain on urination but nothing intolerable. I am tired. I think I have forgotten what it feels like to feel strong & healthy. On 11/15 I start the 3 internal radiations. Then after that I have to finish the 3 more chemo treatments. I think I need a vacation. A REAL vacation. 1/14: happy new year! I finished all of the radiation 11/21 (serious alien technology) and had a wonderful holiday season. A big thank you to my son's in-laws for hosting ALL of the family get togethers. I hope I can carry my fair share this year. The diarrhea from the radiation lasted 6 weeks altogether. I now have a lump behind my belly button. Dr. Cottrill ordered a CT scan, gave me a hug, and told me, "This is the kind of thing that makes my sphincter clamp down." oh boy. The CT scan results show that it is just a lump in the fat under the skin. She tried to withdraw some fluid thinking it was an abscess but only got a little blood. She says we're going to leave it alone for now and if it continues to grow and it becomes uncomfortable she will remove it. I said,"But if it's not cancer, it's not your responsibility." And she said,"YOU are my responsibility." wow, I really like her. I had my 4th chemo this past Thursday and the neuphronin shot on Friday. Once again my bones ached and I lost 8 lbs. I can do this. Okaaay... just got a call from the oncologist - the blood she took from the lump behind my belly button showed cancer cells. She is scheduling a PET scan to see if it has spread through my body. If it has, surgery is unnecessary. If it hasn't, she'll remove the tumor. I really hate doing this to my family. 1/29: the 4th chemo resulted in boils... in my crotch. The largest one (about the size of a deck of cards) had to be lanced. I cried like a baby and then Dr. Donaldson packed it. That's when I started swearing like a sailor. Extremely painful. They gave me a script for percocet and sent me to the Infectious Disease folks again - 11 days on IV antibiotics (oh, and it was a MRSA staph infection too) and 10 more on sulpha by mouth and daily repacking of the boil (the 1st time was swearingly-awful again, but each time after was ok). I have started myself on the Monistat 3 anti-yeast stuff and acidophilus pills because I don't want to go through THAT again. And the PET scan? That showed that I do NOT have cancer anywhere else except in that lump behind my belly button. Praise God! I am getting that, along with my belly button, removed on Feb. 11 and then Dr. Cottrill wants me to do 3 more chemos. I don't know if I can. This is all so scary. Oh, and that 5 weeks of radiation with 6 weeks of diarrhea? What a waste of time, money, pain, and suffering that was! All it did was tick off the cancer. sheesh! 2/15: I had my belly button removed on Feb. 11 - there's a 4 inch vertical incision where it used to be. Dr. Cottrill was very happy with the tumor - it was very self contained, no outshoots, about the size of a hockey puck, and she removed it and the surrounding fat (omentum) and the belly button. It's closed up really well (she just used that glue stuff to cover it), She's still talking about me doing 3 more chemo infusions. I think at this point I am more afraid of what the chemo might do to me than any stupid cancer. 2/28: I am back at work! whoo hoo! I spoke with Dr. Cottrill on 2/26 and she wanted me to start a different chemo regimen: 3 days of infusion every 3 weeks of ifosfamide. This chemo has very serious side effects for 50% of patients: hemorrhagic cystitis (could bleed to death from bladder, but there is a drug to counteract that) and neurotoxicity (dementia & psychosis up to coma & death). After talking with my husband and praying, I have decided to not do this chemo "just in case" I have cancer. I will be doing CT scans every 3 months to look for any cancer and if it comes back, I will reevaluate that decision. In the meantime, I am going to get busy living!! God has been my comfort and strength through all of this and I thank Him for loving me.

I really wish that doctors would stress the fact that this is NOT a piece of cake. This really is VERY hard work. For my weight loss I would give the band only about 5-10% of the credit. I did everything else myself. I am the one that chose the right food, I am the one that drove myself to the gym and worked out, I am the one that didn't give in to head hunger. The band did none of that for me. The band just made sure that I didn't eat TOO MUCH food. Though as most of you will figure out...the band does not stop crap food...Chips, ice cream, Cookies all go down with ease. Rarely do people get stuck or PB on those. However, even totally unfilled the band will sometimes bring you to your knees...I just pb'd on chili! I have worked out since the beginning, but I was pretty sporadic at first. I did find however that you do have to increase your intensity...find a place with hills or do interval training and walk fast for a few seconds/minutes (whatever you can start with). Then ADD WEIGHT TRAINING! This is huge...it has totally helped reshape my body. After I had lost about 50 pounds I REALLY started working out. 5-6 days per week and an hour at a time. I would increase the intensity every week. When I got to the point that I couldn't increase the intensity...I added something. Now I run 4-6 days per week. I just ran 11 straight miles yesterday, I will run 12 next Sunday and then 13.1 (my half-marathon) on June 28. I didn't do this overnight. I worked myself up to it. Exercise has to be part of your new lifestyle. The band has HELPED me change my lifestyle, but 95% of this is mental work. Have you tried eating home cooked food? Those TV dinners are full of sodium and refined carbs that often don't stay with you for very long. If you go to my Mentoring Thread there are a bunch of recipes that take very little to put together. They are the staple foods that I lived on...and still do! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f260/ready-willing-64799/ Karri

My surgeon gave me the go ahead to swim/hot tub at 10 days post-op, so go figure. I waited a while as scars still looked a bit red. At 3 weeks I am ready to hit the hot tub.

Craved some Japanese food, so I had 4 small gyozas, and I was fine with those. I also got 4 steamed pork dim sims to go, and had them many hours later. I think I ate them too fast and broke the no fluids for 30 mins after food, as I had to take few large tablets about 10 mins after I had the dim sims. Had that stuck feeling in my oesophagus, and I could feel it spasming a bit. I just sat down, waiting for this unpleasant feeling to go away, next thing this huge slime ball comes out of me ..... No nausea, just slime and more slime. Yuck! It just shows that at 8 months post op, stuff can still happen! I was too busy to eat, so I got too hungry and ate too fast. I am not sure if the light Pasta like wrapping had something to do with the sliming, although gyozas have a thin layer of pasta like wrapping also, and I was OK with them. I normally would have my regular Protein meal, but frankly I had enough of it, and wanted to try something else. Anyone else, further down post op still sliming at times? What sets it off for you?

You know how people who were one thing, and then reformed themselves all of a sudden become fanatical about that thing they used to be? Ex smokers are one of the best examples, policing the ranks of those who continue to smoke, evangelizing them to save them from that particular sin. They are especially known for their zeal. I sort of felt that way today. After my post op check up (which went very well), I drove up to visit my parents and help my Dad with a few chores around the house. While we were working, my Mom declared that we needed to go to the store to get some things she had been wanting for a while. Now "we" translates and "Dad and I". As for the store, she did not care, as long as it had everything she wanted on her list. It was that discussion that led to the circumstances where I found myself a short while later. We wound up in the mecca for fat people. There were more fat people there than at the Golden Corral on 10% off day. Yes. I am talking about Walmart. I hate going to Walmart. I don't like having to walk for what seems like miles just to discover they really don't have what I want. What's even worse sometimes IS finding what I want. Then I have to stand in line to check out - a line that stretches into the hazy distance like people lined up waiting for Judgment Day. And today was even worse. We were at a Walmart in a popular vacation spot for people from a very large city whose initials are N.Y.C. So it was fat people with an attitude. I also made the mistake of texting Mrs. LittleBill to tell her I was at Walmart, thinking she would at least sympathize. I received an LOL and a list of stuff to look for. So now I had two missions. We had to park so far away from the building that all we could see was the top, peeking over the horizon. I am pretty sure we were in a different zip code. The parking lot was solid with vehicles. In the distance I could see people dodging back and forth between the city drivers zooming around looking for the best spot. I said to Dad, "Maybe today isn't such a good day to try and go in there." He turned to me and said, "It's not worth my life to come home empty handed! We're going in!" We eventually made it to the door. I grabbed a cart, and waded into the mêlée, calling out to Dad that we could split up and cover more territory more quickly. It was like a cross between bumper cars and the demolition derby. People were smacking into one another left and right, coming out of the ends of the aisles like they had been fired out of a cannon. Baleful glares and insincere apologies were exchanged with abandon. And in all of this, there was a huge number of human juggernauts, cruising through slowly, yet unstoppable. They drew my attention with fascination. Like the ex smoker described above, I looked from person to person, thinking: "You need bariatric surgery. You need bariatric surgery. You REALLY need bariatric surgery! I can't believe I used to look like that! Did I really look like that!?! This place is a GOLD MINE for my surgeon!" It was actually kind of weird. On one hand, I felt something of a kinship with these people while on the other hand I was repulsed. I think a lot of the latter had to do with attitude though. I really get impatient with rude people. In one sense it was something of an NSV for me. I am still fat, but I am not the land yacht I used to be, and to a degree, I felt a whole lot slimmer as I negotiated the killing fields of the retail environment. It was also something of a wake up call, to learn that I do not perceive myself in the same way that I used to. I am going to have to work on that one for a while. It kind of snuck up on me and grabbed me by the throat. But at least I made it out of there alive.

Hey all had the sleeve on 10/14, just got put on pureed and I am struggling to get it down. The food keeps getting stuck. Making me nauseous. Do I need to puree it longer? I switch to soft foods on Thursday and I am not sure I will be able to eat anything. I feel like I will live on cream soup for the rest of my life lol. Sent from my SM-N981U using BariatricPal mobile app

Possibly eating too fast? Too much volume wise? My NUT told me to take a bite chew really good and go slow. After that bite, I would have to wait. Some things expand in your stomach. Also was told introduce 1 new food each day. This way if you have a food issue, you know what it is causing discomfort. Doesnt mean you cant have it ever again, he said to retry at 6 months. Hth SW 350 (11/15) BSW 260 (10/17/17) CW 216.1 (2/4/18) RGW 199 GW 175

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I think patience is the hardest thing to grasp. When I went for my first fill 5 weeks post op, I had lost 1 lb. Since then, I have dropped 12 lbs. No appt until 3/8 for second fill and have been at same weight since 10 days after 1st fill. (I was scheduled for a fill on 2/4 but had to reschedule due to inclement weather in Houston...go figure:) ) I'm really not worried because I know the weight loss will resume. I keep telling myself that the band is a tool and as long as I am doing the right thing, Life is Good! I'm sure you will do fine. It gets easier every day,

I'm 5ft 10 and 140lb and I feel fat most days. That's because I was 130lb when I was sick and I beat myself up for regaining that weight. I mean, I had cancer, looked like a skeleton and have returned to a healthy weight and I beat myself up for it? Sheesh. I see fat thighs and a fat bum when I look in the mirror, and they ARE flabby. A tummy tuck hasnt improved my self esteem one iota - I didnt have a bad stomach in the first place and had the tuck to fix a ventral hernia, but I am STILL dissatisfied. I cant fit into my really skinny clothes. I have seen a psychologist for this problem for a while, but truthfully, I dont really think psychology is all that useful a tool for some people. I got nothing out of it. It doesnt help me to "talk" about it and have it gently suggested that my thinking is faulty. I already know that. I really just accept that I will never be happy with myself and I will always have that inner voice suggesting I could do better, be better etc. My best bet is to try to ignore it as much as possible and recognise when it is getting out of control. The truth is, when my eating and exercise behaviour is faultless, I can accept my imperfections. When I know that I'm not doing the most I coudl for myself, then they magnify. So the solution is simple. Eat right, and exercise and know that I've done all I can to be the best I can be, and live with whatever that is.

Has anyone gotten pregnant after the sleeve? I’m 10 weeks and having bad food aversions and nausea. Idk how I’m going to gain weight when I barely ate before pregnancy and now even less with pregnancy because nothing looks appetizing and I’m sick half the time (not throwing up just nausea). I’m just nervous I won’t be able to eat enough to gain the recommended weight for pregnancy. Sigh! 😞

OK, I found my people. Good. I got sleeved 10/18 and reached my goal of 175. I am now in perimenopause. Such fun. Then I decided to try to get to 150. I got down to 161 and COVID hit. I never stopped tracking. I lost my job. So I was job searching, walking my doggos, doing Pilates for chronic back pain. Without the constant praise and reinforcement (and tight clothes) I wore to work, I started very slowly backsliding. I don't think wearing Pilates pants and sports bras every day helped. I got back up to 175 (14 lb. gain) and got pretty mad at myself. I am not going up a clothing size, I got rid of all my bigger clothes. Even though I was counting calories, I was just eating too many. I've been trying to remove snacks and higher calorie stuff. Now I've lost one whole pound. I did get a new job I really like so, I'm happy about that, but we won't be back in the office until Q4 or 2021. I just want help staying motivated. Thanks in advance!

Yes, it definitely gets better. For a second, I was ready to tell the surgeon that something was wrong! Lol I’m officially one week post-op today and I feel 10 x better than a few days ago. I am getting my Protein in and able to swallow much more comfortably. My tummy is still freaking out at some things I try to give it, but it has calmed down for the most part. One thing that helped, that my surgeon did not actually prescribe me, was an acid blocker. In my experience as a nurse, we usually always give patients who are eating little to no food some sort of acid reduction coverage to prevent upset stomach. So, I started taking low dose Pepcid on my own a few days ago and that seemed to help also. My primary issue now is constipation!! Oy vey! 😩

I was also very nervous about "going under", but it all happens so fast and all the people are so kind and understanding that your fears just slip to the back of your mind. Next thing you know, you are waking up and it's all done! I too had a c-section, and I can tell you that there is no comparison. You will feel just fine, although a bit sore. I had my band done on Feb. 1st and am back to my regular routine. I get my first fill on the 28th, but have already lost 10 lbs. I guess it's that super delicious liquid diet! Don't be afraid - it will be the best thing you can do for yourself and the ones you love.

I'm scheduled for dec 10 dr Cummins. I just did my abg and EKG pft and chest X-ray today

Well, I am really late with writing more, but I just was not feeling it. I needed to get myself back to normal and try to figure out the food thing. So, I woke early on 10/14, posted to my blog, took a shower and just hung out watching TV while my hubby got ready. He does not do mornings well. I was surprised that I was not STARVING, as all I had had for 2 days were liquids. So, we get to the hospital at 10am, surgery is scheduled for 12 noon, and I signed in at the desk. The receptionist gave us a pager, similar to what you get at a resturant when waiting for a table...interesting.:cool: Frank (that is my hubby) was hungry, so we went to the cafe to get him some coffee and breakfast. We were about to sit down, when the pager went off! That was when I started to get nervous. :crying: The volunteer escorted us back to the surgical prep area, gave me a gown and told me to get undressed, the gown opens in the back..... So, I sit on the bed and just wait, now, a nursing assistant comes in and gives me some TED hose to put on, which covered up my cute halloween pedicure!:eek: Then the RN comes in to start the IV **ouch**, complete the admission process and have me sign another consent so the first assistant can get paid. The RN leaves for a minute and comes back and says "It looks like we are going to go a little earlier than expected!!. Dr. Steinberg comes in to say hello and then we are off to the OR. I kiss Frank goodbye and the transport guy takes me back, making me laugh the entire time, which was great, because I really was nervous. So, I am parked outside of the OR, another RN comes up and introduces herself (Robin) and in I go. I scoot over to the OR bed, get tied down, the Anesthesiologist tells me to relax, because at this point my BP is like 180/100:scared2: and I don't have hypertension. As I said, I was wicked nervous. All of a sudden I just start crying! I mean not hysterical, but tears, runny nose, I could not stop. The RN, Robin came over and, OMG, she was sooooooo sweet. She wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay, I asked her to pray with me and she did. She was just what I needed at the time, I am tearing up while I type this. I was so scared and felt so lost, I could not control my tears. I needed someone like Robin at the time and I thank God for her. She only talked to me for a minute, but it was what I needed. I needed to feel a connection to someone in the room, she promised to take care of me and assured me that Jesus would watch over us and make sure everything was as it should be. The last thing I remember was her wiping my tears. I woke up in the recovery room, I remember being cold and in some pain. The nurse gave me some warm blankets and told me she would give me something for pain...then I was out again! When I woke again, I had been wheeled up to the floor and the nursing assistant was taking my vital signs. Everyone at Dekalb Medical Center in Decatur, GA was soo nice. I am defiantely going to write thank yous to the staff and especially Robin. My stay was pretty uneventful, the pain was managed with a morphine pump. Let me digress a little here...the morphine pump was sooooo wonderful. It helped me understand how people get hooked on drugs, OMG! I would give myself a bolus and just trip out. I am so glad they took that thing away. I arrived home on Thursday and for some crazy reason, I weighed myself. The scale read 275!!! :wub::scared2::thumbup::scared2: Cognitively I knew it was water weight, but I was really unhappy. So I stayed away from the scale until today and I am now 258:thumbup:. I have an appointment with Dr. Steinberg on Friday 10/24, so I am going to try as hard as I can to not weigh until then. Well that's all folks, I am now offically on my way. The real beginning is here and I am sooo excited.

I was so lucky, I had restriction right from the get go. I lost 8 - 10 pounds every month for almost a year. Then i slowed way down. I just had a fill today for the first time in over a year. Only 0.2 cc, my dr. likes to take it slow. Some people don't notice a difference for a week or two and then it hits them. Good Luck!

Let me preface this by saying that most of the time I am happy with my decision and I'm pleased with my progress. I try really hard to be a supportive and positive voice to everyone I speak to on VST and I mean the things that I say. I wouldn't be concerned about making this post, but I saw another user get read the riot act for being negative a few weeks ago and now I'm not sure if posts like this are acceptable. Anyway, here goes. Since the surgery, I worry so much about what I've done to myself. I eat so little and I'm losing weight so quickly, it makes me afraid that I've done serious harm to myself. I wonder if for the sake of health and vanity, I've gone too far and am now endangering my life. Will I starve to death? I realize that their are many thriving sleeve patients right here at this forum, but it doesn't make me feel better for some reason. Are we all just in the honeymoon stage? What happens 10 years from now? There's another thing that's been causing me a lot of worry. I haven't weighed less than 180 lbs in maybe 8-10 years. I don't know how to be thin anymore. Will I feel exposed? It seems stupid, but I'm really terrified of being a skinny person. I'm having a hard time pinpointing what it is that is causing me fear, but I guess losing weight feels like I'm shedding armor. The idea of me being genuinely, really and truly thin seems awkward to me. Lastly, I'm a believer in fat acceptance and HAES. I follow plus-sized fashion and fat activism blogs and it's important to me that people feel good in their own skin. I feel like a traitor because I couldn't look at myself in the same way that I look at other fats. I feel like I'll have to give that stuff up to avoid feeling like a hypocrite. That's enough rambling for tonight. Sorry if I'm bringing anyone down.

Main ingredients in sennokot is senna. You can buy its natural tea form and drink semi regularly. Helps alot takes about 8-10 hours but it's a natural process. On a side note I have very little tolerance these days for sugar substitutes including Stevia. When ever I feel like I need a digestive cleaning I use them and viola!

Hello everyone this is probably going to be long but really could use the input. Nov 2019 I had the gastric sleeve done. Since this I have had nothing but troubles. 10 days after surgery I was admitted due to blood in my belly and a hematoma on my spleen. They fixed that and discharged 3 days later. I have not been able to eat much more then let's say a chicken nugget(less then an ounce of anything including liquids) I got dehydrated was admitted again 29 days post op. Stayed for 12 days got a picc line with tpn since I can not eat or drink much. During this stay had endoscopy and they stretched a stricture lower part of stomach to intestines from 15mm to 25ish mm. Went home no change still not able to eat. Had another endoscopy and stretch this time my stomach was twisted and she tried stretching to 30mm but was only able to get to about 28mm. Went home still no change to eating and drinking. On the 16th of January I had another endoscopy stretch. Stomach was twisted again and was barely able to stretch it at all. I aspirated during the procedure. I woke up to them telling me to keep coughing to get it up. They observed me for 3hrs was on 4liters of oxygen at first then 2. I got up to pee with help my oxygen corrected itself. They said there was no need to keep me I only aspirated a tiny amount. They let me go home (2 hr drive home) I was freezing hole way hubby cranked up heat. Took temp when I got home and found I had a fever of 102.6 went to local er where they did xray and ct found I had developed pneumonia and I also had a pulmonary embolism. They felt I should go back to hospital where this happened and I stayed there for 6 days. 5 days of iv antibiotics and heparin for embolism then discharged on lovonox to continue for 6 months to a yr. I still have no change so now its crunch time it has been 3 months since and cant eat or drink much at all. They want to do another stretch which I would need to come off the lovanox which is putting my life at risk. Not to mention I have had it done 3 times and it has not helped. Also if it doesnt work i would need to have the bypass revision which means 2 procedures putting me at risk 2 times) Surgeon says only other option is revision to bypass(unless he sees scar tissue and can fix. But i have to agree to bypass incase there is no scar tissue or it cant be fixed) My family is up in arms it's hard either way. I dont want anymore procedures but I need to get stomach fixed and I need to get back to work. 3 months no pay we cant take this financially anymore. So for me I feel like they need to do the bypass and I hope for the best and have minimal complications. However the rest of family is worried I will have more complications than I have currently. Plus my sister had bypass and has had to have 15 different repairs(this makes them more worried) I could really use some insight on this what would you do? What do you think I should do?

I wasn't eating 1200 calories until I was over a year out. You were probably just in a stall when that person on the forum told you to increase calories. That's not how to deal with them - the best option is to just stick to your program and ride it out. Like someone above said, stalls will happen all along your journey and they'll typically last 1-3 weeks. When you get to them, just stick to your plan, be patient, and stay off the scale if you have to - they WILL break. I didn't count calories at all the first few weeks - I just focused on my protein and fluid goals. Once I started eating solid food, I really wasn't consciously counting calories, either (that didn't come until several months out), but since I was tracking everything, I knew I was eating somewhere in the 600-800 range since that's what my calorie-counting app was saying. That seems to be pretty typical during the early months. and as Arabesque said, your starting BMI is one of the major factors that affects your rate of weight loss. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I started out well over 300 lbs. If you're what we call a "light weight" (in the low 200s), that 10 lbs is probably a reasonable expectation for the first month.

nope - you're fine. I also lost 10-12 lbs a month and I also started at over 300 lbs...

I started with a gastric sleeve surgery done in July 2019 weighing just shy of 350lbs. I had a lot of issues and tough recovery and it required a revision to a gastric bypass at the end of February 2020. I do not own a scale in my home as I would obsess over the number and with the whole Covid situation I was not going to in person dr appointments but today finally I was able to go and I weighed in at 187lbs!!!! That number seems crazy to me. I was over 200 at the age of 12 and I’m now 46. I want to laugh and cry at the same time. This last year was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever been through and I am not back to being 100% healthy yet but I am so excited to finally be under the 200lb mark.