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I'm thinking I'm still swollen...my belly is still a little tender to touch... I can tell that I've lost weight from the top of my belly... I'm only 10 days out...

I don't know what got into me. I've been great on my pre op diet, down 19 pounds. I'm five days from surgery and went out last night and had two Manhattans and a handful of french fries someone had ordered for the table. I'm back on track again today, but someone tell me I didn't do any irreparable harm.... No more going out with the girls for a long time. My head is throbbing!

I actually have clothes from four different sizes of me as a result of previous diets that worked temporarily, before I gained all the weight back. So, I have wardrobe options on the way down. (My bypass is in February 2019.) I've decided that I will go out and treat myself to a new wardrobe once I'm at or near my goal weight.

Goodwill is my best friend. Over the past 10 years I’ve lost 60 pounds, gained it back and then some. I had RNY 12-3-18 and look forward to losing and going down in sizes. Our Goodwill offers 99 cent clothes daily and literally 75% of my wardrobe comes from there, and I’m talking some really nice items too. I consider it like a treasure hunt 😊

HI, Has any one had stomach flu after your Gastric Sleeve? I ask because I came down with the Stomach flu on 10/26 and I am still dealing with painful cramps and Diarrhea. I ended up in the emergency room for dehydration and pain. They ct scanned and my sleeve was fine. Hydrated me up and sent me home with medicine for the cramps. Anytime a eat anything it goes straight through me. I have had stomach flu be for and it was no where near as bad as this. I am really not getting much support from my surgent on this either. I went and seen my regular doctor and same, Stomach Flu. Seems odd that I have had it for 1 week now. I'm I being overly concerned? Is this normal? I have been stressing out over this because I have lost 4 lb in one week, because everything just runs through me. Any help would be greatly appriciated Thank you!

Alisa, congratulations, 10 lbs. is a great loss. My doctor told me at my 1 week check up not to worry about losing weight, but not to gain any, and 4 weeks later when I went back for my fill I was down another 11 lbs. I didn't get a fill because I had lost the amount of weight one is supposed to lose if the band is tight. I was only on a clear liquid for a week after my surgery. The second week I was on pureed foods, the third week was a soft food diet and I started back on solid food my 4th week. So far I have not been hungry. I get to have a shake for Breakfast, mid-morning snack, Protein and veggie or fruit for lunch and dinner, an afternoon and evening snack. I seem to be eating all the time, but just small portions.I got to start back to the gym this morning and am walking also. I feel great, and I am already off of 1 of my high blood pressure meds. Hang in there and keep us posted.

Also some doctors require weight loss prior to the liver shriking diet. Mine required 10% body weight loss.

Definitely going to look into bcomplex liquid drops. Just the idea of swallowing a big capsule makes me gag. My NUT actually said flintstone Vitamins aren't sufficient. I remember LOVING those! She's a tough one, though. Would you mind taking a few minutes and listing the nutritional facts? I'll list the ones for the Bariatric Advantage complete multi. calories 10 total carbs 2 sugar <1 Vitamin a 7500iu Vitamin C 120 mg vitamin d3 1000 iu vitamin e 30 iu vitamin B1 6mg vitamin b2 3.4 mg niacinamide 50mg vitamin b6 4 mg folic acid 800 mcg vitamin b12 100 mcg Biotin 600 mcg pantothenic acid 20 mg calcium 200 mg magnesium 50 mg zinc 15 mg selenium 100 mcg copper 2 mg manganese 2 mg

Wow toshao, my surgeon requires just 10 days of liquid diet pre-op . . .hang in there both of you (kmshea81 too!)

Well really as the title says where do I start? Its been almost 10 months since my surgery - and I've got to say - time has flown by - and though progress has been slow... its still progress... I've also learned a lot since last March... about the band, about me and about the relationships I have.. who would have thought that getting the band could impact ALL aspects of my life? I mean yes - we've all read about how the band impacts not only our health - physical and mental -but it impacts our relationships - to food, to people, to clothes, to ourselves.. I suppose I've been naive to the whole thing.. and haven't really taken a hard look at myself (lets face it - looking at myself was NOT something I wanted to do) but hey it has to be done eventually right?! Now don't mind me if I start to ramble here.. but wait.. its my blog right? ha ha... kidding.. but seriously... See.. it was in 2008 - that I started this journey... when the Lap Band was merely a 'fantasy' for me... I was at my highest weight - 495lb... and wearing a 30-32W pants size... I knew I was fat... I had known that all my life.. being the 'big girl' was nothing new.. but this was different... I was having trouble with my health, with even doing the easiest of things... getting out of bed in the morning, or shopping? Yeah.. lets say even Lane Bryant no longer 'fit' me right.. but it was one week before my birthday in 2008 that I had the scare of my life... I hadn't been feeling well at all - but I had ignored it.. afterall I was such the 'non-compliant' patient... I was a diabetic - who didn't take the prescribed meds, nor did I check my blood sugars - and eating right? YEAH RIGHT... anywho - one morning I was in severe pain, weak, and vomiting... my neices were the ones that convinced me to go to the hospital.. and from the Emergency Room I was admitted directing into the hospital.. where I stayed for two and a half weeks... the diagnosis? Early Renal Failure... really? Me? I wasn't even 30 years old yet.. I didn't understand it.. and that's when the Doc came in and 'yelled' at me... letting me know that my kidneys were shutting down... due to uncontrolled diabetes.. he yelled at me about my weight... he yelled about me not caring about my life... This was so very far from the truth... because I did care... didn't I? After spending those two weeks in the hospital - being completely furious with my Doctor - i realized he was right - this was the first time in my life that my health kept me from work.. I realized that he was right - dialysis was a certainity if I didn't make changes... So it was then - when I was released from the hospital that I decided that I needed a change... When I walked out of that hospital - I was taking approximately 15 pills a day and 2 shots of insulin a day... I weighed 495lbs, had high blood pressure and my A1C was a 13..so my daily blood sugar on average was over 330... Flash-Forward....Its 2011 - and here I am... I am now 130lbs lighter - give or take... and still - I don't see a HUGE difference... is that wierd? but what I do notice is those 2 shots and 15 pills a day I was taking? Nope.. no more... only pill I was taking was a multi vitamin... THAT was success enough for me... but I was still considered Morbidly Obese... and there were some family issues that came up... that woke me up.. my weight was a contributing factor to increased risks for the Cancer that was affecting so many in my family... I HAD to do something more... Diabetes and high blood pressue were not the only enemies I had to fight... As 'luck' would have it - the company I work for changed insurance plans - and it was then - during a benefits meeting I realized that the Lap Band Dream - was now an option.. REALLY? So there I went... I met with Dr. Simpson for the first time in October of 2011.. after our first consultationn - it was a go - now the only issue was to get approved by insurance... and from what I heard - getting approved was to be a 'bear' to deal with... and it was.. no lie.. they wanted EVERYTHING... letters from my primary care provider, 5+ years of medical records, proof that I indeed had co-morbidities... Of course at first glance these requirements looked daunting... but in reality - it wasn't at all - for I met all those requirements - EASILY.. which in this sense.. was quite sad.... The letter my primary care provider wrote? That in itself was an eye opener... She had gone back - way back in my medical records - and found that at age 12 I was diagnosed as Obese... really?! What happened? and then she tracked from that point all those other little issues that came up.. Asthma, Chronic Lower Back Pain... and then at age 15? Diagnosed with High Blood Pressure?! and then at 23 years of age diagnosed with Diabetes? I had ignored all this... This letter had proved to be yet another eye-opener - one that reminded me that yes - I had made progress - but I could indeed become a better version of myself... a healthier version. So in less than a week after submitting all the needed information to the insurance company - that's right - I got the call.. APPROVED... So after much trial and error in scheduling - I finally had my surgery on March 20th, 2012... So now? That we're in the present day? Its been 10 months since my surgery... and since the surgery - I've lost just over 50lbs... see what I mean? SLOW going... but its going right? But somehow I feel like I should have made more progress.... Dr. Simpson always reminds me that this "is not a race, its a marathon".. REALLY? Ugh.. I have no patience... but he's right.. it took me a good while to gain the weight - so its going to take me time to lose it as well.. My struggles of late has been to realize that success can not be measured by the numbers on the scale.. (however lets be honest kids... it matters...) Shopping has been fun.. I mean for the first time in my life - I can fit into 1X and 2X tops - and the cool thing is I've finally made it into a size 20W pants... really? YAY me.. but even with all those little successes.. why am I finding myself not so happy with everything? Why am I finding myself less confident than when I was 495lbs, why am I finding that my relationships aren't as stable as I thought? Is it me or them? Who is the insecure one? Why is it that when I look in the mirror - I don't see the new me - but I see the old Bea... the 495lb one... why is it that when I shop - I still attempt to dress myself in the shrouds of clothing I was so used to... why is it that wearing clothes that actually fit... is uncomfortable and unsettling for me... and what about the changes to my body? the flabby skin? Yes.. I was well aware of the 'side effects' of the surgery - but I want my old body back somedays... at least it was full and somewhat firm... but now? this flabbiness? especially the arm flab.. baah... or lets talk a little about the undue attention I receive now.. THAT's different... however... I'm the same person I was when I was 495 lbs... why all of sudden are they paying attention now? so now - I wonder who's really interested in the me... the real me - the me inside... because somedays it seems that my appearance is all that matters to 'them'... But really ... why am I complaining? This is what I wanted right? and I have to take the good with the bad... so for now? I just take a day at a time... And I think I've caught you up... so until another day my new friends.. take care, be good to yourself and to others... and remember... "A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted"... Just me - Bea

Hi there! It's been over a week since I've last posted, and I've spent that time transitioning from liquids, to pureed food, and am now eating soft solids... but it hasn't been without it's trials... The first three days home from the hospital, my surgeon's plan calls for a pureed diet. For me, this consisted of mostly Greek yogurt, protein drinks, and some delicious pureed mushroom soup that my husband made for me. I'm sorry, but the idea of pureeing meat or fish or something just turned me off, so I didn't go there, but I feel like for those few days, I actually was doing well at getting in my protein in. Managed to get about 50 grams most days. And I have never had an issue getting my fluids in. I always get 50-64 ounces of straight fluid, not including my protein shakes. No, my big issue those first few days was with swallowing my pills. I was still having a fair amount of pain, so I was taking the Vicodin my surgeon prescribed probably twice a day, plus trying to take all of my vitamins, and the Pepcid. No matter what time I tried to take them, or what I took them with, I would inevitably get something "stuck" and end up "sliming" until I eventually vomited. More times than not, the pill itself stayed down and just water came out.... weird. This is a huge change from the pre-op me, who could swallow all 6 of my vitamins at once, and not flinch. Needless to say, I've stopped taking my vitamins in pill form, instead I got some calcium chews, and some Biotin chews (I'm very worried about losing hair), and I found these cool things at Costco that are like a Crystal Light powder that you put in your water, but they are chock-full of vitamins! I drink two of them a day in my water. So the only thing I'm still a little worried about is my Iron, but I just can't tolerate plain Iron pills, it makes me nauseous... and I've been doing enough vomiting lately without adding in anything that may upset my little tummy more! So on Post-op day 4, my surgeon's plan called for me to start trying some soft foods. On the list of soft foods allowed was soft baked fish. So my husband decided to cook dinner for us on Sunday, and made me a beautiful, tiny piece of tilapia, which he served over some soft polenta. It looked and smelled so delicious that I dug right in, and ate more than half of it without any regard to how my tiny tummy was handling it! With about one bite of food left on the plate, I realized what I had done, and knew I was in trouble. I spent the next two hours running into the bathroom. Every time I thought I was through, more would come out! It was awful, but not unexpected. I knew what I had done, and vowed to eat more slowly next time. Well, the next time turned out to be the following night, when I made what sounded like a wonderful recipe for a Ricotta cheese bake. But, yet again, it smelled and looked so good, I ate about half of the 1/4 cup portion that I had served myself way too fast, then got sick again... So, long story short, I am becoming a professional vomiter. I keep a pillow next to the sink to splint my incisions while I puke out whatever it is that I took one too many bites of. It's gotten better over the past day or two, as I've kind of learned to take one bite of something, and then wait about ten minutes to see how it will sit. If it seems to be settling well, I'll eat another two bites. But three bites of any soft or pureed texture food seems to be my limit. I've also become more severely lactose intolerant than I ever was pre-operatively. During my two week protein shake diet, I was able to enjoy at least one of the Premier chocolate shakes per day, as long as I took a lactaid pill with it. And I never had any issues with yogurt. Not the case post-operatively... I've sworn off of the Premier shakes entirely (too bad, because they pack 30 grams of protein in each one!), and as of yesterday, decided that the yogurt wasn't working either. So there went two big sources of protein. Between the vomiting, and the lactose intolerance, I've been really struggling to hit the protein goals set by my surgeon. I'm probably averaging about 40 grams/day, with a goal of 60 grams. So with all this talk about what's not working, this probably sounds like a pretty discouraging post. So let's talk about what is working! Foods that I can eat in small amounts with no issues: Eggs, refried beans, powdered protein shakes made with almond milk, and bananas. Sounds like a pretty short list, but here's the thing: I'm never hungry. Like, never. If I wasn't worried about my hair falling out, I would happily just drink my vitamin water all day and not eat at all. Once in awhile I get a craving for something, like yesterday I kept thinking about bagels, but it's never accompanied by actual hunger. It's just a craving, and it passes. Pain-wise, I haven't taken a Vicodin in three days, and prior to that I was only taking them at bedtime, and taking Tylenol during the day. Now I don't take either. I get an occasional twinge of pain under the incision on my left side (where they took the stomach out), but it goes away in a few seconds. As far as my surgical incisions go, all of my steri-strips (the little tape like things over my incisions) have fallen off, and I have to say, they look good! Three of them are completely healed over, and the last two just have tiny scabs on them. I've been putting vitamin E on them. And now... the big scale question. I have lost (drumroll please) 24 pounds since I started the pre-op diet, with 11 of those pounds having come off since surgery. So that's 11 pounds in less than two weeks, 24 pounds in less than a month. I am pretty pleased with that. And, hey, I just realized that 24 pounds is more than 10% of my starting weight, which is something I never managed to accomplish in months of sitting through meetings at Weight Watchers! The pictures below were taken yesterday. I decided after looking at someone else's before and after pictures to wear the same clothes in all of my progress pictures... I can really see a difference in how the shorts fit around my butt and thighs. My husband can't get over how much thinner my face is already. So overall, very pleased, despite all of the challenges! I have my first follow-up appointment coming up this Wednesday, and then I go out of town for 10 days, so I'll have some info to put in another update pretty soon!

I've got the 14 cc AP band (thought it was 10 cc until today!). I'm now at about 8cc after 3 fills. I was empty after surgery (normally this band is left w/ 4cc in after surgery). My first fill was 2 cc. Second was aggressive and brought me to about 6.5. Now, I'm at 8 cc. My dr said that with my size band the 'sweet spot' is usually around 7 - 9 cc. He has me scheduled for every 2 weeks to get there. Right now, based on my lunch experience I'm hopeful!

Just got cleared for mushies 10 days out. Down 20lbs. Yay!! Good luck, I had salmon tonight

I am looking for a buddy/mentor. I'm a 37 year old female living in VT with my husband and two children. I need to lose approximately 100 pounds. My surgery date is January 5, 2009 and I am on my 10-day liquid diet right now.

Truth....I just ordered some "Nutrilite Concentrated Fruits and Vegetables" pills. They give you 10 servings. Nutrilite Health - NUTRILITE® Concentrated Fruits and Vegetables They have chewables also. I should be getting them soon, will let you know how they do.

Hello i had a band 10 yrs ago & i had this ecact same thing just terribly umvpmfortable. Never found out how to solve it but did wprk out it corresponded to pmt (

Congrats!! June 10th...that is so exciting and scary at the same time. I had originally set a date for June 19, but had to change it bc of nursing clinicals. I still have every intention of having it done but I have to work around class but I will eventually get it all in order. I am so happy for you. It sounds like we have both done a lot of thinking and praying about this. I know that it has and still is one of the hardest decisions that I have ever tried to make, but I do feel like it is in my best interest to do it. Thank you so much for sharing with me and I would love to know how everything goes for you. Will you be at Trinity or at the surgery center? I will be going to the surgery center bc I am self pay and I will still have the same wonderful doctor, it will just cost a little less. FYI, I heard that Dr. T and Pennington are wonderful. I work with a few nurses that think the world of both of them, not only of their bedside manner but also of their skills. I think you will be in good hands. I will keep you in my prayers and hope you have a speedy and painless recovery. Please let us all know how you are doing as soon as you feel up to it. GOOD LUCK!

I am coming up on 10 months also. You truly are a skinny girl now. I completely understand the head games portions of this trip. Walking past windows and seeing my reflection but it still doesn't feel like me. The reflection is someone I am hoping to be . My head needs to catch up with wardrobe! Awesome job!

My doctor did not take me off my diabetes medicine and it's a good thing. My blood sugars are all over the place and I am eating mostly protein. Last night I had a major crash in the middle of the night. This afternoon I was at 258. My fasting for her always on the high side compared to pre surgery. Were 70 to 90 now 110 to 120. Has anyone else experienced this major fluctuation? Had blood work done have my last appointment and they said everything was perfect so I assume my a 1 C was ok. guess I will give it a little more time and then talk to my PCP. I was hoping I could get off the drugs but after 10+ years maybe that's asking too much.

I was sleeved on 12/18. And like everyone else the gas hurt more than anything else. I made sure I got up and walked around. For at least 10 minutes every other hour. The gas pain went away in 3 days.

I'm 9 days post-op but I've already dropped 10 pounds and my body doesn't feel as firm as it used to (specifically my butt) today is my first post op doctor visit but in case in not cleared to exercise what mild routine would you suggest?

Yes i squeezed 3 Oranges every morning to drink it's great way to lose weight and at the same time help me with fluids In my 4th week the doctor allowed me to eat regular but it's definitely a very small amount Today is my 6 weeks but still have difficulty with rice and bread but i eat pasta and everything else For the water i suggest you to have a sip every 10 min And don't worry even if you feel that your not getting any water down just don't pressure your stomach step by step you will be in track to healthy way [emoji256] [emoji256] Best of luck [emoji4] Sent from my SM-G935F using BariatricPal mobile app

I know how you feel!! I'm 10 days out and still can't lay on my stomach, and it is sooooo annoying. I have managed to find a comfortable position on my side. If you positon the pillows under your head properly, you can almost have your head in the same position as when you sleep on your stomach. By the way, I would really NOT recommend laying on your stomach. Your incisions haven't healed enough. Also, sleeping on your stomach and moving around on your stomach will irritate your incisions. Sleep well!