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Everyone I have talked to has been different. One friend of mine lost 38 lbs his first month, another of my friends lost 15 her first month. Don't get discouraged if the lbs. are not flying off. From what I was told a 1-3lb per week weight loss is expected. I go for my surgery on Friday so watch for my progress Good luck!! ~Pam

I am 5 weeks post-op, and twice now I have experienced 3-5 lb weight GAINS. The first time was random, and it really upset me. The second time was after I hurt my back and was basically immobile for 3 days as well as taking (liquid) pain meds (hydrocodone). It is very frustrating, especially when I think that I have only lost 20 lbs (+/-) total since surgery, at a time where I thought my numbers would be much higher. Is this typical?? Right now, I just got down to 1 lb BELOW the last 5 lb gain (so I lost 6 lbs, verrry slowly) and now I'm up almost 2 lbs. IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!! Especially when I don't know if anyone has ever experienced such a strange phenomena. I can't call my regular doc since they are closed for the holidays. I have to admit, I am not exercising (because of my back issues, in tandem with the stress of the holidays), and I'm hoping that this, in conjunction with my choosing high carb items (baked potato Soup, cheese soup, noodles, etc) has something to do with it. Please tell me that this is actually what the problem is, so that I can begin that rapid downward scoop that I was looking for pre-surgery!! Or, am I just expecting too much, and should I be happy with my weight loss to date? I began at 245 which is comparatively low for GSS patients, in general (I'm told). Could that be it?? I'm just stumped, and frustrated.

Weight myself down 5lbs in 2days that's 50lbs since surgery 8/28 still. No appetite but I'm working on it!!!!!!!" Mz Shay

Hi there, and welcome. Immediately post-op, I was groggy. I felt the gas pain from the CO2 gas, but minimal discomfort from the actual surgery. I had the most discomfort/pain from the port incision from my band surgery. My abdomen was full of scar tissue and adhesions the surgeons had to take down all of it to remove my port. I was given IV pain drugs of morphine. It managed the pain well, but walking, moving, and stretching helped with the gas pain more than the drugs. I slept a lot the first night, but walked when I could. Day 2 post-op, I developed a leak, and a second surgery was needed to repair it. My recovery, and complications were not typical. Therefore, it's really difficult to compare my experience to other patients. I was in the hospital for 10 days. Then sent home with a TPN bag, and pic line for nutrient/calories. I had a home healthcare nurse come in every other day to change dressing, check vitals, and ensure I was recovering. I had nothing to eat or drink for 22 days. Literally, nothing crossed my lips for those days. Once I was off TPN, I started on Clear liquids for 17 days, then onto full liquids for a week, then mushies/soft solids as tolerated. It took me over 6 weeks to get to regular food and even then I relied on soft solids for most of my meals. I was hospitalized mid-July for a week due to abscesses in my abdominal and pelvic cavity. During that time, I was on heavy antibiotics, and pain meds. I was able to eat, and the nausea was kept at bay with IV drugs. I had quite a bit of nausea as well during this time after coming home probably from the heavy antibiotic regimen I was on. Phenegran, and Reglan helped, but fatigued me severely. My surgeon switched my nausea meds to Zofran, and it was a lifesaver during that time. I was finally fully released for full activity, and regular diet around 3 months post-op. My activity was very limited initially because of the pic line/TPN bag that I had to lug around plus the 2 drains that I had in my abdomen for those weeks really kept me sedentary. I didn't do more than walking for 3.5 months. I also had drains placed during the July hospitalization. Those were extremely painful. One of the abscesses was very low in pelvic cavity, and could not be accessed even with an interventionalist radiologist placing the drains. Luckily, it resolved with the antibiotic therapy. But, the pain from the abscesses was far worse than the surgery. As you can see, my experience is not typical. But, it's what I went through and just to give you an idea of what I consider to be worse case scenario. I know several of the members here will share their experience, and you'll get a wide range of experiences. Best wishes on your surgery. Even with all of my complications, and struggles, I would do it all over again. Life with the sleeve is truly fabulous, and I have zero regrets. Keep us posted on your progress ! ! !

So I have my preop education class on Wednesday (a week from today). I am sure I will learn all about it, but I am trying to get prepared now. I am a little nervous about the liquid phases both pre and post op. how did you handle it?

My husband and I attended a couple of local support groups. After hearing so many of the others say how they wished they would have "taking their surgery seriously as a tool" and describe how little weight they lost 20-30 pounds in 1 year and some have even gone on to have a second WLS to try to lose weight and still not losing. I think in the back of my mind it kind of scared me. We talked about the importance of not only following the eating plan, but exercising. Literally, 2 days later I joined a local gym. It has been 2 months. When I first went it was all I could do to do 30 continuous minutes of any type of exercise. I only went 2 or 3 days a week. Now, I go 6 days a week and I work out continuously for 1.5-2 hours each day. I am tracking my food intake via myfitnesspal app on my phone. I have been averaging about 5-7 pounds loss each week. The thing is if I have a "bad day" at the gym I feel bad. Really what constitutes a "bad day" at the gym to me is not reaching the goal I set for myself that day. If I planned to go for an hour on the treadmill and only did 45 minutes or whatever it just puts me in a bad mood and makes me feel like I have let myself down. The more I go the more I push myself, and I am afraid I am going from one bad habit to creating a new one. I was addicted to food. I love the way it smelled, tasted, everything, but now I feel I am becoming addicted to going to the gym and working out. I rearrange everything to make sure I go for usually 2 hours, and lately I have been trying to increase my workout time by justifying it that I am trying to build up endurance. I went from walking on the treadmill 30 minutes each day to 50 minutes a day. I went from going 15 minutes on the bike. or elliptical to going 30 minutes and now wanting to increase that to 45 minutes a day. I recently tried a new machine called Lateral (this one is very difficult for me) I started out at 3 minutes and have worked up to 6 minutes each day I want to work up to 15-20 minutes each day. Then 3 days a week I also strength train focusing on my back, abs, arms and legs. I use to be really thin and active when I was younger. After having my children and losing my Thyroid to Cancer I gained so much weight my highest being 286. I feel great after I leave the gym. I just want to make sure I do all that I can to lose the weight before my 1 year anniversary because I have heard so many people say after the first year it gets harder. I am just scared I am not going to succeed if I don't push myself to do all that I can. I plan out all of our meals for the entire week every weekend, so I know exactly what I am making for dinner every night. My whole family eats High Protein, Low carb. We eat lots of fresh low carb vegetables ( A lot of zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower). We have done major overhaul in our kitchen. We have nothing that can cause temptation. My daughter has lost 30 pounds, My husband has lost 25 pounds. Someday's, I think I am exercising and burning to many calories. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Could I be exercising to much? I think I also enjoy going to the gym because it is my only time away from home and time for me

I have hit a stop for few weeks now. I don't See much food on here I mean 1/2 fruit and 1 toast for Breakfast is far from a lot of food. That way less that the band diet. I have counted calories on each day and they are all within 1000 what we should be on now anyways given using skinny cow wheat and light products. Am I missing something?? These are healthy choices beets apple tuna eggs??? I don't regret any decision in my life because at the end I will make it work

style="margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#d8dde8;color:#5a5a5a;font:normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif;position:relative;"> Hey BariatricPal Members! It’s that time again…time for a monthly newsletter. It’s a way we can reach out to you about the happenings on BariatricPal and the world of weight loss surgery. We hope to motivate you by sharing ideas and introducing you to inspirational people. So here’s the run-down of this month’s newsletter! • Don’t Let Summer Slip Away: Your WLS Must-Do’s • Member Spotlight: Meet Elode! • FDA Approves Gastric Balloon as Obesity Treatment Enjoy the newsletter, and then log in to BariatricPal to spend a little time. You can talk about weight loss surgery and whatever else is on your mind, and see what’s on everyone else’s mind! We want to know how your summer is going. Thanks as always for your support of BariatricPal. Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Don’t Let Summer Slip Away: Your WLS Must-Do’s! Remember putting things off this winter or spring? “I’ll do it in the summer,” when the snow melts or there’s a little more time or the days are longer. Well, have you done what you said you were going to do this summer? If not, you’d better get moving! The days are long and hot now, but summer doesn’t last forever. Don’t let it pass you by! Take the Next Step What is the next step in your weight loss surgery journey? Is it deciding about whether to get WLS? Is it deciding on a surgeon, or figuring out which type of WLS you want, or crunching the numbers to fit it into your budget? Is it getting more protein, finding a WLS buddy, or starting an exercise program? Take that step! Don’t wait until summer is over, because things tend to get busier in the fall. If you can get over your next hurdle now, you will be stronger and in a better position to get healthier. Eat Well and Get Active Okay, that’s not a summer special…but you can eat well and get active summer-style! Why not check out a local farmer’s market and see what’s in season? Keep going back every week for delicious in-season produce with a selection that changes slightly all the time, and challenge yourself to make healthy recipes with it. For bonus weight loss points, walk or bike to the market, or at least walk around it a few times to burn some calories. And how can you use summer to your advantage to get active? Without snow or ice, the streets are yours to pound. You can also hit local pools, and trails, and see if your neighborhood park has a circuit training loop set up – many do! To beat the heat, exercise early in the morning or in the evening, stay in an air-conditioned gym if needed, drink a lot of water, and listen to your body. As summer passes, take a few minutes to take stock of where you’ve been and where you’re going. Staying aware can help you stay focused, and make any necessary adjustments to your goals and plans for reaching them. Insure Nutrition We are always thrilled to welcome a new newsletter sponsor into the BariatricPal family, and this month, Insure Nutrition is giving us the pleasure of doing just that. Our latest sponsor, Insure Nutrition, is an online company that specializes in getting health insurance coverage for nutritional supplements. Its Post-Bariatric Surgery Nutrition products includes Premier Protein shakes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors and OptiSource High Protein drinks in caramel and strawberry flavors. Checking if you are eligible is easy. Insure Nutrition encourages you to use its online form to find out if you qualify. Our sponsors help make BariatricPal newsletters and other services possible. We encourage you show your thanks by considering them first for your bariatric needs. Unjury and Opurity BariatricPal is proud and excited to announce two new sponsors for our newsletters. The new sponsors are Unjury, a supplier of wonderful tasting, highest quality protein supplements, and Opurity (from the makers of UNJURY), highest purity vitamin supplements for bariatric surgery patients. Their support lets us keep BariatricPal newsletters coming to you each month. Unjury was founded by a master’s degree dietitian who has been helping patients since 1974. It is committed your health. You know the importance of getting enough protein after weight loss surgery, but you also know that meeting your protein goals can be challenging. Unjury makes your task not just easier but actually enjoyable. Product flavors include Chocolate Splendor, Chocolate Classic, Vanilla, Strawberry Sorbet, Chicken Soup Flavor, and Unflavored. These ready-to-use protein powders come in single-serve and multi-serve containers, and contain high-quality whey protein to keep you full and nourished. Launched in 2007, Opurity is dedicated to using the purest ingredients in its supplements. Opurity Bariatric Multivitamins have two unique big advantages: First, each multivitamin requires only one tablet per day*. Second, Opurity is so dedicated to quality that it is unique in using no ingredients from China. Choose from chewable orange-berry multivitamins for gastric bypass and gastric sleeve patients or for lap-band patients.Opurity also sells chewable calcium, vitamin D and folic acid/vitamin B-12 chewables. All supplements come with a 100% satisfaction guaranteed. They return policy is: “Yes you can return it.” Support from Unjury and Opurity helps us continue to bring you the services you enjoy on BariatricPal, so please support these two brands! When looking for your bariatric surgery supplements, first visit Unjury.com and Opurity.com. Purchasing from these companies helps support BariatricPal. Thanks to Unjury and Opurity for your generous sponsorship, and thanks to BariatricPal members who support our partnership! *You still need calcium and sublingual B-12. Member Spotlight: Meet Elode! This month, we are thrilled to feature Elode as our Member in the Spotlight! She is a 5’8” travel nurse who struggled with her weight for years. She had been overweight since the age of 12. Her mother and brother are morbidly obese, and Elode worries about them a lot. She says she wanted to get the surgery to motivate them to follow in her foosteps. Elode decided to get the gastric sleeve after gaining 60 lbs. in a year and hitting a high weight of 267 lbs. She got her surgery done in November of 2014, and has since lost nearly 100 lbs! She is down 97 lbs and is going strong. Her main challenge was and still is eating slowly, but she was expecting this to be a challenge and is working on it. Since getting the gastric sleeve, she feel better and younger. Exercise is easier, and clothes shopping is much better, especially since she is not limited to Plus-sized clothing. She enjoys paying attention to what she puts in her body, and watching the scale go down. As a great moment, she points to a recent 8-mile hike that she and her daughter completed for the first time. Elode uses BariatricPal to receive support, and she enjoys keeping in touch with the people she’s met on the boards. Elode also gives a lot of help to others here at BariatricPal. She loves sharing her experiences with newbies. For those who may be struggling with their weight and weight loss surgery, she says to stick with the basics. “Know that it’s going to be hard at times, but remember why you wanted this in the first place.” She suggests writing a list of reasons why you got your surgery and reading the list when you’re feeling down. Thanks, Elode, for being in our spotlight and also for all you bring to the BariatricPal community. We are all grateful for your contributions and are happy to see your success! Do you want to be in the Member Spotlight? Is there someone you’d like to nominate? Let us know in the Member Spotlight Forum or send Alex Brecher a PM with the subject line “Member Spotlight.” We want to share your story in the newsletter! FDA Approves Gastric Balloon as Obesity Treatment On July 28, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Reshape Dual Balloon for use as an obesity treatment. The Reshape Dual Balloon is one of a few different intragastric balloons available in other countries, and the first to be approved in the U.S. You can read more about intragastric balloons on BariatricPal! How It Works The dual gastric balloons are placed in your stomach and inflated under anesthesia in an outpatient setting. The balloons help fill up your stomach so you are less hungry and not able to eat as much. The balloon stays in your stomach for up to six months. The intragastric balloon is meant to be used only with proper nutritional support for the entire time you have the balloon. ReShape stresses the need for changing your eating habits and staying informed and engaged. Is It for You? The Reshape Dual Balloon is for patients with BMI of 30 to 40 and a comorbidity. The balloon is a non-surgical option that may be appealing for patients at the lower end of the overweight BMI ranges who do not want an invasive procedure. As with WLS, you need to be willing to change your eating habits with the balloon. You cannot get the instragastric balloon if you already had WLS. Weight Loss and Maintenance The balloon is not for patients who are at the higher ends of the BMI ranges. The balloon is expected to help you lose only about 7 percent of your total body weight. If you weigh, say, 300 lb., a loss of 7 percent of total body weight would be equivalent to an expected loss of 21 lb. Another major potential drawback to the balloon is that you can only use it for a short time. If you do not adapt the new eating changes and form new permanent habits before the balloon is deflated and removed, you will regain the weight back. In one study, patients regained an average of two-thirds of the amount of weight they had lost within six months of getting the balloon out. Don’t forget to check out our article on intragastric balloons for more information on how they work and who should consider them! We hope you enjoyed the newsletter and are ready to keep up with your WLS successes…or get back on track if you’ve been a little slack. Don’t forget to visit BariatricPal if you ever need ideas, support, or inspiration.

Hello Rossonmarcus! I was very nervous as well. Before my sleeve I had never had a surgery before so the anesthesia was freaking me out (I'm a nurse to, but for animals! hehehe...also in an ER). The day of my surgery I had to arrive at 6 am so they can put my IV in and prep me. I was moved to the pre-op area around 11 am and there they gave me an IV drug that they told me was going to relax me, but funny thing is that next thing I know I was waking up in recovery wondering what the hell had happened and asking for pain meds! hehehe....mind you, I have very low tolerance for pain. But like Tiffy mentioned above, the pain was most from gas. That same night after surgery, the nurses had me up and walking, because it's the best to relieve a lot of the gas discomfort. The pain in my abdomen, was more soreness. It felt like I had done 1 million sit-ups!! LOL...I was in the hospital for 2 days, on the first day I had a morphine drip and the second day they were giving me oral Vicaden (sp?) I know it's Hydrocodone with Tynenol (best sleep ever...hehe). After I was discharged I was on a full liquid diet for 2 weeks, then on to mushie stage for another 2 weeks. I could eat more normal food now, but at times some foods don't go down too well, so I go back to mushie, which I don't mind. Now I'm about 6 weeks post-op and I feel great, I went through a little stall with weight loss but started loosing again. Good Luck with your procedure and pre-op diet...you'll do great!

I lost 10 pounds in the first week, then it stopped. It takes most people 2 - 4 fills to notice the help of the band. Before that it is just hard dieting. It is called banster hell by many and I would agree. I am 8 weeks post opt and now at 5.6 cc and finally feel like I have a band. Before I could eat anything and felt hungry alot. I followed the rules best I could and ate small meals slowly. But it was hard until the band started working for me. Once your swelling goes down, dont be suprised to feel like you have not even had surgery. It is disappointing and frustrating. But once though banster hell, the weight will starting falling off. If I could give you any advice, I would tell you to follwo the rules best you can and put the scale away for at least one month. You will drive yourself crazy the first few weeks. At least I did. I finally put it up and decided to only weigh at Dr appts until I got to green zone. Best of luck.

this is normal, your body is adjusting to a huge change. give it time, and your weight is going to come off. remember just cuz your not losing lbs doesn't mean your not getting smaller. be patient as "stalls" happen to us all.. good luck and congrats!

Hi there! Keep it up! I am also having surgery on 12/30/19. My pre-op diet won't start until next week.

Starting tomorrow, stay off the scale for 1 week. Post weight loss, next week Sunday the 28th of June. Who is with me?

A hamburger sounds yummy, three weeks out????

My doctor told me not to lift anything over ten pounds the first week. Ask your doctor what she/he recommends.

So I got the ok to start eating food. I was so excited! I had a 3 oz piece of turkey and 2 oz of sweet potatoes mashed. I ate the turkey first and then potato. I ate slowly but man it was hard. I'm full. I also got some pain after some bites. Is that because (1) too fast or (2) too much ? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I just went the the week 3 stall and I finally had a 1.5 drop this morning..mine was a week long but everyone is different.. hang in there and keep up the water!

I'm so glad that I found this topic! My surgery was June 5 and this week I've stayed at the same weight. My Dr. told me at a recent check up not to be obsessed with the scale that this is normal and to date my loss is 23 lbs, but I was still thinking that I was doing something wrong or that this was a cruel joke like all past diets. Thanks for everyone's support!

3 weeks post and I've been on treadmill 30-60min for about a week and a half. The first part, it was too sore between the staples in the muscle and y bruised rib on the other side. I probably wouldn't if I didn't have one in my bedroom., after my post op appt on Friday, hoping to go back to the pool. That's my method of choice. I'm anti-gravity [emoji12]. Whatever you do, start slow and work up!

Here's the update: I called my clinic this morning and they patched me through to one of the doctors. I explained the situation, including the difficulty the fill doctor had in finding the port. He told me that the reason I might not be getting enough restriction could be that the doctor emptied the saline into the scar tissue surrounding the port, or there is a leak in the port, or I could just be one of those people that need bigger fills. But he reiterated what everyone else has been saying, which is that 3ccs in a 4cc band is a very aggressive fill, and they usually start out with .7-1.5 or something along those lines (I can't remember the number). He said the only way to know for sure what is going on is to do the fill under fluoroscopy. I can save some money and go to a place three hours away and across the border, but I figure that I just want to go to the experts who know what they're doing and were the ones who operated on me, and could potentially fix any problem if there is one. So that's what I will be doing. On a side note, it was very reassuring to talk to the doctor, and he told me to call them anytime if I have any concerns about anything. Many people worry about the lack of aftercare in going to Mexico, but I felt like I was in good hands talking to him. It felt good to know that I wasn't alone, that they cared about what happens to me and want to make sure that everything works the way it is supposed to. Now to look for some good fares...

I am able to eat everything (including breads, pastas, and popcorn) and I haven't had any of the soft or hard signs of fullness (e.g. sliming, pbing, hiccups, etc.) And volume-wise I can definitely get down more than a cup of food. I do know there is increased restriction because I twice had a large capsule get stuck while taking my morning meds, although it was with cold Water and first thing in the morning when restriction is tighter. Food does go down a bit slower too and I have to be more careful about my chewing. The dr I went for my fill isn't the same person that did my surgery. I originally thought that I had a 10cc band and told him so, when in fact it was a 10cm band, which only holds 4ccs (I only found that out today). That's probably why I got the 3ccs in there for the first time. In any case, as it turns out, it's not enough. I think that if I don't get more restriction with the increased fill next week, I'll look into the possibility of a leak somewhere. From what other people are reporting, I should be a lot more full and unable to eat past a certain point from the amount of fill I do have, and that is not the case. It's only willpower that's keeping me from overeating.

Hi Vangirl :w00t: I didn't ask you at the meeting the other nite just how much of a fill you had gotten....and I must say that I'm ~very~ surprised that he gave you that much !!! With a 4cc band it the fills are usually quite small because the volume is so much less. I have a 4cc band and it took me 5 fills over the course of 9 months to get as high as 3cc's. Granted, I had wanted to go slowly because I did not want to PB etc but I certainly felt more restriction after each little fill. That said, as we all know, everyone is different... I personally would ask him to withdraw all of your Fluid when you see him next week as that would certainly rule out a leak (or missed shot when you got the first fill) right away. My clinic will often withdraw my whole fill at a visit just to keep tabs on any leaks or 'evaporation' so asking him to do it is no big deal. All of that said....your 4cc band will actually probably hold about 8cc. Yes, the manufacturers recommend a 4cc maximum but that does not mean that once you reach 4cc's it is the absolute top fill. Finding a Dr who will go above the 4cc's could be another story however... I know at my clinic we have talked about this and they said they would cautiously go higher than the 4cc's if needed. Keep me updated after your fill so I know how you're managnig !!! Patricia

OK, you've identified the main problem, which is a good first step -- i.e. your problem is that you're drinking when you eat. Have you tried making that your only rule, meaning that you make a deal with yourself that you will NEVER eat and drink at the same time -- you can do ANYTHING else, eat ANYTHING you want, but you CANNOT drink at the same time? If you do that for a couple of weeks, it might trigger the sense of fullness that helped you to lose the 140, at which point you can shift your focus to making better food choices. But, for the moment, only worry about NOT drinking with food. I really think that's key for you. Hang in there,

I can't answer much about the insurance/hospital inquiries..my best help would be try researching on the internet. Research your healthcare plan, find out what surgeons are on that plan THEN research him or her. I know there are other sites out there that are for Lap Band support/information. Also, I'm not sure there would be any reason for your husband to take off work other than maybe the day of the surgery. I havn't had my surgery yet, but my doctor has assured me it's only a week of downtime..and most of that "down time" is literally getting up and down. I was told the incisions are exactly the same as my previous gall bladder removal surgery. One incision especially, which will go through muscle, will make it difficult to get up and down for several days, but you're not totally disabled. Also, I was told even though you won't be able to eat as much, staying away from high fat & sugar content food will make the weight loss process more significant and easier. Hope some of that helps!!