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I don't know why, but something told me to check my weight today. I had no intention of doing it for another week, but because I take Linzess for IBS-C and it pulls water from the body to help with pooing, I thought maybe I was shedding the water weight a little faster. Not only that, but I wanted to see if I lost the 3 pounds from the surgery I had, so I checked this morning. Omg almost there!!! 5 more pounds until I hit my official goal weight!!!! 😁

I am 35 HW: 325 SW: 297 CW 189 Gastric Sleeve Surgery Date: 1/24 1. What was the best part of surgery for you? Having a ton of energy! Not feeling groggy, my knees don't hurt when I wake up, working out and staying motivated, playing with my kids after a long day and still having the energy to cook dinner and pick up the house and sex life has improved, 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? The first week kinda sucked with how much gas pains and not being able to eat barely anything and I am dealing some hair loss right now. Other than that I had a really smooth surgery. 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? I was lucky, mine has been smooth sailing 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Its different, I get more attention which is tough for me to get used to, I love exercising, I love shopping, I love getting ready everyday for work. I am the best version of myself, my boyfriend and kids deserve it and overall I deserve it! 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? I would say there are still things I don't want to eat but probably around 90day mark I felt good to eat just about anything within reason. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? Honestly I don't have the same desire to eat what I did. I will enjoy a couple of fries if I have an open faced burger or something but its not something that was a must like it was before. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? Recovery was great besides the gas pains. No vomiting or dumping syndrome. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? I would say 2 weeks. I was walking 1-2miles after the first week. The first week I walked around the block to get the gas out. I also have a high pain tolerance so that might have helped. Like I had two c-sections and once the epidural wore off I was up walking my babies up and down the hall, the nurses had to tell me to rest but I am Type A so I am a little nutty. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? HELL YES!!! I wake up start life, workout for an hour plus walk on my lunch break 5 days a week, I work full time and am a college student. I have 3 children and my partner. I have energy for everything and I am not dog tired at the end of the day. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I struggle sometimes with the new body, how ppl treat me, and still see the 325lb woman in the mirror but I moreso I am in a better spot. I am not as anxious, stressed and I am able to take on tasks with a clearer mind (such as school) 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? My only regret is not getting it done sooner!

I absolutely had this, right around 4 weeks post-op from VSG. With laparoscopic VSG, there's one larger incision where they remove the stomach remnant (usually on the right side), and I know my surgeon said there's generally an internal stitch there that will dissolve over time (or pop, if you put too much pressure on it). In my case, I bent over pretty far to pick something up and felt a POP and a little pain, then it was fine. I noticed right after that my previously puckered-looking incision was now flat, so I was fairly certain it was the internal stitch popping. I asked the team about it, and they said that's exactly what it sounded like, palpated the area a bit, and had no concerns. Now, I'm not sure how this relates to RNY, but it's possible you also had an internal stitch that just finally let go. No pain following the pop is good. At 4 weeks out, your incisions should be starting to heal up pretty nicely, but it's definitely best to check with your team juuuuuust in case! Good luck!

Follow up: Surgery went well. Doctor was very pleased with it and my post-op. Tomorrow is the one week mark and I feel pretty good. Following the protein and water intake rules. Using a medicine cup to drink from so that I remember to sip helps a lot. Anyway happy to report that surgery at 60 is going even better than it was at 50 so far!!

Sounds like you are doing fine! I had my surgery on 12/18 and I lost a lot the week before and the week after surgery (due to liquid diet, etc.) After surgery I felt bloated and still had quite a bit of swelling which has now subsided. I'm down about 25lbs since surgery date, a lot was also in the first week due to the fluids/swelling post-op. It has slowed a bit for me too, though 7 lbs a week is still VERY good! Hang in there!

it won't affect your stitches. It's in your large intestine - no stitches in that area. It's very common for it to take a week +/- for the first bowel movement - there's not much in there to come out. although that first one can be a doozy. Daily Miralax or stool softeners can help. just so you know, for some of us, constipation becomes a chronic problem. I think it has more to do with the high protein diet and some of the supplements (iron and calcium are the worst culprits) more than anything else. I have a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it. Others use magnesium tablets, stool softeners, SmoothMove tea - whatever works!

I also feel like I can eat more than I should be able to. I have heard of others resetting their surgery by following the same post op liquid diet for a week and then soft foods for a few days and then normal again. I haven’t tried it but i am interested in trying it.

I certainly feel for you, just 3 days was all I could stand. That was last week and my back still hasn't recovered from hours on the toilet and cleaning up messes. Immodium helped me also.

I had the Pho broth from week one, I made it myself so it was not too salty or chilli hot. It was so good I could have bathed in it. At 2 years + now, I can manage a couple of spoons of noodles at the end of the meal. I don't crave mountains of noodles now, I am used to just a few for the mouth feel.

It's similar to most WLS, I believe. I was advised to take 2 to 3 weeks off but I was up and about in no time (the next day) but I was tired a lot due to much lower calorie intake, after effects of the surgery, healing.... Etc. Depending upon the type of job you have, you can't lift anything heavy the first 6 weeks since your stomach will still be healing. Congrats on your recent approval!

25th for me, this time next week I will be at the hospital

@ccast49 It does get better, It will get better, and I know you're probably sick of hearing it ... but walk walk as much as you can ... it will help. Be kind to yourself too. And a hot water bottle really is your friend, the first week I slept sandwiched between 2 with one in my front and one at the small of my back.

Alright guys, 6 months is upon us!! This pic is from the morning of my 6 month post op visit. I weighed in at 232 in office. That is 88 lbs since my highest weight, 75 lbs since surgery! Weirdly, I am smaller now that I was last time I was at this weight. The surgeon found this funny and said the way our bodies lose weight can be really entertaining. LOL I startled myself the other day because I pulled out my smallest clothes (the smallest I have ever been as an adult was 195) and my size 16 jeans fit, zip easily, and are huge in the waist!! That means my smallest size, a 14, will probably fit now snugly, or comfortably in another month. How insane is that?? How can I fit into clothes I had to be 30 lbs lighter to wear last time?? Magic, that's how. 😂 The surgeon estimates I'll be at around 200 lbs by my year mark, though he said if I don't get quite to 200 to not stress it. We each lose weight at our own pace and with my common channel length I can expect to lose weight (albeit much slower) through the second year and possibly into the 3rd year, though at that point it'll be 1 lb here and there. This is the upside of the duodenal switch, it is a long, slow burn. Most stabilize around 18 months to 2 years, but there are always outliers. I feel pretty great! I had a hiatal hernia repair in mid April after I starting having issues choking on my food and pills not going down (I even ended up in the ER with it, which was awful, they don't get bariatric patients at all!!). I gained 15 lbs overnight and it took 2 weeks to get it off, so that on top of my stall for most of March really slowed my weight loss down. But that's okay, I'm reminding myself I have faith that it will come off in its own time. But man, it is hard to remember that when the scale goes up!! In other news, my GP and bariatric surgeon both think I have POTS. I've had issues with it on and off since having a bad case of Epstein Barr Virus (mono) that put me in the hospital a few years ago. It seems every time my body gets stressed it reverts back to having symptoms and it seems it counts any surgery as a major stressor (understandably). She referred me to a specialist and my appointment is October 24th, 2025. Uhuh, 2025, not a typo. He's booking 1 1/2 years out. There are only 2 doctors in the state that specialize in it. So I'm not a happy camper... Meanwhile we are trying a low dose of a beta blocker to see if it helps with the dizziness when I change positions, the racing heart rate when standing/exerting myself, and the exercise intolerance... And doing the lifestyle things like compression leggings, increasing salt and fluid intake, etc... It seems that a lot of Long Covid patients end up having POTS too. Have you looked into this @SomeBigGuy ?? How are you doing? How is everyone else doing??

I'm scheduled for sleeve surgery in three days, and I'm experiencing serious cold feet. I'm a 44-year-old male, 5'9" tall, weighing 270 pounds. I've struggled with yo-yo dieting for over 21 years, with my highest weight being 280 pounds and my lowest 198 pounds. I've had success with intermittent fasting and restricted calorie intake, but I've regained the weight. I suffer from mild sleep apnea, which causes heavy snoring and comes with its challenges. Thankfully, I don't have any other health problems, and I take medication that contributes to weight gain, though I doubt they'd make me fatter the 270 pounds than I am now; they just make it harder to lose weight. I'm feeling uncertain about the necessity of the surgery since I'm not extremely heavy and overall healthy. I'm also worried about only being able to eat small quantities in one sitting, and the idea of changing my body scares me. Yet Im also excited to get this option available

Mine was just last year so I remember and have access to it on MyChart. They did CBC, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Vit D, A1C, Thyroid (TSH), Folate, and Ferritin. They pull all of those numbers as they need to be able to have comparative information to monitor after surgery and of course to address any issues prior to surgery. I just had my one year post op labs done this week and happy to know everything is on point.

Programs are so different, but you should definitely be eating, or at least attempting, more solid foods by 8 weeks. In case this helps, I've just found this YouTube channel where a bariatric dietician is working through the food stages in the post op diet. I don't think she'll get to where you are until next week, but you might want to check her out: https://www.youtube.com/@BariatricFoodCoach Also, I found this video really helpful in explaining how to approach eating right after surgery:

I am about 6m out and I feel the same! I know I am not hungry but I want to eat. Its the act of eating that we are used to so being mindful is important. Drink water, a decaf iced coffee with a little Fat Free Fairlife milk, Jordan's skinny syrup, ice and decaf cold brew (I did this the other day) and it really helped with my sweet tooth without all the added calories or bad stuff. I have lots of tips and tricks LOL!! I am super close to my goal weight and for some reason my mindset this last week has been trash where I'm letting myself "snack" or graze. So I am working on it too.

Good luck Brandy and Meisha and everyone else having surgery this week!! Tomorrow I will be one month post op!! I didn't lose anything last week, in fact when I checked my weight Monday I've gained 2,6 lbs. I might have cussed out the scale. 😂 I know it is just the infamous "3 week stall" and there is nothing I can do but stay the course. But maaaaan, when the scale starts moving in the other direction, it really does your head in. I worry this won't work for me, that this is all the weight loss I'll get, that my weight issues are too complicated for this surgery, etc... I know it isn't true, it is just a feeling and feelings are transient, but I'm pretty discouraged anyway. I'm sure it'll only last a few weeks, then get back on track. I plan on watching how everything is fitting while the scale is being difficult. I know it is just water weight gained from a stressed out body. But boy does your headgame need to be strong for this process... In other news I am on soft foods and about 70% of what I eat is relatively fine. I'm still taking nausea meds on and off. I still keep finding foods that piss everything off, my tiny tummy is PICKY. Fish still works best of all which still strikes me as all sorts of weird since I never liked it before. My tastebuds are still behaving strangely. And I really want a muffin but I can't have it because DS patients have to low carb it. *sighs wistfully* I picked up some of the Devotion brand protein that you can bake with. Maybe I'll be able to make a muffin when they arrive?!

I attended a concert last week that was basically standing room only. In the past, I would have been DYING standing for 4 hours, but now apparently I can do it! My feet were a little grumpy with me, and I was a little sore the next day (over 40 here, lol!) but this is leaps and bounds better than it was in the past. Looking forward to seeing how I handle a 3-day music festival coming up this summer!

I lost 33 pounds in my first 6 weeks, not in my first month. I also started a good 100 pounds heavier than you. The bigger you are, the faster you initially lose. I will say that you should go check out the NSV thread here (Non Scale Victories). Even if the scale isn't doing what you want, it doesn't mean things aren't happening. Clothes fit differently, rings are looser, you fit into seats with arms better, you're not smooshed when you sit in a booth, you can do more walking and working out without as much difficulty, etc.... Don't weight yourself everyday. Try picking a specific day each week and do it then. Make sure you're prioritizing protein first, then veggies, then carbs and healthy fats. Move everyday. Can be a workout, can be walking, could be swimming or biking. Just make sure you're moving your body. Try to stay away from sugar and salt as much as possible. Get at least 64oz of fluids daily, if not more. The first 6 months is when you lose the most, so do everything you can to help that along.

I agree, the drinking and eating is time consuming. Take at least a week. Take what you can, you'll be glad you did. Remember its a major surgery either removing a portion of an organ or restructuring your digestive tract - either way its a serious surgery.

Good luck tomorrow, I had mine a week ago and completely understand the emotions. There are a few other March buddies who recently had GS & are doing great! I recommend bringing chapstick or ask for some at the hospital! And walk as much as you can to get the gas bubbles out. It really makes a difference.

I am 10 weeks out and feeling well! I started back on one cup of coffee a day and I am using a straw a few times a week 🤦‍♀️ I only weigh in once a month so not sure exactly how much I have lost but my clothes are falling off! Glad everyone is doing well!

I did experience a sudden feeling of fullness that wasn't present in the beginning when I ate/drank. My doctor ordered an esophagogram and let me know it could be the nerves in my stomach healing or a stricture. For me, it turned out to just be the nerves healing and I got adjusted as the weeks went on.