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How would you rate your post-op pain on a scale of 1 -10, with ten being the worst pain ever and one being less?

I too was just diagnosed with a leak. I am just over 10 months out. I lost about 50 lbs between Sept and Jan. Then, I just stopped. I thought I'd reached a plateau and my body was just trying to catch up. I've struggled for over 6 months trying to work through the plateau. I had about 4-5 fills during this time and I couldn't figure out why they weren't working. I had restriction for a week or two, then I could eat the equivalent of a horse! At the end of May, that fill was done under fluro and the CNP saw that my opening was entirely too large. She just gave me a bigger fill. At my next appt, just this week, my surgeon listened to my struggles (I have been very depressed and disappointed with my recent results or lack thereof.) He decided to do an unfill to determine how much Fluid I actually had. I should have had 5.1 cc's. I had not even 1!!! He determined I have a leak and that it is most likely in the port, since the fills seemed to work for a week or two after fills. So, now I am having surgery next week for port replacement. (Oh, and I have already had an additional surgery in December for a flipped port!) My insurance will pay for it, but I have a $1000 deductible! I would love to hear from someone who has already gone through this fiasco. I am curious to hear what to expect next.

Angela - at 1 WEEK OUT, I was on clear liquids (for 10 days), then full liquids for 10 days, then mushies for 10 days, then food as tolerated. If your doctor gave you yogurt in the hospital and you've eaten all the things you have eaten and haven't had any pain or nauseau, I seriously doubt you've caused any damage to your stomach. I would say continue on your program the way you are being careful to eat soft/blended/non-spicy foods for at least another 3-4 weeks. it sounds from all that you've said that your body is adjusting fine to your new diet. I am sure you have not sabotaged your weight loss now or in the future, IMO.

I am struggling today as well. I need a NAP! I am so tired that i'm having trouble focusing and I really, really do want to go back to bed--and it's only 10:34 am. I''m on day 4 of this and it's veg Soup and Protein shake, and Protein Shake and veg soup and for some variety, some more protein shake. Like you, I refuse to mess it up, but by golly, August 2nd can NOT come fast enough.

Surgery date was October 8. Had been using a CPAP for 10 years. Had another sleep study mid January and was told that I no longer have sleep apnea and could stop using it. Was down about 70 lbs. at that point. Haven't used the CPAP since. But, I would suggest that you see a Sleep Doctor if you have questions. I went in hoping to just get me pressure adjusted because it had become too high. My goal was to be off it by this summer. Was pleasantly surprised after the sleep study results. Although losing weight can certainly help get rid of OSA it doesn't guarantee it. I know plenty of slender people with it as well. Good luck.

I am two months post op (to the day) from my sleeve gastrectomy, down 54 pounds. Been using a CPAP for about 10 years. Changed my life, and maybe saved my marriage, but I also can't wait to get rid of it! How long after surgery were YOU able to stop using your CPAP? What did you notice about sleeping without it?

I fit into a tight 12 and most 14s now from most shops (smaller sizes in some places like kmart, their sizing is HUGE!) I started at 115kg in Nov 2006 and am hovering around 67-68kg at the moment. I'm 163cm (5 foot 4). I want to get down to a size 10....or 60kg, which ever is smallest.

I was just wondering how everyone has been doing myself. Got banded 3/23. Lost a bit over 50 pounds so far, had two fills. Third is scheduled for Sept. 11. Hit a giant plateau for the past month (seriously, the scale didn't budge, no matter how much or how little I ate or exercised or anything). FINALLY started moving again 2 days ago, thank goodness. Hoping to be down 10 by my fill appt (8 left). Hoping I can really drive it home right now since I'm apparently done plateauing for now. Can't eat at all before about noon. Just do a Protein shake or yogurt for Breakfast. I'm trying to get more fluids. I've always been a big drinker but for the past two weeks I have noticed that I've not been drinking much at all (mayyybe 60 oz a day, nowhere near enough for me). So I'm making a conscious effort this week to up my Fluid intake. Other than that, things are going well. I was getting really aggravated about not losing any weight, but at least I didn't gain. Have gotten stuck a few times via user error. I will decide that 11:30am is close enough to 12 to eat, and then get stuck. My body is on some weird time clock. Anyway, hope everyone else is doing well!

I bought a tub of it, and got 2 packs in the sample kit. I haven't tried it yet, but I was surprised last night when I just had some chicken bullion. I didn't need the extra protein and it kept my calories to 10 and it tasted great. I was tired of the sweet drinks, and it really hit the spot. I think I'll try the Unjury chicken soup tonight.

Any tips on the liquid diet Thursday afternoon will be my last meal. The time for surgery will be here before I know it getting myself prepared

Wow! What a difference a year makes! I have been thinking about this day all week. One year... What a ride! Here are some stats: I am 1.1 pound away from being "normal" BMI; I am down 147.8 pounds total (121 pounds of that since surgery); I have lost 83.5 inches (18 inches off my hips ALONE / 12 inches off EACH thigh!); pants size down from loose 28 to 12 or 14; dress size down from 24 or 26 to a size 12. Some of the best NSV's: Buckling airplane seatbelt and not having bruises on my thighs from the plane seat arms; ability to get up and down off the floor so easily; my clothes have stopped falling off hangers; ability to fit in a "normal" robe when I go to a spa or even the doctor; crossing my legs; not sweating all the time; diabetes in remission and no diabetes meds; off cholesterol meds; ability to mow my own lawn without being so exhausted I had to lay down for hours afterwards. I know there are more.... How did I do it? Perseverance. Seriously one bite at a time. I ate poorly or too much, I got right back up and did better next meal - not tomorrow, not next Monday. My keys to success: Therapy and logging my food daily and having occasional checkups with my NUT. (It is good to have someone look over my food logs and say "careful on that, or try more of this"). I really think therapy though is my number one tool. I had some breakthroughs just this week in how I saw food and will continue to see this therapist for AT least another year if not longer. Oh and I cannot forget the support I received from friends and family. Were it not for those cheering me on and yet still staying out of my business (i.e. not constantly saying "should you be eating that"), I do not think I would have been so successful. And of course this incredible website. Without the advice and the ability to rant and read others experiences here, I would never have been able to do this! What do I eat: deli turkey, cheese, blackberries, blueberries, apples, tuna, pork tenderloin, lean ground beef (less than once per week), turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, LOTS AND LOTS of chicken (grilled, boiled, fajita style, rotisserie, baked, roasted, etc etc), cucumbers, avocado, green olives, mushrooms, onions, occasional slice of bread (a few times a week), triscuit crackers (limiting myself to 2 or 3 at a time), did I say cheese LOTS and LOTS of cheese. I still have 1 Protein shake per day (30g protein) to make sure I get to my protein goals. I eat around 100 - 120g protein per day / 60-80g carbs / 45-55g fat - total calories 1100-1300. (I have been averaging closer to 1000 this last 2 weeks and I need to be sure t get those calories UP because I am ready to stop losing weight.) I cook for myself, so it is much easier to manage I am sure than others who cook for families. What didn't change: I am not one of those people that have SO much energy they cannot stand it. Nope. I am still a fairly lazy person. I hate that I am but it is true. I watch too much tv still and I still don't enjoy exercising really (and don't do it as often as I should). (I mostly walk and it is nice to know that I can go on a 2 mile walk without a lot of effort but I don't get that HIGH from exercising some talk about.) I want to be healthier and I will keep working on that part but I will never be a marathon runner or CrossFitter, etc. I still struggle with making food choices. The struggle is much easier than it used to be (most things don't even cross my mind to eat anymore) but I still crave salty Snacks. I give in sometimes but I am working on the addiction part of that. Not because you cannot have salty snacks but because it is an ADDICTION for me. And yes - I have loose skin. LOTS of it. My butt and boobs took the worst hit. You cannot see it when I am dressed and it isn't as bad as I thought it might be, but I am going to have it fixed. I am planning my first of plastics for this fall. I took money out of my 401K to pay for it. I do not need to be perfect, but I want to be able to wear sleeveless shirts and some shorts without being uncomfortable and I need my butt and thighs to be reshaped so I can fit in pants (which are tough to buy right now). I had some struggles in the beginning - I had a stricture which we didn't figure out until 3 months post-op so I was constantly vomiting. I stayed nauseas until 6 months post-op. The constipation is probably the very worst part and it has only really resolved in the last couple of months as I have started to incorporate more Fiber in my diet. (It is tough to get fiber in the beginning.) I thought I was a SLOW loser (average 10-12 pounds per month). I know now that isn't slow. It is just right. My best advice to people starting this journey - DO IT! Seriously - just do it. Just work the program. Use the tools - all of them - therapy, logging, NUT, restriction, Vitamins, exercise. STOP comparing yourself to others!! It will derail you! (PLUS I just don't buy into the "I lost 40 pounds my first month") This is your journey. No one else's. Everyone's journey is different and comparing yourself to others is defeating mentally. GO SEE A THERAPIST! Please... accept that you have a food "issue". I will buy that some of you don't but let's be honest, the overwhelming majority of us have food "issues" and until you face that fact, you cannot learn how to start to move past it. HANG IN THERE - just keep moving forward. You are going to be stunned when you look back a year from now... My journey is not over. The hardest part is just beginning - Maintenance. I have lost weight before but never kept it off, so this is the real test. Can I do this for the rest of my life? I truly hope so. I have a great head start by having developed some great new habits and faced some of my food addiction issues that I allowed to derail me in the past. I have some big changes in my life coming up job-wise and it is going to take discipline to make it work. I will keep seeing my therapist and keep my eye on the prize!

I had lapband in 2005. Had it removed in 2009. Sleeved 4/10/18. My immediate post-op experience after being sleeved was rough. Surgeon said I had a lot of scar tissue from the lapband, which took him almost twice as long as a normal sleeve to take care of. That means I was under anesthesia longer than usual, so I was REALLY groggy for about 12 hours after surgery. I had no energy to get up and walk like the others on my hospital unit. I had no desire to sip-sip-sip and I think I looked a bit like I'd been hit by a truck. I certainly felt that way. Once I got through the immediate post op part, I returned to normal pretty quickly. Other than some fatigue, I was feeling back to normal after about 6 days. I went through the normal progression from clear liquids to full liquids to mushies to soft, etc. When comparing the two, I'd say that the sleeve has a lot more restriction. After a certain amount, I simply cannot eat. If I do, I suffer with discomfort and a lot of foam/saliva/slime. I was never able to tolerate fills in my band, so this was something relatively new to me. If you have any sort of GERD, I caution. The sleeve tends to make GERD worse. I'd say it's a little hit or miss in that department, but it's certainly something to discuss with your surgeon. I started getting heartburn about 3 weeks out and I've had some times where I was really worried about nighttime reflux, but I seem to have it under control right now. As a revision surgery, it is likely you will lose slower this time around. I read it on here and I read other information on the internet, but was still disappointed at the slow weight loss. I'm certainly happy it's coming off, but it is much slower than first timers.

I agree with a lot of the comments. Just wanted to say how unbelievably crazy it is to hear people call me skinny and to tell me I'm disappearing. I have NEVER been skinny so this whole thing is just crazy! Started at size 16/18 and am 10/12 now.

I was scheduled at 7am. Had to be at hospital at 5am. My sister went with me. We went to admitting and were directed to 10th floor for prep. I went down to surgery waiting about 6:30am. Anesthesia, surgeon, Circulating nurse all greeted me. I remember going to the OR and getting sleepy medicine. Then it was 9:20am and the nurse told me it was over and to wake up. I stayed about an hour before being transferred to a room. I slept off and on until about 12:30 - 1pm. Then I got up to bathroom, took a walk in the hall. I had a hernia that had to be repaired before they could band me. The surgery should have been 45 min to 1 hour for banding. I was up when the surgeon came in and he let me go home that night. I had pain for a week after surgery and still have problems with the hernia site. The prescription liquid pain medicine made me nauseous so I could only take tylenol liquid. It was okay. My first check up was 10 days after surgery because I didn't want to wait till after the holidays. He told me to try soft foods like Soup, mac n cheese, flaky fish. I had a lot of trouble with solid foods except sweet stuff. :eek:I was bad during Christmas, but resolved to stick to mostly liquids to help in weight loss. I went about 3 weeks and didn't loose. In face I gained unless I stuck to less than 1000 cal / day. I am resolved now to loose the weight. I don't want to have gone through this to fail. I'll do whatever it takes. I see the surgeon Tomorrow. Angie

Hmm, there's no lapband lounge anymore, so here seemed as good a place as any. This isnt lapband related, but so many have offered me messages of support in the past few months, I thought I'd let you all know that treatment is finished! I've been in hosptial this week with another suspected bowel obstruction, which cleared without any problems, just a very sore tummy for a day or two. I've had about five of these episodes, and we've never been able to find any physical obstruction such as an adhesion or stricure, nor any food obstruction blocking my stoma so we're fairly sure now that these painful episodes are a side effect of chemo for me. As we all know, chemo does affect your digestive system quite badly and I've had all the nausea etc. If you ever want to SEE what it does to your body, its fascinating to have a stoma, which afterall is simply the inside of your intestines sticking out of your abdominal wall. Mine went purple, grotesquely lumpy and swollen and had ulcers all over it on Sunday and sure enough, by Sunday night, i'm doubled over and heading into emergency to be admitted for bowel rest. As my oncologist pointed out, this was no doubt what the entire inside of my digestive tract looked like at this point in time, so this time, given I have only four chemo sessions to go he decided we'd just finish up early - afterall they got ALL the cancer at surgery, there was no lymph node involvement and this last six months of chemo has been precuationary only. I am beyond thrilled that I can finally end this awful cycle of nausea, depression and heading back every week, just as I'm starting to feel better, to poison myself all over again. Wine and coffee will finally taste good again! I will not have to head out for my run feeling like I'm moving through thigh deep water! I can train for another 10K event. I dont have to baby myself, take it easy, apologise to my DH for not feeling up to helping in the garden, with the painting or even heading out to a movie on a Friday night. So I now have about 10 glorious weeks to myself, my body is mine again for the time being. I intend to pick up the exercise beyond maintenance levels, I've gotten a wonderful casual job (since I wasnt able to teach this year) working with a company that does incursions into primary schools teaching gynastics to the junior grades, and I'll be able to do some casual relief teaching, get of the house and no longer have a trip to the shops for a coffee as the most exciting point of my day! Thankfully I've gotten through this with a headful of healthy hair, I look well and although the doctors have been very concerned at my low weight a few times, its held fairly steady and i'm a little bit too thin but not gaunt or emaciated or sick looking. Its actually been great to have an unfilled band and to learn that I have changed, that I'm not the overeater I was and that my motivation to look after myself is not all coming from that little bit of silicone but that I can actually proudly claim a lot of credit for it. I'll have my ileostomy closed in about 10 weeks time and it will be a bit of a challenge, it can be difficult to get a predictable and manageable bowel function going again and I'm very apprehensive about possible incontinence for a while, dietary issues, whether I'l be able to go out for a run without wearing a damn diaper, all sorts of scary stuff, but its also entirely possible that I'll be right as rain within a month or two and I have resolved to stay OFF the internet searching out horror stories. I'm blessed that financially I can work when I want to and dont have to return until I'm confident that my bowels wont be a worry to me every day. So all in all, I've nearly got my life back, thanks for listening, it felt really good to write that down. Telling others kind of makes it real!

I'm Nervous my Surgery is in 10 days and I'm really struggling with the Protein drinks already! Having trouble drinking them and keeping them down worried what will happen after surgery if I cant drink protein drinks? I'm 5"6 weigh 320 and need the surgery. any recommendations? I started the liquid diet 14 days out but then my DR moved my surgery up two days (Feb 6 2012) so I really need to get this protein drink thing down They want me to drink four drinks daily 20-25 grams protein each day prior to surgery with the liquid diet. Any good suggestions?

Jeni, I was a size 10 in shoes before surgery and yesterday, I was able to buy a size 8. I had read on here so often about people losing shoe sizes as part of their weight loss, and I was hopeful. But then it didn't happen, and I was thinking it wasn't going to, which is exactly when it happened. LOL

From their website and on the Jug also I believe: Directions: For adults, add one (1) scoop to 6-8 ounces or two (2) scoops to 14-16 ounces of your favorite beverage. Consume within 10 minutes after mixing. Take this product with an adequate daily Fluid intake. Super Advanced Whey Protein can be taken immediately following exercise or as needed throughout the day in order to meet your daily protein requirements. http://www.bodyfortress.com/chocolate-whey-protein-powder

I wish I saw this thread earlier I gave probly 10 pairs of pant and a whole bunch of shirts to goodwill just the other day

I'm down 26 from my 254 before my 10 day perop diet. In 1x from 2/3x a big 16 from a size 20 jeans. Doing really good here wanting to do water aerobics and Zumba but can't till Monday. Hugz about the foot been there a few times. Can you do chair aerobics? There are a lot of tips on YouTube about them.

The fabulous thing about the sleeve is that it never goes away. Some may choose to ignore it and eat things we shouldn't be eating, but if you choose to abide by the nutritional guidelines, your sleeve will always work with you. It doesn't "go away" after 2-3 years. So, you are in charge of the extent of your success. If you stick with the program, you will be successful in the long-term. Some do regain after a couple of years though, and some never reach their ultimate goal. It's like anything else; it all depends on the amount of work you're willing to do. I'm 3 years post op and I've been at or below goal weight since about 10 months post op. So it is totally possible. But, I did a lot of hard work, both physically and emotionally. Good luck!

I ended up in the ER FTOM THAT STUCK FEELING! Here I was Christmas eve. Waiting for emergency surgery! A piece if shrimp that I did NOT chew properly, along with the peel, got stuck. Lodged in me. The pain was unbearable feeling like I was having a. Heart attack. After an hour if not being able to get it up is when a family member called the surgeons office. Within minutes i was at the ER !! Into the operating room i went for an endoscopy. !!I am back on liquids, progressing slowly to mushys for 10 days. I still feel horrible. Calling the Dr tomorrow because I am feeling sick to my stomach. Ughhhh!

I am out 19 months, but aim for 1200 daily.

WOW, day before Thanksgiving:+) I meet with 4 people on Nov.19...the receptionist said be prepared to stay for 2 hours. Guess i'll find out everything then. Don't know if I have a 6 or 3 month program. Let's keep in touch!!

CONGRATS!!!! Surgery 10/16/18....... 33 days ago. Surgery weight 278. I am now 246.2 so as of today I am 32 lbs down.