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Well whether you choose Dr Needleman or Dr Noria, you will have a wonderful surgeon. Dr Needleman did my RNY September 5th and Dr Noria does my endoscopies every 2 weeks I developed a stomal stricture and 5 post-surgery ulcers, rare except on Bariatric Pal, we have quite a group here. But I will never regret my surgery, OSU is a wonderful place to go. Everyone treats you kindly, they really want to make life better for you! I was in another bariatric program, nowhere as nice as OSU. You picked a quality place to go, in my opinion THE BEST! if you have any questions please ask. I'll be only too happy to help you any Way I can!😝🚩🏣

I am already 3 weeks post op on gastric sleeve. I've lost 27 pounds (9%of total weight) I have a problem with getting energy. I am on a 300 to 400 calories fluids diet. Unable to get protein thru shakes which i dislike taste. Anybody can give me target weight loss per month Pre-op. 277 pds 3 weeks post-op 250 pds

Hi guys!!! I was on a losing streak for a while and made my thanksgiving day goal early! Now I am stalled! I went up 2 lbs and have been losing a few oz.'s at time. I wanted to hit onderland by christmas, but, looks like I may have to move it to new years!!! But, I am so thankful for my sleeve. I am able to eat everything and more than I thought I was gonna be able to. which I am kinda greatful for too, because one of my biggest fears was that I wouldnt be able to eat at all. Anywho! People are starting too notice the weight coming off (74 since I started my pre op diet) and I feel good about myself. I am 4 months out and still have a long way to go, but, I am so happy. I wish I had done this sooner!!! No regrets!!! except for the hair loss! LOL!, but, I'm dealing! But, I discovered Joan rivers hair powder. It works awesome. I have thinning hair at my part and crown, this powder stuff hides my shiny scalp and boosts my confidence!!! Yay!

Post op, 5 weeks tomorrow. Eating soft but transitioning to "regular" foods.

My friend and I went out for her birthday I bought a size 16 dress down from a size 28 when i started this journey! And i broke my stall and am down 100 Me before surgery

I lost 15 at my one week post op appointment. I always take off whatever I can, shoes included lol

@@ahout831, I remember the medicine cups! LOL. I hope you have a good day today. Stay on top of your liquid this first week and everything will work out and you will start to feel better soon. Good luck!

I was cleared to use this machine (and do all exercise, without restriction) after my 4-week check.

Hi Rose, I don't have any questions now, but I'm sure I will after I'm banded. I'm being banded day after tomorrow the 10th. I just wanted to tell you how nice it is for you to offer this for the people that no one responds to. I hope I can say when I'm 5 weeks out that I've lost that much. Thanks again, Waynette

I travel a lot for work and also for pleasure. I was told no lifting a suitcase for 4 weeks, so I've told my boss I can't travel for four weeks. I haven't had surgery yet, so I can't tell you if four weeks will be enough time. Do you have to take a "heavy" suitcase? Can you pack light? I always do carry on for work.

Hello all! I'm exactly 5 weeks post op and lost about 30 pounds. I would like to know what everyone is eating at this point?

Please discuss with your doctor. I had a similar situation. He was more concerned about flying too close to the surgery due to possible blood clots. It does seem that 6 weeks would be enough time....but ask the professionals.

I was told to take B 12 post op, 500 mcg/day. I did that. I saw my pcp at about 2 1/2 months post op due to feeling no energy. She ordered a bunch of lab work, except for my tsh level (due to a different issue)and everything came back normal except for the B 12, which was too high. She told me to stop the B12 until I see the surgeon next week. I looked up what I could and apparently B12 is Water soluble, and any excess would be excreted in urine. An elevated B12 level is pretty rare. Has it happened to anybody else? It can be a symptom of other problems, like liver or kidney issues and things like that. It's been on my mind...

I am 38 years old and have been overweight my entire life. I have been on numerous diets loosing up to 35lbs but gaining it back within a few years. I hit my all time low last year when I couldnt stand to be in this body any longer. I began researching weighloss surgery as I have done so many times but this time I found a new one, VSG. The more I read the more I liked. The problem was, my BMI was only 38 (5 foot - 206lbs) which meant no insurance, I assumed. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband (of 20 yrs) that knew how badly I have wanted this for so long so we agreed to finance and get it done! I began looking into local Docs and found that most either didnt do it or have not done very many. I contacted a friend in Fla who has also truggled with her weight for a while and she said she had just had the sleeve done in her area by a very experienced surgeon and it was in my price range! I called, began phone interviews in July 2011 and set my surgical date for Sept. That may seem super fast and you are right. I had taken 2 weeks off work and found childcare for my 3 kids so that I could make the trip down. The docs office was very accomidating for out of towners. There was also the fact that I was self pay, no insurance hoops to jump through. I began my pre-op diet and had already read everything there was to know about the surgery not to mention my friend had it done by the same doc in May so she filled me in on all the goods. I was scared, but ready! With my kids and husband in NC, I drove down to JAcksonville, Fl and had my sleeve done on Sept 9, 2011 and it was a huge success! My doc was awsome, I actually drove back home to NC 3 days post-op. That was pushing it, but I had to get back to my kids, hubby and work. I went back to work 4 days post-op. :smile1: I was on high alert listening to my body to make sure nothing was going wrong. I began walking right away which was painful. The diet was the worst part. Absolutly no more cheating (or I'd regret it due to pain) and that was hard watching my family eat things I couldnt eat (1-2 weeks post-op). Now that I am 4 months post-op, I can eat most anything (which I understand is not true for bypass patients) and really the only thing I miss is diet soda. Everything in moderation (about 4 bites and Im done) and make sure each bite counts! My biggest problem to date in I did not keep up with my protein intake and my hair is falling out. My hair was thin to begin with so needless to say, Im being very diligent to take in as much protein as I can stand during the day. My secret is Rx Big100 bar peanut butter pretzel, and EAS shakes. That totals 50g protein and then add in my regular foods and I take in about 80g now. Cant say that I see my hair coming back just yet, but I think the shedding has slowed.

Question for all you post ops out there. . What happens if you eat pureed food before your 2 weeks post op? I'm asking cause I'm straving! And all this liquid just isn't cutting it anymore.

was there a period after surgery when you felt fuzzy-headed and had difficulty focusing (on anything that wasn't related to your surgery and recovery)? I've read that many people feel tired for a few weeks, and had difficulty working full days for a while (going to bed right after work). But how was your concentration after surgery? How long did it take until you were able to give 100% mentally? I anticipate surgery for late June/early July. I can work from home some, and I'm definitely planning not to work at all the first week after surgery. But then I need to focus on a big project with an August deadline. It's a desk job, not physical, but does demand a lot of written analysis and focus. If it matters for recovery time, I'm pretty fit (daily cardio) and have a low-ish BMI. Thank you for all your insight and tips!

5 weeks out I was eating purees. Any Soup ... I pureed it. My fav was smoked ham & lentil. Great Protein, healthy carbs and bold flavor. I also did chicken veggie a lot, too. I transitioned to turkey chili and also enjoyed clam chowder, but the ham and lenil was my go-to. I was so desperate for flavor and that fit the bill. As time moved on, I pureed less and less to transition my stomach to more solid foods. Worked for me.

2 weeks post ops and my team says I am doing great. Starting weight shortly before surgery was 293 and I am now at 277.... 16 lbs so far. My incisions have all healed, I have had no gas pains, nausea or any of the other uncomfortable complications I have read about here. Stayed on full liquids day 2-10 and still incorporate a lot of full liquids such as yogurt, cream of wheat and protein water into my daily diet. In fact you could say I am on full liquids all day, eating whatever else will go down comfortably for dinner, keeping an eye on my own personal nutritional goals. I was doing this for awhile before surgery anyways, and has now bwcome habit. I worry about progressing too fast with the diet. I asked my doctor if I ate something wrong, would it cause any problems with the band, such as slipping? He assured me that might have been true in the “old days” but that he now ties the lapband in securely by bringing up some of the lower stomach and stitching it around the band. The band will not slip by eating something wrong. He did say if I had a prolonged bout of throwing there was a slight chance of slippage, but unlikely. He also said that before the first banding the stomach pouch will not stretch as there is little restriction, any excess food just slips through to the lower stomach. His said I would be limited in what I eat by what felt comfortable “slipping through” and could gage how much swelling is remaining from the surgery by what size goes down OK. I would learn from trial and error what I could eat and what would be not be nice to me. So I have tried out various other foods to see how they feel, being sure to chew very well. This is very much feedback trial and error, as if I forget and do not chew well it does not feel good going down. I have the best luck on foods that are on the soft slippery type, like fish(scallops, red snapper), noodles, eggs and various oatmeals, even soggy morning cereal. All with no problems. No gas, bloating nausea or any other complications that I can feel. All went down just fine. Rice, flour tortillas and anything fibrous that can’t be chewed into pieces get “stuck” and I have to wait for it to clear before eating more. Not painful, just annoying. My nutritionist did say to avoid coffee as that has tannic acid which could cause ulcers on the band. I wonder if that applies to tomato products, such as spaghetti sauce, as tomatoes have tannic acid, as does wine, I think. I will need to verify that with her. I am thinking it may be the daily prolonged use of coffee that could cause an ulcer, but for now I just say no. The temptation is to keep pushing the limit, such as gobbling down a Burger King Steakburger ( I did not even though I probably could if chewed well), but I had better have enough self discipline to not do that or I have wasted my life, time and money on a procedure I do not respect. I log everything on FITDAY.com (have done this for years) and keep a careful eye on my calories, cards, proteins, etc. When I was on full liquids I was taking in about 800 calories and usually met the 60 protein goal. I am looking now at keeping my calories around 1200, so that I will continue to lose weight. My doctor has taken me off the high blood pressure med as I now test in the normal range. I have reduced my glyburide by 50%, and am slowly reducing my 24 hour insulin. I am experiencing fasting glucose of 120, which is about 100 points lower than pre lapband. So far I am very happy with my lapband.

You are not alone. I was sleeved 12/17/13 and from the minute I woke up I had sever nausea. This lasted for 6 weeks straight. I had to go to an infusion center 2 times for I.v. fluids due to sever dehydration. I tried 4 different anti nausea medications and 2 different antacids with out any success. Finally on the 6 week mark I was put on aciphex for my acid and started eating solid food. Up until this point I could not tolerate anything, even water. The only thing I could now stomach was ruffles potato chips with american cheese melted on top. Not ideal to say the least but it stayed in and gave me a little energy. After about 4 day of that concoction, I started eating other things and slowly came back to life. I still can not seem to get in enough water or protein I also wish I would have known nausea was a real side effect before having surgery however if I would have known how bad I was going to have it, I probably would have chickened out. The only bad thing is that, as soon as I started eating, I stopped loosing. I dropped 40lbs in that first 6 weeks. Since then I have lost 2 more pounds but that has been in the last couple days because I finally felt well enough to exercise. Having gone through it, here is what I recommend: Puke and ralley- drink water even if it come out to avoid dehydration and having to get fluids through an I.v. Eat what you think you can stomach even if it is carbs. At this point you need to recover any way you can. Make sure your acid is under control with medication. Hang in there, you are most definitely not alone but it does get better.

I had chronic shoulder pain for one entire year. Until I had my first fill it finally went away sometimes it comes back. Sometimes the position of the band is not laying correctly on the nerve causing that pain. It horrible to live with I know. How many fill s have you had? I have only had two in a year and three months so the pain seems to have subsided. I would definitely see if you can find another surgeon but unfortunately that pain may never go away.

I had 1 pair of white Capri's, that are the same size as the ones that are falling off my butt, finally fit TODAY ! Different company, so made smaller. These are like Linen, they breath. So in this Heat Wave, I thought I would try them on again "they didn't fit last month" Well with that 6 Lbs. that I lost,,, they fit ! This is the last of my big summer cloths. After this,,, Gee Whizz, I have to buy all new cloths :welldoneclap: My Heart is breaking wright? Wrong ! I earned that, and I'm looking forward to this. So I guess by the end of next month maybe "cause I go in for a fill next week" later. I will put all my big size 22 cloths, in our clothing exchange. So I will be looking forward to some cloths from there too. Just sharing the good news. Shirley.

Congratulations on getting your surgery done!!! How are you feeling? I do not have my date I am going through this major fight with my insurance. I have bariatric benefit but there are no in network surgeons in my state go figure lol...I am hoping to hear from them next week.

I experienced something similar 3 weeks post op. I let myself get so dehydrated I was re admitted to the hospital. Turns out I had a moderate stricture Call your doctor- at the very least you need help hydrating. I can speak from experience that waiting will only make it worse

My nutritionist said women can do 65. I am only 2 weeks out and on full liquids. I wish I could help more.

Congrats! My surgery was the day before yours and I'm down 30 since surgery (40 including pre-op). Lots of stalls for me too. I may be a slow loser but its still so wonderful to lose that much weight in such a short amount of time. I too have a superman sleeve. I control my portions and focus on Protein but nothing but white bread, Pasta and rice are out. It's great. Good luck on the rest of your journey!