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It all depends on your body. I have been on my pre op liquid diet ( my choice, surgeon says 2 weeks) since January 1st. Surgery is not until February. In 29 days I lost 25lbs and counting! My starting weight was 242.5 Good luck!

Went into hospital at 8:30 am and sat and waited until almost 1pm when they brought me into the OR. I had zero nerves or worries, just ready to get in there. After surgery I was OUT of it. Nurses or whoever told me when I was in my room they would not give me pain meds if I was going to sleep as the pain could not be that bad if I was able to sleep through it. I was so out of it I didn't care at that point. Woke up a few hours later with the worst abdominal pain ever and was ready to kill the pain med lady. She seemed to take here time getting to me... The next few hours went by and every time a nurse asked if I needed pain meds I told her to fill it up. I wasn't going to pass again and deal with what I did earlier. Pretty much slept on and off until about noon the next day. I had a lot of abdominal pain (gas) and nausea. Did not vomit at all but it sucked holding it back. I did not want to know what the belly pain would feel like hacking anything up. I had a lot of phlegm so coughing that up was bad enough. Did my swallow test and that went well other than the taste of the liquid. Started sipping water and broth and that also went well. Walked as often as I could when I was awake. Had my last dose of pain meds friday around noon. Nurse offered one last shot but told me I would have to wait an extra hour before discharge if I did, I passed. Did get a shot of the nausea meds though. Got home after 7pm Friday evening and pretty much sat on the sofa and fell asleep. Woke around midnight with nausea and gas pains but just went up to my bed. I had an old foam cushion that I cut to sit on an angle and put my pillows on that so I was almost in a seated position while sleeping. Woke at 4am with the same nausea and gas pains and was kind of out of it. So I just sat in silence and tried sipping my water and clear protein. Took until about noon for the nausea to subside but the gas pains were still there. I did figure out that If i stretched my neck looking straight up and breathed deeply in and out while having the gas pain it would sometimes release in a burp or just air bubble escaping. That works wonders and I've been doing it since. They sent me home with liquid Tylenol with codeine and I took a dose of that late evening just because of the belly soreness and sore back, hip and knee joints. Was just enough to take the edge off. Got down about 40g of protein and 60oz of liquids. I did way myself just to see and I was up 2lbs from surgery date, expected. So woke this morning and feel so much better. No nausea very little gas pain but still have to make sure to sip my liquids. Don't think I'm hungry as it just feels like belly soreness. Havn't had a meal since Wednesday morning. Joint pain has gotten less and belly soreness is lower. Already down 8oz of bone broth with protein which by the way tastes horrible. The most bland watered down taste ever and the clear protein drinks have the horrible fake sugar taste. But If that's the worse of my problems I'll take it. I see some of you are having protein shakes, is that part of the clear liquid diet or just approved on your program? It's not on my list of "ok's". Anyway, Thanks for listening/reading. Sorry for the super long post and BEST OF LUCK TO ALL ON THIS WONDERFUL JOURNEY!!!!!!!!

My suggestion is to ask your doctor how much out of pocket it would be to add plication to a new band. Since plication is still investigational, it seems doctors aren't charging a tremendous amount to do it. I know "tremendous" is different for everyone, but it may be a better option over removing 3/4 of your stomach permanently. Plication makes your stomach the same size as the sleeve, without any permanent revisions. My biggest concern and fear on the sleeve, is the possibility of leakage from the staples. There are so many, and if they do leak, the hospital stay can be 4-6 weeks. VERY dangerous. If you are seriously considering that procedure, do your homework, and leave no stone unturned. There are many who have had great success, but as with all of these procedures, it's best to go in knowing all the pros & cons.

I wish I could tell you what to do but I can't. It's such a personal decision. I think you need to do a lot of fact searching and soul searching. Some questions I'd be asking both myself and my doctor if I were you: -If you get a band replacement, are you at higher risk for another slip? -What caused the slip? Was it preventable and if so can you prevent it from happening again? -If you get the Sleeve, what are the possible complications? -Being as your BMI is only 27, do you really want to have 3/4 of your stomach removed? AJ was right about Jean. She had a revision to the Sleeve and has been very vocal about it. Have a look at her blog, she talks about it considerably: http://jean-onthebandwagon.blogspot.com/ I hope you find the info you need to make the best decision. Remember, it's your body and your life, you have to be honest with yourself and do what's best for YOU. ((hugs))

morning of day 3 post op and I feel really good! I slept on both sides last night and my stomach with no problems. I teach Zumba, so this morning instead of teaching my full out class, i'm going to do a very slow class and then walk for 30 minutes. My doctor gave me some great shake recipes and I'm feeling very optimistic!

Thank you EVERYONE!!! You have no idea how much your comments have helped me!!!! And I am going to make my husband hide the scale for at least a week!!! This is a huge step for me. It will give me time to focus on just moving and eating right!!! Thanks again everyone!

Here is a good article ButterTheBean has in his signature. Stalls are a normal part of this journey.

Do a search on this site for stalls. Quite normal. Stay off the scale.

For the last week I have been sick with a severe sinus infection and bronchitis. My primary doc put me on an antibiotic and gave me sudafed. During the first 3 days I felt like no relief from the sudafed or Afrin or DayQuil and I take Zyrtec daily for allergies. Since this is my first cold since having surgery. My question is does surgery affect the break down and absorption of the medications?

My partner and I went on a 3.5 week tour of SE Asia at three months post-op. It was completely fine. I follow a low-carb way of eating, so I was always able to eat within my plan and lifestyle (although I found that the food sat very heavy and I wasn't really able to eat much the entire time). I actually lost 13 pounds while on the trip. The good news about a cruise is that there is a myriad of food options available, so something will fit in your plan. I can't imagine why you can't swim or go in the ocean at your point in your journey. I was cleared to do hydrotherapy at my spa (essentially a Water coffin) at 2 weeks, so I am sure at 3 months, you are fine. Ask your team to be completely sure. Have fun!

It feels so good to know that I am not the only person who saw food as my "freind". I am 5 weeks post and struggling horribly with adjusting to my new lifestyle. Sometimes I feel like Im going through a form of with drawal because a familiar part of me is missing. My family can never understand where Im coming from or why I get soo upset when they order out or sit directly in front of me and stuff pizza in their mouths while I sip 1% milk and Protein. It gets so bad that I have to leave the room and spray lysol through out my home so that the tempting smells dont drive me absolutely crazy! I mourn my old friend all the time and I have difficulties eating and finding foods that work for me because deep down its not what Im used to.Then when I do find a healthy alternative I enjoy ,I cant enjoy it. I take 3 or 4 bites and Im completely full. any more and im on the verge of sickness. Food has gone from my best friend to that bully I avoid and am now afraid of. I have no clue how to get over this fear or where it even starts to get better. On top of that my fiance is taking to me vegas for our 6th anniversay at the end of this month and I am completely terrified I wont be able to enjoy my trip. I am technically now out of my 15-30 days puree stage but still not sure what foods I am allowed to eat or try or even if Im allowed a glass of wine on my anniversary. It all just scares me.

A few months ago I was asking myself the same questions and questioning my decision to take such a radical step. Also, I went through a few months of food funerals and gained back 15 pounds I'd lost while going through all of my pre-op appointments. In my appointment with the surgeon to schedule surgery, he was really pissed off at me for gaining and put me on a 3-week pre-op diet. I took that seriously and dropped 31 pounds in 3 weeks, with Thanksgiving in the middle of that. My wife and I cooked for 20 guests and I consumed 450 calories that day. From a dieting perspective, the pre-op diet was the worst part so far. The shakes made me want to barf (and still do thinking about them). Dieting post-op has been a breeze for me. It's like I don't even have to try to diet ... The restriction takes care of my over-eating and my cravings are pretty much gone. I hope this lasts long-term because I'm loving my new outlook on food.

God, Christie, I really needed to read this right now. I returned from Iraq almost 2 months ago and in that time have only lost about 10 pounds. I know people will jump on me for saying "only" but yeah, only! With this surgery and being in my first year (8 mos out), I get to say "only" because we all know it should be more! I have fallen off with attending this forum, fallen off with inputting to my diet tracker, my protein is way low. Yes I have finally crossed over the Great Two Hundred Divide, but only just. I haven't hit 100 lbs lost yet. I am surrounded by delicious food and these old feelings of inadequacy are coming back - I'm the fattest one in tango class, in zumba class, and the biggest size in regular stores still doesn't fit me right, but the smallest size in plus is too big. in the last 20 days I have lost maybe 3 pounds. I'm eating protein bullets, greek yogurt, sashimi (no rice), and baked chicken almost every day. I dance or zumba or something every day. And only a pound a week. =( =(

Just had my pre-op appt y'all, and after spending a decent amount of time reading all the wonderful info on this board, I'm feeling concerned/confused. I'm being banded next Thursday at Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, WA and we reviewed the post-op diet. I want to be succesful. I will follow what they tell me to do. BUT... ...they have recently revised their post-op to be: 1 week full liquids (which includes applesauce, yogurt, pudding), followed by 1 week of mushies (soft fish, scrambled eggs), then on to more solid foods. First fill at 4 weeks. I fully understand the need to have the band heal and settle in place. I'm seriously thinking of extending my phases to have an extra week of liquids and an extra week of mushies. I'll be damned if I move through things to fast just to cause issues down the road. Am I nuts??

I have mixed it with Water, gatorade, propel, V8 juice. I take it twice a week.

That is great its a great feeling I started running also I do interval just hit a darn stall the past few weeks Congratulations it feels awesome I know that feeling good luck

That has been the hardest thing for me. It seems the smaller I get the more "fat" I feel. It is a strange thing because when I was morbidly obese I didn't feel "that" large and when I saw pictures I was sometimes taken aback at how large I actually was. I am actually going to my first appointment this week with a therapist to start to work through these and some other "food" issues that I have. Good luck to you. You have done an amazing job so far and I'm sure that you will continue to get used to your new body.

I am into the second week of my liquids and I am having server cotton mouth.. makes it hard to sallow.. is this normal?

No Vitamin deficiency here and hair started dropping for me at the 3 month mark. I've been taking Biotin and all the other usual Vitamins we take. Still losing loads of hair. However, with my pregnancies and hysterectomy I lost zero when most lose it then too. Some people just lose it, some don't. I'm 6 months post op now and its calming down finally.

Mine started at 3 months and slacked at 7 months. At months 8-10 it's growing back slowly.

clk posted this a few days ago and I think it is brilliant. I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it and it helps you! I think too many of us focus on the fast losers when we're planning for surgery and then we assume that once we're sleeved the weight is going to just fly off. Not everyone is so lucky. My starting weight is close to your preop weight but you must be taller than my 5'1" and some change because my BMI was much higher at your current weight. I was a slow loser. Slower, I guess. There are a handful of people here that are even slower than I was. It took me 17 months to hit goal, to lose 107 pounds. You cannot compare yourself to everyone else. If you're doing the right things and still losing, the sleeve is working. You can try to adjust your food or exercise for a better result but I caution you against doing anything drastic that you won't be able to maintain. Part of why the sleeve is great is that it does away with the need for that diet mentality and helps you build positive habits you can maintain forever. Some folks cut the carbs down to 20 a day, something I consider extreme, but if they can live their lives that way and get great results then it works for them. My biggest piece of advice isn't one you'll like, but it's something you're going to have to get used to at some point or another. RELAX. That's it. Because this isn't a race. I promise you, 85% of your stomach just got removed from your body so you're going to lose weight. I see this over and over and over again on the boards - people just so frustrated and worked up because they expected to lose the weight faster, or people that get mad because they feel they didn't need the surgery if they were going to be slow losers. It took me 17 months to reach goal. It took me 17 YEARS to go from where I am now to my high weight. Am I any less pleased with my success because it took me longer to get here? Nope. I'm happy as can be. Track your food. Eat responsibly. Get your Protein in, drink your Water, start moving more. In six months you're going to be posting that you're nearly to goal. Give your body a chance to recover from the fact that it's lost 27 pounds and undergone a major surgery the last two months. And yes, even if you want to break the scale sometimes, and even if you don't lose for two weeks of the month (like me) you're going to lose this weight. So, RELAX. ~Cheri

I have a question about pills and malabsorption after gastric bypass. I'm almost 4 weeks post op and had to have emergency back surgery last week (2 surgeries in 3 weeks) and I'm in a lot of pain. They got me taking pain pills for the back pain to recover from the surgery but the pills don't seem to work. Is there something I can do? I'm afraid it's from the malabsorption that the pain pills aren't working.

I was never a volume eater, or a binge eater. I got fat eating sweets because I love sugar, preferably sugar mixed with fat! I guess I was addicted to the sugar rush. I'm 8 weeks out now and fortunately for me, I can't stand sweet anymore! Most folks say they eat for comfort or due to boredom. I can't say that was the case with me. Just loved sugar.

I am also about 2 weeks out (May 16) and today experienced 'foamies' for the first time. Absolute YUCK. I think I ate 2 bites too many, not long after that the pain in my chest started. I tried walking it off, but by the time I got back home I knew I was going to throw up. Oddly, it wasn't as bad as throwing up used to be pre-op. But I have been throwing up foam every 15-20 minutes for about 4 hours now. I'm starting to feel better, but I'm pretty worn out. Also feel incredibly thirsty, but I don't dare drink anything for fear of starting it up again! Definitely not as bad as what you've gone through, but hopefully you won't have to add this to your experience. I hope you feel better soon!!