Greetings from Australia... freaking out!

[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

Thats awesome ausmith! Great work!!

[OzRoo 1,492]

Ausmith, Well done ! Yes, Awesome !!! ????

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[Nikkinee 94]

Hi all. I know I'm a bit late to the party but just stumbled across this thread and thought I'd say hello from Brisbane. I'm getting band to sleeve revision in 2 months and am crapping myself. Any words of encouragement? How is everyone going with their weight loss?

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[OzRoo 1,492]

@@Nikkinee

Hi and Welcome !

I am on the northern end of the Gold Coast.

I have had surgeries before, and never worried about them, but this Gastric Sleeve .... well I was super anxious. Initially I was so excited that I finally got approved and got my date, and as I got closer to the op day, I was quite nervous and scared.

And then it happened, and I was OK! Bit of pain, had a large drain tube, IV and was 3 days in the hospital.

I don't regret it for a minute!

My recovery has been reasonably smooth, just bad reflux that is now under control.

My weight loss is slow and steady, being in low BMI range I was told to expect slower weight loss.

You can see my weight loss in my signature ticker.

My hair is doing really well, so is my skin. The only bits of loose skin are in my arms, everywhere else I don't have any loose, excess skin.

So for me, I am happy with my results.

Hope you will be too! Good luck

[Nikkinee 94]

Hi Krakow57

Thanks. Good to hear you are doing well and thanks for sharing your story. (I can't see any info on people's ticker for some reason).

The question that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind is will I miss food? Will I look at all this amazing food and regret that I can't eat it?

My friends and family are super social and food is always on the agenda.

Did you or do you still struggle with this?

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[OzRoo 1,492]

OK, I guess the signature does not appear on the app, perhaps only on computer.

I was normally at 60kg, and in the past 2 years I piled on 41kg! Some of it was due to my thyroid disease.

So, I was 101kg at surgery, and 5 months later I lost 26kg, so currently I am on 75kg. I am 165cm tall.

I really don't miss food at all. I missed it early on, especially during the liquids only phase. I was constantly hungry, plus I had a bad acid reflux which aggravated the hunger as well.

Once I got to Soft/Mushy phase, I was fine. My taste has changed, I don't tolerate fatty, sugary foods anymore, as well as chocolate, thank goodness!

My appetite changed also, and is very small these days. I just don't get hungry much anymore.

I am so happy with the weight-loss that I really don't miss any foods. I love my wholesome Proteins and veggies, and fruit. The new stomach wants good food in it, and I tried to eat junk food, and I either got bad reflux or threw it up!

I still like ice-cream and frozen yoghurt, but whenever I ate either, my weight-loss stalled, and since I can over-indulge in these slider foods, I decided to give them up, and have melons and berries instead.

If I go out or socialise, I just eat healthy stuff in small quantity, or have a snack before I leave. For me socialising is not an issue.

Hope all goes well for you @@Nikkinee

[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

Hi @@Nikkinee!

Welcome! Another aussie here!

I am also a revision patient... i am 3 months out now...

I don't miss food, i have been able to eat most foods so far with no issues... much better than the band!

[Nikkinee 94]

Thanks girls. That's good to know. I know it's different for everyone but I'm hoping I won't miss food or regret my decision. Congrats on your weight loss so far Krakow57. You should be super stoked.

@

I read a post of yours about your fears & temptation to cancel and it was like I'd written the post myself. You shared every single one of my fears. The loose skin fears because my BMI is not that high, the social aspects, the 'can I do it myself?' question.

How do you feel about all of that 3 months post op?

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[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

@@Nikkinee

Honestly, i feel normal... like a normal person who eats smaller portions...

I think a big part of this is psychological and how you look at it, i still enjoy food, i eat a balanced diet, make good choices, don't feel guilty or punish myself if i allow myself a small treat.

Regards to weight loss, i am losing steadily, i was able to fit into my size 12 dress yesterday and it looked great.. my legs are thinner and my tummy is getting flatter so i am stoked!

I realise now that i was way over thinking things, that i stressed myself out, that i should have been more confident in my choice to improve my health.

I do have days where i am a little jealous of others... in the sense of, wow that food looks awesome, i would have loved to have been able to eat that without feeling guilty or gaining weight.

Sometimes i have random thoughts that make me a little sad like that i had to resort to cutting out most of my stomach to be healthy, and that i wish i didn't need to.

But overall i am happy with my choice, i don't regret it, and its become my new normal which i don't really think about unless i am eating out.

[Katieisin 7]

I had my first band in 2008 went from 130kgs to 88, i was happy with that, working out heaps I looked fit and was. Then things started to go bad, reflux, acid in mouth, sleeping on 3 pillows, excessive vomiting and not eating extra food. I had band revision to another band 2014. So they moved it down a bit and took the pressure off my oesophagus. I had Barrets oesophagus and gastritis, all from the band! By this time i am stacking on the weight and ended back up at 120kgs. I was very unhappy. But still trying to work with the band to acheive weightloss, but seriously spitting into the wind! Then after carrying what I thought was a bad back after a fall for 18mths I was diagnosed with bone on bone hip and in need of a replacement! I am too young at 54 for this and my weight put me into a higher risk category as well. I now walk with a stick. My surgeon (he is a very good one that I reasearched and want to go with) told me that I have to be under 100kgs before he will operated, that others would do it, but that it is not the right thing. So then I bit the bullet and back to bariatric surgeon for revision to sleeve. I had the band taken out on 20th August 2016 and sleeved in the same op. I am well trained i managing food limitations because of the band, but I get your nervousness, it is a bigger operation than the band with the permanency. I sit her now, 5 days post op, another day of liquids. ..no big deal, been through this before, my biggest worry is that will it work. After all of the complications with the band and limited food etc, why should the sleeve work any better? I know I am raising these concerns at the wrong end of my op, I was desperate, I really need the hip fixed as my priority. I would love to hear success stories of revisons please, thank you. Melbourne gal here!

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@@Nikkinee

Hi and Welcome !

I am on the northern end of the Gold Coast.

I have had surgeries before, and never worried about them, but this Gastric Sleeve .... well I was super anxious. Initially I was so excited that I finally got approved and got my date, and as I got closer to the op day, I was quite nervous and scared.

And then it happened, and I was OK! Bit of pain, had a large drain tube, IV and was 3 days in the hospital.

I don't regret it for a minute!

My recovery has been reasonably smooth, just bad reflux that is now under control.

My weight loss is slow and steady, being in low BMI range I was told to expect slower weight loss.

You can see my weight loss in my signature ticker.

My hair is doing really well, so is my skin. The only bits of loose skin are in my arms, everywhere else I don't have any loose, excess skin.

So for me, I am happy with my results.

Hope you will be too! Good luck

Hi Krakow57

Thanks. Good to hear you are doing well and thanks for sharing your story. (I can't see any info on people's ticker for some reason).

The question that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind is will I miss food? Will I look at all this amazing food and regret that I can't eat it?

My friends and family are super social and food is always on the agenda.

Did you or do you still struggle with this?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Nikkinee

Honestly, i feel normal... like a normal person who eats smaller portions...

I think a big part of this is psychological and how you look at it, i still enjoy food, i eat a balanced diet, make good choices, don't feel guilty or punish myself if i allow myself a small treat.

Regards to weight loss, i am losing steadily, i was able to fit into my size 12 dress yesterday and it looked great.. my legs are thinner and my tummy is getting flatter so i am stoked!

I realise now that i was way over thinking things, that i stressed myself out, that i should have been more confident in my choice to improve my health.

I do have days where i am a little jealous of others... in the sense of, wow that food looks awesome, i would have loved to have been able to eat that without feeling guilty or gaining weight.

Sometimes i have random thoughts that make me a little sad like that i had to resort to cutting out most of my stomach to be healthy, and that i wish i didn't need to.

But overall i am happy with my choice, i don't regret it, and its become my new normal which i don't really think about unless i am eating out.

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[OzRoo 1,492]

@@Katieisin

Good luck post op, and I hope all goes well for you.

I did not have a band, just the sleeve in March 2016. Initially I had bad reflux problems, and I swapped from rabeprazole to Nexium 40mg, and this worked wonders for me. Now, 5 1/2 months later, I am slowly weaning myself of Nexium, and so far so good. Nexium is long lasting, so I am now taking it every 2nd day, instead of every day.

I have lost 28 kg so far, and even though I am not exercising much lately, I still keep losing.

I also see my bariatric psychologist for support, and read up a lot on this forum.

I have an auto-immune thyroid disease, and this helped my massive, rapid weight-gain in the past 2 years.

At 54, I hope you also had your female hormones checked, as an imbalance there can also help weight-gain.

You are early post op, and it is great that you are following your post op plan.

For me, the only time I had few stalls or small weight gain was when I deviated from my food plan, and had slider foods such as ice-cream or frozen yoghurt in larger quantities. This aggravated my sugar craving, so I stopped eating those foods and substituted fruit instead.

I also weaned myself off Equal, and have been using Stevia instead. Much better as Stevia does not play havoc with blood sugar levels.

As far as I know, the sleeve has worked for many of us, providing we stick to the food plan and portion sizes.

My appetite has diminished significantly at the moment, even though I can now eat slightly larger portions, but with Protein first and eating good food, I am still losing weight.

Next step, after I reach my goal weight-gain, will be maintenance.

I will see my dietician then, again.

So, give it time and good luck!

Say hello to Melbourne from me

I used to live in Melbourne and in Sydney before Queensland.

[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

@@Katieisin

The difference with the band and the sleeve is like chalk and cheese!

I don't get any of the issues i had with the band... no pressure, aches, pains, getting stuck, having to avoid certain foods etc.

It feels like a normal tummy, only smaller.....

Initially as you are healing you do feel stuff, like Water being heavy or if you eat quickly there is a tightness, but once you learn how to manage your sleeve, it feels normal.

[Katieisin 7]

Thanks so much for the support @krakow57...i also have hypothyroid and Hashimotos.. just another layer hey!

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[Katieisin 7]

Thank you AussieGirl81 great info...5 days out and not seeing any change from op day... just need to be patient and heal. I would be happy with normal tummy but smaller. Normal food but less!! Yay... this is the key. ????

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[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

Well... give it time, its harder at the beginning whilst your tummy is healing but things really start to improve once things have healed and you are on solids... give it 2-3 months...