Starting Mentoring Group for Novice and Expert Sleevers

[MGCA 0]

I have been very private about my surgery and have only told immediate family members. I did not go to the support groups, etc. that were held by my doctor's office primarily to maintain my privacy. I would love to create a group of members who have recently had the surgery along with you experts out there so we can share information, fears and successes. I had my surgery on 8/4/17 and i have so many questions and truly no one to ask. So if this is for your, please join and we can figure out who to make it more of a regular discussion. My morning of surgery weight was 220lb and ive only lost 10lbs so far. it freaks me out that after 3 weeks of such calorie restriction, i've only lost 10 lbs. most of it in the first week! I started solids way too soon and now throw up when i overeat. Social events are horrible especially work dinners where eating and drinking are expected. When is it going to get easier???

[kem91 38]

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. It is really hard to be around other people who can eat "normal" food when you can't. I was one week post op when I started training for my new placement, and there were muffins, Cookies, fruit, and orange juice around, none of which I can have. And I went to a meeting where egg rolls and fried rice were served. There are times when it doesn't feel fair, but I keep reminding myself I'm making good progress towards my health goals, and those meetings and things will shrivel in comparison to the day I reach my goal weight. It can feel very lonely, especially since this is such a personal thing. I've been very lucky in having several people in my life who are understanding and supportive. Feel free to send me a message if I can be of help or support to you!

[up4challenge 54]

@ MGCA: I completely understand your situation. The reason being I am very similar to you. I too am a private person and have not discussed about my surgery with anyone except my husband, mom and sister (my dad till date does not know why I was in the hospital 7 months ago). I was sleeved in December 2016 and making the decision of doing the surgery was tougher for me as I had to pay for it myself and had no support from my husband (who is till date not happy about it). I was 251 pounds when I met the bariatric surgeon for the first time and lost about 11 pounds during my pre-op (this is the good news). I did not go to any support group meetings held at my doctor’s office (pre and post-surgery) as I was not comfortable to face the people there, but bariatricpal website and its senior members were of great help. I found the best people who supported, coached me through my journey before and after the journey.

Over a period of 7 months I have only lost 47 pounds, which according to my doctor is shockingly disappointing. I’ve been constantly reminded from the ones who know about the surgery that not much has been achieved for which I spent my savings and borrowed a loan on. I did the surgery mainly because I am a worst case of PCOS (I’ve had it for about 15 years now) and two years ago it got out of control and instead of just having periods for 1 or 2 months continuously, I ended up having it for 9 consecutive months (I was tired all the time and weak, but fat). I had tried homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Acupuncture, but nothing worked, the flow continued on. I changed more than 13 gynaecologists to get this sorted, finally met someone who asked me to try the VSG option to bring down my weight, which I ignored for a year and tried several combination of drugs to regularize my periods and nothing helped. Finally, I went against my husband’s wishes and with the support and encouragement of my gynaecologist took a leap of faith and went ahead with the surgery.

The first 2 months after the surgery my periods were regular but they’ve gone back to what they were before the surgery (every 10 days once I get my periods i.e., I have my periods about 3 times a month), which means I find it real hard to exercise, as I have bad abdominal pain. I lost about 5 pounds during my first month after the surgery and 5 more pounds the next month and went on a stall the 3rd and 4^th month. It was not a pretty feeling. I was extremely stressed, disappointed in myself, hated every day of my life because I was not losing weight and was losing lots of hair on my head. I was not eating much, I was throwing up most of whatever I eat (be it fruits, Protein Shake or any solid food). Things seemed to get a little better from the 5^th month onwards. I changed the way I eat my food. For example: If I have 3 slices of apple in my plate, I would eat them slowly, not within 5 mins but over a period of 2 hours and I noticed that I stopped throwing up. The slower I started consuming food, the better I felt. I still have issues in drinking more than a glass of Water, which means bad Constipation every day. I never like any brand of Protein shake. 5^th and 6^th month I lost 12 pounds each and 7^th month I lost about 6 pounds. Every day is challenging and stressful and when I cook real yummy food I get tempted a lot to eat it and at times I have eaten it but ended up throwing up the same in a matter of minutes.

Oh by the way during my 5^th month I had bad stomach cramps and pus oozing out of my belly button (found out that the stitches in the belly button were not dissolved and they were weeping, hence the pus) and when I took a scan I found gall stones and underwent a gallbladder removal surgery. Healing from this was a lot easier compared to VSG.

Social dinners – I avoid them completely. When I go out many of them think I have some chronic disease (a few even asked me if I have cancer or something), but I don’t let their reactions bother me any time. I know I will feel and look better a few months from now.

Please 1) Have Patience 2) Give your body time to heal 3) Everyone’s body reacts differently to the surgery 4) Stop taking in stress (the stress of not losing weight in my case caused me to go through two months of stalling) 5) Exercise - simple brisk walk, light aerobics at home, etc. 6) Don’t give up hope 7) Eat slowly 8) Take 5-6 small meals instead of 2-3 big meals 9) Remember why you did the surgery in the first place 10) Most important of all STAY POSITIVE!!!

I hope you feel better soon. Feel free to message me if I can be of any assistance / support to you.

[hmills653 365]

I have been very private about my surgery and have only told immediate family members. I did not go to the support groups, etc. that were held by my doctor's office primarily to maintain my privacy. I would love to create a group of members who have recently had the surgery along with you experts out there so we can share information, fears and successes. I had my surgery on 8/4/17 and i have so many questions and truly no one to ask. So if this is for your, please join and we can figure out who to make it more of a regular discussion. My morning of surgery weight was 220lb and ive only lost 10lbs so far. it freaks me out that after 3 weeks of such calorie restriction, i've only lost 10 lbs. most of it in the first week! I started solids way too soon and now throw up when i overeat. Social events are horrible especially work dinners where eating and drinking are expected. When is it going to get easier???

You're doing fine with weight loss. I wouldn't worry yet. I'm 3 mos post sleeve and only went down one pant size, but everyone comments on how much over lost. Sometimes it comes of differently. My face looks thinner and my bra size went down. As far a food, make sure you're eating slow, if I eat you fast its easy to eat more than you should and feel sick. Remember just because it's on your plate does not mean you have to eat it. My co worker laughed at me yesterday for leaving three bites of my chicken from lunch, she was like, "you seriously did not leave three bites of chicken. " I know from experience that those three more birds would make me feel like crap. I said it'll make a nice snack later before I go home. She said that is not enough for a snack, and I said wth it is if you've had a Protein of your stomach removed. You'll have to learn to listen to your stomach and at the first feeling of yeah I may be full, stop and leave it bc one or two bites have made all the difference in walking away fine out walking away in stabbing pain. Pre op I was originally 256# right before surgery was 231# now I'm 3 mos out 189#. I notice a difference and feel good. Also avoiding carbs has left me feeling more flat in the stomach, when I would eat alot bread Pre op it would leave me feeling bloated.

[hmills653 365]

@ MGCA: I completely understand your situation. The reason being I am very similar to you. I too am a private person and have not discussed about my surgery with anyone except my husband, mom and sister (my dad till date does not know why I was in the hospital 7 months ago). I was sleeved in December 2016 and making the decision of doing the surgery was tougher for me as I had to pay for it myself and had no support from my husband (who is till date not happy about it). I was 251 pounds when I met the bariatric surgeon for the first time and lost about 11 pounds during my pre-op (this is the good news). I did not go to any support group meetings held at my doctor’s office (pre and post-surgery) as I was not comfortable to face the people there, but bariatricpal website and its senior members were of great help. I found the best people who supported, coached me through my journey before and after the journey.

Over a period of 7 months I have only lost 47 pounds, which according to my doctor is shockingly disappointing. I’ve been constantly reminded from the ones who know about the surgery that not much has been achieved for which I spent my savings and borrowed a loan on. I did the surgery mainly because I am a worst case of PCOS (I’ve had it for about 15 years now) and two years ago it got out of control and instead of just having periods for 1 or 2 months continuously, I ended up having it for 9 consecutive months (I was tired all the time and weak, but fat). I had tried homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Acupuncture, but nothing worked, the flow continued on. I changed more than 13 gynaecologists to get this sorted, finally met someone who asked me to try the VSG option to bring down my weight, which I ignored for a year and tried several combination of drugs to regularize my periods and nothing helped. Finally, I went against my husband’s wishes and with the support and encouragement of my gynaecologist took a leap of faith and went ahead with the surgery.

The first 2 months after the surgery my periods were regular but they’ve gone back to what they were before the surgery (every 10 days once I get my periods i.e., I have my periods about 3 times a month), which means I find it real hard to exercise, as I have bad abdominal pain. I lost about 5 pounds during my first month after the surgery and 5 more pounds the next month and went on a stall the 3rd and 4^th month. It was not a pretty feeling. I was extremely stressed, disappointed in myself, hated every day of my life because I was not losing weight and was losing lots of hair on my head. I was not eating much, I was throwing up most of whatever I eat (be it fruits, Protein Shake or any solid food). Things seemed to get a little better from the 5^th month onwards. I changed the way I eat my food. For example: If I have 3 slices of apple in my plate, I would eat them slowly, not within 5 mins but over a period of 2 hours and I noticed that I stopped throwing up. The slower I started consuming food, the better I felt. I still have issues in drinking more than a glass of Water, which means bad Constipation every day. I never like any brand of Protein shake. 5^th and 6^th month I lost 12 pounds each and 7^th month I lost about 6 pounds. Every day is challenging and stressful and when I cook real yummy food I get tempted a lot to eat it and at times I have eaten it but ended up throwing up the same in a matter of minutes.

Oh by the way during my 5^th month I had bad stomach cramps and pus oozing out of my belly button (found out that the stitches in the belly button were not dissolved and they were weeping, hence the pus) and when I took a scan I found gall stones and underwent a gallbladder removal surgery. Healing from this was a lot easier compared to VSG.

Social dinners – I avoid them completely. When I go out many of them think I have some chronic disease (a few even asked me if I have cancer or something), but I don’t let their reactions bother me any time. I know I will feel and look better a few months from now.

Please 1) Have Patience 2) Give your body time to heal 3) Everyone’s body reacts differently to the surgery 4) Stop taking in stress (the stress of not losing weight in my case caused me to go through two months of stalling) 5) Exercise - simple brisk walk, light aerobics at home, etc. 6) Don’t give up hope 7) Eat slowly 8) Take 5-6 small meals instead of 2-3 big meals 9) Remember why you did the surgery in the first place 10) Most important of all STAY POSITIVE!!!

I hope you feel better soon. Feel free to message me if I can be of any assistance / support to you.

I'm sorry you have had so many problems. I hope it gets better soon for you. I don't have PCOS, but I know just heavy periods due to pre menopause had been horrible. I hope it regulates for you. My biggest problem with comments was, "when are you due? " I hated the fact that so many people would ask me that. I'm a nurse and received a post op and her daughter came to the floor with her and as I was bent down emptying her catheter, her daughter says to me, "oh you're very pregnant aren't you. " I was mortified. I still had to empty her drain and check her incisions, but all I wanted to do was run out of the room. I will say these comments did push my decision to have the surgery. I feel like pepper should keep their comments to themselves. If there's something going on with my health or my body and I want you to know, I will tell you.

[MGCA 0]

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. It is really hard to be around other people who can eat "normal" food when you can't. I was one week post op when I started training for my new placement, and there were muffins, Cookies, fruit, and orange juice around, none of which I can have. And I went to a meeting where egg rolls and fried rice were served. There are times when it doesn't feel fair, but I keep reminding myself I'm making good progress towards my health goals, and those meetings and things will shrivel in comparison to the day I reach my goal weight. It can feel very lonely, especially since this is such a personal thing. I've been very lucky in having several people in my life who are understanding and supportive. Feel free to send me a message if I can be of help or support to you!

Thank you. I'm 5 weeks out now and eating regular foods albeit in very small amounts. I still have to be really careful not to overeat or I get sick or worse feel pain and discomfort. It's good to see it's getting better. Thanks for your support.

[MGCA 0]

@ MGCA: I completely understand your situation. The reason being I am very similar to you. I too am a private person and have not discussed about my surgery with anyone except my husband, mom and sister (my dad till date does not know why I was in the hospital 7 months ago). I was sleeved in December 2016 and making the decision of doing the surgery was tougher for me as I had to pay for it myself and had no support from my husband (who is till date not happy about it). I was 251 pounds when I met the bariatric surgeon for the first time and lost about 11 pounds during my pre-op (this is the good news). I did not go to any support group meetings held at my doctor’s office (pre and post-surgery) as I was not comfortable to face the people there, but bariatricpal website and its senior members were of great help. I found the best people who supported, coached me through my journey before and after the journey.

Over a period of 7 months I have only lost 47 pounds, which according to my doctor is shockingly disappointing. I’ve been constantly reminded from the ones who know about the surgery that not much has been achieved for which I spent my savings and borrowed a loan on. I did the surgery mainly because I am a worst case of PCOS (I’ve had it for about 15 years now) and two years ago it got out of control and instead of just having periods for 1 or 2 months continuously, I ended up having it for 9 consecutive months (I was tired all the time and weak, but fat). I had tried homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Acupuncture, but nothing worked, the flow continued on. I changed more than 13 gynaecologists to get this sorted, finally met someone who asked me to try the VSG option to bring down my weight, which I ignored for a year and tried several combination of drugs to regularize my periods and nothing helped. Finally, I went against my husband’s wishes and with the support and encouragement of my gynaecologist took a leap of faith and went ahead with the surgery.

The first 2 months after the surgery my periods were regular but they’ve gone back to what they were before the surgery (every 10 days once I get my periods i.e., I have my periods about 3 times a month), which means I find it real hard to exercise, as I have bad abdominal pain. I lost about 5 pounds during my first month after the surgery and 5 more pounds the next month and went on a stall the 3rd and 4^th month. It was not a pretty feeling. I was extremely stressed, disappointed in myself, hated every day of my life because I was not losing weight and was losing lots of hair on my head. I was not eating much, I was throwing up most of whatever I eat (be it fruits, Protein Shake or any solid food). Things seemed to get a little better from the 5^th month onwards. I changed the way I eat my food. For example: If I have 3 slices of apple in my plate, I would eat them slowly, not within 5 mins but over a period of 2 hours and I noticed that I stopped throwing up. The slower I started consuming food, the better I felt. I still have issues in drinking more than a glass of Water, which means bad Constipation every day. I never like any brand of Protein shake. 5^th and 6^th month I lost 12 pounds each and 7^th month I lost about 6 pounds. Every day is challenging and stressful and when I cook real yummy food I get tempted a lot to eat it and at times I have eaten it but ended up throwing up the same in a matter of minutes.

Oh by the way during my 5^th month I had bad stomach cramps and pus oozing out of my belly button (found out that the stitches in the belly button were not dissolved and they were weeping, hence the pus) and when I took a scan I found gall stones and underwent a gallbladder removal surgery. Healing from this was a lot easier compared to VSG.

Social dinners – I avoid them completely. When I go out many of them think I have some chronic disease (a few even asked me if I have cancer or something), but I don’t let their reactions bother me any time. I know I will feel and look better a few months from now.

Please 1) Have Patience 2) Give your body time to heal 3) Everyone’s body reacts differently to the surgery 4) Stop taking in stress (the stress of not losing weight in my case caused me to go through two months of stalling) 5) Exercise - simple brisk walk, light aerobics at home, etc. 6) Don’t give up hope 7) Eat slowly 8) Take 5-6 small meals instead of 2-3 big meals 9) Remember why you did the surgery in the first place 10) Most important of all STAY POSITIVE!!!

I hope you feel better soon. Feel free to message me if I can be of any assistance / support to you.

You are amazing for hanging in there. Please let me know how you are doing! I'm feeling much better than 2 weeks ago thank goodness.

[MGCA 0]

You're doing fine with weight loss. I wouldn't worry yet. I'm 3 mos post sleeve and only went down one pant size, but everyone comments on how much over lost. Sometimes it comes of differently. My face looks thinner and my bra size went down. As far a food, make sure you're eating slow, if I eat you fast its easy to eat more than you should and feel sick. Remember just because it's on your plate does not mean you have to eat it. My co worker laughed at me yesterday for leaving three bites of my chicken from lunch, she was like, "you seriously did not leave three bites of chicken. " I know from experience that those three more birds would make me feel like crap. I said it'll make a nice snack later before I go home. She said that is not enough for a snack, and I said wth it is if you've had a Protein of your stomach removed. You'll have to learn to listen to your stomach and at the first feeling of yeah I may be full, stop and leave it bc one or two bites have made all the difference in walking away fine out walking away in stabbing pain. Pre op I was originally 256# right before surgery was 231# now I'm 3 mos out 189#. I notice a difference and feel good. Also avoiding carbs has left me feeling more flat in the stomach, when I would eat alot bread Pre op it would leave me feeling bloated.

Thanks for all the tips. I've really used them and it's made a big difference.

[up4challenge 54]

@MGCA: Glad to hear you are feeling better. Sending best wishes and positive vibes your way!

[Roadrunner 1 10]

Hi,

Im glad you're feeling better. I can relate as far as dealing with challenging times. Keep in my that this is a new experience in your life that will be for the better. Do what you can to work on staying positive and I suggest going to a local support groups if you're not already. I met a few great ppl nearby that are really helpful.