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First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey. The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself. Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$. This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser. Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't. Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

I'm so excited and just have to share the news that insurance has approved surgery! I have been going through all of the motions since January and am so excited! A little about me: I'm 46, mother of two kids (10 & 7), and I teach 6th grade. I had medullary thryoid cancer and my thyroid was removed in 2008. Even though my thyroid hormone levels are within range, weight has been a problem ever since the removal of my thyroid. Have I mentioned that I am SO EXCITED?!?

I noticed today that I actually weigh 5 lbs. less than the wild lie that has been listed on my driver's license for the past 25 years! 🤣🤩 I guess it qualifies as a NSV.

Clear liquids (according to my diet plan) are water, broth, sugar free jello, calorie free gatorade/powerade, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, unsweet tea, decaf coffee, calorie free- non carbonated drinks, and clear protein drinks. And if it is really needed, pedialyte.

Unfortunately, apart from what you are doing, you just have to wait it out. I had no gas pain with my sleeve (don’t hate me) but with my gall removal oh yeah. I walked, I stretched (though because my abdomen had been distended with the gas & gallons of fluids they pumped me full of to up my low BP I had a lot of strained tummy muscles it wasn’t easy) but I totally forgot the gasX. It does ease a little more every day. Took about a week. You can have shakes, broths, soups, clear liquids. As long as they are completely smooth & free from any residual bits of meat, vegetables, herbs, etc. I strained all my soups just to make sure.

It took me about a week and a half for the gas pressure to go away. I used gas-x, walking, sitting as straight as possible while resting (don’t know why but it made me feel better) and sleeping on an incline. I also found that only drinking clear liquids during this time helped. The creamy protein shakes I liked before surgery were disgusting and hurt my stomach after surgery. I am not sure if this assisted in the gas pain but it helped in my overall pain and discomfort. I stuck to the Isopure Protein Drink Powder (tastes like vitamin water to me). I hope your pain settles soon.

Hi Garay, after my sleeve surgery I didn’t weigh for several weeks, and now, a year out I only weigh once a week. Back before I had surgery, whenever I was on a diet (many, many diets) I weighed daily, and my mood was dictated by the scale. I’m determined to get away from that mindset now. Sorry, I’m rambling…..you’re doing fine!

Some do have a tougher time post surgery & I’m sorry you are. But it does get better. The pain subsides, the swelling reduces, you’ll move more easily, …. Just give yourself time to heal. Honestly, there will be days in the future when eating or drinking may be tough or your tummy/body will throw you a curve ball. There’s a lot of learning & new things to discover about yourself & your body. It is soooo worth it.

Getting sleeve to bypass in August as well for Gerd/esophagitis. It's horrible to feel gnawing pains that feel like hunger but it's uncontrolled acid. Equally as bad that I can't lay down, even hours after a meal, because it rushes back up once I drift off the sleep and a burning throat even during the day. Look forward to have that fixed as all of you do. Scared this time around since I'm worried about abdominal adhesions from my previous surgeries. Cheers to all of you.

If I were in your position, I would honestly go with what the insurance pays for. I wouldn't want to, but for me, cost would be very very important. But if you can afford it and you really don't want the bypass, then go ahead and self pay.