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So excited for you. Here's to a safe and quick procedure and a speedy recovery. You got this! And we are here for all the things. 😁

I think it's fine to be prepared, but on the other hand, death and major complications with these surgeries are VERY rare. These aren't the same surgeries that they did 30 or 40 years ago, which WERE very risky. Mortality rate on the modern bypass is 0.3%. It's even lower on sleeve (can't remember the stat on that since I didn't have sleeve, but I do remember it was lower than bypass). So you have at least a 99.7% chance of sailing through just fine. And you will. Those odds are actually excellent - better than those for a knee or hip replacement surgery, and they do those all the time. I read all those horror stories, too, and almost talked myself out of having surgery. I suppose it's good to know what kinds of complications are possible, but at the same time, you need to keep in mind that very few people have those. Most of us have no complications at all or only very minor ones that are "fixable" or preventable. A friend of mine who'd had her surgery a few years before mine (and served as my "mentor") said she was at greater risk of complications and early death by staying morbidly obese than she was by having the surgery, and she was right. there is a slight risk of death from any surgery. I'm remembering the girl in California who died from a tonsillectomy a few years ago. But that is exceedingly rare - and death from WLS is exceedingly rare, too. It's fine to prepare, especially if it gives you some peace of mind, but I'm sure. you'll be fine and we'll be seeing you on the forum again once you're a couple of days out of surgery!

Congratulations in advance. I hope you have a safe non eventful procedure and a speedy recovery ❤️

I replied to your other post but I will add your shakes & broths add to your total fluid goal & sip, sip, sip all day long. I used to dilute my shakes & soups to thin them out, help the flavour a bit & also to add to my fluid intake. Plus I’d just sip them until I was finished. Didn’t care if it took me two hours to drink my shake as long as I was getting protein & fluids. And I reiterate my message in my other response: stick to your plan. It’s given to you for a reason. Now a little straight talking. This is about choice. You have chosen to go off plan. No one told you to or forced you to. The real question is not can I do/eat this but why I want to do/eat this. (I still have times I ask myself this plus do I need this or just want it.) The surgery doesn’t ‘fix’ everything. There’s a lot of hard work involved including changing your relationship with food. Working all this out takes time but you’ll get to a place you feel confident & comfortable with what you’re doing & the choices you make. Don’t be hesitant to speak to your team either. They’ve likely heard it all & will be happy to guide you - they want you to succeed too. You can get back on track. You won’t have affected your overall weight loss (we are only talking a couple of days). All the best.

My gastric sleeve surgery date is 12/19/23 and would love to connect with others having surgery in December so that we can support each other on this journey. 😊

Try exercise snacking. Multiple short bursts of exercise throughout the day. Each burst adds to your total for the day. So say 3 x 10 min sessions = 30 mins of daily exercise. Much easier to slot in your busy day. This is what I do. Try to add things during your work day like going for a walk in the your lunch break, walk/jog up any stairs you have at work. Hand weights, resistance bands are handy things to use at home at night. Some stretches (yoga based) can help you relax after work too & are great for flexibility. I have a mat on my living room floor in front of the tv. Put on Great British Bake off & do a session of stretches & bands. I also like wall push ups. (I stand about 90cm - 3 feet - from the wall & do 60.)

Congrats!

like others, eight lbs in eight years is actually great. Most people have a 10-20 lb rebound - and usually earlier on than you - usually at about three years out. And fortunately, as someone implied, it's eight lbs and not 40! It should be do-able, although that said, the closer you are to a normal BMI, the harder it is to lose even a few lbs. I've said this before on here, but I remember going to Weight Watchers meetings before surgery and listening in disbelief to those barely overweight women moan and complain about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs. And there I was - 200 lbs overweight. But I totally get it now!!! I've been dealing with regain, too (I'm 20 lbs above my lowest weight and have been since even before the pandemic), but I've been weighing back and forth after all this struggling if it's even worth the struggle (and my doctor is fine with my current weight, so she doesn't "get it" - which is no help!). I know a ton of long-timers who are dealing with the same thing. Some have just given up trying and are just focusing on maintaining where they're at, some have had some success with Weight Watchers, others swear by intermittent fasting, some go really low carb for awhile. And some go back to eating the way they did the first year post-op (not all the way back to purees and soft food - but they way they were eating when they were 6-12 months or so out). Whatever works and fits your lifestyle is worth a shot. But know that it's tough - your loss will be in ounces at this point rather than pounds, so it's hard to see your successes - but it can be done and some people do succeed! Anyway, best of luck to you!

I signed up on here awhile back and waited to post anything until now and hope I can give some of my experience. March 1st of this year I had my gastric sleeve. I went in with a weight of 363 pounds and am 6’1. As of today posting this I am 225 pounds. Definitely was one of the smartest decisions I ever made for myself. Everyone’s journey is different. I was met with immediate energy following my procedure, like waking up everyday and ready to take on the world. And it’s still like that. For whatever reason for me, my eating habits and likes and dislikes immediately changed. I hated fish my whole life and now find myself craving it. Once loved ranch dressing, not it makes my stomach feel yuck. You hit these plateaus where your weight doesn’t change, sometimes for a couple weeks at a time, it’s easy to get discouraged but trust me, stay the course, don’t go back to bad habits and then bam! Next thing you know, you’re dropping a pound or two a day, followed by another plateau. This will happen repeatedly. For me I’ve noticed that walking 4 or 5 miles a day and being as active as possible REALLY makes it come off even quicker and maintaining a diet with no sugar for me has seriously helped. I treat myself to a little bit of carbs daily but mainly all proteins and it has worked great for me. Again, these are just the things that have worked in my journey and no two are the same. I’m fortunate that my job is pretty active so I keep track of my steps climbed and steps to get my exercise minutes in while I work. I also find a reason to be active when I’m not working. I wish everyone luck that is or has had this procedure done. And like I said, it’s the best thing I ever did for ME.

It can happen. Especially more in females. My iron was low at 3 months post op. I increased my intake with an extra iron supplement and next labs at 6 months showed my iron back to normal. but the doctor said that it happens to many people some need infusions. I only take now roughly 45mg of iron a day. I am a guy. Also make sure you are taking vitamin C with your iron and no calcium for 2 hours at least. When i take my iron i drink a small glass of OJ or a glass of water with EMERGEN C orange powder in it.