educationrulz

Stop talking about it to people until after your surgery is done and you start feeling better. The time close to surgery is very stressful with just the thoughts in your own head. You don't need other people's crap and hangups added to your own stress. You probably won't want to talk about it right after surgery either. Take this time for yourself and leave others out of it until you're ready to handle what they might say. Congrats on your surgery date!

My preop diet was two weeks of low/no carb meals. I was allowed protein shakes, diet sodas, and all the meats and cheeses I wanted. I did NOT count calories. I started a half a week early because I needed to loose a few pounds to get back down to my consult weight so my surgery wouldn't be cancelled. I lost 15 pounds in 2.5 weeks eating like this and my surgeon said my liver looked good at surgery.

Thanks Prolific. Sleevless4now, you will be placed on a special diet after your surgery. All doctors have some variations in their diets, but most follow a typical pattern from clear liquid to full liquid to puree/soft to regular foods. I've been on a regular diet since about 8 weeks postop. I had to wait a little longer for some foods likes nuts and watermelon. It really wasn't that bad with my particular doctor's diet. I posted my postop diet under my blog if you want to view it. As far as follow up visits, I went at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, 6 months. After that, I thinks it's once a year. Feel free to send me any other questions.

I tried something edgy and wild like this with my hair recently - in a blond no less. Oh, did I mention mine is a WIG! I'm shedding right now so that's the best I can do. I don't even want to look at my hair right now. But, I'm definitely going to get me a cute cut when the shedding calms down. This looks GREAT on you! Work it girl!

Mythreechildren, I'm curious as to why YOU never mentioned going to another doctor - at least for an opinion. That's an obvious reaction just based on the follow up posts alone. What's the attachment to this doctor who all but said "choose a different surgery or go somewhere else"? I don't know of any modern day insurance that doesn't pay for second opinions or the option to switch docs. So, even if there isn't another bariatric surgeon in the state who could do the surgery, your insurance should also allow you to go out of state. I can't wait to hear what you decided to do mythreechildren...Please give us an update.

I had a hernia repair and it was EXTREMELY painful! I woke up from surgery with a raging hot poker sensation in my chest/esophagus area. I had such a hard time swallowing even liquids that I had a mild case of dehydration. That was the pits! I think I started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in week 3 post op. It continued to subside gradually and went away entirely by the 5th week. I had to keep something to drink in my hand almost at all times. I would even drive with a gatorade bottle in my hand to remind myself to sip, sip, sip. I've heard of some with hernia repair who had lots of pain and others who had no pain. Maybe it has something to do with the surgeon's technique. The strangest thing to me (and my doctor) is that my reflux is WAY worse than it ever was preop, and the hernia repair is supposed to help with that. Preop I was diagnosed with reflux but I had never thought of myself as having it because I didn't have the typical symptoms. Now, if I stop my prevacid, by day 2 without it I have trouble swallowing and eating and a painful, burning sensation in my chest. So, I know the hernia repair had to be done with the sleeve surgery, but I can't say it's been a positive outcome for me. Luckily the benefits of the sleeve surgery far out the initial postop pain and the new reflux issues.

I think this is a great way to present it for those who chose to tell that they had surgery. Only an idiot would argue with the logic of being able to cure your diabetes and get off meds or insulin. (I hope I didn't just call anyone's friend or loved one an idiot.) In terms of health, I was very motivated to lose weight so that I will hopefully not need knee replacement surgery. My knees were definitely getting so bad that I would probably be facing that in another 10 years. I can tell a world of difference after 6 months of constant weight loss.

I've only just started experiencing this in the past few weeks. It's not as extreme as some people seem to deal with. What I've noticed mostly is that when others around me are fanning and saying it's burning up, I feel just right like it's the perfect temperature. I agree that next summer might actually be bearable here in Hotlanta.

Thanks guys! Coops it looks like you didn't have as much to loose so I'm sure that has something to do with the difference. Keep at it and it will come off eventually.

Vanity Fair Beautiful Benefits! I can't even feel the underwire and that's saying alot from someone who had a breast reduction. They feel good, look pretty, and make your tops fit nicely. If you buy the right size it will smooth out the back fat too. I order online from JCPenney and try to catch them on sale. As a bra officionado (sp?), I can honestly say this is the BEST bra I've ever worn.

This is great to hear from a veteran sleever. I feel like I have really hit my stride at 6 months out so I can only imagine how great I'll feel in 6 more months. I talked to my nurse case manager yesterday who told me she had the sleeve four years ago - when they were bigger than they usually are these days. She said she has had no problem maintaining her weight loss and still has about the same stomach capacity that she had at 6 months out. These kind of stories keep me going and confirm my decision to get the sleeve. Congratulations on your success and keep us updated every now and then on how you're doing.

Yes, stop taking it now. I'm a strictly ibuprofen gal but I switched to Tylenol when needed two weeks before surgery. You will be able to take it after surgery at a certain point. I can't remember when I was cleared for it postop, but it wasn't long at all.

I'm excited to be giving my 6 month surgery update. There were times when I didn't think I could do this, but it gets easier every day and every month. I feel pretty much like a normal person now. I eat whatever I want (within reason) and my sleeve keeps me in line. I am thankful for that control. I still have occasional moments of pity for myself when I can't eat a big meal or a large serving of something. But, I'm always able to put it in perspective when I remind myself of the positive life changes I've had post op. I can now move around with much less knee pain than I was having. I can't remember the last time I got short of breath doing a normal activity like WALKING up some stairs. I have gone from a size 22W to a 16 Misses. Since I had to buy a suit in a size 14 this past weekend, I guess I'll officially be in that size soon. WOW! Now that's results. It feels so good to go to the "regular" clothing section and pull something off the rack. Shopping for clothes is so much less stressful than it was a few months ago. I wasn't exercising much until around the 5 month mark. I'm getting a regular exercise schedule going now. I can tell that it is keeping the weight loss more steady and will hopefully help me firm up some. I seem to go through small stages of loose, wrinkly looking skin to smooth skin. This mostly happens on my thighs and a little on the upper arms. Overall, I'm doing pretty good with not having too much flabby skin. My hair was fine until recently and I thought I might get off without hair loss. But, right around the 5 month mark, it started shedding real bad. At least I was anticipating that it might happen so I wasn't totally shocked. I immediately started wearing wigs and am currently enjoying trying out some new styles and colors that I would not have been brave enough to try with my own hair. I thought that Thanksgiving and Christmas would be awful in terms of not being able to eat, but it was barely a blip on the radar. I ate a little of everything I wanted to eat with no problems. As usual, I stopped when I got my full signal and tasted a little more later when I was ready or hungry. The biggest thing I have to monitor with eating these days is that my sleeve handles different volumes depending on the time of day. In the morning, I can barely eat anything at all. I've taken to drinking a Protein shake for Breakfast instead of trying to eat because it was getting frustrating to feel stuffed after 3 or 4 bites. At lunch time, I can take in a little more depending on my stress level and how busy I am that day. When I'm stressed or rushed, I can't get down too much. If I'm able to take my time, I can eat about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food at lunch. I don't like to linger over my food too long, but sometimes I have to just nibble on it while I work (after my official lunch time is over) or I would never get in a decent amount of real food protein. Evening or dinner time is when I can eat what seems like a normal amount of food. I can easily do a cup of food for dinner most nights. Sometimes it freaks me out a little to eat that much, but I have to remind myself of how little I've actually eaten all day. So, it all balances out. I'm always careful to not stuff myself at dinner just because I can eat more at that time. I still listen to my full signals and stop when I feel it. Like many other sleevers, I have found it way too easy to take in junk food so I have to really watch myself with that. I am able to drink soda with no problem. I just can't gulp them the way I used to and the way I can Water. Sodas have always been a problem area for me but I luckily acclimmated myself to diet sodas on my preop diet, so that's mostly what I drink. I occasionally have a regular soda but in general they seem too sweet for me to drink more than a little of. The diet sodas don't seem to be having a negative impact on my weight loss or stretching my stomach. I started experimenting slowly with diet sodas around 4 months and am used to them now. It takes me a long time to drink a normal amount of soda and I rarely finish whatever I have ordered/bought so I don't worry about taking in too much. I was cleared to go back to regular caffeinated tea about a month or so after surgery and haven't had any problems with that either. I do drink regular sweet tea when I drink it. I don't drink a lot of it the way I used to, I guess because it's too sweet. But it still tastes good (better than soda) so I don't stress about it since I'm drinking a small amount compared to before surgery. Like many other WLS patients, I struggled with whether to tell people about my surgery. I decided to tell them so that I wouldn't feel like I was being deceitful about how I lost weight. I know that's not the best decision for everyone, but it's the best choice for me. I also decided that I wasn't going to talk about the surgery I had or give out any other info. I know that some people are too invasive/nosy/insensitive with their questions and I didn't want to have to deal with that. I can just imagine someone asking me how much of stomach I let the doctor cut out, how many times I've thrown up, or how many times a week I poop. I'm sure some of you have dealt with that BS. My strategy of telling people that I'm not giving out any details about my surgery, including what kind of surgery I had, has been extremely successful. The minute I tell people that I'm not telling what kind of surgery I had or that I'm not giving out any details, I generally don't get any other questions. I mean not one more question after that. On the maybe two occasions that someone tried to push it a little further I just looked at them blankly and smiled and let them figure out why I wasn't talking anymore. They got the message REAL fast. It's kind of funny sometimes. I tend to tell friends or closer acquaintances that it makes me uncomfortable to talk about it and they respect that immediately without feeling like I"m shutting them out. Maybe this strategy will work for someone else. I think in time I may be more open about the surgery, but I'm not ready right now. Overall, this was the best health decision I could have ever made for myself. I hope that other people who are on the fence about it can benefit from this blog and from other people's blogs. Feel free to post any questions. I don't sign on as often as I used to, so if I don't respond it's because I haven't been online in a while. But I will respond to all questions as soon as I see them. Best wishes to everyone. :cheer2:

All I can say is thank goodness for Goodwill. I would NEVER have imagined myself buying secondhand clothes before this surgery, but it's a necessity now in order for me to maintain a decent, professional wardrobe. I'm not a snob about clothes - I couldn't tell you a thing about designer labels - but I did have hangups about secondhand clothes. Now, it's my saving grace. I try to go when I have time to pick over what's there and examine everything closely. The smaller I get, the easier it is to find nice stuff there - just like in the regular store. I usually find 2 or 3 nice pairs of pants. It's easier to find inexpensive shirts in regular stores so I don't worry about those as much. But finding inexpensive dress pants is hard to do. I've also had some luck with WalMart even though it's not as cheap as Goodwill. I'm getting over my hangups about giving away all of my big clothes too. I gave tons of stuff to goodwill and a friend and her family right before Christmas. I was so cleansing to pass that stuff on without thinking that I might need it back if I regain my weight. Been there, done that. Now, I'm looking foward to another trip to goodwill when I hit a solid size 14. How funny is that to be looking foward to a goodwill shopping spree. I'm such a cheap date.

I'm excited to be giving my 6 month surgery update. There were times when I didn't think I could do this, but it gets easier every day and every month. I feel pretty much like a normal person now. I eat whatever I want (within reason) and my sleeve keeps me in line. I am thankful for that control. I still have occasional moments of pity for myself when I can't eat a big meal or a large serving of something. But, I'm always able to put it in perspective when I remind myself of the positive life changes I've had post op. I can now move around with much less knee pain than I was having. I can't remember the last time I got short of breath doing a normal activity like WALKING up some stairs. I have gone from a size 22W to a 16 Misses. Since I had to buy a suit in a size 14 this past weekend, I guess I'll officially be in that size soon. WOW! Now that's results. It feels so good to go to the "regular" clothing section and pull something off the rack. Shopping for clothes is so much less stressful than it was a few months ago. I wasn't exercising much until around the 5 month mark. I'm getting a regular exercise schedule going now. I can tell that it is keeping the weight loss more steady and will hopefully help me firm up some. I seem to go through small stages of loose, wrinkly looking skin to smooth skin. This mostly happens on my thighs and a little on the upper arms. Overall, I'm doing pretty good with not having too much flabby skin. My hair was fine until recently and I thought I might get off without hair loss. But, right around the 5 month mark, it started shedding real bad. At least I was anticipating that it might happen so I wasn't totally shocked. I immediately started wearing wigs and am currently enjoying trying out some new styles and colors that I would not have been brave enough to try with my own hair. I thought that Thanksgiving and Christmas would be awful in terms of not being able to eat, but it was barely a blip on the radar. I ate a little of everything I wanted to eat with no problems. As usual, I stopped when I got my full signal and tasted a little more later when I was ready or hungry. The biggest thing I have to monitor with eating these days is that my sleeve handles different volumes depending on the time of day. In the morning, I can barely eat anything at all. I've taken to drinking a protein shake for breakfast instead of trying to eat because it was getting frustrating to feel stuffed after 3 or 4 bites. At lunch time, I can take in a little more depending on my stress level and how busy I am that day. When I'm stressed or rushed, I can't get down too much. If I'm able to take my time, I can eat about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food at lunch. I don't like to linger over my food too long, but sometimes I have to just nibble on it while I work (after my official lunch time is over) or I would never get in a decent amount of real food protein. Evening or dinner time is when I can eat what seems like a normal amount of food. I can easily do a cup of food for dinner most nights. Sometimes it freaks me out a little to eat that much, but I have to remind myself of how little I've actually eaten all day. So, it all balances out. I'm always careful to not stuff myself at dinner just because I can eat more at that time. I still listen to my full signals and stop when I feel it. Like many other sleevers, I have found it way too easy to take in junk food so I have to really watch myself with that. I am able to drink soda with no problem. I just can't gulp them the way I used to and the way I can water. Sodas have always been a problem area for me but I luckily acclimmated myself to diet sodas on my preop diet, so that's mostly what I drink. I occasionally have a regular soda but in general they seem too sweet for me to drink more than a little of. The diet sodas don't seem to be having a negative impact on my weight loss or stretching my stomach. I started experimenting slowly with diet sodas around 4 months and am used to them now. It takes me a long time to drink a normal amount of soda and I rarely finish whatever I have ordered/bought so I don't worry about taking in too much. I was able to go back to regular caffeinated tea about a month or so after surgery and haven't had any problems with that either. I do drink regular sweet tea when I drink it. I don't drink a lot of it the way I used to, I guess because it's too sweet. But it still tastes good (better than soda) so I don't stress about it since I'm drinking a small amount compared to before surgery. Like many other WLS patients, I struggled with whether to tell people about my surgery. I decided to tell them so that I wouldn't feel like I was being deceitful about how I lost weight. I know that's not the best decision for everyone, but it's the best choice for me. I also decided that I wasn't going to talk about the surgery I had or give out any other info. I know that some people are too invasive/nosy/insensitive with their questions and I didn't want to have to deal with that. I can just imagine someone asking me how much of stomach I let the doctor cut out, how many times I've thrown up, or how many times a week I poop. I'm sure some of you have dealt with that BS. My strategy of telling people that I'm not giving out any details about my surgery, including what kind of surgery I had, has been extremely successful. The minute I tell people that I'm not telling what kind of surgery I had or that I'm not giving out any details, I generally don't get any other questions. I mean not one more question after that. On the maybe two occasions that someone tried to push it a little further I just looked at them blankly and smiled and let them figure out why I wasn't talking anymore. They got the message REAL fast. It's kind of funny sometimes. I tend to tell friends or closer acquaintances that it makes me uncomfortable to talk about it and they respect that immediately without feeling like I"m shutting them out. Maybe this strategy will work for someone else. I think in time I may be more open about the surgery, but I'm not ready right now. Overall, this was the best health decision I could have ever made for myself. I hope that other people who are on the fence about it can benefit from this blog and from other people's blogs. Feel free to post any questions. I don't sign on as often as I used to, so if I don't respond it's because I haven't been online in a while. But I will respond to all questions as soon as I see them. Best wishes to everyone. :cheer2:

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. Sorry I didn't see this post in time to send you my 18s Christie, but you're probably out of those by now anyway. I'm in a loose 16 and some 14s now. Life is good!

I MADE IT!!! I MADE IT!!! As of Jan. 1, I am 193 lbs! It's been about 20 years since I weighed less than 200 lbs. It's amazing! I feel so great about making this major goal. I'm still weighing myself about once a month or so, and I really have to remind myself to do it now. I've been so excited with my shrinking clothes size that I don't even think about the scale anymore. But, this was an important scale victory and I'm glad I made it. The most exciting thing is knowing that the weight won't be coming back the way it did on my past diets. :amen:

Please don't take this as criticism, but if you don't want to take medications that are medically necessary, like PPIs and antidepressants, then why would you want to take something that's NOT medically necessary like an appetite suppressant? I too am struggling with cravings lately - but I know it's not real hunger 99% of the time. As someone who tried plenty of weight loss drugs before surgery, I just can't see putting that in my body after doing something as drastic as WLS. I'm SLOWLY getting myself back on track and it's taking me one day at a time. You can get your head back in the game without the drugs. One thing that helps me is to increase my Protein supplements. The more Protein drinks I get the less unhealthy food I take in. Increasing your protein might help balance out some of the carbs you're taking in until you can gradually decrease them. Good Luck - to both of us!

If you had a hernia repaired during surgery, that's the most llikely suspect. Mine was a surprise addition to my sleeve surgery and it hurt like HECK! It took several weeks for that pain to subside totally. If you didn't have a hernia repair the other two possibilities are acid reflux or pain from general swelling that occurs postop. If it's swelling, it will probably subside very soon. If it's reflux, you're going to be suffering. I would definitely keep trying to contact the docs office to find out what they would want you to take for reflux. (Seems odd that there's no one on call even if they're on vacation.) My reflux still hurts like crazy when I try to wean myself from the Prevacid. I won't be doing that again for a while. If they gave you something for acid in the hospital and you're not still taking it, you could try that until you get in touch with someone.

I totally know what you mean. I have lost about 70 pounds but am in no way seeing myself in the mirror as I really look. If it were not for my clothes size dropping drastically and positive feedback from friends and one close friend in particular, I might be questioning if this is even working. But, I keep telling myself that I have no choice but to deal with the positive changes and accept my new self. Not that I don't want to. As you said, when you've been one way all your life, it's unimaginable to see yourself differently. I look in the mirror and I can KIND OF see the change in myself but not really - you know what I mean? Every now and then I'll catch a glimpse of a body part at a certain angle or something and I can clearly see the change. But it's hard to see the overall change. I still struggle with accepting general compliments about my weight loss and positive attention from men. How wierd! But, I survived this surgery and the initial postop difficulties, so I've decided that the rest will fall into place. I think by the time I reach goal, I'll be much more aware of and accepting of the new me. An important part of this is to maintain contact with the people who provide encouragement post op and to decrease contact with the haters and negativity mongers - even if they're family members. This kind of interaction can make you doubt yourself even in the face of obvious weight loss. Who needs that?!!

I got my money within a week for both claims. But that's always been my experience with AFLAC. Can't beat it...

I have also received some followup calls from the UHC Nurse. They had told me they would do that and I thought it was going to be a pain, but it ended up being a nice conversation both times. They were giving me a lot of info that I already had because I had done so much research, but it's a great policy because some people don't do as much research and may need more post op support and followup. They asked a lot of questions about my post op habits and reminded me that I needed to get my labs done. That was something I hadn't thought much about. Our conversations also triggered me to stay on track with some things like water/fluid intake and excercise. I know they are doing their job but it's a nice touch and good business also.

Is this available at GNC or Vitamin Shoppe?

This is a goal I definitely want to achieve. I guess I'd better find a boyfriend now. Congrats!

I did notice some change in my hair (wierd textrure) the first few weeks and some skin dryness, but it settled down pretty quickly once I started on mushy/soft food. I don't recall it ever being chalky. I bet it does have to do with malabsorption that bypass/DS patients deal with. Your stylist probably has very few people who have had a sleeve, so most of what she's seeing are bypass and lapband patients. I would imagine the band folks probably look healthier because they're absorbing more nutrients. I've stumped alot of people with my surgery because they seem to be shocked about how healthy I look compared to their expectation of people with WLS. Since I refuse to tell anyone what kind of surgery I've had or any other details about my surgery, they don't know what to make of me. I'm still struggling with my daily Protein totals and monitoring my Fluid intake but I still feel and look healthy, so I guess my body is getting the maximum out of what I'm putting in. That's why I feel that this is perhaps the superior WLS for maintaining a healthy look and feel postop. BTW, I don't tell what kind of surgery I had because I think it will open the door to personal questions that I don't want to answer. I'm ok with people knowing that I had WLS, but that's it. My strategy is working because once I refuse to tell my surgery type, I get no further questions.