mi75

i appreciate these forums too. although every experience is SO different- as are all surgeons, programs, eating requirements,etc,- everyone here is incredibly helpful and supportive. i am always comfortable asking questions here and I know that we are all on the same path towards regaining our health.

awesome. that WAS it! thanks- i was thinking there was somewhere i had to put in the actual loss number. this did the trick. thanks so much!

i don't want to confuse anybody, because i'm confused enough on this one! my profile, when i post, shows my starting weight only. i want to show my LOSS numbers and be able to update it. i went to 'profile' and settings but can't seem to find where i need to go to change this. can anybody direct me? THANKS!~

i was honestly so busy the day leading up to surgery that i barely noticed it. plus my nerves were in full force so i wasn't too hungry. wishing you the VERY best of luck and good wishes for your procedure to go smoothly. please check in with us when you can!

awesome! i am exactly 4 wks since I started pre-op, 2 wks post surgery, and down 25.5 lbs. feeling great. keep it up!

i was done on the 23rd and felt awesome by day 5 as well. i'm still doing great, today is POD 14 and moving onto mashed tomorrow.!!!!!

there is an episode of Fat Doctor that shows a balloon being placed. they are not FDA approved in the US that I know of, but seem like an option in other countries. youtube has all the past seasons of Fat Doctor on there, the entire episodes. A great show from the UK. actually, i think there are 2 episodes with balloons. One of them is "Andy" i think. just search through them!

hmmmmmm. for ME, i think that what i would have changed pre-op is that i would have set a specific date WELL before my pre-op started to end my food binges. i took it right up until the last night, the evening before pre op i ate enough for 3 grown men. as a result, my appetite was huge the first few days of pre-op and i had a few cheats. nothing that derailed surgery, but i see now how unnecessary that all was. op, hospital stay, and 2 wks post op have been awesome. nothing unexpected. nothing complicated. sailing right through. hopefully this will hold true and i'll be able to eat without issues down the road!

it has a LOT to do with the inflammation and swelling present. and it can last for a couple of weeks. it also can be affected by whether you had any hiatal hernia repair, what size bougie, etc...i learned not to compare because at 12 days out i was drinking 32 oz of protein shake without any issues in under an hour. i quickly learned that although it's not completely the norm, it is norm for me.

great advice! i can't WAIT to go out to eat again. i'm only 14 days out... i would also offer up the suggestion of ordering something small, like a shrimp cocktail and some cole slaw, or something from the appetizer menu...you can always just say "i'm trying to eat well" or something like that. surgery doesn't need to come into the conversation. after all, you ARE trying to eat well!

hmmmmm....macaroni salad......... okay, now that i'm back to reality, i agree. hang in there! i would have done the same. then i would have come home and cried to my hubs because all of my friends and family look healthy and well, and i would have been squeezed into some 22-24 capri pants that were tight in the waist but hung off my butt, because that's the size i needed for my waist; and some t-shirt that i had already worn a million times to other things....then i would have hated myself for not being comfortable talking to anyone because i felt so bad about how i looked, and i would have felt badly for ignoring hub's family members, because even though i like them all, i had ZERO self esteem and was always on the defense. then i would have spent the night reading one of the million diet books i have on my shelf and deciding that 'Monday, i'm going to start'...and boosted myself up all weekend, only for Monday to come and me to keep eating...

i am a diligent and strong Catholic Christian. I truly believe that if this surgery wasn't supposed to be an option for me, no surgeon would have ever been given the gift of being able to do it. i admire your dad for his concerns, and you should too. he is only thinking of your best interest. Just reassure him that you have prayed very hard about this and you believe this is the GIFT you are being given to regain your health. maybe it would help if you talked with your pastor together with your dad? sometimes a non-biased opinion can help. just know that you are doing the right thing. I too have PCOS, terrible insulin resistance. prior to surgery i also had hypertension, sleep apnea and tachycardia (fast heart rates), all of which have resolved already, 14 days out. i was taking 10 pills a day in total, i am down to 1/2 of 1 pill in total!!!!!!!!! i feel FABULOUS. my surgery was nothing to do with vanity, only to regain my health.

i truly think change is possible. absolutely. no question about it. just deciding to have surgery is resetting our entire mindset about who we are. i know that each one of us is capable. however, we are all still human. we are bound to make decisions that are less than stellar. We are probably all going to eventually revert back to one or two of our bad habits. however, when you look at who you were prior to surgery, i'm pretty sure it wasn't just one or two, or even three bad habits that got you to where you were. i know for ME, it was dozens of bad decisions every day, from WHAT i ate, to HOW MUCH, to choosing not to exercise, choosing to drink a gallon of regular pop every day, always going for the most fat laden choices, choosing to go to buffets over getting some healthier chinese option or sushi, choosing to eat out lunch EVERY day and making it a big ole celebration. choosing to quit weight watchers multiple times. choosing to quit eating well when i started trying to. ok, so maybe the doubters in our lives have a small point. maybe some of our behaviors that we have adopted will lessen in the long run, but i know personally, i won't be reverting back to all of the behaviors i had before. having support here is a huge help and when those weak moments hit, i'll be running here for support!

i actually like a couple little 'shows' on there. one is Fat Doctor. from the UK and just a really good reality type show about bari patients. the other is called "7 Bites" and it's a mom and daughter who did multiple videos of their experiences, including how to cook after, plan for holidays, all sorts of good stuff. AND it's my understanding that they are both sleeve patients, not rny.

find some soups that you like now, and save for phase 2. i was Clear liquids only for 3 days then went to full liquids which includes strained soups, cream soups, yogurt, pudding. since every program is different, it may be hard to make recommendations. i wish somebody had told me to get some phase 2 soups so i wouldn't have had to venture out to the store 4 days post op with a drain and feeling tired to get stuff. however NOW, 13 days post i feel awesome and looking for reasons to go out! if you are clear liquids only for 2 whole weeks, i would recommend you MAKE some chicken stock, beef stock and veg stock that you like. i couldn't find any chicken broths i cared for so i made my own right before surgery so i would have it.

everything that has happened this far, i have been prepared for. between the big sleeve book, a couple of other books, this site, and several post op friends, i was VERY well informed. that said...i think i wish i would have known that even though a lot of people have complications, it CAN be a fairly easy ride for many, and that all of my worrying was in vain. i have had no issues, feel GREAT and down 25 lbs 13 days post op.

my surgeon does them with all patients, he finds that the internal healing is a bit faster if all that blood and Fluid is out of the way. i had mine for 1 wk post op and had it pulled out by his nurse. i have a hole about the size around of a pencil that is still healing. i dress it every day after my shower with a gauze pad and a little tape. no biggie, i just wish it would heal faster. it's been a week since i had it out and there is no drainage, but the hole is very slow to heal. boo!

i had food funerals. i had decided at one point that i wanted to change as much as possible post op and i really intend to not eat many of the foods that got me to my highest weight.. that said, i absolutely had a massive food addiction and couldn't just NOT eat, because in addition to addiction, i had a MASSIVE sized stomach that demanded to be filled. so i had several food funerals. went out with the family, dates with the hubs. i had all the foods that i really don't know if i'll ever eat again. it was fun, and at the same time very cathartic, because i KNEW going in to each of those restaurants it would be a long time before i ever came back- and i would be eating very differently. i agree with the fat free stuff, just leave it alone. generally, fat free items have MORE sugar added to them, because if you remove fat, you have to do SOMETHING to give it flavor. generally that something is sugar. your nutritionist will encourage you to avoid fat free stuff post op, and forever. good luck!

not unusual at ALL. let your doc know, they will make sure there are no imbalances going on. during my 2 wk i was intaking so little that i was in bed almost every night by 8 during the second week! my body just had nothing to go on.

way to go! i'm 12 days out and 25 down. cannot WAIT for 50! i already feel SOOOOOO much better than i have in years.

fyi there are MANY antibiotics that can be compounded into liquid form, just remind the doc you see that you can't really take pills right now, and would prefer a liquid. shouldn't be any problem!

if you are going from clear liquids to full liquids i am assuming that you are immediately post op? if that's the case, it could very well be the 8-12 bags of IV fluid they pump into you during your stay, plus coupled with the fact that the IV fluid has either sodium OR glucose added to it, furthering the gain...

i would do a version of my very favorite omelet, a simple ham, onion, green pepper, mushroom and cheddar. YUM! can't wait to get to softs i'll be making these a lot!

chewing gum brings a lot of air into the gut (same as using a straw) and can make for a painful experience. most surgeons advise against it, but like everything else bariatric, each surgeon is very different... as far as the dry mouth, i would also say ice chips or SF popsicle!

i have read on here and other places that LOSS happens in months 3-7 most commonly, and then it turns right around and between 7-10 months it comes back. i'm not sure if that holds true or not, but from everything i've read, it DOES come back. i have thin hair too, and to avoid all of the emotional trauma of losing it, as soon as it starts i'm going to cut it very short so it shows less.