wannalise

I had changes in surgeon too. I didn't seem ideal, but I had an amazing experience and my friend who went with another surgeon has found some of her post op care frustrating. I think things work out! The rolling stones said it best, you can't always get what you want but if you try some times you just might find, you get what you need. Soon enough you will be well on your way! Keep posting and if you need a pep talk we are all here. Anna

It sounds to me like you are ahead of the curve already. You are very aware of yourself, and what it will take for you to succeed. Initially I had told myself that even if I could make it to 200 lbs I would have been successful, well I am eight pounds away and still trucking! As far as your ending weight you will find the place that you are comfortable and that you will be able to maintain. There is no way to predict what that would be. But it is so exciting! I am so thrilled that you get to begin this journey! Anna

It is not very common in sleeve patients, but what you are descibing sounds like dumping syndrome. This is very common in bypass patients, but can even happen to people who have not had bariatric surgery. Dumping syndrome: Symptoms - MayoClinic.com Slow down when you eat so you can feel your warning signs. You can do this!!!

Nikki, You just keep looking more and more amazing! I go back and look at the pics you posted of your arms after strength training to stay inspired. You are absolutely gorgeous! I have been that girl who was always told "had a pretty face." Used to piss me off! You are my inspiration.

My best friends hubby gave me a big hug and told me "well I can see why Tom might want a piece of that!" Scandalous and made my day!!! Okay and one more. The last time we were making out Tom said to me, wow you seem so much more confident with your body! Bam you know it boy!!!!

Yay!!!!! I am so glad that things are moving again for you. I wear a bodybugg occasionally (it tracks exactly how many calories you are burning daily) and the thing about losing weight is that the thinner I get the more I have to do to burn calories because I am not lugging around that extra weight. Keep rocking it lady! 107 pounds can you even wrap your head around that. That is like an Olsen twin and a half. Go you!!!!

How awesome! I have realized that when other people treated us as invisible we take on that role. I present myself differently now and people warm to that. I am so excited for you!!! And please we can all see from your pic that you are a hunk!

I'm not sure what insight you are looking for, but I will take a stab at it. At three weeks, I was just transisioning into real food. I had to set timers to remember to drink and not being able to guzzle a Water bottle made me very frustrated and I worried it would never go away. I would also come on the boards and feel like I was a lazy bum because I was just starting to get energy. I realized at that point, that I couldn't gauge my experience on anyone elses. (it is hard not to!) There are certainly commonalities we have and ways we can learn from each other, but if I didn't feel as well as someone else or didn't exercise as much, I learned not to beat myself up. I think as overweight people we have a tendency to want to punish ourselves. For this to be a long term lifestyle change I had to flip that around and make it positive. I hope this is some of the insight you were looking for. I hope that things are going really well for you. All the best, Anna

Shhhhhhhhhhhh, if they know they didn't hurt you they will come back to haunt you! You are a lucky duck. The gas pains were the ONLY pain I experienced post op. And any pain who is only eased by farting is not pleasant!

How exciting Dan! This is really an amazing journey and it sounds like you are certainly on the right track. Thanks for keeping me motivated, and hopefully soon enough you will be buying those clothes you want and you can be Rico Suave!!!

YAY!!! It is really such a cool tool. I love that we can still "sample" yummy foods and then move on. You are really rocking your sleeve. Way to go!!!! Anna

Awesome! Keep posting and reading and learning, feeling knowledgable about this surgery and life afterwards was very empowering for me. I am so excited for you!!! And sleeve4me, wow!!!! How excited are you? Once I got to your point I was so ready to go! Be patient with yourself and things will go well! Anna

Congratulations, and welcome to our forum. We all know what it is like to fight obesity, now you have the tool that will really help you get it done. Keep posting if you have questions, etc. This forum was invaluable for me both preop and since surgery. Best of luck, Anna

I never made an announcement, but preop I told that handful of people you would naturally tell, and got to hear lot of opinions that were annoying to me. The best proof that the surgery has worked for me is to look at my butt! Critics are quiet now.

So glad to welcome you aboard! Sorry I don't have info about your surgeon either, but keep posting. Both pre and post op we experience things that we are sure no one else has, but one of us is bound to have had the same questions. We are a tight little family here, welcome aboard! Anna

I thought initially that I wanted this to be very private. How many times have you tried to lose weight and failed? But this really is different, I am proud of the choice I have made. I am proud of my success and I have earned it, so now I'm willing to talk their ears off! Welcome to the forum, we're so glad to have you here. Anna

I'm sorry Mini, this is going to be one more of those adjustments. I once heard CC Deville (guitarist for the band Poison) say that he was an alcoholic, a drug addict and as he got sober he gained a lot of weight, he said that people were more uncomfortable with him being fat than a drug addict. That being said, its important to find new joys in this situation. I dated my boyfriend for 2 and half years, I was the only overweight person he ever dated, I know that if he started dating me after I was thinner, I would have been angry and not trusted that he loved me for me. Hang in there Mini! And I'd always give you a penny!

YAY!!! What an exciting day. I remember the night before my surgery, being so excited and afraid of the unknown. You will do great. The first little while can be rough for some. Do your best not to compare yourself to others. Surgery and recovery will soon be a distant memory for you and you can focus on having a little booty! Anna

Welcome welcome! This is a great place to come for support and to give support as well. The preop diet can be rough in fact I made the liver retractor my screen saver on my computer before my surgery to stay focused! Be patient with yourself both pre and post op. This is a learning experience and you won't always get it right and on those days we are right here to cheer you on! Anna

Yay!!! It is pretty amazing that we can be a tight knit little family (disagreements and all!) This is often where I come because as much as family and friends want to be supportive they don't always understand quite what we experience. Keep posting, keep reading and I will do the same! Go team!!!! Anna

Sorry about the rough start! I puked for days and days. Not fun to throw up after stomach surgery. The gas bubbles do hurt, especially those ones that go behind your shoulder. I felt a lot better using a hot pad on them and on my chest. I hope things feel better very soon! Anna

Carrie, Hopefully this helps. http://verticalsleevetalk.com/tell-your-story/7627-over-3-years-counting.html Also on obesityhelp.com there are several who are old timers as well. Both Oregondaisy and Tiffykins are succesful revisions who have reached goal weight and been maintaining for months. Good luck!

I don't think the concern is the popcorn itself but the small pieces of the kernel. Most surgeons ask that you don't eat seeds or things of that nature until three months because your stitch line has not completely healed. Obviously this is your call, but the relevance isn't whether or not it doesn't make you sick or not, but how it effects your stomach.

Just reiterating, that pressure is the new signal for fullness. Slow way down. It will take you a while to learn all the new signals but you will get it. Best of luck!

I wasn't ready. I was desperate to lose weight and would be thrilled if I could have avoided ten more years of obesity, but I was not emotionally ready for all surgery and life after surgery bring. For me I think it was no accident that I was able to have surgery at this point in my life.