Penpen

I had surgery June 23, 2011 and have lost 83 lbs. so far. :woot:

I had surgery June 23, 2011. I've experienced some hair loss in the last month or two. It's not noticeable to anyone else except me (at least I think...lol) but to me my hair is extremely thin compared to before surgery and my hair seems to be EVERYWHERE...except on my head. I have actually been looking for tips and suggestions. Thank you for jumping on here. I also found something today that had a lot of really good tips. If you or anyone else is interested, here it is.... http://healthystronghair.com/howtopreventhairlossandrestorehair.php

Hi all! My advice is to not over pack, to have someone who cares about you there most of the time, and to remember that the first month after surgery is the hardest because you don't have any energy at all, you're trying to get in as much liquid and protien as you can which is extremely hard and can be discouraging. Most of all, try to remember while you're going through the first month that things will get better and that you will soon learn to love your sleeve and yourself too.

Hang in there! The first 4 weeks were really hard for me. I was so sick of sipping, sipping, sipping and not being able to get in all my protein. It does get much better as time goes on. You'll be okay. Right now, your stomach is still healing and may still be swollen. I also regretted having the surgery but now I love what I did. I now feel back to normal and can eat just about anything....except the amount has changed. I still don't like protein shakes which by the way, I did like them before surgery. Things will change and you will start to have more energy AND you will be able to get more food and liquid in over time. I know it's really hard not to feel down right now because you probably don't feel so hot....hang in there...it does get better.

Hey Megan! What you're going through is normal. I had surgery on June 23, 2011, and I lost 10 lbs the first week....THEN stalled for the next 4 weeks. I thought my surgery was a failure. Not so though! It just takes time. I'm now 19 weeks post op and have lost 77 lbs. You will be fine! I know it's frustrating but the stalls, unfortunately happen. I wrote on my blog about being a slow loser and was that what was really happening. Sometimes it feels slow....like right now for me....but in reality, you're right on track when you think you're at one of your worst points. If you want to read it, here it is: http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/2011/08/excess-weight-and-goals-and-am-i-really.html :wink1:

I was told that the leftover gas will float up and take the easiest route which lands it up in your shoulder. I didn't experience this so much with my sleeve surgery but instead with my gallbladder surgery about 3 years ago. I was told this time if I have problems to take Gas X. What I did have trouble with was feeling terribly bloated and uncomfortable around my waist area and Gas X did not help. I would just call your doctor and let him know. Then he can tell you what to watch out for and when it may become an emergency. Sorry, I'm not much help.

Ohhh, I'm so happy for you and your family! So glad you are both healthy and safe. She's so adorable! Congrats! :flypig: :angel:

Wow! You look awesome! You can definitely tell the difference.

I'm now around 4.5 months out and I still have a problem with that. I don't always take too big a bite and I'm not always eating too fast. Personally for me, I think it's the fact that I'm not drinking while I'm eating. Before I always slugged down water, soda, tea, you name it...as I ate whatever I was eating. So of course I never noticed food getting stuck in my esophagus...I never gave it a chance to get stuck. I don't know for sure, just my personal opinion. I hope this helps. :idea:

Thank y'all so much! If you're still on the fence and wondering whether or not to have the surgery, just know that it really does work and I would do it all over again if I had to. I still have struggles but they are far easier to conquer than before I had surgery. I don't know why, but most of the time, turning the wrong foods away is easy. My appetite is so different than before surgery. It's nothing that I've done or am trying to do, it was the surgery itself. Don't get me wrong, I still have bad moments were I really want something and have it but it just takes a bite or two and I'm over it. Used to, I'd eat all of whatever it was and then go hunting for the next thing.

Hi all! I'm so excited! I'm a little over 4 months post op and have passed my 6 month goal. I've lost 77 lbs. and have 73 lbs. left to lose. I started at 280 lbs. and am now down to 203 lbs. as of this morning. I love my sleeve! Here are some pictures of before and after. I don't know how these will turn out on here. Hopefully this works! NOW: BEFORE:

Thank you very much! All of you have made my day and yes, I need to get my husband to take some more whole body pictures. As soon as I do, I'll jump back on here and let everyone know.

Thank you so much!

Oh Ruby!!!! Thank you!!! I was just telling my hair lady that I thought I should get my hair cut shorter because I feel like I look so old. You are so sweet and you made my day!

Thank you so much! I'm going to have to check out your profile. It's great hearing from someone that has had their surgery the same day I did. And by the way, you've lost a lot too! Congrats to you! This isn't easy and sometimes the weight feels like it won't ever fall off but some how it does.

Awww....thank you so much! I haven't heard those kind of words in years.

Thank you so much! I hope your surgery has gone well and can't wait to hear from you to see how you are doing.

I'm now 3 months out and I want to encourage you all. My first 2 weeks after surgery, I lost only 10 lbs. Then I stalled for 3-4 weeks and thought that the surgery didn't work for me. I was so discouraged. But then my stall broke and over a week and a half I dropped 15 lbs. Then another stall for 2-4 weeks... I can't even remember how long the stall was now because I've had so many. Lol but I will tell you this, I lost 25 lbs during preop and now 3 months post op, I'm down a total of 68 lbs. It seemed to fall off super slow but in reality, it fell off at the speed of light. Mind you that I'm only 3 months post op but I only have 7 more pounds to go to meet my 6 month goal which was to lose 50% of my excess weight. I started at 280 lbs before I did the preop diet and am now down to 212 lbs. I'm 5'4". Yes, I know, I need to update my ticker. I've blogged all about my ups and downs and those sorry stalls. Today I updated my blog with a couple of pictures that were taken over the weekend. These pictures shocked me because I still felt absolutely huge and had no idea what I was actually looking like. Hang in there! It will happen for you too. It's very normal to go through lots of stalls.

Wow! What a transformation! Congratulations! This surgery is so worth the results. I just posted my 3 month pictures on my blog. When I saw my pictures this past weekend, I was shocked! I just couldn't believe it. I'm almost to my 6 month goal and I'm just now 3 months out. I love my sleeve!

I just updated my blog with my 3 month picture. I hid behind my son because I still felt absolutely huge and then when my husband showed me the pictures, I was in shock. I love my sleeve! Please stop by and take a peek if you get a chance. I started with some before pictures then I added the new. http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/

Grape juice! It has such a strong taste that it covers up almost all bad tasting medicine. This is what I used the first 2 months and I did it so much that now the thought of grape juice makes me want to gag. lol But it definitely served a very important purpose.

I've lost a total of 60 lbs. that's including the 25 lbs. lost during pre-op. My surgery was on June 23, 2011. In the beginning I was logging everything and then I stopped. It got to were I felt out of control of my weight loss (I never gained anything though) and it just felt chaotic! Then within the last couple of weeks, I got tired of not knowing how much of everything I was taking in so I started logging again. I've only once gotten around 1000 calories. Most days, I get anywhere from 600-800 calories. I do include carbs but keep them between 30-50 grams a day....usually. I still struggle with getting in my protein because I'm so sick of everything and I'm hardly ever hungry but I do get 50-65 grams most days. Honestly, I don't feel like I need to log calories because with what I eat each day, I can't take much more in even if I wanted to and I know I'm not getting many calories. Though I do log them just so I can see for myself.

I'll second the caramelized onion chicken burgers. They are good. And if you are cooking for others, you can really add to it for a wonderful meal. The other night I heated the chicken burgers up. Then I topped it with low fat pepper jack cheese, Thousand Island Dressing, and placed on a heated onion bread bun. And I served with baked sweet potato fries with a touch of cinnamon and sugar. This is what I served my family and they loved it! I just had the chicken burger patty (only half of it) and a couple of the sweet potato fries. Oh, and I bought the sweet potato fries at costco, too.