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Thanks all, this is super helpful! (BTW - in case it wasn't obvious... I'm a girl Tiffykins, you're an inspiration! Thank you so much for your advice. I will cut down to 800 and see how I feel. My #1 goal is to be healthy, too. Cuz of my CFS/fibro, I am a pretty decrepit 27-year-old and it's killing me Anything is better than this... even a RxY, but thanks to advice like yours, I know it doesn't have to come to that! lsereno, thanks for the facts. Roseib, wow!! Congrats! If your story were my story, I would be ELATED. Thank you! Heatherr, good point about the height. I will start out at the higher range I am also SUPER muscly for a girl & always have been. Underneath the soft fat wrapping, I have some amazing guns But my surgeon doesn't particularly believe this so I don't believe that had anything to do with his 1000 calorie recommendation. 1-4-Many, thank you for the pep talk As you said... Ah, then maybe I'm a lucky one! I've attempted weight loss a few times, but was never able to lose more than 30-40lbs on purpose. I gained all the weight quickly due to a side effect of the evil horrible Depo Provera (glucose intolerance). Was never really able to shake much of it off because the only diet that worked (low carb) gave me unrelenting and, um, "explosive" digestive problems. I never did serious calorie restriction, either, after discovering it DIDN'T WORK AT ALL for me during my depo provera gain. Some weight did just "fall off" over a few years (almost 80lbs) but I gained 60 of it back thru 2 bouts of mono/steroids in 2003 and then 2009. Oops, that was an essay. Point: I've never been a serious dieter or lost serious weight thru dieting. So perhaps my laxity is actually going to turn out to be a plus, after all? All told, I think I've got a very easy pouch w/o much swelling. I can drink Water pretty fast without discomfort and I could totally eat 1000 calories a day eating healthy mushy foods. But I also am not hungry, so hopefully I'll have no probs cutting back to 800! *crosses fingers*

Don't feel bad. Of course you're scared! But you'll be just fine. Everything you feel is totally normal. I am not a crier at all, and even I broke down several times before the big day.

Never discuss anything during a job interview that doesn't directly pertain to the job itself, and especially nothing about your personal circumstances or preferences, ever! Never ever ever. You don't owe them anything! Most nice people try to be "fair" to their employer, but you should only be as "fair" to them as they are to you. Employment is not about friendship, it's about the exchange of value (work) for money (income). The rules of friendship do not apply.

Hey, HelloKitty, we're almost sleeve sisters! I got mine on May 25th. I've lost 17lbs since a few days before surgery, but I am positive that at least 4-5lbs of that is pure Water (my weight was fluctuating MADLY overnight for several days). So we're having an almost identical experience so far I did see a nutritionist, but honestly, the advice & information I found here & elsewhere on the internet was way more informative than anything she told me or gave me. Half the material she gave me contradicted the other half. So I'd listen to the wise people here, put it all together, and take the parts that make sense And... Congrats!

Hey Kara, I just had my sleeve done in Austria, where they use a bigger bougie than US/Mexico. Don't know mine exactly, but it's probably between 36 and 40 -- pretty sure my surgeon would scoff at telling me and I decided I don't want to know because I don't want to use it as an excuse. A larger bougie PROBABLY means we could eventually eat more than some... but it also means potentially fewer side effects! At first, I was worried about it too... like you. I have decided NOT to worry, because NO size sleeve can stop you from cheating or screwing it up if you're determined My advice for myself (and you is: Don't worry about it. Don't even think about it. Don't invent problems where there aren't any. Eat small portions of 2-3oz, like everybody else says. If you ever think it's making you hungrier than some, then figure out which foods fill you up better and last longer, and follow all the rules about liquids. Welcome to the other side

Another thing that can cause dizziness when you change positions is a blood pressure drop, OR heart that starts racing inappropriately, being unable to adequately respond to the change in posture/blood pressure/etc. Both of these can be caused by mild sodium deficiency. Chances are if you've been sweating or sunburned, and not replenishing your salt stores, you would feel this way. It gets me all the time -- I lose sodium all the time cuz of a hormonal problem I have. Remember that just drinking Water will not replenish your salt reserves. If that's the reason, it can be cured by drinking a simple & cheap, safe salt water mix: Oral Rehydration Salts: half a ilter of water, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 tsp sugar. (Unfortunately the sugar - real sugar - is required to aid absorption of the salt.) Drinking this solution daily solved my absurdly racing heart, dizziness on standing, mild arrhythmia, and even muscle twitches. It won't really hurt you if low salt stores are NOT your problem. If you try the ORS and don't feel better in 24 hours, definitely get bloodwork.

That sucks, sleeve4me. The good news is... I'm pretty sure I read recently about surgeries to correct overly long uvulas. They can be a hazard. Or, in your case, majorly annoying. Mine has always been real big (tonsils too) and it still hurts & is scratchy, but I'm only a week out. Good luck to you!

newmenewday, ever heard the phrase "We teach people how to treat us"? It's so true. I got picked on when I was a little bit chubby as a kid, then I dropped 20lbs and realized that the other kids still treated me exactly the same. Even tried to pull fat jokes on me! But I was THIN. So I realized that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fat on my body, but them... and how I invited that treatment. I looked and walked and talked like a downtrodden person who expected to be stepped on and people can SNIFF THAT OUT. Like sharks sniff blood! I corrected my attitude, my posture, my facial expressions, and the way I approached and talked to people... and you know what? Nobody ever made fun of me again. (Even after I gained >100lbs from a horrible drug side effect. Yes, really!) So my advice to you is the following... 1. Being mean to them won't really satisfy you. Lots of research shows that venting anger and picking fights actually increases bad feelings and stress in the person doing it. It's not REALLY a release. 2. You need to stand up and care for yourself, like Tiffykins wrote. And face the truth: Whatever in your life is wrong or bad... it has little or nothing to do with the fact that you're overweight. (Except health problems caused by it, of course.) That bad stuff won't go away when you get thin, either. If you read the forums, you'll see that this is a lesson people learn over and over again. You can get a head start by working on it now. (I cannot recommend more highly the audiobook version of "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron. It's buddhist, but in case you're religious, know that it is totally secular buddhism without any religious parts at all. Her words, her message, and her voice are the most soothing and loving thing on the planet. This book totally saved my life.) 3. Those people are either well-meaning and misguided ... or they are simply MEAN PEOPLE. If they are well-meaning but misguided, fixing your attitude and talking to them will work. But otherwise... chances are, if you were thin, they'd pick on you for something else... probably because they can smell your fear and self-dislike. Either you shape them up with YOUR attitude, or you have to drop them. Yes, drop them. Life is too short to spend even a minute of it wondering how to "manage" with people who ADD NOTHING POSITIVE to your life and only TAKE. You have more important, meaningful, valuable, and enjoyable things to do! Hope this helps, and best wishes!

Vampires, night shift, you get the picture... Of course the night is when everyone is weakest. Must attract the power trippers. (Sucking the life out of everyone.) He was such an ass. I told him I felt all hot and cold and really bad, and he told me that I had an operation, I JUST HAD TO ACCEPT IT. Among other atrocities. Luckily for me, all the other nurses and aides were extremely kind to me, both male and female. Austrians also usually know pretty good English, but almost universally refuse to speak it. They don't want to "put themselves out there," even tho they had 6 years of it in school and listen to American music all the time.

Hi, all! I had my sleeve done on Wednesday in Austria by Dr. Manfred Prager. I'm an American expat, not an Austrian, and based on what I've read here on VST, my experience has been really different! So I thought I'd share for any future Euro sleevers and just generally cuz it's interesting First of all, I checked into the hospital the day before. Starting from that day... May 24: They needed to do tests, administer a drug to clear me out (and it was GROSS), and try to place a central line for anethesia since I have floppy veins that disappear. Well, the central line placing was a huge disaster. It normally takes 20 min but they had me sedated and were poking at me for at least an hour and a half. They could NOT find a vein in the end. Since I was only sedated, not anesthetized, it felt like I was stuck in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. I was partially aware of what was going on. Ughhhhh, it was terrible. And because I have fibro, the pain in my back/shoulders/ribcage on that side was horrible afterwards, once I finally "woke up." (At first I wasn't sure where I was, which day it was, had my surgery already happened? Couldn't move, started to be able to move so I slid the pulse oximeter off my finger to get attention but they just kept putting it back on... Ugh!!) My German was incomprehensible as you might expect, but I finally got them to call my husband and he joined me in the "aufwachsraum" (post-op care), even tho they don't usually allow it, cuz I was hysterical. This sucked. May 25: Surgery! Woke me up at 7:30, I got to shower, took a pill to chill, and off we went. Had to tell the anethesiologist (while starting to get loopy) that they needed to put something to support my lumbar region because it was locked up tight and would not relax. In broken German. I learned later that she speaks excellent English, wish I'd tried, but again, I was drugged! After surgery, I woke up just fine in the recovery room (which is full of light, just by a garden, and very pleasant unless they're torturing you). I felt MUCH better than after the central line fiasco! Sore throat and all but no big. They didn't give me anything to drink, or even ice chips, but I had lots of IV fluids. I felt pretty okay. They gave me extra morphine when I told them how much my shoulders/back hurt. Had a nice chitchat with the anethesiologist. Got really bored towards the last few hours, because my husband was allowed in at 3pm and I was feeling pretty decent and had NOTHING to do. Saw my husband, got back to my room, relaxed. They had put a (urinary) catheter in me and IV fluids, both while I was "asleep", and I didn't have to move at all. Which was great, because I couldn't. I felt mentally pretty good but I was sore and weak and my shoulders/back/neck were locking up. The pain meds controlled it, but I couldn't even sit up on my own. Still, I was cogent and cheerful, so long as they kept the pain meds coming. I watched some TV on my laptop after my husband went back to the hotel. May 26: Felt worse than after surgery. Probably because they weren't giving me morphine but some other medicine. They went thru 2 different types that didn't work on my muscles until they found one that worked. Went back to bed & didn't get up. I watched TV most of the day, except when my husband was there. Still had the catheter in; still had IV fluids; still no drinking at all. This was for the best, cuz I still couldn't sit up by myself. The gas pain was achey and irritating but tolerable. Most of my pain was in my back/shoulders/neck, rather than my belly. Had to be helped to sit up and then stand (shakily) while the nurses gave me a sponge (washcloth) bath. I was helped to walk to and from the door of the room... that was all I could do. At night, I used my arms to scooch myself back to get the pillow under my lumbar region (still locked up tight) placed right. MISTAKE. The pain was swift and horrible. I felt like somebody was stabbing me with a lightning fork on both shoulders and in my neck. Evil male night nurse wouldn't take care of me so I texted my husband in a panic and he rode back to the rescue after having left just an hour or two ago. This was the lowest point. It was horrible. I couldn't comprehend how anyone could be so callous to a helpless person in a bed. I cried and cried and cried. May 27: They took the catheter out! Still had IV fluids, and still had the drain. Nurses helped me sit and stand (I needed less help!) and helped me get clean, this time in the bathroom cuz I could walk that far. Got to brush my teeth! Passed the swallow test, and felt like I was going to pass out from standing and swallowing so much of that goop... but didn't! Got to drink some (peach) tea, as much as I wanted. Had to write down how much I drank and when on a sheet of paper tho. (Drank just over a liter; luckily no probs in that dept!) One of the nurses commented that she could see that my "lebensgeist" (life spirit) was returning. Hurt my shoulder at night AGAIN, but not as bad. Evil male nurse did not come back. May 28: Felt much better. Got to shower! Got broth! Got to take magnesium, which helps my muscles. Snuck in the D-Ribose powder which also helps fight fibromyalgia (it's basically a special sugar). Had almost no problem getting up by myself. Started to wean myself off sleeping upright. No intense pain in the shoulder region. Started to feel more in the stomach region; started to cough a little. Didn't have to grip the bar to get myself off the toilet. Showered by myself, but with my husband in the room cuz I felt a bit wobbly. First day I started wanting to go home. They took the IV out of my right arm and tried to move to my left arm, so I could more easily do, um... bathroom things. 3 IVs in a row failed, puffing up my arm. The last one worked, but only for the relatively small amount of pain meds. No more IV fluids for me. Was bored by TV but not feeling "with it" enough to read even cheesy novels; thought about food ALL THE TIME, even though I wasn't really hungry. Couldn't sit up for more than a few minutes without the pain kicking in. May 29: They fed me a slice of white bread for breakfast! Told me to eat it super slowly. They wanted to see how I did with solids and it went just fine! Took me an hour to eat most of the inner part of the bread; didn't feel safe to try the Austrian crust. Walked to the hospital cafe with my husband, took the wheelchair back. Back to Soup the rest of the day. Lots and lots of tea. For lunch they gave me pureed potatos, mushy as hell pork roast of some kind (terrible!) and pudding. I ate a tiny bit of everything. dinner was 2 types of soup (potato cream and chicken soup with stars) and a sorta Austrian-style sweet cream of wheat thing. Ate most of potato soup over a few hours. At one point, I ate a little too much and it just came back up... no pain, no stomach acid, just "foamies." I hadn't felt any signals so this is something for me to work on. Had a lot more energy. Started to get REALLY bored. Really, really wanted to go home. All my meds were in pill form, except the daily anticoagulant. Started to be able to sit cross-legged and tried sleeping with the bed flat, instead of having my back and legs elevated. Showered at night, with nobody in the room, cuz I felt sure & safe. Was absolutely STIR CRAZY and wanted to go home. First day I felt good enough to read; stopped obsessing about food so much because I had better things to distract me. May 30: GOT TO GO HOME! YESSSS! Was able to almost spring out of bed (with much achiness), had no problems or fears moving about and doing things myself, packed up my bag myself, walked to AND from the cafe, stood for quite some time, etc. Showered by myself with nobody in the room. Just a bit tired. Had 1/4 of a bread roll for Breakfast w/ a little butter and apricot jam (hospital's choice, believe it or not!), ate 3/4 of a frankfurter (not quite like a hot dog), minus chewy skin, for lunch. Then we got to leave. Stopped by a grocery store and did some shopping, which I totally wouldn't have been able to tolerate the day before. I'm SO glad to be home. I was absolutely going stir crazy by the 29th. Right now my husband is making potato puree for dinner. IN SHORT: In some ways, my recovery was much worse than others -- not really being able to stand til the 3rd day, being so achey, having the fibromyalgia symptoms. But I feel like I actually got off lucky, because I was concerned I'd be totally exhausted and braindead, which has happened to me before because of the CFS/fibro. Luckily not! I am able to drink easily and eat soft food and that makes a world of difference. I have energy, too. I still hurt a lot, tho now the pain has migrated to my lower back opposite the main incision (where they pulled the rest of the stomach out). Every day I had the IV, I got 4 LITERS of fluids. And it wasn't just Water, but isotonic solution, which includes the minerals (such as sodium chloride) you need to not get dehydrated. Just drinking water is NOT enough! (And I had a problem with keeping enough sodium in my body even before surgery; I dehydrate so easily and then I get muscle twitches and it's down hill from there.) I'm sure this was one of the biggest reasons I didn't have any relapse. No matter WHERE you are, I recommend fighting for staying a few days in the hospital with IV fluids. The catheter sucked a little but I was in so much pain, it was a godsend... I could just lie back and let my muscles heal. I feel very glad & lucky that I didn't have to struggle to drink enough fluids from the 1st or even 2nd day post-op. If I had gone home, it would have been so much worse, and my husband would have had to be the one to help me in and out of bed all the time, and of course our bed is flat. So, despite going nuts at the end, I'm very glad for the relaxed Austrian / socialist way of "generous" hospital stays. I'm also glad that, because I was in the hospital a whole frigging week, I can now eat soft foods. It seems like many surgeons keep their patients on clear or full liquids because they are not there to monitor them the whole time, like mine could. Hope this was interesting or useful to you! BTW - at no time was I actually hungry. Craving something to chew and put in my belly, yeah... and flavors... but never HUNGRY. And I was worried about how easy it was to drink the tea and whole bowl of broth, but now I know that it has NO bearing on how much solid food I can eat (which is just a tiny amount!). Other minor diffs: Obviously I wasn't on Clear Liquids longer than 2 days. I'm supposed to drink 2 liters of water a day instead of 1. And my calorie target is 1000... although both the surgeon and nutritionist say that I shouldn't worry so much about trying to get in specific nutrients etc. until my little butchered tummy is healed.

Jimeez, sounds like your muscles were hurt more than other people's during surgery or are slower to recover. The left side is (at least in my surgery) where they pull the leftover stomach bits out, and they are not small! So the old stomach goes thru the incision and the muscle gets stretched/damaged more than elsewhere. Call your doctor and tell him you need more pain meds. You are in pain, it should be handled. Pain reduces your body's ability to heal and causes other reactions in the body that you just don't want. You are not being a wuss. Don't wait, call your doc now. Also ask him if you can take magnesium tablets or powder, because that will REALLY help (most ppl are magnesium deficient and it is required for muscles to relax. keyed up/taut muscles hurt more, heal slower, etc.). I have fibromyalgia and I also still have pain, but I have NO hesitations in taking extra pain meds. The extra pain meds makes my life so much better. (I had my surgery on Weds.)

I gained all my weight quickly, thanks to a rare and horrible side effect of depo provera, the 3-month-lasting birth control shot. Sure, my lifestyle contributed, but I went from being a totally healthy size 8/10 to being a size 26 in a year and a half. I've struggled to lose that weight ever since, but I just didn't have it in me. I went thru a period of radical acceptance (and embracing) of reality, and myself, and learning to love myself, so the weight hasn't made me feel *bad* about myself for a long time. I figured that if I didn't force it, when I was ready, I'd work up the dedication to do it, but the guilting wasn't going to work. I never did, though, and now it's 11 years after the weight gain. (I was 16; now I just turned 27.) This year has been a big one for accepting my needs & limitations, and one of the big ones has been "I'll never be able to lose 120lbs on my own... and that's okay, because I'm not superwoman." The turning point was when I developed chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia after I came down with mono in July 2009, and my life has been one hellish rollercoaster ever since. Most days I am too sick or tired to exercise, and if I do, I suffer for DAYS afterwards. Since April, when I discovered that it is CFS/FMS that I have, I've been able to start treatments that really help. But I still am much lower energy than a normal person and my muscles are easily "damaged." I can pinpoint exactly when I decided to have surgery: I have chronic sinusitis, and because of the CFS, my body just won't fight back, so my sinus cavities are almost swollen shut. As you might imagine, that's no way to go thru life! So I saw a great surgeon for it, and he looked at me and said, "I can operate on your sinuses, but unless you lose a lot of weight, you're going to be back here in 2 years." He told me about one of his nurses who had the lapband done -- like me, she had recurring pneumonia and sinus infections and so on, and losing the weight cured her. So i started researching. That led me to the sleeve. That was October of 2010, and as of today I'm 1 week out from having the gastric sleeve done. I hope he was right!

meggiep, you are driving yourself mad! Throw out 2 of those scales. Doesn't matter which. Accuracy is not really important. Just pick the one you like the best and toss the other 2s. Said with love, but: Weighing yourself on 3 scales is a little obsessive I'm obsessive too, so there's no judgment here. The trick is to eliminate the OPTION to be obsessive as much as possible. Hence: toss the scales! The actual numbers don't matter, neither does if it matches with your Dr's office. Only the trend (down) matters, and not over a few days, but only over MANY days' worth of samples. That is the science of statistics right there PS - now is Monday. Enjoying your mushies?

Just an update: started eating actual food (mushies and soup) and lo and behold, restriction happened. Even tho I could drink an entire (medium-sized) bowl of broth in about 30 min, no prob. Just in case anyone out there is in the same position and worrying: Clear liquids really are NOTHING like food! I also ate more cream soup (something they gave me in the hospital) than I could eat solid; it was also way less clear when I'd had enough of the cream soup, and I ate a little too much. All that happened was it came right back up, just the soup, no acid. A little embarrassing but not bad in any way.

forever35, I'm also on my 4th day postop and not really having trouble drinking water (or, starting today, clear broth), which worries me too. But nobody in the hospital (yup - still here) thinks anything of it. I can't drink quite as fast as you can but not too far from it. I was freaking out to my husband earlier today, just like you were. What if I went thru all this for almost nothing?? But... he pointed out that I haven't even eaten the tiniest solid thing yet, which is true. And then I can come here to VST and learn about numbed nerves and the pylorus being open for liquids, and relax. At least until I do eat something solid Anyway, you're not alone! You should post as soon as you start eating mushies and then solid, to let us know if that changes things. I will, too.

Hi Tamz, so sorry to hear about your parents... Re: the forum, I know exactly what you mean. I'm an expat living in a(n unfriendly) country where I am not fluent, so definitely know what it feels like to be isolated. This forum has been a godsend to me, too! You'll do great and June will be here before you know it

Sarsar, thanks for the update! Hope you're doing well!! Reneè, just hang in there. If this story sounds familiar... I had horrible pain in my shoulder and stomach muscles, couldn't sit up by myself (much less walk) until day2 after surgery. I also had a hard time getting enuff pain meds, couldn't sleep due to pain when I breathed & it took them a while to figure out what worked. They couldnt do the leak test til today; I wasn't allowed to drink anything at all. I had several meltdowns and I felt trapped and horrible, but today (2 days after surgery), I'm feeling so much better. I had no dry heaves but I did cough blood and I know how much movement in that area hurts!! It f**king blows, no doubt about it. But if I feel better after all that, you will too. It'll be over soon! I promise. You just have to take it slow. Go easy on yourself. Give it more time. You WILL feel better! I'm rooting for you! (My husband even asked if I'd heard from you, cuz I told him I was worried!)

Hey, everybody! How are you? Ready? Well, it really didn't seem like the day would arrive but here I am, checked into a hospital in a mid-sized town in Austria. We lucked out and were able to snag a private room (for the big bux) and so that's a huge worry off my chest. I don't do well with others, like negotiating the shower and toilet sharing and tv volume and crap like that, esp not in a foreign language, and esp not after surgery and under pain meds. Ha. Today they tried to place the main line catheter for my anesthesia, because my arm veins just collapse left and right. It shoulda been a 20 minute thing with a local but it turned into a 2-hour ordeal under sedation. They couldn't find a suitable vein at all. Woke up feeling like somebody had my right side crushed in a vise. They said I was really unique, and it was possibly due to my (mild, adult-onset) scoliosis. I was so upset, just crying and trying to fight my way back out from under the sedation (it felt like being trapped in a looping nightmare dream)... I really, really, really, really hope the surgery goes better tomorrow. *sniff* Trying to be strong tho. ybnormal & any other May 25ther I missed... Hope you have better luck with the anesthesia than me! I'm rooting for you. See you on the flip side!

Hey, Reneè!! Update us, please! I'm thinking of you. Ladies, I hope your surgeries were easy & uneventful. Hope you're recovering beautifully. Reneè, I especially hope your fibro is under good control!

That sucks, MrsPositive! I have the same problem, tho, and so I know there's an upside: If you are so low on potassium, you are surely having symptoms of potassium deficiency. You will probably feel MUCH better as soon as they get your numbers up! When I was low, I felt tired & achey all the time, dizzy on standing, had a heart rate that would start racing when I did even the lightest exercise, as well as random muscle twitches and cramps. It took forever for the docs to realize that's what was going on, cuz the symptoms start mild and you may not even think they are a sign of anything. Simple potassium made them all go away. I bet anything you are feeling the side fx of low potassium, even if you don't realize it. So you'll feel better soon and then you will have your surgery! And you will probably recover faster and hurt less with normal potassium levels.

Thank you!! Don't think I would have made it this far without you & all the other VSTers paving the way! You guys helped me realize that surgery is not a sign of defeat or weakness, but actually a serious, mature decision to get healthy. I don't have bad gas pain (lucky me!) but the position I was in during the op aggravated my fibro in my neck & back. Pain meds are pain meds tho! Another Austrian diff: no walking allowed. No Water. I'm not allowed to get out of bed til tmw and they have me on an IV for 2 days instead of drinking. After that, I bet even plain broth is going to sound like a dream come true

Oh noo, that sucks! But there's good news... potassium is easy to fix. But it's good they found it because low potassium can be dangerous AND it makes your muscles hurt worse! Here's hoping they get you fixed up and on the OR table soon!

Thank you! I'm all good now! The surgery was less painful than the main line ordeal! Ha.