PdxMan

{Raises hand} My issue was a hiatal hernia. Reflux was a constant in my life. I had a container of tums sitting next to my bed. For no additional charge, my surgeon repaired my hiatal hernia. I have only taken a PPI once since being sleeved. It was when I worked late one night, came home and had a bite to eat and went straight to bed. That was my fault. So, keep doing research. My guess is your Dr read a paper talking about some folks still suffering from reflux and made some general conclusions. I was a daily PPI taker and now two and half years post, I have only taken it once.

From my experience reading here for years, the majority of folks have not had a catheter. When I asked my surgeon about it, he told me that since the procedure is around half an hour, there was no need for a catheter. So, you should ask your surgeon. Now, keep in mind that everybody is different. Myself, I have great difficulty urinating when I am on pain meds. I have had two back surgeries in the past 15 months and after each, I have had to self-cath because pain meds do make my urinary system pretty much shut down. If you have had surgeries in the past and if this is true for you, you may request a catheter. Is this something you fear or were just curious?

Thank you Kathy, couldn't have said it any better myself. Catnapper, it isn't too late. I know that when I follow the guidelines, I still have excellent restriction. I was sleeved back in July, 2011, well over a year prior to you, so I know that you too, can get the restriction back. Following the guidelines is going to be more difficult now, so let's not try to fool ourselves, but it can be done. Get rid of all the crap in the house and let's take a break from all sodas for the next 6 months and see where that gets us. What do you say?

Catnapper, I just assumed you hadn't updated your stats ... you mean to say that in 17 months, with the sleeve, you have lost a grand total of 24 pounds? Would you say you rigorously followed the guidelines? Do you still follow those guidelines or have you abandoned them? If you have abandoned them, then I think I might know why you are having such hunger issues ... The sleeve is merely a tool. You still have to do the work. It is not going to do it for you. Eat foods that make you crave, and guess what? You are going to crave ...

Well ... let's simplify it for you, then. 6 weeks out, I'm guessing you are in the pureed to soft food stage. For me, I blended all kinds of Soups just a little. I took tuna and added ranch dressing. I would put about half a teaspoon on a piece of sharp cheddar cheese. Cottage cheese and yogurt were my friends. As far as slowing down, I was told to ensure that I put my utensil down after each bite, chewed my food no less than 30 times (which got gross at times) and then evaluated how I felt after that bite. I would wait no less than a minute after I swallowed before picking up my utensil again. I didn't drink 15 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after eating. With the amount of food I was able to consume, I didn't need to worry about the amount of carbs or fats I was eating. The restriction is enough to take care of that for me. Remember this is a marathon, not a race. You will not be at goal next month, so don't set any expectations of any weight loss goals. Give yourself time to figure out your new groove. When I found myself mourning the loss of food, I learned I was in the middle of one of the reasons I abused food in the first place. This was an opportunity for me to learn why I abused food and had such a poor relationship with food which led to my morbid obesity. What was I looking for food to satisfy which it was not able to do now ... ? It is like chess. It is very easy to learn how to do this, but it is difficult to actually do it. Don't make it more difficult than it is and when you need help, ask.

You are not the only person I have heard this to be true. For me, my hunger level is way different. Pre-surgery, hunger was a 1,000 pound gorilla screaming in my ears to eat. It was something I could not ignore. I couldn't eat a rice cake to satiate it or drink huge amounts of Water to just satisfy putting something in my mouth. It was like I had no choice in the matter ... I had to get something to eat. For me, post-surgery, that gorilla has been excised from my existence. I still get hungry, but it now is more of a gentle nudge and I have the power of choice whereas before, I didn't. By having that power of choice, it gives me the time and resources to make better decisions about what I do eat. Before, if a bag of Doritos was in arms reach, in it went. Now, I can take the time to fix a nutritious salad or grab a bowl of chili. Something that feeds my body instead. When I do this, I find the hunger goes away for a long time. A LOT longer than it did pre-sleeve. I believe nutritionally balanced meals help me to avoid cravings. If my body is needing potassium, I need to feed it bananas. If I give it starches, my body will continue to give my cravings until I give it what it needs. Also, I did a lot of walking and exercise, which I also believe helped me with the whole craving thing.

You two are soooo early in the process. I hope you did a lot of reading on here or other bariatric sites. I'm sure you did, so you know the first month or so is the hardest. There are times you think you are never going to eat "normal" again. You begin to question your decision to have WLS. I know the feeling. But like Terri says, things will settle in. Everything around eating is different now and I wouldn't have it any other way. The way I abused food was killing me and I needed to make a fundamental, permanent change with my relationship with food. The sleeve allows me to continue to work on this relationship and adopt new habits and methods of feeding my body. One of the hardest parts for me was coping when my usual triggers for abusing food were fired, but I wasn't able to abuse food the way I could. I mourned the loss of my old habits and questioned everything. But, as they say, this too shall pass. It gave me time to reflect on why I wanted to abuse food the way I had. Why was I mourning NOT being able to eat the way I had? Wasn't these the reasons why I was morbidly obese? Was I really wanting to return to the same old habits? No ... I had to make a change. It meant a lot of changes for me and now, over 2 and half years post and maintaining at goal, I am so happy that I don't have to be a prisoner to food anymore. Just keep following your guidelines and know that this is your time. Find your triggers and know why you are mourning not being able to abuse food the way you had. Adopt new habits. Eat slower, take smaller bites, don't eat to the point of being "full". Good luck and keep us all updated.

Everybody is going to have different reactions with their new stomachs. Just try small amounts and go easy re-introducing everything, including spices. There will come a time when you can eat anything and everything, but there is no reason to rush it.

I was 40 pounds down before my pants started feeling loose. Then it was like someone pulled the plug and I was changing pant sizes every few weeks. It will happen. Just keep doing the right thing.

One thing I keep in mind when I feel my plate is fuller than I can handle is The Serenity Prayer. I do not believe in the conventional God of my childhood, but rather focus on a power greater than myself: I have to right-size my expectations of others and of myself. Take deep breaths and tackle one issue at a time. Down deep, I know what the next right move is. I just need to take the time to reflect and let the answer come to me. The bottom line is you are a good person with good intentions for yourself and others. You know what the next right move is. Don't feel guilty if that move appears to be selfish. It is what you need. Don't feel guilty if it is self-sacrificing. It is what your soul needs. Breathe, meditate and listen to your inner voice. You are wiser than you think.

Carrots are one of those things that I rarely eat. For me, they are just one of those foods I have to chew really, really, really well in order for them to feel OK in my stomach. If you think about it, though, it makes sense. They are quite a fibrous vegetable and with 85% of my stomach removed, my stomach is going to have a more difficult time breaking them down before they can move into the small intestines. So, I have been shredding them into my salads and I find that works a lot better. Perhaps give that a try.

So others may learn from your experience, what do you believe were the factors for your 50 pound regain? Have you been able to stop doing whatever it is you were doing? Have you checked out the 5:2 plan? When following the basic guidelines, do you feel restriction? Do you track everything you put into your mouth? I guess the real question is, what are you willing to do?

It was also very easy for me. I was self pay, so I had mailed them a check for $500 and when I was there, wrote them another check for $9,900. I took a second on the home to fund it, which took me about half an hour at the bank. Total time from decision to scalpel was 30 days. As far as losing the weight, you just need to focus on your program. Keep doing what you are supposed to do and the weight will come off. If you obsess about the scale, you will be very disappointed. I weighed once a month and always saw progress. It kept me inspired and focused on my program.

I think if you re-read my questions, I am trying to look at the bigger picture. Not just the soda aspect, but everything I put in my mouth. I can't say I abused soda pre-sleeve either. Nor did I abuse any one particular food. It was the culmination of overall habits and overall general abuse of food which led me to being obese. This is my experience and certainly yours may be different.

Over 2 and half years post-sleeve here. I will occasionally have a sip or two of a soda, but the carbonation is just something I really don't want to learn to tolerate. Know what I mean? But I would suggest you try to reflect on why you want one. For some people, sodas can begin a slippery slope of consumption merely for the sake of consumption. This is something I have to do regarding everything I put in my mouth. Am I really hungry or am I feeding something else? Is it a craving? Am I repeating old behaviors which always ended up with me abusing food? Why did I get sleeved in the first place?

I would start tracking everything you put into your mouth in MyFitnessPal, or the like. I think it is easy to get out of touch with what we actually eat after we have some time and "think" we are still doing the same behavior we did when we were post sleeve only to find out our behaviors actually begin to mirror more of our pre-sleeve behaviors. I know I still struggle with the snacking thing, eating a couple crackers here and there and thinking it doesn't really impact me because it is nowhere near what I did pre-sleeve. But, all the little snacking does add up. I cannot dismiss it. When I track everything, I really get a wake-up to my behaviors. For me, all this goes back to me questioning what my motivation is when I put something in my mouth. Am I hungry? Am I feeding my body or my mind? Do I have any of the symptoms of H.A.L.T. (Hungry, angry, lonely, tired) Why am I eating that _____? (Fill in the blank)

That would be correct. Your sleeve is not stretched. My surgeon said I would have to put forth quite an effort to stretch my stomach and even if I could, it wouldn't stretch out to the size it was before. I think you have merely discovered which foods slide down easier for you than others. I know the foods that I can eat more of and I ensure those are the last items I eat as I almost always follow the guideline of starting with my lean Protein first. When I do that, I feel the restriction. If I find ways to eat "around" the sleeve, then of course I can eat what appears to be a larger quantity.

Try this experiment. Take your salad and put it into a blender. Add 4 oz of Water and blend. Pour this into a measuring cup. Whatever is over the 4 oz mark is what your salad has been reduced to. Salad has always been one of those things I can eat a good portion of because it does reduce well, whereas the dense Protein is pretty much already reduced to whatever it is going to be.

So, the good news is "YES", you will be able to drink normal again. The even BETTER news is, you will have a new definition of what "normal" is. Just like you will be able to eat a normal amount of calories and consume a normal amount of potato chips. No, you will not be able to do anything "normally" like you did pre-op. That includes eating, drinking, exercise, getting up from the floor, getting dressed, washing yourself, wiping the nether regions, seeing the nether regions, having sex, sitting in an airplane, going to an amusement park ... I love my new normal.

Well, let's just take a look at it objectively. I had 85% of my stomach removed. 2 weeks out, the stomach tissues are still quite swollen. Not just swollen outwards from the stomach, but inwards, too ... right? My capacity at this point was miniscule. It was difficult enough to consume 2 oz of liquids. I have no idea what amount of space the carbonation takes when it is released from the soda, but I do know that when I did try my first drink of soda, it was at about 6 months out and one small sip was difficult to handle. So, imagining what that would be like 2 weeks post just makes me shiver. Now, you are most likely remembering the days of yore when you had 100% of your stomach and a carbonated beverage temporarily helped an uneasy stomach whether it was just stuck gas bubbles or an acid stomach (which also releases gas). The carbonated beverage would temporarily neutralize the acids and the carbonation would push you over the top to where you were able to burp. So now, you believe that since this method worked with 100% of my stomach, it will work with 15% of my stomach. Well ... IMO, it doesn't. Your stomach is not the same. Like others have posted, try some gas-x or some other proven method to neutralize stomach acid. Exercise also helps to jiggle things around and can help. Good luck and report back how/if you were able to resolve your issue.

Don't do the carbonation anything. Or, try it once and you'll discover what I am talking about. 2 weeks out is still VERY early. As I am sure you have read here, the first month is tough. We weren't kidding Did you have a hiatal hernia repair? I did and the feeling you are describing went on for well over 3 weeks. You have to know deep down that your stomach just underwent a dramatic trauma ... right? Things are going to be different for a while. Just know that things do begin to return to some form of normalcy, so, just keep doing the right things you know you need to be doing. It will get better.

This is not a thread about whether your surgery should be kept secret or not, but rather someone who was trusted betraying that trust. Let's not get off topic. I agree with RJ, my guess is they are one of those folks who think surgery is the "easy way out" and are resenting you making improvements in your life while they continue languishing in their doldrums. I would pity them and let them know they betrayed your confidence. Don't tell them you were angry, upset or anything. That may have been their intention and you don't want to let them know they accomplished their goal. Just let them know you were disappointed in them. This was something which you wanted to reveal on your own terms, not theirs.

Well, IMO, you have found a pretty good one right here at BariatricPal. This is the place I have used for almost 3 years for advice and support. Your profile says you went to Dr Cernero and I see he is in Sherman, TX, which appears to be a relatively small town of about 40,000 people. I'm guessing you are not going to have an established WLS support group there. Here in Portland, OR, a metropolis over 2 million people, we have only two groups that I have been able to find and they only meet once a month. Not nearly the kind of support I need. But if you really want something local, perhaps this is something you can start up yourself. Talk to Dr Sherman's staff about contacting other WLS patients to start up a group. I think you may find quite a few of them are in the same boat as you. You can probably use a meeting room at the hospital for no charge. You can make it happen and help support other WLS folks in your community. That alone can help you in ways you cannot imagine. I would also suggest this forum, though, as there is a membership numbering in the thousands who have experience in just about every facet of the WLS journey. Read the different forums, use the search functionality and as you have done here, post questions. Find out what other people are doing for support. I know there are groups over on Facebook as well as MyFitnessPal. There are also private groups here, too, so check them out as well. As for your stall, your research here will reveal that what you are experiencing is quite common. My advice for you in this area is to know these stalls will happen. It is a necessary part of the journey as your body begins to change and accommodate the drastic difference in calories it is now taking in versus your pre-op intake. I would also question your definition of a stall. Is a stall defined by not losing weight or losing fat? Are your clothes fitting any looser? How often are you weighing? Are you making yourself crazy by weighing every day and having an unrealistic expectation that the number should be lower EVERY day? It just doesn't work that way, so if that is your expectation, change that now. Expectations are just future resentments, so do yourself a favor and ditch the scale. It measures weight, not fat and I was always looking to lose fat. After reading a post from someone who was upset that, when weighing herself in the afternoon, she had gained 0.3 pounds from that morning. She was going on about how she knew she would fail and was ready to throw the towel in. I knew I had the capacity for that kind of thinking so I resolved to weigh once a month. Doing this, I never saw stalls and was always encouraged. As you said, everyone else can tell you are losing. I know it is difficult to see it yourself. I don't have any advice on that as self image is something I still struggle with. This is a crazy journey, for sure, and there is no reason to go through it alone. Good luck and keep learning!

Here is an interesting article about caffeine and it's effects. The section on Gastritis applies to WLS folks, so you may want to wait a bit before hitting the coffee, tea or other caffeinated beverages. http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/five-scariest-things-caffeine-does-body-215400917.html

I felt the same way early out. I was frightened to progress. I was told that whatever size bite I was currently taking, to cut it in half. Chew ridiculously well and wait longer than I want to before attempting another bite. Also, if I was eating 4 bites before getting the pain, then next time, just eat 3, not matter how I felt. It is a process of re-teaching our bodies and our minds how to eat for our new stomachs. Just remember that you just can't do it the way you used to. Don't even try.