melinekesh

I am supposed to have my surgery later this month. My husband is totally opposed. He thinks I will struggle to live with the changes I will need to make to my lifestyle. He also questions what the long term effects of the surgery may be. I wonder if people who have been post op for more than a year hate the fact that they can no longer eat more than one piece of pizza or a Christmas turkey dinner (even if the portions are very small it would be impossible to have a taste of everything including dessert). Do you have regrets? If you had it to do over would you still do it? Is it worth the many sacrifices you have to make? I am flip flopping a dozen times a day - should I or should I not have the surgery!! I have about 50 lbs to lose. Would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks very much.

I am almost 5 months out and the number one thing I love is that I cannot eat so much at one time!!!! I always hated myself after a binge and now I cannot binge. It is true, you will not be able to binge. I am able to taste a few dishes at one sitting. I am looking forward to having a normal thanksgiving meal and not one where I am so mad at myself after and start dreaming about what my new year's resolution will be and how will I ever do it! I am hungry though these past 2 months and that bothers me. I snack too much and havent' lost more than 5 pounds in the past 2 months. I have lost 40 pounds and have 30 more to go. I have to start and excercise. So you do have to do your part. This is a tool and not the answer. So at least when I do eat healthy I actually do lose the weight and I don't binge so I haven't been gaining any back. Now that is worth it in itself. I am blessed to have had this. Good Luck !

Sleeved yesterday at 8:30 am, going home today at 1 pm! Woohooo!!!!

Still a little sore but able to keep down my one ounce every 15 min. I am so excited about sleeping in my own bed!:confused1:

Hi Lunarose! Congrats! Didn't you just love Dr. Lyass? He is so matter of fact because he know what he is talking about! I am almost 3 months out and 35 pounds down!!! My sister is one month out and 34 pounds down!!! She had much more to go than me. We are both so happy and full of energy. Keep me updated with your progress and let me know if you have any questions. And yes, I enjoyed having my own bed back!

Melinekesh, Thank you for your support. Its comforting to hear part of your story. I'm curious to know did the sleeve help you reach your goal of 75lbs? Did you have any complications? Since we have same amount of weight to lose, I'm wondering how long it took you.

I lost 12 pounds before the surgery and I have lost 18 pounds since june 8th and today is the 25th of july. I have had no complications, thank god, and I have now a loss of about 2 or 3 pounds a week. I am on soft foods or I have to chew about 20 or 30 times and I am okay. He told me it will take a year to lose all of it. I am down total 30 pounds and very happy. Good luck to you too!

Hi There,

Sorry for all you have been through! Be glad you have found out about the sleeve option. I had terrible horrible fears. Even right after the surgery. By the end of the first week I was very excited and happy I did it. I am six weeks out and can't believe it! I eat like a normal person should, small portions. I did this FOR my kids, my mother was very obese growing up and I missed out on a lot of my childhood possibilities. She had no energy to do much for me and she passed away before she was 70 just because of her weight problems and missed out on her grandchildren being born. I also felt like it was drastic beacause like you I had to lose about 75 pounds. I thought I could do that on my own, but after 10 years of up and down I thank god for the sleeve. As long as your doctor gives you the thumbs up, go for it. And by the way my sister was sleeved yesterday!!!!!

I need some help. I was approved by my insurance to have the sleeve done. I?ve completed all the pre-op tests. I just need to make my payment for the non-covered fees (which I have the money for) and I can have my surgery scheduled. I?ve been waiting for this day since January. However, for some reason I?m having second thoughts and I?m scared to commit to the surgery now.

In 2004 I was diagnosed with Colon Cancer, I?m doing well and the only problem is the Radiation caused me to go into menopause at the age of 38. Since then I?ve gained 80lbs and my oncologist has been on me to loose the wait. He say?s that obesity is not good; I could come down with cancer again. Needless to say I?ve been trying to loose the wait for the past 6 years and I just can?t do it. My last option is the sleeve.

Is the fear that I have normal, have any of you felt this way? How did you get past it? I?m worried that later on in life my decision to have the surgery will come back to haunt me. Either, by a health issue that will be made worse by the surgery or some other issue. Yet at the same time I know that not having the surgery can be just as harmful to my current health.

My husband initially wasn?t for the surgery; he's since come around some what. My son feels I shouldn't do the surgery and he loves me the way I am, he feels the choice to do this surgery is a drastic choice.

Any advice you can share with me would be greatly appreciated. I hope I'm not the only one out there that felt this way before making the commitment.

Yes I have cheated too. But I am on a super stricked diet. I am 7 weeks out and still supposed to be on pureed food which I have not heard yet on this forum. When I say cheat I mean I eat healthy but I am not putting it in the blender, in stead I am chewing it between 20 to 50 times (chicken). I pray I haven't gotten a leak.

Your response really concerns me too. Now that I can eat soft foods, I can get down blended chicken with green Beans and broth about 5 ounces only. If really brothy and very blended about 8 or 9 ounces. If I were you I would ask for some kind of sonogram to see how big your stomach is or go to a different doctor to take a look. When you say whole chicken breast do you mean just chewing and swallowing? That is really fast for 7 weeks out. Let me know what you find out.

OTE=JillianMarie;63043]I asked my Dr. for a 32 and he said he would use a 34 on me. I believe he used something more along the lines of a 40 because i am able to eat more that just about anyone on this forum and i am 7 weeks out. I can eat a full chicken breast and half cup of steamed veggies, or 2 carbmaster yougurts before i feel full, and liquid foods go straight through me, i have no limit on how much i can consume of them. I am amazed when i hear that some can only eat 1/4 cup of cottage cheese or dense Protein, when that leaves me starving if i eat only that much. At 3 weeks out, i would have been stuffed at that amount. But now that the swelling has gone down, i can fit just about anything in, so I am weary about what size bougie my Dr. truely used on me, and quite frankly am a bit aggravated and depressed about it because i feel like i should not be able to eat nearly as much as i can this early on. I feel almost as if i need to have the surgery performed all over again.

My nutritionist has me on an intense stricked slow diet. I can't eat normal food for 3 months. I guess this is why. My understanding is that by 3 months your okay for leaks as long as you really took it easy and nothing crunchy at all for those 3 months. I have been good but not that good. I guess I should cross my fingers.

Absolutely normal. I am one month out and even though I burp after EVERYTHING I eat, I am sooooo happy. I had major anxiety, depression, and even a week after the surgery I was questioning what I had done. This website seriously gave me so much support and lots of answers along with my doctor. I know the burping will also go away within the next couple of months and I will always have this wonderful feeling of being satisfied from less than a quarter of what I used to eat. Not to mention I am almost down 30 pounds already! Don't worry, go with it. I think everyone has had some kine of post or pre-op depression.

Why bring unwanted negativity into my life? I come from a middle eastern background. Lots of judgement. I am american born so I tend to be very honest about myself always. Learned the hard way that my friends and certian extended family are not so accepting, and I am very sensitive. I am sooo proud of myself that I finally learned to keep my business to myself. No one knows exect my siblings who are amazing and Dad, my husband and my one best friend from childhood who is rooting me on. Some people may act happy for you and spread rumors behind your back. Keep to the ones you REALLY know well. It is your body and YOUR business!

My drain was pulled out 2 days after and mine took about a week to close. It hurt around the incision though for weeks!

I am having 8 oz. of blended Soup with chicken in it. 4 oz. of blended hamburger meat with fat free gravy to make it mushy. That is quite a lot for 4 weeks out! I just hope in a year it is not double then that would not be good!

My doc does 34 so that's what hubby and I both have. I'm at 6 weeks post op and my max intake is 2.5 oz. Hubby is at 4 weeks and gets down 2 oz. Fromt he general guidelines I hear you should be at about 4oz by 6 MONTHS, and 8oz by 12-18 months! Are you eating 8 oz of solid foods, or slider/squishy/mushy foods?

I asked some time ago what size sleeve is everyone and I got a lot of 32 bougie's as a response. Is that the going size? Is anyone out there a 40 bougie or is that old school already? I asked my doctor for a 34 and he said he didn't believe in any other size except 40. Any thoughts? I can eat about 8 to 10 ounces of pureed Soup and I am 4 weeks out. That seems like a lot compared to others who can only eat about 3 ounces.

What do you think?

Oh my gosh! Not fair! My doctor said no Protein Shakes until 2 weeks after surgery. When I got to them I felt like was in heaven!!!! Liquid for me was see through liquids like broth with added Protein Powder. That was all I had for the first 2 weeks post op!

Yipeeee! My doctor told me it would take a year, so I think you are right on track. Now how about 140 lbs? You can do it!

I haven't weighed myself in weeks. I was stalled at 153 for about 6-8 weeks, after the initial upset I just decided not to worry and just not weight myself! I decided to weight myself and exactly 11 months from my surgery here I am!

Now a lot of people have met goal A LOT sooner then me, that's ok, I do not go to a gym, I do not walk for miles and miles, I'm just playing the what comes of comes off game, I do not deprive myself of food, I eat good, I eat bad. I don't stress. And here I am. Thanks

Hi, I was sleeved on June 8 and will see my PCP in about 3 weeks. I am definitely going to tell him. He is a doctor and even if he has an opinion about it he still has to do his job and put it in his notes. Also, I want it documented in case ever I do ever have any issues and it may or may not be related to my sleeve or new eating patterns. I am a better safe than sorry kind of person.

I had my surgery on May 11th and haven't yet told my PCP about it. I have no chronic conditions and only see him one or two times a year for various tests, etc. He has also never seen me at my heaviest since I hide when I'm at the top of my range. I have an appointment on Monday to discuss sleep issues, and I am nervous about saying "by the way, I had 75% of my stomach removed in Mexico last May...) Any suggestions??

Thanks

So how long has it been and how many ounces can you get down? What do you mean by oversown? What bmi where you?

So I'm 5 days out and feeling shame!

Shame on me that I couldn't learn to control what I ate and allowed myself to become morbidly obese!

Shame on me because now I'm here sipping DISGUSTING Protein shakes because I couldn't control what I ate!

Shame on me, there are so many healthy & delicious foods that I chose not to eat enough of and chose the others!

Shame on me, now I'm laying here with less than 20% of my stomach. WTH!!!??

Shame on me. RANT OVER.

Just had to get it off my bloated chest/stomach!!! LOL

Have any of you felt this way?

Lovingly,

monica:001_tongue:

Absolutely!! 4 days out I thought I made a huge mistake! I was crying! But one sentence out of my husbands mouth and I felt better and it was over. You are no longer going to be a high risk of health problems. My mother passed because of obesity and uncontrollable eating. You will be able to eat all those healthy things very very soon. I am 3 weeks out and on mushies and I am sooooooo happy. I eat delicious Soups that are pureed. I eat slow and I am full! I still do my favorite thing and eat in front of the TV but I am full!!!!! And I am happy and down 25 pounds. Don't worry you did the right thing. You will eat great food just less of it! Congratulations, you among the lucky few who have been sleeved!:lol0:

My doctor would only go with the 40 bougie(spelling?). I have heard of 32m 34m and 36. I can get down 8 ounces of food easily. I keep reading how most of you only get down 3 ounces. He told me it really doesn't make a difference but it makes it harder in the beginning of surgery to get liquids down. I wonder if we all have a different size so we may have different issues? Anyone know their size?

I have fibromayalgia, thyroid disease, adrenal gland disfunction, and chronic fatigue syndrome. These all led up to my weight gain. I wish they would go away with the surgery but I don't think they are really related. My whole life I have been honest about my health issues so people understand why I can't go somewhere or why I don't drink or smoke etc. Boy did I get sick of people questioning my sanity and asking if I was a hypochondriac and if a doctor really diagnosed me or not. I have the best doctor who gave me my life back after 2 years in bed. I refuse to let my business be the world's business and I teach my daughter to keep her personal buisness to herself. I am glad you do too! Sorry about the rambling. I happened to have a hernia too so I went with that. I didn't mention the robotic surgery because I don't think they use that for hernias. Also, I went to my first party at a bar and asked the bartender for half cranberry juice half Water and I put a lime on the glass. The bartender didn't even ask why. It looked just like a cranberry vodka!

Also, everytime I see someone who could benefit from the VS I feel like giving them a brochure. But don't want to offend anyone.

Hi all,

Fist of all congrats to all post ops and best of luck to all pre ops waiting for their opp dates. I'm new to this and i'm due to have my sleeve next week. I'm both nervous and excited about the whole thing but one thing that's really taking over my mind at the moment is what to tell people. I've told the people close to me that i'm having this opperation but i dont want to tell certain family members and friends that i'm having a VS op. Can anyone tell me what they told friends/family/co workers what op they've had?

Thanks so much and good health to you all..

Jemma

I know what you mean. It happened to both me and my sister. But it went away after a week. Just keep telling yourself that your dream surgery will never happen if you don't follow the directions. They also want to see how discipline you can be because they have a strict menu for you for a couple of months and need to know if you can do it so that you don't have complications after surgery. If you came this far then you know you want this and you CAN do it. We felt the same way and made it through. SO Can You!!!!!! Good luck!

Since finding out about my surgery date August 27th, I have been out of control! My surgeon specifically said DO NOT GAIN WEIGHT, and TRY TO LOSE!!!!!!!! I don't know what's wrong with me! PLEASE HELP!!!!

I know every MD has different instructions but I am curious as to when others started certain foods. I would like to know about stuff like: oatmeal, grits, tuna, refried Beans, THANK YOU!

My goodness! It is amazing how all the doctor's and nutritionists are all over the place with their opinions. I think mine are the stricktest of all! 2 weeks liquids, 2 weeks full liquids (only egg white and cream of wheat), then 2 weeks pureed, then 2 weeks soft foods, then you can start experimenting with regular food. That is 30 days before pureed food! I am hanging in there. Good luck y'all!

Good Luck!!! I am so happy for you! We are all here for you with all your questions!

I just came back from my doctor's office to get weighed and I lost the necessary 10 pounds!! I am so exited!!

I also did my pre-registration call -- it is so scary to be asked about a living will, blood transfusions, etc. BUT, I guess it is something that is done with every surgery. I just pray to GOD that I will be ok. I know there are risks to everything but when you make a decision to have elective surgery it is always scary. Wish me luck! :thumbup:

Hi, I was a lower BMI- 35, and I am 2 and half weeks out and I noticed the last 4 or 5 days I only lost a pound. I lost 23 before that including post-op. Sounds okay with everyone else too. I am trying not to count and wait it out for the next 6 months but you know that's hard!!

I'm wondering if there is any sort of 'rule of thumb' with stalling or not.

How far out were you if you experienced a stall in weight loss?

Are lower BMI's more likely to experience onw that higher BMIs??

Okay, here is MY opinion. The point of the sleeve IS for people that have successfuly lost weight and put it back on. And everytime we do it is really bad for us (our organs etc.). I wouldn't recommend trying to lose the weight and again most probably back. We don't realize how much our heart and other organs go through each time we do that. You sound like a perfect candidate for the sleeve. Since you do know how to diet and lose weight then you know how to eat healthy. You will be very happy and successfull!

hi everyone. i would like your opinion on this. im 5'9" 310 lbs. i have had many successes losing weight, as much as 87 lbs once, but ive always put it back on. while finishing all the steps to have my dr submit for approval for the sleeve to my insurance, im almost finished with the psych portion. ill be completely done with everything by mon june 28 and then i see my dr for the last visit on june 30 (less than a week away), and thats when he'll submit everything to the insurance for approval. the problem is this:

the psychologist says to me that ive shown the ability to lose weight in the past. he feels that if i was disciplined enough to do this many times, then i could do it again with one simple difference. he feels that if i were to see a psychologist that specializes in eating behaviors, i could possibly lose weight again and not put it back on with the proper support. he says that the reason i put the weight back on is mental, and not physical. he would like me to try to lose weight one last time on my own with the help of a psychologist that specializes in eating behaviors before resorting to this permanent sleeve weight loss surgery. i dont think hes just trying to drum up business because he wouldnt be the psychologist i would be seeing, i would pick one from the ones offered by my insurance. i dont know if i should try this again on my own, or pursue the sleeve which in my eyes would be the tool that would help me with my ability to not put the weight back on again like i have in the past 20 years. hes also telling me that at 310 lbs im not as high in weight that alot of men are when they consider this surgery. hes still going to give me a letter to approve surgery if thats my decision, but hes just telling me his opinion after seeing me and talking to me for a few weeks. what do you guys think? hes confused me a bit and is making me think could he be right? right now i believe the sleeve would be the tool i need and it would definitely help me lose weight and keep it off. thanks in advance for any replies, its appreciated.

I got sleeved on June 8th and still my largest incision is hurting terribly. I was wondering if something was wrong. I think after reading all the posts on yours it seems it is common. My doctor told me it is okay since that is the area that took the brunt of the bruising. I have to take my liquid vicodin every few days still. I try not to but somedays it is aweful and I have a 2 year old! Hope it gets better soon for us all:smile1:

Yesterday I had planned to return to work but when I woke up, I had a little pain in one of my incisions. A few hours later, it got so that I could not sit. I could only lay one one side. It is still here today and I wonder if I pulled something. I am 13 days out and never really had pain except for the staples.

I can push on it and it is only a little tender but something about sitting and standing makes it hurt. What would it feel like if I overdid it?