Forensikchic

Welcome! I am kinda new here too. I started lurking the week before surgery and I have been a regular poster since I had the sleeve on 8/8. I have enjoyed the forums too. We are all in this together and support each other. Everyone has a different tale to tell and their experience is different and we can learn from each other! Congrats on your surgery and good luck to you!

I would like to add that I didnt have a drain or a catheter. My surgeon didnt use a bougie device either and I had no leak test. My surgeon used the scope and checked for leaks during the surgery so no need for a bougie or a test after. Yay me! I was also given a medicine called emend before my surgery to prevent vomiting caused by anesthesia. I havent vomited at all since my surgery. I am careful to stop eating when I feel chest tightness. I hope this helps someone. I could eat 3 oz of lean meat and a nonstarchy vegetable for dinner on my preop...the rest was Protein drinks and clear liquids. Every doctor is different and has different reasons for having different diet plans, etc. Some use a bougie and some dont, etc...

This is my story exactly! I was tired when I went back to work day 8. I didnt stay home on day 9 though but I probably should have. For about 2-3 weeks, I was tired after showering and had to lay down for a minute before getting dressed. I was not staying hydrated like they told me. I got a kidney stone from that. Hospital again for a week but it helped me get hydrated again and I skipped the full liquid week almost entirely! I was still weak for week 4 but it was getting better every day. Now at week 5, I feel almost brand new! I dont have to rest after my shower. I still use a chair to sit and brush my teeth, hair, etc. I dont want to push it. I am feeling so much better now. Just be aware of how important drinking is! This post is the most true to my experience as I have found. I dont think kidney stones are common but I am proof they can happen if you dont drink! Good luck to everyone and just know that this too, shall pass, and soon you will be your old self again, just a lot less of you! I forgot to say that I struggled with head hunger for the weeks I was on liquids but that quieted down after I could eat soft food.

I thought I would blog my journey so others could know what I went through and maybe it will be helpful to someone. Background info: I am 5'4" tall and 43 years old. I was sort of thick in high school. Not fat really but my thighs were a little heavy and I wore a size 9 to 11 jeans. I remember this well. I was a cheerleader and was the biggest one. In college, I lost a lot of weight because I was the mascot of my college and it is really hot in the suit! I was a size 5 then, for about 2 years or so. I joined the army and gained a little weight. I was back in a 9 or 11 for the next couple years. Then I got married and got pregnant. That was the beginning of the end. I gained 80 pounds with him and he was premature! I never lost all the weight. I was 210pounds when he was born. I got back to 175 and stayed there for a year. Then my second pregancy.... gained back to 210 and lost only to 190 the next year. I joined weight watchers in 1995 for the first time. It was an at work program. I lost 12 pounds over the summer and continued to loose til I got to 163. I thought I was done with weight watchers and quit. I was a perfect size 12 for two or three years (continuinig to go to WW later on). I was pretty happy with that. Then came my daughter. I gained back to 215. I lost some of that after her birth but was hovering around 200 for a year or so. I did WW again to try to loose the weight. I got a divorce soon after she was born and I managed to loose back to 170 but that is as far as I got. Then, I slowly gained and was in the 180's for several years. I did WW again and I lost 20 pounds or so and got back to 170. I did this 170 to 190 and back again about 3 more times in 5 years. In 2007, I met my husband and I weighed 170, still at weight watchers. We married in September and you guessed it, back to 190 before the wedding and had to get my dress let out! I felt very frustrated. We wanted to have children so I had a tubal reversal in December of 2007. I took a lot of hormones trying to conceive. I balooned up to 220. I tried WW again and lost 10 or 12 pounds. I couldnt seem to get under 200. Then I had a job transfer and moved all the way to Texas from Alabama. It was a huge stresser on our family to move from a house to an apartment. Nobody was happy about the move. My kids were mad and I couldnt sell our house. It took 9 months and we finally did sell it and buy a nice home here. During all of this, I gained to 235. My highest weight. My husband was not "particularly attracted" to me anymore and it left me in the worse depression I have ever experienced. He was heavy too and so I pointed that out and we both did WW for 6 months or so. He reached his goal in that time, loosing 60 pounds and I lost down to 210. I was depressed because it was just falling off of him and I was eating much less and not loosing very much at all. I gained it all back. We planned a trip to Brazil to see my exchange student get married. I had 6 months to loose some weight. I considered wls then in fall of 2010. I felt I could do the supervised diet and then have surgery when I returned in March. I did the diet and took the HCG and B12 shots every week until we left. I lost 20 pounds. I weighed about 215 when we left. I returned two weeks later at 230. I consulted a surgeon about wls again and I didnt like the staff at that Dr.s office. The medical assistants as they are called could not even spell and could not hold an intelligent conversation so I didnt feel I was in good hands. I gave up on that in May 2011. My husband got a new teaching job in July, his first since being in Texas! We were changing insurance in August. So July 29th, I decided to see if Humana was going to cover wls and what type of diet and stuff was I going to have to do to get it done. I saw that the surgeon my friend recommended to me was having a seminar the next day (Saturday, July 30th) and so I signed up. My husband and I went. We met nice people and I decided I wanted the sleeve. Its the same one I decided on the year before, but didnt follow through on. I made an appointment for Monday, August 1. Humana didnt cover the sleeve unless you have a bmi of 50 and mine was 40.2 so we were going to be self pay. We decided to get it over with before school started and scheduled the surgery for the NEXT Monday at 8 am. Wow! I had a date already! I went on a one week preop diet and lost 9 pounds. I was 225 when I had the surgery. I went back to work the following Monday. I was just weak and tired but not much pain or anything. I had a little trouble getting in the required fluids. Next chapter-- At the begining of my third week post op I developed a kidney stone because I was dehydrated. I was hospitalized for 5 days and had another surgery on my kidney to place a stent. I gained a lot of weight from the fluid they gave me. I got the stent removed last Wednesday and I am finally, at 5 weeks out, starting to feel like my old self again. I started walking this week and doing a little weight training. To date... I have lost 27 pounds. I weighed 206.9 this morning. Thats lower than I have been since the trying to conceive days about 3 or 4 years ago. I am doing better about drinking but have not reached 64 oz on any day yet. So in Summary: I have been a yo-yo dieter for 20 years and havent been under 170 in about 14 years. I want to be my college weight of about 135 pounds, a size 6. I could stand to be 125 but that is getting a little thin for my build. It has been forever but I at least have a reference point. I can visualize that but I still have a hard time believing that any thing will work to get me there. I am scared to believe that this is finally it for me! I hope I can do this and maintain it for my lifetime. At my highest weight, my feet and back ached all the time, I cant tie my shoes right. It hurts to lean over. I am miserably tired and have no energy to do anything. I starting thinking in terms of how far do I have to walk and are there any hills to climb before I would decide If I wanted to go to the zoo or any activity with my family. I was not living. I was slowly dying. I had to make a change for good. I am sorry this story is so long but I wanted to get it all out there. The truth, the facts... my story.

I tried using a straw to get down my protein shake. It was so thick that most of it stayed high in the straw and I didnt get much air. I was ok. I think if you drink thinner liquids you might get a lot of air especially if your drink fast and dont sip. I am only 5 weeks out and I cant gulp or drink more than a sip at a time.

Thanks!

When I was on weight watchers.. I gulped my Water at room temp. I could gulp down a 20 oz bottle a couple times a day no problem. Since I am a gulper and not a constant sipper.. its been sooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to change. I am trying but i find it very difficult to get in the habit of constantly sipping something. I will be so glad when I can take bigger drinks and gulp at least some. I am only 5 weeks out.

Im in the San Antonio area too and I was sleeved August 8th with Dr. Duperier.

I am five weeks out and this is definately hard for me as well. I cant eat anything that has any spice to it because I cant drink! makes me sad. lol. Maybe we will get used to it.

Ha ha! This made my day as well! I had a bob for a long time and I decided since I was changing my life, I would change the hair too. I have been letting it grow out and it can get it in a pony tail now so I am rocking it pulled back lately. I think its a good change to go along with my smaller size. Teehee.. I am just tickled.

How far out from surgery you are what percentage have you lost? I'll be 5 weeks out today. My pre-op weight was 234 and i was 207 this morning. I've lost 27 pounds or 25.9% of my excess weight. How many times a day are you eating? 3 or 4 times a day per day What is the amount of normal food (non liquid) you are now able to get down? I'd say about 1.5 ounces on average. What kind of supplements are you taking? Types and Brands Everyday I take adult gummie multvitamins, B12 sublingual, my PPI and a nausea pill (zofran). I am supposed to be taking a calcium supplement, Iron and B complex but I do not consistently get them in. How much Protein are you supposed to be getting and how much are you actually getting in daily and what are your sources of protein (brands of shakes etc), My nutritionist's goal for me is 80 grams of protein daily but I am not getting it. I usually get around 50 or so grams of protein. I am working on it. How much Water you are actually getting down each day? It is a chore to get down the entire 64 ounces, but at the least I get in about 40. What is your exercise routine, type of exercise, and how often. I just started the gym and walking a little bit. How is your energy level? I was really tired up to this week but I think I finally turned the corner!

I came in at lunch from a short walk around campus at work. I have to pass through another department to get to my office. As I turned the corner to go through the double doors toward my office, an aquantance called my name. I didnt hear her... she called again and I turned. She screamed "How much weight have you lost!!! you look amazing!" I was startled. I made the same old knee jerk reaction by telling her it was probably because my hair was pulled back that it looked like I had lost a lot of weight. Then I realized, Hey! I have lost 27 pounds so far! I told her it was 27 pounds and she was so excited for me! Then I was excited for me! I dont know why I try to play it off still, like I didnt really accomplish it. I need to get my head out of my butt and realize that I am doing this! This is really happening! Woohooo for people noticing your weight loss! I will take it!

Our beginning stats are very similar! I started at 234 and had surgery at 225. I am only 5 weeks out and I have lost 27 pounds so far. I am also 5'4". I hope my journey goes like yours! Woohooo! Congrats!

You are doing and awesome job! Woohooo for finallyl breaking your stall! I wish you success!

I am 5 weeks out and I would do it again tomorrow! There is a period of a few weeks after surgery that I was like, hmmm, should I have done this? I discovered it was coming from my emotional relationship with food. I still had head hunger and was going through a depression because I was on liquids and couldnt eat solids. I felt sad that I couldnt eat like I used to. Then I just snapped out of it! If I was going to continue to eat like that, I was going to an early grave! Now that I am on solids, I can eat small portions of anything I choose! I am very picky now because I want to only taste the best! If I only have a few bites, I choose them carefully. What is going to make me feel good? PROTEIN. I think like that now. I have lost 27 pounds in 5 weeks and I am looking and feeling better for sure. I dont regret it at all. I think people dont realize that they have such an emotional attachment to food and get a little depressed when they have to face their unhealthy relationship with food because they dont have a choice now. It forced me to look at food differently and thank goodness! Good luck with your decision!

Forensikchic Update 9/12 Starting weight for challenge 210 current weight 207 Halloween goal 190 Total lost 3lbs starting working out yesterday!

Hey! I just saw this post today! I dont know why I didnt get notification. I was sad that no one posted a response. I felt all alone in my kidney stone hell. I got my stent out wednesday and what a relief! I was bleeding really bad with it and hurting in my side. I have a family history of stones. I had never had one before this. I still have to stay super hydrated but I cant seem to. I had my surgery on 8/8. We are sleeve sisters! Please keep in touch! I am glad I found a buddy that I can relate to!

Its not too late! You can do it! I set my goal for 20 pounds too!

I told my mom too and asked her not to tell anyone that I wanted it private. I got on facebook yesterday and my stepsister who I havent talked to in over 20 years messaged me and asked about my surgery!!!! I was furious to say the least! At least she didnt post it on facebook but she knows and she shouldnt know! Now I guess every Harry, d**k and Tom will know! Very frustrating! I meant the D word as a mans name... not a body part and it changed it to **.. funny!

I took my measurements a few days before my surgery. I have taken them every two weeks so twice more now since I am 5 weeks out, and I have lost a total of 13 inches overall. I measure my neck, chest, hips, right thigh and left arm. I made a spreadsheet to keep up with it and I log some of them into myfitnesspal.com. I have lost 25 pounds so far and that is 25% of my weight I need to loose! I am already a quarter of the way there!!!!!

Hey! You are my height and we lost about the same weight the first month! Its great to find someone who is really inline with my stats! Congrats on the weight loss! Tammi

My starting weight was 234. I am 5'4" tall Surgery day after one week preop I was 225. I am almost 5 weeks post op and today I weighed 208.9. Total weight loss of 25 pounds at one month out give or take a few days. * I was hospitalized again for a kidney stone at 2 weeks out and was pumped full of fluids.. gained all the weight back and came home weighing 236! I had to loose it all again but it was only Water. I had surgery to place a stent and then had it removed yesterday. I am on the road to recovery from kidney problems and I am feeling pretty good today! I think 25 pounds is awesome considering what I have been through!

I had my surgery August 8th at Foundations Hospital with Dr. Duperier at BMI of Texas... GREAT PLACE! I am not familiar with BAMC so I cant help you there but... I would love to have local buddies who have had the sleeve! We can support each other! I hope you get a date soon. I was self pay because I have Humana and they dont cover the sleeve unless you have a BMI of 50 or higher. Mine was 40.2. Please stay in touch and if I can help you in any way, I certainly will!

I am four weeks out and I get that feeling when I eat too. Most of the time I get it when I eat too fast. If I slow down and take small bites, wait in between for a minute or two, I dont get it as much. You are right... if that is the new full feeling, its WAY different than the full stomach feeling we all know and love. I am just trying to learn mine too and I hope this helps some. I think if we slow down some, measure the food if we need to and take smaller bites, it will be easier to tell when we are satisfied, not full.

Good luck! You will be fine! So excited for you!