Buckeye Girl

Praise the Lord for your results! A healthier you, Congratulations on your tremendous results. I am about 3 1/2 months out and I am happy with my results so far, but they pale in comparison to yours. That is awesome! I have gone from a snug size 20 to compfy 16. I'm over half way to my goal! What a great year 2012 will be for all of us! I love feeling healthy again :-)

Most of us felt the exact same way. I will tell you though, that it is an adjustment, but I love my sleeve! It is a wonderful tool and helping me accomplish things that I never could on my own. I am only a little over a month out and I feel so much healthier! The first couple days after surgery, I just kept remembering all the postings on here from others saying that they questioned their decision at first, but then a few months later they write about how great they feel and their only regret is not doing it sooner. The first couple of days after surgery are a little rough, remember to WALK as much as possible, it really does help alot, as well as a heating pad. You may feel like it's going to be a long recovery, but something happens around day 4 or 5 and you wont believe how much better you feel. Best of luck to you and lean on the people on this forum for support, they are truly wonderful!

Congrats on your success! I know, I haven't done any excersizing yet, besides taking the occassional walk, and I seem to clean house with more energy than before :-) However, I know that in the months to come, I am going to have to really develop a work out plan to keep the weight loss coming at a steady rate. You are doing great! Best of luck to you!!

So sorry to hear this. I don't have any experience based advice since I have only had my sleeve a little over a month. The first thing that came to my mind while reading your story is that I would maybe go see a dietician or nutritionist. I know that out of all the diets I ever tried, weight watchers was the one I was most successful with, so I am just planning to join again, once I get close to goal. I hope some others that have had their sleeve for a year or more, can give you some advice based on their own experiences. Best of luck to you!

I didn't have any tubes or anything and when I woke up I had no difficulty breathing, nor did I have a dried out sensation. I only felt groggy, no problems at all waking up. Good Luck to You!

Gorgeous!!!

My goal weight is a guess, as you will see, under my post, " I will know when I get there"

I've hit a stall on the scale, but still losing inches :-) I know this will soon pass.

I just had my surgery there on the 10th and had no problems at all, and I felt very safe. It was an inside job and they have "cleaned house" and have taken many precautions. While I was at the recovery house, the founder, Dr. Bentacourt was there and we sat and had a wonderful conversation, as soon as he heard that I was from Ohio he asked me to send him some candy buckeyes, he is in luck because I make buckeyes quite often :-) He was super nice and I really enjoyed my time at the recovery house. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

Frozen ice pops was my saving grace during my first few days at home, are you on an acid reducer? I've read lots of people that have problems with hunger take an acid reducer and it really helps.

I drink iced tea and haven't had any problems.

Thanks, both of these replies make good sense. I guess I need to pay more attention because I get the full feeling in my throat, but don't feel it in my sleeve until after I stop. Thought I was eating slow, but maybe I need to slow it down some more. Other than that, I'm feeling great!

I am 12 days out and after I eat or drink, I often get these loud gurgles in my throat. It feels like I need to burp, but burps don't come out, just these audible gurgles. Also, sometimes I may not feel full in my sleeve yet but I feel full in my throat. I just started an acid reducer, but haven't noticed a difference yet. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Mina, It's so funny that you mention that because we went shopping this weekend for my hubby a new pair of shoes and I told him, I can't wait until I can buy a pair of calf boots It will take a while because I have small feet and the smaller the size of your foot, the smaller the calf part is too, but I know I will get there!

Congrats on your success, you are doing WONDERFUL

Congrats!!! Great Job! I think I had my first NSV today. I'm only a week out and my hubby and I took a long walk today and it felt great! I easily walked much farther than I could prior to surgery. I plan to do a 5k with my hubby this Spring

I lived on popsickles for several days to keep myself hydrated.

Congrats and thank you for sharing! I have a huge event the third week of January and I am so excited and a bit anxious to see what size I will be at that time. My hubby is like yours and always says I'm beautiful no matter what size I am, hubbys like ours are a true blessing! Good luck to you and I hope you reach those 8s before you know it!

Sounds like your body is in a bit of a stall as it is trying to recover and adjust. Hang in there, our bodies all react differently. I have read so many stories similar to yours on here and then a few weeks later a reply that says they are finally losing the way they wanted to and so thankful for the sleeve. I know I will hit a stall soon and I know that even though I think I am prepared for it, it will still be discouraging. Just be confident that by next summer you will feel and look amazing and without the sleeve, you may have been even heavier than when you were on Aug. 4th. Take Care!

Congratulations! That is really awesome and I am truly happy for you, this made me smile too

I am looking forward to this too. My hubby has been losing a little weight along with me and I am happy for him. He wants to lose another 15 pounds but I know that in a few months I wll pass him up. Currently he is 225 and I am 251. He is 6 inches taller. He is so supportive and keeps asking me if it's okay if he loses weight too, I think this is so cute, of course I'm okay with it, I can't wait until we both feel healthy and can do things together, like participate in a 5k do some hiking and play more church volleyball.

I too am feeling great! Including my 5 day pre-op, I am 16 lbs down in just 10 days :-) I feel so much better than I anticipated at this point in my recovery. During those first couple days, I thought wow, this is going to be a very long and miserable recovery, but something clicked in the last couple of days and I feel wonderful! I am so thankful for this tool and wish I could take everyone I love that has battled this evil thing called obesity, along with me on my journey, I just want to tell them all to please do it before another year of misery goes by, or worse even longer. I LOVE MY SLEEVE

Like all the others said, hang in there, it will get better and everyone recovers a little differently. Also. yes... walk and move as much as possible. I found stretching REALLY helped! I also loved my heating pad for sleeping and that seemed to also help the gas loosen up and move around and I would release in the morning with several farts. Some people burp a lot but I didn't burp much at all, my gas chose the other route Just get in whatever liquids you can, but don't let it worry you. I found a new love in those froxen ice pops, the kind that come as liquid in those little platic tubes. Yes, they have sugar, but you need the energy. Also, Gatorade now has a line that contains Protein (and other needed nutrients) and it is really good because it is thin enough for your new sleeve to tolerate at this point. A 16 oz bottle has 16 grams of protein, So, at this point if you can drink one or two of those a day and eat those little frozen pops, you will stay hydrated and get a little protein in the process. This is what has worked for me. Good Luck and I promise, it will get so much better!

My surgery was on Saturday and if I include my 5 day pre op diet, I am down 16 lbs in 10 days. I can't really see any differences yet. My hubby is super sweet and keeps pointing out places that he says I just look less puffy :-) Have you measured yourself? This is something my hubby insisted on before we left for surgery. He got a tablet out and a measuring tape and began to measure several different places on me so that when I say I can't tell that I have lost, or when I hit a stall, he can bring out the measuring tape and prove to me that I am getting smaller. He even took extra steps to make sure we measure the same place everytime, like to measure my thigh and calf, he wrote down how many inches off the floor is the exact spot to measure, and for my upper arm, he measured how many inches from my elbow, just to make sure to get it right. He made this his project and enjoys knowing that he has an important part of my journey that is all his. It has really helped already. He insisted on measuring me yesterday and to my surprise there were areas that had considerable loss, such as my thighs. He measures my left arm and thigh everytime to make sure it is also accurate. I lost 2 1/2 inches off my thigh in only 5 days! Other areas had less results and a couple had none, but wow, it really made me feel much better!

I just bought some Gatorade today that has protein and is pretty good. It has 16 grams of protein in a 16 ounce bottle. It's not what I would use to get all my protein, but it's a good help for me.