greensthings

The last day I exercized before surgery, was the day before surgery. The day I began to exercise after surgery was the day after my 2 week check up! My Dr said I could start Water aerobics only though. To go to the gym for 30 days after surgery as the risk of a hernia was too great.

I was just thinking this the other day too!!!! It feels great doesn't it!!!

You WILL make your goal! from your banner you are so close!!You CAN do this! I KNOW you can!!

Soda's were the first thing to go when I started on my Sleeve surgery path. Not only does the carbonation cause ulcers, but the empty calories that they contain are HORRIBLE for your new lifestyle change AND after surgery, the carbonation can stretch your new sleeve out and that is the last thing you want to do after and investing so much time and energy into getting approved to get a sleeve!

Pre-surgery (at least the first 4 out of 6 months pre-surgery) water aerobics was ALL I could do! I was in such pain all the time, from my weight putting so much pressure on my joints. Water aerobics (combined with the food plans my bariatric program put me on) not only helped me lose weight, it helped with pain, it helped with limbering up and gave me enough self confidance to go to the gym.It also was one of the big reasons that my hospital stay was 26 hours, and my recovery was fast and nearly pain free! My stomach muscles had improved flexability and stability that was not there 6 months before. Good Luck to you!!

First and formost, I had sleeve surgery! I watch what I eat (not that I can eat all that much, but what I do eat, I make sure is healthy for me). I workout in the gym 2 hours a day, 5 days a week (when I started going to the gym, it was for 15 minutes, becaause that was all I could do!) and I do water aerobics 3 times a week for an hour each session as well (when I started it was one class a week, now I teach 2 of the 3 sessions I go to!) I am 50, and I am a 3 time cancer survivor (age 10, brain tumor[Menegeoma], age 21 Uterine Cancer [discovered when I was 6 months pregnant], age 36 skin cancer), as well as a Service Connected Disabled Veteran (US Army 6 years). I currently am battling Fibromyalgia, Chronic Neuropathy, Arthritis and Compressed Disc's in my back (I am 3 inches shorter than I used to be). So I know all about pain and the limitations that health can play on working out. But as I have lost weight, the better I am able to move. The 15 minutes I used to only be able to do on the treadmill at 1.7 speed, is now at an hour at 4.5 speed! The biggest thing I can say is, Water aerobics! If you can find a class near you, sign up! There are things I can do in the water, I would never be able to do on dry ground! Water aerobics takes the weight off my joints, so I can exersize. Water aerobics helps me get limber and gain enough confidance, so I was able to go to the gym. Even with a sleeve, losing weight is not easy. A sleeve will not solve all the weight problems we all deal with. A sleeve is not an instant miracle surgery, it is a tool to HELP lose weigh as it limits the amount of food we can eat at a sitting! WE still have to put in the effort to exersize, watch what we eat and not stretch out our sleeve and defeat the purpose of getting the sleeve in the first place! This is why most bariatric programs have mandatory 6 month pre-surgery programs!

I lost 50 pounds during my 6 month waiting period and I am glad I did! It did not affect my insurance in any way, as I aslo had other health issues that warrented the surgery (Pre-diabetes, High Blood Pressure etc). It gave me a jump on post weight loss and trained my body better in new eating habits and exersice habits. It also made surgery so much easier and made any surgery risks go down with ech pound lost. My surgeon said my liver was easier to move out of the way with the weight loss. My body was better prepared for recovery as well! My recovery time was cut in half because of the weight loss.

Leaks are VERY rare! Having the surgery is the best thing I have ever done for myself! You said "I'm relatively healthy no comorbitities I'm just fat"....I want you to think about something for a minute...How many Fat, healthy old people have you ever seen? Fat is a wall we build around ourselves to protect ourselves from others. To get rid of it is scary and we will do most anything not to change that. It takes courage and determination to become a "normal" person. I KNOW you can do it! Keep talking on this blog, do research, talk to your Dr about your fears and you will soon realize that the only thing keeping you from having the surgery...is yourself!

Even if your insurance doesn't have a mandatory 6 month waiting period, your DR and Bariatric program might...Something to keep in mind. Lots of places have a program they expect everyone to follow, so even if the insurance doesn't require it, your program might...

I am 5 months post surgery I have gone from a size 4x to a size 12

I am 5 months post op. I have never felt so good in my life! I shock myself when looking at clothing to buy. I head to the size I still think I wear in my head...4x, and find it is way to big....I am down to a size 12 and I still can't get it through my head that that REALLY is my current size!! I still have a ways to go to get to my goal weight (that I was convinced I would never reach) but the end is in sight and I am so glad I went through this. It was the best thing I ever have done for myself!!

Better now than a couple months post op, which is when most people have their food funerals! All is not lost, it has only been a couple weeks. You recognize you had a problem, and the next step is to change your behavior and go back to eating right! Like all things, this too will pass! I imagine it is directly related to the stress of the postponement and thinking aboout the future weight loss and how it will define you. We all go through it. Mine was 3 months post op when people started to notice the weight loss, and it dawned on me I am losing my "wall of fat" that I used to keep people at a distance with...I then had to reset my mindset and get back to business of losing weight, working out and I have been fine since....and so will you!!

Ignore her! After the surgery, you will lose so much weight that she will be a memory, just like your weight! I am 5 months post surgery and people are all over me asking me "how did you do it?"...I smile and say hard work, lots of exersize and a lifestyle change and leave it at that! UNLESS I know a person has really been struggeling with weight and may be thinking about surgery, then I will quietly give them a refferal to my Bariatric program and the name of my Dr....

Terrific!! keep up the good work!!

I started at 287 pounds, I am 5' 6" and am now down to 155 pounds, 5 months post surgery! I started in a 4x and am now down to a size 12. My goal is a size 9!! I have lost 42 and a 1/2 inches total, 13 BMI points and my high blood pressure and pre-diabetes is GONE!

I am 5 months post surgery and never had any hair loss. In fact if you look at my before and after pics, my hair looks better now than pre surgery!!

Find a water aerobics class and join! It is not as stressful or as painful as going to the gym, but burns twice the calories! I did just water aerobics 3x a week for about 2 months after surgery, now I am up to 2 hours a day at the gym plus the water aerobics 3x a week!!

I am 5 days post-op. As long as you are staying hydrated, the rest will follow. A day or two of limited Protein intake is OK, just get more in when you and sleevie are ready for it. I can now roll on my side. A tip that helped me roll on my side and generally feel better was: I put on a stretchy exercise support belt and it not only helped feel like I was "smoothing" out my belly, as it was so lumpy and swollen from the procedure, but it helped support that "hanging watermelon" feeling I was having. The support also enabled me to get up and move better, as well as roll on my side easier. I found my belt at Walmart by Gold's Gym and it was under $10. You are right the Liquid Lortab is horrible! But each day that passes I find I don't need it as much. Today I the bruises are coming to the surface and my tummy looks all black and blue, but the only place I have pain is on the right side around the liver, where my DR told me that he pulled the excess stomach out through the laprioscopic hole, and that only hurts now when I bend over too far or when my bladder is full.....

When I decided to start the program back in April, the only people that knew were my Husband and my Doctor. Then in May I had two of my cousins move in next door (sisters). I figured they were family and since they lived next door I could not hid it from them. So I told them...one was EXTREMELY supportive, she goes with the gym with me daily and between the 2 of us in the last 6 months we have lost together over 150 pounds!!! She helps keep me motivated, has gone with me to DR appts, Dietitian appts, Physically Therapy appts, we talk about menu changes and eating right etc. (Did I mention she weighed over 450 pounds when we started and without surgery, she is down to 360 pounds just by working out with me!) She is MY inspiration! Now her sister.....the first thing she said when I told them about me getting a sleevie was "Thats cheating!!" That is when I closed down on telling people what I was going through. She has since seen her sister and I lose weight by working out and the closeness between us and decided she was going to get with the program too. She has lost 3 pounds (her weight started at 325 pounds). I am only 5 days out from surgery, and she told me yesterday, that while I was in the hospital, she called my surgeon and made an appt to get started on the Bariatric program herself! Once I started losing weight pre-surgery and people started to ask me about it, I tentatively told a few (I wasn't ashamed of the surgery until my cousin made the comment about it cheating BTW), and all I have received is support from everyone I told (besides my cousin). I started to lose my embarrassment over talking about the surgery, the closer I got to my surgery and the more weight I lost pre-surgery. I discovered through Facebook, that by talking about my surgery that I have 4 people on my friends list (including my bestie from High School 30 years ago) that have had surgery in the last year, 8 more that have been thinking about it and 2 that will be having surgery in the next few months! So by showing courage, and talking about it, you will find more support than you ever knew as well as changing people's minds about WLS being "cheating" once they find out how much work REALLY goes into it! I have been averaging a pound a day weight loss since surgery BTW!

Divorced the fat lady inside Best thing I've done Hope for the future

I had several upper endoscopy scopes that diagnosed a "Gaping Hiatal Hernia". The last one was about a week before surgery to double check how involved my surgery was going to be. I had also had a Bravo monitor done about 3 months before I started the Bariatric program. (A Bravo monitor is where they sew a small device high up in the esophogus and and you wear a monitor around your waist and it measures how much acid reflux is flowing up your esophogus. Mine was quite high, and was one of the reasons that I decided that if I needed a hiatal hernia repair, then I might as well go full bore and get the VSG as well....)

Thank You! The hospital I was at does have a Bariatric program, and I started walking as soon as they took my catheter out (I was an LPN for over 20 years, so I knew what I needed to do to get better and out of the hospital...It also meant I was on to every mistake the Staff made....)

[quote name=Lisa ' timestamp='1321242758' post='228876] Welcome!! Sorry you had such a rough time in the hospital. I was lucky to be at a hospital with a bariatric program and all the nurses and CNA's were understanding. I was sleeved on the 9th and I also had a hiatal hernia repaired. I wish I could move to full liquids now...the Isopure is killing me and I can't move to full liquids until after my post-op appt on Friday. Anyway, welcome!!...there is a lot of great info and support here!! The Hospital I was at DOES have a bariatric program!! They were full and I was overflowed onto the onocology floor