Vsglass

I must admit, beforehand, being put "under" and relinquishing control was the only thing that scared me about the surgery. I asked them to tell me when the anaesthesia was about to be administered. He did, I felt a cold sensation in the back of my hand (not unpleasant at all so worry not!) and I imagined myself in Florida with my family walking towards the Harry Potter rides in the sun ... what seemed like a minute later I came too with a woman say "hello Alison" followed my "Oh my goodness your eyelashes are real!" ?! There really is nothing to fear. My advice to you would be to keep calm, relax and picture somewhere that you love and you'll gently and quickly be asleep. Before you know it you'll be joining us on the "losers' bench".

So glad to hear you are home and slowly mending, my fellow 26th April Sleever, I was getting worried about you! Take it slowly, Jimmy, and I hope Monday back at work goes well.

I was told that my stomach would have healed over the staples by day 6 post-op - amazing - so leaks very very unlikely! The bariatric nurse also said that if I was to overeat in the early stages and get that horrible stuffed feeling that I was not to worry as I wouldn't damage my sleeve. So as mentioned by my fellow sleevers unless you have other symptoms, don't worry, lesson learned, chicken doesn't sit well with you at the moment:) Sleep well...

I think everyone goes through the fears you are experiencing now, I certainly did. A couple of things my surgeon said, things I've read, etc... The latest thinking is that people's brains tell the body to process food in different ways. For example studies of Prisoners of War should that they were all given the same meagre amount of food and took that same amount of exercise and yet, after years of being imprisoned, on release, some were emaciated and yet some were not. It is thought that in some people the brain tells the body to process food differently, to store more fat than in others. A stressful episode in someone's life seems to cause some people's brains to panic as it thinks the sudden shift might be the body going into starvation mode so again it stores more fat. Then there is the issue of the hormone ghrelin that sits in your stomach ( the part that gets removed during surgery). In some people maybe because of constant on and off dieting this hormone, which sends a signal to the brain that you are hungry and must eat, goes into overdrive. I know that in my case most of my weight issues started around 5/6 years ago when things were a bit stressful. Since then, doing the same things I did before to lose weight, just didn't work. As soon as I started eating during the day, whether at Breakfast time or waiting until lunchtime, once I started I never felt full so kept eating. So to my point (sorry a bit long-winded but I'm getting there..). I had all your fears. I was sleeved on 26 April so I am 2 weeks 3 days post-op and the part of my stomach containing Ghrelin has gone. I can honestly say that have an amazing calmness around food. As an obsessive daily weigher, I don't seem to have the same panic about the numbers going down, I just know they will. I have remained the same weight for 3 days now despite eating very little and miraculously it doesn't faze me at all. I feel back in control for the first time in a long time as I know I will lose weight. During this 3 day stall I am changing shape as my body adjusts and recovers from surgery. It's like my brain has been rebooted and the cravings, lack of weight loss panic, mild blues associated with being overweight have just disappeared... I have a friend who was sleeved in September last year who also described all of the above post-op. So please don't worry. Unless you intend to consume a vat of ice cream at a gazillion calories, you will lose weight. Make healthy choices, walk more and above all enjoy getting this fresh start....

I found the same. It was very much like my emergency c-section - in a different pace:). I am 2weeks post-op and the tightness has gone. I think the internal swelling and bloatedness makes it tight and as that subsides the tightness eases. Hope you feel better soon.

Fantastic! Well done:)

Not only do you look great, you look so much happier!

Many thanks for that. 51lbs lost since mid-January - well done! I'm off to check out your blog

I was told at my 10 day post-op appointment that there would still be a lot of swelling in my stomach and surrounding area that would take a while longer to go down. Be patient, my friend, it will happen:)

I was wondering what my fellow veggies are eating post-op, are getting enough Protein and how your weight loss is going? I had my op on 26th April 2012 and so am a day shy of being 2 weeks post-op. I am due to go on a normal and varied diet as of around week 6. I eat diary, although too much disagrees with me - goes right through me, if you see what I mean?! I am intending to get my protein from Quorn products, TVP, lentils, pulses, Beans and eggs, cheese, greek yogurt etc. Any ideas or words of wisdom from those further out?

Groan!

The 26th is finally here - in Scotland anyway:) Had pre-op last night and as usual it took two people and several holes in both arms before they could find a vein. Even then they didn't get a lot, so might have do it again today. Check in at hospital at 4.30pm with op at 6.30pm. It's going to be a long day... Best of luck everyone. See you on the other side:-)

You look amazing, quite the inspiration! Well done.

I'm on the 26th too! Keep in touch:)

I'm in on Thurs 26th and the time is dragging on... I get headaches & migraine all the time but haven't had one since going in pre-op:). They had become more frequent the heavier I got so hopefully from now on us headache sufferers will get more and more headache free days:) How are you doing? You must be a couple of weeks post-op now!

Very very best of luck! Keep in touch:)

Well put!

Thanks for this, I was wondering what the difference meant in terms of restriction:)

Glad to hear all is going so well. Keep the updates coming . I am in the last batch of April sleevers (26th April) - you are all trailblazers and I can't wait to join the journey!

You look amazing and so happy. Well done:)

Well done! Looking forward to following your journey:)