Malyss

I have my surgery on 02/22/12 and was out for 2 weeks before returning to my office job. I was maybe a little slower than I was before the surgery and had lifting limitations, but I was fine. After a few weeks, maybe a month or so, my energy level was back up to a good point.

My surgery was completed on 2/22/12, so I am about 8 months out. I had buyer's remorse for the first day or two, but things got better. The good: I have not had any complications. Within the first week, I was able to cease taking my high blood pressure medicine. I gradually gained more energy. So far, I have lost 125lbs, which includes the 21 or so pounds lost in preparation for the surgery. I have scoliosis, and reducing my weight has helped tremendously to reduce my aches and pains. I feel great. I have more energy. I can walk and walk and walk before getting tired. I have discovered bones that I never "knew" that I had. My collar bones are more apparent and even my temples have more definition. I have gone from a size 26/28 to a size 18. I can now buy XL shirts and they fit nicely. The bad: I am not a fan of the bagginess, but I hope that I will see some natural resolution to this. My inner thighs look like deflated balloons. Bowel movements can be challenging. I cannot always drink enough Water, which was a problem at times when my husband and I were out for long walks during the summer. I react violently to sugar. Granted, why would I even want one of the things that helped to contribute to my obesity, but who doesn't occasionally want a taste of a dessert? I have found that if I have sugar, I will tend to have massive mood swings. I may even become slightly lightheaded. I went overboard once and had a milkshake. An hour or so afterwards, I had a bad bout of diarrhea. At least I know now what I can do if I ever get really stopped up. Overall: Having the surgery has been a life changing experience. I feel so different and so much healthier. I am about 62lbs away from my prescribed goal and I definitely feel as though I am going to make it this time.

I get what you're saying. It did seem a little odd to radically change a properly functioning organ. It seemed scary at first especially when some of the complications to the surgery can be so dire. It definitely seemed a bit odd, but I am about 8 months out from my surgery and I am glad that I did it. The capacity of my old stomach was just too big. The downsizing has helped dramatically.

Best of luck with your journey. I am finally getting around to seeing my pulmonary doctor later this month. I am hoping to ditch my CPAP. I definitely needed it, but I am so sick of it now. I am hoping that after losing about 120lbs, that I can ditch the darned thing.

YES! I definitely have this issue from time to time. It almost feels as though I go through adjustment periods after enough losses have occurred. There have been times when even the comfiest of seats have not been enough to prevent me from feeling discomfort. There have been some killer car rides. Right now, I think that I have adjusted to the current array of padding on my posterior. At times, I wonder, "how can thin people stand sitting down?" But I guess that they're just used to it and it is different for those of us who are adjusting to having less padding. My mother-in-law is quite thin and has said that she has never had any pain. So, I really think that it is a matter of my body adjusting to the changes that it is experiencing. It will hopefully get better and better over time!

I am just a little over 6 months past my surgery date of 02/22/12 and I feel as though I am doing quite well. I started at 357lbs and am now down to about 242 lbs. Within the first week, I was off of my high blood pressure medicine. I have gone from a size 26 down to a size 18/20 at the moment. I have more energy and am capable of much more now. Knock on wood, I have not had any complications. My sleeve has been a wonderful addition to my life so far. I really feel quite glad that I went through with it.

Leaving Lane Bryant is a big milestone. I have gotten down to an XL shirt and size 18 pants and have been very excited to find that I can shop in other stores in the regular sections. Before my surgery, I was wearing size 26 clothes. I think that I lost the weight just in time! The Lane Bryant at my mall recently closed and is being remodeled into a Red Robin (burger joint).

I am not 100% sure about the noodles. Granted, pho was my first restaurant food after I had my sleeve. About 4 days after my surgery when I was on the full liquid stage, I forced my husband to take me to one of our Vietnamese restaurants so that I could have some pho broth while he ate the rest of the Soup. I have had pho a couple of times since then, but I have concentrated on the broth and the beef first and have just had a little of the noodles (well chewed).

Bah, chili garlic sauce is great stuff. Then again, I have developed a taste for Vietnamese food and my love of this stuff started at my favorite Vietnamese restaurants. It goes great with pho.

I was a "bad" girl and starting hitting the chili garlic sauce while in my pureed stage. I was eating cottage cheese and it just needed a dash of chili garlic to make it more interesting. I am about 3 months out and I still use my Steve & Ed's Louisiana Hot Sauce, Sriracha, chili garlic sauce and such without any issues. Granted, I am not trying to "burn" a hole in my stomach or anything. I have just been adding enough spicy stuff to give my food flavor.

I had mine back on 03/22/12 and I have to agree about the change in energy level. I am much livelier than ever. I do not have any good recipes to share. I am still keeping things kind of simple. I will often have some steamed fish (tilapia or flounder, sometimes salmon) for dinner with some steamed broccoli or spinach.

People are nuts to really think that this is the easy way out. This is a tool that I needed and it is helping me tremendously. I know how to diet, I do have willpower, but I just needed something that would reduce my hunger and my capacity to eat.

I have BCBS NJ Direct and didn't have too much trouble getting approved. I'm not sure how many of my preliminaries were insurance dictated and how many were what my surgeon required, but I had to have a sleep study, upper GI, a visit with a cardiologist, which led to a stress test, a psych eval, and possibly more that I'm forgetting. I also had to attend 3 months worth of my nutritionist's nutrition classes, which included weigh-ins. Also, my BMI was greater than 50, I had sleep apnea and high blood pressure. So, I had some comorbidities.

Congratulations on your success. I'm sure that you'll make a fabulous personal trainer.

Lissa - Yes, it is. Thank you. I went and had my hair chopped off last Thursday morning. It's a blast from my past hair styles, but it's a good, easy summer haircut.

Lisa, congratulations! Your improvements are absolutely wonderful and it sounds as though your quality of life has greatly improved! I have scoliosis and am starting to enjoy the benefits of having less weight on my spine. It is definitely great to be in less pain.

I wish that I had known that a coccyx pillow would have been quite handy while I was in the hospital. The nurses kept me in an inclined position for most of my stay, but it really put a lot of pressure on my tailbone. I found it very difficult to find a comfortable position. At one point, I finally started using one of my bed pillows just to sit on, but it did not provide as much relief as I would have liked.

Ah, okay. I'll hold out hope, then since I'm only 2 months out. Thanks, ladies.

I feel so gypped. I had a rather low sex drive before my surgery, and about 2 months out, it's still just as low. I'm certainly glad that my husband hasn't read this thread, or he would probably feel fairly gypped as well!

During my pureed stage, I would cook chicken thighs and breasts up in the crock pot until they were very tender. Sometimes, I would save the broth from the pot to puree the chicken with. Other times, I would puree the chicken (minus the bones and skin of course) with spaghetti sauce (I used some delicious sauce that I'd made at home). I would layer the spaghetti sauce pureed chicken with fat free cottage cheese in a very small bowl to take with me for lunch. It was somewhat reminiscent of lasagna.

Mine itched for probably 2-4wks after surgery. I just kept them clean and applied Neosporin about twice a day. It gets better once they heal.

Prior to my surgery, I made a support pillow for myself. It's about 16" long and about 9" wide at its widest point. Mine is stuffed quite firmly and provides a lot of support, but it would be bulky to pack in a suitcase.

I have BCBS Direct Access and did not have much of a problem getting my surgery approved. At most, I think that there was a slight issue with the fax machine that my doctor's insurance coordinator was sending my info to. Other than that, once BCBS had all the info (labs, psych eval, etc.), it didn't take long at all.