legal loser

I was for 2.5 weeks after surgery. I could have used one more week because I was so tired. I have a desk job.

It gets better, PROMISE! I'm just over 6 weeks out. My doctor is ultra conservative and requires pureed food until 8 weeks out. I can eat most of my food selections without any problem now. Don't get me wrong though, if I take too big of a swallow of water, I can feel it. There have been times at work, I've had to get up at work and walk the halls to help the water work its way down.

You will learn to recognize your own fullness signals. You don't want to reach that overfull feeling or you will regret it. As you progress, you will learn your body's signatures. And, you will learn what your new stomach can tolerate might vary from day to day.

I think there are new health care laws that prohibit the use of "pre-existing" conditions from being used to deny health care. Clearly, after surgery we are (typically) healthier.

Agree. It's hard to recondition our minds to get the word "only" out of our vocabulary.

I agree, it's your business. I told some people before, my boss new, and I took FMLA and sick leave because I was out 12 days. If you take medical, your HR department shouldn't share that with people and they cannot tell others why you are out. I also wanted to make sure if, God forbid, there was a complication, I had all my ducks in a row for FMLA and short term disability in case I needed to be out longer. Now that I have had surgery and people are starting to notice the weight loss, I find I am more open about who I tell. Some people, I simply state I'm on a "special diet" or I am doing high Protein, low carbs. Others, I tell them the truth. I don't care if people want to judge me and claim it's the easy way out (Lord knows it's not). I made a decision to extend my life long-term and if they can say negative things about that, they are the ones that look bad. But, you have to do what is right for you in your eyes.

Starting Weight: 260 Sleeved 4/24 Current weight: 225.5 Down 34.5 pounds Would love to be at (or below) 200 on my birthday July 15th (just over 5 weeks away)....will be okay at 210 since that would be 50 pounds gone.

Sounds good to me. I have had to learn not to compare myself to others!

Follow what your surgeon says. I'm suppose to get in a least 60 grams of protein from food and supplement with shakes as needed.

Typically day of. You might have a phone call with someone.

I use Fage plain and add some trivia and some fat free strawberry preserves. I have heard to try some Dry SF pudding mixed in.

Eating some heavy food before hand can't hurt .....

My dr considers himself conservative. I transitioned to puréed foods one week out and have to stay on that until my 2 month post op appt. I drink at least one protein drink a day to get my protein over 60 grams like they want. I am so ready to introduce other foods!

I dare anyone that says it is the easy way out to do the preop diet and then progress through the post op stages. And take all the vitamins, follow the rules on not drinking while they eat, and only eating out portion size. It's not the easy way out and why I took 3 years to finally have WLS.

I use Vitamin E oil now that my incisions are mostly healed. I've learned through the years keeping them moist helps reduce scar appearance.

Today, I am 5 weeks post op. This morning my parents had to make the tough decision to put down our family dog that was 13. I live 5.5 hours from home (as I have for 6 years) so the last I saw him was at Easter. I used to turn to comfort food when I am sad but knew that was not an option at 5 weeks out and needed to replace the desire for ice cream with something else. So, I went to Wendys and ordered just a cheeseburger, which I haven't had since before surgery (I really wanted a Frosty), and didnt eat any of the bun. Just having the cheeseburger felt like comfort food but was actually good for me with high Protein and low carbs!! Today helped reassure me I can do this and find alternatives when I'm feeling down.

I would participate.

I would not use a dr that pushed me for a surgery I didnt want. My surgeon was very strict on the patient making the final decision since the patient has to live with it. Although his "surgery of choice" is bypass, he never pushed that on me. We weighed the options of Band vs Sleeve, the two procedures I was trying to decide between, together and I picked sleeve. I love that my doctor made it my choice.

I remember being rolled into the OR and talking to the people in there. The last thing I remember was seeing the anesthesiologist before I woke up in recovery. I was groggy but minimal pain. I think I was mostly coherent for about an hour before they rolled me up to my room. I remember them kicking my mom out of the room until they had me settled in my hospital bed. I fought like mad to lose the oxygen and won! My surgery was at 10am, my doctor checked in on me about 4, and I was up walking the halls by 5pm. I slept on and off for about 24 hours before I felt more like me. I felt slight discomfort in my stomach, but otherwise good. I barely used the morphine pump and once they took that off, didn't take any pain meds. Everyone is different. Hopefully you have a good experience.

I would add another option. If its not covered talk to your employer and explain where you are in the process and see if it's covered. Depending on if your company is fully insured, self-insured or fully funded, your employer may be able to override any exclusion. Plus, if Aetna generally covers it, your employer may not opt for the coverage.

My mom was banded in 2009 and my best friends mom in 2011. I went to the seminars thinking band and learned about the sleeve. Researched the heck out of it and decided it was for me. Like not having to do the fills (I will still have yearly follow ups at the bariatric center for life) and not having a foreign body in me. At 30, bypass was not an option because I found it too invasive and I didn't want my insides rearranged. My surgeon did all 3 procedures but was initially trained with bypass. At my pre-op I was 90% set on sleeve with a 10% reservation for band. Never once did he push bypass on me and we walked through the pros and cons of the band vs. sleeve and I made the decision to "own" the sleeve procedure. I think whichever procedure you select you have to "own" it to be successful. Good luck with whatever you select.

I was off 2.5 weeks. I have a desk job and was very tired and didn't make it through the day for the first 1.5 weeks back. I wish I would have taken another week off BUT was so ready to get back into the swing of things. I have a great boss and he had no issue with me leaving early. Told me to take care of me first.

I too am just a month out from surgery. I have lost 32 pound since my March 28th pre-op. Since surgery, after the first week after surgery, I too feel like the loss is crawling. I was having a pity party myself and my mom (banded in 09) reminded me it's not a sprint, its a marathon. The doctor warned my mom that there would be some post-op depression issues and questioning why I did what I did. A life long problem of mine is that I always question whether I am good enough or doing good enough. I think we all face the issues surrounding why is this so slow, BUT when you think about it, when's the last time you lost that much weight in that short of a time period? We can do this!! One day at a time.