Gene1970

Drop the soda cold turkey... it's the only way to go. To help with the addiction I drank iced tea for a few weeks, that really helped me get rid of the soda addiction and after that it was much easier to drop the caffiene. I still have an iced tea from time to time but don't crave it or soda at all. Good luck, it's a hard addiction to drop, but my advice is to do it now before surgery. If you think it's hard to do it now just wait until you are struggling with your head and boddy after you have the surgery and you want to eat but your body won't let you.

I had pain on the right side under my ribs a lot pre-surgery.... It seemed to be tied to my fatty liver. This went away for me post op and has not come back.

Coke was my biggest addiction!!! I stopped drinking them last May and now no longer crave them at all. I knew it had to stop and one night I decided that I was drinking the last soda that I would ever have. I transitioned to Iced tea for a few weeks so that I could at least get some caffiene which helped with not getting headaches from stopping. Once I had surgery I focused on water and drink iced tea when I want something different. Good luck!!!

Both I and my wife had hair loss with our weight loss. When it will stop?, well that's up to your body. Will is stop?, absolutely in it's own time. Here's an option, probably one that you don't want to hear, but an option none the less. I would take your NUT's advice and get it cut short so that it's less noticible. You have your entire life ahead of you to grow nice long blonde hair again. Here's my suggested twist on that though... since you have nice long hair, why not have it cut and donate it to an orginization like Locks of Love? There are plenty of children out there that are going through far worse that what you are going through right now. The emotional toll of them not having hair along with everything else going on with their body is a lot for them to deal with. At least that way you can feel good about someone being able to use your hair instead of it washing down the drain every morning when you shower. It's a new year and a whole new life for you post surgery, you might as turn this temporary change in your life into something wonderful for someone else. Just my 2 cents. BTW, I am in no way affiliated with this organization, it just came to my mind as something nice to do. http://www.locksoflove.org/

You can be honest and still not tell the whole story. Tell him you had surgery a few weeks ago and just haven't had much of an appitite since. Or that you are a pretty light eater these days (still true... he doesn't need to know why). Whatever you order, take it slow, take small bites and keep the conversation going that way you are not done eating way before he is which would only make him think about you not eating all the more. If you tell him your sick then he's going to question why you are even going out if you are not feeling well. He surely won't want to catch whatever you have, so he'll probably be thinking about... man, I hope I don't get it. On top of all of that if it's a good date and you have several more soon, how long is this stomach bug going to last? Are you one of these girls that's always sick? Not attractive. If you end up really liking the guy then it's much easier to go further and say... "you know I said I don't eat much these days... well here's why..." Personally I would rather go out with someone that I find out has maybe left out a few details rather than find out she has been lying to me the whole time. But that's my opinion.

Just another guys perspective... but in my opinion honesty is always the best policy. Something like this shouldn't matter to him at all, and if it does then I would seriously question that. The past is the past and even in the past you were the same person on the inside that you are today and THAT is what truly matters.

Welcome to the forum... Well, I can't say I'm close to your age, except that if you flip your age around then you have mine... but no matter I think the questions are about the same for all of us. If we are not going back to school we are going back to work or back to taking care of our children and all want to know how soon we can be active again. One thing that I think to keep in mind is there are no stupid questions and if you get the impression that the Dr feels that you are wasting HIS time then you probably need to find a new Dr. My opinion is that a good or great Dr will want to spend plenty of time with you, answer all of YOUR questions and have you leave feeling really well informed about what is going to happen. I personally always want to be a name and not a number when I go to a Dr. Bougie size (tailored or standard) Process of checking for leaks (Not all Dr's are the same) What is his/her complication rate What complications he would expect Ask about things like catheters, drains, etc. just so you know what to expect His personal sleeve stats compared to other potential surgeries. What the long-term follow-up plan looked like What meds you will be on Post OP How long will you be in the hospital I'm sure you will get plenty of questions from all of the great people here to add to your list. Good luck with your appointment!!! In my personal experience I had my surgery on a Thursday and could have probably went back to work in about a week.

Make sure you are getting all of your water in as well. Your body is adjusting and will start losing again. Hang in there!!!!!

It sounds like you are doing great!!! The weight loss rate will likely slow down some soon but will still be so much faster than anyone without the surgery loses. Congrats!!!

Congrats!!!!

Seriously? NO... NO... and NO!!!! You just had MAJOR surgery on your stomach. If a drink on your 21st birthday was important then you should have moved your surgery date out. Sorry to sound harsh but this is the second post in a week where someone felt that having a drink 1 was important.

Agreed, small bites and make sure you are chewing each bite enough. My dr told me to chew until the food was baby food consistancy. He also said shoot for bites the size of a pencil eraser. Try to avoid those drinks!! good luck!!!

I agree, it sounds like you are right on track if not better. Keep it up!!!

Your question to me raises several other questions... such as... has your Dr. not given you any post surgery guidelines to follow? If so, have you not read them? or do you just not believe them? Was there no class that you had to addend that talks about post op care and nutrition? Because I know personally that the answer for me would have been clear with everything that I received and was told from my Dr's office. If your Dr did not provide such basic information then I would seriously question having them do the surgery. I personally want a Dr who cares about my success. If the answer is that you received the information but felt that a drink is that important over the "holiday season" that you would want to go against his orders, then I seriously question if you are ready for the surgery. If a drink 1 week post op is important, then will a few pieces of candy sound appealing and resonable at week 3? I hope you take some time to consider these things before your surgery later this month. We all want you to be successful... just as we have been successful... but you need to be prepared for this change in your life and understand the changes that you will need to make to make it a success.

Everyone is right.... you cannot let your parents talk you out of this. It's YOUR health, It's YOUR Life, It's YOUR happiness and It's YOUR future... NO ONE, not even your parents should change your mind when you KNOW that this surgery is life saving. I hope you re-consider and go forward with the surgery... you won't regret it, however if you do not go through with it you will likely regret that decision for a long time and probably always resent your parents for talking you out of it. You need to talk to your parents again and tell them that you are having surgery. Explain to them the reasons that you are having it. Tell them what having this surgery and losing the weight means to you. Help them to understand the struggles that you have been through to lose weight on your own without success. Ask them to respect your decison just as you would respect a decision that they might make regarding their health one day. Tell them that you would like their support in your decision, but no matter what they chose to do let them know that YOUR decision is made and leave it at that. Best of luck, I hope that we can all share in your success in the near future!!!