Gene1970

While the sleeve's popularity is fairly new, the procedure has been around for several years now (8 - 10 years). Some of the long term studies are exactly why many surgeons are now pushing it so much.

Before being sleeved I talked to my Dr and he said that he has observed better long term success with the sleeve. He has seen a lot of people with the bypass lose a lot of weight up front but a few years down the road they seem to gain a good chunk back.

It's a non scale victory. Climbing a flight of stairs without getting out of breath, fitting into an old shirt that hasn't fit in years, having someone comment on how good you look, having the energy to do something that you haven't been able to do in years, etc... all non scale victories.

I wouldn't say it hurts, but it's a weird uncomfortable feeling as they pull it out. My nurse gave me some pain meds just before doing it but I think I could have done it without the meds.

I had one and had been previously told that it was pretty small and not worth fixing by another Dr. I had horrible reflux for years!!!! My surgeon fixed mine during surgery and said it was pretty huge. I have had absolutly no issues with reflux since surgery. I used to sleep with 3 pillows just to help keep reduce the reflux, now that is no longer necessary. Best thing ever!!!!

Congrats!!! Welcome to the other side It only gets better from here.

I think you will be happier with the sleeve. If you have every know anyone that has had a band you will hear them talking about getting "stuck" a lot, which is usually from not chewing enough or eating too fast... well that usually leads to them throwing up. If you enjoy that type of thing then the band is for you. If you enjoy eating and keeping the food down then go for the sleeve.

I've lost 20 pounds post op. I lost 15 on the pre-op diet and another 10 prior to that just by cutting soda out of my diet. so in all I'm 45 pounds lighter than when I started this whole journey.

Hang in there. Know that it get's better!!! Every day from here on out will get just a little better. Focus on getting some water in and don't worry about the calories. In another week or two you will have no regrets. It's a major change but your body will get used to it faster than you think. I'm 2 1/2 weeks out and feeling great!!! you will too!!!

HI Ssilian, Yes, I have been eating food since day 6. I was supposed to wait until day 7 but I was traveling back to see my Dr on the 7th day so I didn't want to risk getting sick on the road. My Dr has a very agressive ramp up on food which seems to work well. I was on clear liquids for 2 days post op, then 4 more days of soft foods like applesauce, yogurt, cottage cheese, thinned oatmeal, etc..., on day 7 post op I could add things like seafood, deli and canned chicken, deli turkey, soft cooked veggies, light or free mayo or salad dressing, canned fruits,string or babybel cheese, hot cereals and eggs. At two months I can add everything else like all meats that are lean and tender, raw veggies, raw fruits, potatoes, pasta or rice, breads, cereals and salads. So far I'm doing fine with everything I eat.

Don't back out... I think we all had some last minute thoughts like you are having, but going through with it is the right thing to do. You've obviously researched it, you have thought about it and I'm sure you have failed many times like the rest of us on a regular diet. It's life altering...but in a GREAT way... I want to be healthy and I'm sure you do too. Best of luck with you surgery this weekend. I'm 100% happy with my decison to have it done and now 2 weeks post op don't regret my decision one bit.

Congrats first of all!!!! You have a date set and you CAN do this. I think most of us went through a period where we amost chickened out. I can say personally at 2 weeks post op now that it's the best decison I could have made. I have tolerated all food very well... and yes I am on solid food already and doing fine with it. I used to have horrible acid reflux and that is completely gone now that I am losing weigh and the surgeon fixed my hiatal hernia. Unlike the band you really don't get stuck with the sleeve... you have no restriction point like you did with the band. Don't chicken out... you won't regret the surgery. Best of luck!!!!

I'm just past 2 weeks out and have to say that I still enjoy food. Granted I get full extremely quickly but I am taking smaller bites and I enjoy every bite that I get. Food tastes the same to me and everything has agreed with my sleeve. Obviously by the responses to this post everyone does not fare as well, but at 1 week out it's too early to tell that. Just a week a go I was still haveing cramping in my sleeve when I ate and always felt full, in just the few days since I have made dramatic improvements and don't even think about the fact that I had surgery just 2 weeks ago. That is until I start to eat and even then It's just a matter of me getting full quicker... isn't that the point of the surgery ?

It really depends on the Dr. I was on clears for 2 days post op, then on soft foods like yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce and the like for 4 more days. On day 7 I was allowed to add in deli chicken or turkey, canned chicken, any seafood, soft cooked veggies, canned fruits, Babybel cheese, oatmeal, etc... about the only restriction I have is to stay away from red meat, pasta, rice, and potatoes until 2 months. When I had my 1 week meeting with the Dr. he just said to progress my diet as I felt comfortable but at 2 months everything would be completely healed and I could eat just about anything.

Protien pudding... Do you like pudding? Make a box of suger free fat free pudding with skim milk and add 2 scoops of protien powder when mixing it up. TONS of protien in a small amount of pudding. It's an easy way to get the protien in.

I'm two weeks out and let me tell you, you will notice a difference by this time next week. I don't think we'll ever be able to gulp down water quite like we used to but it gets a lot easier. I drink water now and don't even think about it where as at one week out I could tell I needed to go slower. It's amazing what a difference a few days make.

It all depends on the Dr. Mine said I could do things like cream of wheat and thinned out oatmeal in the same phase as the creamed soup. Of course my Dr has a pretty agressive phase back on food. 2 days of clears, 4 days of mushies, and then solids on day 7... Just softer solids like the deli turkey. But during the early phases I had some thinned out oatmeal which felt a bit more like solid food... it at least gave me something to chew.

How long are you on full liquids?

Welcome Jessica!!! I was sleeved on the 13th and have been doing great as well. I'm back to work 1/2 days and feeling great. The diet through my dr has already progressed me to solids with the limitation of not eating chicken, red meat, pasta, rice, and potatoes until 2 months out. I can eat deli chicken or turkey now, any seafood I want and soft cooked veggies. I can also have fruit. I hope your diet will allow that soon, it's nice to progress to that point.

It sounds like you have things covered. Honestly I took absolutely nothing to the hospital with me except the clothes that I was wearing and didn't need anything besides what they gave me. When I got home I started my liquids which was creamed soups thinned and some yogurt. A can of soup could last you a week. You'll have a hard time drinking a ton of water the first few days but drink as much as you can, you don't want to get dehydrated. Within just a few days you'll feel like getting up and out of the house. I would say don't buy a ton of stuff that you "think" you might need, just wait and if you need something get it then. You'll do fine!!! Congrats on your surgery!!!! I'm less than 2 weeks post OP and feeling GREAT!!!!

I think you are doing all of the right things. Make sure you are getting enough water, but your surgeon is right, you will start to lose again. Building muscle is the right thing to do. It not only weighs more than fat but takes a lot more calories to support so it will help you get rid of that fat. It sounds like you have done an AWESOME job of getting the weight off so far so I would just keep doing what you are doing.

Karen is right.. that's almost 3lbs a week which any Dr would say is Fabulous. It didn't all go on overnight and it won't all come off overnight. If you think you should be losing more then I would look at how much protien you are getting in compared to carbs and make sure you are getting all of your water in daily. The slower you lose the lower chance you will have of having saggy skin and I bet you won't be disappointed with that.

What are you eating on a normal day?

You have to decide what is going to make you happy for the rest of your life. I too was diagnosed with Barretts a few years ago, and then a year later they said I was mis-diagnosed. I have lived with HORRIBLE acid reflux for years. Don't let what the specialist says make your decison. I asked my specialist a couple years ago and he didn't think highly of the surgery... his skinny person advice was "just eat a little less and you'll lose the weight"...easy for someone without a weight problem to say. 2 years later and a few pounds more I decided that it was time to take charge of my own destiny. Sure there were risks... but there was only a SMALL percentage of people that have the complications. There are also MAJOR risks to keeping the extra weight on. It's a matter of how you want to spend the rest of your life. I was sleeved 1 week ago by who I would consider one of the best Surgeons around and couldn't be happier. I have already progressed to solid food. I lost 15lbs on the pre-op diet over 2 weeks and another 15lbs in the last week post op. I could have never done that on my own. I'm seeing huge changes in how clothes fit and about how I feel about myself. I'm still healing and it's not perfect yet... but in the end i can tell it was the best decison I have ever made, and I hope you decide to go for it too. Only you can jump off that fence... but from someone on the other side I can truly say it's not bad over here.

Some people may not be comfortable saying "oh... I see you've lost weight" because if they are wrong, well then they feel stupid and you feel bad... but if they say something is different and you tell them... well then it's all good. It's like asking a women when her baby is due only to find out that she's not pregnant... . My guess is that is what is happening.