lilly11781

Wow where as the year gone? I had my surgery on August 1, 2012 and I wouldn’t change anything for the world. It has been by far the best decision of my life. My starting weight was 232 and now I am at 152. I have a new lease on life entirely. I have picked up running as my new hobby and to date I have participated in 4 – 5Ks, 1 – 8K and I am signed up for a 15K this Sunday and a ½ Marathon on Sept. 8th. I was a size 18/20 when I started and now I am a size 8/10 depending on the designer/manufacturer. I never thought I would ever fit into a size 8 in my life! I can now shop in all of the stores I was embarrassed to walk into because of my weight and knowing I couldn’t fit into any of the clothes. My shoe size and hat size has gone down as well. I used to wear an 8 1/2 shoe and now I’m either an 8 or 7 1/2 depending on the shoe. The response I get from people even strangers is night and day. It is a shame in some aspects because I get more attention and better customer service as a thin person than when I did as a heavy person. Men also treat me a lot differently which is a shame… Sorry guys I am married and have the best husband in the world. He loves me for me even when I was 232 pounds. My hair has thinned a lot. I used to have VERY thick blond hair. I had a hard time wrapping a pony tail holder around it twice. Now I have a tiny little pony tail and I can wrap the pony tail holder around 4 or more times. I like to look at the positive, I used to pay my stylist to thin it for me and now I don’t have to worry about that. It’s much cooler in the summer and personally easier to style in general. I have experienced all of these things within the first year. It’s kind of crazy and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Lara PS: I have attached a photo from my first race 5K. Yeah that's my sign on the marquee at Wrigley Field! Go Cubs!

Hello: I wanted to post a follow-up to my original post. I received my test results back and I only have a Vitamin D deficiency. I was recommended taking an additional supplement for about 2000 mgs a day. I do live in Chicago and the sun does not often come out during the winter months. I asked my NUT about my fatigue and she said that I may need to eat more carbs! I have been doing low carb but have upped my workouts so my body requires more carbs for energy. She suggested healthy carbs like Beans. So PdxMan you were so right! I have upped my healthy carbs and do feel better. Thanks so much!

I wanted to post a follow-up to my earlier post. I got my results back and have a vitamin D deficiency. It was recommended I do 2000 mgs. I live in Chicago so gettin sun in the winter is not easy. But I thought I would share.

Hi All: I am currently 6 months post op and have been just so tired. I have to peel myself out of bed in the morning and then when I am at work I just want to close my office door and take a nap. Has anyone else experience this? I am fearful of a Vitamin deficiency... If you went through this fatigue please tell me if you had a vitamin deficiency and what your doctor or NUT did to help you out. Did it get better? I will admit I don't always remember to take my Vitamins but I do take them more than not. I just had 9 vials of blood taken to test everything so I will see my results next week. Just curious what others have gone through.

I am six months post op and my doctor just took 9 vials of blood to test for everything! I am nervious I am going to have deficiencies because I haven't been great about taking my vitamins. So scared...

Date sleeved: 8/1/12 Start weight: 232 Weight today: 166 Down 66 Pounds! Things have slowed down for me but that's okay because I haven't really had a huge stall until now. I knew this was coming and I am prepared to fight through it.

Date sleeved: 8/1/12 Start weight: 232 Weight today: 174 What you eating and how much daily: Pretty much anything I want, focus on protein and little to no carbs Daily work out: Nada, I have been really bad with this. I need to get to the gym. How hungery are you?: Not hungry at all How you feel physically: Amazing! How you feel emotionally: Feeling great! Love shopping and having my photo taken again. Are you glad you chose the sleeve?: Absolutely! Anything extra to say?: I'm starting to notice hair loss. Anyone else experiences this by now?

August 1 Starting Weight 232 Current Weight 174 58 Pounds! Before After

August 1 Starting weight 232 Current weight 174 58 Pounds!!!

I had my surgery done in Chicago by Dr. Rami Lutfi from St. Joseph Hospital on August 1st. He is amazing and a very nice man. I would highly recommend him. Good Luck in your search.

Good Luck! By my clock you are already in surgery. I had my surgery Aug. 1st in Chicago. The key to my recovery was to get up and walk as soon as you can and when you get home continue to increase your walks. It really does make all the difference.

Hi All: So here is is Labor Day and I really just want to have a nice cold beer! I am 1 month post op so obviously I have been avoiding all carbonation... I haven't even tried it to see how I feel. But I'm curious if anyone else has... I'm a beer drinker not much of a liquor girl... Lemonade Vodkas are good but just too sweet after awhile. What are your go too picnic drinks? PS: I'm a social drinker not an alcoholic just to make that clear...lol

Hi Gnvpur: I am 2 weeks post op and trust me, the moment I woke up from surgery I thought to myself "Why the heck did it do this! Just to loose some weight." I think most of us probably think that right after surgery. I tried Protein Shakes maybe 4 days post surgery and couldn't do it. They made me so sick. I just had to keep trying and make sure I was drinking them on an empty stomach and very slowly. There was a few days when I could only get 1/2 of a shake down. I still can only drink 1 shake a day and it has to be for Breakfast because my stomach is empty. Just keep trying, you will get them down.

Thanks so much for the ideas! So far I have a Protein shake in the morning for Breakfast, then some applesauce for a snack. For lunch I have soup like tomato or cream of broccoli. Then I might have a yogurt for a snack. I haven't really been that hungry so today I didn't have my yogurt but yesterday I did. So far so good without any problems. Except for today I left out a pretty loud burp and everyone looked at me and we got a good laugh. The people I work with know I had surgery but don't know what it was for. They are going to have to get used to be burping a lot I guess...lol

I have a serious love/hate relationship with my bathroom scale. Right now i'm hating it. I am 12 days post op and my scale is telling me I gained 5 pounds!!! I don't even know how this is possible. I am on the puree stage and maybe getting in 800 calories a day. How the heck am I gaining weight? This is really frustrating and disappointing. Has anyone else experienced this?

Good Luck to you! You will do great. I had surgery on Aug. 1st and I had all the same nerves as you. I am now 11 days post op and feeling great! Heading back to work tomorrow. Good luck, will be thinking of you.

I went to CVS and both the Women's One A Day Gummies. I take 4 a day and then calcium chews I bought from Bariatric Advantage. I hope that is good enough. Hey it's better than nothing right?

Hi All: I am heading back to work this week and I am so ready to get out of the house. My biggest issue is what to take to work for food? I am currently on purée stage and other than a Protein shake and maybe Soup I don't to ow what to pack. I would love to hear some great ideas. Thanks!

Wow when does it start falling out? I'm a week post op and not looking forward to this at all. Does it eventually grow back?

Hi All, I am 7 days post op and have a really weird rash on my belly that itches. I have no idea what this could have come from. I haven't changed soaps or detergent or anything along those lines. All I have been wearing since surgery are t-shirts and athletic pants to be comfortable. I had my follow up appt today and my doctor said it couldn't be surgery related because I just noticed it today and usually if a patient is allergic to something it shows up right away. Has anyone experienced this? My incisions look good and are healing perfectly. It's just an ichy rash. Thanks.

I saw this thread and just had to ask. Has anyone had the same reaction to the Celebrate Vitamins? I am 1 week post op and my NUT just recommended I start my Vitamin regimen with Celebrate Vitamins. Well I just took 2 multi and couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough to throw up. It was awful! The ones I took were samples I received from the company. They don't taste great and I can see myself wanting to gag every time I try to take them. I really don't want to spend all that money on a 30 day supply if they are going to make me sick every time I take them... I don't know what to do?!?!?

Thank you so much everyone for the great advice! I knew I could turn to this site for some good advice and a pep talk here and there. It's also nice to hear that most of you experienced this at least once during your recovery. My follow-up appointment is on Thursday and I hope to graduate to purées then. Thanks again! If anyone else has good advice please keep them comming.

I am currently 5 days post-op and I feel like I am starving myself. I have been on the liquid diet and drinking decaf tea in the morning and isopure pretty much all day long. Isopure is a high protein juice drink 40gms of protein for 20 oz. I can get down about 12 oz. of tomato soup which is the best meal of the day. I never really feel full all day except for the tomato soup. This diet doesn't leave me with a lot of energy for the day and even getting a shower whips me out. I tried a slim fast yesterday but it didn't stay down. I was thinking about trying it again today but other than that I don't know what to have. Any suggestions?