Jenny Thom

If you survived c-section, you will do fine with the sleeve.

My surgeon varies the approach based on the person. As I recall, women with under 50 BMI don't have to do the liquid diet (just healthy Protein and veggie diet), but all guys do. This has to do with the way most men carry fat around their abdomen, as opposed to women who often don't. I'm sure he adjusts this based on individual body type. I actually was excused from mine as I had lost 45 lbs in the 6 weeks prior and he examined my abdomen and said I could just keep doing what I had been doing.
The moral of the story? Just follow the doctors orders and don't stress, there is no one size fits all approach. Every doctor is different.

At my first WLS appointment, I also had an enlarged, fatty liver, along with a very high BMI (55.6). No liquid diet was required - just the 3 month medically supervised weight loss plan required by insurance. After the op, my surgeon said that my liver looked absolutely beautiful. Therefore, in my highly unprofessional opinion, I don't see how the liquid diets are all that necessary.

Absolutely - no pre op diet of any kind other than the semi-usual Clear liquids the day before surgery thing. I was chatting with one of the surgeons (different practice than mine, but same sensibilities) last month at our dinner meeting and he said that the last thing he wants of his patients is to be fasting for weeks before surgery - he wants them as strong as possible going into the procedure.
I've never understood the liquid pre-op diet thing and have never heard a viable explanation as to its function. The "liver shrinking" thing is all well and good for those docs who need the extra help, but that is accomplished (to the extent that it can be) by a low carb diet irrespective its composition (liquids, solids, etc.)

@@MrsKTS so happy for you. Feel inspired. Keep up the good work. I just have my endoscopy last and then I go for clearance.

Hi guys!
It's almost been a week! I'm doing great, keeping all my liquids down, and meeting my liquid and Protein goals. However, it feels like it takes me all day to do it! Ugh. I'm so over drinking, I can't wait to finally chew some food, lol. How's everyone doing? Any issues?
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Id say they are comparable. I remember asking at support group before my surgery "is this like having a baby, no one tells you the gory details because the reward out weighs the pain?" I'm only two weeks and three days out and today was the first day I could bend down to pick something up off the ground. Still a little pain from internal stitches which is similar to some of the pain I remember from after csections.

Have to agree. I only read medical journal, stuff from credible sources, sources that aren't crapped. Even then you can get a snooker or two. There are several lists I check that debunk garbage.
I do not watch TV, movies, etc. and that is to fill my mind with good things that will help me. Go to your doc or to credible sources. Medical research isn't that hard to read. You can do that and it will help you with any concerns.

I would agree to going back and talking with your surgeon. I don't agree with only reading good stuff. You will get yourself into bigger trouble by only looking at the good stuff and not taking a *BALANCED* look at the problems to learn from them to get something better for your outcome (learn from others) or protecting yourself or knowing what to expect from bumps in the road and how to minimize them as best you can.
I am wondering if most of this just isn't the normal "oh my" and that settles down. There are few birds that have problems like I do, but some of mine were already there, the surgery excerabated it. You can't tell before hand but problems are workable or solveable with the right team.
That is why the effort is made into picking the RIGHT team, not the one closest, or you "like" the surgeon.

Just want to add my two pennyworth about bodily aches. I'm 59&1/2, ex ballet dancer, have osteoarthritis in both my knees, have had my right hip replaced and my lower back is knackered. I would post the MRI pic of my back but you'd all probably post that I should be shot like a decrepit old mare. I WAS taking so much medication before having my sleeve done but now I am onto minimal amounts and that is just to maintain the minimal amount of pain that I sometimes have. I walk for miles with my dogs most days and rarely do I get any back pain from doing that although there are days when my left knee really plays up. My (newish) hip is wonderful-I don't even know that I have got a man-made object there. I still get a bit of recurring plantar fasciitis in my left foot but I cope with that. However, before the op, everything hurt for the majority of the time. Now, having shifted 50lbs of unwanted lard in the six months since my surgery I can breeze along with the best of them. In fact, I can out walk most of my dog walking pals easily. Can't wait to get the next 30lbs off to get to my goal to see how that feels! I liken my journey to having managed to throw off a particularly clingy toddler who was clamped to my frame. Either that or three paper sacks of costco Maris Piper spuds!!!!!! I love my weight loss and am so glad that I bit the bullet and just got sleeved. Just wish I had done it years ago.

I had nearly the exact same problems you described. I am 56 and April 9th was my 1 year "surgiversary"! I have lost 100 lbs and I can walk forever, it seems, now, without ANY foot pain! Before surgery, I couldn't walk to the mailbox without excruciating pain. My life has changed dramatically for the better! I've been so thankful I made this decision!

I had a knee that ached constantly, it was a soft ball injury to start with, then arthritis. Once I lost like the first 60 the pain almost disappeared. Now I have no knee pain at all. I was so used to it, it still surprises me. It used to creak and crack all the time and it never does now.

CutieK don't feel bad. I was right were you are. It will get better. Remember for years we have been able to consume anything without restrictions but once someone puts restrictions on us. We want to kick the doors open and be normal. This is a process and it doesn't happen overnight. Just know to take it one second of the day and trust me I'm 5 weeks in and I'm feeling a little normal. I can eat more things and even started eating more veggie burger and fine them very good. Learn the new you and embrace who you are. A new you ????

@@Dub thx for the encouraging words. Can't wait to get my sleeve done. Been suffering to long with knee and back pain

@@KLat I myself suffer with knee and back pain and I can't wait to do my sleeve. I cry night n day with pain and nothing helps. Hope we will overcome!

@@Dub thx for the encouraging words. I'm excited to get my sleeve over with. My sufferings has been too much with knee n back pain

Hi everyone, I'm 50 with pretty severe mid-foot arthritis and some knee pain as well. I was wondering if anyone in a similar situation before VSG found relief through weight loss? My Ortho strongly suggested that I consider the surgery to help improve these conditions. I need to lose around 120 lbs. I'd love to hear if you found relief from these types of pain after the surgery. I'm hoping that I can find some relief from pain and increase my mobility in the process!
Thanks!
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No promises......but......but.....it's more than a thought..............it is a REALITY that may be well within your grasp.
And don't think it's going to take forever for it to occur, either. The one thing that I wasn't really ready for were the paces of the bariatric process.
The initial visits, seminars, webinars, insurance requirements, ancillary medical checkoffs, etc.....seemed to take forever to matriculate through. But then......once your ship makes port.......its a fast and wild ride from there. The benefits of your decision to have this surgery will overtake you quickly.
Get ready to feel amazing..........

I've lost 100 pounds -- now maintaining at 135 pounds.
I have severe knee arthritis (especially in the right knee). I took two Aleve every day for decades prior to WLS. I haven't had any NSAIDs for nearly two years now.
And my knees don't hurt! I walk as far as 7-8 miles a day.
I've taken my knee replacement surgeries off the calendar. Don't need 'em now, my PCP says. (That might change in the future, of course.)
My lower back pain is gone.
One thing is odd -- the last 15 pounds I lost had the greatest impact on my pain cessation. So please try to get into the "normal" weight zone to see if that won't help you a lot.
As always, your mileage may vary.

By the time I lost the first 30 pounds I could feel a difference in the pressure on my joints.
Imagine wearing a two-month old colt for a belt. That is what 100 extra pounds feels like. Now imagine the relief on your back and your joints from taking that colt off your waist and putting it on the ground where it belongs.
One of the reasons I had to get sleeved was because that 100 extra pounds was collapsing my spine. No regrets. I feel so much better and have much better range of motion.

I'm 47 and have lost around 170 with 70 or so more left to go before I feel I'm close to where I want to be.
Severe advanced arthritis in both knees. Bone spur in left foot outer edge, surgically repaired tendons in right ankle, spinal stenosis and a few other ailments that nag me........all of which have been very much improved since losing this weight since last June.
There are days that go by that I take nothing for pains......nothing. This is crazy when one considers how much Advil and other stuff I used to choke down every single day of my life.
I can't wait to get the rest of this weight off and see how it feels then.

This is so funny because I having 3 c-sections asked the same question and everyone told me c-sections were much worse. On the day of surgery I woke up in horrific pain. The only thing I kept saying was "they said it wouldn't f**king hurt!!" Over and over again and my recovery nurse guy kept saying "who said that?!" I said everyone. I was soooo mad!! He gave me something in my IV that knocked the pain out within a few minutes. Recovery was not easy for me at all. The first 2 days I was in the hospital and went home on the 3rd day. I finally called my surgeon and told him the pain pills just weren't cutting it. I actually cried and I don't cry. He gave me a stronger narcotic and after that I was fine. I don't know why mine hurt so bad? I just had a TT and breast lift 9 days ago and they say a Tummy Tuck is horrific but I woke up in no pain and only took pain pills for 48 hours. It's a mystery to me. Hopefully yours won't be painful like mine BUT just know with all the "it's not that bad" that for some of us it was bad! Now with that being said to have the results I have now and new lease at a new life I would do it all over again 100x! This new body is completely worth all I went through. Good luck!!

Premier Protein is the best. Can be purchased by the case at costco or BJs. strawberry, vanilla and chocolate favors. GREAT TASTING!!!

If you survived c-section, you will do fine with the sleeve.

I'm currently at my second to last appointment of pre op visits before I can submit to insurance and schedule a surgery date. Today I am daow 14.5 lbs in just 4 weeks that is a personal best for me. It's always been incredibly hard for me to loose weight and even harder to keep it off. I'm excited after this apointment I know that if I can do this pre surgery I can only imagine the success I'll have post surgery. I'm determined to keep this up for the rest of my life and looking forward to the new life ahead!
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