NJDad

The place I notice it most of all is in the airplane.....all the seats on those planes sure are getting larger lately :-) Ohhh, you meant on me.........My wife says she notices it most in my face and neck. I notice it in my belt. I had to keep closing it one more notch each week, to the point where I had to buy a new smaller belt. Now that new belt is one notch away from being too big too.

My wife and daughter own a Weimariner named Leno (He may live in the same house as I, but he is not my dog). Weims are full of energy and love to walk and run. Leno has ensured that I get out daily for a long walk. He takes me lots of places and we visit lots of other dogs on the block. He is my own Jiminy Cricket, making sure I do my full walk....shortcuts are not allowed.

I am one of those idiots that went back to work less than a week after my surgery. I say idiot, because that is what I was. I was exhausted that first day back, and tired the rest of the week. I went back to work because I was bored at home......I am one of "those" personalities that have difficulty sitting around. I am sitting on two more weeks of vacation and another week of sick time. I should have taken more time off....maybe an extra 1-3 days. All that being said, everyone has their own speed of recovery, and the amount of tolerance they have to discomfort. You should not compare your recovery to anyone else. You are the best judge of how you feel.

I got one of those breathing thingies too......the days after my surgery,my wife would hand it to me, and use the same tone of voice I used when she was in labor, "Breathe!"

As with cars, your mileage may vary. I am a picky eater, and I tried many Protein powders before I bit the bullet and ordered unjury. Yes, it is a pain in the butt not being able to get it in the stores....but in my eyes, it is worth it. To me, the chocolate splendor with 8-10 oz of low fat or skim milk tastes like Yoo-Hoo. The strawberry with milk tastes like strawberry Quik. I tried the same strawberry with the lemonade as they recommended, and I didn't like that. I also use the unflavored with a variety of fruit juices my wife gets me. 4 oz of the juice, 4-6 oz of Water and one scoop of the unflavored is my normal 11:00 am shake. We all just need to try different ones until we find what works for us and tastes best to us. Reading posts like all these is great because you get new ideas of what to try. Ron

I didn't drive for five days after my surgery.....but I slept on our waterbed the day after surgery. I just needed some help getting up that first night. After that, all was good.

I was 340 the week before my surgery. I was 330 the day of my surgery in 4/24/13. This morning I weighed in at 292....38 pounds lost since the surgery.

Add me to the list of Dr. Strom fans.....he did mine in April. His team has been great for me. I'd recommend in his to anyone. Ron

JP, Welcome fellow Jersey Boy. I am from Essex county, and had my surgery in Mountainside Hospital. I, like you, had no idea what to expect......but the team at my doctors office prepared me well. Whatever you do, don't rush. Make sure you have all,your answers and feel comfortable with everything that is going to be done. I saw my nutritionists for about eight months before I had my surgery......I just wish I found this site sooner. Everyone here is so positive and helpful. If you have a question, chances are someone has already experienced what you are asking about and will answer. Good luck, Ron

Kim, I think I did pretty well. No major issues, I was on a liquid diet the rest of that day. The next morning my wife made me my normal scrambled egg and half a piece of toast for Breakfast. I couldn't finish either of those.....and I felt too full. I reduced my food intake and all is well. I am down 4.2 pounds since the morning of my fill.....that was 5 days ago. How was your fill on Friday? Ron

I had my first fill today. I don't like needles, so the idea of getting a needle in my belly really freaked me out before I got there. My doctor always does the first fill in the radiology department of the hospital in front of the fluroscope....he puts a little in, I drink the shake, he checks out how it flows. Not enough, here's a little more. Drink some more, another check of the fluroscope, looks good. You are finished. "Ah, doc, you going to take that needle out of my gut now?" "Relax there buddy, I'm getting you a Band-Aid" After he was done, I asked how much saline he put in. His answer was simple, "enough" When I asked him again, he told me that I am losing weight just fine, the amount we put in doesn't really matter......you are progressing just perfectly. Everyone is different, we cannot compare your fill to another person's fill. But if you must know, 4cc. I think his answer was just right. We each have our own body type, and we trust the doctor to know better than us. He did the easy part, a little stick of a needle today, the rest is up to me for the next 40 years.

I flew for the first time last week and didn't notice anything with my stomach in either direction.....I even managed to lose weight on my journey too, something that really concerned me, as it was my first trip since my surgery.

When I look in the mirror, the only place I see the weight loss (42 pounds since 4/24) is in my face and neck. However, there are lots of places you lose weright that you don't notice until you start looking. I don't often wear a watch lately, but I put mine on last week. It spins around freely where it used to be snug. My clothes are fitting loosely now, to the point where I am starting to buy new pants and belts. I am getting close to having an outie after 40+ years of an innie. And yes, my shoes are not fitting any more :-) Yet, when I look in the mirror I see the same gut and same old body. It is going to take some time to change the way I see myself.

I had my surgery on 4/24 and went on my first airplane trip since my surgery. I left on Monday, flew home this morning. I noticed a few things...... Seat belts on planes got longer in the two months I was away. I also noticed that the seats on puddle jumpers got a little wider. And the walk from the plane to baggage claim was not quite as onerous as in the past.

I am so glad to hear that the stomach growling is normal....mine has been talking to me for weeks, except I don't speak it's language yet. Here's a funny tidbit about that.... I serve as a guide for a blind sportswriter. I went to my first Yankee game serving as a guide last Wednesday since I had the surgery. We eat in the press dining room. I had to find something I could eat besides the ol' stadium staples of hot dogs and sausage sandwiches. I decided to try the salmon they were serving that night. I'm not sure, but I think the salmon didn't sit well in my new, mini-sized tummy. Somewhere around the fifth inning, my friend took off his headphones (He listens to the game on the radio) as we sat in the pressbox. It is a noisy environment, open to the crowd noise. He turns to me and asks, "What the hell is that noise?" (He actually heard that?????) I told him I thought that maybe the salmon was deciding to swim back upstream.

Those are some great results...... I have seen such varying results, I never knew what was the right or wrong amount of weight loss would be. I had my surgery on 4/24/13. A week before the surgery, I weighed in at 340, the day of surgery, after a week of liquids, I was down to 330. Last Saturday, my weight dropped below 300 (299.4) for the first time in a decade. My weight loss slowed down once I started on real foods.....but it does continue. My first fill is next Tuesday (6/11/13). Anyone have any idea what can I expect in terms of weight loss after this first fill?

I am the proud owner of a few scars from surgeries, so I thought I knew the secret about body hair and wound dressings before this surgery.......I was wrong. I hated the feeling of removing bandages with hair beneath. It hurt more than the surgery. Let's just say I have a few hairs on my chest and stomach.....ok, more than a few. Actually, when I walk by the monkey cage at the zoo, the monkeys all go crazy, wondering how one of their own escaped. But I digress....... In past surgeries, i had tried to shave the areas the docs were going to carve up. no matter how much i shaved, the docs always managed to reach the air on my body. I had the grand idea of shaving my chest, from my neck down to my belt...ok, below the belt, but this is a family website....let's just say it stopped at my belt. If there is no hair, they couldn't apply bandages over the hair, right? I awoke from my surgery thinking I had shaved entirely too much......I found my belly littered with six small bandages, about the size of silver dollars. Well, I'd rather have too much shaved then too little, right? Well, ever see the car the neighbor parks on the lawn all summer? Eventually the grass starts growing right up through the hood and out of the wheel wells? This happened to me, in a manner of speaking. After surgery, I was told to leave the bandages on until my first post-op doctor visit 9 days after surgery. Remember how I said I have a bit of hair? Well, my body fought back and started to grow that hair back within days. By the time I made my doctors appointment, I had hair growing up through parts of the bandages......not a lot, but enough to know this was going to hurt. It did..... The nurse that removed the bandages at the doctors office gave a little chuckle as we discussed my dilemma....she said that now she knows how it feels to be on the other side.....it seems she regularly goes and gets some part of her body waxed...and she said it hurt her like hell too. She tried to be kind, but there is only so much she could do. When she got done, I looked like the little puppy when her young owner gets the home grooming kit.....I had six holes in the fresh growth of hair. And to top it off.....the hair growing back has itched like crazy. It's been a month now and it still itches. It serves me right to try and think ahead.

I am an engineer and work mainly at a desk when in the office. I had my surgery on a Wednesday, and was back to the office on Monday. And it was too soon. I push myself too hard, and this was one of those times. I wound up going home from the office on Monday at 1 and took a nap the rest of the afternoon. I did work the rest of the week, but it was tough. Mind you, I have had other surgeries before and came back on a similar timeline.....but this one has a double whammy, not only are you recovering from the surgery, but you are living on far less caloric input than you were used to. You can plan on taking three days, but keep in mind the first few days back will be hell if you do. And keep the first week schedule loose, so if you have to cut out early, it can be done

Someone saw me today at the office and told me it was time to get some new pants....he said it looked like I was wearing "Harem pants". It was nice that someone besides my wife noticed the change. And whoever said it before was right....bottle that feeling, it is great.

I know this is an old post, but I thought I would add my choice. I have discovered unjury after trying a half dozen other types. You can only get it online, but in my opinion it is the best tasting, no after-taste Protein powder out there. I use the unflavored in juices. It adds a slight taste, but it is not even close to unpleasant. I use the chocolate splendor and strawberry in milk (Low fat and skim). The chocolate tastes like Yoo Hoo, and the stawberry reminds me of Strawberry Quik my parents used to get for us when we were kids as a treat. The biggest thing I noticed about others compared to the Unjury was I would taste the others for hours after....sort of like you taste that hot dog you had at the ballgame hours ago.......not pleasant. The Unjury just mixes smooth, goes down easy, and I never taste it again. xxx.unjury.com

My doctor also told me no driving until 24 hours after my last pain pill. But I went another 48 hours. It isn't just about the pain meds.......It is about being comfortable behind the wheel. Sure, you might be able to steer, push the pedals and all, but make sure you are physically able to do some fast motions, as you would have to do if a child ran into the street in front of your car. I had my surgery on Wednesday. I took the pain pills they gave me on Thursday evening when I got home, no more after that. I still felt weak and not fully up to snuff on Friday and Saturday. I was planning on going back to work on Monday, so I sat in my car Sunday for a bit to be sure I was ok, then took the car out on some side streets to be sure I felt ok. I then went to a local parking lot and did some quick stops and starts, jerking the wheel back and forth, just to make sure I didn't hurt myself with those motions. Overkill? Probably.......but I would rather be safe than sorry.

I found that having to wait the 6 months and visit the nutritionist each of those months was a good thing. It made me realize how important all the things I was going to have to change really were. It gave me a few months to let it all sink in that I was really doing it. I know it seems like a long time, but it goes real fast....trust me on that. I honestly wasn't sure i was going to do it until the approval from the insurance company came three weeks before my surgery. Ron

I am 46 years old, male. I am 6'4" tall. I weighed 359 back in October when I started seeing the nutritionist. I was at 340 the week before my surgery, in my last doctor visit before the surgery. I was at 330 the evening after my surgery at the hospital April 24, 2013 I was 305 yesterday morning.......after a week of liquid diet, followed by nearly two weeks of mushy foods. I hope these numbers give you an idea of what is reasonable to expect. I am doing nothing more than following the instructions of my doctor and nutritionist. Walking regularly, eating correctly and taking my Vitamins. And here is the best part yet......I have not been hungry. Ron

The bathroom in my home is on the second floor......needless to say, I found a way to make the stairs. Seriously, the stairs were a bit of a hassle the first day home, but not too bad. Now, if you live in an eight story walkup, it might be a different story.......but only one or two flights of stairs shouldn't kill ya'. Ron