BlueBonnet

I haven't dared yet, but I love wine and margaritas (especially patron).

I love Moscato (you can get it without the fizzies too!) and muscadine wine that I can only find in Arkansas. My sister has a friend that brings us back a case at the time when we need it. I also have a little winery near my house where you can get red wines made with blueberries and pomegrantes. Those are pretty yummy as well and are semi great for you if you are looking at the antioxidant content of them. I haven't had any alcohol since surgery. I'm not a big drinker anyway but I was told that I needed to wait at least a year after surgery before alcohol. I'm trying to be a "good patient" and do what I'm told plus I don't want to do anything to throw off my weight loss so I think I'll be waiting a while. I would LOVE a good margarita too!

This thread spoke to me!! I was sleeved 4/10 lost 24 lbs in the first 2 weeks. I haven't lost anything in over a week and I too gained 2 lbs. I've been so upset, I knew there would be a stall but the weight gain was just devastating. I even began counting calories and working out. I was thinking what if I never loose anymore weight!?!? Is that even possible?! I'm glad I'm not alone and I hope this stall ends soon for my sanity!

Same here! I had my surgery on April 2nd, lost 20 pounds the first 2 weeks and now have lost nothing in almost 2 weeks! It's so frustrating and depressing especially with how little we are consuming. I just don't understand it, I've never eaten so few calories in my life, how can I not be losing? This always happened to me when I would "diet" in the past and I would get so down that I would give up..Luckily I can't give up, but the feelings are the same..UGH..

Girl, you are doing great. One day soon those scales will drop, no worries the hard part is over... Committing to surgery and a new lifestyle.

Hang in there. I hit a stall at 3 weeks and it lasted 2 1/2 weeks. It was just ridiculous! The scales will
move again. Keep up the great work.

I knew stalls were going to happen but they are not good for our spirits. My love affair with food has ended and to add insult to this I have stopped losing weight, too. I have heard over and over again to hang in there and be patient so that's what I am doing. You are right - we have no choice now so that is a very good thing!

Thanks ! It's good to hear from people who have had the same issue! It just gets so frustrating when I think about how little I'm taking in. And I think going up 3 pounds is what has been the most frustrating! This is the part where, before surgery, I would typically blow the diet. Good thing about being post surgery, I CAN'T go off diet! lol

Thanks ! It's good to hear from people who have had the same issue! It just gets so frustrating when I think about how little I'm taking in. And I think going up 3 pounds is what has been the most frustrating! This is the part where, before surgery, I would typically blow the diet. Good thing about being post surgery, I CAN'T go off diet! lol

Dang it....I've been there too and it stinks. The dreaded 3-week stall! I FREAKED OUT when I actually gained a pound during that time.
Contacted the nutrionist at the surgeons office (because I was convinced I was going to be one of the people the sleeve surgery didn't work for.) Her exact words, "Relax. It is normal for weight to flucuate, especially after surgery. You do have restriction there. Just keep doing what you are doing and the weight will come off."
She was right of course. Seems like when I have a stall or even gain, it's always right before I have a dramatic drop in weight. My weightloss has not been a smooth downward track, it looks more like steps...down then flat.....down then flat.
You keep doing what you are doing and you will lose. May have a few more stalls along the way too. You are welcome to read my blog as I started at roughly the same weight but am only a few weeks ahead of you. http://hoosierfatty.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/three-week-stall-weight-and-diet/
Good luck!

Its very normal for your weight loss to stop at some point. At one month I only lost around 3 lbs and the next months I lost 15 lbs.
Just make sure you're not starving yourself and keep drinking Water. walk 20 mins if the doctor allowed it.
Good luck!!

It's kind of funny...I was anticipating the day-before-surgery liquid diet would be really hard. But, it's going much better than anticipated. Just have to keep myself busy today and SLAM the Clear Liquids ALL day! Another 6 hours and it will be bed time. I'm so excited for surgery tomorrow, I hope I can sleep! lol

I'm having surgery on Thursday. (YAY!) one question I keep forgetting to ask...approximately how long does the procedure take?

It's kind of funny...I was anticipating the day-before-surgery liquid diet would be really hard. But, it's going much better than anticipated. Just have to keep myself busy today and SLAM the Clear Liquids ALL day! Another 6 hours and it will be bed time. I'm so excited for surgery tomorrow, I hope I can sleep! lol

Please add me llanusse@cox.net
APRIL 17 is my date
I really need some SLEEVE SISTERS

April 3rd which is tomorrow so freaking nervous, scared & excited omg

hi, all Im schedule for april 8th im telling you this is hard all I can do is think of food im doing my pre op diet now..geesh...lol

I'm officially on the other side, everything has been so quick and easy. I let the anesthesiologist know I've has problems with post op nausea in the past and he took really good care of me and I haven't has any. I've got a dilaudid PCA and it works terrifically! Just once or tonight then ill walk more tomorrow, get the ng tube from my nose, and do my leak test. Wish me luck

Looks like many of you are having your surgery this week, best of luck and I am excited to hear your experiences! Thoughts and prayers
Counting the days till the 19th.

Me too...how are u feeling?

Having mine on April 4th

I haven't read every response so I'm sorry if I'm duplicating. And I thought I read you were going for a cosolidated list, so I'm putting it all in here. If that's not the case, ignore as appropriate. My sleeve next month will be my 4th abdominal lap procedure and 2nd bariatric procedure, and based on my lessons learned here's what I suggest:
For hospital:
Wear somethong with no waistband, preferred. Like a house dress. Inevitably I've had an incision EXACTLY where my waistbands fall. And I'ev also had a few incisions that were intentionally left unclosed. Those hurt the worst, even though they're the smallest, and also tend to be right where my pants hit. If you must have a waistband, try to find one without elastic (e.g. drawstring) so you can fully adjust the tightness. When I had my band out I wore one of those velvety track suit things, mine has a drawstring waist. Perfect.
Wear slip-on shoes if you have them. Socks are hard to get on when you can't bend comfortably, and I don't like other people putting socks on me. Flip flops, or those fugly plastic clog shoes (forgetting the name), or a ballet flat or something like that. If youdon't have or can't get, then when you take off your sneakers pre-op, leave the laces all loose so you can just slip them on later.
Nook or Kindle or book or whatever. My sleeve will be the first procedure that requires me to stay overnight, and post-op I've een either asleep or prepping to go home, but pre-op? I played Boggle on my iphone for almost 2 hours pre-op. Was glad to have it. DH was there but is always more nervous than I am and wasn't a great talker.
I always bring a small hair clip. You can't do anything but wash/rinse your hair the day of, and you're probably (technically) not allowed to shower the night of. I have curly hair that gets bushy if I can't put some kind of product on it while it's still wet. So I always bring a clip to at least pull the hair back from my eyes.
I prefer to bring my own slippers (they have memory foam soles).
I bring my own robe. I haven't been able to wear it (IV lines, etc.) but hospital blankets are cold. Even the warm ones get cold too quickly. My robe is warm. And it can double as an extra pillow, because those flat jokes in the hospital aren't cutting it.
Chapstick, deodorant, my own toothbrush, skin lotion and hand sanitzier. (I put all of the above in my purse). If my face or hands are dry, I will not be able to focus on much else.
Pillow, for supporting your stomach. Especially if you have a large pannus, this will help. When I had my lapband put in, it took me about 3 days of walking completely hunched over like an ancient lady until I realized that the majority of the pain was coming from my pannus "pulling" down on my incisions. As soon as I started to support my pannus with my arm, it was like night and day. LIttle nicer doing it with a pillow than your forearm, but hey, I was desperate. I will also help to apply steadying pressure when you go over potholes on the ride home. (About 4 days post-op DH drove me to visit my parents. He took a route that goes over a train crossing. He had a "theory" that the faster he went, the less I would feel the bumps so he gunned his truck and his them going about 45. Our marriage almost didn't make it to the next block.)
When I had my lapband out, I had the most horrible sore throat from all the gear using my mouth as enter/exit. Truly it was far worse than strep, and easily the single worst pain I had after surgery. I didn't have any eating/drinking restrictions so I used Chloraseptic. If you can have some type of analgesic lozenge or something, go for it.
Electric razor. Let's just say I'm 1/4 Greek and would be a good candidate for laser facial hair removal if everyone hadn't told me it feels like exacto knives slicing your face repeatedly. This isn't required, but I need it for comfort level.
For drive home:
I haven't yet had anesthetic make me nauseous, but it can make a lot of people sick for a while. I drove my mother home from a bariatric surgery she had and we kept having to stop on the interstae so she could chuck on the side of the road. So the REAL suggestion here is get a driver who doesn't get queasy when she hears others chuck. Second suggestion is to bring some type of a barf bag (those blue emi-sleeves the hospitals have are great) if you know or suspect the anesthesia will affect you. There's something about car rides that seems to make it worse, even if you've been "fine" for a while.
Keep said pillow with you. Either to support your abdomen, or to nap, or both. (If your procedure is outpatient, you'll probably still be nap ready by the time you're released)
Keep a blanket in your car. I'm always freezing cold after surgery, for a day or two. And DH is not, so it's nice to able to limit the use of the heater - for his sake. (BTW, when people lose weight, especially quickly, they tend to discover they're perpetually cold - you might want to just keep a blanket in your car long term).
At home:
I have DH bring one of the recliners up from his theater room and station it in the living room. From there I have same-floor access to the door, kitchen, a half bathroom, etc. This recliner becomes my docking station for at least 3 days until I can comfortably lay in bed. And on that note, I'd suggest getting some extra pillows. When I CAN lay in bed, I do best if I'm VERY propped up. I suspect this will be true with sleeve surgery, especially until my acid production drops off.
Don't wait until you're out of surgery to try and find supplements you like. Have them selected before hand, and have a few options. Things will probably start tasting different. Have cold & room temp Water ready. Not all bariatric stomachs tolerate all temperatures. When I had by AGB surgery DH bought a little apartment fridge to keep in the LR so I didn't have to walk into the kitchen. That was overkill. But if somehow being able to stay on the same floor as the fridge weren't possible, it would've been awful handy.
I'm queuing up movies & shows to watch on Netflix. Daytime tv sucks monkey butts. Also holding off on getting a few books I really want to read, so that I can have something to do until I can comforably move around.
If you have someone who can help you around the house for a few days, do it. Think about kids if you have 'em, pets... and how may up/downs it is just for an hour or two.
I don't like to take my hydrocodone any longer than I have to, so I use liquid Tylenol and try to have a few bottles on hand. Gas-X never did a thing for me other than taste bad. The gas that Gas-X works on (I say "works"lightly) is not surgical gas, i.e. the piercing ache you might feel around your collarbone/shoulder area... so don't buy it thinking it will bring relief. Surgical gas, and intenstinal gas, are two wholly different things. As an addendum to what I just said - I just remembered that an RNY friend dumped on liquid tylenol. For VSG it might be better to wait and see if you can tolerate it, unless your surgeon gives you the OK ahead of time.
If your shower hyas a stationery head, I suggest getting one of the kind of tubing that you can move around. Especially for ladies out there. Bending and twisting is gonna smart, and let's face it. Some things in life require us to bend and twist, or be able to hit it with some Water. I'm just sayin'...
When I had my AGB and the graduated diet, I made sure to buy everything a few days prior to my surgery so that I didn't have to go to the store if I didn't want to. Ends up I wanted to, the next day, just to walk around a bit. But having the option is nice.
Since my AGB both of my parents have had bariatric procedures. I've made each of them a large gift basket and brought it to the hospital. Here's what I try to include:
small plates (cocktail size)
toddler utensils
refillable water bottle that will fit into a car drink holder, and has ounces hashed so they could track water intake
liquid Tylenol
Wet wipes/hand sanitizer
Snap-up robe (belt can be uncomfortable)
SF Jello
Mio or Crystal Light (was allowed with their surgeon)
liquid breath freshener
Sudafed dissolvable strips
corn bags (cloth bags filled with field corn, I think they're far superior to heating pads, and caln also be frozen)
Book, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, etc.

I'm not sure how endowed you are but if you can get a nice soft sports bra. fruit of the Loom makes a great cotton/spandex blend that's breathable and lightweight... but it's also excellent with support. It is sold in a 2 pack for less than $15, great deal! Good luck!!!

Wanted to share my list, so far...
Non-food Items:

Demitasse Spoon and Cocktail Fork ($1.99 each at Bed Bath & Beyond) liquid Baby Tylenol Small, decorative plates (still looking for these) Funnel (Set of 3 nesting, $1 at Dollar Tree) Gas-X Tervis Tumbler and Travel Lid (The cocktail shaker version, $18.99, has measurements on the cup. It comes with a removeable jigger, strainer, and pourer that is easily replaced with the travel lid, purchased separately for $3.99) Baby Spatula (Silicone Frosting Spreader $1 at Dollar Tree) Spill-proof Sippy Cup that looks like a travel mug Travel Baby Formula Dispenser ($6.99 at Overstock.com) Water Bottle with measurements and narrow mouth ($8.95 at llbean.com) Bariatric fusion Multi-Vitamin

Pantry:

Cottage cheese Cheese Sticks broth Cream Soups sugar-free Tang Refried Beans Fat-free Greek Yogurt Hummus Sugar-free Apple Cider Miso Soup Natural Applesauce V-8 Low Sodium Decaf Instant coffee Packets (like Nescafe Hazelnut) 100% juice (grape, apple, cranberry) Unflavored Protein powder Isopure bottles from GNC Individual packets of many, many Protein Powder brands and flavors
Only a month until surgery! Any suggestions that for items that you found useful?