joatsaint

You're lucky. I had 4 people try to find a vein for the iv (7 sticks total) and no one could find one so rather leave defeated....I opted to do it without meds. it's NOT fun! lol

I wasn't always lucky. I had to go back in for more blood tests pre-surgery and they couldn't find a vein, and the day of surgery, they had trouble finding the vein again. I was feeling like a pincushion after a while. :-P

Thanks Momonanomo, I am a closet comedian. And going through the sleeving process is so stressful, I try to lighten the mood. Hopefully no one takes it the wrong way.

Congrats on your weight loss, it feels great seeing the scale numbers dropping doesn't it?

It feels good when your pants are loose. Mine are getting a bit baggy, just not as fast as I'd like. :-)

I don't take any measurements, I just see how far my hand will slide down between my gut and the steering wheel. :-P

Next time could you take a picture from the back of the room? :-P

The beef broth and protein shakes are for the pre-op diet and the 1st week post op. Some people continue to drink the protein shakes to get in the recommended daily protein.

I rarely drink the shakes after the 2nd week post-op. I moved onto creamy soups and and a lot of chicken run through my food processor until very very finely chopped.

I believe anyone that has 85% of their stomach removed will lose weight. You can't help but lose, if you are limited to 4oz of food every few hours.

Now the big question is, where is your hunger coming from? Only you can figure that part out. Is it from emotional eating, boredome, stress, or is it because you have hunger pangs caused by the hormone ghrelin?

From my own experience, I knew that my hunger was real (even though I had eaten 2 hours earlier, I'd be hungry again). It wasn't until I talked to my surgeon that he told me that I had an excess of the hormone ghrelin (produced by the stomach). The bigger the stomach, the more of the hormone produced.

The surgery stopped my hunger pangs. I have not had that nagging sense of hunger (other than my stomach growling) since surgery 7 weeks ago. And 4 or 5 oz of food keeps me satisfied, whereas before, I could eat 1 lb of steak and know I'd be raiding the fridge in 2 hours.

And I don't have any cravings anymore for certain flavors. Whereas before, I'd think about something that would taste good and I couldn't get the thought out of my head until I ate it.

Don't get me wrong, you can sabotage yourself after surgery. There are foods, called slider foods, that are calorie dense (ice cream, peanut butter) that pass through the stomach quickly, so it's possible to eat more. And it is possible to just graze all day on snacks that are high in calories.

The sleeve gave me the control over my eating that I needed. I really think of it as an addiction that you can't quit and never touch again.

Other addictions can be quit and never touched again. But what if a heroine addict, smoker or alcoholic knew they had to take some every day or their body would die?

What if they had 75 TV channels that ran commericals for cigarrets every 10 minutes during their favorite programs? Or had reality programs (like the best places to pig out or the food challenges) devoted to the best places to get their fix and showed people taking drugs and loving it? Could they just reduce the amount they took?

Ok, rant over. :-)

caspinelli712,

I think I am on the verge of not needing my CPAP anymore. I've tried sleeping without it and I am sleeping longer without waking up. I probably need to lose anther 50 lbs before I can wean myself off of it.

My sleep specialist said that apnea is common to people with short necks - she's seen skinny grandmas and football quarter backs that need the CPAP machine.

I didn't need the thing when I was at 275, hopefully when I get back down there, I won't need it anymore.

Hang in there and stick with it. Your weight gain could be attributed to several factors, including the replacement of glycogen stores. Many people on here say your body stores 4oz or water for each 1 oz of glycongen stored.

If you stick to your 450-700 calories a day, your body may fight to hang onto every calorie it can. But eventually it will have to burn those calories for fuel.

I was stuck for about 8 days during my 3rd week. Weight wouldn't come off at all, then I had a MASSIVE POOP and was down over a pound that day. :-P

Since then, I know that I've had at least one other week where I was stuck at a certain weight for the week, then the weight just started falling again.

Hoping you have great success on your journey. I liken WLS patients to any other addiction groups like AA/EA or drug addiction. Until you've experienced the control food has over your life, you can't relate to it. So just do what you need to do to get better.

I have never felt the need to tell anyone that didn't need to know about the surgery. But if I'm ever in a position that I have to disclose, I'm just going to tell them that I had my gall bladder removed or had a hernia repaired.

And if they ask about the dramatic weight loss, I'm going to tell them that Oprah inspired me! :-O

Sorry I wasn't able to write this out any clearer, but the right words just wouldn't come.

Congrats on your success and such a pain free recovery. At 6 weeks I am just getting back to my former levels of energy, so take it easy and don't over stress your system. I felt like warmed over death for the 1st week and in no mood to post to my blog.

I am not getting taller, just narrower! :-P

Congrats on your surgiversary!!!!! I too hate plain water, unless it is very very cold.

I know where you're coming from. I woke up from recovery thinking, "My God! What have I done to myself!!!!!!!!!??????????"

I read so many posters saying, This was so easy - I had no pain or nausea - Only 3 days and back at work. I was hoping for the same easy path, but I was in real pain for about 6 days.

I couldn't eat much more than a couple of nibbles of a popsicle or a bite or 2 of sugar free Jell-O.

My stomach gurgled almost constantly - all day and all night. Sleeping more than an hour or two was the limit before the pain would wake me up.

But things kept getting better and by day 8 I was doing MUCH better and on day 10, I was back at work with no pain or discomfort.

It's day 31 for me, and I would do it all over again - as long as I didn't know about the pain thing

Things will get better, I promise. Just hang in there.

Hollyrock100, thanks for the advice. I am not lactose intolerant, that I know of. I've never had gas like this before, but it seems to have stopped as of last night.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll have to check with my Dr.

At my 1st follow-up doctor visit, he said he wanted me to eat 1000 to 1500 calories a day. So that's what I'm aiming for. He also wanted me to walk an hour per day 4 to 5 days a week. I've managed to get in about 20 minutes of walking per day. But once my feet and hips start hurting I have to stop.

Hope you have an easy recovery. Enjoy the meds. :-P

I feel the same way as you about telling people. Only my parents and 1 friend knows about my surgery. I am just a very private person and don't care to share my personal life with co-workers and casual acquaintances. I work with about 80 women and they are always sharing every detail of their personal lives and then I hear the catty talking behind each others back. I don't care to be mixed up in any of it. If anyone ever comments on my weight loss, I'll tell them the truth - I cut back on the amount I eat at each meal. I don't have to tell them HOW I managed to cut back. ;-P

Congrats on making it through. I am 2 days post op myself. Man did all that trapped gas hurt. Luckily, my doc gave me liquid pain meds to take home once I was out of the hospital. I don't think I could swallow enough water to wash down a pill. I am barely able to nibble on a sugar free popsicle as it is.

Thanks kimbernada for the info. I too hope my surgery is boring and "by the numbers". I haven't worn jeans for years now. I like the "George" brand of slacks they sell at Wal-Mart. I have to dress professional at work, except for casual Fridays, but I still wear the slacks. Fortunately, I still have lots of my old shirts and jeans from when I was in my 250 - 270 range. It's only been in the past 3 years that I've gained the extra hundred pounds.

I plan on taking my laptop and a boat load of "The Big Bang Theory" episodes as part of my hospital kit, along with a few of the other things on the "hospital list" I found on the forum.

I am looking forward to having the "problem" of having to buy smaller clothes every few months.

Thanks, but it seems like time is crawling for me. I am both anxious and excited about the surgery. I have a desk job and it seems like I am getting up every 15 minutes to move around and work off some nervous energy.