joatsaint

It was normal for me, after surgery. I had a lot of pressure in my chest - from the leftover gas. I was dozing on and off between the nurses taking me for walks and/or checking my blood pressure. I was hitting the morphine button like I was trying to win a prize on a game show! Hang in there, it does get better. I promise. Welcome to the Loser's Bench.

I vote "normal" too. I too am part of the famous "3 week stall" club. Stick with your post-op guidelines, the weight will start dropping again. I promise.

You look very cute. Did they give you a duck tail as well? I know a manicurist that has a pixie cut and a duck tail, don't know why, but I love it.

I've never looked too closely at Weight Watchers, but most of the ladies I work with follow WW on and off. It seems to me they eat a lot of processed carbs, as well as non processed carbs. How much Protein they eat, I'm not sure about. From my own experience, processed carbs/fruit/and anything with sugar will cause me to have head hunger and cravings. After surgery, I started slipping into old habits. And I started noticing I was hungry when my stomach was full. I started tracking what I ate and found out the even eating good stuff like apples would cause me to have head hunger. You might start noticing how often you become hungry (real hunger vs head hunger) and what you've recently eaten. I have to stick to a high protein/low carb diet to lose or maintain my weight loss.

I've been a registered massage therapist and a certified nurses aid. I had thought about going into nursing until I realized I'd never be able to stick someone with a needle or draw blood. But I wouldn't mind being a patient advocate or something along those lines for people looking to learn more about WLS and which one fits them best.

I call that, one helluva NSV. Congrats, all you have to do is take one step at a time.

I never thought about bougie size, now I kinda feel inadequate. Could I have bougie envy?

I was sleeved on Dec 27th 2012 - it was a cold, rainy 2 weeks after surgery, so I didn't get out and walk like my doc told me. I just paced around the house. On those times when I was disappointed (when I thought I wasn't losing fast enough) I tried to remember how fast I wasn't losing weight before surgery. I tried to remember how (pre-surgery) I would have been ecstatic to lose even 1/2 lb a month, as long as I was going down. Hope this helps, and try not to compare your weight loss rate to anyone else's. We all lose weight at different rates - genetics, exercise, hormones, and diet all play a part in it.

I've been stuck multiple times. Most of the time it was just a plateau, but on a few occasions, it was that I'd let myself slip back into some old habits. Or I had started eating salty foods - like mixed nuts ( I love mixed nuts!!!!!!). You might look at the amount of salt in your food, if you've cut back on exercise or if your carbs have increased or are coming from fruit/high glycemic foods or (best) if your carbs are coming from low glycemic foods - like squash, cauliflower, broccoli, Beans, lentils. I can still remember at about 6 months, I could suddenly eat more and more kinds of food. So I had to be more vigilant about how much and how often I was eating.

I would not buy much of anything. Maybe try a few low-carb, high Protein shakes (Premier Protein, EAS...) to find one you like for the pre-op diet. Maybe a few cans of chicken broth and sugar free Jell-O and sugar free popsicles. But don't load up too much, your tastes will change (at least in the short term) post-op and the flavors you liked pre-op may not be too appealing. Plus, you will be eating so little that you won't need to keep much on the shelves. When I was planning on stocking up for my post-op eating, I was still thinking I would need the same amounts I was currently eating. My best friend stopped me and reminded me, that I'd be eating about 1/4th of my current calories post-op and I wouldn't need so much food in the house.

My friend tells me that I'd probably be below 200 lbs if I had plastics. I weighed in at 203 today, so if I had the excess skin removed I probably would be below 200. But since I don't really know what the excess skin weighs, I don't try to handicap my weight. To determine if I want to lose more weight, I look in the mirror and try to evaluate how I look. I ask my best friend (who I completely trust to be honest) how he thinks I look. Then I decide if I want to lose more weight. I hope this helps.

I was weighed the day of surgery. But I have 2 "start" weights. My heaviest weight (375) before I started the pre-op diet and (352) the weight I was on the day of surgery. I don't consider 352 my real start weight because it was lost during the pre-op diet. And I know from my history that I would not have kept that weight off long term - If I could, I would not have needed surgery.

Could you elaborate a little more about what you mean by "pre-op" appointment? I had about 7 pre-op appointments. Everything from the initial visit to NUT visit, drawing blood, chest x-ray and psych eval visit. My initial visits with the doc were to make sure I could qualify for surgery, knew what I was getting into and the visit I had to have with the NUT. The rest were at the hospital - blood work, chest x-ray, stomach endoscopy and finally the psych eval (it was all about finding out if I knew what I was getting into, if I had realistic expectations, and if I was committed to the changes I would have to make).

To be straight up with you, I just took it day by day. I could not eat anything but sugar free popsicles for 7 or 8 days post-op. I wasn't able to get in anywhere near the recommended calories and protein that 1st month. My main focus was on staying hydrated. As long as I felt okay, I wasn't worried. I figured I had enough calories stored in my fat to survive a Zombie Apocalypse! (well.... survive as long as I wasn't being chased by a zombie... otherwise, I'd have been one of the 1st to go!)

Here's a link to Eggface - http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html She has a big following and has recipes for all stages of WLS.

Don't beat yourself up too much. I backed out when I started to make my 1st dr. appointment. It took another month before I realized my life was only going to get worse if I didn't go through with WLS and I just made up my mind to do whatever I had to do to get through WLS. When making a big decision like this, I ask myself: 1) Do I want to be in this same situation or worse a year from now? 2) Is the pain of staying in this situation worse than the pain of the change I need to make? So far, answering those 2 questions have given me the clarity I needed to make any major decision.

I never really had incision or stomach pain. It was more of an intense pressure. When I woke up in the recovery room, I knew exactly how the guy in 'Alien" felt - right before the critter popped out of his chest! But I'd do it all again in a second!! Gastric Sleeve Surgery Recovery - Post Surgery Interview Gastric Sleeve Surgery Recovery - 5 Min. Post Surgery

Sometimes I drink drink diet Sprite or Miller Lite beer. I drink it really, really, really slow. I switched to Crystal Light, so I don't drink carbonated beverages on a regular basis. You will have to experiment to find out how much you can safely drink before needing to stop. I found it is really easy to drink too fast and the carbonation leaves me feeling very uncomfortable.

Sounds like one fantastic NSV to me!!!!!!!!

I told only those that had to know - my best friend, my mom and dad. That was it. I wasn't ready to deal with negative people or those that might try to talk me out of it. I always figured I could tell later if I needed to, but I could never untell anyone.

I think a meetup would be great. I've not met anyone in person since my surgery 2 years ago. Although I work M-F, I am free after 5:30pm M-F and all day on Sat and Sundays. @@MamyBeth @@ucjes

I am a lifelong side sleeper and for 3 weeks or so after, I could not comfortably sleep on either side. I'd feel an uncomfortable "pulling" sensation in my stomach. My solution was to sleep propped up, on my back, like in a hospital bed. I rolled up a comforter like a log and put it against my headboard. That provided enough of an angle for me to sleep comfortably. Sometime during that 3rd week, the pulling sensation went away and I resumed sleeping on my side. Now the only problem I have side-sleeping is having to keep some comforter between my knees - I lost all the fat in my legs and know my knees hurt when they touch. I rank that as one of my top 10 NSV's!!!! So you get to look forward to THAT!

I'm a Premier Protein fan myself and they have stored fine in the fridge. Just shake them up a little before drinking. I like mine a little thicker, so I toss in a scoop of powdered chocolate protein as well. I would not feel safe leaving an opened shake in the fridge more than a couple of days. I don't know how fast they go bad, once opened. If you go with a powdered protein, I highly recommend spending the $7 dollars it costs for one of the Bottle Blenders (at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club, I've seen them at many stores - be sure to get the one with the "ball" inside) - they make things soooo much easier and truly mixes the powder completely. And you can leave the mix in the shaker bottle, put it in the fridge for later, take it out, shake it up again. As an added bonus, while using the Bottle Blender, you get a Shake Weight workout.

I can vividly remember how angry I was at the world, those 2 weeks after surgery. I wanted to fight everyone... good thing I live alone! And I was having weird apocalyptic dreams for several nights as well. I was dreaming I was in a post-apocalyptic world and I was trying to join a group of survivors. Weird huh?

Our sleeves can be weird at times. For example, I can eat Old Elpaso salsa with nary a grumble, but try eating Taco Bell taco sauce and Frankensleeve will seize up and feel like I'm trying to digest rocks!!!!