joatsaint

I sit at a desk all day, so I was back at work on day 11.

I had to re-learn how much I could safely drink at one time. Now, it's an unconscious habit. I can glug down a few big gulps safely, but I'm sure the swallows are not as big as they were pre-op.

Yep, you are perfectly normal. People often make WLS sound like starting Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, but it is major surgery and not to be taken lightly. I still remember freaking out and being on the fence - right up till they wheeled me into the OR room!

Don't feel bad about asking. It's a very common question. I was worried a few times when it felt like it had been too long since the last trip to the bathroom. I had to resort to Milk of Magnesia a few times before I figured out how to get enough Fiber in my diet. But it was about 9 months post-op before I was semi-normal again. Here's my first experience with MOM! http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018/entry-31570-constipation-and-milk-of-magnesia-or-how-fema-declared-my-bathroom-a-national-disaster/

Congrats on your surgery. A few of the things I learned the hard way post-op are: Learning to take tiny sips of Water. One big swallow too many, and it's all coming back up! Eating only a 1/2 teaspoon of food per bite. I never knew what Frankensleeve would tolerate, so I had to take a tiny bite of any new food I introduced into my diet. Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

Great to hear you're doing well. And it sounds like you are right on time to hit the dreaded 3-week stall. I've had many stalls over the past 15 months and I've learned that if I just stick to my eating and exercise program, the weight starts to drop again. Good luck and Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

I never missed food post-op. Even though I was hurting like Hell the 1st week post-op, I was so happy to be able to give food the middle finger! And say, "You have no power over me."

After 27 years of "miracle" diet pills and wishful thinking, I had to face the fact that I couldn't lose weight without surgery. I believe we are all victims of marketing hype that tell us if only we had enough self-discipline, we could win the battle over weight. But there are too many factors that come into play that over-ride self-discipline to boil it all down to just a lack of will power. We all have different genetics. I know there's a lot more at play than just genetics, but I believe it plays a big part in whether or not the body stores or burns up excess calories.

I try for 60 - 80 grams of protein daily, but it was several months post-op before I was able to get that much in.

I had both done at the same time. From talking to his staff, it is his normal procedure to go ahead and remove the gallbladder. One of the nurses told me that if it wasn't removed, I'd probably be back in few years to have it taken out anyway. He said that many overweight people commonly have gallbladder problems.

Me too, I had lost somewhere between 45 and 50 lbs at 3 months. Some of the fast losers that have posted say they have lost upwards of 60 lbs at the 3 month mark. I think it really depends on how closely you stick to your recommended diet plus the size of your new stomach. I don't care what you ladies say, size does matter!

During the 1st few months, I was eating so little that I was mostly eating protein. I didn't have much room for anything else and any kind of vegetable didn't agree with Frankensleeve. I was losing about 17 lbs a month. I made sure I was taking my multi-vitamins, calcium, and B-12. Other than the hassle of constipation - from not getting in enough fiber, everything was fine.

Good luck with your surgery.

Just get back on the wagon DaddyMarie. No one on this board is perfect and we all have our moments of weakness. It's not the failure that decides who you are, it's what you do afterwards. Do you learn from it and use it improve? Or do you focus on what can't be changed? P.S. Consider yourself "Pimp Slapped".

My doc said just take a good multi-vitamin, calcium, and B-12 sub-lingual tablet. He was fine with the Sam's Club brand of multi-vitamins. So I've been taking them ever since surgery.

I didn't eat popcorn for months post-surgery. Not because I couldn't have it, but because I was eating so little that I needed to get the maximum nutrition per bite that I could get. It was probably 6 months before I tried popcorn. I remember not being able to finish half the bag, it was months later before Frankensleeve could hold a whole bag of popcorn. I've had no problems with it. but now, It is a slider food for me. I buy the single serving microwave bags and limit myself to 1 bag - so I know exactly how much I'm eating.

Fear of negative comments was a major reason I didn't want to tell anyone I was having surgery. If I could have, I'd have done the whole process without anyone ever finding out. But I was surprised that my parent's first reaction was one of support when I told them. But I believe some people make negative comments and want to hold you back because they don't want to be left behind. If you don't succeed, then they can feel better about their own failures. Now that I'm more than a year post-surgery, I don't feel any twinge of regret and telling people is no big deal. I've never had a negative comment about my surgery, but if I do get a negative comment, I'm just going to tell them that I needed surgery because I couldn't lose the weight on my own. I was waaaay past fixing my weight problem by switching to diet Coke! And if they feel they can lose the weight through diet and exercise, then good for them.

Fortunately I only had to to a 1 week diet, but it was tough to lose weight - it was even tougher to stay on the diet.

Welcome to the board Faye. Don't feel alone, pretty much all of us had the same doubts and fears going into this process (I refuse to use the word "journey"!) If you have any questions feel free to post them, but your best source of information is going to be your doctor. Don't feel hesitant to ask him questions. He is in the best position to tell you what's best for your situation. He's getting a ton of money to make sure you have the best outcome possible. But you can PM me and I'll be happy to share anything I've gone through. Or you can read my blog or watch the videos I've made documenting my experiences. Both links are in my signature. http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018-gastric-sleeve-surgery-an-unexpected-journey/ http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13986484244507&key=6e4c13d9eae219a579d0623ec3e20905&libId=fc18e8f0-a96c-4273-9488-8d220a1efd5b&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bariatricpal.com%2Ftopic%2F305797-been-around-for-a-while%2F%23entry3453033&v=1&out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUCaOsuR2p6f49ptPSPoNav1Q%2Fvideos&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bariatricpal.com%2Fforum%2F3-gastric-sleeve-surgery-forum%2F&title=Been%20around%20for%20a%20while%20-%20Tell%20Your%20Gastric%20Sleeve%20Surgery%20Story%20-%20BariatricPal&txt=Frankensleeve Wishing you much success.

I remember feeling worse the day after surgery. I was on a morphine drip right after surgery, but they took me off of it several hours before I was released. I was hurting pretty good after that. I remember my first sips of Water after my leak test, after drinking about a tablespoon full of water, I threw up. As far as drinking goes, I wasn't drinking much of anything the 1st few days. I got my fluids mainly from eating sugar free popsicles. I was eating less than 1 popsicle per day and sipping on Crystal Light. I wasn't real worried about eating or drinking enough right after surgery. I figured as long as I felt okay and gradually increased my intake that I would be fine.

I was right where you are. The 1st 10 days post-op, I only ate sugar free popsicles, for about the next 3 weeks, I was eating about 3/4 of a can of mushroom Soup per day. Things will get better and you will be able to eat more as your new stomach heals. It was over a month before I was eating over 600 calories a day. I stayed focused on getting enough fluids. I figured I had enough fat stored on my body to keep me alive for about 6 months! http://youtu.be/Sxojaqrc2ZY

Here's a brief synopsis of what I experienced - 500 questionnaire covering my outlook on life, how I viewed the people around me, my feelings about drugs/alcohol and how much I used them. Many of the questions were asked multiple times, but in different ways. Then I had a 20 minute interview with the psychologist. Basically he wanted to find out if I was fully informed about the surgery, if I had realistic expectations, and if I was committed to this new eating/lifestyle - because the Sleeve is not a magic pill, you still have to have the discipline to eat right and exercise post-surgery.

I'm not sure how soon after surgery I started drinking regular coffee again, but currently I drink 4 to 6 cups a day with no problems.

My sense of taste was out of whack for a few months post-op. And I've seen the question about changes in the way food tastes come up quite often on the board. This article was posted on WebMD - a UK hospital has evidence that it is pretty common to experience changes in the way things taste and smell after bariatric surgery. My personal theory is that since we are literally forced to give up sugar (between the pre-op diet and going through the food stages post-op), our sense of taste is reset and we're no longer under the influence of sugar and processed foods. Taste Changes Reported After Weight-Loss Surgery Sense of smell also altered for some patients in British study WebMD News from HealthDay By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, April 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- After weight-loss surgery, many patients report changes in appetite, taste and smell, a new study says. One positive aspect of these changes is that they may lead patients to lose even more weight, the researchers suggested. The study included 103 British patients who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, in which the stomach is made smaller and the small intestines is shortened. Of those, 97 percent said their appetite changed after the surgery, and 42 percent said their sense of smell changed. Taste changes occurred in 73 percent of the patients, especially when it came to sweet and sour tastes, the researchers found. They especially noted changes in the taste of chicken, beef, pork, roast meat, lamb, sausages, fish, fast food, chocolate, greasy food, pasta and rice. Nearly three-quarters of patients said they developed a dislike of certain foods, especially meat products. One-third avoided chicken, minced beef, beef steak, lamb, sausages, bacon or ham. About 12 percent had an aversion to starches such as rice, pasta, bread and pastry and for dairy products such as cream, cheese, ice cream and eggs, 4 percent to vegetables, 3 percent to fruit and 1 percent to canned fish. The researchers also found that patients with a newly developed distaste for certain foods lost an average of nearly 18 pounds more after their surgery than those whose taste wasn't affected, according to the study recently published online in the journal Obesity Surgery. Although the study found an association between weight-loss surgery and sensory changes, it did not establish cause-and-effect. The taste and smell changes experienced by many patients after weight-loss surgery may be due to a combination of gut hormone and central nervous system effects, according to lead author Lisa Graham, of the Leicester Royal Infirmary. She noted that patients considering weight-loss surgery are typically told about the possible loss of taste and smell. http://www.webmd.com/diet/weight-loss-surgery/news/20140418/appetite-taste-changes-reported-after-weight-loss-surgery

Walmart/Sam's Club - Premier Protein chocolate. Once I found Premier, I quit drinking any other brand. And they're cheap too, they cost about $1.50 per shake.