jessiquoi

So far I feel like I am doing ok. I dont regret it but its definitely hard.i can only take 2-3 sips of anything before I feel the heartburn.Then I have to make myself burp before it stops. I finally today started with the gas. I do know there is absolutely no way possible I can get in all the Protein and fluids that they are requesting. I can already tell that my taste have changed.I tried some blended cream of chicken Soup today and it tasted yuck. Popsicles are my best friend.

Tomorrow Is my big day. I can't wait , I'm so excited I hope I can sleep tonight. See y'all on the losers bench!

I was sleeved nov 7 everyday is better but the big cut is killing meee sometimes i feel down because some people are pain free but im not going to lie.. it hurts thank God gas was not a problem for me..

On the other side of surgery, gas pains were the worst. Every day is getting better, walk as much as you can because painkillers don't touch gas pains. Stay strong and remind yourself it doesn't last forever.

Mien was nov.4 th I'm a week out and I've lost 16 in the first week. Good luck

I am one day post op. The surgery was not bad at all. My stomach has only been mildly sore. I was in recovery in tears for twp hours bc i had severe heart burn and upper back pain. I am still not hungry at all but very thirsty all the time. I drink medicine capfuls of Water every 15 minutes. I should be gping hpme this morning. Cannot wait to be in my own bed.

Yes... Still dealing with it one week post op. My wife wanted pizza one night. I couldn't help myself, I took a bite. Chewed it till all the favor was gone then spit it out. Not my proudest moment, but I got through it.

Tomorrow's the day. Starting to worry I'm going to struggle with no longer having my favorite foods. Did anyone feel this way? I know I'm better off but nervous.

@@DylanRae I was sleeved on the 6th. The pain was very tolerable and gets better every day. Hang in there!

Surgury date 18th. And away from the moment I check in to the hospital. The last 6 days of my pre op diet have been down and up. The first for days sucked really bad! But since then my biggest system is just being sleepy. Although I have also had a lot more energy at the same time.. It's interesting to say the least.
Regardless I am really ready and so excited to be getting closer!
Dylan

I am less then 48 hours from surgery, getting excited!
Good look to all of us November sleevers!

My surgery is November 18th! I have waited almost a year for this and I am very excited and nervous. I start my pre-op liquid diet tomorrow.

I had my sleeve Nov 5. Doing really well. No problem with the surgery! Good luck... You will do fine!

Good luck all!! I'm sleeved nov 7 was my date so im 4th day with just a little pain on my left side but its normal. Good luck God bless you! And welcome to the loser's bench!

my name is Adeleen im in New York. Im having my surgery Nov.12. Its taken me 6 mths. im so excited I cant wait.

My surgery is November 17! My surgeon is Dr. Orlando Icaza. I am on day 8 of 14 of my pre-op diet I don't really feel hungry, just empty and my sugar crashes.

My surgery is tomorrow morning too. Getting psyched, and all of you have really helped to keep my spirits up, my confusion tamped down, and my eyes on the prize.
I was on a liquid diet for 10 days, and today it is just Clear Liquids. It hasn't been too bad... lost around 10 pounds, which makes this a lot more worthwhile. The second day of the liquid fast was by far the hardest, but by the third my body just gave up, I think, and adjusted.
Looking forward to the new, streamlined me!

Hi all. Last day of liquid diet. Surgery tomorrow at 1030. Have to be at hospital at 830. Have my bag packed and c pap machine packed and ready to go.

Good Morning!
My name is Tammy- I live in the greater Orlando area in Florida. My Gastric sleeve was done on 11/7- so I am 4 days post op.
Starting weight was 220- when I got home I weighed 225- now I know IV fluids contributed to that.
I was scheduled to stay in the hospital 1 night and had to stay 2 d/t uncontrolled nausea. I seemed to shake that Saturday morning and came home.
Today- day 4- I am heading to Sam's Club with my Mom- and to Macy's. Just going to try to get in some steps- and get moving.
I am happy to be here- and expect that I will need some support as this journey continues
Tammy

It is my first day on the Ketogenx liver reduction diet and I am pumped. I know it's early, but I am so excited that my surgery is coming soon. My PA thought I'd only have to do 2 weeks with all the weight I'd lost, but the doctor said 4 at the results visit, which is probably better for me in the long run anyway. My surgery is December 11 so I have less than a month to go. I'm just so excited I had to share

My name is Stacy and I am new to the group and also the gastric sleeve. With my insurance I need to wait 6 months before I have the surgery. I am so excited and cannot wait till May when I should be having surgery! !!

Started my journey in March, lost about 40 lbs. pre-surgery, on my own. Surgery in September....and just made it to Onederland! Still a good ways to go, but nice to have accomplished this goal along the way. Hopeful and determined that I will never see a 2 up front again!
Great way to start the day!

First and foremost, I am cold as a mothafookah! ALL THE TIME.

I am wearing jeans when most people are wearing shorts. I always have a tank top on under my sweater and am usually wearing fleece leggings under my pants. As a fatty, I never ever wore a coat unless I was skiing and now, not only do I wear one, but I carry a spare if I am going in to my kids' schools to use as a blanket.

I keep my house at 74 and I turn on the fireplace when I am downstairs. I set my car thermostat at 88 and can hardly bear to get out of my car and go into stores. The grocery, which is always colder than any other place including Antarctica, has me scurrying through as quickly as possible and shaking uncontrollably by the time I am out of there.
I sleep in wool socks, fleece leggings, a tank and a long sleeve tshirt. I wrap myself in a wool blanket and then get under the sheet, fleece blanket, down comforter and regular comforter. (Husband is pretty sure he's not getting any action until summer. He's probably right.)

I am cold cold cold cold cold and it's 45 degrees outside. I am probably not going to survive when it hits the teens.

Second is something I just figured out last night. I can no longer have a glass of milk with my brownie/muffin/cake. Yeah, yeah, I know. I am not supposed to be eating those things, but I had the sleeve so I could live a relatively normal life post op. I have a slight stricture so I am forced to follow the no drinking for an hour after eating rule or I will vomit. I don't like it, but I've leaned to live with it after 18 months.
Last night I ate half of the best chocolate chip muffin I've ever had. I wanted a glass of milk SO bad, I couldn't resist. I poured about two inches and it was so delicious, I chugged it. The milk and the muffin revisited. Quickly. I barely made it to the bathroom. Ugh.


SO YES. I found two things I hate about my sleeve. That said, there are so many HUGE things I love about it, I don't regret it for a minute. I can bundle up, I can wait on the milk. I can't imagine ever going back to where I was. I am thrilled about my decision despite these two stupid little things and I am so happy I had surgery. SO HAPPY.

And Quest makes a banana nut Protein bar!

Mom taught me the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned:
Self-acceptance and the desire to change are not mutually exclusive propositions


I hit 300 pounds by the age of 18. Dating back to early childhood, all my efforts to diet had failed, and always left me heavier than I’d been when I started.
In my 20s, I decided to accept my body - fat and all. No more diets. No more wasting time feeling bad about my size. From now on, I was gonna work on loving the body I had. If I remember correctly, about 10 minutes later, my mother broke the news:
“Sweetheart, I’m having weight loss surgery.”
A chorus of ‘No!’ started singing in my head. Every reason why surgery was a bad idea tried to elbow its way to the stage.
“It’s dangerous!”
“It’s expensive!”
“It’s a cop out!”
“It’s society that needs to change, not you!”
“You’re beautiful just as you are!”
“It’s their problem, not yours!”
“NO!”
My mom had gone through periods of consistently eating nourishing foods in nourishing ways, exercising every day, and sleeping well. And as a result, she knew what it felt like to be more comfortable in her own skin, and to move through the world without the burden of 150+-pounds of excess fat.
I, on the other hand, was young, and had always been overweight and out of shape, but I wasn’t gonna let that stop me from believing I knew what was best for my mother. I was an idealistic feminist college student who’d just stumbled upon the solution to suffering: loving myself just exactly as I was.
To my mind, by choosing to have surgery, my mom was being a narrow-minded, self-hating fool.
“Mom, you need to love yourself! Don’t let society tell you how your body should look!”
“I do love myself," she said. "That’s why I’m doing this. I want to be comfortable. I want to be able to do things I’m not comfortable doing at this weight. And I want to be alive and healthy for when you have babies.”
I could hardly believe the depth of her ignorance.
“There’s a support group for post-ops that’s open to the public. Please come with me,” she said.
Fine, I thought. There was bound to be some post-op there who’d almost died, or someone that couldn’t swallow...All I needed was one flesh and blood person to base my argument on, and then my mother would have no choice but to come to her senses.
“I’ll come on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“I want you to listen to everything that gets said in that meeting. I’m not going if you’re gonna ignore the truth.”
“It’s a deal.”
My mom drove us to the meeting in Englewood, NJ. There was a facilitator, and just under 50 people in the room, mostly women in their 40s and 50s. Some had had surgery already, some were scheduled to have it, and some were just thinking about it.
I sat against the wall in silent protest. While waiting for the meeting to start, I invented a life and a personality for the facilitator, compared her to me, and decided I was superior. She started with some house-keepy details and then launched right in.
“Welcome, everyone,” she said. “First we’ll hear check-ins from the post-ops, and then, if there’s still time, we’ll take some questions.”
The post-ops shared personal stories ranging from the straightforward: ‘I had surgery, I lost a lot of weight, I feel better, and here I am,’ to the gripping: ‘I had surgery, had a bunch of post-surgical complications, and here’s what life has looked like since.’
Everyone’s story was a little different, but one thing was universal: these people hadn’t gone under the knife to get hot; they’d undergone surgery because they wanted to live as fully as they could in the time that remained, and for them, that meant being a healthier weight. Dieting had failed them, like it fails most of us, but surgery felt like it might be the answer.
The facilitator called a break. I watched as my mother got up and introduced herself to a post-op who’d shared that losing weight meant getting her blood pressure, cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes under control. The woman was older, she was not meeting any popular standards of beauty, and appeared positively vibrant. I hadn’t realized how down my mom looked until she started to brighten up talking to this woman.
The moderator called us back. People were smiling and whispering, quietly exchanging cards and phone numbers. She thanked everyone for their shares, and opened up the floor, as promised.
“Does anyone have any questions for the post-ops?”
Now was my chance. I raised my hand.
“How many of you wish you hadn’t had surgery?”
Not a single hand went up. Maybe they’re embarrassed, I thought. Surely the ones who’d had complications felt foolish for having had surgery, but maybe peer pressure was keeping them quiet.
I needed to ask a better question, get them to talk about the danger.
“Uh...can I ask one more?” the facilitator nodded.
“What’s the biggest, scariest risk to having surgery?”
There was a tiny pause. My brain fired off all kinds of answers: Vitamin deficiencies! Pain! Death!
“Judgement.”
What?
“Being criticized.”
Wait, what?
“When people think surgery’s the easy way out, or a sign of weakness, or just a stupid idea, and they never stop letting you know." Huh.
According to a roomful of WLS post-ops, having to deal with my criticism might be the biggest, scariest risk my mom would face if she had surgery. Compared to daily, holier-than-thou judgement, even post-surgical complications might seem trite and manageable.
My mom do go ahead with her surgery. In under a year, I watched her regain much of the health and livelihood she’d lost. A little over a year later, I went to the same surgeon.
Ever since I opted to have gastric bypass surgery myself in 2003, I can tell you that the folks at that meeting were right.
I’ve worked my tail off to get well, to get an honest handle on my relationship to food, and to create a body I love. I became a personal trainer, coach, and educator to help others do the same. As a wellness professional, I’ve been judged for having had surgery in much the same way I was judged for being the fattest kid on the playground, except now, it’s often by other fitness “professionals.”
I’ve since apologized to my mother for the grief I tried to give her when she first started exploring surgery as an option. And I’ve thanked her for sparking the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned - the lesson that I’ve dedicated my career to teaching to others:
Self-acceptance and the desire to change are not mutually exclusive propositions - they can co-exist. In my experience, and that of countless clients and students, the only way to make lasting, sustainable, positive change is to begin from a place of love.