deletedsally

That's super! I'm glad to hear that you are better.

I'm sorry you've been on such a long stall, but your drop in sizes is wonderful! I was just sleeved on 3/30/10. I was a size 26/28 and I would love to think that I could be in a size 18 by the 5 month point!

As a mental health counselor, I have quite a bit of experience treating depression. It is true that there are all kinds of physical, emotional, mental, and social changes that accompany this surgery--and all those things could contribute to depression. However, depression is generally the symptom of a deficit in the production of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. There are many things that can contribute to this, but an important thing to consider for people who have drastically changed their diets, is that the production of serotonin is directly linked to carbohydrate intake. Depression, difficulty sleeping, and irritability are common and well-documented side effects of low carb diets. I've been a little concerned about the emphasis on drastically restricting carbohydrate intake after VSG. While this may accelerate weight loss, it may also be a factor in the depression that some sleevers are experiencing.

WOWWOWWOW! I am so excited for you. What a great accomplishment!

It's interesting that we aren't supposed to take anything to thin the blood prior to surgery, but they gave me several heparin injections while I was in the hospital. I hope your doctor gives the OK for your surgery to go forward as planned.

Do you think that maybe your surgeon knew that you would need more calories to maintain a goal weight of 220, than a female would need to maintain say 120, and that he intentionally left your sleeve a little larger so that you would not lose more than you need to lose? I noticed that you said that you were able to drink 80 oz by mid-afternoon. I'm not sure how that compares with others, but it's been 5 weeks since my surgery, and I'm still having to work to get in 64oz by bedtime.

Wonderful! When I read the title of the post, I thought you meant you had a date with a guy. This will be even better. LOL

I can email you through your profile, but the graphs won't past correctly in the small window. Just post your email to me, and I will send you the graphs as a MS Word attachment.

I'm scooting over for you...it will be great to hear back from you!

Yippee! Who's your doc Andrea? I live in Lake City.

About how many calories have you had? Are you taking any medications for high BP? I'm wondering if your blood sugar was low or if your blood pressure dropped...

Yay!!! CONGRATULATIONS.

Solgar Whey to Go Natural Vanilla Bean, 1 scoop= 16g protein, 1g carb

One scoop of the unflavored Unjury = 20g protein, 1 gram carbohydrate, 80 calories.

Our starting weights were very similar. My highest was 283 before the pre-op diet. Surgery day, my weight was 274. My surgery was 3/30. Today I weighed in at 249. So I had my surgery about 3 weeks before yours, started at the same weight, and I've lost 7 more pounds (in the additional 3 weeks). My guess is that in the next three weeks you will have lost another 7 pounds as well. Our bodies do all kinds of crazy things with water when we lose fat. My guess is that the 17 lb weight loss that was so fast was a lot of water, and that your body has been gaining back a little of that water as you have continued to burn fat. The same thing happened to me, but not for as long. I lost 10 pounds the first week, then I didn't lose an ounce for the next week. I get frustrated too when I don't get the reward of seeing the scale move down. Hope you get to see that scale move soon!

I'm so glad to hear that you are feeling better. Great job too--all your fluids, all your protein, and a mile???!!!! That's wonderful!

You look incredible! Thanks for the encouragement. It's hard to tell that it's even the same person...Congratulations!

Great to hear that you passed that leak test and you're back on the road to recovery and feeling better!

I had my surgery on 3/30. From about week 2-4 I felt completed drained and weak. I rested a lot and took naps. I felt better after the 4th week. I was able to start mushies at that time and just being able to eat more normal food seemed to help. It's been less than 6 weeks now, and I'm feeling more energetic than before the surgery.

Congratulations! You will be jumping hurdles before you know it!

Sounds rough on your end, and you're trying all the right things. I would definitely stay in touch with your doctor and go the the ER if you might be getting dehydrated. Hope you feel better soon.

People who have more weight to lose generally will lose faster than those who have less to lose. I've lost 34 pounds (including pre-op loss) in the last 7 weeks. Some people lose more, some less. I made myself a table/graph. Then you enter your own starting weight and make additional pages as needed to have enough blocks for pounds and weeks needed to get to your goal. Tape the pages together, then take a ruler and a pencil and mark a line for the weight loss that would equal 1 pound a week, another line that would equal 2 lbs a week, and a third line that will equal 3 pounds a week. Then for every pound you lose, use a red marker to plot your weight loss. It is very encouraging to plot your progress and the table lets you compare your weight loss to your pencil lines and predict where you will be at various points. I figured that I would lose a minimum of 3 pounds a week for the first couple months because even with a Weight Watcher type of diet, you could predict that your weight loss would be 1-2 pounds per week, so it's reasonable to assume that you would lose more in the initial weeks after this surgery. If you want me to email you the graph pages let me know.

Glad you are through your surgery. I felt pretty horrible for the first 24 hours too. Gas pains all over my chest and abdomen, plus nausea. Trying to swallow was miserable. But about the 30 hour mark I was feeling better. Came home and didn't even need meds. Some temp immediately after surgery might be normal, but my MD had me on an antibiotic right after surgery (only while in the hospital). Are you taking an antibiotic?

People with a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, or high lipid values have a greater risk of blockage in their arteries. Because you have had undiagnosed diabetes, your doctor may want to do some tests to rule out problems. Congratulations on your decision. June is just around the corner!

GASTRIC STRICTURE Any procedure that was performed with the intent of restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold as a means of achieving weight loss can potentially lead to a permanent and excessively tight area of the stomach, called a stricture. This can follow a gastric bypass, a stomach stapling procedure, an band procedure or a gastric sleeve. The symptoms of a stricture are very similar to those of a Slipped Band and may include: CHRONIC VOMITING OR REGURGITATION OF UNDIGESTED FOOD EXCESSIVE WEIGHT LOSS UPPER ABDOMINAL OR CHEST PAIN AFTER EATING Relieving these symptoms can sometime be accomplished by simply stretching the stricture, usually with an endoscopic dilator under sedation. The relief may last a few days or many months, depending on how tight the stricture is and how easily it could be stretched. When this treatment fails to provide lasting improvement the solution is reoperation. The surgeon's goal is to open the strictured area sufficiently enough to allow food and fluids to pass through without difficulty, typically using a procedure known as a stricturoplasty. One of the side effects can be weight gain since the restriction has been eliminated. Occasionally, the stricturoplasty is combined with another procedure to help maintain the benefits of prior weight loss surgery. However, in this situation the main objective is to restore the anatomy of the stomach to the point where the patient can eat enough to maintain healthy nutrition.