ocean_ophelia

This is a great thread. I am getting sleeved tomorrow and I've been freaking out and mourning food, so it helps to know that while restriction remains, those who are a year or further out can still on occasion have a treat and eat like a normal thin person.

Surgery is a breeze. It's making the lifestyle changes that's hard.

I love this quote.
I need to let go of the expectation that I'll be perfect every day and learn to get up, brush off, and MOVE on, even if I have a less than stellar day. This kind of all or nothing thinking is what got me in trouble in the first place.

I disagree. Should you have to tell everyone if you have cancer? Or MS? Or depression? These are private medical issues. It's called HIPPA, and it's our right NOT to reveal anything medical, any surgeries we've had, any treatments we've undergone. If you want to tell, fine, but some people are more comfortable dealing with cancer in private. It's not anybody's business what I had done. And I AM eating healthfully and exercising. I'll have to for the rest of my life.

Oh, those sound like BIG, BIG problems! :hurray:

Hi. I'm new here. This is a great thread. I'm looking forward to my sleeve in January.
I would love to be cold all the time. I am HOT all the time, even in the middle of winter. It's 30 out, and I don't wear a coat. I've been like this always, even when I was 60 pounds lighter.
Being cold would be fabulous! I'd love not to be a slave to food as well.
I worry mostly about the possibility of complications, of course, and the possibility of reflux. I don't have any reflux now, and don't want to experience it!

All right, I'm 6 months post-op and 75 pounds lighter, which is 5 pounds below my goal weight. I'm in a size 4/XS, and I feel fabulous. I work out every day. But the last week has been BAD. I've been BAD. I'm back to my old habits, granted on a much smaller scale.
It started with vacation, which was always a huge trigger for me, a passport to eat whatever I wanted and however much I wanted. The same thing happened this time, except I simply can't binge like I used to, but I can still do a lot of damage snacking and drinkning high-calorie concoctions (coffee drinks, alcohol). The thing is: I KNOW better. I do. I am informed. I GET that what I'm doing is sabotage. My hunger isn't like it used to be either, but the head hunger is rearing itself.
I've gained 3 pounds, which is mostly Water weight, I'm sure, but I need to nip this in the bud NOW. Any words of advice would be much appreciated. I really just need to hear someone tell me to knock it off. I seriously will not forgive myself if I spent so much money and weeks of recovery and not have long-term success. I just can't do this again.

Well, I can vouch that it is possible. I've kept it secret for nearly 6 months now. Only my hubby knows. I didn't even tell my mom (because she has a big mouth). No one at work knows. None of my friends do. And I've lost 80 pounds and gotten down to a BMI 19, size 4/6. So, yes, it's possible, but you have to commit to it. Don't tell even one person. Don't drop hints. Don't beat around the bush. It depends on what kind of person you are. I am very private and don't talk a lot about my life, so it's not shocking for me not to share. When people noticed my weight loss, I just said, thanks, I'm eating healthfully and exercising, which is 100 percent true! Anyway, don't make an issue out of it. Most people notice you and your business far less than you think. You're just not that important - and I don't mean you specifically; I mean, any of us. I mean, really, people have better things to do than monitor what you eat.

Yes, exactly. Not revealing a personal medical decision is NOT lying. It's PRIVATE information.

I disagree. Should you have to tell everyone if you have cancer? Or MS? Or depression? These are private medical issues. It's called HIPPA, and it's our right NOT to reveal anything medical, any surgeries we've had, any treatments we've undergone. If you want to tell, fine, but some people are more comfortable dealing with cancer in private. It's not anybody's business what I had done. And I AM eating healthfully and exercising. I'll have to for the rest of my life.

Yes, exactly. Not revealing a personal medical decision is NOT lying. It's PRIVATE information.

I disagree. Should you have to tell everyone if you have cancer? Or MS? Or depression? These are private medical issues. It's called HIPPA, and it's our right NOT to reveal anything medical, any surgeries we've had, any treatments we've undergone. If you want to tell, fine, but some people are more comfortable dealing with cancer in private. It's not anybody's business what I had done. And I AM eating healthfully and exercising. I'll have to for the rest of my life.

Well, I can vouch that it is possible. I've kept it secret for nearly 6 months now. Only my hubby knows. I didn't even tell my mom (because she has a big mouth). No one at work knows. None of my friends do. And I've lost 80 pounds and gotten down to a BMI 19, size 4/6. So, yes, it's possible, but you have to commit to it. Don't tell even one person. Don't drop hints. Don't beat around the bush. It depends on what kind of person you are. I am very private and don't talk a lot about my life, so it's not shocking for me not to share. When people noticed my weight loss, I just said, thanks, I'm eating healthfully and exercising, which is 100 percent true! Anyway, don't make an issue out of it. Most people notice you and your business far less than you think. You're just not that important - and I don't mean you specifically; I mean, any of us. I mean, really, people have better things to do than monitor what you eat.

Well, I can vouch that it is possible. I've kept it secret for nearly 6 months now. Only my hubby knows. I didn't even tell my mom (because she has a big mouth). No one at work knows. None of my friends do. And I've lost 80 pounds and gotten down to a BMI 19, size 4/6. So, yes, it's possible, but you have to commit to it. Don't tell even one person. Don't drop hints. Don't beat around the bush. It depends on what kind of person you are. I am very private and don't talk a lot about my life, so it's not shocking for me not to share. When people noticed my weight loss, I just said, thanks, I'm eating healthfully and exercising, which is 100 percent true! Anyway, don't make an issue out of it. Most people notice you and your business far less than you think. You're just not that important - and I don't mean you specifically; I mean, any of us. I mean, really, people have better things to do than monitor what you eat.

From everything I read, the sleeve is superior the the lapband in every way.

I agree. Try Diva's boot camp. I do it every two or three weeks even when I don't stall. It's a great way to get back to the basics. The sleeve is just a tool; YOU still have to do the hard work, and part of that is not eating the junk or eating it only in small, limited quantities. You won't maintain or lose if you keep eating carbs and sugars. Focus on the lean Proteins and log your food to make yourself accountable.

Worst: nausea from anasthesia, unexplained nausea in subsequent weeks, not being able to binge (hey, food was the live of my life!), sometimes feeling like I'm missing out as others are eating a meal, the too-full sick feeling I get from eating just a little bit too much
Best: the quick weight loss, esp at the beginning; not being able to binge (yup, it goes in both categories); shopping in my closet; feeling like I control food instead of vice versa.

Worst: nausea from anasthesia, unexplained nausea in subsequent weeks, not being able to binge (hey, food was the live of my life!), sometimes feeling like I'm missing out as others are eating a meal, the too-full sick feeling I get from eating just a little bit too much
Best: the quick weight loss, esp at the beginning; not being able to binge (yup, it goes in both categories); shopping in my closet; feeling like I control food instead of vice versa.

Worst: nausea from anasthesia, unexplained nausea in subsequent weeks, not being able to binge (hey, food was the live of my life!), sometimes feeling like I'm missing out as others are eating a meal, the too-full sick feeling I get from eating just a little bit too much
Best: the quick weight loss, esp at the beginning; not being able to binge (yup, it goes in both categories); shopping in my closet; feeling like I control food instead of vice versa.

I have to be honest. I went to Mexico. No insurance would ever pay for WLS here since I was a 31 BMI, but I knew I needed to do something to lose weight and KEEP it off. The scale just kept going up, and I was a food addict. I was miserable and desperate. In the end, I found out my insurance has restrictions on all WLS anyway. I had surgery with Dr. Kelly. He was great and I had an easy recovery. The hospital/clinic was adequate. I came home feeling great.
However, I'm almost six weeks out now, and I've been dealing with constant nausea and diarrhea. I've emailed my surgeon, and he emailed me back; I could call him too. BUT he can't prescribe me anything; he can't see me. I've had to see a general doc.
I think I would get MUCH better follow-up care if I'd gone in the States, and I would have had I had the choice. The follow-up care if you go to Mexico is nonexistent; no matter how attentitve the surgeon, he's THERE, and you're HERE, period. Many people don't require any follow-up care. I can certainly do lab work at my general doc's, BUT I so wish I had a bariatric practice to help me through the debilitating nausea. That's just my two cents. You have to weight the pros and cons.

Hi everyone,
I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but I'm 6 weeks post-op today and feel just horrible, so horrible that I'm having serious regrets about doing this, especially since my BMI was only 31. I've lost 30 pounds, which is great, but I honestly don't even care because I've been plagued by horrendous nausea. I'm nauseous all the time, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. I'm nauseous if I don't eat, and then eating soothes it a bit, and then it starts up again after meals. I feel like I did in my first-trimester of pregnancy, except I'm not pregnant and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I'm also having diarrhea/loose stools.
I can't get any Protein in. I've been living on homemade egg drop Soup and saltines. Everything else makes me sick. I now have an aversion to most things I've eaten due to the nausea.
I saw a doctor. They can't find anything wrong. I don't have gallstones. The sleeve looks fine. I don't have an infection. I'm taking omperazole. I was very nauseous the first three days post-op, but I figured that was due to the anesthesia. The nausea went away but returned with a vengence about three weeks post-op and it's been ongoing for weeks now.
I can't find any information about this. My surgeon is telling me the sleeve shouldn't be making me nauseous, and it's not a malabsorptive surgery so I shouldn't have diarrhea, but it's clearly the sleeve! I had no issues pre-op with my digestive system!
Has anyone else experienced this and had it go away? I'm just so depressed. I don't want to live this way. It's debillitating.

Great post. No, you are not that guy, and that's something to Celebrate. Now, go flirt with the barrista!

This is a great thread. I am getting sleeved tomorrow and I've been freaking out and mourning food, so it helps to know that while restriction remains, those who are a year or further out can still on occasion have a treat and eat like a normal thin person.

Oh, those sound like BIG, BIG problems! :hurray:

What a great feeling! Congrats! My resolution is to get the sleeve!