Daydra

I think your questions are best directed to your doc. I haven't personally run across any statistics that suggest that weight loss surgery reduces life expectancy. The last thing that I read was that the average life expectancy was increased by 2.6 years (if I'm remembering the abstract correctly). Not really a big number, but what about quality of life? For me, even if I were going to lose 2.6 years, I would have had the surgery anyway. I'd rather have less good years than more bad ones. Best of luck on making your decision.

You're probably just keying in on the negative stories right now due to nerves. Totally normal response, but there are lots and lots more good stories than bad. Go back to the statistics on complications if it will help remind you of the risk of complications and settle your mind. Hang in there, and good luck!

My surgeon wouldn't authorize anymore than 2 weeks, even though I have the time at work. I was hoping for 3, so I could at least get into the swing of eating soft foods. So my first day back at work will be my first day of puree/soft. Not ideal. Other than that, I feel fine. If I had a desk job I would have felt physically fine going back to work after 1 week off.

I've never been anything but morbidly obese, with the exception of some temporary losses that put me into the simply obese category, at least since kindergarten. I have a couple pictures as a toddler where I looked like I was at a healthy weight (albeit, built like an ox). So nope, never known anything else. I'm about a week out and can't wait to get to a reasonable weight and to find out what I'm actually capable of.

Yurbuds Ironman. Trust me on this. There are a few different styles, but the plain earbuds with the silicone covers without the over the ear clip kind of corkscrews into your ear and you have to pull pretty hard for them to fall out. I've never had them come out without it being intentional once they are seated correctly. When I got mine, they were about $100, but now I think average price is right around $50, less if you can find them on sale or at TJ Maxx or something. Good luck! This is the model I have.

Congratulations on all your hard work! I did my first sprint distance triathlon at about 315. You can do anything you put your mind to. As far as pants being too long, they seem to be making them longer now. I used to have to buy talls, but now talls are usually too long. At least it's quick and easy to run a hem! Best of luck!

Great work! It's a good thing that it gets better every day, otherwise recovery could be a pretty miserable experience!

Thanks for the info and ideas, all!

Anybody use this stuff? It's a protein supplement that provides 18g protein in a 2 Tbsp dose. Found it on Bariatric Choice and if it's tolerable, it could be a good solution for making sure that I get enough protein. I'm only a week out, and it's taking me an hour or more to get down a single protein shake still, so I'm hoping to find some good protein bang for my volume buck at this point.

Holy cow! Congrats! It took me the first 6 days just to get off the weight that was added from all the IV fluids while I was still at the clinic. I'm less than a pound down from surgery morning and today is my day 7. Good work!

Oh wow, congratulations! It depends on what your budget is, but for me, my top 3 at different spending levels would be a spa makeover day (probably around $800), sporting equipment, or a room makeover/remodel (turn bedroom into oasis for lower cost, remodel a bathroom or kitchen if you have more $ to spend). Assuming trips are out, as you've mentioned. Although, a weekend away could be pretty reasonable. Again, congratulations!!!

I was able to sleep flat, either on my side or on my back from the very first night with no issues. I'm not a stomach sleeper, but I imagine that would have been a no-go. Otherwise, I had no discomfort in any position, once I got into position, of course.

Nervous is completely normal. While we can never compare, none of the things that I feared came to pass and I found the surgery and first week much easier than I expected. Having a plan of what you will do should something you fear happens can help alleviate some of your anxiety, though. Also, going back over stats for complications was helpful to me when I was feeling anxious. Best of luck to you. Wish you the best!

Great work! One step at a time! I'm sure this will be a start to a healthier, happier life for you!

You can take darts in the waistbands. Basically you just sew folds in the waistbands. As long as you don't cut the seams it's as easy as taking a seam ripper to remove the darts when you are ready to pass them on. No damage. The only other really easy option is to use belts, but I never felt like that was a better solution, because all that would happen to me is my waistband would be forced under the belt and have a big flapping gap... As long as you don't take the darts too tight, the extra folds of fabric won't be really noticeable. You can take the darts down into the hips to provide shape between the waistband and hips to prevent the fabric laying weird. It's obviously more difficult to do with thick fabrics like denim. Your standard home sewing machine will struggle with that thickness, but you could do it by hand if necessary. Good luck!

These stories make me really sad. So many overweight people end up with partners that really aren't the best for them, whether that is because they don't think they have any other options, or they haven't learned what they need to look out for, or whatever other reason. This looks like controlling behavior and at least some degree of emotional abuse to me (and really, controlling behavior counts). In my personal opinion, the only appropriate response of a good spouse or partner to the improvement of health, happiness, and self-esteem of their partner is pride and support. You are not getting that, and you DESERVE it. You stated that there is a lot more going on, but it boils down to you being in a relationship where you aren't getting what you need and deserve (and may be receiving harmful treatment). You are the only one that can decide whether or not you are going to fight for it, whether that means giving therapy a try (keeping in mind that he has to be as invested as you are for it to be effective) or whether you are going to cut your losses and look for someone that will appreciate you. Best of luck to you. I know that it's going to be a difficult road, however it turns out, but as long as you are looking towards taking care of yourself, you have better days ahead.

Best of luck to you both! I'm only 5 days out, and I have to tell you, it was way easier than I had imagined! None of my fears came to pass. Thinking about you both and I know it will be great!

Good work! It's all about preparation, that's for sure! My experience was that post op hunger didn't even exist. I fortunately only had a 1 week pre-op diet of 870 cal, but I found that extremely difficult, particularly for the first 3 days. After surgery, I have "wanted" to eat, but I wasn't hungry. If I can't smell food, I'm not really even thinking about it. I don't believe for a second that difficulty pre-op on a 1200 cal diet has any bearing on following the post op diet. I have to admit that the fear of doing damage to myself is a big part of sticking to the post-op diet. Not wanting to create a leak for not following doctors orders is a really strong motivator. The vets say that it gets more difficult the further from surgery you get, but we've got about 6 months to rebuild healthy eating habits to depend on the further out we get. And even if we're not perfect (because let's face it, we're not going to be), as long as we aren't eating constantly, or eating ridiculously high calorie foods, or 800 calorie drinks or smoothies every day, we would have to work hard at getting in a similar number of calories that caused us to gain weight (assuming there aren't medical issues creating the excess weight). Research tidbits I've read show that even at 6 years out, average excess weight loss is within about 5% of average weight loss after 1 year, so though I know it will take effort to be successful for life, it will likely not be the epically difficult experience we have had to date. I know that we can get it done, if we can just get out of our own way! :-) I have to admit to having some tough days before coming to the decision to have the surgery, and I have spent many a day hiding under the covers myself, but setting some forward momentum on resolving some of the issues that were bothering me and giving myself goals to work toward did wonders for picking myself back up and putting one foot in front of the other! Best of luck to you. I know there is a way for you to structure the things that you need to take care of whenever you decide to be your final schedule.

I would say that while the new and exciting part of losing weight so quickly at first felt like it "solved" the depression you felt pre-op, it just masked it for a short time. I think that likely happens to most people that suffer from some type of depression that come to the decision to have weight loss surgery. I was advised not to stop taking my antidepressant, regardless of if I felt like I didn't need it anymore, until after I had reached maintenance. There are so many emotional issues tied up in our lives and in being overweight, that we can't expect the success of surgery to solve it all. I would encourage you to consider discussing your feelings with your doctor or finding a therapist, going back on meds if you have stopped, or maybe you should consider starting one if you are unable to get a handle on your feelings through therapy or other means. Just know that it's normal to experience a whirlwind of emotions as we go through all of these changes, but also that the only thing that's really changed is our weight, not any of the underlying emotional struggles. I promise, you're not going crazy. Good luck and take care.

The guidance I was given basically states that it happens due to the shock of surgery and weightloss, and that for those patients that experience the hairloss, 30-40% of it could fall out, several months after the shock occurred that put them into the "resting" phase. Guidance states that it's not likely due to nutrient deficiency and there's really no intervention necessary or particularly effective and that it will begin to grow back and you don't have to worry about whether or not to shampoo or how vigorously to shampoo, because all that does is loosen the strands that were going to come out anyway. I think this is one of the side effects where "Suck it up, buttercup" applies, unfortunately. Might be a good time to develop a personal style that includes some cute hats... Good luck!

My clinic guidance just says that if you choose to drink alcohol, make sure that you are aware that it will likely stall your weightloss and to be sure that you are willing to make the trade. Personally, I'm planning to wait until I'm well into maintenance before I throw that into the mix, but I've never once craved an alcoholic drink. I almost never have a drink unless I'm out with friends and we're all having drinks. Even then, it's not uncommon for me to order a "mocktail".

Our brains do play tricks on us, don't they? I took 2 weeks off from work, mostly because I was afraid of going back too soon and I don't have a desk job. I'm a solid waste inspector, so I have to go around to all sorts of unsavory properties telling people they need to clean up. I didn't want to have to run away from a dog or a tweaker with fresh incisions... I was sleeved on Tuesday. I'm feeling really good, with only minor discomfort. If I had a desk job that allowed me to move a little slowly for a week, I could have gone back yesterday when I quit taking my pain meds. I would feel pretty comfortable going back on Monday if I had too, so that would have only been 4 days off of work, since I worked a full day the day before surgery. I certainly can't guarantee that you'll have the same experience, but for me it has been way easier than I imagined. Fear and anxiety is totally normal and to be expected, but if you're truly not ready, or it's going to be too much of a hardship to do it at a specific time, there is no shame in rescheduling. This whole thing is all about taking care of yourself. Don't feel like you need to sacrifice one type of self-care (making sure that you can earn the $ you need to live and managing your stress levels) for another type of self-care (having surgery to improve your health). Best of luck, there is no "right" decision here...

Yikes! I'm not struggling as much as that, best of luck to you, and I hope that the discomfort and swelling goes down quickly! So far, I'm still up nearly 4 from before surgery, but I know that will change pretty soon. I was happy to be able to get my meds down with about 4oz of Water in less than 1/2 an hour. The last 2 days, it took nearly an hour to get them all down. Every day is better. I also was comfortable enough to drop the liquid Percocet (That stuff is so nasty...I swear it was 1/2 my problem trying to get the rest of my meds down.) so I've been in a little more general discomfort, but it's really not bad. I'm really only uncomfortable when I'm getting up or down, or rolling over in bed, otherwise, it's not an issue. Just gotta get through the clear phase, thankfully starting full liquid tomorrow. I might be able to get down some nutrition! Good luck! Hope you continue to feel better!

Congratulations! Every surgeon has different instructions. My post op diet starts reintroducing solid foods (cautiously, of course), after the start of week 5. If you don't have instructions from your surgeon, you might give them a call. It's likely to be different than mine.

Congratulations! Wishing you the best for recovery! To those that are nervous and quickly nearing surgery, I had a very similar experience. I was sleeved Tuesday 7/23 at about noon. I spent the night at the clinic and had almost no discomfort whatsoever, had great color and it was easy to walk around the nurses station. I was even walking around the station with no escort within a few hours of waking up from the anesthesia. I was discharged yesterday morning at 7am. I'm a little less comfortable at home since the clinic has all the good drugs, but I'm totally mobile, have little pain, no nausea, no vomiting, only minor gas. The hardest part is getting all my meds and fluids down. Showered this morning and still having no problems. Hubby doesn't know what to do with himself since I don't really need care right now. Best of luck to all!