endless80

Yeah that's just fluids. I gained 20 pounds from all of the fluids they pumped into me. But I lost that pretty quickly. The scale makes people crazy. I've stopped weighing myself daily.

Congrats! Glad to see you're doing so well. Keep it up!

Good morning gorgeous! You're right, there is no real "rule" to any of this. Everyone is different. Every surgeon instructs people to do what they think is best. Sometimes its sound advice, sometimes I'm like "whoa" when I see people post some of the crazy stuff they have to do.

It wasn't there when I went to sleep but when I woke up today the area around my belly button was tender and sore. I hear that hernias are common when you lose a lot of weight pretty quickly and also when you're heavy, which I still am. But what does a hernia feel like? It's sore and tender there now in the whole belly button area. Idea's? Moans? Groans? *oops, I misspelled hernia in the title.

Mine required nothing but liquids for 2 days before the surgery to clean me out so he could simply DO the surgery. No post op diet required. I guess that's why when someone says "OMG, I drank nothing but liquids for a week but ate a double quarter pounder with cheese with extra bacon and a side of crisco that doubled as ketchup" I don't get terribly judgy about it because once you're sleeved you can kiss that behavior goodbye for at least a year.

One of the things that I will always remember is that old expression...There is always someone who stands out in your mind forever...Well I am going to be that patient for my surgeon....He has taken a personal interest in my welfare and is constantly looking out for me....When I went septic, his personal nurse told me later on that he sobbed like a baby....this is not a job to him, this is his baby...He could make tons of money on other surgeries but he feels that the abuse and self loathing that obese people get and feel is not worth their lives if he can do something about it....i admire him for that and was treated like a queen by his personal staff.... They see me coming and there is all smiles and sheer happiness to see me....That is the way they should all be with any surgery....Do it because they want to help people......not make money..you know!!!!!!!!!! You have one of the most incredible stories of anyone I've ever heard on these boards. In fact, when I was talking to my friend and telling her to come to these boards for some guidance I was in the back of my mind hoping she would find your story because you have been through hell and your attitude about it is so inspiring to people. Especially if they're going through even a little bit of what you went through. Thank you RJ for shining your light our way.

You're right, there is a lot of bad information floating around regarding this. Recently I saw a picture of a stomach that was sleeved 5 years out and it was just stretched a little bit and that's to be expected. I always just assumed the reason we still have to watch what we eat is because after a certain amount of time our metabolism changes and adapts to how little we can now eat. Even 1, 2, 3 - 5 years out.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your responses. I really want to simply open a dialog about this because it's a reality that some of us around here face and as this surgery gains more and more traction will become more and more common. Someone posted above that their surgeon did not sell this surgery to them. I can unfortunately report that my surgeons did (and they're fantastic surgeons) but at the end of the day that is their livelihood and by the time I showed up their practice was already a well oiled machine. There were times I felt like they were herding us in like cattle. And I imagine that is how a successful surgeons office operates (literally and figuratively) but I've also noticed that this practice is a cash cow and a lot of less qualified and less knowledgeable surgeons are jumping on board. I think this is the case with my friend and now she is paying the price. I just hope her price is not an ongoing battle and that life becomes easier for her soon. I love reading all of your stories, there are some amazing people who frequent these boards and I am grateful for all of you.

Good luck Idlewood4! It's been a long journey for you so far, great story. I wish you a quick, as pain-less as possible and most importantly an effective surgery.

YES! Even by sleeve standards that's insane. What does your partner think about all of it? Is he being nice? Girl I spoke too soon! I fit nicely into a size 40 tonight. YAY!!

YES! Even by sleeve standards that's insane. What does your partner think about all of it? Is he being nice? Well about a week and a half ago I passed him in weight. He said he's a little jealous but has been so supportive of me. So I am really supportive of him. He lets me handle the food and has been eating much less. We share food a lot, especially when we go out.

Another thing you will probably do is when you fix your plate of food, it'll take you a while to eat it. Even the small amount you fix yourself. At least it does for me. I'll make a plate and it takes me an hour and a half to eat it. So that holds hunger off longer. I've become a professional grazer.

And when do we see pics of the man that lost 70 lbs in like, five minutes?? Pics soon, within the week. I went from a size 50 pants to a size 42. Isn't that INSANE?!

Oh that large incision site is the worst! It took 2 weeks for that to stop screaming at me. Especially when I stood up. Some say a pillow but that didn't work for me. Holding it in with my hand helped when walked... but good old fashioned patience will work the best.

Hunger is so different for me after being sleeved. It doesn't feel the same way that it used to. It's not a need to fill up like it was before. It's more like a nudge from my sleeve that it would like some food now. "I'm here, empty. Let's start thinking about what you're gonna feed me" I'm one of those weirdo's who drinks when I eat (it's more like sips to cleanse the pallet) and I still only eat/need 1/4 of what I ate before and sometimes less.

Lol!! Oh I don't know, there are parts of me that are still very round You look fantastic though. You're doing such a great job.

Sounds delish. 6 weeks sounds fine for this kind of food. Just eat slow and chew really well.

Congrats! It only gets better from here. Sounds like you're doing a fantastic job already.

And by "well rounded" I mean knowledgeable and willing to experiment with new flavors. lol

Your food always looks amazing. Your family is lucky to have such a well rounded cook in the house.

^^^ Let me clarify above. If you're Actually I don't think everyone cheats on their pre-op. Many of us didn't. My point is, some of us never had a pre-op diet and we turned out just fine. However, if you're on a pre-op diet because you need to shrink your liver down or stabilize blood sugar that's a different ballgame. Every surgeon is different. I wouldn't stress myself out over it if you cheat and jump back on track (that's really what I ment to say above). There are no real set of rules to follow when it comes to this because everyone has different experiences. All we can do is share our experiences and let you make up your mind what is best for you personally.

I will be unpopular when I say this but who cares? I was 360 pounds before my surgery. I required no pre-op diet except 2 days of liquids before the surgery day and Milk of Magnesia. I had no complications and in 10 weeks have lost 70+ pounds. Everyone cheats on their pre-op. And why not? You're never going to be able to eat like that again after the surgery. Live it up now. Just my 2 cents.

Exactly! I feel the same way. In all honestly, I didn't start liking my sleeve till about a month and a half in. I got depressed after the surgery because this new way of life was hoist onto me so quickly and permanently. I had to adapt, and I did, and I will some more. This is kind of the dark under belly of surgeries like this that a lot of people don't talk about. When someone asks me about it now I tell them my story (much briefer than above) and I also make sure I let them know that this surgery isn't for everyone and let me tell you why... x, y, z.

I think a lot of it has to do with your mind set as well. It was strange because I just "knew" I would be okay. It was instinct for me. I had envisioned exactly how I was going to feel when I got out of surgery and how I was going to recover before I had it. I made up my mind that I was going to be successful before I even began and I think that is so important on this journey. Especially, and you'll understand what I mean when I say this about 3-5 weeks in, every single day can be different. You'll experience different things and feel different things. One week you'll be like "screw carbs!" and the next week you're calling people carb nazi's because the idea of not eating a sandwich again in life is disturbing (just do a search under my name.. it's tragic. Laura can vouch for that... lol).

What an amazing gift you've been given! Something very similar happened to me recently with a Grandfather. I thought all of mine had died off and then due to a twist of events it turns out I had a living on all the way across the country.