Lissa_S

Has anyone heard of someone getting another leak after the first? It's what I am so scared about!

Shell - you look amazing! Changing old habits is really hard. And I am only back at work part time so I have no doubt that when I am fully back on deck I'll struggle more with this too. At the moment, I find that if I go too long without eating I feel a bit sick so that is a great motivator to remember to eat. I think you're doing the right thing in taking things with you to snack on - and nuts are great!

Dean - I don't own scales. Even now although the temptation to buy them has been great. The reason I don't is that I know I wouldn't be able to keep checking my weight I work at a hospital so now that I am back at work, I just nip into the office and weigh myself once per week. It's not for everyone but it works for me

Ugh I know - the nurses told me I was lazy and upsetting my familly by saying I couldn't walk down the hall. So i did and my heart rate wouldn't come down from 160 beats per minute. An hour later I am in ICU...being prepped for emergency surgery (7 hours) and ended up on a ventilator.

LOL that should read DON'T FREAK OUT

I had my surgery in September but got a leak - I have been out of hospital and eating now for six weeks. I was right where you were at the start of this process. Because of the leak, I really regretted my decision but from talking to others who also had a leak, as time goes by and you become more used to life with the sleeve, you no longer feel this regret. My friends who had normal recoveries also report the same thing - in six months, you'll feel so differently about this surgery! People keep telling me this anyway It doesn't really help but I just keep reminding myself that I will look back on this and not feel so, well, crappy. Just be kind to yourself and freak out...Best of luck, Lila

I had two back drains - like you without anaesethetic and I was hooked up via a garden hose (or so it seemed) to a pump. I was the same - couldn't get myself around without help either. My leak was also high up - sounds like it must be a common thing for that kind of leak. I am 5 weeks out since they did the leak test (as of yesterday) and although I find it really REALLY hard to eat and drink enough, I do think I am getting better all the time. I struggle a bit with nausea which is gross but it isn't too bad and I 've stopped taking medication to deal with it so hopefully it will go away soon.

Wow I am so sorry to hear your story. My lung collapsed twice too and I had about 3L of fluid on my lung. Twice they had to insert drains into my lung to reinflate it so I understand what you are talking about. Good luck for your test and I hope that all is well!

Thanks for your responses. My leak was diagnosed in hospital. I couldn't stand straight, had intense pain, was violently ill and my heart rate was around 160 beats per minute. I had two stomach drains in for two months, one of the wound sites is still healing. I had a test to confirm that the leak was fully healed at week 8 (it was such joy) and they then removed the drains. I am so glad that you are going well after your leak! It gives me encouragement. It's a hell of a thing though when it happens!!

Hi - I had surgery on 3 September and developed a leak immediately, having emergency surgery two days later. I had a prolonged hospital stay (two months) and am home now, trying to put my life back together. For anyone else who had a leak, can you let me know if you had any further problems? I am so worried about the leak coming back! I've been fine and every week that goes by I get a little less scared but I would love to hear from others who survived a leak and if they had any other issues... Thanks for any help you can give me...

Thanks all I appreciate it - although I think you're right Sue, it's taking time for my head to catch up but I am sure it will all settle down soon!

yeah it was a bit odd - I just think that they weren't sure what to say so they ignored it I don't mind, eventually they'll say something - or they won't. I don't really care so much. Decided to listen to the advice from you guy's and not go into work today...was so exhausted that I slept for 10 hours last night and am still dragging my feet so I'll have today off and go in again tomorrow. Luckily my work is very flexible around that kind of thing!! I have updated my profile photo - not sure if you can tell all that much - I really don't see a dramatic change but later I'll put up my before photo for comparison

Hi Kelliv - it's kind of funny, no one came and said too much outright which was really kind of funny. A few of the old ladies in the canteen said something though. Everyone was really nice at work, very caring and welcoming. Cause I have so much to lose, I don't think it looks like I have lost as much as I have - well I can't really see it. I am always surprised by what the scales say anyway. With clothes, a lot of my stuff still kind of fits, just is quite baggy. And I had a few things in smaller sizes in the cupboard so I have been able to wear that stuff. I went from a size 26-28 to a size 22 (in most things - bought a skirt from Millers in a 22 that didn't fit on the weekend which was a bit of a bummer lol- should have tried it on first). I think the next 10-15 kilos is when people will really start to notice. That will take me to around 115kg which I haven't been since I was at uni And that was quite a while ago! It should also get me into size 20 clothes which will be really nice!!

Welcome Deano Congrats on your weight loss to date - it's amazing! You'll find a lot of support on this forum as you noted - the people here are brilliant! It's great seeing so many new people to the forum!

My surgery was September 3 but I got a leak, then a whole heap of other stuff that kept me in hospital for 2 months. So my journey isn't a normal one

Hello all, I went back to work today for the first time in three months. I only stayed until 2:30 and man, I am wiped out. I can't believe how tired I am! Had lunch at work - a quarter of a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich - it took an hour to eat it but it stayed down I am on normal foods now which is great. I eat very little which I knew before the surgery would be the case but I get such a kick out of how little I eat. I am not trying not to eat much, I simply can't eat much. I just eat often now, every two hours or so during the day if I can manage it. I find that my body tells me if I need food now which I don't remember experiencing before (or if I did, I was able to ignore it). I have been having crackers as Snacks which has been really good. I am going to keep a packet of lesnack in my bag at all times from now on for food "emergencies" lol and some nuts. I am finding that the hardest thing is remembering to be prepared. I tried a soft drink over the weekend. This is what I found - I can get away with a few sips but do NOT try to drink a whole glass for two reasons. One, it is so damn sickly sweet I feel like I need to brush my teeth and two, the bubbles do not sit well (yet). Not painful just gassy and uncomfortable. A good reason to avoid them for sure! I find that I can have carbs (I know some people struggle with this) but just very little - bread sits okay, I just get really full. I had a little Pasta recently (none since lol) and I can eat about 5-6 pieces of spiral pasta and that is it. Rice is just as bad. Generally I am finding the best stuff is veggies and some kind of Protein, mostly red meat for Iron. I am going to try some fresh fruit tomorrow and yoghurt for lunch which I am looking forward to since I just haven't been able to fit any fruit in since the surgeries. Anyway, things continue to improve very slowly. Hope you're all well! Cheers, Lila

Hi Deb and welcome! Congrats on your surgery - it's all ahead of you now! You too Ozeedonkee I hope things settle down for you both and you reach your goals!

Congratulations Puppyphat! That's an amazing achievement. My surgeon told me that the 60-80% was just in the first year though and that she had every expectation that I would meet the goal (which I put down as 73kg - a lot more than your goal but I am hoping that I might be a bit taller???).

I am going back to work on Monday in time for all of the Christmas stuff too. Apparently there is a rumour at work (remember I work at a hospital) that I had complications from weight loss surgery (true) but that I SWALLOWED MY LAPBAND...now what worries me the MOST about this rumour is that it is an impossibility anatomically/ physically. And these people work in a hospital I am looking forward to some very interesting conversations over lunch lol

I know what you mean. Christmas is an eating day from start to finish...an endurance event. There is just no way I will be able to do what I used to Having thought about it for a little while, I decided to have three things I wanted to have a little of over Christmas - for me, it is prawn (singular, lol), potato salad and trifle. Now I don't care if I can only have one or a small spoon of each but as long as I get these three things, I'll be a happy camper Does anyone else have anything they don't wanna miss out on for Chrissy??

I have had problems with dumping post surgery although it seems to be a little better recently. If I eat too much though, I feel sick and have to have a lie down. It's pretty awful. And it could be anything that I eat - for me, it seems to be the quantity of what I am eating (which most recently was about 3/4 of a party pie at a kids birthday party on the weekend)...dumb, I know and it was uncomfortable for about an hour. I managed not to puke which was a heroic feat at the time lol. Hope you feel better soon though - that feeling sucks!

I am about five weeks out since I started eating and drinking for myself and I am on soft foods now. Next week I should move to totally normal foods. I started having softer crackers (ritz) a few days ago with cheese and tomato. Yum! They are going to be a life saver when i go back to work! I can only have 2 but they are yum. If i didn't need the Protein from the cheese I would probably axe it but weight loss isn't my problem at this stage, so I use it for the calories and protein. I have such a small amount I don't think it really matters at this stage. As you all know, my experience wasn't normal and I probably have moved through the stages a little faster than usual but I did so under the guidance of my NUT who has called me every week since I left hospital which has been great. Saw my GP today and he has (grudgingly lol) cleared me to go back to work part time next week. I am quite excited as I really am looking forward to getting back to work. Hopefully it won't be too long before I am back full time. Hope everyone else is going well. Congrats to those who now have surgery dates! I remember how exciting that was! Cheers, Lila

Hi all, I have had a better week this week. I have been able to eat a little more and drinking is no longer a problem. I am getting to know a little better what it is that my stomach is trying to tell me and I am trying hard to listen although the signals still get crossed a little. I am going on to soft foods from Monday (yay) and am really looking forward to it. I am hoping to get back to work in another week so being on soft/normal foods by that point will make it a lot easier. I am finding that I am getting a little energy back which is great as I've been quite worried about that. I have actually been getting out pretty much every day this week to do something which I've appreciated. I've lost another two kilo's since last week which is good and means that the weight loss is finally slowing down a little. I have now lost a little over 34 kg in total. I am pretty happy about the amount of weight lost and can't believe that I will be in the 120's for Christmas. I can't remember how long it has been since I was in that range but it's at least 5 years. If not longer. So that is the exciting part. With the food, I guess I am still struggling a bit in terms of quantity but figure that given where I've been, it's not too bad. I don't seem to struggle with Cereal or potato etc. I feel better when I eat more Protein rich foods and am concentrating on that as much as I can. I guess the lesson I am learning is to CHEW and CHEW and CHEW - I don't think I really chewed my food before. So that has been a learning curve too. So many of them I am going out to afternoon tea with family tomorrow and am hoping to try a little soft fruit. A grape or cherry (ok, maybe a few)...my dietician seemed okay with trying things telling me to just back off if it doesn't sit well. It will be good to try something fresh though and not pureed Hoping this finds all of you well! Cheers, Lila

My prayers are with you and your family Kelli. Hoping for good news soon!

Hi Kelli - my dietician has me on a mix on stages between puree and mushies at the moment. Her advice last week was to try things and to pull back if there were any problems. So i definitely pulled back perhaps a little too far. I ended up going to stay with my parents for three days because I was so worried. I actually now think it was a combination of strained muscles and anxiety that stopped me from eating. I ended up doing as you suggested and went back to puree things and today had a little fish. It stayed down pretty well thankfully and I speak to my dietician again today so I will talk to her about it a little more. Thanks for the advice though - it makes a lot of sense! Cheers, Liss