dreamscometrue

That is absolutely amazing!!! Congrats again!! I was just about 10 lbs heavier on surgery date and 5'7, so hearing your success is just even more of a motivation! Any particular work out schedule? I've been walking a lot and doing hands weights but haven't gotten back into running yet.

Hi there!! Thank you so much for the encouragement! While I was reading your post, I had a huge smile on my face because I couldn't have written the vitamin part any better myself. I stopped taking my multivitamins about 4 days ago because they made me feel so nauseous and sometimes I would throw up! I bought a vitamin case that separates them all out and then each morning I put my vitamins in a snack ziplock bag for the day. I've noticed on the days where I'm at home, I tend to get my vitamins all in, however if I have plans or work, I find myself looking at my little bag at 11:00pm and realizing I still have an iron, calcium chew, and stupid carafate to take. Did your surgeon prescribe you liquid Carafate for 4 times a day for the first 4 months? That stuff is BRUTAL and I find myself only taking it twice a day... Ooopsies! Also, what liquid multivitamin did you end up buying? Maybe I should try that!

Hi there! So I was sleeved almost 3 weeks ago and I asked the exact same question. A lot of people kept telling me 2-3 weeks off work... That was not the case for me! I travel and am in sales (in and out of the car all day) and I was sleeved on a Tuesday and felt fine and went back to work Monday. That being said, I only worked a half day due to weather, but I would have been completely fine, especially sitting at a desk all day! The only pain I had was a bit of discomfort getting in and out of the car (and in and out of bed). Again, I think everyone is different on how they handle recovery, but that was how it went for me!

Wow! Congratulations! May I ask what your starting weight was at your surgery date? That is quite the accomplishment!

Yep! Biotin is a pill that I take every morning. It's super small and they are pretty cheap! I'm only about 3 weeks post op and haven't noticed hair loss, but I figured for $5 a month, I'm taking it as a precautionary! Can't hurt to try!

I'm telling you, in 3 days from now, it will be completely different. Until then, just constantly keep a water bottle with you (I remember Crystal Lite going down much easier) and sip like it's your job. I just got off the treadmill and drank a half bottle of water within 2 minutes... I promise, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER! Just keep sipping, just keep sipping.

Okay, time for weigh in! Current weight: 251 Goal weight for Feb 14th: 225 Thanks again for recording all this! If there is a format that you prefer us to type each week that may help it go faster, please let us know!

Hey there! I'm so glad to hear you haven't really had any issues so far! It's funny you should say that about dairy... I've read that a lot of people become lactose intolerant AFTER surgery or have a lot of sensitivity to dairy. I haven't encountered that yet thankfully. I'm feeling great back to work and haven't had any pain or anything getting in and out of the car. I will say that yesterday, I got off the couch and got the SHARPEST PAIN EVER on my lower right side of my abdomen and I kind of freaked out. I got on here and saw a lot of people have had that about two weeks out and their doctors said they popped an internal stitch and to call if it continues. I took a half of a pain pill and still went out and walked 2.5 miles and felt fine doing that. Today, no pain at all. Not sure what exactly was going on yesterday!

Hi there I was sleeved on the 17th and I'm assuming you were asking me about this since it's on my journal so I thought I would share my two cents! I'm on a full liquid diet (though the list they gave me has a lot of puréed foods), but I have taken small bites of a few items - ahi tuna, shrimp, and juicy turkey and they have gone down just fine. I think if your stomach is hurting, it sounds like you need to chew more before swallowing. Obviously, everybody handles food differently, but I know what feeling you are talking about and it's when I'm taking bites too quickly or not chewing enough. I hope this helps!

Hello there! Haha, definitely ZERO alcohol! That would be a horrible idea, as I'm only 2 weeks out! I drank Crystal Lite at a NYE party we went to and nobody even said a word. There were a lot of yummy desserts and I didn't even take a single bite of anything. I still had fun though and I really didn't have a desire to drink or eat any of the food. We ate dinner at home before we went and I felt satisfied! Thanks for asking and yes, Happy New Year to all! Here's to 2014!

That's so exciting!!! I hope you get more sleep than I did the night before! No need to be nervous, everything will be just fine! Picking up your prescriptions ahead of time is so smart! I didn't get mine handed to me until after and it was kinda a pain. You'll be on the other side before you know it!

Congratulations!!! I just got done posting on my thread about the same thing literally a few minutes ago! I'm 13 days out and I just spent the morning cleaning out my closet and trying on clothes for a NYE we have and I was THRILLED!!! Cheers to 2014!

I made it out of this weekend alive and able to pull off our friends not knowing about the surgery! It was pretty hard being at a very nice steakhouse and seeing all of the AMAZING food around me. I ordered an ahi tuna appetizer and ate that while my husband and our friends had delicious steaks with sides of scalloped potatoes and gorgonzola mac n' cheese. I wanted to eat everything, but instead, I ate a few pieces of tuna and hid the rest under the pile of carrots the tuna was sitting on. Afterward, we went to several upscale bars and of course I did not have a sip of alcohol. Our friends kept accusing me of being pregnant, and boy will they be surprised in 9 months when I have lost a significant amount of weight instead of a baby appearing! As for today, I spent the morning deep cleaning my closet and organizing everything by size and getting rid of things I no longer want to wear. I was so excited to see that a lot of my work clothes and blazers are fitting now! Just in time for NYE :)Oh, and my winter coat that I couldn't even get over my shoulders a few months ago… it now fits! Today is the kind of day that makes me so happy to physically see the results instead of just looking at the number on the scale!

Well, since it's the day after Christmas, and I was surrounded by delicious food yesterday (to which I did not have a single bite of...), it got me thinking... What if I would have had a bite of shrimp or salad or rice, etc...what would have happened? I've heard several people on here say never to try a new food away from home for fear of dry heaving, throwing up, diarrhea. I'm curious and want to hear everybody's "cocky" moment where they thought just a bite of something would be fine and... It wasn't fine. I haven't had any issues or felt sick with any foods so far, which makes me think I've just gotten lucky. Sooo... What was the food, how far post-op were you, were you with a group of people, etc... that made you wish you wouldn't have eaten?!

Ha!!! You described it so perfectly with the one bite, two bites, three.... I started this post a few days ago because I had not yet had "the moment" and surely enough, two days later... I got cocky and decided to slice a half of an avocado up into small pieces (and I had portioned out 2oz. cubes to mash)... Well, I decided to make an amazing soy sauce concoction to pour over my few bites hoping to get my "sushi fix". Then, exactly as you described... 1, 2, 3.... Up it came as fast as it went down. Needless to say, I now know the feeling to watch out for in the future!!!

Oh lord. My psych evaluation was a JOKE. The guy was a wack job and didn't ask me anything tough. Here's some examples of questions he asked: Have you researched this surgery? Do you have a support system? Do you realize this is a tool and not the only solution? Why do you want the surgery? Have you tried to lose weight on your own? " The guy didn't even realize when he sat down with me that I was there to get passed for WLS. Anyway, yes I've seen people on here post about being denied after the psych evaluation, but to me, it appeared it was for good causes. I'm just basing things off of the details provided. I'm not sure what you mean when you said "if the surgery is a requirement"... Who would require the surgery?

That's great! You'll be SO GLAD you got it all done ahead of time! Yeah, we just bought a bunch of the disposable Rubbermaid 4oz cups and filled them with food half way up. They wash nicely, and are perfect for these first weeks! Good luck to you and keep me posted!

I'm seeing a trend here with Mexican food. Hahaha. Oh, such a shame too since fresh flour tortillas are DELISH! I am officially scared of them and bread after that horror story!

Holy crap!! Literally! Ha! Thankfully your husband can laugh at the situation! I don't blame you for wanting to drink on your wedding night and being 8 months out, who would have thought that you would have had that reaction?! Any experiences with alcohol since then?? I'm dying to know!

YAY!!! You are one step closer to having surgery, which has got to be a great feeling! To answer your question, I have not lost any hair. I started taking Biotin from day 1 post-op and I'm still only 10 days out, so I would expect that if it's going to happen, it would be at least a month from now. Luckily, I have A LOT of hair, but that was a major concern of mine before surgery. I will definitely post about it if I notice a change though.

I'm officially out of the 40+ BMI range! Just updated my ticker and was DELIGHTED to see 39 as my new BMI. I'm sure that sounds really stupid, but I remember being so embarrassed when I realized my BMI had reached 40 awhile back. It's nice to think I won't see that number anymore! So, tomorrow we are heading out of town to meet up with another couple for an annual "get-away" weekend trip. I posted about this prior to surgery and had a ton of anxiety about if I would feel up to going, what I was going to eat, would I run out of energy, etc… Now that I'm on the other side, I know I'll have plenty of energy and am excited about going EXCEPT I had to start a little lie today saying that I've caught a stomach bug and haven't felt like eating much and that soup is really all I can hold down. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep the questions away. Nothing else really to report other than jello, refried beans, pudding, watered down soup are REALLY GETTING OLD. I've been reading some interesting topics on here from the vets these past few days and now knowing that I'm in the "honeymoon phase and don't know what it's really like until I'm 6 months out and it feels as if I almost was never sleeved," i'm trying to embrace this regimented phase of full liquids and staying on track. It's been making me question what the future holds. I've gone through so many diets over the years and have lost track of how many times I've ran my ass off, eaten 1200 calories a day, and lived at the gym taking every workout class available, which led to losing 50 pounds to turn around and gain 60 pounds the next year. I know that this will be a lifetime of this new "normal", and when things get more difficult a few months from now, I'll know that I'm much better off with the sleeve to fight this battle than I would have ever been without it. That's all for now. Wish me luck this weekend!

Oh my gosh, the 31st is just right around the corner! I'm sure you've been doing this, but if you are anxious like I was, you can start getting food prepped at home and divided into 2 oz. cups, start packing your hospital bag (don't forget gas-x strips and chapstick), and clean your house meticulously! That's at least what I did because I like a really clean house and not having laundry to do, which was SO NICE to come home from the hospital to a house like that! Good luck on your journey, you will do great! I just got off the treadmill and feel great and it's only been a week! Once those first 3 days are over, you'll be back to feeling normal.

Hahahaha... Great example! Yikes, I'm very nervous to have rice (when the time comes). Sushi is my ALL-TIME favorite food and I've heard horror stories of that coming right back up as fast as it went down! I wouldn't want to believe it either if I were you... Chinese and Mexican food are so yummy!

I asked my surgeon on day 2 when he came into my room when it would be okay to start jogging again and his words exactly, "as long as you feel up to it, you can start running next week. Hell, you can go play football the week after that if you want!" Haha, I told him that football wouldn't be happening, but it was good to know I could start jogging again. I'm no expert, but if he cleared me to run, he would have cleared me to use an elliptical-much less impact on the body! Good luck!

Very good insight!! I completely agree that this full liquid stage I am in right now is almost surreal and definitely not reality, yet nice that there is a packet of paper I can currently go to as my "guide" when I have a questionable food. I think the key to success is always trying to have a plan. I travel for my career and I can see it being very challenging a few months from now if I just try and "wing it" for lunch, snacks, etc... It's been nice getting into the habit each night and putting my ziplock bag of vitamins for the next day out, along with my measured out protein powder, shaker and water bottles. Hopefully, when things get really hard around that 6 month mark, I'll be down a few more sizes and it may seem a bit more tolerable!