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Welcome Ebert,
Not sure how they do the sleeve in Japan but with mine they gave me something to dry me out to assist my surgeon in the procedure. I was thirsty for my first week and my mouth was often dry. It just takes awhile for the dryness to pass and it does once you start getting in well north of 60 oz a day of fluids. More the better. I was stationed in Misawa Japan back in the late 80's when I was in the Army so I do know what you mean about the Japanese culture. Very little obesity over there for sure.
Best regards.

Hi everyone,

Not sure how to get the quotes to work so will do it the old fashioned way..

@@Dondie Olivia About the food cravings vs hunger I had to think for the last week to decide what the heck I was feeling. It took me just over a week but I realize now that what I thought was hunger was really more like a craving. Food occupied a far too important part of my life and now I am working to make myself cognizant of the fact that I am really craving the food, the social part of eating with my family or eating out and not really hunger. I find that if I keep myself busy, eat my small meal (I am in the pureed phase so I only just added cream of wheat and cottage cheese with pears/peaches canned and blended) drink my shakes and sip my Soups I can pretty much function and not focus on food and instead focus on life. My sister who did this 10 years ago and is down 140 pounds still said she had to find something to replace food as her focus/interest. Hope this helps you.

@@JurneeOfOne: I had my surgery the very same day but I weigh much more than you. I don't know how you feel but I feel that it would be unwise of me to actually run, jump or jog with my stomach stitches/staples right now. My doctor said it really takes about 4-6 weeks for the stomach to heal and the staple line to solidify and I would not advise anyone to put any kind of impact on that line of sutures or staples until that time. Maybe you could speed walk instead of jog or use an eliptic or bike to get more cardio in. Ultimately it's your body and only you know how you feel so do your best but I can see why those who care for you don't want you to push too hard. You'd really hate it if you sprung a leak down there and had to reset your healing back to a new day one. At either rate good for you for walking so much, my doc did say walking was an excellent way to recover.

Weekend passing way too quick, happy shakes and soups to you all

Hi Everyone,
Yes new member today and first post hehe
Really want to contribute as I read each post I felt a special bond with each of you. Had my sleeve done on March 12th so am only 2 weeks and 3 days out. Can't really say that I am an expert now but I wanted to share some of my thoughts and experiences for you all with the caveat that as my Doctor always tells me each person is different so these may or may not apply/help you.
Protein
I had a hard time my first week to week and a half with consuming enough Protein so my incisions didn't seem to be healing well. My dietician recommended Isopure Water, 20 oz with 40g of protein. I also tried 4 different brands of shakes. It actually helped me to drink premiere protein 30g protein, strawberry when before my surgery I was a chocolate fanatic. So if you can't stomach the shakes like me try different ones and different flavors, that may help as well as drinking flavored protein Water (icky aftertaste but it went down)
Gas
Gas-X was a lifesaver, I recommend it from around day 2 or 3 onwards and ohy yes my stomach and intestines and who knows what else rumbles and speaks to me in some foreign language from time to time.
Pain
Well let me try this:
Day 1: Surgery at 7:45 am, woke up at 11:00 am in Hell
Day 2: Appears the Devil didn't like me and kicked me out of Hell and I found myself in a hospital room, bad pains!
Day 3: More pain, sent home at 9:00 pm, slept poorly, Roxicet pain medicine my new friend
Day 4-7: Yep more pain but not so bad, still needed help getting up from couch and bed.
Day 8-13: Replaced Roxicet with liquid Acetemitophin (sp?) Now just sore.
Day 14: Less sore, went back to work, stopped all pain meds, most of the last two weeks of pain forgotten after weigh in of 30 lbs less than when I had my surgery.
Day 15-17 (today is day 17): Minor sore if I bend the wrong way, healing nicely and feeling very sorry for those of you stuck in the two week time capsure of recovery from Hell.
Weight Loss
Saw a show called "My 600 lb Life" on TLC I think and talked to my Doctor about it. Gal named Penny lost 40 pounds pre op on liquid 1200 calorie a day diet but then stayed 490 lbs for the next 3 months then gained 5 pounds on month 4. I asked how it was possible. He indicated that water weight can be an issue and that is why he only weighs his patients every 2 weeks during our recovery visits. My advice to anyone not losing fast or staying static is to weigh in once a week at max or even only every two weeks at first due to the water weight and look for long term results not daily results.
Diet
It seems there are a lot of different ones out there. I have a very strict one from my doctor. Days 2-14 were liquid only with creamy Soups (strained!) allowed. I am on my last day of semi pureed and then tomorrow start a pureed diet. I do miss chewing but for those newcomers the early introduction of strained Soup really helped me get past the 'water and Protein shake blues' So try soup to help with taste...
Taste
I seem to have aquired the 'sweet' bug. Everything seems too sweet to me now. This caused me some grief cause before my surgery I was a gatorade, soda, juice or anything flavored kind of guy instead of just water. Even the dasani water drops I bought left a 'chalky' aftertaste in my mouth. My solution was to just go pure water. Use to the soup and Protein Drink or shake to break up your day with different tastes.
food Tolerance?
Every thing still smells good except... My wife brought home some teriyaki chicken and rice. I swear to the almighty himself that to me it smelled like some small rodent had died and was covered in used motor oil. I had no problems with the food before my surgery nor any problem with nausea but I was sure I was going to heave and let fly if it got any closer to me than a few feet. I am not sure but I think I can't eat teriyaki chicken anymore.
sleeping
I use a cpap set at the G5 tornado force winds setting and felt fine before my surgery. Now my mouth dries out and I have to wake up and sip water several times a night to alleviate the symptom and it is getting better but I used my cpap at literally 100% of the time and now it's a bit harder to use so be prepared though this could be just common to me. Also FYI I found the first few days I could sleep much better in a recliner or semi sitting position instead of lying flat. After about 12 or so days despite being sore I can sleep flat now w/out much pain in my abdomen region.
Vitamins
I found some Bariatric ones, easy to chew not to bad on the taste and designed just for us via Amazon. Be sure to take the Iron supplement away from the Calcium as it interferes with the Calcium absorbtion (or so I'm told)
That's all I can think of for now. I am in a bit of shock at how some people were home so fast. Hopefully you are being well cared for. I hope we keep our little sub group intact since we are all going through the same thing at around the same time.
I also want to say that my first few days I really had regrets for doing this but that was me just being in pain, being sore and missing the psychological impact and relationship that I had with food. Now I am feeling that this is the right decision and that getting past the first two weeks was the critical part of the operation. My sister had the classic bypass Roux done about 10 years ago and she prepped me well so that I understood that the surgery is just a tool and like any tool it can be abused so the exercise, eating healthy and taking care of one's self is still important and can't be neglected as I have done for too many years.
So in summary for those of you thinking of doing this or just done it hang in there the first two weeks will go by and indeed I went from thinking death was a pleasant option to embracing my life now and I have a lot of work to do still.
Have a good weekend everyone!

Hi everyone,

Not sure how to get the quotes to work so will do it the old fashioned way..

@@Dondie Olivia About the food cravings vs hunger I had to think for the last week to decide what the heck I was feeling. It took me just over a week but I realize now that what I thought was hunger was really more like a craving. Food occupied a far too important part of my life and now I am working to make myself cognizant of the fact that I am really craving the food, the social part of eating with my family or eating out and not really hunger. I find that if I keep myself busy, eat my small meal (I am in the pureed phase so I only just added cream of wheat and cottage cheese with pears/peaches canned and blended) drink my shakes and sip my Soups I can pretty much function and not focus on food and instead focus on life. My sister who did this 10 years ago and is down 140 pounds still said she had to find something to replace food as her focus/interest. Hope this helps you.

@@JurneeOfOne: I had my surgery the very same day but I weigh much more than you. I don't know how you feel but I feel that it would be unwise of me to actually run, jump or jog with my stomach stitches/staples right now. My doctor said it really takes about 4-6 weeks for the stomach to heal and the staple line to solidify and I would not advise anyone to put any kind of impact on that line of sutures or staples until that time. Maybe you could speed walk instead of jog or use an eliptic or bike to get more cardio in. Ultimately it's your body and only you know how you feel so do your best but I can see why those who care for you don't want you to push too hard. You'd really hate it if you sprung a leak down there and had to reset your healing back to a new day one. At either rate good for you for walking so much, my doc did say walking was an excellent way to recover.

Weekend passing way too quick, happy shakes and soups to you all

Welcome Ebert,
Not sure how they do the sleeve in Japan but with mine they gave me something to dry me out to assist my surgeon in the procedure. I was thirsty for my first week and my mouth was often dry. It just takes awhile for the dryness to pass and it does once you start getting in well north of 60 oz a day of fluids. More the better. I was stationed in Misawa Japan back in the late 80's when I was in the Army so I do know what you mean about the Japanese culture. Very little obesity over there for sure.
Best regards.

Hi all March 2014 Sleevers..! This is my first post, so here goes!
My surgery was on 3/4. I am doing really well overall. I have GERD and did have some lingering discomfort when swallowing anything the first few days, but then it subsided.
The first 3 days were Clear liquids only, which to me was the hardest b/c it's BORING. But honestly you're kinda beat, and not very hungry anyway.
By day 4, when I could add full liquids I started with alot of Soups, and did ok with that. S.F. pudding, and greek yogurt become your friends too.
Once I was able to add eggs, cheese, and soft fish I became extremely happy and hopeful.
Protein IS A MUST PEOPLE! Find a good Protein shake, and stick with it. I get my 65-75gms of Protein a day by eating right, and those shakes give you 50gms on their own! Use them as a snack between your meals.
I have been very optimistic from start to my current status. I never got down on myself or the process, but I totally understand how it can happen.
Just know that this is going to change your life for the better! You may have some hiccups/roadblocks, but ultimately you will be a healthier you!
Good luck to all the pre-surgery folks, and also to those who like me are just starting out.
:-)