devint

Hi there, I was sleeved May 30th 2014, and I'm doing ok so far. I have lost 69 lbs since surgery day, but I started out with a lot to lose and have exactly 69 more to go. I also had to have my gallbladder out in August. My body has been fighting the drastic changes in a lot of ways, weird side effects with my ears, eyes, skin and those I expected with my hair falling out and major reflux and hating the chalky Vitamins. BUT I am loving fitting into smaller clothes, compliments, and looking forward to looking in the mirror and getting my picture taken. In my "home" group, I shared that this past weekend my husband and I went horseback riding because we're finally not too fat for a horse to carry us around! I was sore but it was so much fun! Can't wait for more firsts like that.

Sounds like you are at the beginning of a wonderful ride to healthy land. Congrats on your surgery and hope recovery goes smoothly for you with many more celebrations like this one to come!

1. There is nothing you can do to keep your energy levels up anywhere close to "normal". You are going to be dog tired for a while, healing takes so much out of your body but each progressive day will get better than the last. The "wave of energy" didn't pick up for me until I started to drop serious weight, like week 6 -8, but everyone is different. 2. I was shooting for 64 oz a day, but really I just kept sipping as much as I could get in, and got worried/diligent when my urine got any darker. That Water bottle will go with you EVERYWHERE. 3. Some people swear by drinks with electrolytes in them like those you mentioned or coconut water. I don't think they hydrate you any better than regular water, BUT some people myself included suffered with "water nausea" where the taste of pure water made me sick. I just used crystal light flavor to make it go down and stay down. 4. For nausea, I had the patch behind the ear and then onadestron or something, minty pills that dissolve on your tongue. Killed it for me quickly and reliably. 5. I could walk the day of surgery, and the nurses and my husband had me up and walking at an annoyingly regular pace to get the gas out of my stomach cavity. You should walk as much as you can for gas and to normalize asap. However, that first week, a trip downstairs to the kitchen, then to the bathroom, then back up to the recliner in the bedroom was enough to make me feel beat. Expect to need to ask help for things like laundry, tidying up, meal prep, pet care, kid care, since you can't really lift anything more than 5 lbs or even bend over really. That was the difficult part to get used to at home. Good luck to you!

@@boccob81 I hear from some vets that that dies down in a few more months but there will always be that person who hasn't seen you in forever and make a big deal about it. BUT good news is now, all the new people you meet from now forward will never know the "BIG" you, never "remember what you were like before." So that's a positive way to look at things, it's like a fresh start.

Hi, from what I understand, the veterans forums is not for newer folks to ask veterans questions... it's for veterans to post and get their questions answered. I would try in the general pre or post op, depending on the topic and stage you're in. Most times, I find answers are most relevant from people who have JUST gone through what you're asking about... fresher in the memory. Good luck to you.

It sounds like you may have been misinformed on some things, like being ok on food or the baby growing off the fat. It is absolutely imperative for your baby's health and development that you have a very knowledgable, capable doctor helping you through this. Please be very picky and very adamant on choosing one that has handled situations like yours. Pregnancy is tough on normal bodies, let alone ours in one of the biggest changes you'll experience in your lifetime. Prepare yourself and your family for the worst and pray for the best, and we'll be praying with ya.

Picture Time! (wow this site makes it a little hard to share pictures but I hope this works!) BEFORE AFTER Went horseback riding this weekend for the first time in my life cause I'm not too fat to be on a horse now! SO much fun, sore knees though. Need practice

I saw a new thread created today and responded... thought maybe we could do it here too? Miss most from before WLS and Don't Miss at ALL! Miss you most: I'll say it... I miss the ease of eating without thinking, without discipline, with reckless abandon. I would eat anything that sounded good, give in to every craving and whim, and with a bulletproof stomach that could take anything there was nothing off limits. I miss not having to tell myself no, like... ever. ALSO the questions about my "secret" to weight loss get a little old, but I'm trying to keep taking them with a grain of salt because that means i'm looking better and better. Don't Miss you at all: Being invisible to men, or worse getting those rude stares, giggles and yes comments from the young buck hot-shots. Even though I'm married, it is SO NICE to be treated and FEEL like a lady and have people now wait to hold the door for me or offer to take my coat etc. Also cannot be understated how much better "bedroom life" is when it's not an unspoken struggle of "you really want ME to do the work? I'm going to have to take a half day off work because I'll hurt so bad/not be able to walk." I can cross my legs now, so I can wear skirts in public. Knee skirts, people. And I can sleep through the whole night instead of waking up multiple times. I don't ache like I moved a couch, every single day, when I wake up. The skin on the bottom of my feet is no longer leather grade, and I don't have to order double wide shoes online I can buy them in any store of the shelf. Normal jewelry fits. When I hug people, my boobs hit them first, not my gut. I don't avoid mirrors and pictures.

Miss you most: I'll say it... I miss the ease of eating without thinking, without discipline, with reckless abandon. I would eat anything that sounded good, give in to every craving and whim, and with a bulletproof stomach that could take anything there was nothing off limits. I miss not having to tell myself no, like... ever. ALSO the questions about my "secret" to weight loss get a little old, but I'm trying to keep taking them with a grain of salt because that means i'm looking better and better. Don't Miss you at all: Being invisible to men, or worse getting those rude stares, giggles and yes comments from the young buck hot-shots. Even though I'm married, it is SO NICE to be treated and FEEL like a lady and have people now wait to hold the door for me or offer to take my coat etc. Also cannot be understated how much better "bedroom life" is when it's not an unspoken struggle of "you really want ME to do the work? I'm going to have to take a half day off work because I'll hurt so bad/not be able to walk." I can cross my legs now, so I can wear skirts in public. Knee skirts, people. And I can sleep through the whole night instead of waking up multiple times. I don't ache like I moved a couch, every single day, when I wake up. The skin on the bottom of my feet is no longer leather grade, and I don't have to order double wide shoes online I can buy them in any store of the shelf. Normal jewelry fits. When I hug people, my boobs hit them first, not my gut. I don't avoid mirrors and pictures.

In clear liquid phase, I used sugar free popsicles and sugar free Jello to give me something to chew on. I also (gross but worked) chewed on beef Jerky for the flavor and then spit it completely out once chewed. At this point for Protein, shakes are really your only choice. I "spice mine up" by adding extracts like vanilla, mint, coconut and banana to them. some people swear by

Hi @@Niquee, Yeah I was a "double dipper" I had to have my gallbladder out in month 3 after my sleeve. I didn't think about detox, as we're all about 5 months out now I figured that part would have been over but possible. It's just surprising to me that while you can research and read all about something, I never knew the reality of it and all it's weird quirks until its my everyday life. I hope it's ok if I pray for you and your son. Finding this news out is definitely tough. Not the same exactly, but my nephew got the same diagnosis at about 4 and through special counseling has really improved his communication and ticks. I admire your honesty as you're dealing with a big challenge life is throwing your way. Keep us posted.

I also didn't realize how loudly, persistently and embarrassingly my stomach would gurgle and growl. I have started to call in to meetings instead of walking across the hall to the meeting rooms because my stomach/gut always put their 2c in.

Has anyone started to experience "weird" side effects you didn't hear about beforehand? I was a little bit of a researchaholic before surgery, looking up mortality rates and all the possible complications so losing hair and getting flappy skin and getting dehydrated all the time I expected and can deal with... But lately I'm starting to experience lesser-talked-about whole-body side effects that are hitting me out of left field. Like the fact my eye prescription has drastically changed and I need to get new glasses. Just had new ones made 5 months ago, it's the fat loss behind my eyes changed the curves of my eyes. Also my ears get forever-open eustachian tubes because I've lost fat around my inner ears, and i can hear myself breathing inside my head really loudly. The only way to fix it is to put my head between my knees, and this happens like a half dozen times a day. Awkward. Why doesn't my body pull the fat from my still very large rump or belly?? Why the head? So weird. Anybody else getting little surprises, hopefully nicer than mine?

I just encountered this very thing today! I thought I was crazy and kept trying to pop my ears or yawn to take it away. The only "trick" that I found to temporarily fix it was to put my head between my legs at my desk. Gravity forces them closed. I've had to do that a couple times today so if it doesn't improve or becomes recurring I'll investigate the treatments mentioned above. This is like the fourth QUIRKY side effect I've had from wls that I didn't expect or hear people talking about before. I hope all my weird discoveries come to an end soon.

TMI vomit talk warning... @@Niquee, my husband is about to hit his surgiversary next week after having a sleeve. And he regurgitates several times a week. In fact, and this is kinda weird but true, he uses it as a tool when he's out to eat with coworkers or in social situations with food as a way to clear the stomach if he gets full too early. While he can do it voluntarily, there are sometimes he just has to. Foodmush is it, no bile or stomach acid. We've talked to our doc about it, and while he recommends all the usual, eating slower, chewing more thoroughly, no liquids half hour before or after.... he also said that because it's not wreching or clenching the stomach muscles, it's just basically food backing up and out. Didn't say it was "good" per se but he wasn't overly worried about the long term effects. I'm concerned for the effects on his esophagus, because he had acid reflux before surgery and his esophagus was a little beat up. But, so far, while inconvenient most cases, it hasn't caused any other problems to date. For me, I've only thrown up two or three times since surgery and it has been horrible, whole body wretching experiences. It makes my eyes and nose water and my whole body hurts. So thankfully it hasn't happened often. I hope the "traditional advice" works somehow for you or that you can pinpoint the "trick" to your own situation.

I am five months out and now considering going in for a new prescription. I have far sightedness and astigmatism and everything past the front of my car is out of focus. Makes driving fun. I'm reading on the forums this is very common. If it were me I would wait cause it would be awful to have to get it done twice. Good luck!

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes. They worked! I am now feeling a LOT better, dare I say "normal." I am down 65 lbs from surgery and I am really happy with what that looks like on my body. NSVs that made me smile include... Other day, we pulled up to the bus stop as the bus was at the corner but there was a line of about 10 cars. i jumped out and started running full on towards the bus with my 7 year old daughter. She yelled, "HOLD UP MOM I CANT RUN THAT FAST!" I was not out of breath and wheezing when I arrived at the end of the block. I've been demoted from "Womens" to "Misses" section aka 85% of clothing stores are open to me now, not just Lane Bryant, Catherines and Avenue (none of which I really like the style of.) I also do not have to purchase specially sized bras that cost $50 a piece. Had to buy an anniversary ring in my current size to hold my other rings off cause they literally were falling off. Darn, more jewelry. A Male coworker, married and platonically friendly, saw me washing my soup bowl in the kitchen and said "DANG you have lost a lot of weight! What is your secret?" "High protein, low carb!" What made me smile more than usual is he only saw my back side to make him say that I have collarbones and a dip at the bottom of my neck. They are concave. That's new.

As others mentioned, everyone is different.... but for me I'm four months out from a sleeve now and I didn't notice I had shrunk a size until about month 2. Dresses are also very forgiving, meaning it won't be super obvious if you wear it one or even two sizes down. If it's huge/tent, throw a neat belt on it ( I KNOW the idea of a belt seems so weird to me but it works on my oversized work shirts now) I say use it for both and get ready for an awesome ride through "I'm excited to figure out how to make my clothes look good through my awesome weight loss" journey. Very happy for you.

I don't have a good way to dial-in to a calorie target, other than realize your body is always going to be dynamic with this and require you to respond to what it's doing at the time. It will require a lot of change as you drop weight. But I'd like to throw in there that myself and others on the boards here swear by focusing on the grams of macronutrients as a better way to gauge nutritional success than calories. To your point, if you just eat higher calories in carbs that may not be what your body needs. This includes keeping up discipline and program when a stall happens, cause there's really nothing anyone can do to prevent that from happening at some point. Best of luck on finding what works for you.

always recommend talking to your doc about it, see if you can duplicate it at your next appt. He knows your insides better than anyone at this point. For me this type of pain could happen for a variety of reasons. I would recommend experimenting a bit with the following things and see what works for you. Too big of a sip liquid too hot or too cold Using a straw Drinking something that's been through the blender aka had air infused it in Drinking too close in time after I've eaten (and if it's close enough its more than pain it's puking) Drinking something when my stomach is completely empty and I should be hungry And alcohol does this for me too so I'm avoiding it for the most part. The top of my stomach is now like a funnel so often times it makes weird dinosaur sounding gurgling noises. And if i push it too much, then I'll get the pain because of the back up in my esophagus. Hope this helps you understand some possibilities. Hope you figure out what it is for you.

@@boccob81 I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. It sounds like all your food choices, even the ones that have you worried, are still way different than the food choices you used to make. And I saw the last round of pics you posted, you're seeing big time results. I hope you can stay positive and present and focus on each moment, for me that's a big struggle but when I do well with that the food things fall into place. @@4andcounting thanks i am feeling better but using antispasmodic and pain meds intermittently. Good news is being on the Fluid diet again really helps shedding weight like crazy and I know it's not dehydration. But I am not even close on my Protein goals, but i'm not gonna beat myself up over it. I'm trying to focus on doing small things for myself to keep spirits up (like even painting my nails-small), and also focusing on some new hobbies/projects a little more (like decorating the house and preparing crafts for girl scouts.) I'm done feeling like weight loss and my surgery/health deserves center stage in my attention at all times. While still trying to take care of myself obviously in that arena, its nice to invest in other things too as a mood pick-me-up.

Hi Kelly, congrats on starting your journey!! I'm around the same height as you, and about 4 months post op. I've lost four dress sizes so far so the tricky part has been acquiring new clothes through swaps, thrifts and good ol fashion retail therapy. Do you have any questions about what to expect? Or are you worried about anything in particular?

I am 4 months out and have had some complications that have gotten me in the dumps from time to time and also slowed my weight loss. But seeing your success is really inspiring me to keep my eyes on the prize. NIGHT AND DAY wow not only are you objectively beautiful but it's like you glow happiness from inside out. Congrats and keep it going!