winning_by_losing

It looks like you have the band. I don't know if you have tried posting over in that section to get responses from others who went through the same surgery, as most of us here in the Gastric Bypass section have actually had the Gastric Bypass surgery. That said - as everyone has mentioned above, stalls/plateaus happen to all of us at some point. Each time I've hit one I know it is time to break out my wallet as it means I'm going down in clothing size. BUT...I also use each one as extra motivation to exercise more so I can break myself out of it. Have you checked with your doc to make sure you don't need to adjust the fill level in your band? I never paid much attention to the band info while going through my classes, but if I recall correctly it sounded like the need for weekly fills/adjustments was common for the first few months.

I packed all kinds of stuff. Slippers, robe, 2 pairs of sweats, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of boxers, a pillow, my iPad, phone, chargers, chap stick, binaca, air freshener, full shaving kit (toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, shaving gel, deo, lotion etc...). I ended up wearing the same clothes home that I wore to the hospital (only had them on for ~5 minutes after I checked in), used the chap stick once and my phone twice. Everything else remained packed in the bag and went back home untouched.

Wow. If that is what you're pissed about, congratulations. Sounds like things are going great if you're losing more than a pound a day so keep it up.

Not sure if you've also asked this in the Sleeve forums, as I typically stick to these Bypass forums, but from everything I've read that doesn't sound normal. I guess you could get differing responses over there. I had my surgery the same day you did and definitely don't have any of those same feelings. If anything I've been battling a lot of extra head hunger lately.

As everyone has mentioned so far, each of our programs has slightly different requirements/suggestions. For my program it was a gradual increase shooting for 45g/day during the liquid/puree stages then up to 60g/day once I could start on real food. Just like Misty mentioned, the nutritionists in my program have repeatedly stated that the body can't process more than 30g per meal, so a max of 90g per day. I consider my day a success (at least on the Protein side of things) as long as I get at least 75.

As others have already mentioned, each of us is different and will lose at a different pace. I've read posts about people having lost close to 60 pounds in the first two months. I've also met others in my support group who were more in the 15-20 range. I was somewhere in the middle having lost around 40.

I was cleared to fly 1 week after my surgery (as soon as they removed the JP Drain port). I am sure I'd have had some serious questions had I tried to go through security with it still in anyway. I don't know that I'd have been physically ready to fly for much longer than 2 or 3 hours though until after at least 2 weeks out.

I was able to shower the next morning before being released. They simply taped some plastic wrap over the bandage around my port exit and sent me down the hall.

I tried all of them that met the sugar/protein/calorie requirements both pre and post surgery. Taste-wise, it was a tie between Muscle Milk Light and Premier Protein. However, with the Premier Protein, I am able to make it the full 6 hours until my next meal. With the Muscle Milk, I felt hungry again after 2 or 3 hours. Up until March, the chocolate flavor was my favorite. However, now they seem to make the Chocolate ones about 5x thicker, so it is a chore just to get it out of the carton. So my new fave is the strawberry Cream. vanilla is decent, but just not quite as good.

I'm not quite 4 months removed from surgery, so don't have much for long-term answers, but short term... 1 - I was actually looking forward to the hair loss as an excuse to need to shave my head. At this point I haven't lost any, so don't yet have that excuse. Then again, I've not had any issues getting my daily Protein, so I have to assume that has a lot to do with it. 2 - I didn't need any blood thinners, so unless this is a mandate with your program, maybe you were given some misinformation about everyone having to have it. 3 - This was a fear of mine as well, especially after how terrible this pain was when I had my gall bladder removed years ago. Luckily this time around I didn't have any of that pain. As for passing gas - yep, those first 2 months were a bit aromatic. Luckily once the diet rounds into form, so does that part. 4 - The catheter was actually the most uncomfortable part for me. I know it is a bit different for guys and gals, but they're routine for almost all surgical procedures and in my mind not worth worrying about as there isn't really any way to avoid them if your hospital policy mandates them. 5 - I didn't have any complications, but understand the fear. My mindset was that whatever they could throw at me couldn't be worse than my condition before the surgery, so bring it on. 6 - I had similar fears about support as well. Luckily, I've been able to be open and honest with everyone about the process and those who originally disagreed with my choice have come around. One is now going through the process to have their own surgery, where others have started adopting more of my healthy eating habits. My thought - if they're good people, they'll be good supporters (eventually). 7 - If you make hydration your priority, you won't have any issues. To me this is still a mental game as it takes a very focused effort. 8 - I have no firsthand information with this, but during my classes they mentioned multiple times investigating with scopes, etc... So as Janette mentioned, since this will be your new stomach, that's what they'd need to look at for any issues. 9 - Easy way to prevent anything like this would be to make sure you only try new foods at home. Once you know they agree with you, you can have them while out and about. 10 - Loose skin seems to, like most everything, be very different for everyone. The tips I've read are to make sure and to lots of exercise for muscular toning. Beyond that though, it appears that the health of your skin and your individual body's ability to stretch/contract are the determining factors. From what I've read all of the snake oil and magic creams don't really do anything.

My original plan was to take just over a week off (7 business days), then working from home for 3 weeks. I felt so good that I started working from home after 4 days then went back to the office after 2 weeks. I'd plan for the worst and hope for the best.

I tell myself every day that I don't miss anything. There are lots of things from the old days that I crave and know I'd love to eat them (at least for a few minutes). But seeing the progress on the scale and watching the clothes sizes drop gives me the strength I need to know that I'm much happier without those things that aren't part of my plan.

Sadly, it just never seems to stop. Billboards along the highway to and from work - food ads. Radio commercials - food. Television - it seems every-other commercial is food related. Even this last weekend after finishing a hike, there was a food truck parked at the trailhead like some evil stalker. Stick with it. While the temptations are always going to be there, things do get easier and less frustrating, especially as you progress through the different food stages.

Wow. 31 pounds in 11 days is incredible. Great job. For me, the frustration really went away once I was able to move on to "normal" foods at week 7. Now I can sit and watch people eat anything they want right next to me (family, coworkers, dates, strangers, etc...) and it doesn't bother me the slightest.

The only thing I've not been able to tolerate was regular ketchup (or was it catsup?). Since I have no problems with salsa, marinara etc..., I have to assume it was purely due to the sugar content. I found a low sugar and even sugar free offerings and now can have ketchup again, but it has prevented me from being too adventurous with anything sugary (I assume a really good thing).

That is great advice. Don't let the uninformed discourage you. I got similar feedback from some of my out of state family. Funny enough I'm now almost 4 months out from my surgery and up until I actually visited in person a couple weeks ago, I still got questions from some of them like "can't you just lose weight with exercise or dieting?" Now that I've shown them in-person the progress I've made, how everything they thought they "knew" about weight loss surgery was wrong and how much better my life has become, they're all on board and officially part of the support team again.

I believe the time in the hospital and recovery is slightly different for everyone. I know when I was going through the process, my surgeon, his staff and the hospital coordinators all told me it would be 1 night for the band, 2 nights for VSG or RNY. I got everything prepared expecting 2 nights, but even after having the RNY, I ended up being released after about 28 hours (would have been sooner, but it took most of the day to arrange a ride since I had been planning everything for 2 nights). I am also lucky enough to have a job where I was able to work from home, so while I started back to work 5 days after surgery, I did the first 2 weeks from home before actually going back to the office (though I felt like I could have done it much sooner if necessary). The meal plans and progression into foods was almost exactly the same in my plan regardless of which of the 3 surgeries I were to choose (lapband just gets to skip the week of Clear liquids and be ahead by 1 week). I'm more than happy I went with my RNY, I just with I'd have done it years ago. Best of luck with your decision.

Are you standing up directly after laying down or lounging? If I try to do that, I get dizzy every time. It has taken quite an effort to remember every time I want to get out of bed to sit up for a minute or so first, before standing. Same for if I'm laid out on the couch or even slouched too far in a chair. Apparently it is somewhat normal due to the body changes after surgery plus the excess amount of blood still being pumped for all of the extra weight that is now missing.

Pretty sure the only thing that helped me get through that stage was "egg salad" and chili. I made the "egg salad" by scrambling some egg whites then mixing in mustard and fat free Miracle Whip. I did attempt to mix in the occasional tuna salad, chicken salad, etc..., but nothing else really tasted near as good to me. As for noodles - nope, they're not allowed in my program. However, I have recently started having zucchini "noodles" which definitely satisfied the craving I had for Pasta. But I doubt I'll ever be trying regular pasta again.

I started out the same way. Now it seems to happen more often, not just at night, but I've grown to enjoy being cold. For so many years I have been a walking furnace, dying during summers and praying for the 20 below days to feel comfortable. Now I need sweatpants and hoodies where I used to be comfortable in shorts and t-shirts.

At almost 4 months out from my RNY, I still get weird pains like that around where the incisions were. It isn't every time I cough or laugh, but they do still come up. As already suggested, it is probably worth a quick call to make sure.

I realize the first meeting was just about a week ago, but any plans for the next one?

The only thing that has caused me to dump thus far was Ketchup. Since then I've switched to sugar-free ketchup and had zero issues (though I do religiously avoid things with much sugar or fat).

I'm not quite 4 months out since having my RNY, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. The progress I've made and weight lost so far has been much greater than any of those who I've spoken to who went the VSG route.