Kissifur

August 5th here! I'm having a revision sleeve to bypass.

My after care advice from the nutritionist was no straws. I ended up in the hospital with dehydration and told my surgeon that I can only get enough Water in when I use a straw. His advice was do what keeps you alive and I have been using straws ever since.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using the BariatricPal App

I had my 1st plastics consultation with Dr Josef Hadeed (of Atlanta and Beverly Hills) and was wondering if anyone has heard of him?

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If you haven't already check out bariatriceating.com. The site has a Back on Track plan that many have used to lose regain. Good luck!

Did anyone try to practice not drinking with meals prior to surgery? I wondered if that would help.

It actually was easier than I thought. Remember after surgery you are not eating solid foods. You go through steps so by the time I could eat regular food again it wasn't a big deal. I thought that it was going to be a struggle but after liquids, than mashed, than soft I didn't even think about it anymore.

How soon prior to eating have you been told you will need to stop drinking? It seems like it is one of those things that vary by doctor.

I was told to stop drinking one hour before and wait one hour after. I am more strict with after.

I'm 14 months out and except for a handful of time when it felt like food was stuck in my throat (usually chicken breast) I am able to eat and wait the hour my program suggests with no problem. I found it much easier then I thought it would be going in because I was a take a bite take a glup type of girl.

What capacity do you serve on this forum? You are not a poster child but you do offer your input. It is left up to each individual to take your information and use it in a way that best suits them.

I'm here to get and give support to people who are seriously interested in WLS and who have already had it, period. I don't consider that mentoring, just being supportive. If someone asks a specific question, I'll answer, but I'm not here to guide them in "the right way."

To put it bluntly, I'm at the stage in my WLS journey and have been in this long enough that I have absolutely no interest in trying to convert people to WLS. Even here, I'm not going to tell someone what they should or shouldn't do that's outside of their comfort zone, or try to shame them into "spreading the joys of WLS" by telling them that they owe it to the other fat people (and I've seen people here and on OH that were basically doing that). I don't owe anything to anyone. My personal feelings are that people will research when they are ready to research. I'm not going to preach to them or be a WLS evangelist, and I have no interest in trying to justify my decision to have WLS to people. When people are tired of being fat, they'll look into alternatives. Before that, it's like trying to convert an Atheist to Christianity, or a nonsmoker preaching to a smoker. Plus, I tend to think people are generally just Nosy Nellies, sticking their noses where they don't belong. I have no interest in being the topic of break-room conversation at work. Maybe I was just raised to be super-respectful of privacy (which is ironic, considering that my parents think nothing of discussing MY private medical information with anyone and everyone, lol), but I would never in a million years pry into a coworker or friend's personal life with questions like, "So, how are you losing the weight?," "You aren't sick, are you?," etc., so I find it offensive when other people do it.

Wow that was a lot of writing. Out of all that I agree about being not being a mentor which is not what most people are looking for anyway, however a friend of mine had surgery about 10 years ago and her honesty both good and bad plus her support helped greatly following my surgery a year ago. I just tell people the truth when I'm asked the question. I have a small circle of friends and we take offense to very little or we wouldn't be friends. While I wouldn't ask anybody if they are sick I would definitely ask a friend how they lost weight when I was over weight. Now a co work it depends on the level of closeness. I was raised to respect privacy as well but what is considered private is objective so a person is free to say I'm not comfortable talking about that. I also found my mom a little too talkative about the surgery telling a few people before I had a chance but I've known her my whole life so no big surprise there.

I am a very private person. I don't share my personal business with people, except perhaps a very few of my proven, trusted "inner circle" friends. However, other than the two guys who helped me (one, for transport; and one, to house me for a couple of days), only two of my closest friends know I had wls, and those two live out of town. I just didn't tell folks, not even the neighbor in front of me.

In this day of so many people sharing their everything with folks (known and unknown, online, etc!!), it may seem hard for some to keep their personal affiars to themselves...but if you don't want to tell folks, then DON'T. It's your life. Your decision. It's not their business.

Besides, many people have their own (uninformed) thoughts; you don't need them confounding you, nor do you need to defend your informed ones.

Don't tell if you don't want to, and don't feel bad for keeping your private business private. Period.

if people ask, "what are you doing to lose so much weight!!?", etc.,[present tense--"are"]... I say "I'm eating mostly Protein. I cut out the white stuff, the carbs, etc." And that's the truth.

IF it's someone I know well, and i know they are depressed about their weight (as I was), and they specifically ASK, then I will tell them I had wls. But they, too, must be someone I know I can tell and they won't put it on blast to whomever.

yesterday, I saw a post [here] about some co-worker telling others that a co-worker (the poster here) had had wls. [!!!] In today's world, people don't have filters or common sense. Privacy is not respected. So, respect your own. If you're a "private person," then don't violate your comfort zone. You'll regret it, if you do. Respect your personal space and spirit.

The one piece of advice I can give you is: You can tell people about your WLS surgery at any time, but you can never untell them. Take your time on deciding, there's no rush.

Once you tell people, you can't untell them. Well I did untell someone, I told them pre-op I was considering it, then before surgery I told them it wasn't happening. I told them not to tell anyone and they told 2 other people and told me they told 2 other people. I asked they why they told these people and they said "well it was just blah blah, I didn't think it would matter". I said no one means no one. Then all they said was "oh". So that is kind of what you can expect. I thought this person could keep a secret, I have certainly kept some of their secrets.

In the end I told one person that lives on the other side of the country and came to be with me for my surgery and then left.

I'm not ashamed of my surgery. I just don't want to be the poster child for it and I am not interested in talking about to strangers or semi strangers or anyone who decides they want to talk about it when I don't. I'm not a medical professional and I just am not comfortable talking about something personal like that. I don't talk about any of my other medical procedures.

Just because we live in a society that is hung up on weight doesn't mean you have to let people invade your personal life because they are curious. The only situation where I might tell someone is if I think they are morbidly obese and the surgery might really help them, but I am still working through that in my head because again I am not a medical professional, and it isn't my place to give people medical advice.

You have to think about what is best for you and your lifestyle. Do you want to answer questions about weight and weight loss for the rest of you life? Even when maybe you are at goal weight, eating semi-normal and leading a new life? Do you want people to question your choices? Are you able to defend those choices or blow them off? It is a lot to think about. No telling people always leaves the option to tell them later, but telling them, leaves you fewer options.

Ditto all of this. Maybe I have a skewed perception because I've succeeded with my lap-band and then regained weight (due to complications and issues with the band). Back when I first had surgery, I was all gung-ho about educating people about WLS and spreading the gospel, so to speak. The problem is, most people consider WLS surgery to be a magical cure-all for obesity, and if you start gaining weight back, you become the "friend of a friend of a friend" that everyone warns you about when you first tell them you're looking into surgery. They think that because you're sharing something private with them, that it's public knowledge and can then be gossiped about, or that you want their advice on how to lose weight.

Bottom line is that it is not your responsibility to educate the masses about the joys of WLS. If you aren't 100% comfortable telling people about having surgery, dealing with all of the extra input that people will think you want (because God forbid we don't want to know about the friend of a friend of a friend that died, or regained weight, or had major complications), or with their suggestions on "better" ways to lose weight, then don't tell anyone.

For me, I don't plan on telling any more people than absolutely necessary about my revision from lap-band to RNY (more people know about it now than I'm comfortable with, due to my parent's inability to respect my personal privacy). I'm no one's WLS mentor or the poster-child for WLS, and I don't wish to become one.

What capacity do you serve on this forum? You are not a poster child but you do offer your input. It is left up to each individual to take your information and use it in a way that best suits them.

I struggle with missing bread sometimes. There are just some sandwiches that aren't the same without bread, like a pressed cuban. Burgers get a little boring without Buns, too, but it's totally worth it. I ate chili during my pureed stage, even took it into the movie theater in place of popcorn, haha. Also, hot wings with blue cheese are a staple in my life, but I can only eat like 3 at a time. I mainly try to keep my carb intake low and don't fuss over fat content.

Was just thinking of a Cuban (with extra cheese, no pickles or mustard, mayo and garlic spread lol) and wings OMG wingsssss lol

I am ok though that's just the hungry fat girl in me talking lol

You got me with the Cuban. I have never tried it that way thanks for the idea ????

I dont miss any food. If I want it I have a small amount and move on.

For those that are 2+ years out and experienced regain have you ever heard of bariactriceating.com? They have a 48 hour reset followed by Back on Track diet (I hate to use the D word). I found them while looking for support because although I have not had any regain I was on the fast track. They have a group on Facebook and everyone there is saying the eating plan (free) has helped them lose a significant amount of regain.

Weight loss is hard and it is natural to want to know how people did it, I sure did when I was heavy. Now that I'm the one in the hot seat I say that I had the surgery and have changed so many peoples perception of the surgery with a few now contemplating it for themselves. I will agree that I am tired of hearing "how much have you lose?" Among other questions but I know that it comes from the novelty and myths surrounding WLS.

I told only my closest family and friends prior but once the weight dropped off I am honest if someone asks me directly. It's not a big deal for me if people know it was no different than having my gallbladder removed, my doctor recommended it and I agreed. The movement to change the stigma attached to WLS starts with WLS patients. I got to a point where I felt if I'm ashamed or lie/fudge the truth about my surgery then I'm saying what I did was wrong.

I was told not to use a straw. However after ending up in emergency due to dehydration I found that using a straw help me get in my fluids. My surgeon adviced me to do what I needed to do and I have never had an issue.

When people tell me don't lose anymore weight.

Are you taking anything for acid reflux? If not that could explain your hunger. Also i was alway hungry at least so I thought until i moved to solid foods.

I just learned the hard way that the cravings come back. Two weeks ago I was snacking like a mad woman Cookies, cake, chips. It was mindless and I never thought I would have that problem again. This week I have made a point to avoid all sweets and most carbs. I'm glad I caught it before it went too far.

Same here I was sleeved June 5th now my nose runs all the time, especially when I'm full.

You sit in a desk chair combo and can see your lap! (Happened yesterday yayyy!!)

I was concerned about Hair loss and like you I have never got all my Protein, Water or Vitamins in. I'll be 4 months out on the 5th and haven't experienced any significant hair lose so ka sa ra sa ra and don't stress over it because it is out of your control...

Today is my first day back to school following surgery. I am sitting in a desk chair and my stomach is not touching the desk and I can see the chair between my legs!! I want to scream this to every person in the class but telling you guys is far less disruptive lol

Unfortunately there is no such thing as "normal" each one of us will lose at a different pace. I think you should put things in perspective. If I'm correct you said you have lose 20 lbs in 10 days? You have to understand that your body needs time to recover. Realistically we can't expect our bodies to drop weight every day without a break to caught up. You are doing fine trust the process. According to my dietitian she only expected me to lose 35lbs in the first 3 months, while I was hoping for far more. As far as stalls I have never experienced one because I don't weigh but I see the difference everyday. Find another way to measure your success because the scale will drive you insane.

I never really had a big butt so I'll say no to that however with the weight loss I have been told it looks bigger (I'm convinced it's an illusion). Now my boobs on the other hand are GONE/FLAT! and I mean like the women walking around on National Geographics. Literally when I woke up from surgery someone had stole them. Nothing that a good bra hasn't helped to mask. I did not even consider plastics before WLS now it is in my plan. With that said I don't have any regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I know I'll be doing the same thing to my husband. He's gonna think I lost my mind

I'm sure mine did... but I still asked him if he remembered the next day lol