Forsythia

I can bet that the vast majority of people here will tell you to not back out of surgery. I think most all of us would have done this surgery sooner if given the chance. I have been fat my whole life. I let myself slide into diabetes and high blood pressure and was in denial about that for about four years after my diagnosis. Even when my home scale read ERROR (it maxed out at 335), I wasn't emotionally ready to do anything about my weight. It wasn't until 2013 that I decided to get my crap together and have the surgery (I had insurance requirements to deal with, so did not have my surgery until this past May). I'm 37. If I could have gotten in the head space to have this surgery when I was 32, I would have. So good on you to recognize and take care of you at such a young age.

If you live alone, get rid of the Snacks. Chuck em all. If you have kids or a spouse, have the snacks in a cabinet you cannot reach. Buy snacks you do not like. My husband is always buying snacks, but he gets stuff I don't like, and it goes in the super high cabinet my short butt cannot reach.

I've always been an exerciser. Exercise was never my issue. Eating was. I like hitting the weight room and swimming and even grudgingly doing the cardio. I do think it helps to be fit before hand. Because you are gonna lose muscle along with the fat - its just the nature of the beast at the beginning. So it helps to have more muscle around to help limit that loss. It also helps with a quicker recovery if you are in better condition. A better conditioned body will definitely bounce back quicker than one that is more out of shape. So every little bit helps, even if that is only 15 minutes on a treadmill every day.

I have lost a lot from the top down. First my face slimmed down, and I do have a bit of a turkey neck (I'm 37, so I hope that bounces back. I moisturize the hell out of it). Also my fingers lost a bunch of weight (and I've never had fat fingers - I only ever wore a size 7 ring). After that I lost a lot in my sides, boobs, upper arms and thighs (lots of that drapey skin in those areas). My stomach and ass are finally going. My stomach/hips/butt are where all my weight resides. Because of this top down loss, I am a Misses XL or a plus size 1x on top and an 18 on the bottom. Down from a 22/24 on top and 26/28 on the bottom. I'm also in this weird nebulous hell area where I can get some clothes in regular stores and some not. Like, if I can find an 18 in a regular store I'm super happy because I hate going into the plus department for pants because they are cut so matronly. I'm 5 months out on the 5th. Down over 100 lbs from my all time high which was 335.

I picked other as my selection. I like my hospital - it is consistently ranked as the best in Chicago. And I like to keep all my medical stuff within said hospital. So I looked up on their website who their surgeons were and went to a seminar. At the time Dr. Hungness was conducting the seminar, so he is the surgeon I went with. Funny enough, it did not even occur to me to shop around for a surgeon because of the excellence of my hospital. My NP had suggested I look into surgery, but that was a couple years before I actually thought about doing it seriously. And she did not push either Dr. Hungness or Dr. Nagle (in fact she did not even mention their names).

I chose my surgeon based on my hospital. Since I like Northwestern Memorial Hospital and all of their practices here in Chicago, I picked one of the two bariatric surgeons at the hospital. The hospital is also a Bariatric Center of Excellence, so that helped. Cost was not a consideration for me since my insurance covered my procedure save for a small out of pocket maximum I had to meet. So if you have an existing PCP attached to a hospital you like, look into their program.

Once you are approved for a general diet you should be able to have a salad. However some sleevers have issues with lettuce sticking. So try it if you are on a general diet.

The baby food fruit was fine - I liked the squeezy pouches. The meat was gross. DON'T BUY ANY BABY FOOD MEAT! Even if you doctor it up and season it, its gross gross gross. I ended up eating a lot of cheese and yogurt.

Haters gonna hate. But really the psych should have told you he felt you needed more sessions with him before approval, rather than straight denying you. Lots of people at my surgeon didn't get approved after their first interview with the psych. They don't get denied. The psych just tells them to make another appointment because there are issues that need to be worked. Seems really shitty, IMHO.

I get hungry. I get thirsty. But honestly in a lot of people pre-sleeve the thirst mechanism is so weak people mistake it for hunger and eat. Often when I feel hungry I have a drink and realize I was thirsty. (Honestly I am not sure where I picked that nugget up from but it seems to work for me). I was only on liquids for two days in the hospital. I was put in purees for a week once I got home. Then soft solids for a month, then normal diet. The post op diet varies from surgeon to surgeon. I'm told to limit Pasta rice and bread but I can still eat them. A lot of people limit carbs because they are empty calories or they are sensitive to them. I had alcohol last weekend. I'm almost 5 months out. Sweets taste the exactly same to me. I don't dump.

I went to a party last night. I drank all the booze. To be fair I was never really a giant booze hound before my sleeve. But I had like five or six drinks last night. Oops. I don't feel like I had any issues with any of them, either. My sleeve likes every damn thing. And I don't feel hung over this morning. I do need to get back on the good girl wagon and not do that again for awhile. I'm almost 5 months post op, btw.

I went to a party last night. I swear I drank all the booze. I know for sure I had two hard ciders and three mixed drinks over the course of 5 hours. Just pace yourself and have water after you finish a drink so as to not get dehydrated. Eating before is a good idea too, so you don't get too drunk. And don't feel bad if you have a drink or five, just remember to get back on the good habit train the next day.

I've been drinking coffee since I was cleared for a general diet (at one month out) with no ill effects. I stick a scoop of Protein powder in it to get in a quick 30 grams. But coffee just might be one of those things that bothers you. My body's reaction to caffeine is an odd one though - It does not ramp me up. I do not get withdrawal from it if I quit, and I can quit cold turkey. I could drink it right before going to bed!

I have thin fine curly hair. Have I lost hair? Sure, I lose hair every day. Have I lost an abnormal amount since my surgery in May? No, I have not. If you are going to lose hair you are going to lose hair. If don't, you don't. There is no way to predict if you are going to lose it or not. Your personal genetic make up and your body's reaction to anesthesia and loss of Protein is key. But if you do lose hair, you are by no means going to lose all your hair. Ultimately you need to weigh whether or not the benefits of the surgery outweigh the risks for you. And if the hair loss freaks you out that much you might need to consider other options.

Ha that is freaky. I found little dissolvable suture material sticking up out of my incisions.

Oh god, she calls every day? I love my MIL, bit if she called every day is lose my $#!+. Your husband needs to have a talk with her and tell her to chill out.

I have always had freakishly thin ankles, yet well muscled calves. I still have freakishly thin ankles and well muscled calves. I have gone from a 16 inch calf to a 15 inch one. My ankles are still 9 inches around. I've got a lot of weight in the hips/thighs. My bottom half is one size bigger than my top half. I'm always gonna be a pear with a lot of junk in my trunk and birthing hips. So far I've not lost all my boobs. But then again I'm still actively loosing. I was a 44D in the chest, now I'm a 38DD. So proportionately I've lost more around than in the actual breast.

I have not really lost any hair other than my normal daily amount. I have fine curly hair. I do get it highlighted, but no longer relax it. I have not taken anything special to prevent loss. While I generally get 80 grams of Protein a day, there are days where that doesn't always happen. I think a lot of hair loss has to do with your personal genetics and luck along with how anesthesia effects you. Edited to add my surgery was on 5/5/14.

I used it for the 30 day trial. Ultimately I decided not to pay for it because my connection to the innerwebs was not fast enough for the workouts to stream without constant buffering. The workouts themselves are solid and doable in your living room. There is a little quiz you take to assess your goals and levels and it will put you on a program based on your goals. I would recommend it as long as you have a fast internet connection. My AT&T Uverse 1.5Mbps connection did not cut the mustard.

My Hemoglobin A1C is 5.5%. this is normal. Like, perfectly normal normal. Not, well controlled for a Diabetic normal, but not a diabetic person normal. SUCK IT DIABETES!!!! Also, my NP tested other levels and my vitamin D level is finally normal. My cholesterol continues to be fabulous. And she took me off of my blood pressure medication. SUCK IT, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!! Bought two pairs of size 18 pants. I'm in this weird purgatorial area where an 18W is too big. Some companies that carrier an 18 in missy sizes, well, they are often too small. So it looks like the only place I can buy pants is Old Navy until I get down to a 16. Damn you, birthing hips. I'm 232. I've never been 232 as an adult. I mean, I think the last time I was 232 I was 14? Hoping to be in the 220s by the end of this month.

I was only on liquids in the hospital. I was on purees as soon as I got home. That was the worst week of my 37 years. Purees suck. Lol. Then soft solids for a month. After that general diet.

I was able to eat salad about a month out. But, I've never had issues with any veggies or fruits. I like to throw some diced ham on my salad so there is some protein in it.

@@Selina1000 is that your first solid meal? If you are coming off of soups and whatnot it's gonna feel weird. And is going to sit in your tummy for way longer than a bowl of soup. Try something else soft to see if it bothers you. It could be that the fish sticks just did not agree with you.

Sweet!

I was okay with the nookie after about a week. This thread is also quite amusing.