TNchick

tomorrow i'll be 5 month post op ... and just had some this week ...

I enjoy alcohol. I loved various IPA's (type of beer). I am sure that love got me some extra poundage. After surgery, I stayed away for 3 months. Now, the same beer with the carbonation hasn't been that attractive, plus, taste has changed. Red wine, ok, but again, not the same. I have found vodka either served bloody mary style or with cranberry juice is ok. I do find you feel tipsy faster and I would not drive even with one. the best part of the drinks I just listed, you can go virgin and nobody would know. You also start to count the calories and make choices. Again, I like to drink, I would never say don't, it just becomes harder.

I had my first wine at 3 months. Had hard liquor cocktails by about 5-6 months. I don't get buzzed any quicker than before (bummer), but alcohol will give me gastritis if I drink more than a couple days in a row.
But I wouldn't dream of drinking alcohol only 1 month out. Incision is not healed yet and nothing is worth the risk of causing damage so soon.

Maybe a subject that is TMI but one that I def need to discuss.
I am 10 days post op, have had no problems having a BM on my own (without the daily milk of magnesia my MD recommends) just having liquid bowel movements (eww that sounds horrible), I am thinking that is because I am still on a liquid diet, but at what point is it considered diarrhea if every bowel movement you have is liquid? Maybe if it increases in frequency?
Also I feel like I have had a couple of episodes of dumping syndrome, I ate broccoli cheddar Soup (well blended -- also I know not the healthiest selection but it was Thanksgiving and I wanted a soup that was actually tasty -- and my favorite) and immediatley after was hit with the very painful need to go to poop (which I did -- and then my soup was gone out the other exit) any thoughts on avoiding dumping?
When do you resume normal poops!?! I need to know hahah

10 days post op and mine went fine, but I was mad as hell about it! I regretted every single minute of my sleeve the day of Thanksgiving, which shows what a powerful hold food has over a person how ingrained eating on a holiday can be into a persons psyche, I just shot daggers through my eyes as my family enjoyed the most delicious meal while I ate Soup, SOUP!!!
But now Im fine, and my 20 lbs weight loss and looser fitting clothes make me happy about my decision, that is until Christmas (JK!!)

Well, this past Wednesday as planned, I had my surgery. Gastric sleeve.
OH MY GOD I WAS MISERABLE!!!
We read all these stories about success and how wonderful everything is after the surgery. I never thought about how miserable I would be waking up after surgery. You can't move, you can't drink, can't stretch, nothing. But, as the days go by, things get a little easier. I have a long way to go but I'm recovering nicely. I'm 4 days post op and I'm able to move around on my own for the most part as long as it doesn't involve bending over. I'm down 15 lbs since starting my Preop diet 5 days before surgery. It's funny because I keep thinking this recovery would be so much easier if I were skinny. Oh the irony.

Thanks for all the positive motivation!! I havent cheated yet, still feel like I am starving but just keep drinking drinking drinking....

I started my liquid diet today and I am starving!! AND I already cheated! I had a small burger on my way to work cause I just couldnt stand the though of strarving all night...
I am scheduled to have my surgery 11/18 and need to be on Clear liquids w/ optional Protein Shakes 3 times a day til then and I just dont know if I can do it....I know that there has been tons of people that have cheated during their liquid diet phase as well, I just didnt know that it was going to be this hard.
Any suggestions/tips on how to get through this? Did you cheat? Any non-cheaters?

STICK TO YOUR GUNS! I DID IT AND SO CAN YOU! I ONLY HAVE 7 DAYS LEFT TILL SURGERY...STAY ON IT AND DON'T GIVE UP! ITS ONLY A FEW DAYS OUT OF YOUR LIFE. YOU WILL BE SO MUCH HAPPIER WHEN ITS ALL DONE.

No, I never cheated once. And yes, the liquid diet sucks. I had a headache and was starving and was very grumpy the whole time. But I figured if I couldn't stick with a simply liquid diet for a few weeks i had no business wasting my Surgeon's time and my money (I was self pay). Besides, I wasn't going to do anything to compromise the safety of my surgery. Cheating just isn't worth it. Just remember why you are having this surgery and keep focused on the end goal, rather than wallow in the minor discomfort of today. Believe me, the pre and postop diet restrictions are very temporary and a small sacrifice for the great reward of weight loss. Each time you cheat, it's harder to not cheat the next time. But each time you do the right thing, it just makes you stronger and better able to say no the next time. You need to set yourself up for long term success. Good luck.

I am on day 8 of the liquid diet and 7 more days to go! My surgery is next Wednesday on the 19th. I can tell you for me 8 days in and I still have that feeling of starving. I really thought about cheating on day 2 I was telling myself if your gonna cheat day 2 is the best day to do it. That being said I couldn't let myself do it. I want this surgery so bad so I just keep telling myself its only 7 more days as I sit here with my tummy hurting and the feeling that I'm starving. One thing I can say has helped is buying big cups of crushed ice and mindlessly snacking on it. It really helped curb my cravings to snack. Stay strong and don't punish yourself for cheating just count down the days to surgery and the day that will change your life.

It certainly gets easier. Just keep in mind why you are doing this.

@@TNchick hey hi I'm still pre op so I can't offer any advice I'm nervous about this as well ill be there soon I've seen ppl on here say it's bad for three days or so and it gets better I will hope for u that it does all I can say is keep in mind the reason your even doing it is to get the surgery if u don't do what u need to do to get there u could be rescheduled and have this drawn out longer and that would suck! Good luck to u and hey if u want to vent I'm here vent away lol

I mean there is a reason they are making me do that. Probably safety... Probably to achieve full success prior to potentially messing up an extremely expensive surgery that my insurance is willing to pay for.
I mean I am almost 30. I want kids. But I wouldn't want to risk the success I could have with the surgery by waiting a couple years. Wouldn't you want to see everything you can be? Instead of stalling or possibly even reversing the potential of being what you dreamed of?
I hear soooo many stories about women becoming bigger then what they were when they started. A lot of people mentioned becoming pregnant.
I am not dissing anyone's choices but if your not 100% committed to seeing the full out come of the surgery... And waiting the two years it could take to see where your skin is at or your final weight, if your not 100% invested... Why do it?
There are several complication risks to having babies while being larger. There are complications and risks post Bariatric surgery... But much LESS research and stats exist for post Bariatric pregnancy. If having a baby in the next year or two was a priority I would do it before surgery.
With that being said, think about the folks who say their personalities and lives have changed so significantly that they might not have wanted post surgery what they initially want pre surgery. You could change your mind... I mean I don't know any of you, but you could. I anticipate myself to be completely different.
But I feel like a lot if us will do anything to be healthy and who are we kidding... To be skinny and why risk that dream for something that could just as easily wait and additional year or two?

My youngest daughter, now 5, is a lap band baby. I got pregnant with her 6 months after having the band done. I am a revision and LOVE the sleeve. I can't give any opinion about pregnancy with the sleeve but with the band I can say I did not have any issues. I ate nutritious food, took liquid Vitamins (EXPENSIVE) and did everything the OB Dr said and had a healthy 8.8 lb baby girl. I will also say that although age is a factor that needs to be considered, I was 33 for my first daughter and 43 for my second. There is a great advantage to being an older mom and with my very energetic 5 year old, I am so thankful to be thinner and able to keep up with her. My advice for whatever it is worth to ya.....get the sleeve, wait until you are down to goal and then get pregnant. You will be healthier for pregnancy, able to be more active with your baby and be like me....kick ass right along side all those younger moms

I'm not 100% sure of the answer, But I've read plenty of stories online regarding other woman who went through with the sleeve then 3-7months (some earlier) later got pregnant and did just fine, other then having to see a nutritionist and really paying attention to their bodies during the pregnancy.
I have a friend who had gastric a few years back, 4 months in she got pregnant. She obviously didn't lose a lot of weight or nearly as much as she would have after the surgery due to the pregnancy, but that's the risk she took and her choice.
For me, I'm pretty much in the same boat I have a daughter from a previous pregnancy who will be 5 this November and needless to say I feel as though time is running out to have another one. I really didn't want to have two kid's so far apart in age but it's the hand I was given. So weather were suppose to or not I'm giving myself 6 months past my surgery date which is September 8th till we try again, I look at it like this I'd rather lose 60lbs and become pregnant then gain the 60lbs on top of where I am now.

I have pcos and I was and still am waiting to have the sleeve done. I was over weight when I had my son I got up to 30 weeks before I got Gestational Diabetes. If I could have waited I would have. But now that I have my little man here I won't do it any other way. Again if you were my friend I would tell you WAIT!!! but if the call to be a mother ti calling. It's your call.