JamieLogical

The muscle, lymphatic system, and nerves take a VERY long time to heal. So while incisions can be looking great in just a month or two, everything on the inside takes a lot longer. It's very important for plastic surgery patients to take things slowly and follow their surgeon's plan for compression garments and activity after surgery.

@@MBM1Forever, I can't remember when I crossed over, but sometime between 6 months and 1 year, I became able to drink water very quickly. (Actually, I usually drink watered-down Crystal Light iced tea.) I drink it without ice so it gets to room temperature fairly quickly, and then I'm able to gulp it just like I used to. As for the concern that it will stretch your sleeve/pouch, my doc says that fluids will find the easiest path of escape, and that's straight down into the intestines. So drink away as soon as you're able! I too can gulp water most of the time now. Still have to wait a good 40 minutes after eating, but I rarely have issues beyond that. For me though, I am the opposite. My water has to be ICE COLD... like freezing... for me to be able to drink quickly. Room temp water is like lead and fills me up super fast and sits "heavy" in my stomach.

@@globetrotter I'm sure you've probably tried everything at this point, but it's worth throwing out there. Have you experimented with calorie cycling? Eating low calories one day, high the next, mid-range the next, etc. That way your body doesn't have a chance to adapt to a set amount or any kind of routine?

The barium can cause black stool. Also, if you have taken any bismuth (pepto bismol), it can cause black stools as well.

I still take the Vitaleph multivitamins, but use other brands for my other supplements. I take a generic version of Citrical Maximum for Calcium +D3. I take Insync for my probiotic. And I take a spray B12 I got off Amazon... I think it's called "mykind" or something like that. All of my labs that my PCP has ordered for me post-op have come back perfect, so I am guessing that combo is working. As for protein shakes, I made my own with protein powder and when I needed something ready-to-drink, I used EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control, which I bought at Walmart and Target. They were a little lower on the protein than the OCC Nutritionist recommended, so I would just add a little extra unflavored whey protein powder to them.

I say it over and over on these forums, because it's a mental hurdle that a LOT of WLS patients seem to struggle with. WLS is not a diet. On a diet, you want to lose weight as fast as possible so you can be "done". But, you'll never be "done" with your WLS, so what's the hurry? I actually had my WLS as a weight MAINTENANCE solution, not a weight LOSS solution. I was a pro at losing weight. I'd lost hundreds of pounds over the years, even losing 90 pounds in one year back in 2010/2011. The problem for me was maintaining the weight loss. As soon as I thought I was "done" dieting, I'd go right back to my old ways of eating and my exercise would drop off and I would start packing the pounds back on. I am hopeful that my sleeve will help me when my REAL journey begins. Once I reach goal and have to start maintaining my weight for the first time in my life. When it comes to weight maintenance, there doesn't seem to be any real data on whether sleeve or RNY is "better".

@@SaintTeresa Definitely try to get back to the post-op food stages your doctor outlined. It's very important to move through them in order and at the correct pace to maximize your healing and minimize your risk. I know it can be hard, especially trying to plan ahead when you aren't going to be home or in your normal routine. Maybe keep a packet of protein powder in your purse or whatever to make sure you at least have that as an option when you are out somewhere, as long as you can get your hands on some bottled water.

@@candy32980 It does seem that the rate of loss is faster with RNY, but I wouldn't necessarily see that as a benefit. There are a lot of benefits to losing more slowly. Your skin has more time to adapt. You don't have to replace your clothes as frequently. You get fewer comments on your rapid weight loss. And you have more time to mentally adapt to your changing body. Meanwhile, losing "fast" doesn't really have any long term benefit. In 5 years, will it matter if it took you a couple more months to lose those pounds? Nope! But, your skin and wallet might be grateful for the extra time!

@@Rochellevsg I hoped you reported this person to your surgeon!

The vomiting really seems to be based on the individual. I had two bouts of dry-heaving the day after my surgery, but have not thrown up once in the almost 10 months since my surgery date of 9/1/14. Some people throw up almost daily, even months post-op. Some people just have extreme nausea. Some people have violent reactions to certain foods. I didn't have any issues with traveling home from TJ, except that my flight from Chicago to Rochester was canceled. Had to RUN all the way across O'Hare airport (8/10th of a mile!) to catch the last flight of the day and not get stuck in Chicago overnight. So I didn't end up getting home until much later than planned, but I still hung in there. I had surgery with Ariel Ortiz at OCC last September, so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

You'l be heading to OCC almost exactly one year after I had my sleeve surgery there! I was sleeved on 9/1/14 and everything went great! You'll be well take care of! Let me know if you have any questions about what to expect or what to bring.

@@HousecallsNP Welcome! Most of the people in the VIP forums are "vets" or at least had their surgeries a while ago, so I am sure you can get a lot of answers to your questions here.

I didn't even have stitches for my PCP to take out. My incisions had sub-dermal sutures that dissolved over time and the outside layer of skin had dermabond, which is like a glue, that just wore off in about 2 weeks. As for bloodwork, I met with my PCP before I went to Mexico and arranged a follow-up appointment and bloodwork with her for 1 month post op. She continued to do follow-up visits and blood work at the 2 month, 4 month, and 8 month marks. My next is scheduled for the 1 year mark.

I've noticed my restriction can vary some from day-to-day. Some days I can just eat more than others. But it has LOT to do with WHAT I'm eating as well. Dense Protein definitely triggers my restriction much more quickly than anything soft or carb-y.

I had implants pre-sleeve. The nice thing is that my boobs haven't shrunk visibly at all. In fact they look bigger now in relation to the rest of my body. The bad news is, my left implant has now become malpositioned due to the loss of real breast tissue above it and I will likely want a revision. Though I'm going to wait until I'm done losing for that. It's not really that noticeable. I notice it, but even my husband didn't notice it until I pointed it out to him. I was thin when I got my boobs. I pray they still look good when I drop these lbs. I was "thin" too when I got my boobs. I had lift with implants done at the same time as my tummy tuck after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". But then I regained 80 pounds before I was sleeved. Now, post-sleeve, I re-lost those 80 pounds, plus 7 more. My tummy tuck held up GREAT through the re-gain and loss. My only issue is that I now have this malpositioning of my left implant. I don't know if re-gaining breast tissue pushed it around a bit and then it because obvious when I lost that new breast tissue again or what. All I know is that I will probably end up getting a revision. Not in a rush though. It's really only noticeable to me. My husband doesn't care and you can't possibly notice it if I'm wearing clothes or a bra.

My hubby is definitely the real saint here!

I'm allowed caffeine and have been since 30 days post-op. I just drank a cup of coffee and a 5-hour Energy this morning! Edit: The 5-Hour Energy isn't a normal thing for me, I just didn't get any sleep last night. Found out my sister and brother-in-law are separating and my sister and her 4 kids are moving in with me temporarily, so I'm a little stressed out!

Where did this 800 calories come from? That seems low for 5 months post-op. I wouldn't be surprised if your stall is due to not getting ENOUGH calories.

Definitely not. I had a stage 1 compression garment for about 4 weeks, then a stage 2 garment for 6 weeks, then wasn't allowed spanx until 10 weeks.

@@jaczim My surgeon was Dr. Ariel Ortiz at Obesity Control Center. My interaction with Dr. Ortiz himself was pretty limited, but he is a world renowned surgeon with impeccable credentials, so I felt very safe in his hands. For me, the big feature of OCC is the full team. I got quick and helpful answers to all of my questions from the staff both pre and post-op and I received excellent care at the clinic. The nutritionist has been a godsend providing me with all the pre and post-op diet instructions, answering all my questions about Vitamins, following up with me many times post-op to check on my progress, and just generally being awesome. In fact, I just emailed her with a question this past Sunday. I'm almost 10 months post-op, but had a question about the change in formula of my Multivitamin. I sent the email around 7:00pm and she had replied by 10:00. This was on a Sunday no less! Remember, these people got my money 10 months ago. They won't be getting any more money from me. Yet they still take the time to respond quickly to all of my questions and provide excellent service. I was pretty impressed with that. The other doctors at OCC were similarly responsive. Dr. Jimenez answered my questions about when to stop and restart my vitamins and prescription meds around my surgery. Dr. So helped me when I thought my drain site might be infected post-op. I sent him photos and he called me within minutes to let me know he didn't think it was infected, but with instructions on how to care for it and advice for what to do if I really was concerned about infection. Turned out it wasn't infected after all, but I was impressed that he called me literally within minutes of me emailing him photos.

I had implants pre-sleeve. The nice thing is that my boobs haven't shrunk visibly at all. In fact they look bigger now in relation to the rest of my body. The bad news is, my left implant has now become malpositioned due to the loss of real breast tissue above it and I will likely want a revision. Though I'm going to wait until I'm done losing for that. It's not really that noticeable. I notice it, but even my husband didn't notice it until I pointed it out to him.

The first couple of weeks were rough. Not going to lie. I just tried to take it one hour at a time. I sipped on my water, marched in place a lot, watched a lot of TV, and slept a lot. Luckily I was allowed protein shakes earlier than you were, so I had a bit more energy, but it still sucked. You just have to have patience and hang in there. You really will feel a little better every day and soon enough you will look back and realize you've recovered pretty quickly, though it felt like an eternity in the moment.

You shouldn't compare your progress to others. That is the path to frustration and misery. Every body is different and everyone loses at t different pace. A "slow" loss is not necessarily any reflection on your effort or how "bad" you are doing. Pace of loss is something that is very much out of your control. It's much more important to focus on the things you CAN control and trust in the process.

Wait. You had surgery 7 weeks ago and you feel like a failure to not have lost 60 pounds already!?!?! I'm almost 10 months post op and have lost 62 pounds.... Am I missing something?

No one complimented my weight loss at all, but I attributed that to the fact that I have lost and regained weight so many times over the years, that people are hesitant to say anything anymore.