JamieLogical

As for cream in coffee, I use Mini Moos (Half & Half) when I'm at work, which are 10 calories each. And I use Silk soy milk when I'm at home, which is 28 calories for 2 oz. and has 2 grams of Protein. So, on a week day I get about 68 calories from "cream" in my coffee and 2 grams of protein. On weekends I get 84 calories and 6 grams of protein. I use Truvia in my coffee at home and work. If I'm out somewhere and don't have Truvia as an option, I use Splenda. The calories in alcohol are NOT trivial, so I am pretty careful about that. I rarely drink. Maybe once or twice a month? My experience with alcohol post-sleeve is that I get "drunk" feeling VERY quickly, but then I also sober up very quickly (don't worry, I never drive if I've had ANY alcohol at all). It's like my body just processes the alcohol much faster than it did pre-op. I was on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN back in April (7 months post-op) and moonshine is a big thing there. They have a whole bunch of competing moonshine places on the main drag that offer free samples in tiny little shot glasses, about 1/4 the size of a normal shot glass. They are literally the size of a thimble. I drank 4-5 of those and I was SOOOOOOO drunk. Granted, moonshine is pretty high proof, but still, I basically had the equivalent of ONE shot and I was wasted. But probably 20 minutes later, I felt completely normal and sober.

@@true2jeanna The percentages when it comes to complications are VERY low . While they do happen and can be quite tragic, there would be no grounds for a class action suit here. Who would be the defendant? There is no single company or even handful of companies that are selling a defective "product". There are individual doctors performing individual surgeries using a variety of devices and tools. There's no specific medication or implant or anything that is unique to gastric sleeve. It would be like trying to sue the entire medical industry over complications from gall bladder or appendix removal. I am so sorry for you and your daughter and all of the hardships you've had to endure. It is certainly unfortunate that the surgeon in question seems to be untouchable, especially if there truly was some wrongdoing.

I was in bed by 8:00 or 9:00 several times on my pre-op diet. The fatigue is no joke! Hang in there!

It won't get better until you are on at least soft foods (eggs, tuna, cheese) and can start getting more calories in. If anything the fatigue gets worse in the first couple of weeks post-op, because then not only are you not eating much, your body is also expending a lot of energy to heal. I would say I really turned a corner at 18 days post-op, once I was allowed soft foods. And then my energy levels were pretty much back to "normal" by the time I was on solids.

Here was my packing list. I didn't want to check any bags, so I managed to get this all into my laptop bag and my tablet bag (purse-sized) to take with me on the plane. Because of that, I couldn't bring any liquids with me. Thus the need for Protein powder and the collapsible funnel: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11I51ulCBco9cimQj882eV1KfMWodyiIO6X4gNaLpDDc/edit?usp=sharing From that list I didn't use the stool softener at all or the wipes (I was able to shower myself as soon as i got back to my hotel, so no need for the wipes). And the "hair spray" on that list was my spray leave-in conditioner. Not the kind that holds your hair-style. I obviously didn't worry about how I looked while I was there. Oh and I guess I never used my mini HDMI adapter, because I never hooked up my tablet to the TV, though I did use the HDMI cable to connect my laptop to the TV. And I never used the ethernet cable I brought either. I don't remember wishing I had brought anything that I hadn't.

I promise yo won't feel exhausted forever. But you will feel very very fatigued in the first couple of weeks post-op as well. Not only will you be consuming very few calories, but your body will be expending a lot of energy to heal itself. I would say my energy levels really turned a corner once I was back on soft foods (eggs, soft cheese, tuna, etc.), because I was able to start getting more calories in.

@@Justoperated The muscle repair may be less critical for you as a man. It definitely seems to be something most obese women need to consider once they've lost the weight. Your surgeon will definitely discuss the options with you and help you decide what's best. I also agree with Shustar, that you should wait a good 6-12 months after reaching your goal before having plastics, because some of your skin WILL bounce back naturally on it's own. Then your surgeon will have a much better idea of what he/she needs to work with.

I was allowed caffeine at 30 days post-op. Initially told to dilute my coffee heavily with cream and only one cup a day, but allowed to increase my intake as tolerated. I now drink 3 cups a day at 9 months post-op. I was allowed alcohol at 2 months post-op. Obviously in moderation and cautioned about drinking my calories. Also, nothing carbonated.

@@frumpy69 Thanks for answering all of my questions. I know it might be hard for you to go back and do this sort of self-examination. Hopefully you won't beat yourself up too much, since like someone above said, what's done is done and you can only move forward from here. You mentioned that you only eat 700-1200 calories a day. Is that what you are eating now that you are trying to get back on track? I find it hard to believe you regained weight eating that little. How are you doing on Protein now? How WERE yo doing on protein as you regained weight? Have you been doing any sort of regular exercise. I know there are others on these forums who have been through what you are going through, so hopefully some of them will see this and post with some advice.

Wow! Some people!

Sending positive thoughts and energy your way for safe travels and a smooth surgery.

I seriously doubt a bite of Pasta caused you to gain 1.5 pounds of real weight, That's not 1.5 pounds of FAT magically back on your body from one bite of food. It's Water. Might not even have anything to do with the pasta. It might be the sodium from the sauce. LOTS of things can cause your weight to fluctuate from day to day. What you want to be watching for is a general downward trend. Log your weight once a week. If the daily fluctuations are making your crazy, stop weighing daily and only weigh that once a week that you plan to log. If you follow the plan, get all your Protein and water in, and exercise, you ARE going to lose weight. Unfortunately the rate of loss is going to be on your body's own terms.

I think the mistake a lot of WLS patients make is thinking about weight loss the same way they might if they were on a diet. When you are on a diet, you want to lose weight FAST and get to goal ASAP so the diet will be "over". With WLS, it's never "over". So whether it takes you 6 months or 16 months to get to goal, it doesn't matter. As long as you eventually get there and can MAINTAIN it once you are there. Ten years from now, no one's going to be looking back and saying to themselves "if only I could have gotten to goal one month sooner!".

Seems like it just depends on your surgeon. They either use drains or they don't If you want to find out whether yours does, just give him a call.

I wish you the absolute best of luck getting back on track. I'm sure you know all the "rules", so if you stick to the plan, you should be able to get things back under control. Obviously, some folks are going to have some questions about how/when you gained the weight back. Me included. I completely understand if you don't want to answer all of these. I just really feel like it might benefit some of us to know where things went wrong so we can try to avoid similar situations for ourselves. Feel free to completely ignore these questions. You need to focus on yourself and getting back on track, so if considering these sends you in the wrong direction, you should definitely just steer clear. How much weight did you initially lose post-op? Over what period of time? While you were losing weight, do you feel you stuck to the plan fairly well? Was there an event that sent you off your plan or did it happen gradually? When did you start going off track? How long did it take you to regain the weight once you went off track? What sorts of bad eating habits crept back in that allowed you to regain the weight?

Compared to the plastics I had 4 years ago, the pain from sleeve was NOTHING. Besides, pain is temporary, your sleeve is forever. The pain of the sleeve, isn't going to KILL you and it will only last at most a week or two. You'll be enjoying the benefits of your sleeve for years to come. Small price to pay.

When I had my plastics, my nurses in the recovery house were AMAZING. I felt not only well-cared for, but genuinely loved. All three of my nurses CRIED the day I left to go home. They were the sweetest ever! Edit: I just want to say that my sister's a nurse and I have so much respect and admiration for what nurses do. They remain compassionate and caring through some very disgusting situations. I guess it's a bit like being a parent. You love your kids through vomiting and dirty diaper changing and all that gross stuff. Nurses do that for perfect strangers! Definitely takes a special kind of person. When I first had my plastics, I HATED depending on the nurses for everything and asking them to help me with gross stuff like going to the bathoom or cleaning up my vomit. But they did it and somehow they were more than happy to do it and didn't resent me for it. They were lovely lovely people.

My main source of pain post-op was gas and my drain. The drain felt like menstrual cramping. Went way the second it was pulled out. The gas pain lasted several days, especially in my left shoulder. I hardly had any incision pain or pain in my abs.

The pre-op diet isn't about weight loss, it's about shrinking your liver. But I agree that it doesn't seem fair to NOT lose weight when you are starving yourself!

@@birdmadgirl I'd choose a Quest Bar over a cookie any day of the week! I am so addicted to them! It's good that you are putting protein first and taking steps to get back on track. Keep with it and hopefully this "reset" will be just what you need to pick up momentum again.

Oh I do cardio 5-6 times a week. Sorry. I thought you were looking for strength training routine. I work out at home where I have a treadmill and a stationary recumbent bike. My cardio schedule is like this: Day 1: Run Day 2: Bike Day 3: Run Day 4: Rest I just repeat that cycle over and over. If I have to miss a day for whatever reason that's not a scheduled rest day, then I just start the cycle over again. I usually do about 40-45 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down time.

It's tough to know 100% whether the people who are posting are actual patients or work for the surgeon. The best tactic is to go to their profile and look at their other forum activity. If they've got a couple hundred posts that have NOTHING to do with the surgeon they are recommending, then they probably aren't shills. If, every other post is about their surgeon and how great he/she is, then yeah, they are probably coordinators or hired hands. I researched a LOT before my surgery and based my decision on a lot of factors. There was a great thread about OCC and Ariel Ortiz on these forums for a long time that was over 200 pages with posts from legitimate patients, but a few shills posting there, ruined it for everyone and the thread was taken down. It's too bad, because that thread had some good info in it! But that wasn't the only deciding factor for me. I looked at media, credentials, etc. as well. It's definitely wise to do your due diligence and make sure you make a decision you are 100% confident and comfortable with.

That damned Week 3 Stall gets all of us!

The clear liquid part was actually easier for me. I think it was mostly because the surgery was SO close at that point and I was scrambling to get everything organized and I was so amped up and anxious. Didn't have as much time to think about food.

It's pretty normal to have short stalls (or even long ones) in the first couple of weeks as your body adjusts. I lost a lot of weight in my first week of my pre-op diet, then hardly any the second week. Then post-op, I lost a pound a day the first week, then hardly any the second and third weeks. It was frustrating at the time, but in the grand scheme of things, my weight was trending downward and I'm only 10 pounds from goal now. It's important to be patient, follow the plan, and just let your body handle things the way it needs to. It will adjust and adapt as you go along.