JamieLogical

DUH!!! NO!!!!!! That's ME. You are so right! (as usual)

Every time I'm feeling like a fat cow in the past couple of weeks (been in a stall), I've tried taking my pants off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. That reminds me of how far I've come, since I'm on my third set of dress pants since pre-op and now even these are HUGE on me.

Hi and welcome! You have LOTS of people to talk to now. So feel free to posts your questions and concerns and we'll help you as much as we possibly can. One quick stat that helped allay some of my fears about gastric sleeve is that the surgery itself has a lower mortality rate than knee replacement. Would your mom be freaking out if you had to have a knee replacement operation?

I was very very fatigued for the first several weeks. The best thing you can do is try to get in your protein and fluids. For me it didn't really improve until I was able to move onto more solid foods and get in more calories.

I think you are doing great so far! There's no reason not to be active unless your surgeon says son. As for the leg cramps, could be due to dehydration or an electrolyte imbalance. Are you getting enough water in? Are you taking calcium supplements? Depending on how much you are eating, you may not be getting in enough sodium or potassium. So if you do think you are getting enough water, the you should maybe ask your doctor or surgeon about blood tests to check your electrolyte levels.

I think you are fine. The drug use could have just coincided with the natural reduction in swelling you would have had over time anyway. There is not necessarily any cause and effect here. That super tight feeling you had in the first 8 days was likely due to swelling. I had the same exact feeling in my first week or two post-op. But once the swelling went down, I too was able to drink and eat a bit more. You haven't effected the actual restriction of your sleeve. Trust and believe that you WILL feel that restriction once you move onto more solid foods. You aren't supposed to have any restriction with liquids. They are SUPPOSED to pass straight through your sleeve. It's just the post-op swelling that can cause that much restriction for some people in the early days.

I didn't go on a roller coaster until 7 months post-op, so I don't have much advice for you if you are only going to be a couple of months out other than to talk to your surgeon and make sure it's okay. As for my experience 7 months post-op, I didn't feel any more sick or dizzy from the coasters than I had in the past. The main difference was I was able to actually fit in the seats!

Well, if I'm the one that scared @@Pac-woman, then I don't think there was any keeping her here. I think I have a reputation as one of the more positive, nice, and helpful people on these forums. So if *I'M* too harsh for her, then this probably isn't the right place for her to be and express herself. I'm sorry if she felt like she was being attacked. I think it is awesome to give people encouragement and a positive outlook. I try to do that every day myself! But I don't want to lie or misrepresent anything either. Everyone who goes through this journey needs to have real and reasonable expectations. Promising someone they will never have loose skin or that any aspect of this process is going to be 100% sun and roses is just setting them up for potential disappointment.

The fatigue is completely normal. You are getting so few calories and expending so much energy just healing... it's tough. If your surgery was over 2 weeks ago, are you onto purees or soft foods yet? I definitely noticed boosts to my energy levels once I was moving through the food stages and able to get in more calories.

I have my own experience as my expertise. I lost 90 pounds in one year in 2010/2011 at the age of 30. 90 pounds in 12 months is no faster than what most of us lose post-sleeve. I drank 14 cups of Water a day and did strength training 6 days a week. I still have all of my logs to prove it. I also supplemented with Vitamin C and E and moisturized daily. I still had to have a tummy tuck and breast lift when all was said and done. So, like I said, it is great to do everything you can as you lose the weight to minimize the loose skin, but there are no guarantees. There are factors that are beyond our control. Had I not done the things I did to avoid loose skin, who knows how much worse it might have been? I am doing all those things again this time around as I re-lose the weight post-sleeve and hopefully I won't need further surgery. So far so good this time.

6 months is a long time to ask someone not to eat a single chip or cookie. Living a life of complete deprivation is going to just make some people miserable. An extra couple hundred calories in 6 months isn't going to significantly impact weight loss. But it is very important not to let it become a frequent habit. And that's just where you have to know yourself and whether or not you have the strength to not let one cookie turn into hundreds.

My gurgling was out of control in the early days! It does get better as your swelling goes down and you heal up. I'm still gurgly from time to time now (8 months post-op), but I don't think it's any more frequent than it was pre-op at this point.

That's kind of a bold statement. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to loose skin. Everyone is different, so to say the OP won't have loose/saggy skin just because you don't, is potentially inaccurate. While it is true that there are some things you can do to minimize loose skin as you lose weight (hydration, moisturization, sumplementation, and strength training), there are also factors like age, rate of loss, and genetics to contend with. To the OP, the thing to keep in mind here is that potential loose skin is the least of your problems! The excess weight is ruining your health. You are young and already experiencing many medical issues related to your weight. Plus, I doubt the fat looks all that great either, so are you really going to look "worse" with some loose skin?

How are you doing with protein and water? What about exercise? Everyone loses at their own pace. Since my second month post op, I've averaged about 6 pounds a month, which is slow compared to most, but the weight IS coming off and that's really all that matters.

I would recommend having a conversation with your PCP to let them know what you are thinking and why. It's nice to have your PCP on board with the process so they can provide some follow-up care and order post-op blood work for when you are back home. You'll want to monitor your blood work in the early months to make sure you aren't developing any deficiencies. And also, it's nice to see improvements in your cholesterol and A1C as you lose the weight!

The great thing is that if you indulge on something you wouldn't normally eat, you can't eat very much of it, so the "damage" is pretty minimal. Pre-sleeve I would "indulge" with an entire pint of ice cream, a whole package of cookies, or an entire pizza. Now a "slip up" for me is maybe 1/2 a cup of ice cream? An ounce or two of chips? And when you factor in that only happens every once in a while, not every day, the overall impact on our weight loss/maintenance is so minimal. The key is to not let a once-a-week indulgence turn into once-a-day, etc.

Sounds like he's doing a bit better then? Last time you posted it sounded like he was in the depression/regret phase, which most of us go through the first couple of weeks post-op. He will definitely start feeling more like himself again as he progresses through the food stages, is able to get more calories in, and is able to eat more "real" foods.

@@Loss78 Sounds about right. I never threw up, but when I had a feeling like I was going to burst.

I never actually pureed any food during my "puree phase". I just ate foods with the proper consistency. I was allowed yogurt, scrambled eggs, and soft cheeses during that same phase. You can get some recipes here: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html I lived of that Baked Ricotta! It was like real food!

For sure, this! You should be consuming protein and water on a timer right now. Not waiting for signs of hunger or thirst.

My surgeon prescribed Mederma for my scars (it was cheaper and in larger tubes in Mexico than what you find in states. I tried to be good about using it daily, along with moisturizing thoroughly every day with lotion. My incisions healed up well and my scarring isn't terrible. I don't know if it would have been any better or worse with other methods of tending to it. It is what it is. I didn't help matters by gaining 80 pounds post-op! Just like with WLS, every surgeon seems to have a different post-op plan when it comes to compression garments and how long to wear them. My surgeon was very strict. I had to wear my surgical bra with band and my full body stage 1 garment 24/7 except when showering for 4 full weeks. I was then allowed to move into a stage 2 garment (a little lighter and less compression) for weeks 4-10, but still had to wear my surgical bra through week 8. Then I was allowed to move to a more normal, but still "heavy duty" kind of bra and start sleeping without a bra at week 8. At week 10 I was allowed to move to just some high-wasted Spanx. Wearing a bra 24/7 is THE WORST, btw. You know how you wear a normal bra all day at work and then maybe have to run some errands or go out to dinner after work and then by the time you get home, you can't wait to take off that damned bra? Well, imagine having that feeling every single minute of every single day for 8 weeks!

Oh you will! It just takes time. Hang in there. It will get easier and easier. Once you are onto solid foods you will have a whole new set of issues with learning what you can eat comfortably and how much and how fast, but trial and error will get you where you need to be eventually. Just take it one day at a time and know that each of those days is bringing you closer and closer to feeling "normal" again.

Are you allowed drinkable yogurt in this phase? That might help you get a little more Protein in. And definitely try different types of Protein shakes and powders. If you have a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe in your area, you should be able to buy individual packets to try out.

Is the issue that you aren't allowed a third shake per day or that you aren't physically capable of drinking one? If you could get that in or something with more Protein for your third "meal" like some drinkable yogurt, that might help you get in a little more calories and protein. If you can have tuna next week doesn't that mean you can be having soft foods like scrambled egg or cottage cheese now? For me, tuna and chicken came after my soft food stage.

Many people don't feel restriction in the early phases. Liquid passes right through your sleeve. If you got to watch your barium swallow test post-op, you got to see that first hand. The restriction kicks in when you move on to more solid foods. That is when your new sleeve will actually have a chance to fill up and you will feel full very quickly. Through the liquid and puree stages, though, you might not feel it at all and if you do, it's likely due to the swelling more than the actual sleeve.