JamieLogical

I went to OCC too and had a great experience! Congrats for making this decision to turn your life around. I think a lot of us can relate to having just completely given up for a while. The good news is, you didn't stay there and wallow. You found and committed to a solution and you are going to have your life back!

I feel like I might talk to my cousin about it directly, Maybe not even to try to change her mind, but just to try to understand what her concerns are. Once you have more information, you can try to figure out how to proceed from there. Just don't go into the conversation with your cousin thinking you are going to be able to convince her of anything. That will probably put her on the defensive immediately.

Yep! I am scheduled to run my first half marathon on April 24th! I started with just doing Couch to 5k around 3 months post-op. Did a bunch of 5k races last summer, while I was still losing weight, and this summer I'm aiming for half marathons and 10k races all summer long. The idea of a full marathon in September has even crossed my mind.... Crazy!

Just wanted to add that nearly everyone has a bit of "buyer's remorse" in the early day's post-op. It's a challenging time as you are uncomfortable or in pain, you're exhausted physically and emotionally, your hormones are going crazy as they are released from your fat stores, and you are wondering if you will ever feel "normal" again. I remember asking myself (and other people here on these forums) that question every day. I just ddin't see how I could possibly ever feel normal again and I was asking "what did I do to myself?!?!" But it really did get a little better each day. And there was a marked improvement with every new food stage as I was able to get in more calories, had more energy, and was able to eat more "real" food. Now I am 18 months post-op, maintaining my goal weight, blood work is perfect, and I'm training for a half marathon! Life is grand!

I had a good two weeks post-op where even the TINIEST sip of water set off this whole chain reaction of constriction and spasms in my esophagus, gurgling in the back of my throat, and burping. The good news is, that got better as the swelling went down, and was mostly resolved by about 2 weeks post-op. Everyone's recovery is different. Some people have it easier than others. Some people have it WAY worse! You are likely in more pain than most because of your hernia repair. But at least you don't have a leak, aren't back in the hospital with dehydration, or back up everything you drink!

Are you more interested in the food stages immediately post-op? Or what you will likely be eating once you are through all the food stages and eating "normally"? Most plans have you back on solid foods between 30 and 60 days post-op. So from then on out, it's basically just experimenting with introducing new foods on your own and seeing what you can handle.

I have. I waited the required 30 days before having any caffeine, but I have had 5 Hour Energy a couple of times since then. Maybe 4-5 times? I'm 18 months post-op. I used my same strategy as pre-op with 5HE. I get the Extra Strength kind, but only drink half a bottle.

What kinds of things have you done to try to break the stall?

35 is a perfectly valid BMI for WLS, especially if you have other weight-related health issues. Even most insurance companies that cover WLS will cover someone with a BMI of 35 if they have at least two other comorbidities, and you KNOW how much insurance companies resist shelling out money for surgery. Even if you don't have two comorbidities now, remaining at such a high BMI or gaining more weight could lead to them down the road.

I think it's great that you have decided to at least stick to the pre-op plan and lose some weight that way. At worst, it means you might lose some weight (at least avoid gaining anymore) while you wait for things to fall into place. Much better than giving up and wallowing in despair and self pity! I hope you are able to figure out how to make this happen!

Vomiting mucus is caused by food getting "stuck" or having a blockage in your esophagus. Your body over-produces mucus to try to flush out the blockage. Are you experiencing this with liquids or solids? When eating solids do you eat very slowly and chew thoroughly?

You don't have to do a ton of walking. Just get up every hour or two and walk for a few minutes. Even just marching in place is better than nothing. I found marching in place actually relieved my gas pain and helped make sipping my water a little easier.

I always think of my sleeve as Weight Maintenance Surgery, as opposed to Weight Loss Surgery. I could and did lose the weight on my own MANY MANY times. It was the maintenance that was the problem for me. So I can completely sympathize with wanting to get it now instead of later, when you would have even more weight to lose to get down to where you want to maintain.

It took me a long time to go down a size too. If you are like I was when I started, in the plus sizes, there is a BIG gap between sizes. The difference between a 22 and a 24 is a lot more than the difference between an 8 and a 10. Also, if you are like me, you were probably straining the upper end of that size you were wearing pre-op.

Okay, seriously. How much weight loss are you people expecting and where are you getting these crazy notions that 14 pounds in under 3 weeks is worthy of any emotion other than elation and excitement? "Only" 14 pounds since Feb. 22? Really?

I just looked it up and at two weeks post-op, I was down 7.4 pounds, so you are ahead of where I was. Meanwhile I'm now 18 months post-op, and have been maintaining below goal for over 6 months.... This is a marathon, not a sprint. The fact that I actually had to go back and look at the spreadsheet I kept as I was losing weight to tell you where I was at two weeks should tell you how meaningless it was in the long run. I promise you that 6 months from now, when you are down 40-50 pounds, you won't be looking back and lamenting the fact that you "only" lost 9 pounds the first two weeks.

Huge milestone! Congrats!

9 pounds in two weeks and you are disappointed? What were you expecting?

Most surgeons in Mexico will do VSG on a lower BMI patient. As long are at least overweight and have a history of trying and failing to lose weight. They don't have nearly the high BMI requirements that insurance companies or the NHS would, because those organizations don't like to shell out money unless it's medically necessary. But the surgeons themselves will happily TAKE your money if you are self-pay. My BMI was closer to 40 when I went to Mexico for my VSG, but I wished I had done it sooner, before I got UP to that weight. If you can spare yourself getting to that point, all the better!

That's common. You need to just try your best and increase it a little every day. Protein especially will be hard to get all of it in until a week or more out. With water, though, it's imperative to get enough to avoid dehydration.

@@breezy25 I found that it was the obese people in my life who tended to have the most negative view of WLS as well. I don't know if it's jealousy or if they had considered it in the past and decided against it so they think everyone else should decided against it too or what. But I did find it interesting that most of the thinner, healthier people in my life were all for it and very supportive.

When you are laying on your back, your liver rests on top of your stomach. The pre-op diet is meant to deplete your liver's glycogen stores, which reduces it's physical size, making it easier to prop up out of the way during the operation. If your liver is too large, it can be difficult for the surgeon to access your stomach and there is a greater risk of knicking or damaging the liver by accident.

How long is it necessary to sip? Sent from my SM-G900R7 using the BariatricPal App If you can handle more than sipping, then go ahead and do so. The sipping is to be cautious and not cause yourself discomfort. But if you gradually increase the amount you are taking in at one time and give it a minute and don't feel any discomfort, then it's probably safe to drink some more.

Definitely just your emotions getting the better of your right now, which is completely normal at this point. You have a big life change ahead. I am sure you have tried and failed to lose weight/keep it off many times in the past (like all of us) and there is going to be that little voice in the back of your mind telling you this will be no different. The self-doubt is SO DEEPLY ingrained in those of us who have struggled with our weight all our lives. It can be hard to overcome, especially in times of high stress, like right now when you are only days away from surgery. You have to hang in there and try your hardest. I think the best way to do that is to focus on the next minute or next hour, instead of thinking too far ahead and letting yourself get overwhelmed. Focus on your Protein shakes. Focus on your work. Maybe make some checklists or a calendar of your food stages or something to help you prepare for post-op. Focusing in on the minutia keeps you from thinking too much about the big picture and getting overwhelmed.

If you are feeling completely overwhelmed and like you really can't handle things right now, then I do think you should probably go to the urgent care. They may be able to quickly refer you to someone, if you can't get a referral through your PCP or surgeon right away.