Djmohr

Itching wounds are perfectly normal. You may even find that a stitch or two spit out of the would which actually make it itch worse.

I think i had that happen in 3 of my initial incisions and it takes longer to heal.

Well, glad to hear you are doing so well. In terms of Protein there are other ways to get it besides meat. Try Beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt,

Protein shakes.

When you do try meats, make sure they are really moist and chew well. Take small bites. For me fish and chicken were the two meat items that worked the easiest but I had to cook them just to done and not over cook.

Lastly its good that you cannot eat rice, Pasta or bread. They will actually stall you. You should be staying away from those items at least until you hit goal and then introduce them back slowly and minimally.

For your carbs you should be focuse on veggies and a small amount of fruit.< /p>

Please search for 3 week stall. you will likely find thousands of posts. It is very common and you will likely have many more, it is your body simply taking a break from all the weight loss.

Incidentally there are many points of view as to what a stall is. 5 days with no loss does not mean that you are stalled. Usually it is a couple of weeks before you can call it a real plateau.

Some people stay off the scale if this bothers them. I personally was a daily weigher during the weight loss phase but i had to train myself not to get upset when i did not lose weight every day.

The reality is, for the first 2 months you likely will lose alot and then after that it tapers off to a more reasonable pace. I think i averaged between 7 - 10 lbs per month. It took 18 months to lose 152lbs and the last 30 took more than 6 months alone.

Be patient....it will come off.

Congratulations on your significant weight loss already! WOW!

I am excited for you. If you have done that well without the tool, wait until you have some help.

Keep us posted on your progress and welcome!

@@BariatricGal

This would definately be a question for you surgeon. I know mine stopped my Vitamins a few days before surgery and did not have me start them back up until 1 month post op.

Every surgeon handles things differently.

Best of luck to you!

Having WLS such as bypass or the sleeve, you should not feel actual hunger at this stage. When they cut your stomach they cut the hunger hormones and for bypass it will take a few months before actual hunger comes back. For the sleeve you may not ever get that feeling back.

So, that being said....you are either having head hunger, you are dehydrated or are having some reflux. So, start by sipping Water for a while and see if the feeling goes away. If not, call the doc and see if it could be reflux (especially sleeve patients). If you are already taking something for reflux then YOU are getting in your own head.

You will truly need to learn to deal with it because that never goes away. You have to learn to get your mind off food. In the first several weeks post op you really truly only need Water. All of us have Protein in our systems since before surgery, in fact some doctors dont even start you on Protein shakes until week 2.

Being dehydrated mimics the hunger feeling and it can really make you feel pretty crappy on top of everything else. If you are not yet getting a minimum of 48 oz. to 64 oz. of fluids you are likely dehydrated.

@@BigJohn58

Make sure you really research. I am not sure about your statement regarding more follow up. The sleeve requires an annual nutritional panel same as bypass every year for the rest of your life. In addition both require Vitamins for life...

I go once per year for a nutritional panel. I take a multi Vitamin, Calcium citrate, Vitamin D daily and then B12 once per week. Other than that nutritional panel which is done during a normal physical, I don't need to go to the doctor because I had bypass.

I know you are just getting started, all I am suggesting is that you research before setting your mind on this. The sleeve is a fantastic surgery and people get great results. Bypass is the gold standard. I am not certain about DS as I have not researched that fully.

I don't know many people that really want to go through this type of surgery twice. It's not fun so I would go in with the mindset that this will be the only tummy surgery.

But....thats just me....

Best of luck to you.

I did the cherry and yes its gross but you drink it fast and I was told to refrigerate it. it goes down better.

Then, stay near a toilet...LOL

Trust me....they don't remove it all. I really had NO pain from the surgery itself, it was that lousy gas that makes you very uncomfortable until you get rid of it.

Now, that being said gas x don't help with that, gas x is great for when your bowels begin to work again because that can really cause some pain.

I used gas x chewable, a heating pad, sipped Water constantly and walked as much as i possibly could stand. I had surgery on Monday and I took my last pain med on Wed night. Honestly the pain meds don't help with that gas pain the only thing that does is moving a lot and for me a heating pad or hot packs.

Oh My....I think i would not have survived without my heating pad. I of course did not know that I would need one until the night following surgery. Heat helps immensely with the discomfort on your belly. The nurses brought me I swear about 100 break and heat packs and I used them all 3 days i was in there.

When you are in bed or sitting it helps with that belly pain you get from the gas they pump into you. It is not so much about the incisions.

I know you are not supposed to do this but I even slept with it laying on my tummy. Just make sure you don't lay on it because you can get a burn.

It is absolutely worth the investment as far as I am concerned.....since then i have had back surgeries and shoulder surgeries and have been using it for that as well. Of course after the ice phase....LOL

I think it would add value to get a 2nd opinion for sure. That being said, did he say why he felt that was the better surgery for you? Usually there is a reason.

I had a similar experience. For whatever reason I thought the sleeve was the way i wanted to go and had done a ton of research. When I went in for my meeting with the surgeon they immediately recommended Bypass but that was because I had severe Gerd. initially I was devastated because I had only researched the sleeve thinking of course that I knew best.

When i left that appointment i made an appointment with my gastroenterologist who confirmed that the way to go for me was absolutely bypass. then i began researching the heck out of it and became very very comfortable with that plan.

It has been two years now and I lost all of my weight and currently am a normal BMI. I lost 152lbs and I fluctuate between 157 & 162 which is below my goal weight. I have been in maintenance since March 2016 and I got rid of all my comorbitities including that severe gerd thank goodness.

I personally would get a second opinion but for me, I would absolutely take the advice of my doctors. Mine was expert in his field and I trusted him after performing research.

Wow, that is a long time to be waiting. Have you asked them why so long?

I literally got my answer in less than 4 hours from submission.

WOW! good for you! I cannot imagine doing the liquid diet for that long. You are an inspiration.

I felt bad for myself when i had to do it for two weeks. LOL

is the shake the only Protein you are getting?

@@Llamalover17

I think you are finding out this is all about you and not the surgery. You know what you have to do because you lost weight doing it.

you should definately NOT be increasing your carbs right now or you will lose part of your honeymoon period. It is up to YOU to get your head straight. There is only one way to stop and that is to stop your destructive behavior.

The best thing you can do for yourself at this point is seek a therapist to help you figure out why you are doing this to yourself.

The good news is, the tool will be there when you are truly ready to make the right changes in your life. The bad news is you are wasting the best time to lose the weight.

This is all about how your brain works. Stop telling yourself it is ok.....but you have to be ready to do that.

Best of luck to you.

Dont worry about calories at all. Focus on good quality Protein and veggies and you will do fine.

I remember starting with a perfectly cooked piece of fish or chicken. You need to make sure it is moist not dry so dont over cook.

One of my first meals was a chicken breast cooked just to done, not over. It was super juicy. I liked to use a low sugar spagetti sauce and a sprinkling of cheese. I could maybe eat an ounce or two and i would be stuffed for hours.

In the beginning i always would make some sort of low sugar sauce or non fat gravy.

But my absolute favorite was fish. My tummy loved it.

It took some time for me to be able to eat beef and pork and even now, i can only eat a small amount and it has to be a very tender cut.

It was probably 4 months post before i could eat shrimp but now it is one of my favorites.

I ate and still eat alot of cottage cheese and greek yogurt.

Just take it slowly, chew very well and did i say take it slowly?! LOL. The worst feeling is when you eat to fast and you feel a huge lump in your chest. It can really ruin a meal and that can be caused by eating too fast or not chewing well enough.

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch

Awe......very cute!

I never in a million years believed i would lose all of my weight and had to work very hard to do it.

Being a normal healthy BMI is an absolutely terrific feeling. My goal initially was to get healthy and put my comorbities in remission. I never even thought about being thin, that was just an added plus for me.

Well, now it is critically important to me. I feel better, i look better and best of all shopping for and wearing normal sized clothes feel fantastic. When i go into a mall i swear the rest of my brain turns off and i want to try everything i see on just because i can.

Sometimes when i look in the mirror i have to do a double take because it simply does not look like me. It takes a long time for your brain to catch up.

I will say the one negative is that if i gain a pound or two i freak out. Mostly because I never want to go back there again.

Another great feeling is when someone says geez, you are skinny! Who me? Skinny? I have not been called skinny since i was a young girl.

Back then they used to call me string bean in grade school and i used to go home crying. Kids were mean about it....then i reached puberty and all hell broke loose. Its nice to be called skinny now and I promise i wont cry. LOL

Best of luck to you on your upcoming surgery. You need to believe it can happen for you as well! You just have to want it bad enough.

At your stage my surgeon had me drinking milk only for a snack.< /p>

food i was eating cottage cheese, yogurt, Protein Shakes, cream of wheat,

I was also allowed pureed meats and eggs but they did not agree with me at that stage so i live on yogurt, cottage cheese and Protein shakes until i hit the soft food stage.

When is the last time Mom had her nutritional panel done. It is the single most importatnt thing you do following bariatric surgery.

Vitamins and follow up are life long commitments. I would definately ask her that question, it could simply be a nutrient that is out of whack.

It could be not enough Protein, too much sugar or carbs or even not enough Water.

Just keep working at getting that Protein in.

@@stacyrg2

Well I am glad to hear things are going well for you now.

I do get frustrated when people automatically dismiss one or the other surgery without understanding that both delivery amazing results, both are equally as invasive and bother require Vitamins and blood testing for life.

I think i get frustrated because so many people tried to talk me out of bypass and of course were super uninformed. I honestly think people should not make up their minds until they have all the facts and a surgeon has helped them work through what might be the best option for them given their current health situation.

To your point, I have heard frequently that folks that never had reflux end up with it after the sleeve. It is a chance people take and most of the time it works out fine but those that even have a slight reflux should really consider all of their options.

Just out of curiosity why does bypass scare the crap out of you?

I was going to have the sleeve and then because of reflux we decided the better surgery for me was bypass. I was scared to death to because all of the horror stories.

I spent some time with both my bariatric team, my gastroenterologist as well as many bypass patients.

I was most afraid of the malabsorption component. I then learned very quickly that it actually helps you to lose weight and honestly both bypass and sleeve patients have to have blood work and take Vitamins for life. The biggest thing they warned me about was not going in for yearly nutritional panels and skipping Vitamins.

As long as you do that which you also have to do with the sleeve as well, you should be good.

I am two years post op, have lost all my weight and comorbitities, am very healthy and thank god every day that i went bypass as i have not even had a simple case of heartburn since the day i woke up from surgery.

Spend some time and really research so you make the best choice for your health. I have seen way too many sleeve patients then have to revise to bypass anyway. I decided i was only going through this one time in my life.

Both surgeries are equally as aggressive. The sleeve removes 90% of your stomach, the bypass reroutes.

Just my two cents....take it for what it is worth but don't be afraid, be educated about your choices.

Most surgeons will actually recommend which way to go given the expected recovery. Have you talked with someone yet?

For some they will do breasts and arms together and the LBL separately. You may have no pain issues at all with your arms and if you can work from home that is really great.

I am now working from home on a pretty major project. When i have my tummy and breasts done in January, I will take some time off just until i can comfortably function even at home and then i will be fine.

Absolutely!!!! From places i did not even know i could sweat. Now, i dont sweat unless i am working out.

In fact, the opposite happens. I am cold all the time and even in the summer have a jacket on. LOL.

I prefer it that way because sweating sucked!