sarina55

Hi all. Glad to see November sleevers are doing well. I am down 70 lbs...21 from pre-op diet, 49 lbs since 11/20 surgery. I am very pleased. Calories are between 800-900...carbs under 50...protein 75-85g daily.

I'm 8 weeks out and have had those problems since the beginning. I take milk of magnesia everyday about a half dose and go every other day usually. I take 40 mg of protonix twice a day and I still have reflux 2 x wk so I now will take tums before bed as well. You will figure it out. You probably need to increase you heartburn meds and take some other stool softener. Happy pooping!!

Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear I am not the only one with the heartburn problem. I may ask about increasing my dosage of Omeprazole.. I am taking a pretty low dose I think. I was avoiding both Smooth Move and colace but it is clear that that is not working for me. Will start tonight. We shall see. Thanks Elode and BLERDgirl.

Emsgirl and Sarina: I think 21 pounds is good! Don't be deceived by all the numbers you see that are posted by others. For instance, my ticker says I lost 56 pounds... and that is true. But, half of them were pre-op and took me 4.5 months!
Since the actual surgery my wl is 29 lbs. If you do the math, 29 divided by the 7.5 weeks since surgery = 3.8 pounds per week. I don't know about you, but, I NEVER averaged almost 4 pounds a week for this long of a period.
Another example: 21 pounds, 7 weeks = average of 3 pounds a week! That is awesome!
I think we get delusional because right after surgery we dropped fast. And, now, we keep having stalls, then a drop, then stalls, then a drop. We want to see the dial move EVERY day. It's just not going to happen that way.

Hey Gang! I went to a support group meeting and wanted to share info with you. One of the Administrators of our program did a college research project on people who had wls between 2009 and 2013 - basically, people who were over 1 year out from surgery. She categorized the group into 3 segments. 1. Those who maintained their weight. 2. Those who marginally gained weight (1 - 10 pounds from their lowest or target) 3. Those who regained (11+ pounds).
The key factors that people stressed to stay the course are:
1. Have a solid support group - bariatric pal was mentioned as a great source, plus the ones through your physician's office, and, family/friends
2. Continue to journal your food
3. Exercise
4. Even though your stomach limits your intake, make sure your intake is good stuff. (Protein bar in one hand, jelly donut in the other.... pick the Protein bar!)
5. Keeping your appointments with the doctor and nutritionist
6. Don't fall back into old habits
7. Alcohol - although many of the maintainers said they do drink alcohol, they limit it to one or two drinks once a week or less
I don't have the stats with me regarding what percentage maintained, marginally gained and really gained. But, when I get them I will share with ya'll! (And, no, I am not from the south. Just felt like saying ya'll).

Why are you trying to avoid colace? I was put on it for the forst 30 days post op. Had my first BM 3 days after I was discharged from the hospital and have been regular ever since.
How many mgs of omeprazole are you taking? Once I hit 6 weeks and was back on regular food I need to increase mine to 40mg. I also had to change when I took it. I tended to get heartburn in the evenings so taking it around 2-3 ish solved my problems. No more acid pain.

I can sympathize with you! I lost 10 my first week...then only like 4 lbs over the next 4 weeks! I was shocked because I was hardly eating. I felt horrible but after week 5 I got into a steady loss cycle. I only get on the scale every 7 - 10 days and I stay away all the other days. I was obsessing about the scale and it was not good. Now 12.5 weeks post op I am down 63 total from my highest weight. Hang in there! Don't get discouraged it really has not been that long. I know it feels like that number should be moving faster - I do know! Keep drinking Water, get your Protein, exercise...take your vitamins!

I was on a stall for almost 2.5 weeks.... then, overnight I dropped 3 pounds! So, I hope that means I am on my next weight loss spurt!

@@sarina55 I'm going back to the gym this week as well. Although I'm starting to think I have a cold and that's what's bugging my belly. I'm looking forward to live being normal again now that holidays past. Need routine!

I'm 3 weeks out and I have some random pains, especially on my right side, where they took my stomach out. But nothing is terrible and remember, if you had a leak or anything, you would be SICK - like, vomiting and high fever and horrible stomach pains, etc. It is always good to check with your surgeon about pain but remember guys: major internal surgery. It will take us a while to heal completely. Nerves are re-connecting (which can be painful), muscles that were cut through are healing, body is reacting to change - it will be a while before we feel completely normal and without pain. I would check with your surgeon and then try not to worry! ❤️

I was sleeved on 11/21 also and have exact pain daily...especially if I overextend myself. My surgeon has said that particular incision takes the longest to heal.

I had same thing happen. I thought I ripped my stitches or something. My dr told me to stop any exercise other than walking and take easy gor a few days and within a week it was completely better!

Also stalled with a sore right side - ugh! On a high note, I found a way out of today's food extravaganza. I took my Vitamins with 6 ounces of tea this morning and promptly, violently launched them back across the kitchen. Scared to ingest anything else, I have no idea why that happened.

I go for my post op today. Going to ask about exercise. I'm still bleeding from the incision I got the infection in. So it will be interesting to see what he says about that.
I'm down from 199 to 182.2. Since I went from a band to a sleeve he said the loss would be slower and more steady for whatever. There is good and bad to that. Good maybe the change won't cause a ton of nosy questions from people I don't want to talk too. Bad is I just want to be down to goal and maintain from there. But my want it now attitude is about 80% my problem to start.
Day 2 back at work. Wish I could have just taken off till the New Years. Oh well. Next life i will be born rich skinny and gorgeous. This life I'll keep working on it.

@@emsgirl114, I know the feeling! Everyone here knows what I did, but most of them are guys and they've been well trained by their wives to not comment on a woman's body unless it's actively squirting blood on the carpet - then it's just a gentle suggestion that you might need a band-aid.
The food, on the other hand, is NUTS. There's always pizza and Cookies and giant 3 pound sacks of Peanut Butter M&M's and cheeseballs and...ugh. So. Much. Food. Tomorrow is our holiday potluck. If I can survive that, I can survive anything!

Thanks.. I guess I did overextend myself. It is so frustrating. I am lousy at relaxing. Now I am forced to take it easy or I will not be able to get back to work. Uggh!

Two colace and a Smooth Move tea later, all is well. Having zero problems with the smooth liquids diet. Only problem is felt so good day 6 (thanksgiving) that I did too much. Taking it easy today and starting to focus on Protein.

I was about 217 first visit. I am 5'4". However, I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and acid reflux. The reason I wanted the surgery, however, was because I have arthritis in both feet and one knee. I want to get my weight down to reduce pressure on my aching feet. You didn't mention your BMI but they usually require 40 but make exceptions for co-morbidities like the ones I named above. I was approved by my insurance easily.

You also have to keep in mind we are eating a LOT less than we used to so the body is using the majority of it and little is resulting in waste. The BM's I have had are smaller than my 25 lb Beagle's poos. Lol. I take a Cascara Sagrada about once a week and it has kept me pretty regular (every other day). I also have a giant cup of hot tea before I go to bed and as soon as I wake up.

No need to feel bad about it, but what @@VSGAnn2014 said is correct. We can't fix anybody. A year and 6 months ago, no one could fix you either, and if someone had tried to stage an intervention of sorts, it may not have even been received well. Anger, denial, and not being ready and wanting change are very powerful things. Sad, but powerful. We have to walk our own paths in life.
She was right though. The fashion this year is shit....in all departments and in all sizes. For God's sake who decided to bring cowl neck tunic sweaters back in fashion?
#hideous

Thanks that is basically what I am doing now. Feel better.

Two colace and a Smooth Move tea later, all is well. Having zero problems with the smooth liquids diet. Only problem is felt so good day 6 (thanksgiving) that I did too much. Taking it easy today and starting to focus on Protein.

Ha ha ha is not encouraging. It is good, wonderful and a blessing you were one of the fortunate ones. Thank god for that. Please be more supportive. This is a real issue being felt by a real person. I know that if someone said Ha ha ha to me with everything that I have been through..... Well, you can guess the rest.

I had my surgery on Nov. 21 and I am so glad I did this! The first three days are uncomfortable but not awful and def so worth it!
Def was in pain when I woke up until the nurse finally gave me Dilaudid rather than morphine. I don't know what the difference is as they are in the same class. But it made a big difference. I was able to get up several times and walk during that first night in the hospital.I dry heaved several times while in the hospital basically any time I tried to take in any fluids.. but for very short periods, it resolved itself quickly. I never throught I would get through the contrast swallow test which I needed to pass in order to get sprung from the hospital, but the yucky solution went right down! I barfed it up afterward. But again, quickly and it was over. Honestly, the hospital stay could have been so much worse. No prolonged nausea or significant pain to speak of. I was only nauseated when I tried to take in fluids orally. When I was in the hospital, I really didn't want visitors. I just wanted to be alone to sleep and just deal.
The challenge was managing both nausea and pain when I got home which I really was able to do with Zorthran (for nausea) and Tramadol (for pain). It was very difficult to get down fluids and I think the most stressful part of this period was trying to get fluids down to avoid dehydration. Because you can take in very little. And I felt like I needed to get up and walk around everytime I took a few sips, to get things moving. You would have to be up all day and all night and not sleep to get down the 64 ounces they say is required. I probably got down 36 ounces (if that) for the first 24 hours home. But I was peeing a lot so I guess the hospital sent me home pretty well hydrated.
I had the surgery on Friday. On Monday I was able to start to take in watered down juice and nibble on some sugar free Jello. On Tuesday, I was able to add Propel Water and chicken broth. Hard to keep your energy level up with so few calories. I spend all of my time in bed. Until Monday, I was just sleeping. Didn't even watch TV. But on Monday I started watching TV and got back on my laptop but I still slept most of the day. On Tuesday, I stayed awake most of the day.
I see my doctor today for my one week -- because of the holiday it is early. The two issues of concern I will raise with him are: no BM since before the surgery -- however my gas pains are not bad; I have a rash on my belly which I believe is due to the polyester binder they place on you post surgery; and please please please can I move on to thickened liquids? I am getting hunger pains!