Nyelaah

Heres my thing, there is a lot of research done these days, and its proven that taking in medical marijuana by ingesting it, is way healthier then alcohol and doesnt have addictive traits like alcohol. These are facts. Not opinions. I dont encourage anyone to do anything. ONLY MY EXPERIENCE. They day i came home i had my infused coconut oil and i still do to this day. And i think ive been pretty successful. Anyone that takes a prescription drug has no right to tell anyone else that this prescription is different. The days of close minded "marijuana is the devil" are over. Please i encourage you to do your research before you bash something that youve been told your whole life is the devil so thats what you believe. I hope everyone finds what THEY NEED to be successful on this journey. We are all different and may take different roads but i hope we all make healthy new lives and continue to grow. ❤️ i hope everyone has a great day!

I have decided on having the ds switch. I need your absolute honest opinions on the surgery. The good vs the bad, what you would do differently and if you would do it again or no way. Give me the good, bad and ugly. Thanks in advance.

Hi all!
Just wanted to add that I received approval for surgery within 4-5 days :-) I will be sleeved July 17!!

Thank you everyone! I needed this. I have been off track and just needed to go back to basics. I will consider getting therapy too.

Thank you everyone! I needed this. I have been off track and just needed to go back to basics. I will consider getting therapy too.

Hi all
It's been a while but I feel so guilty and horrible about not using my tool early on to its full potential. I lost my way sometime around the holidays (surgery July 2015) and now feel like I lost the opportunity to really lose the weight.
I've lost 50lbs since July and feel like it's not enough. My HW 291, SW 273, CW 224. I clearly have not made my goal and am having a hard time to refocus.
What has worked for you all?
Thanks for any support and encouraging words you can offer.

Hi all
It's been a while but I feel so guilty and horrible about not using my tool early on to its full potential. I lost my way sometime around the holidays (surgery July 2015) and now feel like I lost the opportunity to really lose the weight.
I've lost 50lbs since July and feel like it's not enough. My HW 291, SW 273, CW 224. I clearly have not made my goal and am having a hard time to refocus.
What has worked for you all?
Thanks for any support and encouraging words you can offer.

You should visit Chicago some day! We have fabulous museums, theaters, opera, symphony, the lake front is its own thing entirely.
If festivals are your thing we have countless festivals it seems year round.
One thing I love is how clean it is for a big city.

It's so normal! I was feeling the same way throughout my 6 mths of this process up untile the day of surgery. I told my partner so many times... "Am I doing the right thing?" Turns out so far I did. I am two weeks out and lost 20 lbs so far (40 since jan). I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Just keep going!

I have one of those too - it's been 4 months for me. It's gotten lighter but it's still there. Doesn't hurt or anything and the surgeon said it looks fine.

Google spitting stitch. Looks like a possibility to me. I didn't have any post WLS but I've had a few post plastics

I had my 3 month checkup today with my surgeon.... He was very supportive, said he was blown away when he saw me.
Everything went well, they don't do labwork until 6 months out, so he asked a lot of questions about what I am eating, exercise, how I feel and such.
I did mention that my appetite has returned, and I am eating 5 small meals a day. So he told me to order Optimized Saffron to help control it. He said people swear by it, including his wife. We will see!!!
I have lost 49 pounds in 3 months.... Pretty good for a Low BMI'er.... I thought it would be slower. I am lucky, haven't had any stalls, pain, gas, nausea the entire time.
Woooo hoooooo

Here's a google map that will show you the nearby Goodwills in your area. :-P
https://www.google.com/maps/search/goodwill+/@40.7431086,-73.9526586,11z/data=!4m8!2m7!3m6!1sgoodwill+!2s44+W+8th+St,+New+York,+NY+10011!3s0x89c25996ce85b0d7:0xa212bff499dd89d8!4m2!1d-73.998643!2d40.732951

Hi @Nyelaah. Just so happens that a Goodwill opened up on 14th St. today I believe. If you know the Union Square area, it's just West of there. There is also a Goodwill store on 8th St. but this new one is alot bigger. I gave most of my larger sized clothes to them and know that they have a pretty good selection. I see NYU students in there all the time going through the selections. You may want to check it out.

So I don't smoke pot and I never have. But I think that the purpose of this post was not for people to ridicule her. It's a simple question to those who have experience with wls and weed... I clicked to read because it was a interesting topic.
I see it this way, the desire to smoke weed it's not different than another person who has been sleeved wanting to eat junk food. Both may not be great choices but bottom line it's their CHOICE what they do with their body.
So even though I am technically not qualified to answer this question based on experience, I think you should evaluate the possible consequences of your choices and determine if you are willing to deal.

You wanted the bariatrics police... And I see you got them!!!! LoL

Polarizing posts like this one make me shake my head, too. There is a strong difference between seeking guidance from your bariatric brothers and sisters for some part of his journey has you totally befuddled and that the original poster this time is flaunting a deliberate step off of the beaten path to indulge in a behaviour that is detrimental to healing and successful recovery.
It's like when a kid takes his hands off of the handlebars of his bike and hollers, "Hey guys - look at me." He's hoping that he is not go to hit a rock and face-plant in the street. He may return home and Mom will never know about it, or he may return home after an ambulance picks up his a** and his has his nose stiched back on.
That is flagrant abuse of the gift (his bicycle - our bariatric surgery) he's been given.
It breaks my heart that newer folks coming into our forum environment and get scared away from this bottomless well of wisdom when the tough love of veterans try to steer a stray calf back into the herd. If you newbies can bear with us until you get your first few months in, you will begin to understand where we are coming from. Be patient with the veterans and they will be patient with you.
Newbies, please stay with us and you will absorb awesome helpful knowledge by observing the give and take in the posts.
I got carried away here, but dag nabbit, the little whippersnappers around here need to come when Grandpa calls.

Last night I had 6 cups of wine and one cup baileys with butterscotch chnapps. I was fine and didn't feel anymore intoxicated than I would have felt before the surgery. Is this normal. However I was never a wine drinker I was a beer drinker but I stay away from carbonation. I got sleeved on 4/14/15

1. Does a tummy tuck help reduce the waist area? Yes. Mine did. 29" waist to 26" waist. In addition to doing muscle repair and pulling it all together and sewing it up tightly he did a little Lipo on the sides, giving me a nice hour glass shape that I never imagined I would have.
2. How much weight did you lose due to having the tummy tuck? I was 130 when I had the surgery and after was 123, but mostly because I wasn't eating (felt awful). At my 1 month follow up I asked my surgeon how much the excess skin weighed and he said 4 pounds, but the area of skin that was removed was quite large.
3. Did you go down a pant size? I would say yes for the most part. All of my size 4 jeans are saggy on me now, so yes, I've had to go to size 2's now.
4. How many days was the pain miserable? This is a biggie. He had to do more muscle repair than he anticipated, so I was in quite a bit of pain for a while. It took me 2 days to even take the catheter out to be able to get out of bed to pee myself. I "slept" if you want to call it that on a recliner for the first 4 weeks until the drainage tubes were out. The drainage tubes....oh the drainage tubes.... by FAR the worst part. They were so uncomfortable, towards the end down right painful. And having them removed is no walk in the park either. They just kind of yank them out and there is a LOT of tube in there. I've never really had incision pain because it's still really numb there - same with my newly created belly button, which I adore. I still have ab muscle pain, and he said that can last for up to 6 months. It is very bearable though and I've even started back to half marathon training. No ab work yet. I can't even imagine that. I still need help sitting straight up from bed (I'm 3 months post op).
5. How far after the surgery did the swelling go down and you could see results? How far out until you saw final results? I never really had any swelling because I kept that ab binder on nice and tight all the time (other than showering). I was able to shower right away, so I saw the ressults immediately I guess. I didn't take a full look at myself in the mirror without clothes until the drainage tubes were out and I cried tears of happiness because the results were more than I could ever have asked for. I would recommend once you get the surgical tape off the scar to use Scar Away Sillicone Scar Sheets for at least the first 6 months. They are working wonders for my scars. Let me see if I can find my new belly button and before/after pictures to post.
Even though it was more painful than I imagined, the surgery itself was more intense than I expected (it took 7 hours!!), and the recovery took longer than I thought I would do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
Here are some pictures

Your "stomach being mad" sounds more like acid than true hunger. Are you on a PPI?
If you are concerned about how much you are eating, then eat less. Stop the "eat until I am full" mindset. Plan how much you are going to eat, measure or weigh your portion, and stick to that.
To be honest, the choice to eat eggplant lasagna worries me more than the amount you can eat. Why are you eating carb-heavy foods rather than protein-rich foods?
Your weight loss sounds awesome to me. Try to ditch any preconceived notions you have of how fast you will lose weight. You will frequently surprise yourself with how your body loses weight -- sometimes more than you expect, sometimes less than you expect. But it seems like, from what I see here, people start to freak and stress at the "less than I expected" parts and it really gets them down. So just focus on following your plan as best you can and let the weight come off at the rate it wants to. That said, I think you've lost an amazing amount of weight and expecting something different is completely unfair to the surgery as well as to yourself. Be good to yourself

Honestly? Hard to say. The sleeve hasn't been around long enough yet to gauge the long term success.
But the good news is it doesn't matter one bit which surgery you have! Long term, the sleeve AND bypass become less effective over time for various reasons. It's just the normal progression of things.
My hubs had a bypass 9 years ago, and can now eat and drink normal (albeit a bit smaller than typical Americans) portions. That's why at this point, it's up to HIM to eat either a normal portion of unhealthy, fattening food, or a normal portion of nutritious, healthy food. The bypass isn't going to choose for him. It never really did!
That's why it's so important to cement healthy eating habits during the all important "honeymoon" period whether you have the sleeve or bypass. That way you have the proper habits to maintain your weight when the surgeries are no longer as effective at allowing portion and hunger control. Just like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end

Follow up
So I spoke to my NUT today she said: I should be eating maximum of around 600-700.. Protein 40%, carbs 35%, fat 25%. 2oz of meat protein. I was probably eating highly calorie food so be mindful of portion size--2-4 oz generally is the goal per meal every 3 hours.
I had the sleeve on July 17, I'm 33, 5'6, HW-291, SW-273, CW-247.
Hope this is helpful for someone.

Has anyone experienced feeling gassy and bloated 4 weeks post op?
I had been feeling fine when all of a sudden BOOM I started feeling this way. When I get up from my seat it feels strain on my tummy, when drinking it's a little uncomfy not too much, and gassy. Oh and my tummy is bloated around the incision areas compared to yesterday morning. I starting noticing this uncomfortable feeling after my first low impact workout Wednesday night. FYI I called my doc and waiting on call.
Thoughts?

Burgers, pizza, French fries, frozen yogurt, garlic bread, sandwich, bread and butter.... To name a few lol
I am 3 week postop so still on purée.

I am 6 weeks out and I could eat 1100 Cals if I tried. I am satisfied with 700-800 mostly. I took some adjustment buy you need to change your expectations from feeling full to feeling satisfied. Also, it seems like you have a similar plan..... Solids after 3 weeks? I had that too and am just fine. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.