ggvan

Bless your heart. It is so discouraging I know. To think that you do not have a good support system from your doctor is just so ridiculous. If only they could understand and -- I mean REALLY- understand what this is like! This whole experience has not been what I had hoped either. There are days that I wished I could go back to that day I had this surgery, but I can't. If it had not been for this website I think I would have literally lost my mind-- (I still might). I wish I could offer you solutions on the protein situations but unfortunately I have not had good luck with the protein situation either. However, it seems as though the others have some great ideas as to how to help you. I just want you to know that you are not alone and you will get through this. I tell myself everyday "Ok you made your choice so learn to live with it". If I didn't say this to myself I guess I would lay in the bed and cry all day. Good luck to you. Hang in there! ????

I am 3 months post op. At what point have some of you ate salad? I miss it so bad but I have heard to wait for 4 months. I have stuck by the guidelines as directed but really haven't gotten a straight answer about salad. Thank you.

Thank you both. That gives me hope.

Are you on a laptop or smart phone?

I was sleeved on January 8th, 2015. I have lost 48 lbs since January 2nd ( pre op diet). I had to have gall bladder surgery 5 weeks post op! I started noticing about 4 weeks ago that I had begun to lose hair. I could tell in the shower after shampooing I would have a pretty good bit on my hands. I didn't think anything much about it until I got my hair dyed and cut the other day. My hairdresser noticed it. I have fine hair but I had a pretty good but. I am thinking it is from lack of protein. I take 2 biotin pills a day. The thing is, I just don't know how to get the protein in. I use fitness pal and I know that I have been getting about 40 grams a day. Some one suggested "Isopure" drinks. Also, will I ever regrow the hair I have lost? What are some of your opinions? My husband is bald. I cannot be his twin! Thank you for any suggestions.

Thank you for the comments. I certainly will try these suggestions.

Please help me! I can't get any answers from the bariatric support as to how to help me with this awful constipation. I am 10 weeks 4 days post op. I had my gall bladder out 5 weeks post op due to awful chest pain. I thought maybe that was causing some of the problems with constipation. NOPE! I take 2 stool softeners a day. I drink 60 ozs of water everyday. I am exercising, (well not like some of you) but walking 2 miles 3 times a week. I cannot get any relief from constipation unless I take milk of magnesia! This is not normal. I do not want to be addicted to laxatives. I just don't know what to do! I do not even pass gas now. I was very gaseous before this surgery. I did not have constipation problems either. It is like my intestines are asleep and I can't wake them up. I'm concerned. I need help. Sometimes I wish I could go back to January 8th and rethink this whole surgery thing!!!

EASY WAY OUT!!! Oh how I hate to hear those words! There is NOTHING easy about this surgery AT ALL! Remember that with your looking better people get jealous.

I have been keeping a journal and I can tell you I had many emotional breakdowns. It is "no fun" to learn to deal with emotions instead of eating them away. I have caught myself in the McDonald's drive thru and then think "What am I doing"? It is crazy but anyone that suffers from "food addiction" can relate to what I am saying. I am 10 weeks 3 days post op. I lost 10 pounds before my sleeve and I weighed this morning and I was down 45 total pounds. So that's only 35 from the sleeve. I don't know if that is good or bad but I know I simply cannot worry about it anymore. This is an emotional roller coaster and nobody can really understand unless they have been through it. I will say that as time goes on and you can get off of some of the restrictions you will start to feel somewhat normal again. Hang in there. I do feel better and I do look better and that makes it all worth it.

I was actually able to cut my toenails this morning without gasping for breath. Down 41 pounds (7 weeks post op) as of this morning! I am super excited. Just wanted to share.

I am a 51 year old mother, grandmother, have been married for nearly 31 years to a wonderful man. I grew up skinny, skinny skinny! When I met my soon to be husband at 16 I was so skinny he said he felt sorry for me! I stayed skinny for many years. Even after my first child was born I got down to 135 pounds, (with Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member) and at 5'7 inches that is small. It wasn't until I got pregnant with my second child in 1990 that I began to gain weight. We found out at 4 months that our baby had a genetic disorder and may or may not make it to full term. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I gained 60 lbs! I was so depressed and all I did was eat! I ate to dull the pain. This is when I became addicted to food. Literally! I did make it to 6 1/2 months until our precious Angel that we named "Hope" went to heaven. I went through a deep depression. Gained more weight on top of the weight that I gained during pregnancy. From that point I tried every diet but my food addiction continued to overtake me. I failed at every attempt. I joined Weight watchers approximately 20 times over the next few years. In 2005 I decided to try to get approved for the gastric bypass. I was approved and 1 week before my surgery I backed out! I was too scared and anyway my regular doctor was not wanting me to have it. I decided to work hard at weight watchers and lost about 50 pounds. I started feeling pretty good. The weight creeps back up on me plus some, because I quit attending the meetings. So in 2010 I tried to be approved for the lap band. I went through all the dr visits. I did everything that was required but after the 7 months, I was denied. Once again I went back to weight watchers. I was discouraged and I felt determined to get the weight off. I started to lose weight and walk. I was walking 3 miles 3 times a week. I dropped 52 pounds! I was feeling very good. I was proud of my accomplishment. Then my nephew died of an accidental overdose. My whole family was devastated. I began to cope by eating. Oh I started small at first. I quit walking and slowly started getting back in to my old habits. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror and saw this huge, fat woman looking back at me. I was up to 279 lbs! All this weight, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN??? I tried very hard to lose weight. Joined Weight watchers again. I would lose about 20 lbs then quit. It was just out of control. In June of 2013 I became a grandmother. I was so excited. Every time I looked at my grandson I was more in love than ever. I became more aware of my health problem after he was born. My knees were hurting and I did not trust myself to hold him while trying to go up any stairs. I was on high cholesterol medicine, Mobic for joint pain, aspirin for heart blockage. So much going on! I decided to have the gastric sleeve. I knew a few people that has had it done so I started the dr visits and I go through everything I needed to do to be approved and low and behold it was approved. I am 6 weeks out now and I am down 38 pounds! At this point I am still having regrets that I did this but I know as more weight comes off I will be happy about this decision. I do feel better and I know that my life will be a better quality life for this surgery. I think that anyone that is reading this needs to know the emotional part of this surgery is the hardest.

I am a 51 year old mother, grandmother, have been married for nearly 31 years to a wonderful man. I grew up skinny, skinny skinny! When I met my soon to be husband at 16 I was so skinny he said he felt sorry for me! I stayed skinny for many years. Even after my first child was born I got down to 135 pounds, (with Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member) and at 5'7 inches that is small. It wasn't until I got pregnant with my second child in 1990 that I began to gain weight. We found out at 4 months that our baby had a genetic disorder and may or may not make it to full term. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I gained 60 lbs! I was so depressed and all I did was eat! I ate to dull the pain. This is when I became addicted to food. Literally! I did make it to 6 1/2 months until our precious Angel that we named "Hope" went to heaven. I went through a deep depression. Gained more weight on top of the weight that I gained during pregnancy. From that point I tried every diet but my food addiction continued to overtake me. I failed at every attempt. I joined Weight watchers approximately 20 times over the next few years. In 2005 I decided to try to get approved for the gastric bypass. I was approved and 1 week before my surgery I backed out! I was too scared and anyway my regular doctor was not wanting me to have it. I decided to work hard at weight watchers and lost about 50 pounds. I started feeling pretty good. The weight creeps back up on me plus some, because I quit attending the meetings. So in 2010 I tried to be approved for the lap band. I went through all the dr visits. I did everything that was required but after the 7 months, I was denied. Once again I went back to weight watchers. I was discouraged and I felt determined to get the weight off. I started to lose weight and walk. I was walking 3 miles 3 times a week. I dropped 52 pounds! I was feeling very good. I was proud of my accomplishment. Then my nephew died of an accidental overdose. My whole family was devastated. I began to cope by eating. Oh I started small at first. I quit walking and slowly started getting back in to my old habits. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror and saw this huge, fat woman looking back at me. I was up to 279 lbs! All this weight, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN??? I tried very hard to lose weight. Joined Weight watchers again. I would lose about 20 lbs then quit. It was just out of control. In June of 2013 I became a grandmother. I was so excited. Every time I looked at my grandson I was more in love than ever. I became more aware of my health problem after he was born. My knees were hurting and I did not trust myself to hold him while trying to go up any stairs. I was on high cholesterol medicine, Mobic for joint pain, aspirin for heart blockage. So much going on! I decided to have the gastric sleeve. I knew a few people that has had it done so I started the dr visits and I go through everything I needed to do to be approved and low and behold it was approved. I am 6 weeks out now and I am down 38 pounds! At this point I am still having regrets that I did this but I know as more weight comes off I will be happy about this decision. I do feel better and I know that my life will be a better quality life for this surgery. I think that anyone that is reading this needs to know the emotional part of this surgery is the hardest.

I am a 51 year old mother, grandmother, have been married for nearly 31 years to a wonderful man. I grew up skinny, skinny skinny! When I met my soon to be husband at 16 I was so skinny he said he felt sorry for me! I stayed skinny for many years. Even after my first child was born I got down to 135 pounds, (with Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member) and at 5'7 inches that is small. It wasn't until I got pregnant with my second child in 1990 that I began to gain weight. We found out at 4 months that our baby had a genetic disorder and may or may not make it to full term. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I gained 60 lbs! I was so depressed and all I did was eat! I ate to dull the pain. This is when I became addicted to food. Literally! I did make it to 6 1/2 months until our precious Angel that we named "Hope" went to heaven. I went through a deep depression. Gained more weight on top of the weight that I gained during pregnancy. From that point I tried every diet but my food addiction continued to overtake me. I failed at every attempt. I joined Weight watchers approximately 20 times over the next few years. In 2005 I decided to try to get approved for the gastric bypass. I was approved and 1 week before my surgery I backed out! I was too scared and anyway my regular doctor was not wanting me to have it. I decided to work hard at weight watchers and lost about 50 pounds. I started feeling pretty good. The weight creeps back up on me plus some, because I quit attending the meetings. So in 2010 I tried to be approved for the lap band. I went through all the dr visits. I did everything that was required but after the 7 months, I was denied. Once again I went back to weight watchers. I was discouraged and I felt determined to get the weight off. I started to lose weight and walk. I was walking 3 miles 3 times a week. I dropped 52 pounds! I was feeling very good. I was proud of my accomplishment. Then my nephew died of an accidental overdose. My whole family was devastated. I began to cope by eating. Oh I started small at first. I quit walking and slowly started getting back in to my old habits. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror and saw this huge, fat woman looking back at me. I was up to 279 lbs! All this weight, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN??? I tried very hard to lose weight. Joined Weight watchers again. I would lose about 20 lbs then quit. It was just out of control. In June of 2013 I became a grandmother. I was so excited. Every time I looked at my grandson I was more in love than ever. I became more aware of my health problem after he was born. My knees were hurting and I did not trust myself to hold him while trying to go up any stairs. I was on high cholesterol medicine, Mobic for joint pain, aspirin for heart blockage. So much going on! I decided to have the gastric sleeve. I knew a few people that has had it done so I started the dr visits and I go through everything I needed to do to be approved and low and behold it was approved. I am 6 weeks out now and I am down 38 pounds! At this point I am still having regrets that I did this but I know as more weight comes off I will be happy about this decision. I do feel better and I know that my life will be a better quality life for this surgery. I think that anyone that is reading this needs to know the emotional part of this surgery is the hardest.

I am a 51 year old mother, grandmother, have been married for nearly 31 years to a wonderful man. I grew up skinny, skinny skinny! When I met my soon to be husband at 16 I was so skinny he said he felt sorry for me! I stayed skinny for many years. Even after my first child was born I got down to 135 pounds, (with Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member) and at 5'7 inches that is small. It wasn't until I got pregnant with my second child in 1990 that I began to gain weight. We found out at 4 months that our baby had a genetic disorder and may or may not make it to full term. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I gained 60 lbs! I was so depressed and all I did was eat! I ate to dull the pain. This is when I became addicted to food. Literally! I did make it to 6 1/2 months until our precious Angel that we named "Hope" went to heaven. I went through a deep depression. Gained more weight on top of the weight that I gained during pregnancy. From that point I tried every diet but my food addiction continued to overtake me. I failed at every attempt. I joined Weight watchers approximately 20 times over the next few years. In 2005 I decided to try to get approved for the gastric bypass. I was approved and 1 week before my surgery I backed out! I was too scared and anyway my regular doctor was not wanting me to have it. I decided to work hard at weight watchers and lost about 50 pounds. I started feeling pretty good. The weight creeps back up on me plus some, because I quit attending the meetings. So in 2010 I tried to be approved for the lap band. I went through all the dr visits. I did everything that was required but after the 7 months, I was denied. Once again I went back to weight watchers. I was discouraged and I felt determined to get the weight off. I started to lose weight and walk. I was walking 3 miles 3 times a week. I dropped 52 pounds! I was feeling very good. I was proud of my accomplishment. Then my nephew died of an accidental overdose. My whole family was devastated. I began to cope by eating. Oh I started small at first. I quit walking and slowly started getting back in to my old habits. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror and saw this huge, fat woman looking back at me. I was up to 279 lbs! All this weight, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN??? I tried very hard to lose weight. Joined Weight watchers again. I would lose about 20 lbs then quit. It was just out of control. In June of 2013 I became a grandmother. I was so excited. Every time I looked at my grandson I was more in love than ever. I became more aware of my health problem after he was born. My knees were hurting and I did not trust myself to hold him while trying to go up any stairs. I was on high cholesterol medicine, Mobic for joint pain, aspirin for heart blockage. So much going on! I decided to have the gastric sleeve. I knew a few people that has had it done so I started the dr visits and I go through everything I needed to do to be approved and low and behold it was approved. I am 6 weeks out now and I am down 38 pounds! At this point I am still having regrets that I did this but I know as more weight comes off I will be happy about this decision. I do feel better and I know that my life will be a better quality life for this surgery. I think that anyone that is reading this needs to know the emotional part of this surgery is the hardest.

I am a 51 year old mother, grandmother, have been married for nearly 31 years to a wonderful man. I grew up skinny, skinny skinny! When I met my soon to be husband at 16 I was so skinny he said he felt sorry for me! I stayed skinny for many years. Even after my first child was born I got down to 135 pounds, (with Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member) and at 5'7 inches that is small. It wasn't until I got pregnant with my second child in 1990 that I began to gain weight. We found out at 4 months that our baby had a genetic disorder and may or may not make it to full term. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I gained 60 lbs! I was so depressed and all I did was eat! I ate to dull the pain. This is when I became addicted to food. Literally! I did make it to 6 1/2 months until our precious Angel that we named "Hope" went to heaven. I went through a deep depression. Gained more weight on top of the weight that I gained during pregnancy. From that point I tried every diet but my food addiction continued to overtake me. I failed at every attempt. I joined Weight watchers approximately 20 times over the next few years. In 2005 I decided to try to get approved for the gastric bypass. I was approved and 1 week before my surgery I backed out! I was too scared and anyway my regular doctor was not wanting me to have it. I decided to work hard at weight watchers and lost about 50 pounds. I started feeling pretty good. The weight creeps back up on me plus some, because I quit attending the meetings. So in 2010 I tried to be approved for the lap band. I went through all the dr visits. I did everything that was required but after the 7 months, I was denied. Once again I went back to weight watchers. I was discouraged and I felt determined to get the weight off. I started to lose weight and walk. I was walking 3 miles 3 times a week. I dropped 52 pounds! I was feeling very good. I was proud of my accomplishment. Then my nephew died of an accidental overdose. My whole family was devastated. I began to cope by eating. Oh I started small at first. I quit walking and slowly started getting back in to my old habits. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror and saw this huge, fat woman looking back at me. I was up to 279 lbs! All this weight, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN??? I tried very hard to lose weight. Joined Weight watchers again. I would lose about 20 lbs then quit. It was just out of control. In June of 2013 I became a grandmother. I was so excited. Every time I looked at my grandson I was more in love than ever. I became more aware of my health problem after he was born. My knees were hurting and I did not trust myself to hold him while trying to go up any stairs. I was on high cholesterol medicine, Mobic for joint pain, aspirin for heart blockage. So much going on! I decided to have the gastric sleeve. I knew a few people that has had it done so I started the dr visits and I go through everything I needed to do to be approved and low and behold it was approved. I am 6 weeks out now and I am down 38 pounds! At this point I am still having regrets that I did this but I know as more weight comes off I will be happy about this decision. I do feel better and I know that my life will be a better quality life for this surgery. I think that anyone that is reading this needs to know the emotional part of this surgery is the hardest.