Siege

I had my surgery at Marina Del Rey Hospital as well. The staff is great, super friendly. I packed an overnight bag with much more than I actually needed. I was too uncomfortable to read so I just watched whatever was on the television. I did not sleep much the first night, mostly after I was out of surgery. Walk a lot afterward. One of the things I wished I had done prior to surgery is weight training. Building muscle before surgery, if you can, will help you so much. Even if you just have a few weeks, you should start building muscle if you are able to exercise.

That's good to hear, Britney! They did a good job with my paperwork, so that wasn't an issue for me. Dr Paya is a very busy man but he is also easy to talk to and you might forget what you wanted to ask after 15 minutes of discussing exercise and eating plans. I suggest writing down all your questions and concerns on an index card to bring with you when you see him. I know I forgot to ask a lot of questions when we talked and ended up making several phone calls after each visit.

At my three month check up my doctor said something along those lines. I told him I would be happy when I get to a healthy BMI and he said he would be happy around 200 pounds.

I'm 5'9", 46 years old, and I have successfully lost the weight, twice, on my own. I've successfully gained it back twice, as well. I was struggling to lose it a third time, and I don't want to repeat the process every ten years. I was/am a type 2 diabetic, hypertensive, high cholesterol, and I have apnea, as well. The greatest part of having this new tool is the lack of hunger. I cannot stress this enough, at least for myself. I've always battled the cravings, snacking, and grazing. I feel as free as the day I realized I no longer craved a cigarette (I smoked a pack a day for 11 years). Another consideration for me was that I wanted to get the surgery done before age became a factor. My procedure went smoothly and recover was easy, so I think I am very lucky, but not unique. Also, no one around me "supported" my decision to have surgery. My wife and family, as well as the family doctor, all were around when I lost the weight "the hard way" before and encouraged me to "just do it again." No one really knows what you struggle with but you. Anyway, my high weight was 401, my consultation weight was 326, my surgery weight was 308, and today I am 262. And I'm off all meds. Totally worth it.

I thought it was due to the straw. It's always the straw's fault. That's why they have that saying!

I was, as well. BMI was 45.5 day of surgery. It was 60 way back when...

Okay, so I'm not the only one! Good to know. I thought my stomach was haunted...

Thanks for posting this. I have been struggling NOT to make myself crazy over the idea that I am not losing enough. I am 14 weeks post op and have lost 36 pounds since surgery. It's kind of calming to see that I fall right in the low end of expectations, but only a little.

I stuck to the two week liquid diet, pre op. I drank enough diet soda, coffee, and Water to drown a small city. Ah, Diet Coke, how I love thee! It's been three months but I won't go back. There's really nothing in there but chemicals, anyway. But I digress! I used my preop as a test for my post op. It was hard. Super hard. On day 8 I didn't think I was going to make it. I drank my Protein shakes, chugged so much water I thought I would burst, and went to bed early. After that I knew I would be fine. You know what I really miss? Being able to chug water. Chug anything, actually. It seems so strange to drink in such small amounts. I'm getting used to it, though. You can do it.

I did that this week! Was chatting with a friend, not paying attention, then looked down and stopped! I said "Whoah! I crossed my legs!" My friend looked at me like I had just discovered the sky was blue.

I am 13 weeks post op. My wife told me she thinks my hair looks thinner this week. An amazing feat as I have very fine hair. Obviously I am worried - so I guess I will lose it even faster!

That is a tough one! My wife tries to be supportive but during one argument or another she told me the same thing. I did nearly all of the pre-surgery meetings, tests, sleep studies, etc., by myself. I told her I would drive myself to the hospital and just stay an extra day in order to be able to drive myself back. While having a support system is good, not having anyone around is far better than dealing with negativity during the days before, and immediately after, surgery. And I felt some support from this site even if I did not participate or post very often. My wife eventually came around and accompanied me to the surgery. She doesn't follow a diet, and she doesn't cook, but she does shop for me. We eat different things, as do, I think, most of us here.

Hi everyone! I was just thinking about this thread when I got the email update. I was sleeved January 21, so yesterday was 12 weeks out for me. I am currently down 35 pounds. I hope everybody is doing well. I agree, this is work. The sleeve helps but we still have to eat right, exercise, and deal with all the demons that made us who we were. I have been stalling the last few weeks but we all have challenges in our journeys. The key, I believe, is to be diligent, log our food, get exercise, and stay positive. I have also been putting up videos on youtube, to sort of keep me accountable. HW401 (highest weight) SW308 (surgery weight) CW273 (current weight) GW169 (goal weight)

@@SactoWendy It's funny (strange, not haha), but I really went back and forth about that, too. I was torn between putting in my weight as of my first seminar, or my highest known weight that prompted me to make the change. Ultimately I chose the latter because I felt it was an equal part of the journey.

I did, as well. It did not delay my surgery because the treatment fit nicely inside my six month supervised diet and counseling requirement.