Shaydi.Laine

When I had my first WLS I told everyone. No secrets at all. For me I regretted it. Every time I ate something if anyone was around, they question it, judge me, ask if it was low fat. "Should you be eating that?!" At home, at work, socialising. Nightmare, gave me a complex. Really hated all of the questions and judgment. Then I emigrated to another country due to work requirements and kept it secret apart from a select few. Best thing ever for me. The peering eyes at my food, the embarrassing questions all stopped. It was great. Now I've just had my 3rd WLS and my food intake has drastically reduced, I'm not sure what to tell people socially when I'm out for dinner with them. At home is fine, work is fine, but in a restaurant where the focus is on food I'm not too sure what to say. I'm certainly not making the mistake of telling everyone. Can't be doing with the dramas. I don't want to be reminded of it by someone every time I eat. This is just my personal choice and experiences. Kudos to those who tell all and don't let it get to them :-)
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That graphic should be a permanent side banner on this forum.

Have you been check for fibroids?
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them"
Einstein

That graphic should be a permanent side banner on this forum.

This topic came up in my support group and just about everyone in the room agreed the world feels much cooler than before surgery. The cause, I dunno, but I think it's a probably a result of the surgery directly and not about fat loss, because i started feeling cold right away, as do many others.
Personally I'm mostly happy about this as I used to feel too hot all the time and be sweating when no one else was. I also sleep much better and never wake up sweating. I may feel a lot different about this come winter, but for now, I'll take it.

Seriously? That's an average of over 14 pounds a month and you are crying for help? I'm almost at the end of my third month and I've lost 6 pounds this month, 35 total since surgery and I'm thrilled. I don't understand why people think the weight loss is going to be like some constant wildfire, IT'S NOT. You are doing fantastic. Chill out This stuff takes time.

I lost 17 pounds at 3 months postop. The difference between you and me was I was ecstatic! Which means there are no words to described how thrilled you should be. 50 pounds in 3 months has gotta be some kind of record.
But you should also know you can't possibly maintain this rate of loss, so I would suggest you lower your expectations, relax, enjoy the journey and bask in your phenomenal success so far.

Seriously? That's an average of over 14 pounds a month and you are crying for help? I'm almost at the end of my third month and I've lost 6 pounds this month, 35 total since surgery and I'm thrilled. I don't understand why people think the weight loss is going to be like some constant wildfire, IT'S NOT. You are doing fantastic. Chill out This stuff takes time.

Understandable, but we all need to be conscientious enough to make provisions for such instances.
Understandable, but we all need to be conscientious enough to make provisions for such instances.

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

One test I never had to have was a sleep study.
I got delayed by a couple months due to an abnormal mammogram (which took a shocking 4 weeks to get an appointment for, then two more weeks for them to read the results) followed by a biopsy (another week to get appointment for that) and then it all turned out to be nothing.
My advice, get the required tests done immediately. Pap smear, mammo, blood work, ekg, colonoscopy, endoscopy. Those have to have been done within the past year in order to "qualify." I lost a lot of time making most of these appointments after I had reached my pre-op weight loss. Check with your program to make sure you know all of their required tests early, and get them out of the way!

Congratulations on making the decision to change your life.
You MAY be over optimistic about being able to have surgery this summer, but it MAY be possible.
Are you using insurance? The biggest things that will influence your surgery date are: 1) insurance requirements, 2) pre-op clearances, and 3) your surgeon's program/availability.
Some insurance companies require a pre-op supervised diet that can range from 3-months, to 6-months, or even more.
Clearances can take time, especially if it takes time to schedule testing.
You may also be required to take nutrition classes, etc.
Be prepared to practice patience, polite persistence, and positivity.

Don't confuse a required weight loss with a supervised monitoring. My insurance (Premera BCBS) did not require that I lose weight, but they did require 6 months of supervised visits with a doctor. Your surgeon will likely have a whole list of requirements, including some or all of the following: nutrition visits, psych eval, lots and lots of bloodwork, endoscopy, sleep study, and visits with a cardiologist and/or anesthesiologist...plus the pre surgery diet which is often 2 weeks. If you happen to test positive for h pylori, that is another delay. You surgeon will likely have other surgeries booked out for a couple of months. Maybe you have a plan and a surgeon that doesn't have all of those requirements, but it seems unlikely. I started back in October and am just now getting to surgery this month, and my journey was a smooth one with no setbacks. Also, even if you only need a week to recover from the actual surgery, I've heard so many people talk about their lack of energy for several weeks after the surgery. That's good advice above...try to plan it for one of your long school breaks rather than rush it. You need to be prepared physically and mentally. Best wishes to you on your journey

I was annoyed with the six month thing at first but then it realistically took me about 4 months to complete all of my surgeons requirements anyway. BUT I was working so my schedule was not so flexible. If you are off for the summer and have lots of flexibility it may work. If, for example, you need to see a pulmonologist ask for the earliest appt and if it is a few weeks out take it but ask them to call you if someone cancels.
But the bottom line is these things do take time and the pre clearances are important. If it is a bit later than you'd like that's ok too.
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I attended the mandatory info session in July 2015 and it took till March 2016 to get to surgery. Most programs will have a bunch of mandatory hoops (weight loss, classes, tests) to jump through. My program said the absolute minimum would be 4 months and that was very rare. 6 months was more common. It took almost 9 months for me. So if I had to bet, I would bet against you getting surgery this summer, but you may get lucky.
If summer turns out to be a no go, you could aim for a school vacation. One week of vacation plus a week off will probably be enough if you are getting the sleeve. It was plenty for me.
I wish you luck!

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

Day 1 Surgery Day

Woke up feeling sore but fine overall. Had very dry mouth and the swabs were quite helpful. Slept most of the day (hadn't slept the night before). Pain pump came in handy. Had my first "meal" late afternoon consisting of 1oz of Water to be consumed over a 1 hour period. 1 oz?! Made me laugh but I did as I was told. Later that evening I was given a clear liquid tray for dinner. 4 oz broth and a sugar free Jello to be consumed in whichever order I wanted, with a one hour wait period in between. The broth was too salty. The Jello was some awesome berry flavor I've never seen in stores. I finished both. Played with the call nurse button, walked around the hospital floor periodically doing the macarena, watched My 600 lb Life. Slept. The only weird thing of note was that i never felt like i had to pee but I frequently asked for help to the bathroom anyway and peed plenty each time. Yay for IV fluids.

Day 2

Was hoping to go home but my blood count was oddly low so they kept me around for a second night. Had my first shake, 8 oz Carnation Instant Breakfast. chocolate. I was told to consume the whole thing over a one hour period. That wasn't a problem. Began getting bored. Played on my tablet, watched more TV, texted people on my phone, slept more. That night they turned off the pain pump and switched me to oral meds. Back to sleep!

Day 3

Woke up to the joyous news that my blood count was back to normal and I could go home that day. Notified my ride to come get me that afternoon. They gave me another shake which again I had to drink over a 1 hour period. Again, no problem. Got dressed (i wore pajama bottoms and a sweat shirt to the hospital and back) and physical therapy came in with a bag of neat post-surgery goodies like a sock taker-offer and a sock putter-onner.. a really long shoe horn.. a reacher (which I still use for grabbing stuff off high shelves - genius!) .. a cute pillow with diagrams of sleeve, bypass, and lapband on it.. a pill cutter.. and the breathy thinger they make you use while you're there and want you to keep using when you go home. Nurse wheeled me out, I got in the getaway car, and home I went!! (after a stop at Rite Aid to fill my script).

Day 4

Weighed myself to find that I had GAINED 10 pounds in the hospital!! Nearly fainted. I mean I knew I would gain a little from the IV fluids but never expected 10 whole pounds!! Geez I had some serious peeing to do!!! Spent most of the day on the sofa watching movies. Popped pain pills. Got up to pee a lot. Drank a couple of shakes and as much water/crystal light as I could, plus my Vitamins and Calcium, and sf popsicles and jello.

Day 5

I was bored of lying around. Made my aunt take me to the mall. Spent the afternoon trying on clothes and buying stuff that was way too small for me (Most of it fits now!)

As you can probably tell, my recovery was pretty easy. I was able to wean off the pain meds fairly quickly. The lack of solid food got old fast however and I was hungry. Fully aware that I had just had major surgery I needed to heal from, I didn't cheat like so many seem to do around here (nutheads), but rather went completely by the book. By the end of the first week at home, I had dropped the 10lbs of bonus Water weight plus another 10lbs. I was off and running. And couldn't wait for the end of week 2 so I could dive head first into a 4oz dish of cottage cheese. Best cottage cheese ever!
Good Luck!!

ps. I was absolutely terrified going into this surgery. Turned out I was terrified clearly for no reason. It really was a breeze. Don't sweat it!

@
NH and thanks it really was pretty simple and uneventful. Honestly aside from getting reallllyyyyy tired of liquids and dying to eat something solid (which I did not do till my nut gave the ok), and a bit of discomfort while rolling over in bed (mainly just the first week) I can't recall much "recovery" at all. Like most people, I imagine, I was expecting to be splayed out on the sofa for weeks, moaning and groaning. LOL That was not the case at all. I was back to my life lickity split. And really, a little major surgery isn't going to stop ME from shopping. Oh hell no!
I hope that post helps calm some pre-op nerves out there!

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

Either you really are sick with a bug or such, or something has gone wrong. Either way, you'll get better results from talking to your surgeon instead of posting on a message board Hopefully your doctor is nearby rather than in Mexico. In your case, I wouldn't wait to get help. It could be serious. Do something now.

It's not "like that" for most people. I have felt great ever since my surgery. Maybe you are actually sick? Cold? Flu? Something temporary? Take it easy.

I have adjusted pretty well. I used to stock the cabinets and freezer, but I barely buy anything at the grocery now. I go often and buy just the things I will need for a few days. When I buy meats, I portion everything out and freeze it. And now that a portion is one small chop, one piece of chicken, one this or one that, a package of whatever kind of meat is good for several meals! It's kinda fun getting to use the express checkout lanes and getting out of the grocery store for just $20-30 bux. And it's a lot less stuff to lug home and put away. Of course this doesn't work if you're feeding a family but .. I'm not