biginjapan

Thanks everyone for your feedback! This site is full of knowledge and peeps who want to share it! ❤️ Feeling grateful for y’all ❤️

The only thing I used on my scars was BioOil. I wasn't concerned with scars. I figured they would pale in comparison with my stretch marks, but I did want the skin as supple as possible and BioOil does that for me. I still use it...All Over!
But, if you ARE concerned with scars, I occasionally work with burn patients and we recommend silicone sheets or strips for their burns. Here's a link on Amazon, but any brand will do: Aroamas Professional Silicone Scar Sheets

The scars will mostly disappear over time - the scars I had from my first surgery are pretty invisible but I think if I got a tan they would probably show up. I’ve only ever used Vitamin E cream on my scars as it’s the only thing I can get with any regularity here in Japan.

Haha! This has been an issue for me every since I had the sleeve three years ago. I've learned to only let a little bit of fart out to see if it's actually gas, or something worse! Luckily I've only been caught out at home (a few times I'll admit), but I have extra undies and clothes to wear at work just in case the worse happens.

You're only a week post-op and already eating eggs? That might be a little fast - and clearly it is since you are either in some kind of discomfort or have the hiccups which means you are overeating (!). I had my surgery on March 3rd and was on full liquids and purees for 2 weeks - so blended Soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed/pureed veggies, soft tofu, etc. - all that. Now that I'm on week 3 I have started with soft/mushy foods. I tried the ricotta bake but that was a disaster - clearly I'm (hopefully temporarily) lactose intolerant (very common for bypass patients!), so I'll be avoiding any primarily dairy-based foods for a while. I tried some of Shelly's Egg Bites this week and they've been going down quite well. Canned tuna has also been a good option for me (I mix in a little shredded cheese and add some seasonings, warm it up just enough to soften the cheese).
Here's the thing - just because you CAN eat something, doesn't mean you HAVE to - if it is causing any kind of problem, just refrain from eating it for a week, and try that food again later. Stay on full liquids, or add different kind of mushies like the ones I mentioned above. And the less liquid it is, the less you should eat of it, at least in the beginning. So if you can drink 1/4-1/2 cup of liquids at a time, your food intake should be 1/8c. Try that - you may have to have more "mini-meals" but it's better than waiting hours for the discomfort to clear so that you can your liquids and/or other food in.

You're only a week post-op and already eating eggs? That might be a little fast - and clearly it is since you are either in some kind of discomfort or have the hiccups which means you are overeating (!). I had my surgery on March 3rd and was on full liquids and purees for 2 weeks - so blended Soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed/pureed veggies, soft tofu, etc. - all that. Now that I'm on week 3 I have started with soft/mushy foods. I tried the ricotta bake but that was a disaster - clearly I'm (hopefully temporarily) lactose intolerant (very common for bypass patients!), so I'll be avoiding any primarily dairy-based foods for a while. I tried some of Shelly's Egg Bites this week and they've been going down quite well. Canned tuna has also been a good option for me (I mix in a little shredded cheese and add some seasonings, warm it up just enough to soften the cheese).
Here's the thing - just because you CAN eat something, doesn't mean you HAVE to - if it is causing any kind of problem, just refrain from eating it for a week, and try that food again later. Stay on full liquids, or add different kind of mushies like the ones I mentioned above. And the less liquid it is, the less you should eat of it, at least in the beginning. So if you can drink 1/4-1/2 cup of liquids at a time, your food intake should be 1/8c. Try that - you may have to have more "mini-meals" but it's better than waiting hours for the discomfort to clear so that you can your liquids and/or other food in.

You're only a week post-op and already eating eggs? That might be a little fast - and clearly it is since you are either in some kind of discomfort or have the hiccups which means you are overeating (!). I had my surgery on March 3rd and was on full liquids and purees for 2 weeks - so blended Soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed/pureed veggies, soft tofu, etc. - all that. Now that I'm on week 3 I have started with soft/mushy foods. I tried the ricotta bake but that was a disaster - clearly I'm (hopefully temporarily) lactose intolerant (very common for bypass patients!), so I'll be avoiding any primarily dairy-based foods for a while. I tried some of Shelly's Egg Bites this week and they've been going down quite well. Canned tuna has also been a good option for me (I mix in a little shredded cheese and add some seasonings, warm it up just enough to soften the cheese).
Here's the thing - just because you CAN eat something, doesn't mean you HAVE to - if it is causing any kind of problem, just refrain from eating it for a week, and try that food again later. Stay on full liquids, or add different kind of mushies like the ones I mentioned above. And the less liquid it is, the less you should eat of it, at least in the beginning. So if you can drink 1/4-1/2 cup of liquids at a time, your food intake should be 1/8c. Try that - you may have to have more "mini-meals" but it's better than waiting hours for the discomfort to clear so that you can your liquids and/or other food in.

I feel your pain! I had the sleeve done three years ago, lost over 100 pounds in about 10 months, then gained about 60 back through bad food choices and/or just plain overeating (even healthy foods). I'd go on reset diets which would work for a while, but then I would plateau for a long time and start to gain weight again. Part of the problem was trying to deal with my food addictions that came back once I fell off the bariatric diet wagon. After a while it was just too hard to get back on again. Eventually I decided to have a revision to bypass, which I had done 2.5 weeks ago. Hopefully that's not something you'll have to do - if you have support groups around you and people that you can work with, it should be possible to lose the weight you regained.

I cleaned my closet out last weekend I would say about half got pulled out to go to charity. Most of the rest are still too big, but look OK so I kept them for now. I have started to question if I'll get to wear my existing work clothes again -- I'm in CA and working from home for the forseeable future. It's entirely possible when that lifts up none of them will fit. AND I'll be good with that

Thanks all for answering.
My weigh in today was actually really good - my best since week 1. It seems the anxiety isn't really related to the number, it's the "what if" from a life time of dieting and failing and feeling like the scale didn't reflect my effort. Hopefully this is something that will go down as I continue to stay on track and make progress with this new tool.
I do also take measurements and pictures, but only 1 time per month at the end of the month. I'll look into a scale that does body fat as well.

As said above I'd wait 1 more week before eating. Concentrate on fluids and Protein Drinks.
The hiccups you describe I call hiccburps and they can be loud and hurt a bit, slow down your intake.
I have terrible lactose intolerance now so might be why i hated the ricotta bake, when i have dairy it is like i am having severe dumping syndrome!
There is no rush to be on solids your main focus needs to be fluids and Protein, so take a deep relaxing breath and let your body heal and increase solids slowly x

Oh yeah, that is completely different than being home or even being home alone. Dang. I hope this next week goes by quicker than not. Sending positive vibes to you. You’re definitely in a situation that’s going to take some patience and self-love! I guess now is good as time as ever to be gentle and loving with yourself.
Let us know when you get home and hop on here when you get lonely. There are amazing peeps—newbies and veterans—On here that like to share their stories and support.

The other thing going on here is that I'm staying at an Airbnb apartment in self-isolation for 14 days before I go home for real. I was flying back on those days when the airports were packed with people coming back from Europe, and I really don't want to take any coronavirus home to my husband. So all I have are the really baggy clothes I took to wear after surgery.

This will all be a lot better in a week when I can really go home. I'll have some company, hopefully my stomach will be feeling better and I'll be eating a bit more normally, and hopefully I'll be feeling good enough to get back to work (I work from home anyway.) I know in the long run this is going to take me towards where I want to be - preventing diabetes, gaining a normal relationship with food, and mostly focusing on other things in my life.

Right now this is just a really weird time. I'm all alone, and I'm still feeling weird post surgery and barely able to eat anything, and it's all I can think about. Thank goodness for this forum!

I totally understand @rjan! Seeing that number drop is a great self-esteem booster! But, I have a scale at home and I wish I could stay off it every day. I went so far as to having my mom hide it from me and was frantically searching for it the next morning. Ugh. I’m a hot mess. I hope you get to weigh soon! In the meantime, can you try on a shirt or pair of pants that was just a little tight prior to surgery or do you have a measuring tape to take measurements. Happy Losing!

To many people who travel down the weight loss path, via surgery or conventional methods fall victim to their weight scale. DO NOT let your weight scale or any scale be the sole factor in determining your progress with weight loss. You know your weight when you started, you don’t need daily or weekly validation of your efforts so don’t get stressed out about having no immediate access to a scale. The weight you have gained or lost will be there when you do finally get to step on a scale, relax and focus on the journey…

Normally I would agree. Like I said - that's why I don't have one. And I usually roll my eyes at people complaining that they've been stalled for 3 days.

But at this point, where I just did something pretty extreme and I'm nauseous half the time and hungry the other half of the time, and still too tired to really get back to work, it would be nice to at least see that I lost 10 lbs.

here's my before and after (headless).
I wouldn't worry about being malnourished yet. You probably have Vitamin stores to last awhile. Just focus on getting your Protein and fluids in at this point. Oh - and keep on top of your (vitamin and mineral) supplements, too.

Well I hope everyone is surviving with this virus issue?
Here in Australia things are going ok just the issue of supermarkets being raided and hard to get toilet paper before everyone buys it all... But no quarantine or anything yet...
Umm I don't go online as much because I'm happy and doing things my way... Fired my useless dietitian months ago...
I started this diet journey 7 months ago pretty much to the day and I've hit 150LBS lost I cannot even fathom it.
I never ever thought I would even get this far or this low but this bypass just seems to keep working for me.
I started my journey at high weight of 322lbs and today I weighed in at 172lbs first thing this morning 😁
Some might say I've lost more than enough but I feel I'm going well just taking each day at a time..
Still experimenting with different foods I can tolerate but taking it slowly and doing it my own way.
Some days I'll still feel like a shake or two.
Some days I'll be real hungry other days no hunger at all...
I've been doing it my way not worrying about specific stages or phases really.
So yeah 150lbs gone and I feel amazing. I feel like a new man and I'm like where did all the fat go?
It feels great people calling me skinny and I weigh less than most of my mates now hahahaha
I know I'll eventually need to start weights and stuff but I'm in no hurry yet.
Love Mikey xo

You're only a week post-op and already eating eggs? That might be a little fast - and clearly it is since you are either in some kind of discomfort or have the hiccups which means you are overeating (!). I had my surgery on March 3rd and was on full liquids and purees for 2 weeks - so blended Soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed/pureed veggies, soft tofu, etc. - all that. Now that I'm on week 3 I have started with soft/mushy foods. I tried the ricotta bake but that was a disaster - clearly I'm (hopefully temporarily) lactose intolerant (very common for bypass patients!), so I'll be avoiding any primarily dairy-based foods for a while. I tried some of Shelly's Egg Bites this week and they've been going down quite well. Canned tuna has also been a good option for me (I mix in a little shredded cheese and add some seasonings, warm it up just enough to soften the cheese).
Here's the thing - just because you CAN eat something, doesn't mean you HAVE to - if it is causing any kind of problem, just refrain from eating it for a week, and try that food again later. Stay on full liquids, or add different kind of mushies like the ones I mentioned above. And the less liquid it is, the less you should eat of it, at least in the beginning. So if you can drink 1/4-1/2 cup of liquids at a time, your food intake should be 1/8c. Try that - you may have to have more "mini-meals" but it's better than waiting hours for the discomfort to clear so that you can your liquids and/or other food in.

Im 26 and Im exactly one month post op. It's the best decision I ever made hand down & I wish I would have done it at 20 instead. I tried everything from diets and excercise to medication... and you're right, when the medication is over you gain the weight back and then some. Medication is not a long term tool and you're damaging other parts of your body in the process (like your liver). Surgery is a tool that works for you long term. Weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision for yourself!

Casey, here’s the thing with family and friends....F them. But not in a bad, angry way. Everyone you allow to know you’re making this decision is going to give you their uneducated, ignorant opinion. Stick to your guns as it were. I did not keep my surgery a secret. I was so excited about it I told my family, friends and close Co-workers. I got an earful. I let them say their peace for a moment and stood my ground! Thank you for your concern but I’m doing the research and this is my body and my choice. We’ve all heard it those of us that told others. Good luck on your journey to health and happiness!

As an RN I can tell you the stresses, terrible working hours and conditions in nursing are why so many nurses are obese or morbidly obese. Top that with common sugar addiction - coworkers bringing in tons of sweets to share with all the nurses and staff to get through the 12+ hour shifts.
Having gastric sleeve surgery (at 58) was the absolute best decision of my life and my health has improved tremendously. I wish I'd been able to do it years ago. Going into the nursing profession already at BMI 40 is a time bomb. Please take care of your weight and health now, whatever you decide. In addition, you'll be on your feet for most of those 12+ hours which wrecks havoc with the knee joints if we weigh too much. Knee surgery is no joke.
I'm not trying to scare you, just letting you know the reality of the nursing profession. Whichever treatment option you decide on is up to you - just know I'm thrilled with my gastric sleeve It will take lifelong diligence with diet and weight monitoring to keep the weight from coming back but it's been a great tool helping me lose the weight and regaining my life and health. Good luck!
One thing I almost forgot to mention: Be aware that post-surgery your calorie intake will be very low but will increase gradually once on solid foods. I had trouble remembering things when on 600-700 calories a day - my brain wasn't getting what it needed to be "up to speed." It's only now that I'm averaging 900-1100 per day that I seem to be back to normal. Prepare for a temporary challenge with studying and test-taking if it affects you the same way. Will you have a summer break? Maybe do it then. Nursing school is intense and challenging, needing all our brain power to succeed.

I had bypass in Nov 2015 and haven’t had a single complication at all. I’ve maintained over 140 lbs of weight loss and it was the best decision I’ve made.

If it's any consolation, gastric bypass surgery has been around for a long time, with a lot of success. You will always find someone with a complication - to either surgery, actually. If reflux and the possibility of Barretts/cancer is an issue, please don't be afraid to take the GB plunge. There are advantages and disadvantages to both surgeries. The sleeve is not a "minor" surgery, nor is it without risk or complications. If you choose to go ahead with GB, you need to reframe your thinking to a positive mindset, focusing on all the advantages GB will give you, most importantly the decreased risk of esophageal cancer.

I developed Barretts esophagitis from my reflux, including a lovely precancerous Barrett's polyp. Gastric bypass was my only option for WLS. Guess what?!?!?!?! My Barrett's is now gone! No more reflux, no more polyps, and my esophagus is normal. So glad I had the bypass surgery.