Sadiebug

One thing to add to what James said about before pictures - take before measurements!!! I am kicking myself because I didn't start taking measurements until about 3 months post surgery so I don't have a 'starting' point to use as comparison

Another thing that I really wish I had done before surgery is to get out a few little dishes and measure out the amounts of food you will be eating right after surgery (for me it was 2 oz per meal but ask your dietitian). I struggled a ton the first couple of weeks mentally because I could not wrap my brain around that tiny amount of food compared to the huge portion sizes I was used to. Also start slowing down your eating now - take a full 30 minutes to eat your meals and force yourself not to drink until 30 minutes after you're done eating. Not drinking liquids with meals still feels foreign to me.

I do remember that a few weeks before surgery I just zoned out and felt like I was just going through the motions. I got very emotional any time I thought about it. I had plenty of feelings of "what in the heck am I about to do?" and even feelings of "should I back out of this?" That is all totally normal and I kept reminding myself and making lists of all of the reasons why I decided on this surgery (and those lists are great to look back on during your journey!)

Best of luck to you!!!

what everyone else said - this is probably normal. But, I will add that my energy was very low around 4-5 weeks out and my NUT had me add in an Iron supplement. That really helped me quite a bit so you might ask about adding iron or increasing it if you're already taking a supplement.

Does it ever happen earlier in the day or just at dinner? I have noticed that I get fuller faster as I go throughout the day. Like at Breakfast I can eat more but by dinner I can't eat nearly as much. So yeah, maybe just eating to much or to fast. I'd call your Dr if it keeps up though just to be safe.

My Dr. wrote me out for 4 weeks (and I was approved for STD for that) but I ended up going back after 3. I got a bit bored sitting at home and was ready to get into my normal routine. I found it took me 2 weeks to feel better and then I used that 3rd week to get into more of a 'routine' with my Protein, Water, Vitamins etc.

You've got this!! Try different temperatures of liquids. I tend to do better with warm/hot liquids so I drank a lot of hot tea or warm broth post op to get my liquids in - still do especially on days when my tummy is being a brat. Just try a variety of things to see what works. And don't stress if you can't get everything in right at first. It took me a good two weeks or longer to get the hang of everything - Vitamins, liquids, Protein. It will get easier a little bit every day

That sound really good! I don't know if you can have Decaf coffee yet but lately I've been making my Protein Shakes with a cup of decaf, a splash of skim milk, ice and a scoop of Protein powder all blended up. I also took my Protein Shake and poured it into popsicle molds to make protein pops. Basically anything icy cold is my go to for protein shakes

I'm 16 weeks out also and have had a day or two like that I was SHOCKED at how easy it was to inhale simple carbs and somewhat disappointed that I had no ill-effects from it other than my own guilt. I had it in my mind that this surgery would partly keep me on track because I would literally get sick from eating the wrong things with dumping syndrome etc. But I've read recently that only about 30% of people actually experience dumping syndrome. I haven't tried anything very sugary because I'm very fearful that I won't have any issues. At least now I can keep pretending it will make me sick and I'm going to hold on to that as long as possible. I have a lot more work to do on my head since I won't be able to rely on the surgical tool to keep me on the right path. But, as someone else said, even 1300 calories is much better than 3000 (or more for me on my really bad binge days). hang in there!

My surgeon does not require a lengthy liquid diet. I just had to do liquids one day prior and then nothing to eat or drink after midnight before surgery. I was surprised because from what I was reading it seems like nearly everyone does 2-4 weeks of liquid diet before surgery. I was nervous about having a giant liver that would prevent my surgery as I was pretty large to start and the liquid diet is primarily to shrink your liver - but everyone went fine with my surgery and I had no complications. I did notice that I didn't gain a ton of weight after surgery like some do and instead had a very large loss that first week. I suspect this was more dramatic because I hadn't done the liquid diet. Also my sugar withdrawl was probably more pronounced the first couple of weeks after surgery - again since I hadn't cut that out entirely pre-surgery.

I'm sorry for your loss. I had a similar motivation - I honestly was thinking specifically about what would happen if I was in an accident or died. Could the paramedics lift me onto a stretcher and/or into an ambulance? would I fit in a standard coffin? would my family/friends/caregivers look at me as a burden? It was very morbid to consider but that is what ultimately pushed me over the edge.

On 5/29/2017 at 11:09 AM, B.Annie said:

Yes I absolutely agree with all of you. I'm not stressed. I specifically said a few times in my original post that this is all expected and normal because of what I've researched - mainly through this forum. It will pass and i look forward to that. I'm only slightly disappointed that so many people ARE shocked by this and post the same questions about it over and over for the past few years. It made me realize that there is nothing new or exciting about this forum anymore until I reach a good year out. And then I wonder where all the veterans will be.... certainly not here because everyone whose a veteran here is just venting about bad weekends or regain or whatnot. My only frustration is with what I have left to gain from the forum now.


HW: 328 (02/21/17)
SW: 271 (05/24/17)
CW:

I am about 5 months out now from surgery and I stick around the forums (even the pre-op one) specifically so I can continue to help out the newbies. I personally felt a bit lost leading up to my surgery and immediately post-op and found these forums a blessing. The support groups at my hospital tend to be more focused on long term/veteran issues which is to be expected - and generally they downplay newbie questions because they are exactly as you find, repetitive and not surprising Coming here was a breath of fresh air because no matter how many times the same question is asked people still get kind responses. I want to be part of that support - and I'm doing the same thing within my program/hospital as much as possible. It's been kind of fun to transition from needing the support to giving the support (though I'm sure I'll still need help - I'm nowhere close to the end of my journey!!!)

Best of luck to you!!

After my surgery I was in the hospital for a couple of days and then home for like 3 weeks. My husband couldn't take off work that first week so we had my parents come keep me company. I honestly would have been 100% ok without them there but it was kind of nice to have the company and the distraction. As far as driving - I waited about a week I think because I was still taking the occasional pain pill and also because I didn't really have a reason to drive.

Absolutely it counts! I was the same way before surgery - had no problem drinking tons of plain ice cold Water. But since surgery I have a lot more success with hot liquids. If I'm drinking cold water it has to have crystal light in it...and only lemonade or orange flavors...and even those don't work on some days. Hot tea has been a life saver!

Best of luck to you!!

Thanks for all of the replies! I did go through and come up with some "rewards" for my remaining weight loss. Hopefully that will help me stay focused. And I know it will happen before I know it. It took me 10 months to get this surgery and that time seemed impossible but in hindsight it flew by. This will be the same I'm sure [emoji4]

I'm 4 months out and still on my Nexium. But I had horrible reflux before surgery so I'm not even trying to go off it yet. My doctors have said we will evaluate it around 1 year out. Just go with what your dr's say and hopefully everything will be ok. Good luck!

I have a lot of weight to lose....around 200 lbs give or take. I'm about 4 months post op now, I've lost around 70lbs and all I can think about is how much further I still have to go! How do you stay motivated and focused?? I find it hard to accept compliments from friends and family on my loss so far because in my head I'm thinking "yeah, but I'm still so overweight". I'm still solidly in plus sized clothing and have a very very long way to go before that changes so shopping for new clothes doesn't bring me any joy - I'm just the next size down in the crappy selection of clothes that the fat stores carry. Sorry to sound so negative - I thought I would be happier with my losses but that is just not happening so far.

My Dr. has a 'travel policy' that they shared with us. I think driving within the state (less than ~5 hours) was allowed within a couple of weeks but you have to get out and walk every 30-45 minutes to avoid blood clots. So depending on how long of a drive you are planning that could make it a LOT longer. Plus it's so hard to predict how you will be feeling. You might feel totally fine and you might not. If you do go though be sure to stop and walk because blood clots are nothing to mess around with.

I told my boss I was having surgery and would be off work 4-6 weeks (worst case, I was only off for 3 weeks and could have gone back earlier if needed). He didn't ask details about the surgery and I didn't offer any. For my STD paperwork my surgeon and I said "major abdominal surgery" but my boss doesn't see any of that - he just gets notified that I applied for a medical leave.

completely normal - and I know I made a very similar post a couple days before my surgery! Just keep reminding yourself why you made the decision to do this. Make a list of what you are looking forward to doing and what you are looking forward to NOT dealing with after you lose the weight. And be sure to take good 'before' measurements and pictures. I totally forgot to take measurements before and I keep kicking myself because I have nothing to compare to. I also had to just detach for a couple of days beforehand and not think too much about it.... Best of luck to you!!!

I'm in the same boat - I'm almost 4 months out from surgery and over the past week I have really started noticing the Hair loss more and more. Thankfully I have really thick hair so it shouldn't be too noticeable (as long as it stops in a few months!) I was expecting it but it still is such a shock to pull out handfuls of hair every time I shower

I'm totally willing if you want me [emoji4]. My surgery was 1/25/2017....so I completely understand if you are looking for someone closer to where you are in your journey. I won't be offended - lol.

I hear you! I lost like 16lbs the first week (no preop diet so that was a huge amount of water), then the next couple weeks were around 4-5 per week. But now weeks 7-13 have been more like 2lb a week. I too had the impression from my preop research that the weight just flew off the first 6 months. That's why it's the "honeymoon phase" right? But I guess everyone is different. As long as I'm still losing consistently I'm ok...the slow loss is hard though because I have a long way to go. Hang in there!!

I log my weight weekly...but I do jump on the scale nearly daily (depending on my mood). Whenever I find that the number is starting to affect me though I put the scale away for a few days. It is really hard to see the crazy fluctuations so sometimes I need to just stop.

My instructions came from my NUT. But they work closely with the surgeons within the Bariatric center of excellence they support to make sure they meet the surgeons requirements. During my preop class there were some different "rules" depending on which surgeon you had. My surgeon only required liquids for 1 day prior and that was it. I was completely lucky!