hillnicole34

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

I haven't posted in a while. I don't have a lot of before pictures (full body).
I started at 320lbs 1/1/2017, had a pre-liquid diet weight of 297, surgery weight of 280 (surgery date 9/25/2017). Today 8/7/2018, I am 211 lbs, so a total weight loss of 109 lbs.
I have gone from a 4x shirt and 52" waist to a XL and a 38" waist.

Hi everyone!
It's officially been a year since my SIPS (aka Modified DS) with Dr. Roslin at Lenox Hill and I couldn't be happier!
I am down 125 lbs and 25 BMI points. I had my one year check-in and everything looks good, and they told me I don't have to lose any more weight (although I think I'd be comfortable losing 5-10 more and toning.)
Now I'm planning for a Tummy Tuck and brachioplasty in a few months once my weight is stablized.
This surgery is so worth it; I can't believe the difference, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. To everyone thinking about doing this or who has and may be struggling: keep at it. You won't regret it.
#transformationtuesday

hahaha. I'd cut a bit*h for a 27lb loss in one month. Remember, the grass is ALWAYS greener. Heck, right now, I'd prolly cut a bit*h just for an 8lb/month loss.

27lb loss in your first month? How can that not be enough? What did you expect to lose? You are doing really well, don't underestimate your success.
Impatience is the undoing of many a good result when disappointment sets in. Set reasonable goals and but not all scale goals, set yourself some non scale goals, they can be as simple as walking up a flight of stair without getting breathless or walking around the block in x minutes, seeing your toes for the first time in a long time, reducing blood pressure or cholesterol leves, etc etc.

You look AMAZING! Congrats to you, keep up the great work!!

8 months post op. Hitting ONEderland is a dream come true. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive throughout this journey. This community has truly been one of the biggest drivers of positivity and my commitment to the process. On to the next goal!

Your surgeon knows your medical history. They have read through your psych eval and blood work. The chioce is ultimately up to you. Since you asked about the sleeve I will give you my two cents.
Each of us are more than the statistics. I lost 120 pounds in 6 months with the sleeve. My goal was 140. I am five years out and maintaining in the 130s. Nothing magic about the bariatric process. Follow your plan and behavior changes.
Weight gain can happen to any type of surgery: Small or large amounts of weight.
After a year you may see a ten to twenty pound bounce. It can be lost again. Maintaining is if you have a gain you go back to your bariatric plan and get the weight off.
If you can't change your relationship with food and exercise you will not have long term success with any type of surgery. People with bariatrics have revisions due to different issues. (medical, not following their plan, mobility and eating disorders etc)
Sleeve realities: Things to know.
(1) less chance dumping syndrome if you eat sugar. (some will experience it) If sugar is an issue for you, you might want a different type of surgery.
Lots of debate about stomach stretching. (yes it happens but it's rare) I am going to pass on reading any following angry posts about stomach stretching.
(2a) Your restriction will be less as time passes. This is normal with the sleeve. Your stomach has not grown back or stretched. It's a new feeling of stomach capacity. It's rare to see revision due to stretching. Think of how much food you would have to binge and force down in one sitting to cause stretching to the point of revision.
2b) Many people confuse grazing with stomach stretching. Grazing is eating several meals throughout the day healthy or unhealthy foods. Your calories will seriously increase. It is as if you didn't have surgery at all. (google it) I also see some surgeons take advantage of gain due to grazing. It's a money maker to do another surgery.
This is life long change with any type of surgery. It is still work after you get to gaol.

Yes, the whole myth that you'll never feel hunger again, is just that, a myth. Sure some folks get lucky, however most do not.
You'll get more of a "full" sensation once you start moving to real foods.

This is me, 7 months post-op..79lbs lost

Hello,
I've was sleeved back in May of 2015 and was losing weight but had a stall. I started Keto on 5/30/2018 and have already lost 40 lbs as of today. I love the Keto lifestyle. I would and have recommended this lifestyle to many of my family members and even co-workers. The change in weight has been dramatic and I am always being asked how am I losing the weight. Only draw back is having to buy smaller clothes.

Keto is a great way to lose weight in the short term. Long term, there are strong concerns in the medical community that it could damage your kidneys. Long term research still needs to be done on this. Regain after keto is also an issue. High blood pressure, diabetes and other comorbidities of obesity also damage your kidneys, so keto is sometimes felt to be the lesser of two evils in trying to help people to lose weight....because it does work. Unfortunately, it might work at a price you'll pay later as you age.
Have tried keto in the past. Made my BUN go up (kidney function test) and I regained 50 pounds faster than I lost it.
Might work well for some people, but keto is definitely not for me.
To each, their own.
The highest rates of longevity in the world are correlated to people who eat diets high in complex carbs, vegetables, fruits, plant based Proteins and fats, and a small amount of lean animal Protein.
Ultimately, you pay your money and take your chances. Talking to your doctor is a terrific idea.

Congrats ! Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Well I did it! Had my surgery. Now in room
getting ready to get up and walk. Went very well per surgeon.

From reading what you ate today, I'm not seeing that the issue is with restriction at all. Just about everything you named is a slider food. I assume you didn't eat this all at once, you ate it throughout the day, right? So these types of foods will just slide right down, not give you the satisfaction of feeling full, so you want to eat again in a little while. To feel the restriction, and getting the feeling of fullness and satisfaction, Protein and fibrous veggies are the most effective, and at the same time, what your body needs.
It is cliche because it has been repeated over and over again, but VSG is only a tool. It has to work in conjunction with us making good choices.
Sorry, if this is harsh, but I see some blame shifting in your post, that you need bread, crackers and potatoes in the house for the dogs (huh??), that you didn't read this forum presurgery, that you don't have enough restriction, that you have unexpected hunger, the mental health resources available to you. We each need to take responsibility for what we put in our mouths. Some days it is really easy to make good choices, some days it is really hard.
As far as resources go, Barbados has universal healthcare, so can you see a psychologist or counselor? They may not specialize in food addiction, but they will have experience in addiction, compulsive behavior, self destructive behavior. You can supplement that with online resources dedicated to food addictions, if necessary.

I'm sitting here at 4:45 am on post op day 2. I had a circumferential body lift, and liposuction to my thighs. Everything went really well. I came out of surgery feeling great. Minimal pain. The surgery took about 6.5 hours. I've stayed in the hospital 2 nights, and the nurses and staff here have been amazing! I'm at Rose hospital in Denver Colorado. I've been taking Valium every 6 hours for muscle pain, and 2 Percocet every 4-6 hours for pain, they help a lot. When resting, I feel pretty darn good. Getting up and moving is a bit awkward and painful, but is doesn't last long. It is MUCH easier to get up from a chair than a bed. I slept like a baby last night, didn't need any meds, but when I work up this morning I was really stiff, and had a hard time rolling out of the bed. I took a walk down the hall for some coffee, took some pain meds, and am now sitting in the chair and feel good.
Most of the pain or discomfort I have is in my upper abs. Feels like I did 800,000,00 sit ups, lol. There is one little spot on my incision that burns if I move just right, but goes away quickly when I correct. My back incision hasn't given me any trouble, and that was the one I was Moat worried about!
I got a very brief look at my tummy as they checked my incision yesterday, and almost started crying. My stomach is flat. No longer flabby with the fold in the middle leadin to my perpetual muffin top. My belly button is currently covered, but everything looks beautiful. I have three drains in that exit at my pubis area. They are quite the site, and make it a little awkward when using the restroom, but very manageable!
So far the Lipo to my thighs has been fine. Mostly when I sit on the toilet I feel like I've been kicked in the behind by a horse, lol!
Well, I think that's it for now. My dream is finally coming true, and I couldn't be more happy! I'll keep you all posted on my recovery and progress!
Oh yeah...Dr. Folk removed about 7 lbs of skin and fat, and 3 liters of fat from my thighs during lipo! . Amazing!!
Stats:
Highest Wright ever 285lb
Weight at sleeve (July 28 2014) 262
Preop plastics weight: 169
Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Disclaimer: I haven't had surgery yet. But I will tell you what my surgeon's office told me. They said the reason that you are supposed to lay good groundwork and create good habits during the honeymoon phase is because after the honeymoon phase your metabolism starts to get wind of what's going on so to speak and starts working against you again. Pre surgery Your metabolism fights you tooth and nail to keep you at your current weight. Especially if you don't do metabolism boosting things such as daily exercise, proper eating, and drinking plenty of Water (which i'm sure most if not all of us are guilty of!).
There is something about this surgery that my surgeon believes temporarily affects your metabolism (the honeymoon phase). He believes that for a period of time it is not fighting you at all. This explains why people do things/eat things they shouldn't and still continue to lose plenty of weight. They dangerously believe that since it is such small amounts of food that their transgressions aren't going to affect their weight loss. And it won't during the first 12 months. But as soon as your metabolism catches wind of what's going on it's going to start fighting you again. If you haven't created good habits during this time then it will be so much harder to maintain your weight or continue to lose weight. The sleeve is not only a tool of restriction but also a temporary metabolism reset (according to my surgeon). Use it wisely. Use that time where your metabolism isn't taking notice of the copious amounts of weight you're losing to do activities that create a more efficient metabolism. Because a bite here and there of the stuff we're not supposed to have is going to affect your weight when that honeymoon phase is over if you continue .
When my surgeon explained this to me I really took it to heart and it makes me want to take advantage of that honeymoon phase to do ALL the right things. I am sure that is much easier said than done but I am hopeful that I will follow the plan strictly.
At the end of the day we are all in charge of our success, as the previous poster said if you stick to the plan you will not gain all of your weight back. Best of luck to you!!

Oh sister sue, I totally hear you! Ugh with the moodiness...I've not had a 'honeymoon' phase but a hellish mood phase that has been harder than the physical recovery. Depression has been a female dog to deal with, medications not absorbing finally they have started to absorb better than before. I had my sleeve on Oct 31, 2017, and I'm down 65'ish pounds. I'm on a ton of meds so that might be the reason for the slower loss. But on the upside I do like the gradual loss, it, as you stated, gets the things we learned cemented into place. I'm about 2 pounds a week, not counting more inches I've been losing is a better indicator as well as progress pictures...We are all different, and with that in mind I pat myself on the back and keep on trucking.

Yes Callisto that was his comment! He is usually so supportive as i stated before don’t know what was up with that! It really did make me feel some type of way[emoji19]! Hope everything has gotten better for you, i really don’t expect someone who never struggled with their weight to understand what we really fo through. Im in my 9th day of pre-op diet now definitely not the easy way out! Thank you!

Thanks Kathy

Today has been better! Thanks for the encouragement!


HW: 225
SW: 214 (5/2/2018)
CW: 208
GW: 145

Hi
I had a gastric sleeve done in August last year.
Initially I went down 3 stone very quickly then I slowly lost another stone. I'm stable now and have actually put on about 3 lbs this month.
I've been wondering if Constipation is a common problem or if its something that anyone else has experienced.
if anyone can give me any advice I struggle with fruit and vegetables in general since surgery.
I am worried this could be a problem with me eventually stretching my sleeve and regaining the weight which I really don't want to do. The hospital I went to was Luton in the UK but I haven't got another appointment for another 2 months.
Any one have any thoughts or suggestions I would very grateful for any support, am losing the will and I feel very depressed at the moment whenever I think about it.

Definitely love this response...

I reckon these are consistent themes over and over because not too much usually goes wrong except this list - and mostly we worry about this stuff. So, same old over and over - but with new people needing new reassurance, new hope, each new month.
And I reckon we Post without first doing a Search because we want real warm-blooded real time people to respond - otherwise we could just google “why the hell aren’t I losing weight after my RNY” and just get research, or quacks selling gluten free Water that will cure us, or surgeons’ websites. But I think for many, waiting three days to get a few personal replies to a (repeated) thread is actually more rewarding than finding an old thread with 37 replies.
And as boards get new folk, old folk drift away, they are pretty self-renewing over time. Except the ‘old hands’ who like to stay - and I love that, but maybe the Rants and Raves Board should give those posts a red background so we don’t scare the new hope-seeking folk !!

No more diabetes meds, no blood pressure meds.
I have my health back! As active as I was in my 30s. A few more lines in my face but absolutely NO regrets![emoji847]