orionburn

I'm just now finding myself able to sleep on my sides (at times) and I'm 3 weeks out. Even at 2 - 2 1/2 weeks I had to "hold" my stomach getting up out of a chair. Some nights it still bothers me and others I can slightly lean to my side, but find I can't do it all night yet.

Happy to help! I will say this - don't fret too much about rushing through the process. Looking back I'm glad that it did take longer than I wanted it to. There is a lot of mental preparation to it. I went in thinking I've tried everything else, let's just do this surgery and things will be great. It is a massive lifestyle change and something you really need to prep for. If I would have had the surgery in say 2-3 months time of my initial visit I don't think I would have been as prepared, and on the other side of surgery it probably would have been a bigger struggle. That being said we're all wired differently and many people have gone through the process in a short amount of time and had a lot of success. For me I continually reminded myself this is only a tool to help in weight loss, and if I abuse it isn't going to work.

I was sleeved on 1/25. My actual incision sites are no longer sore, but I do get a strange little ache internally when I yawn of all things. It hasn't been as bad lately, but it was kind of a weird quirk 2+ weeks after surgery.

Unfortunately it really is all dependent on your doctor's preferences and insurance requirements. For instance my insurance required you enter a 6 month program of food tracking, weigh-ins, etc. I had all of the normal tests required - sleep apnea test, stress test, pysch eval, upper GI study, and so on. Most doc offices will probably know the insurance requirements if you're with a larger provider. My nurse told me straight up that my insurance would require the 6 month program. The classes are very informative and will help answer a lot of your questions. Good luck on your journey!

I second what Nika said. Just hang in there! I had some serious regret my first week with all the complications I had, but every week has gotten better and better and so has my outlook. Don't beat yourself up too badly about not losing a bunch of weight yet. It'll come in time. I was very frustrated because I came home weighing more than what I did my day of surgery. Having to lose the "hospital" weight gain made the first week and a half frustrating, but once I got past that hump things were better. I will say the better I do on my fluids, Vitamins, and Protein the better the weight seems to come off. It does make a difference. Keep your chin up!

There are risks with all of the procedures. It's something you have to consider that could very well happen, but also many, many people have no issues at all. Some people like to make it sound like it happens to every single person that has had surgery.

I too was a huge drinker. Wasn't uncommon for me to drink at least a 2 liter of Crystal Light, a 44 oz diet pop, and at least 2-3 cups of coffee during the day. And that wasn't including what I would drink at home in the evening. I'm just over 3 weeks post op and find myself drinking regularly now. While I can't pound down the drinks like I used to I'm well past sips. I've only been up for a few hours but will have 32 oz of fluids in within the next hour. I do expect my drinking to slow once I'm back to regular foods. In the pureed stage I've stuck to foods that seems to pass through the stomach without much fuss so I can resume drinking after eating without much fuss. I'll say this was one of my bigger concerns prior to surgery just because of how much I would drink during the day. I thought for sure I would be much more difficult for me but have been pleasantly surprised. The only times I've truly felt thirsty is first thing in the morning. Never was an issue before but post-op I've found myself wanting to have something to drink as soon as I'm up.

A big reason they preach against drinking alcohol is because a fair amount of people end up becoming alcoholics after surgery. Essentially replacing food with a different addiction. I have some serious mourning for my craft beers despite not being a big drinker. There's a craft beer fest tomorrow that I won't be able to go to for the first time in years. It's sad, but I'll eventually get back to it. Unfortunately I've never been a wine guy! lol

I'm more surprised about the wine than the food...lol. My doc said no alcohol for at least a year after surgery. I recall one lady in our support group that said the first time she had a glass of wine (after a year out) that it pretty much got her drunk off half a glass.

Curious - were you told to avoid herbals around the time of surgery? My doc wouldn't allow green teas or herbal teas. Can't recall the exact reason but they did not want you drinking it 2 weeks pre-op or right after surgery.

Yes, you can count decaf coffee towards it. Regular coffee they don't count towards intake because of caffeine being a diuretic.

Awesome you guys! I remember looking back on my first week and home and hardly losing anything thinking this is going so slow, then things kicked into gear and now I can't believe the difference in just over a month. @jeichman I just broke through the 300 barrier the other day. First time I've been under 300 in a good 5 years. You'll be there soon enough!

Welcome! I was sleeved just one week before you and had a rough go the first week as well. Doing much better now 3 weeks out. Welcome to the site and good luck on your journey!

I lost 18 lbs during my 2 week liquid diet.

Where are all the January people hiding at!? Hope everyone is doing well. As of today I'm down 40 lbs! Only bummer is I have picked up a cold with a terrible cough. Trying to survive the day at work.

It really does vary between each individual. I weighed more after surgery than I did the morning of simply because of all the fluids I had pumped in me going through recovery. Weight starting 2 week pre-op diet: 336 Day of surgery: 318 Current (3 weeks post op): 296

I choose sleeve because I was a binge eater and/or had issues with portion control. The bypass didn't appeal to me because (1) didn't want to deal with the dumping syndrome and (2) felt that the bypass required more "work" taking Vitamins and such. That's merely my opinion, though. It's still requiring work with the sleeve so it's not like it's a walk in the park. It really comes down to your eating habits and what you think will work best for you.

Sounds like me except I've been fighting it for about 3 1/2 years. I've done chiro, 4 rounds of cortisone shots, physical therapy....nothing worked. My sciatica only kicked in when I had gotten back up over 300 lbs. I'm 3 weeks post-op as of today and I haven't had any pain since surgery. Before I could only walk for barely 5 minutes without my leg starting to go numb and wanting to jump in front of a bus. I notice I still get some numbness depending on how I'm sitting, but I haven't had the pain. My sciatica was what finally pushed me over the edge to do WLS. I couldn't work out and dieting was doing nothing. The doc said I would have to lose a good amount of weight in order to do back surgery so I figured I would try the WLS before getting vertebrae fused. I suffer from psoriatic arthritis so I'm afraid it will eventually come back. For now I'm just happy to have gotten some relief.

Congrats!

It varies widely between doctors. Some require 2 weeks of pre-op, some a week, some a few days, and some only a single day. I've seen others that could still have some meals of at least veggies in their pre-op diet, while others like myself was restricted to liquids only for 2 weeks. Everybody just seems to do it differently.

Just curious to see how my fellow January sleevers are doing. I had a very rough first week and prolonged hospital stay, but doing much better and every day gets a little bit easier. When I started my 2 week pre-op diet I was 336. Got down to 318 day of surgery and as of this morning am down to 298. That makes it around 38 lbs lost in 5 weeks. I'll take it! Hope everyone else is doing well!

Not silly at all! That's a big milestone. 250 is my next big personal breakthrough. I honestly doubt I've weighed less than 250 since I was in middle school. Ways to go but I'll get there. Congrats!

Congrats! Wishing you a speedy recovery!

And here's the nutritional info for the Body Fortress brand. Despite having a few more calories I like it because it's 30g of Protein in a single serving and low on the carbs.