Sosewsue61

How wonderful to have a friend that can share the journey.

How wonderful to have a friend that can share the journey.

Awesome job!!!

I hope you feel better. That is why you have to use that spirometer thingy after surgery - any surgery. You said it was the day after surgery I spent the night of surgery in the hospital plus one more night - How did you manage to go home so soon?

Oh wow Fluffy, Mr. Sue hates that game too... lol I make him play. I need perspective like that as well. When I was 232 or bigger, I did not think of myself as that obese unless I saw a picture myself - I even came home and threw that outfit in the trash because I looked like $h!t in it from a picture. And now I have an even harder time seeing myself smaller - almost 'normal'. It's so weird.

Think in terms of textures. 1.water, clear liquids,etc. 2. Mushy, pureed - applesauce, pudding, smoothie, yogurt. 3. Flaky fish - soft cooked vegetables, eggs, saute greens, soft fruit 4. Shrimp, lobster, scallops, AL dented vegetables. 5.Chicken, turkey, duck, etc - dark meat or white with sauce. 6. Steak, swordfish, - raw vegetables, apples, raw cabbage Stages are not weeks, but tolerating textures. Progress when you can don't rush it. If you are chewing and chewing and thinking - I don't know if this feels right or will go down - spit it out! Spit it out!

Your hair will fall out more on low protein! Do clear protein drinks maybe ready-made blue raspberry Isopure? Greek yogurt topped with walnuts. Bone broth soup with some onion, celery, bits of chicken. Yes it's a pain to force yourself, but try to get a little more intake.

Been there, done that... you WILL remember that! Some textures just do that, could not eat lettuce until recently. Beef has to be well marbled or ground beef - even then it sits there hard on my sleeve sometimes. You are doing great!

So who is buying the soda? Stop buying it. You are playing head games with yourself. This happens. Get back on the horse. One meal at a time, cut the carbs out. It's not that you fell off the wagon, it's that you get back on the wagon. Go get some sugar free popsicles or something to replace the binge sweets. You can do this one meal at a time. After 3 days the cravings will subside once you stop ingesting all those carbs. Add some good fats like avocado, coconut oil to help you feel sarisfied. Up your protein to 100grams. Get your bariatric materials out and reread them. Journal. Journal your food. Journal your gratitude.

Yes, the majority will have hair loss, sometimes a lot. My hair looked terrible for a long time. It is much better now. I still take biotin, and an extra folic acid. For me folic seems to make hair grow a little faster. I also have been using Zenagen shampoo - expensive as heck - but it has improved my hair so much, it came in thicker. My daughters also use it and have had improvements, we all have very fine hair.

@djgirl19 congrats! Good luck. Keep posting!

The omentum was detached from the fundus and believe it or not it will move over and reattach to the smaller stomach, plus nerves were moved around, and your stomach was pulled out of that small hole - it will be sore for awhile. It gets better. My sternum was very sore when I moved suddebly. A heating pad on low really helped.

Good job. This will help you through the rest of them. Sleeves stall pretty often - but we usually lose inches, drop a dress size. Your body redistributes/ shifts around during stalls. I like to keep my morale up by trying on clothes - even if I don't buy them. Also take frequent pictures - sometimes in similar outfits. You will be surprised at your progress that you cannot see until it's in a picture.

Ditch starchier carbs right away. Go back to basics - protein, vegetables, green salads. Convince yourself that you might get a little hungry and get comfortable with it. Gauge to be 2/3 full and stop eating. At your stage of the journey you do not need to eat every 3 hours and you do not need a bedtime snack - the word snack is a marketing term to get you feel okay with eating beyond mealtimes. Snack=Meal. We tend to think of a snack as some inconsequential eating. I guarantee if you resist eating later at night in 3 days you will once again feel more restriction in the morning. Then if you want to ease into intermittent fasting, check out the thread, or go to youtube, read a couple books and experiment with what works for you. You can do it, you did it before. Good luck.

Chapstick, phone charger, your own pillow (aslo to put against your stomach for the bumpy ride home), mouth swabs - your mouth gets so dry. Herbal tea bags for something warm to drink - it helps. Slippers to walk the hallway, a light robe, yoga pants to wear home, sports bra - a regular one was too uncomfortable.

So sorry for you, and your mule. I know how hard this is, I used to have horses. Crossing fingers it turns around. Take a long walk or just get someone to hug you, maybe a massage to get the tension out, or yoga. Sounds weird but when I am stressed and go to yoga I actually cry. My yoga teacher says we hold our emotions in our hips and yoga opens that up.

Yes, what Mrs. Hayes said. Warm bone broth or warm decaf/herbal tea. It felt like consuming aquarium gravel - it gets better. Make a pitcher of infused water - a couple berries, slice of lemon, or mio drops helps. It takes awhile to be able to do more than sip, but you will get there.

Hang in there. You are hungry - that's normal at this stage, so just breathe. Fluids are super important at this stage, so carry that bottle around everywhere. Take a nap, seriously at 9 days because of so little intake I needed a nap. Take a stool softener, those protein drinks are so constipating. Hormones will be crazy affected by this surgery. And your period can get really out of whack. Be kind to yourself. Air that belly button out girl! LOL I hate that when it happens. I hope you got some anti-fungal, but if not try Paladin diaper cream - you may have to ask for it behind the counter (IDKW, some Walgreens lock it up)

It is a myth that you go into starvation mode at 1200 calories. Your metabolism may drop a little, but it isn't that simple. On this journey you will not be anywhere near 1200 calories for many many months - in the beginning months you will average 600 calories, then 800. Then 800-1000. Most of us stay in that range while losing and are not starving, it is important to follow the rules of protein, then vegetables and hydrate. There are exceptions accounting for body build, gender, age, etc. There is no way a newly sleeved person can consume 1200 calories unless you constantly graze and that is not how to do this.

Yes, it takes mental work and it comes in stages, some of it you cannot do ahead of time. Reading about other people's issues helps to an extent for knowledge and awareness. Every individual has very personal experiences and different outcomes that you can't pre-prepare or even know about yourself. But for me it was wonderful, my sugery recovery was great - I took pain meds at home once. I had to take it slow just like anyone, food stages seemed to take forever, liquid protein was sooo tiring and disgusting tasting but I got through it. I had slimes, some food came back up, I had a few food aversions, but most were not permanent. The journey has been good. I still enjoy Thanksgiving, I still bake 7 pies, I make all the favorites and some new ones - roasted Brussels sprouts with gruyere cheese, yum! My warm fuzzies do not need to come from food. We started new traditions - we take a walk if the weather is nice and we play board games - can't wait to finish eating so we can do that. Make new warm fuzzies. I love crossing my legs, I love noticing my collar bones, I love fitting into ANY booth, I love the energy ' I am 64 and need all I can get.

He doesn't have to 'get it' and may not even after going to the lecture. But he can still support what YOU want because it's your health at stake. He just has to be on board for changes, it has to change. You will change drastically, there are pieces of you that will never be the same. Food socialization will change. If events are mainly about food they will be drastically less interesting to you. Be prepared. I do not regret it, not once. Wish I had known about the sleeve sooner. Just my opinion, RNY has malabsorption and I didn't want that. The only two people I know personally that had RNY both needed iron infusions, and one had an ulcer in the unused stomach portion left in. Overall sleeve patients lose as much as RNY. just a little slower and a little longer and we stall more often. But we are still successful. Good luck.

Keep up the good work Mike. You look awesome, and you sound like a nice man. We all have trouble facing reality about our size. Take pictures and measurements so you can give yourself credit for your hard work. Take those compliments, you deserve them. Good luck on the rest of your journey, there are many more wonderful surprises.

We are not medical professionals and can only guess. Write all the symptoms down to give to your bariatric team. When does it happen - how long after eating? What were you eating? Did you eat a bite too much? Was the food acidic? Did you drink too soon after eating? Did you drink anything acidic? Did you eat too close to bedtime and cause food to push up into the esophagus? Does taking pepcid help at all? The citric acid in crystal light began to cause me heartburn, I had to really limit it. Check labels.

One month out might be tricky in finding something that agrees with the stage you are in. Take your cute water bottle and bring crystal light singles, have some protein before you go in, then you won't feel so tempted. There are protein chips and similar items like cheese crisps that you might be able to tolerate. Warning - the smell of them made me nauseous. But here is the kicker... this is an old habit that might need to go. The association of food and movies is something to thibk about. I have the same issue here at home - my husband 'junks' it up while we watch movies. I have a serious love of popcorn, and I can quickly be in trouble with it.... I had to stop watching movies with him for awhile until I could handle not eating at all during a movie. Snacking is a meal, not a snack - of course this is further out in your journey. Right now you have to eat many times just because you cannot consume very much. Good luck.

I am not a physician, so this is not medical advice. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550728915002865 Or they can make your pouch smaller. But honestly you have to start by getting an exam, then you will know if you have enlarged the pouch, enlarged your esophagus, have a hernia or whatever.