Once Upon a Sleeve

I’m 5’. Started the process at 199 and gained a few pounds before I was sleeved. BMI calculators say I should be 110-115, but I remember when I was in my mid 20s wearing a size 0, I weighed 125 and I felt too skinny. So I’m thinking 130 is a better point for me. But, I know that I will be carrying several pounds of loose skin that I didn’t have back then, so perhaps 135 will be a better fit (After 2 babies and hopefully a 70 pound weight loss, I am expecting my belly to look like a shar pei and will be going for plastics as soon as the doctor clears me.)

Two women dressed like this danced across the runway to open the show. Am I crazy? Or do these look like fat suits of very obese women who have lost enough weight to have skin rolls and folds everywhere but are still quite obese? I see droopy breasts, folds and rolls, and major overhanging skin. Photo from today’s Washington Post.

The paperwork I received has NO NSAIDS FOR LIFE printed in bold. I was told for OTC pain relief, it should be Tylenol only.

IF the OP is not a troll, it’s plausible that she has caused a leak in her sleeve by over consuming and the contents are draining directly into her abdomen. In which case, she needs to get off this board and into ER asap like her surgeon advised two days ago.

I read research where some RNY patients had to have it reversed due to too much weight loss. But as far as the no loose skin after losing nearly 300 lbs.... well....a picture is worth a thousand words!

Full belly, lots of water, layers of clothes, heavy shoes. Oh! And see if you can make yourself a bit shorter on the bari doctor’s chart. My BMI with comorbidity was a bit over 35. When I made myself 2 inches shorter, my BMI jumped to almost 39. To be on the safe side, I intentionally didn’t lose any weight (drank water, wore heavy shoes) during my 6 mo diet period. Insurance didn’t challenge my shorter height, but if they had, I would have probably measured about 1.5” shorter than my file stated.

I haven’t had this exact issue, but when I have to go, I really have to go —immediately. My NUT says she has several WLS clients with fecal incontinence. They control it by carefully logging their foods to identify trigger foods. Also, Always (the maxi pad brand) makes incontinence underpants - basically very thin adult pull-ups. They are a bit pricier, but look and wear like regular underpants.

Mine was short 8-10 minutes. Basically a conversation to make sure I had realistic expectations of what the surgery could and couldn’t change in my life. She also asked questions about whether I was prepared to deal with loose skin. The clearance form specifically said I had “realistic expectations”.

This may sound like a silly question, but I’m able to tolerate basically everything at almost 5 weeks post-op, and this makes me worried I’m somehow abusing my sleeve. I started soft solids at 3 weeks and regular solids at 4 weeks per my doctor’s orders. The only thing I am still working through is coffee - large half-caf over the course of several hours put my stomach in twists. A small decaf over several hours was fine. I am a busy mom with two active boys at home, and at least once a week we have pizza for dinner. At week 4, I was able to have a small slice with veggie toppings with no issue. I can basically eat whatever my kids eat, just in very small portions. I bought some 3.5” Asian dipping sauce bowls as my portion bowls, so I’m getting 1/2-2/3 cup of food at a time. If I eat too much or something that doesn’t agree with me, I get hiccups, so I stop. I’m trying to keep what I eat moderate fat, moderate carb. Lots of broth and lean meats and tofu and veggies. A little noodles and rice and quinoa (very little). From reading the boards, it sounds like a stall around 3 weeks is normal. I was also terribly constipated for a couple days. But now I’ve been in a stall for nearly 2 weeks! My energy is moderate - I can make it through the day but tend to fall asleep this week while my kids are playing board games after school. I stopped logging my food when I started solids because it was too complicated to log things I cooked since I used so many different ingredients. I started at 199, and have been between 181-183 the past 2 weeks. Do I need to do something differently, or is this part of the normal stall? I have an appt with my NUT in 2.5 weeks. Thanks!!

I was sleeved 11/16 and I noticed when I introduced solid foods earlier this week, my weight stalled. My NUT said to increase my fiber through vegetables, and things starting moving again.

My nutritionist gave me multi page instruction sheets for weeks 1-2, weeks 3-4, and weeks 5-6 before I could be on “all” foods. But today at my 13 day appt, my surgeon cleared me to eat “all soft foods so long as I chew well.” Could that be right?? For lunch, my mom made me a 1 oz cube of tofu braised with soy sauce. I nibbled and it stayed down fine. For dinner, I made the family spaghetti squash, tasted two bites to make sure each half was done, and 20 min later, I felt horrible and vomited up those two bites. Then I tried again with another cube of tofu and it stayed down fine. I’m now trying a teaspoon of the squash, well mashed, with a splash of the tofu sauce. It appears to be staying down. I’m following orders, but now I’m second guessing my surgeon. What did you eat for week 3?

The elimination drink is to make sure your stomach and intestines are empty for the surgery. It seems having bits of food in your stomach would affect your staple inline, and same for your intestines if you have a RNY. Also, with a RNY, your stomach remnant is essentially blocked off forever — you wouldn’t want there to be any food in there as it gets blocked off. I would double check to see how long your surgeon wants you to fast before surgery.

Across from the Indiana Jones ride is a BBQ skewer place. You can order by the individual skewer for $3-4 each. It’s about 2.5-3oz of meat, so perfect portions for bariatric people. You can also request it cooked without sauce if you are keto. In Disneyland, just past Splash Mountain there is a food place up the big wooden ramp that has grilled chicken burgers. You can have it without the bun. I think they will let you substitute baby carrots for the fries. There isn’t really a good equivalent in DCA. There I think you are limited to turkey legs or hot dogs or hamburgers without the bun.

I don’t think you want to have the surgery if you are sick. The anesthesia and pain meds can slow your respiration and lower your o2 sats, and if you are already congested, it will be harder to expel the anesthesia from your lungs (you get a blowing thing post-op to try to clear your lungs to avoid pneumonia). So I suggest you be very honest with your team about your symptoms and defer if that’s what they suggest. Better to defer than end up in ICU for low oxygen or worse.

I used protein sachets of soups and oatmeal and was ok. Today (day 13), I tried two bites of spaghetti squash and had pain then nausea then vomiting. I’m trying again chewing really well. TBD.

There is a website/blog out there where a person with a very precise scale measured a patch before and after use, and the weight difference was significantly less than the weight of the vitamins which were supposed to have been absorbed. So his conclusion was that there hadn’t been transfer of that volume of vitamins off the patch. His analysis didn’t try to answer whether the weight that did leave the used patch was water evaporation or actual vitamins. He also didn’t answer if any vitamins were absorbed. But his analysis showed that, best case, assuming all the weight difference was absorbed vitamins, significantly less is being absorbed than the patch claims. My doc uses ProCare bariatric vitamins (1 capsule) $20/mo and then regular Citrical caplets (need to be crushed) which are avail at Costco for $10/mo. But I don’t like the idea of crushing pills, so I went with the Bariatric Advantage calcium citrate with D and it cost me $55 for 270 pills of 500 mg. It was $25 for 90 pills, but if you order from their website and get the 270 pills with auto refill, you also get free shipping. It really tastes quite decent for a chewable. I even convinced my little ones to take them.

How many months post-op until we are ok to have slices of sashimi or poke? I usually go to the Japanese grocer and get sashimi grade (previously deep frozen to kill parasites) salmon and ahi and slice it up with a little soy and ginger. I thought raw fish was off limits for several months? All this sushi talk has me craving it!!

I think you are constipated. Your body may need more water. I was sleeved on 11/16 and am still on full liquids. I have been meeting my protein goals but missed my water target for 2 days. I noticed because I felt bloated. I noticed that I have a BM every 2 days or so but didn't go when I was dehydrated. A few hours after I upped my water intake, BM. The BMs have been small and squishy, but I feel bloating when I haven't gone. I know every surgeon is different, mine recommended 75-90g protein and 64oz water. So maybe up your water and see if it helps? It can't hurt.

If you mean your skin surface is very sensitive/painful to the touch, I had that after my c-section in several random spots on my lower belly. My OB said it was just nerve signals and nothing to worry about so long as my incision was healing properly. It lasted a few months before it was fully gone. If the pain feels deeper down, I would call your surgeon.

I know leaks are rare with VSG. I've read some mixed data on whether use of a CPAP machine increases the likelihood of leaks. Good oxygen flow increases healing, but the added air pressure might affect staple line strength. My apnea is low (13.1) and in all honestly, I don't use my CPAP at home because it bothers me and I take it off within an hour of falling asleep every night. So if there is even a small chance that the CPAP will increase the likelihood of a leak, I'd rather skip the CPAP. I am emailing my sleep apnea doctor to see if he will clear me for surgery without the CPAP. In my non-medical professional mind, since I will be monitored by an anesthesiologist at all times during surgery, and since they can give me oxygen to maintain my O2 levels, I my feeling is the risk of complications from not using my CPAP are lower than the risk of a staple line leak. I'd appreciate hearing from post-op sleevers who have been in a similar situation. Did you use a CPAP in the hospital? Did you have a staple line leak? Did your surgeon think the two were related? Were you allowed to not use the CPAP if you had mild apnea? Thanks in advance!!!

Just updating for the archives. So they did my surgery without the CPAP. They kept me on oxygen longer than they otherwise would have, just to make sure my sats stayed in the 90s. The nurse said she noticed I stopped breathing twice the first night and my O2 dropped to the high 80s. But then I woke myself and was fine. The respiratory specialist even came by for a consult. He initially was going to recommend a BiPAP, but when I explained my concerns, he was ok with my declining to use the CPAP.

Thanks everyone! I’m getting really anxious, (and started stress cheat-eating tofu), but my mom arrives tomorrow, so I think everything will be okay.

Not sure why I'm posting. I think I'm posting primarily because I'd love to find some kindred spirits who "get it". I'm scheduled for surgery in 7 days (next Thursday). I'm a stay at home mom with a husband and a 1st and 2nd grader at home. My family and closest friends know I'm having bariatric surgery. I'm telling everyone else that I'm having my gall bladder removed (which is true), so I won't be able to volunteer or attend events for a few weeks. My 1st grader knows "mama is having her gall bladder removed and after that she will not be able to eat much fat or carbs so she will lose weight." He was very excited and immediately asked "will you be able to run around with us and play tag when you are skinny?" It was lovely to hear, but it also broke my heart. My husband works full time and is theoretically "willing" to help, but only if I very specifically tell him what I need him to do. This is a man who, when I asked him to bring me the clothes in the dryer and to put the clothes in the washer in the dryer, he did exactly that. When I went to get the clothes an hour later, I realized the door was open. He told me I didn't tell him to hit "start". So I have to give VERY exacting instructions if I want him to do something. (He doesn't do this on purpose - he just lacks common sense if it's not something directly involved with his work!) Anyhow, so he knows he has to pick up the kids the Thursday and Friday after my surgery.... the next week is Thanksgiving. Despite what I've told him, he seems to think that the kids will be okay home with just me to take care of them the week of Thanksgiving. I have been telling him for weeks that isn't realistic. He said if I needed help, I could call a nanny agency the week after my surgery. Ummm... nope, I don't think I'll be up for screening a nanny post-op. We went back and forth for several weeks about this. My husband offered to have his 80 year old father come to help with the kids. His dad is super smart, but will say that he doesn't understand why "today's kids don't listen and do things to irritate adults." When he came to "help" two weeks after I had baby #1 (right after my mom left), he literally announced "let's go for a walk, we've been in the house all day" and expected me to bundle up our 2 week old and my post-c-section self and go for an hour long walk in the hills of San Francisco! I did it out of respect for my FIL until I nearly collapsed (it was only the second time I had met him), but after that, I learned to put my foot down!! After hearing hubby and I argue about childcare for the umpteenth time, my 1st grader announces "Grandma needs to come. If she doesn't, we are going to starve to death because dad doesn't know how to feed us since he can't cook. I can make microwave mac n cheese, but that's not enough food." So hubby finally agreed that mom will stay for a month to help take care of my 7 & 9 year olds while I'm recovering. So my mom will take care of feeding the kids and getting them dressed for school and to activities while I am recovering. Hubby will only be responsible for morning drop-off. I'm so grateful for her. My mom is 72, so she's slowing down, but she spends a few months a year with us, so the kids love her and know her well and they will listen to her. Now I need to get my house to "grandma level clean" so she doesn't work too hard cleaning while she is here. So now I have childcare lined up, the fridge is full of ingredients so grandma can cook, I have protein shakes and supplies for post-op, and I have made my hospital packing list. I've started my 2 weeks of liquid diet. I have mostly stuck to my shakes + 6 egg whites/day (which my bariatric nutritionist said is fine), but then last night, after the kids went to bed, I took a bowl of their uneaten tortellini, peeled off the pasta part, and ate the cheesy center. Probably 20 pieces of cheese. I wasn't sure what to do about my indiscretion. I didn't think I could vomit it up, so I just went to bed and told myself I would be better tomorrow. My mom asked today if I'm nervous about the surgery. I told her that I'm feeling remarkably not-stressed about the surgery itself. I feel like there are so many things to do before surgery, that surgery itself is going to sneak up on me. Anyhow..... that's my story. Thanks for reading!

My surgery is in two days, and after a week of sticking to my diet, both yesterday and today, I cheated. I'm supposed to be on 600 cal of protein shakes + a few egg whites. I had 400 calories of tofu (2g carbs) yesterday, and then today I had what felt like an uncontrollable urge to chew, chew, chew, and so I had another serving of tofu. Tomorrow evening I'm supposed to start the magnesium citrate to clean out my digestive system, so my intention is to start tomorrow morning instead -- in hopes that the extra 12 hours of fasting will help use up all the glycogen in my liver and make up for some of the cheating. It's ridiculous, but "no calories" is easier for me to manage than "protein shakes and egg whites".

Agreed. I was actually told this by the bariatric nutritionist. “If they open you up and find your liver is too big because you didn’t follow the diet, they will close you right back up. And good luck getting insurance to pay for a second attempt.”