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.)

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

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.

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.

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.

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?