Taoz

Trust in your skilled surgical team. They know what they are doing, you just need to go in and have a nap while they do their thing. I was so set on my decision being the right one that I was pretty calm the whole way. Before taking me in for surgery they also gave me some relaxants (I think it was something like valium) along with a shot of morphine and anti nausea meds, so ask for a calmative if you're still feeling really nervous immediately before op. You can do this! And don't panic of you have a few periods of "what the hell did I do to myself??" In the few days post op while you are recovering. I had that thought once or twice, and plenty of people have a few good cries too. It doesn't mean you made a mistake. Each day post op gets you stronger and more ready to work on the new healthier you. *Hugz*

I knew it was inevitable. Aunt Flo had an extended stop over somewhere on her latest round trip, being due more the a week pre op but waiting until just over a week post op to arrive and decimate my abdomen. I had been so happy needing no pain killers these last few days and buzzing about doing my Mummy duties like normal since I came back from hospital. Then I had a little spotting two days ago as a pre warning, before the flood gates opened late yesterday. I have ALWAYS had really heavy painful periods (except when moderated a bit by the hormonal pill) and was knocked off guard by it not hurting too badly yesterday and overnight, though I did take my prescription 1000mg paracetamol/acimetophen with 60mg codeine before going to bed. This morning an hour after I got up though, the devil started throwing a party in my abdomen and I was doubled over in pain. I've now taken my prescription pain killers and one of my few remaining post op endone tablets and an curled back up in bed feeling sorry for myself. I am really really hoping that as I lose weight and have less adipose tissue contributing to my oestrogen load that the monthly pain lessens. Have any other experienced sleevers found this to be the case??? I had a terrible experience with the Mirena IUD triggering massive anxiety and worsening depression, and hubby had the snip once we decided 2 kids completed our family so I no longer need to take hormonal contraception and didn't want to continue it and risk other long term pill use complications (it's possible that taking the pill from age 12 because of excessive pain and migraines contributed to my ballooning weight as a teen). I need to get this pain under control as I'm hosting an early mother's Day dinner for my husband's mum and older sister tonight (since we are at my mum's house tomorrow on Mother's Day). As I'm still on liquids I didn't want us taking them out to a restaurant as that'd be too difficult/awkward for me, plus at home I don't have to worry about the kids running riot somewhere. Thankfully dinner will be simple roast chicken wings, steamed veggies and a potato and pumpkin mash so nothing too fancy or complicated. Thanks for anyone who made it all the way to the end of my whinging rant. *Hugz*

Hehe. I was the same. I had my op lunchtime Wednesday just over a week ago and didn't feel any hunger for the first few days, and only slight hunger before I came home from hospital.

I was very lucky not to feel very hungry on my pre op diet, but I was able to eat a regular meat & veggies dinner and I think that helped a lot with still feeling fairly "normal". I downloaded MyFitnessPal and started getting used to logging food daily, and became much more aware of how much junk food advertising is everywhere all the time (thankfully none of it felt tempting because the last time I had burger and fries months ago it was really crappy and off-putting) I am currently in the second week of my two weeks post op liquids phase though, and although I liked the pumpkin and the cauliflower and cheddar soups I had made, was feeling a bit bored with them the other day, so I made pea and ham soup today (which tasted freaking amazing for dinner) and will be making some chicken and sweet corn soup tomorrow too. Because I'm really sensitive to MSG (and similar processed glutemates) I can't eat regular canned or powdered soups so I need to make anything I want using my from-scratch chicken stock. Frustrates me sometimes but at least I know my own soups are safe for me to eat (and usually far tastier than commercial options anyway). Once I get back on to more regular foods it won't be such an issue, as we mostly eat fresh meats and veggies.

Congrats sleeved36! Just take it one day at a time. I was amazed at how much easier for me each day post op got versus the one before. By day three I was chomping at the bit to get home so I could DO STUFF. I actually discharged myself a half day ahead of when my surgeon wanted me to go (my team has a standard 3-4 night hospital stay, much longer then most I see mentioned in the US).

Are you still taking medication for reflux? Is there a reason your doctor is recommending sleeve rather than bypass if you have reflux and high blood sugars? From some discussions I've read over in the sleevers forum, most surgeons expect people with GERD to get it even worse is they opt for the sleeve, whereas bypass tends to resolve GERD (and also recommend bypass for diabetes if that is what your blood sugar issues are linked to?). I'm sorry your partner still feels that the surgery is not a good idea, but super glad that she will still support you through it. I think overcoming your other addictions is fantastic, and could signify your capacity to will yourself into better eating behaviours too, but I don't think it translates as well into capacity to generate and maintain significant enough weight loss. I have improved so many behaviours over the past decade of EXPLICITLY NOT dieting, and those changed behaviours contributed to better physical and mental health, but they still did/would not make me slim, because on their own they weren't enough to undo the metabolic damage my body has sustained after years of remaining morbidly obese while trying to diet, following early years of depression and disordered eating. Diets fail 98% of the time because we need additional tools to make it work long term.

That is exactly how I look at my new sleeve too. I could do the hard yards to lose quite a lot of weight on my own, even suffering through hunger, but the sleeve is the tool I need to be able to lose half my bodyweight without hunger/hormonal changes from long term caloric restriction setting in motion the usual arsenal of weight regain processes, and to give me a really solid shot at maintaining such extensive weight loss in the long term.

Yes. I feel it. I LOVE my fresh ground and brewed coffee from my jura superauto (hubby calls me a coffee snob). I settled for stepping down from two coffees a day to one, then dropped caffeine content until I was used to full decaf beans a few weeks before pre op diet started. Also started getting used to replacing the full cream milk with 1% and the teaspoon of sugar with Stevia sweetener. Most days I start my morning with a fresh decaf while still on liquids, but I may skip it some days depending on what I'm having for breakfast once I get puree/soft foods stage next Wednesday. In a few months I'd like to go back to one real coffee a day though (provided it doesn't trigger acid/gerd).

Welcome to the losers bench! I hope you recover well. Try for frequent tiny sips and walk as much/soon as you can to get that painful gas out and get your body healing.

G'day fellow sleevers! While I'm slowly forcing down another meal replacement shake for "lunch" (even though it's almost 3:30pm now) and can smell my pot of pea and ham soup cooking away, I thought I'd post an update on how I'm doing 9 days post op. (If nothing else, it may help encourage other newbies who are frightened by posts about hunger and complications etc). I've been lucky to have quite an easy time of things. I've been obese since my late teens and stopped dieting over a decade ago because it always left me heavier in the long term, and in worse physical and mental health. I did however work on improving my eating behaviours and thinking, which made me a lot healthier (but still fat, 121kg BMI 49 fat). After progressively cutting out processed carbs and caffeine ahead of my 3 week pre op diet, I found the VLCD diet easy to tolerate and was rarely hungry, despite being on 600-750 calories a day. I was really surprised by this. My surgery went without issue, and for the most part my recovery was swift and very good. I'm still waiting to see if I get in trouble with my surgeon next week for discharging myself from hospital the night before he wanted me to leave, because the buzzers kept waking me frequently overnight and I couldn't safely eat any of the hospital provided food (optifast and reconstituted soups, loaded with aspartame and MSG (in various forms) which are both massive headache triggers for me). I had been off IV and taking all medications by mouth already for two days. I did not need to be there. I stepped down medications over the past week at home, only continuing the one for reflux. I was cleared to drive 5 days post surgery, and was back to most normal stuff at home immediately (just getting hubby to empty dishwasher and hang up washing to prevent risk of tummy strain). Like most people I'm really keen to get out of liquids stage and have some decent food to chew, but I've been feeling ok still serving up the regular meat and veg dinners for the family while I have my soups, and I haven't felt overly jealous when making the kids sandwiches etc. Today I even bought some lovely 2.5 inch thick T-bones for my hubby to enjoy over the next few weeks (I keep reminding him he is damned lucky lol). I decided I wanted some more variety beyond my current pumpkin, and cauliflower with sharp chedder soups, so I'm making pea and ham soup today and will make some chicken and sweet corn soup soon too. I'm also making myself use up more of my remaining meal replacement powder for lunches before there are far more appealing lunch protein options available from next Wednesday. I made 3 dozen birthday cupcakes for my daughter to share at school yesterday and managed to only have a couple of licks of the batter (quality control requirement ) In summary, I'm doing well, I'm feeling well, I'm being well. I worked hard over the past decade to sort out a lot of food and other mental demons and have been able to commit myself to this change fully. 15kg down, already 25% of the way to the finish line, and I am determined to be in the minority of successful sleevers that make it all the way to normal BMI and keep themselves there. I've missed out on enough of life due to my weight. The new version of Taoz will be fearless and unstoppable (except still not doing sky diving, because that **** is just crazy lol, hubby will have to try that on his own). Love and best wishes to everyone chasing their dreams of a lighter and brighter future. Taoz

Thanks for the heads up with this post a few days ago. I'm happy to report after a second night of taking a laxative+stool softener I spent 10-15 only slightly painful minutes in the loo birthing post op poop. Will keep up a nightly tablet for a few weeks until things settle in to being regular with me able to have porridge, steamed veggies and soft chicken again.

my emergency c-section recovery was definitely harder too. Sleeve itself recovery was very good, main issues I had were actually non-surgery problems: an IV shifting out of my vein and pumping my arm full of fluid overnight 2 nights post op was very painful for a day, and the MSG headache I got the following day for eating some of the hospitals soups which must have been loaded with glutemates despite me being told it was made with "real ingredients".

I'm sorry you are having a painful start. Ask if you can have addition pain medications and nausea medication if you need it! For the first few days my support team kept me mostly pain free with sufficient medication, morphine and then endone when I was able to swallow the tablets. But everyone's body will respond to the surgery differently.

So I mentioned weeks ago back in pre-op that I was making my husbands current weight (106kg) my target that I was hoping to reach by surgery day 2nd May. My weight loss slowed down in the final week before the op so I only made it to 111kg by surgery day. Today, 1 week post op, when I weighed myself in the morning I was 106.4kg (and that was BEFORE the laxative and stool softener I took the last few nights kicked in, as hadn't BM since 2 days pre op). I told hubby I've matched him today, woohoo! And he congratulated me... then tonight while visiting my parents I had a simple text message from him... "104.0kg" .... cheeky bugger he'd weighed himself again and found he's lost 2 kilos this past month (likely because I've been leaving out rice/pasta from pretty much all family meals, plus "eating healthier" is kind of in his mind at the moment). So.. the spouse-weight competition goal posts have now shifted to 104kg... but no matter... I should be under that one too within the week At 6'3" and solid built (and with his entire stomach still inside) he won't be able to stay under my weight for long Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go ice 3 dozen birthday cupcakes for my daughter to share with her class at school tomorrow... life is cruel eh?

I started more walking yesterday, but will wait a few weeks before I do anything more high impact. I am hoping to do a little light weeding/gardening next week, and might even be able to squeeze in a light-weight fishing session in the next few weeks (no heavy surf fishing for at least 3 months for me though).

Welcome to the losers bench new sleevers! I remember very little of my op day beyond getting some pre-anaesthetic meds (anti nausea, calmative, morphine) and then going in and having the anaesthetist start the cannula in my arm. Beyond that, just my husband and my mum visiting and me being awake for a few minutes talking with them. I accepted plenty of pain relief and was happy to experience only managable pain so I could focus on getting sips of water in and walking more.

I just looked that up. 4.5 is pretty substantial. Looks like the world is moving for you today hun! Take it as a positive sign

Well done on the pre-op, and you've got this!!! see you on the losers bench shortly

Best of luck for a smooth op and recovery. We will be waiting here to cheer you on after your surgery hun

definitely ditch the up and go, that stuff is just nasty. I didn't like the taste when I tried to add "unflavored" bodiez protein to a drink or porridge (pre op), it imparts a weird taste. If you are having the berry or kiwi RTD bodie'z protein water, I rekon focus on having at least one of those split up in a few periods through the day, watered down if needed, and try to get lots of water and other liquids at other times, including decaf tea/coffee if that goes down easier. Avoid the orange RTD as you don't want to be dealing with added caffeine and guarana, and they are less protein to boot. If orange is the only flavour you can stand go with the orange powder (just let it sit at least 5 minutes after mixing to finish dissolving properly). Before today I wasn't even making it to 300 calories a day, but was progressively getting more water/liquids (500ml -> 1L -> 1.5L) and slowly getting the protein content up. With a larger volume of thin pureed soups yesterday and especially today I made it to 275calories/45g protein/1.2L water yesterday, and 639calories/56g protein/2L water (once I finish this decaf cup of tea) today. I'm making sure I get my 2 multivitamins, and my 3 calcium&VitD chews (2hrs apart from other tablets) too.

Sorry to hear that Jules. *Hugz* what breakfast drink are they recommending? Is it a standard meal replacement shake it something else? Can your body cope with just regular 1% or skim milk? (I stick with the 1% because it tastes much better than skim to me). I haven't had any full serves of meal replacement protein powders post op, as I couldn't tolerate them early in the day or at room temp, pre op they had to be made with lots of ice and icy water in a blender to drown out the texture and taste, but the thick frozen texture would be too much in our liquid phase. Was it you who posted about up and go? If so, that stuff is nasty, has lots of soy and tastes sweet and fake - it would make me sick too (and cause a headache to boot). Are you able to swallow much plain water? I didn't focus on protein the first 3-4 days post op, just on trying to increase my liquid intake with frequent sips of water, bodie'z protein water or watered down protein water. You said you only like the orange bodie'z water, are you using the powdered one (30g protein) or the ready to drink that is only 20g protein and has added caffeine and guarana which I would strongly recommend against? Why don't you try diluting 2 scoops of the orange powder with a whole litre of water? You may find that far easier to drink throughout the day. And something like a cup of tea, (or in my case, a lovely decaf coffee made with skim/1% milk - you could even get a decent one from a cafe, though they usually use pre-op ground decaf)

Excellent! Will you have other supports in place to help with your and your daughters care during the operation and recovery period if you are sleeved in early October?

hmm, I'm hoping I don't have something like this ahead of me. I was on pre-op diet for 3 weeks, with just the last day being full liquids. I think I last had a BM maybe 2-3 days before surgery, and tomorrow will be 1 week post op. I haven't had any cramps or pain but I did pick myself up some coloxyl with senna tablets the other day and took one last night. I'll follow the instructions on the pack and increase it to 2-3 tablets at night until something moves. Fingers crossed this is the first and last emergency room episode for you!

I am very much enjoying the freedom to spend time in my home, to drive to nice places to walk, to eat my real (liquefied) foods and sleep in my comfy bed Tomorrow I will be 1 week post op and I'm happy to report I'm chugging along just fine (even if the families chicken enchiladas smelled extra nice in the oven tonight lol). Big hugs to those both pre and post op, and especially for those doing it tough at the moment.