MegPRN

Wow, in the second picture you and your son look like brothers! Way to go!

See if you can get yourself a copy of this book: https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-First-Aid-Kit-Practical/dp/0976852659 Maybe check your local library if you're having financial difficulties. My hospital provides it as a gift to all bariatric surgery patients, and it's got great practical advice for avoiding those emotional pitfalls and being gentle to yourself. You can always come here for support too, when you feel an emotional binge coming on!

It's possible she uses an endoscope instead of a bougie, but you need something to construct the sleeve around. It's not something you can just freehand.

I'm about 7 months out, down around 70 lbs. I feel amazing, wearing clothes and doing activities I haven't done in years. My only issue is new GERD, but it's well controlled with drugs. I couldn't be happier with my tool!

I bought a bikini in a size L yesterday.. hasn't happened ever before! It's super cute, too - navy blue with red lobsters from Old Navy. The way the top is cut makes my poor deflated boobs look perky, too!

I get a variation of dumping with my sleeve where I get reactive hypoglycemia if I eat too much sugar (for example, I ate a pack of Skittles earlier this week, and within an hour or 2 my blood sugar was crashing and I was shaky and sweaty). It feels awful. It's a result of the massive changes to my metabolism causing hypersensitivity to insulin, and my body being used to dumping insulin into my system whenever I eat sugar. Hopefully it will balance out. If not, I'll just have to cut out all refined sugars (which I know I should do anyway!)

I've got this one too! The weather here in Arizona has been gorgeous lately, so I've been taking my bicycle and the kiddo trailer that attaches to it, and biking up to my daughter's elementary school to pick her up. She gets a kick out of getting to ride behind the bike to get home in the afternoons, and I get a great workout. I would never have considered it a year ago!

I had only occasional heartburn before surgery. Since surgery, if I miss a dose of omeprazole I'm in a world of hurt, and even if I'm taking it perfectly I get breakthrough reflux once or twice a week. I suspect I have revision to bypass in my future if this continues, but for now, I would say it's fairly to well controlled with medication.

Are you being active, getting at least 30 minutes of exercise every day? Are you monitoring your intake, eating dense protein and veggies/fresh produce first? Are you getting at least 80 grams of protein and 64 oz of non-caffeinated/non-carbonated/sugar-free liquid daily? Try getting back to basics. If those things still aren't working for you, talk to a surgeon about conversion to gastric bypass or duodenal switch. The anatomy of a sleeve makes placing a band extremely difficult (less stomach to work with) and much more prone to slipping and other complications.

The earliest I remember caring about the size shorts I wore was around age 12, which would have been around 1996/1997. I was a size 14. I have never since been that size again. Now, it's very possible that size inflation/vanity sizing occurred over the past 22 years, and that I'm not truly a size 12-14 (depending on style) now, but I'm with you! It feels amazing to be wearing sizes I never thought I'd be in again.

My doctors' office gives out the cards, too. I have mine with me always, but I've never needed to show it. I rarely order off the kids' menu anyway (except at, like, a steakhouse where I can get a 4 or 6 oz steak and a side of steamed broccoli) and when I do, the server typically just honors the request without any fuss. Otherwise I just order an appetizer or a salad and box up half (then let it rot in the fridge until I throw it away a week later - I'm really bad about eating leftovers!). I'm not familiar with Fogo de Chao. Sounds like a prix fixe type place? It might be harder to get a finer-dining establishment to honor requests like adults ordering off the children's menu. Probably worth trying, though, for that price difference!

I also am down to a BMI of 29.4 as of this morning! 181 lbs at 5'6", 7 months out from surgery. Yay!

Yes! I was on Tylenol only within 2 days of surgery, but by 7 days out my whole body ached and I was back on narcotics. I was sleeping too much and not breathing deeply enough, and had developed atelectasis (partial collapse of the lower lung space, precursor to post-op pneumonia). Once I realized what was going on, I starting doing the coughing/deep breathing exercises again, and the body aches went away.

Seeking support from people who have been through the same experience really helps. My job is working with bariatric surgery patients, and I run the support groups for my hospital program - otherwise I would not have ever attended, but it makes such a huge difference for me. It's a monthly reminder of how far I've come and the challenges I still have to face, but I have the support of those around me. If you think you're heading into disordered eating territory (anorexia/bulimia/binge eating disorder) seek support from a therapist with experience with eating disorders.

Today is my 10-year wedding anniversary. Yesterday I went shopping for a cocktail dress for a special weekend we have planned. When I was in high school, my friends and I would go to the mall and try on prom dresses in the department store junior section, just for fun. The largest size they ever had was a 14. I would ask my friends to try to zip the dress up, and it wouldn't zip, ever. I blamed my boobs or my large frame (shoulders/ribs too wide..) but the truth was, I was just too heavy. It still makes me feel shame, even 20 years later. Well, yesterday, I found a beautiful cocktail dress in a size 12. I decided to try it on, despite having flashbacks to high school. It was tight and I couldn't reach to zip it myself, so I stepped out to ask an attendant to zip it for me. Y'all - it fit, with space to spare. I feel like Carrie Bradshaw in this damn dress, and I bought a pair of sky-high heels to match. And the best part? This normally $298 dress was on clearance at Nordstrom Rack for $35!

My highest ever weight was around 283 lbs. My "first appointment" weight was 276 lbs. I am almost 7 months out. Surgery day (8/16/18) I was 264 lbs. At my 6-month office visit, I was 190 lbs, so a loss of 74 lbs in 6 months. I had the sleeve surgery.

I've had anxiety on top of my depression for a while. I've been on Wellbutrin since a few months after my first child was born (she's 5 now), but I had been having symptoms of depression since my mid-teens. I talked to my nurse practitioner, and she's weaning my off the Wellbutrin and I'll be starting Lexapro instead in 10 days or so. Being off the extended-release version of Wellbutrin, I'm already seeing a difference in my mood. I wonder if I just wasn't digesting/absorbing the drug as well with my smaller stomach? At any rate, I'm happy to be switching to a drug that has a better effect on anxiety too.

I used to only be able to buy bras at specialty stores or online, which was always a gamble. I shrank out of the bra I bought (for $60-some dollars!) maybe 3-4 months post-op, so I went to the same specialty shop to try to find a smaller size, and they were closed. So I went to Target. And found a bra that fit. For $20! I could have died. I've not bought a bra at Target literally since early high school.

I love Chobani, but the carb/protein ratio is kind of high. 20g of sugar and ~12g of protein. Some flavors still adhere to the 10 calories/1 gram of protein rule, though. Key lime is my favorite. I'd love to try some of these other flavors you're recommending. I can't eat plain unflavored greek yogurt, though - tastes like sour cream to me! The Oikos triple zero is a little thick for me, but I eat that one regularly too. I mostly eat yogurt for breakfast every day. I bring a RTD protein shake, cup of yogurt, and 2 cheeses (string cheese, colby jack, or Tillamook cheddar) to work every morning and I'm pretty much good until lunchtime.

I worry, too.. I don't panic, but I do feel fat if I eat foods that aren't on the approved list (popcorn, chips/dip, chocolate). It gets especially bad around PMS time, because I crave sweets/carbs and then retain water, so I really am bigger/heavier during that time of the month. It's a mindf*ck for sure. I've mostly stopped weighing myself at home because my scale is pretty unreliable (I get different readings depending on what part of the floor the scale is sitting on - tile vs wood). My eating habits right now make me worried I'll be a re-gainer - I'm only 6 months out, I have about 3-6 months left of my "honeymood" period, and if I don't rein in the snacking now I'll have a bad time in the future. I start out each day with a plan, and by the afternoon (when I get home from work and pick up my daughter from the sitter) and late night, after dinner, when the kids are in bed.. that's when the cravings hit. I need to make a plan for those times.

Did you have a sleeve, or gastric bypass? Sometimes GERD can develop after the sleeve surgery. If it's not responding to PPI drugs (like Nexium), your surgeon might be inclined to convert you to gastric bypass. It's a pretty definitive treatment for GERD, since you don't have a pyloric sphincter in your stomach anymore.. the acid just can't build up in the pouch.

My surgeon told me insurance will cover the skin removal if you've got documented evidence that the excess skin is causing rashes/chronic yeast infections/etc that medical management hasn't helped (creams, powders, keeping it dry, etc). If that's not an option, could you get some compression garments, like Spanx, to help "reign in" the loose skin? I've lost about 70 lbs in 5.5 months, and have a little loose skin. I always feel better with a tight camisole or something under my clothes.

Chicken breast sits pretty heavy for me, especially if it's overcooked. I've found that red meat, dark meat chicken, pork, and some fish feel better for my stomach. I don't really like shrimp anymore, but lobster and crab are great. I'm a little over 5 months out from surgery, and I can eat most anything. I've found I can eat a lot of salad/vegetables lately, although I have to watch how fast I eat and how well I chew.

Can totally relate. For me it wasn't so much food smells - it was my husband's breath! I could barely bring myself to kiss him, where he's never had bad breath before. I'm now 5 months out, and the excessively strong sense of smell is gone. Thank goodness!

I had the sleeve in August of 2018. I've had no complications. I will echo the others; I wish I had done this sooner. It's been an amazing transformation - I'm down almost 70 lbs from my surgery weight in 5 months! I'm wearing clothing sizes I haven't worn since high school. I can walk all day without getting winded or sore feet. The sleeve is far superior to the band, in my opinion. Fewer complications, less risk of needing future surgeries. Also, in order to get adjustments made to the band, you have to have a needle the size of a thumbtack stuck through your skin into the port in your abdomen.. that doesn't sound fun to me.