NovaLuna

My surgeons office has a one year minimum on alcohol, but not everyone follows that. Let me tell you about my uncle though... he had Gastric Bypass and a few weeks after surgery he thought it'd be okay to start drinking beer. He had one about every other day. A few months go by and... they tell him he has cirrhosis of the liver. The thing is that before his surgery there was absolutely nothing wrong with his liver. Now after drinking 3-4 beers a week he developed cirrhosis. Apparently it's rare and only happens in like 2% of people (or so he was told), but within six months he was dead. My uncle had lost 180 pounds and had the surgery to extend his life because he had a young daughter and now she'll never remember him. He's been gone for four years. Don't drink until the doc tells you ok and even after that monitor your health really closely because you don't know if that 2% will be you. Just a word of warning... Also, I didn't tell you this to scare you, I just wanted to caution you on how serious it is to follow the doctor's orders. I can't help but think that if my uncle had waited the full year that he might still be alive.

Something similar happened to me. I have two permanent back injuries and I've dealt with the pain of one since 2013 and the other since 2015, but after my surgery the pain went away... until last week when I went back to work. I don't understand at all why that was what brought it back because I was walking and exercising during my time off after I healed from the surgery enough, but I've been back in that familiar terrible pain of the 2015 back injury and since I can't take Naproxen I got permission from my doc office to take Turmeric for the inflammation and of course my Valium for the muscle spasm and pressure issue. But I'm trying to look on the bright side. I by far prefer the back pain to a TN flare so... that's my bright side lol. I, honestly, hope that you are lucky enough that yours stays away! I wouldn't wish chronic pain on anyone!

If it helps I weighed myself the day after I left the hospital (day four) and I'd gained 3 pounds. When I had my one week check-up three days later I was down 10 pounds from my surgery which means 13 pounds in three days. I think a lot of it had to do with the IV fluid and the not being able to have a... um, well no delicate way to say this, a bowel movement, for the first few days. It DOES come off though so don't stress too much!

I'm curious about how she even got passed for surgery in the first place. My surgeons office required you to pass a psche eval and drug testing for six months. I take Valium per prescription so I always had benzodiapines in my system, but at low levels since I only take them when I have flare ups of my back injury. If they detect anything you're not supposed to be taking you have to 1. start all over and 2. seek help to stop your habit and thus it'll take longer to get approved. If you even do. The surgeons office failed in that as if she picks the cocaine habit back up it may very well kill her.

I'm jealous lol I'm six weeks out of my surgery and I still struggle with my fluid intake. I'm barely able to meet the 48 oz minimum and 64 oz is just so... daunting. I guess I'm the odd one that feels full when I drink. I was in the hospital for three days for the simple reason that they couldn't get me to drink enough and yet at my one week check-up after my surgery they still gave me a 9/10 score, which is apparently really good. But as to your worry... every day does get just a little bit better and easier. I'm finding it easier to get that fluid in as for the first month I struggled to get in 32 oz and now I've worked up to 48 so maybe eventually I'll be able to get to that preferred 64. I suggest though that if you have any questions that you bring it up with the doctor at your one week check up!

I actually have to keep liquid near me on hand and have the surgeons permission because I have EOS (Eosinophilic Esophagitis), which is an autoimmune disorder that causes stricture in your throat and leads to choking. I don't sip often when I eat, but usually during lunch or dinner a bite of food sticks in my throat and I have to. I've had EOS for about four years now and my food has always gotten chewed to absolute mush and I've been a slow eater since I first started choking, but the issue still happens. I get my throat stretched usually every two years and it's been a year and a half since last time so there is definite stricture issues and just last week I choked on one of my multivitamins... -_-". I'm currently sticking to chewables now since my throat is officially too narrow to swallow pills. So there are medical exceptions to the rule.

Sorry about your stall, but yes they do happen and I had one last week, but have already lost 3 pounds in 3 days due to a bout of stomach flu, which is definitely not the best way to lose weight, but for right now I'll take it. And congrats on fitting in a size you haven't for a while! I know exactly how that feels! I went dress shopping with my sister for her wedding as I'm her Maid of Honor and I fit into a size 24 dress! (I used to be a 32) I'm slightly worried though as her wedding is a month away and I'm unsure if I should just have bought a size down because now I'm not sure the 24 will fit for her wedding... Anyway, you'll get over that hurdle soon and before you know it you'll be down another size and putting on an XL!

I'm so sorry that people aren't commenting on your hard work! I'm lucky I guess, because my co-workers all know I had weight loss surgery since so many people I work with have done the same and everyone always comments on how much thinner my face is and how much I look like my sister now which is a HUGE compliment as my sister is seventy pounds lighter than me! And at my nieces birthday party in February one of my sisters friends, who I hadn't seen since before I started my weight loss journey in May did an actual double take. She told my sister 'Wow your sister has lost like a hundred pounds since I saw her last, how did she do it?!' and when my sister told me I was so happy for the compliment as at the time I'd lost only 82 pounds since I'd seen her last. I like the compliments so I understand how discouraging it would be that no one is praising your hard work! So I just want to tell you that you're doing amazing and undoubtedly look fabulous and sometime soon people are definitely going to take notice of your efforts! I wish you the best!

I have low energy... but that's because I have a permanent back injury that has been acting up since I went back to work two weeks ago and the Valium I take for it contributes to low energy lol. Personally, it sounds like your vitamin levels may be off. I have low potassium and I've been working on getting that back up, but I, honestly just think the low potassium is because it runs in my family and not through any fault of my own. Both my mom and grandma have been hospitalized for their low potassium before and neither of them had bariatric surgery. So for me it's a genetic thing that I just have to work on. Luckily the levels are just slightly low so the doctor isn't too worried about it. I suggest you call your doctor up and discuss how your feeling and see if they can order you lab tests to see what's going on so you know what you'll need to help you feel better.

My advice is to not weigh yourself because you're stressing yourself out. I know it's hard and you want to know how you're doing, but it's discouraging to see it coming off so slowly. Tomorrow will be my six week surgiversary and I've lost 30 pounds since my surgery. That's amazing to me even if other people had bigger losses in their first six weeks. We are all different and our bodies work different. I was told month two and three (and for some people month one) are slow months that people seem to hit a wall that they struggle to get past. So when I do weigh myself and don't see huge results I try to be positive that at least I'm seeing some weight loss, even if it's small amounts. On average I was losing 7-8 pounds a month before my surgery and now I loose that in half the time. So that's a good thing and proves that the surgery IS a success. You've lost 8 pounds in 13 days and that's great! Be proud of yourself and don't stress about it! More weight will come off, it just takes time and effort.

I would suggest working on cutting the soda out since you can't have carbonated drinks after your surgery for a few months (though my surgeon said it's not wise to ever drink it again as it'll re-stretch your stomach, which leads to weight re-gain). My surgeon didn't require me to lose any weight before my surgery but I lost 64 pounds in the 8 months leading up to my surgery (21 in the first 3 months). I did an elimination diet thing since I had to wait a minimum of 6 months before they could even seek approval for a surgery date because I wanted to prepare myself for how I would be eating for the rest of my life. I don't want to get back into bad habits. I never want to get back to being almost 400 pounds (at my heaviest I was 389 pounds). I cut back on my portion sizes with no seconds. Of course cut out fast food (other than salads). I cut out soda, then rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, and beans in that order. And then just maintained. Cauliflower rice is a good rice replacement and G Hughes makes a sugar free terriyaki sauce that makes for good stir fry (also makes an awesome bbq sauce which is also sugar free and great for chicken). Cauliflower pizza is surprisingly good and really the only difference I notice is that it doesn't crisp like bread. Whisps are a brand of cheese crisps they sell at Walmart which make for good croutons or chips and are low carb and delicious (Asiago and pepper jack cheese ones are my person faves followed by parm and then cheddar, though the cheddar are best dipped in salsa). And if ice cream is hard to give up they sell a low carb brand called CarbSmart which is made by Breyers. I also had 1/4 cup of peanuts 2-3x a week for snack. These are just what I did. Everyone's bodies work differently so I don't know what will work for you. I wish you the best though!

I did the same. My surgeon didn't require me to lose any weight but because of my insurance it would be at LEAST six months before I could have my surgery (it was actually 8). I decided to do a pre-diet. My goal was actually to lose 35 pounds and I thought that was stretching it, but I lost 64 pounds before my surgery! My BMI was 62 when I started and 52 on the day of my surgery so I think I did damn good lol. What worked for me is I did something of an elimination diet. I drank one protein shake a day with 30g of protein and I started cutting portion sizes of my meals by eating smaller meals with no seconds. The second month I cut out soda. The third month started monitoring my carb intake and I cut out rice. The fourth month I cut out pasta and started watching my sugar intake. The fifth month I cut out bread. And the six month I cut out potatoes and beans. The following two I just maintained my diet. I ate a lot of salad and I MISS it! T^T I'm only a month and a half out from my surgery and I still have to wait another month and a half before I can eat salad again! I also started attending a nutrition support group around my fourth month that helped. I recommend that! I got ideas on alternative foods through them. Cauliflower rice to replace rice which is good with sauce (do NOT eat it without a sauce because ewww) there is sugar free brand sauce called G Hughes that sells at Walmart that sells a terriyaki sauce, and bbq sauce (for chicken) that is DELICIOUS and you cannot tell at all that there is no sugar! Also, Cauliflower pizza is delicious and a perfect alternative for the real thing since it's low carb. I'm iffy on Cauliflower potatoes thoug because the only way I could stomach them is to add a ton of cheese. Also, a favorite snack that can double as croutons are cheese crisps. I buy a brand from Walmart called Whisps, the Asiago and Pepper Jack cheese ones are my fave, but if you dip the Cheddar ones in salsa it's delicious! And if you have an ice cream addiction Breyers sells a Carb Smart ice cream that comes in Vanilla or Chocolate and they also sell bars with or without nuts. I hope this helps in some way...

I weighed myself this afternoon and almost burst into tears! I haven't been under 300 pounds since I was 17! 15 years ago! And my scale said 298.4 pounds! I was almost bouncing with how happy I was and started texting tons of family members and friends lol. They all know how big this is for me and... dang it now I'm crying... It's not even a month since I had my surgery and I'm so glad I did it! Now every ten pounds is likely to put me in tears again lol, but I'm sooooo happy! What was everyone else's first big milestone? Do you feel like sharing your own experience?

Thank you! And those three months will fly by, and you'll be losing that weight before you know it! That would be AMAZING! This is the first time in 15 years I've been under 300, but it'd be 20 years since I was under 200! I've been a big girl for as long as I can remember. I'd be nice to feel comfortable with my weight for once! I got excited every time I lost twenty pounds lol, but getting under 300 just seemed so far away... This time last year I was 389 pounds. That was one of the things that made me look into weight loss surgery. I didn't want to reach 400 pounds. By the time I had my first doc appointment with the bariatric doc I was 385. Now I'm 298. That's a HUGE thing for me! I'm very much looking forward to my weight being smaller and smaller! Thank you! I wish you the best of luck as well! Everyone has been warning me that the weight will come off slower in the second or third month so I'm expecting that and perhaps I'll avoid my scale lol so I won't stress about it! I just was anxious to see if I was finally under 300 because I was soooo close at my doctor's appointment last week! I hope you're own journey is going well and I wish you the best of luck!

I'm sorry to hear about your cancer scare! Do the Bypass! If the doctor tells you it'll get rid of the issue altogether then go for it! I understand about being scared as I was scared of even doing weight loss surgery because I'd heard horror stories. But, I had also heard good things. Most people I know had Gastric Bypass and that was the one I was interested in, but my doctor told me I needed to DS or Loop DS for maximum weight loss so... I had the Loop DS despite the fact that the only two people I know who had it had issues. One had a malnutrition issue that nearly killed him, while the other was fine for a year going from 420 pounds to 190, but in the following year she lost another 100 pounds and was hospitalized because she was only 90 pounds and couldn't put the weight back on to be healthy. So yeah, I'm terrified that I'll end up with issues later on since both of theirs happened after the first year, but I'm trying not to think about it since I'm not even a month out since my surgery. I'll worry about it later. I wish you the best of luck!

I know myself very well so during the eight months it took from when I first saw the bariatric doc up until my two week pre-op diet I started eliminating the things I wouldn't be able to eat after my surgery one by one. The first month I ate smaller portions with no seconds. The second month I cut out soda. The third month I cut out rice. The fourth month I cut out pasta. Fifth month I cut out bread. Sixth month I cut out potatoes and beans. And the following two months I just kept to the diet. On the day of my surgery I had lost 64 pounds. My doctor said my liver looked great. He said my surgery was remarkably easy because of my dedication to my pre-diet that I hadn't even been asked to do so that made me feel like it was totally worth it. I'm not even a month post-surgery yet and I'm in the second week of my soft foods diet and I'm really glad I did that pre-diet or else I'd be struggling. I do miss the oddest things though... I'm dying for a salad lol and I can't have that for another two months! I also miss peanuts! T.T Honestly though, if you have good self control and eating your favorite foods before you can't anymore will make you happy then go for it! I, myself, have self-control issues which was the reason for my pre-diet. It helped me with those issues. Now I can find the will power to watch my family eat cake or donuts or Chinese food and not want to cheat.

I'm not even a month out from my surgery so I can't really say for long term, but you get full really, really fast. I still enjoy eating, just wayyyy tinier amounts. I eat cauliflower pizza, but get full after one slice where before I ate three before getting full. I eat a modified taco salad which has seasoned ground turkey, cheese, avocado, taco sauce, and tomatoes and it's delicious but I can only eat 1/3 of a cup of it before I'm full. You can still enjoy food, just not in the same volume. And... the first two stages suck. Just saying... but it's only for two weeks. Soft foods stage is what I'm on now but on Friday I get to stage 4! I can't wait to eat pork again!