thesuse2000

Welcome! I'll be a month out on Monday and I'm so thrilled with my progress so far. I know this isn't true for everyone but I've had a great experience overall and am so very glad I did this! Feeling excited for my future. I wish you a smooth surgery and recovery!

Two night for me, but my surgery was late - about 5pm. Didn't wake up until about 8:30pm. I feel like I may have been able to go home the 2nd day if my surgery was earlier. I also had band removal, sleeve and hernia repair. Good luck!

When you're seeing someone everyday it can be harder to notice the slow changes. Congrats on your success!

I'm almost a month out and the hardness under my largest incision is definitely softening up. Agree with infinite on stalls, just be patient when it happens and know that the sce will move again. I had a bit of a stall my third week - only lost about a pound all week, but then dropped 3 pounds already thus week.

I was told I could swallow pills that are no larger than an m&m. Not sure how big yours is. When I've had to crush pills I poured the powder right onto the back of my tongue and quickly drank water. Mixing with food I think would make it worse. Hope you find something that works!

When I did one they saw an area with redness and biopsied to confirm H pylori. I hope it's nothing serious.

Thank you cowgirl!! That was really helpful, especially the bit about eating till satisfied, not full. I know that I may not achieve the same success as you, but I want to aim for that, and if I seem to settle at a higher weight while I'm doing as much as I can comfortably maintain, I think I'll be able to happily accept that.

Cowgirl - what advice did your nutritionist give on how to beat the averages? Would love to be as successful as you! Thx

A lot of people seem to like Miralax too

Good for you cirvin21! That's great that you're off to such a strong start before surgery!

popsicles (sugar free), pureed soups (with unflavored protein added in ideally)... nothing else I can think of. But hang in there! You'll get through it.

Hmmm... every study I've seen does demonstrates that the band is safer than the sleeve. It is less effective however and more likely to lead to minor complications that may require additional surgery. But definitely fewer deaths - at least in the short term (longterm, more bandsters may die of obesity-related conditions than sleevers due to lower effectiveness). Just did a quick search and came across this sample data: http://asmbs.org/resources/studies-weigh-in-on-safety-and-effectiveness-of-newer-bariatric-and-metabolic-surgery-procedure From this article: In one study, Stanford University researchers analyzed safety data from nearly 270,000 metabolic and bariatric surgeries performed between 2007 and 2010. Nearly 16,000 of the procedures were sleeve gastrectomies, which had a 30-day serious complication rate of less than one percent (0.96%), compared to a rate of 1.25 percent for gastric bypass and one-quarter of one percent (0.25%) for gastric banding. The 30-day mortality rate for sleeve gastrectomy was 0.08 percent, while the rate for gastric bypass was 0.14 percent and 0.03 percent for gastric banding. These mortality and complication rates are lower than those typically associated with gallbladder or hip replacement surgery.

RJ posted this past week about a leak over a year out. It was caused by an ulcer, but overall a sleeve complication. Rare, but it is one of the various complications that can indeed happen. Everyone needs to go into this fully informed and prepared for the risks as well as the benefits.

I don't have a full length mirror at home, so I took a couple pics in the bathroom at work before starting my pre-op diet. I realized today that I was wearing the same shirt from that day, so I took a progress pic and was a little amazed and delighted at the difference. No one has commented that I look thinner yet, but this shows me that I am indeed changing. Down 31 pounds total from my highest in Feb, 25 since starting pre-op. Happy!

I'm in too - thanks! Current weight: 233 Goal weight: 211

Thanks all! I do track on MFP. Since I posted this I'm thinking that some of my meals may not be high enough protein, causing me to feel hungry sooner perhaps. I will try cutting back a bit and see how that goes - I think that will be much easier when I'm on solids... Great to see a couple of you mention 800 cals! I've just needed to know that I'm in the right neighborhood!

Hi all, I really want to succeed with this sleeve (I know - we all do!) and I don't feel totally clear about how many calories I should be eating. I see a lot of posts where people say something along the lines of "I can barely get in 500 calories a day". I have no problem at all eating 800+ calories a day. I haven't eaten more than 900, but I know that I easily could. Not sure if that's because I'm band-to-sleeve and my pouch is a little bigger (my surgeon told me she would use a slightly larger bougie to account for scar tissue from the band) or because I'm still on mushies and these are slider foods, but it is what it is. My Nut has given me protein goals (60-80) but refuses to give me calorie goals. She says if I eat high protein and meet those goals I should be good. But I really would like some parameters for calories... I don't want to eat too little and send my body into starvation mode and screw with my metabolism, but I don't want to eat too much and fail to make the most of the honeymoon phase. I'd love to hear what works for others - especially from veterans - what you did in your first year that led to your longterm success. From what I've found online I've come up with 800-900 as a good goal range, but wondering if it would hurt if I ate a little more when I'm hungrier and/or if I should really try for less... thanks!

I'm almost three weeks out and my weight loss has been very inconsistent. Didn't lose the first week, then lost a bunch the 2nd week and now barely anything in the third week. Down 10 total since surgery now. I've seen so many posts like this, so I'm trying not to freak out, but it is hard! I'm eating about 800 calories too. You will get there! Hang tight and it will happen.

fruit and veggies wouldn't give you anywhere the protein you need though - I'm pretty sure the protein shake thing will be a better experience for you.

Ha - good for you! Totally normal to need a little help to get there.

First few days are the worst, but after about day 4 you should feel much better. I felt better by day 3.

I was terrified before my surgery, but moved forward knowing that the risk/benefit profile for the sleeve was still overwhelmingly positive. I'm a band to sleeve revision and I wish I had just done the sleeve the first time. The band did not work for me - while there are more serious complications/risks with the sleeve - there is a hugely high risk (as high as 50%) of less serious complications with the band and just lack of success. That said - you need to make the decision that you're most comfortable with based on all the available data. Wishing you the best.

I was worried about working during the pre-op diet - for me, I was more worried about mental sharpness, but also physical stamina. In those two weeks I had a coupe important client meetings, including co-facilitating an all-day workshop. My surgery was on a Monday, so my diet was supposed to start the Monday two weeks prior, but what I did was start it the Friday before the Monday I was supposed to start, so that the worst of it would hit me over the weekend. People's experiences are different, but I'd seen a lot of people say that the first 4 days are the hardest. For me day 2 was the worst - I felt super low energy and had a headache all day, but after that I actually felt pretty normal. As long as you're doing shakes that are low carb your blood sugar should stabilize within a few days and you should feel okay. I would just make sure that your surgeon understands the physical demands of your job, in case it warrants any difference in your pre-op diet. One disclaimer - I ate real food instead of shakes, but kept to 1000 calories, super low carb/high Protein. Good luck! And stay as cool and hydrated as you can!

Thanks all - this thread has been very helpful to me too! I've emailed my nutritionist about my issues with protein shakes in the morning. I didn't think it was dumping because my shakes are not high at all in sugar or fat, and the descriptions I've seen of dumping sounded much more dramatic than what I was experiencing (I very often see people say that they feel like they're dying). I appreciate the info and education!

Interesting - the symptoms you're describing is what I was experiencing in the morning after my Protein shake breakfast during my first two weeks. It was so unpleasant that I just started skipping breakfast. If I had a Protein Shake in the evening (to catch up on my protein needs) I wouldn't have the issue - only in the morning. Still a mystery to me, but now that I'm on mushies I have an egg for breakfast and it's fine. Anyway - I guess just experiment and try to avoid the things that trigger it.