maslman

I'm about 8 months out from getting sleeved. Like you I was generally pretty healthy aside from my weight. For me the surgery went smoothly as did recovery. I had almost no complaints or issues. I do occasionally get reflux, but its usually when I choose to eat something too close to bedtime so I generally try to avoid that. The only other issue really is that sometimes Vitamins on an empty stomach make me feel nausea. But really that's about it. I don't have any foods that give me problems or anything else really. I've been pretty lucky. Given my experience I would definitely do the sleeve again.

For the most part I was on my own as well. I got my sleeve back in Sept when covid numbers were going down and they started doing elective surgeries again. I wasn't able to have my wife there with me both because of covid and because she had to watch our 3 boys. It was a little unnerving right before the surgery, but honestly the hospital staff and nurses were all great. They also let me keep my phone until right before and I got it back right after so I was able to keep myself occupied that way.

I honestly thought that I could do it on my own without surgery. After all I was already starting to lose and years ago I worked my butt off and got down to where I wanted to be. Of course had I stayed there I wouldn't be in the position where I needed to be losing weight again. I'm also much older now and while I was still considered healthy (aside from my weight) some things were starting to head in the wrong direction. My wife really wanted me to look into it for myself, for her, and for our children so I started doing some research. Based on everything I read and heard, plus knowing my previous history of struggle and loss and regain I decided that it was worth giving it a shot. So far it has absolutely been worth it for me and everyone close to me.

For me right after surgery I could only drink Water if it was very cold. Gone were the days that I would carry around a half gallon jug and drink whenever I felt like it. Slowly over time my stomach has gotten more tolerant of water and now it only occasionally makes me feel sick. I'm over 6 months out now and it has been better for probably the last 2 or 3. When I was having more difficulty I often turned to either Gatorade Zero or True Lemon. I got a variety pack of the True Lemon pouches and even now I still occasionally mix one into my water.

I was already losing weight when I had my 2 week pre-op appointment. My surgeon said just keep doing what you're doing and the day before have nothing but Protein Shakes.

I have used cronometer and baritastic in the past, but since I wear a fitbit I started just using the fitbit app so I have one less thing to mess with.

I felt some nausea a couple of times from over eating or taking Vitamins on an empty stomach, but so far 4 months in and I have yet to puke.

On 1/14/2021 at 1:27 PM, FINFAN3DP said:

Surgery is 1/29/2021. Can i still be in this room considering i am now under 400 before surgery?

Congrats on what you've already lost and good luck on your upcoming surgery.

I've got one of these too and while I don't use it as often as you do I think it's great. Quite often I put a sugar free Water Enhancer in and carbonate it. And I definitely like not having to get the CO2 like a soda stream.

Now that I've been cleared to have caffeine I have been drinking an energy drink called Raze. It has no sugar or calories and it also has electrolytes in it. They are mildly carbonated and my sleeve seems to tolerate them just fine.

I have a Renpho as well and haven't had any problems with it. I have it synced to my fitbit account and it auto populates that every time I use it.

I didn't drink that much prior to my surgery and have not had anything since. I'm about 2.5 months post. I figure I'll try having a drink in a few more months and see how that goes.

This was my first year. I just made a small plate with one or two bites of a few things that I wanted and I was completely fine. Didn't have any cravings to overeat and I got to have a taste of everything I wanted. I was also busy chasing 3 young kids around so that may have helped.

Our plans are to go to my in-laws house for a small get together. Smaller now than originally planned because one of my wife's sisters recently attended a funeral with a large attendance and hasn't been able to schedule a rapid covid test before Thanksgiving. So it will be my wife, myself, our 3 young kids, her parents and one other sister and her husband. Food-wise I think it is going to be mostly traditional with slightly lower emphasis on carbs (everyone is trying to lose weight). I haven't run into much that I can't eat so I'm planning on just taking a bite or two of everything and seeing where that gets me.

8 minutes ago, MeTooToo said:

That’s a lot of weight! Were you ever afraid of the weight loss making you less likely to be approved by insurance? I do like the idea of feeling out some of the changes before surgery.

I think the only thing that my insurance was interested in is that you don't gain before the surgery. That being said I was and still am so overweight that I was never concerned about getting insurance approval. And yes I think starting out some of the changes ahead of time made for less of a shock afterwards.

I don't remember what they told me exactly, but I was driving 2 days post op. I never took any of the Percocet that they gave me. Had I needed to take it I probably would have waited longer.

After my initial consultation I started making changes to my lifestyle and eating better. I ended up losing 78 pounds between then and my surgery date (mid March to mid September). I didn't at any point think that hey maybe I won't need to do the surgery, but I wanted to get myself in a good place to allow it to have the best chance of success.

For a long time I used cronometer, then switched to baritastic on the advice of my NUT. Recently though I decided to start using the fitbit app since I am already wearing one and using it for other things.

Swallowing felt a little painful / off for a few days, but other than that I pretty much felt fine right away. I was in the hospital overnight and went home late the next day. The day after I was out running errands with the wife and kids and I was back at work I think 6 days post-op.

I ate a lot of cottage cheese then. I also recently made some butternut squash Soup that was pretty good and would be okay for that stage. It doesn't have a ton of Protein, but I did add some bacon to it before I blended it up.

A neighbor of mine who got a Tummy Tuck swears by silicone tape. Haven't tried it myself, but my wife has been putting it on our youngest who got stiches on his forehead a week before I got my sleeve.

I was approved in September through Cigna. I needed a letter of medical necessity from my PCP, which was sent to the surgeon and his office submitted everything. My PCP didn't give me any trouble at all and sent the letter within a week of me seeing him to request it. He did make me come in for an appointment to do that. Other than that it was the standard meet with a Psychiatrist, meet with a nutritionist, upper endoscopy, a 1 month weigh in, and finally clearance for surgery from my PCP and any other hoops that were required by the hospital/surgeon (covid test, EKG, blood work, etc.).

Nice work!

A few of my friends and neighbors know and I've briefly discussed it with them, but that's about it. So far not a single coworker has said anything that I'm aware of. Now sure I don't see as many people with everything going on these days and while I don't plan on specifically bringing my surgery up I won't hesitate to talk about it if someone asks.

Based on my experience what I think is happening is that because everything is swollen from being cut up there is very little room in your pouch right after. That means when you drink something any air in there can't easily get past what you just drank to escape and it causes a bottleneck that is painful. I noticed that right after swallowing I would feel a little pain and then occasionally a tiny little burp would follow and relieve what I was feeling. I just tried to take tiny little sips until it eventually got better. I also did end up drinking mostly room temp things since they sat out forever because of how slow I was drinking them.