STLoser

Welcome! Your post could have been written by me! Congratulations on making this big life-changing decision. I'm 3 months post-op and it's the best decision I've ever made!

I doubt if it was around. It was still fairly new when I had mine in 2003. I tend to scar pretty badly too, so I think the massage helped. I believe you can do it with Vitamin E too.

I'm 49 so I have no hope that things won't sag. Lol

I agree! This saved my life during that stage!

I have to say I really felt like crap the first 2 days in the hospital. I vomited several times and had a lot of nausea, but I up and walked as much as possible, and had very minimal pain. I'm actually a nurse (sahm now), and I can tell you the patients who do the best are the ones who get up as soon as possible after surgery and walk, walk, walk! Good luck to you on your surgery!

The absolute best thing is to walk as much as you can. It really helps move that gas out!

Thank you for asking this question. I've been wondering too. Mine is definitely smaller now than I'm 82 pounds down, but I still have over 100 to go and bet it will be saggy. [emoji2368]

The scars are pretty small, but I look like a pin cushion because I had my gallbladder out 6 months before my surgery. I have like 10 holes! [emoji23] I'm not too worried about it but if you are, you can try scar massage. I had a breast reduction years ago, and I used Mederma to massage my scars and they're barely noticeable.

Thank you all for your replies! I'm glad to know it's probably what I think it was. Tek, you're right, it's more challenging when eating out with other people. With conversation it's harder to pay attention to chew slowly and take small bites. I ate out one other time and did fine, but I wasn't so hungry then. Luckily we rarely eat out now because of COVID anyway, but if I do again I will be extra careful. Lesson learned!

So, I'm 3 months post op today and it's gone very well. I've tolerated everything I've eaten, and never threw up except the first couple days post op. I have had some times where maybe I took one bite too many and had a little discomfort, but nothing major. I actually just talked about this with my mom yesterday. I was wondering if I just got lucky or just really did chew well and eat slow enough. We were at my mom's all day. I was helping her clean and organize her basement and I can really lose track of time when I clean, so I hadn't eaten all day after breakfast. I was very hungry by the time we got food. We ordered Mexican. I got pork carnitas, which I thought would be a good choice. It was low carb and I've had pork several times and did fine. I was hungry and I know I ate too fast, and also didn't chew well. I have done well with this up until tonight, but when I'm too hungry it's hard to go slow. Anyway, a few bites in I started having pain in my chest and then immediately knew I had to throw up, which I did. So, is this because I chewed too fast, or because I didn't tolerate the pork? I feel like I must have not chewed enough, but I'm not sure. I never, ever want to make this mistake again!

That's such an amazing non-scale victory!! Congratulations!

I take Procare capsules. I didn't start with those, I had Celebrate chewables, and chewable iron. The iron was gross and my surgeon recommended the Procare because it has everything I need but calcium. I was allowed to swallow pills and capsules from day one. I've been pretty happy with Procare so far.

I never did have much of a sweet tooth but after surgery I really hated sweet stuff. The shakes were fine before and disgusting after, and also had this weird meaty flavor. Most things I like I still like, but for some reason cottage cheese, which I love, doesn't taste the same. I still like it but it doesn't taste as good as it did, which is disappointing. Overall, I still like all the things I liked before though.

My dietitian said 850 to 1000 calories a day. Most days I'm in the 800 range.

Ermagerd!!! Haagen Daaz coffee ice cream!! To think I used to eat a whole pint!

I'm so happy your dad was supportive. He sounds like a wonderful dad! [emoji4]

I've told everyone because I'm just an open book, and I've thought about this surgery for over 20 years. I'm secure in my decision. Everyone has been supportive. My best friend did say she wished I'd try on my own, but I told her I've tried since I was 10, I know this is right for me and I'm doing it.. She's been supportive since. I can't imagine my mom not knowing, but I'm the only child of a single mom, and we're close. She actually wanted this surgery for me even when I wasn't sure. My husband is very supportive. I think it really depends on your personality. Some people are more private. What's funny, is while I was in the hospital, I had 2 moms from my son's school take care of me, and a respiratory therapist I used to work with. I couldn't hide my surgery if I wanted to! I don't care if anyone judges me. They don't have to live in my body!

That ricotta bake really got me through the soft stage! Delicious!

Also, my doctor did not prescribe any of these until after surgery.

My doctor prescribed a blood thinner for 30 days and Percocet for pain. I didn't the Percocet. My pain was minimal. I was already on GERD meds.

Buffalo "chicken" salad. Half a Morningstar Farms buffalo "chikn" patty, Frank's red hot, lettuce, and homemade ff Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing. No after picture. I ate it all.

That's good to know about Under Armour/My Fitness Pal. Glad I stopped using it. I used it until a couple days ago. I had downloaded Baritastic a long time ago and never used it but I saw a lot of people on here did. I've been using it the past couple days and I love it. So much better and easier to use!

I was also on 5 weeks of fluids, and I don't think anything ever tasted as good as that first scrambled egg! Congratulations on moving up!

I smoked 2 packs a day for 13 years. I quit 21 years ago. Best thing I ever did. I went cold turkey. It was hard, but it gets easier with time and I don't miss smoking at all now. Smoking really interferes with healing so it's not good with the surgery.

I'm down 80 pounds from my high weight, and 56 since surgery. I have 13 pounds to go to be below 300. My necklaces fit now without an extender! I can't wear my wedding rings anymore. They're too big. I had to have them resized to a 10 at my highest weight. I'll wait until goal to size them again. I also have clothes that were too small that are now too big! I was able to sit in a booth the other day! My BP is normal and my liver enzymes are half what they were! Congratulations to all of you on your success and your NSV's!