lizonaplane

You need to take most of the credit! We're just here in the background! Pat yourself on the back 😉

I'm sorry this is such an issue for you. I hope you can find a good solution (some couples never live together, BTW). I would like to date some day, but I don't like sex, so that's my own personal stumbling block. I alternate between diarrhea and constipation, so I sort of get embarrassment about bathroom issues, although I don't think the smell has changed much as far as I can tell. Good luck!

These things... Even if you've never had a weight issue or weight loss surgery, you can't lose weight in one specific place. And, it does look like what you've got there is just loose skin. And... when you are wearing a shirt it doesn't show at all. But I think you may have to learn to live with the comments for the time being unfortunately until as @Arabesque said, people come to learn what you look like now and replace the old you with the new you in their minds. I also want to add that I hope I am as successful as you are!! You're an inspiration!

Some doctors don't do a liver shrinking diet. I followed mine nearly perfectly, but mine was not liquid. So, there is a lot of variation. Don't panic; when I talked to the scheduler at my clinic and told her one of the meals I had probably had more oil than it should have, she said that wouldn't be an issue and that some people don't follow the diet at all. It just makes the surgery and recovery easier if you follow the diet. I've heard of some surgeons cancelling surgery if the liver is too fragile, but I think that's pretty rare. I've only seen one person on here mention that. And I've been pretty addicted to this board since March!

I gained 2.4 lbs in the hospital and lost it by the 2nd morning home. I didn't notice any swelling but I was in so much pain I'm not sure I would have noticed it. BTW, the pain was totally manageable by like the fourth day. The only thing that really hurt was getting up from lying down and walking. You've got this!

Congratulations on your success so far! It's so easy to get complacent and "lazy". Try making one BETTER choice every day and when you make a choice on your food, ask yourself, is this getting me closer to goal or farther away?? Also, we're here for you!

100% what @Arabesque says. If your weight stays the same longer, you can try "shocking" your system by going up in calories for a few days or drinking more water. You can also change up your exercise routine. Also, make sure you're tracking your intake (like on MyFitnessPal or Baritastic or something) to ensure you're keeping track of what you're eating and drinking to see your macros - are you getting enough protein? Enough water? You've got this!

I was super worried about this, but so far at 6 weeks out I haven't had any issues (knock on wood). I'll have to ask my parents if they think that's true, because it's usually my mom who has to deal with it (I call her all the time even though I'm 41!). I think the only thing that I've been cranky about is being hungry, but although that's been really rough, it feels pretty specific and while I complain about it, it doesn't seem to be affecting the rest of my life. I am actually pretty happy about how good food is tasting now that I'm not just eating the same three things all the time. I think food actually tastes better than before surgery because I'm taking the time to enjoy it rather than shoveling into my face without even paying attention. Plus, I'm feeling really positive about my shrinking body and increasing energy levels. I always had a lot of energy before surgery, but now I'm feeling almost "spritely"! Still have a hard time lifting things. My upper body strength was never good, but now it's just gone!!!

I used to love lush, but now I can't even go in there because I've gotten even more sensitive to strong smells. I like unscented Glysomed lotion. It doesn't feel greasy at all and you can use just a little bit. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates putting on lotion!

Thanks, I'll look for that. My favorite (for the flavor) is Earl Grey. I find caffeine is a pretty good appetite suppressant so I start my mornings with about 12 oz of coffee, but I only like it iced... so that doesn't help in the hot beverages department. I actually find I'm most hungry between the hours of 10am-6pm... just like before surgery...

My biggest challenge is that I'm hungry ALL THE DARN TIME... within half an hour after eating my stomach is growling (different from the noises it makes during/immediately after eating). I can't eat much at one time, and even when I stuff myself I'm hungry in a short period of time. The surgeon was surprised and the nutritionist just said to eat more protein and fiber. It isn't helping. The only thing that helps at all is warm drinks like tea with milk or sugar free hot cocoa.

By 2-3 weeks out I could take gulps of water. I can't guzzle even 6 weeks out, but it's definitely not little sips anymore. Of course, your mileage may vary... Also, consider trying flavored water, too. That helps me a lot. And tea and coffee.

Recently I've had a few that were a bit too short even for me, and I'm only 5'3"! As it is, I have to tuck myself in pretty well, so I'm not surprised they are too narrow for others. Well, I'm sure losing weight will make you more comfortable on planes in some ways at least! On the recent flight I just assumed it must be a newer plane that had bigger seats and seatbelts to accommodate growing American bodies, but then I realized that I had lost a lot of weight since the last time I flew coach (but having said that, airplanes DO vary a lot in the size/dimensions of seats and length of seatbelts. At my heaviest, I was able to just squeeze into some seatbelts but needed extenders on others.)

I was up 1.6 lbs the first day home, but I'm down .2 from before I left on the second morning home. So, not as good as I would hope, but not terrible. Although I love trying interesting restaurants while on the road, I think I have to be a little bit more disciplined on my future trips to make healthier choices.

Those are all good things to help! I was traveling for work last week and I didn't use the Miralax and was lax (harhar) on my water intake and I got constipated. As soon as I got home and drank more water and started the Miralax again I had relief.

Now that I'm 6 weeks out I'm getting dry skin like crazy, but I'm too lazy to put lotion on. The dead skin is all over the place and so gross. It's hard to tell how much is from the surgery and how much is from the dryness from winter coming, traveling to dryer climates, and dry air in planes. Ugh!

My brother is 6'2" and built like a linebacker. He's overweight (probably qualifies for surgery, but I wouldn't bring it up with him; not my place). He fits in a standard airplane seatbelt but is uncomfortable because of the length of his legs and the width of his shoulders. Still, he managed to fly coach from Philadelphia to Australia and live to tell the tale. He was pretty miserable, but the trip was worth it. Even my sister-in-law was miserable in coach, and she's average sized. Everyone is miserable when it takes 21 hours of flying! I was upgraded on the way there but not on the way back. While the upgrade made a huge difference, I wouldn't have paid $10,000 for it. Even though it was a lay flat bed seat. You'll get to your purple goals; it is so worth it!

I also haven't had a headache since I stopped Birth control pills, which is weird, since I went on them in part to control the terrible migraines I would get when I go my period. Of course, I haven't had my period in the 12 weeks since I stopped them (I used to take them continuous cycling so I haven't had my period in over a decade, no surprise that my period is a bit messed up now!).

I ate at restaurants some of the time, but I also bought things from grocery stores like FF light Greek yogurt, hummus, veggies, and protein shakes. That probably helped. When I did go to restaurants, I left most of the food (that came with waiter questions - "is the food okay?" "yes, I just had surgery and I can't eat very much. It's delicious!" "Do you want to take it home?" "I would but I'm staying in a hotel and can't"). One evening my coworker and I went for sushi at a high end restaurant and shared the food she ate more than I did (a first!) and I just ate the fish, leaving the rice. It was nigiri, but I just treated it like sashimi. The server didn't say anything. Definitely don't get dehydrated though - it will ruin your trip to end up in the ER! Most of the time there are bathrooms everywhere - grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, etc - and the more active you are, the more fluids you will need. I didn't get dehydrated, I just drank a lot less than I'm used to, which is A LOT!

I just came back from my first work trip since surgery and I'm up 1.4 lbs. I'm disappointed but I think it's dehydration and constipation (I brought miralax packets with me but found I was always with people and didn't feel comfortable using them, plus I was really busy and had a hard time drinking enough). I also ate saltier food than normal. I hope I lose the weight quickly and go back to losing because I have a lot of travel coming up. I'm on the road constantly for the next 6 weeks or so.

I fly A LOT for work. Because I fly so often, I'm usually upgraded to business class, but when I'm not, I couldn't work because I couldn't put the tray table down well enough to put my laptop down and see the screen. Yesterday I wasn't upgraded on my 5 hour flight so I assumed I wouldn't get any work done, but I was able to put down the tray table AND pull it towards me so I had no trouble seeing the screen. Also, plenty of room in the seat (and the seat next to me was empty to boot! I worked for several hours until I went cross-eyed from the boring work and took a nap.

@Maroux I got into LA yesterday and I'm so happy that I am traveling again; first it's my happy place (traveling, not specifically LA), but also, it showed me that I can enjoy food. I ate chicken mole for lunch and trout amandine for dinner. They were both delicious but I had to stop before I'd eaten very much at all. Both servers were very concerned that I must not have liked it, but I assured them I enjoyed it very much but I had had surgery and couldn't eat much. They offered to pack it to go, but I said I was staying in a hotel and wasn't able to take it. That seemed to satisfy them. I know these are higher in fat than I should eat, but there's not much I can do about that. I just thought you should know that it is very possible to enjoy food after surgery. I was getting very depressed about this. I just wish I was less hungry. I did walk a lot yesterday around LA and I noticed that although I still got tired, I wasn't out of breath on the hills.

So, it turns out it's an infection from having a tooth pulled after surgery (unrelated). I had an appointment with the dietician today to ask about being hungry all the time (she had some good suggestions), and she suggested I check with him, so I called him and he said to come in and he saw an obvious infection (I didn't feel any pain) and prescribed an antibiotic. Hopefully in a few days that horrible bitter taste will be gone!

It's good to have a time to make changes... I spent 7 months waiting and I made a lot of changes... but then about a month before surgery I threw a lot of "food funerals" and ate a lot of junk one more time! I lost 50 lbs (22 kg?) prior to surgery. I just think of that as less weight I had to lose after surgery. I'm glad I spent that time. But I still find that adjusting is very hard, harder than I expected. But other people seem to have had an easier time than me.

I agree with everything the above responses have given. I would add a few from my personal experience: I have bipolar disorder and have to take 10 pills a night. I took them the night I had my surgery (surgery was 1300). It was a bit challenging because I could only take tiny sips of water, but I managed. The first week after surgery, it would take almost an hour to get all ten pills down, but now a month out, I can take about 3 pills at a time (before I could take all ten) and be done in about 8 minutes. I didn't find it hard to wipe compared to how hard it was to sit up from a lying down position. My bed is low, so can't answer that part, but expect pain on sitting up/changing positions for the first week. I have been working from home and I went back to work after two weeks. I had really bad brain fog for the first two weeks and didn't do anything except stare at the wall. At a month out, I am just a bit tired, but mostly bored. Good luck!