summerseeker

Hello and let me be the first to welcome you in the forum. I found it very helpful to read the back pages, they hold everything that you will ever need to know about the surgery and recovery. Don't read to many scare stories, its a really safe surgery.

My losses slowed down about the same times as yours. Once I went nearly three months before I lost again. I tend to go down in blocks of 5lbs at once. I try and walk more. I am thinking of going swimming again but the loose skin is holding me back. Try and change things up a bit. Finds some new foods. Expanding my diet like being on holiday has really been good for my weight loss. I think that at some point we have to call it a day but I am sure you will go further than you are at the moment, My problem is that I am not too bothered if I stay at this weight.

TBH my belly looks like a snakes and ladders board game. So many scars and stretch marks ! Mine have never faded and are part of me

I use something called Lactulose in the UK.

It was my first drink in the hospital, had no issues

As everyone has said it got to be your choice in the end. We all had to face our demons going through the theatre doors. Some walk away at the last minute, most of us white knuckle it. FYI I had a nasty time for the first months but would do it again and again now. Its massive surgery and an even bigger life long change after. You will know when you are ready

Huge congratulations on your work. You look amazing.

I am a very fit and well 64 year old.

I had my surgery when I was 62, disabled and very unfit. Had I still been a working girl then I would have needed 3-6 months. I had a rough time

Yes as Arabesque says Contact your team or go to the ER. Something is wrong. It could be as simple as a panic attack or a chest infection but these things always need sorting out

It will do you no good to know this but I lost 94lbs. I was way behind some people and ahead of others but in the end we only get to goal if we work hard at it

I have the lighter kind of ice cream occasionally. On holiday I had a scoop of the full fat / full sugar variety and it was ok, I did not dump or get the foamies. Life without the occasional treat would be only half a life. I keep my calories under 1300 and make my protein and liquid goals so C'est la vie

Oh dear, yes me. I was fine on this drug, eating good home cooked non greasy food. Then we went abroad on holiday to Europe. I tried my best to eat what looked ok but not knowing how it had been cooked really messed with me. One day I had to run to the loo. I seriously could not believe the amount of yellow oily stuff that coated the toilet. I had a terrible time trying to clean my mess up. I never took another one of those tablets again, meaning to only stop them while the holiday lasted but once home I never bothered again.

How are you doing ?

I wasn't a black wearer but any blue was my go to. Now I love yellows, reds and orange. I still buy most of my clothes from second hand shops or Ebay because I always have. I still keep a smallish wardrobe because I am still going down in sizes [ much slower now] and I do not really need a vast amount of clothes as I don't go to work anymore or go out too much. There is too much choice for me now if I go to the shops. I get blinded by the choice and buy nothing

Its ketosis. Once you start eating a more varied diet then it will all change. I didn't notice the smells on my skin but hated the ghastly taste in my mouth and cooking smells turned my stomach like a pregnancy.

I had awful nausea, some diarrhoea and no pain. It was tough getting in and out of bed as my bed is high so I used a step. I needed to be sat up in bed because my reflux was not under control. I seriously wished for a lazy boy chair. I didn't manage my meds and vitamins, never made my liquid goals and my protein goals were non existent. After a month and nausea meds and some serious advice from the lovely people on here, I began to improve. I worried my family a lot and at this point they noticed me getting on with things. My stomach staple line was very swollen and until the swelling dissipated I struggled.

You need to ask your team. Every team have different rules. I take co-codamol for my fibromyalgia and have from 'as soon as I could swallow them ' I was told by my team it was ok to take them.

Its hard to know for sure but your taste buds might change after this surgery. Many people have wasted money buying to much for the after surgery stage. Buy a few of each and see how your tastes are.

You couldn't make this any harder if you tried. Poor you. Yes I was so weak, I never met my protein goals for months. Just eat what you can, when you can. Take nana naps, you will feel so much better. Leave as much of the mundane until later on down the road. I had wicked diarrhoea from the moment I woke from my surgery. Anaesthetic has that effect on some of us. Others get it because they can not stomach some types of protein in the shakes or become lactose intolerant. Call your team if you are in anyway worried but the early weeks are rough.

I always have a high protein yogurt for breakfast, it gives me a instant 25 grams of protein. One milky latte containing 300grams of skim milk, contains 11 grams of protein I can eat a 175 gram packet of small prawns and thats another 30 grams of protein. Anything after that is a bonus You will get used to finding foods for the new you. Its easier than it looks

If you can keep your nerve and get to the hospital on the day then you will thank yourself three months down the line. If you bottle it then in 12 months you will be back on the bariatric treadmill wishing that you will have enough courage this time around. We were are scared, its the unknown. Like @ ms.sss says I too would have this done again in a heartbeat. It has changed my life. Its worth it. The pre op diet is so tough it feels like you have to earn the surgery. I hated that diet so badly, I almost ran to the operating theatre

Hello. Congratulations on your surgery date. You are bound to be nervous, everyone is. I have never heard of the pre op diet called a detox but in a way I suppose it does just that. It takes all our usual foods away from us and makes us break the bad habits. Sugary food and drinks usually. I was told it was to shrink my liver so that the surgery would be easier for the surgeon and safer for me. I am not going to lie to you its not easy but after the first 4 days you just get resigned to it and white knuckle it till the end. In the two years plus a bit that I have read these pages there have been two unlucky people who did not get their surgery because their liver was not small enough or was too fatty for the surgery to go ahead. This really kept me focused on what I needed to do. Good luck and I hope the days fly by for you.

This is a good thread because I am facing this dilemma as well. All winter this skin did not bother me at all because it was well wrapped up. Now its summer and I am having to keep my arms covered. Will I have this painful surgery ? I really don't know. All the time I ponder it the cost is sure to increase. And can you just get arms done and nothing else ? Would it look silly ?