LibrarianErin

Hi, @Faith23, I'm going to give you some tough love. STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF EVERY DAY. Everyone's weight fluctuates up and down from day to day and throughout a day, due to so many things especially Water weight. You should weigh at most once a week. It's ridiculous at this stage to worry you won't lose more weight. This journey takes MONTHS, not days. You have to think long term or you'll worry yourself too much. You're brave for having the surgery! Stay brave and stay strong!

Hi, @Faith23, I'm going to give you some tough love. STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF EVERY DAY. Everyone's weight fluctuates up and down from day to day and throughout a day, due to so many things especially Water weight. You should weigh at most once a week. It's ridiculous at this stage to worry you won't lose more weight. This journey takes MONTHS, not days. You have to think long term or you'll worry yourself too much. You're brave for having the surgery! Stay brave and stay strong!

Hi, @Chewchew46, thanks for updating us. I think your dietitian said that because what you're going through is normal. If you mean you have pain like a stabbing pain, then that's not normal and you need to make that clear to your medical team. But if you mean pain like feeling uncomfortably full, bloated, like a muscle cramp but not in your muscles, that kind of thing, then that's normal. I think of it like this - the incisions on my skin that I can see are not healed 15 days out, so all those stitches inside my internal stomach aren't healed either. So of course it's going to be uncomfortable to have food and liquid touching my healing stomach.
You might try different kinds of pureed food. My stomach likes refried Beans, Silk Greek yogurt, and canned chicken breast pureed with a bit of light mayo. It sometimes likes hard boiled eggs pureed with mayo, but not first thing in the morning. It's not a fan of ground beef pureed with Tomato sauce or pureed banana.
I'm only managing about 30 ounces of liquid a day, but my team says that's normal and ok as long as I don't have dehydration symptoms like dizziness or dark urine.
You got this!

I had surgery the 18th. So far all is good. I’m eating purée food. Look forward to having solids. The only thing is my incisions are itchy 😁😁. Trying not to scratch. 😁😁.

I had my surgery yesterday. Took longer than usual due to a hernia that kept making it harder for the robotics to reach my stomach. Still a successful surgery. Right after surgery had a lot of nausea and dry heaves but those went away pretty quickly. They’re in the process of sending me home now -yay! - about 25 hours post surgery. Very little pain and I had a cup of chicken broth this morning. Water is my challenge but always has been. Looking forward to getting home and moving ahead!!

Hi! My surgery will be July 12th (2023). Anyone else scheduled to change your life in July?

Hi, July Buddies! I'm sorry I haven't been posting or replying for a few weeks; I'm bad at keeping up with social media. But I have been thinking about you all and praying for your surgeries to go well!
My July 12 surgery went well with no complications. I'm still finding it hard to get enough liquids in throughout the day. I've been averaging like 30 ounces a day. Even though my mouth is constantly thirsty, my stomach feels uncomfortably full all the time. Fighting thoughts of feeling like a failure. I want to get up and do more, but my one attempt at a short grocery trip made me break out in a sweat, and I'm worried about dehydration.
I'm finally on the last day of 2 weeks of twice-daily Lovenox self-injections and I want to throw a party. Anyone else have to do this? I bruise more easily than fruit so these have been more painful than my incisions. But of course bruises are far less deadly than blood clots, so I'm trying to be thankful for the medicine that hurts me.

Hi, July Buddies! I'm sorry I haven't been posting or replying for a few weeks; I'm bad at keeping up with social media. But I have been thinking about you all and praying for your surgeries to go well!
My July 12 surgery went well with no complications. I'm still finding it hard to get enough liquids in throughout the day. I've been averaging like 30 ounces a day. Even though my mouth is constantly thirsty, my stomach feels uncomfortably full all the time. Fighting thoughts of feeling like a failure. I want to get up and do more, but my one attempt at a short grocery trip made me break out in a sweat, and I'm worried about dehydration.
I'm finally on the last day of 2 weeks of twice-daily Lovenox self-injections and I want to throw a party. Anyone else have to do this? I bruise more easily than fruit so these have been more painful than my incisions. But of course bruises are far less deadly than blood clots, so I'm trying to be thankful for the medicine that hurts me.

Hi! Anyone else scheduled for surgery in July of 2023? Let's talk!
How are you? How's your process going? What are you excited about for the future? What are you enjoying now? How are you talking about the upcoming surgery with family and friends? What supports have been helpful to you?

My turn!!! First pic is pre-surgery. Needed a cane to get around. Was in a size 28. Second pics are from today (about 10 minutes ago) and down 90 pounds. In a size 22. No more cane!!!

First photo is from an Alaskan cruise in 2019. The second is at 60 lbs loss while on vacation in Miami.

This is my halfway point. 75lbs left to lose! 3x to xl so far.

I'm 4 months post op sleeve and have lost 53 pounds so far. Started at 205 and am currently 152. I'm only 5'0 tall so I still have around 30 pounds to go.

What a journey! & I'm not finished yet

Facebook memories showed me this Christmas picture from five years ago. While not my highest weight, there's definitely a difference to be seen. So here's the five years ago pic, one from April of this year (5 months PRE OP), and one from today (3 months POST OP). I don't smile with teeth often, so hopefully that awkwardness doesn't show lol.

eight months pre-op vs eight months post-op rny! i’m so proud of my progress and i’m more confident now than i’ve ever been in my life! i’m traveling around peru right now and i’ve been able to hike and climb stairs and fit in the airplane seats - none of which i could do before! :)

HW 410
SW 355
CW 235
GW whatever i end up at healthily :)

Before - Sept 2022
After - Feb 2023 (5 months post-op)
Start weight - 397 lbs
Surgery weight - 316 lbs
Current weight - 220 lbs

Since my surgery,the only things I've sat on are soft . I took my dog to the vet and they have wooden benches to sit on. I sat down, wondered "what am I sitting on?" Got up - I moved to a different bench. "What the heck? It's on this bench ,too" . Then I finally realized " That's my BONES I'm sitting on !!!!! LOL 😲

Finally. Surgery day is here! God, I can't do this without You.
I completed my 14-day clear liquid sugar-free and caffeine-free diet along with some Protein Drinks. I didn't cheat once. That in itself is a miracle! I've lost 10 lbs. during this time, and 25 lbs. overall (since January 1st). I was placed on prednisone (steroid) twice this past Spring, which set me back. It causes. much weight gain whenever I'm on it and it takes many weeks to get the weight off. So as I was losing, I'd gain weight while on that medication. So frustrating, but it's behind me, hopefully forever.
These two weeks really prepared my mind for this journey moving forward. I will work to continue strengthening this new mindset. Not easy, right? I appreciate the input this forum - you beautiful people - has provided. I hope optimal health and strong minds for you all.
Onward! 💟

Hi everyone. I had my surgery on July 10 and I find some days are better than others. It is taking me a while to build up my eating as I struggle to keep down Protein Shakes. Interesting enough, I am able to eat Greek yogurt which has been extremely helpful. Getting my Water has been somewhat challenging but I keep sipping away. Best of luck to all that had their surgery or waiting to get their surgery.

Glad you are doing well. I had mine yesterday also. Thought the nausea was going to do me in, but other than that it’s not bad. I went out to my chicken coop and around the house just trying to walk a good bit like I should. Hope you continue to do well!

So far, so good. I’m home now. Surgery went well. I didn’t have a lot of pain just discomfort. Felt like I did a heavy ab workout the day before. My chest felt tight too, like I couldn’t get a big enough breath.
They had me on IV Tylenol and Toradol around the clock. My last dose was right before discharge today. I’ve only had Tylenol since I’ve been home. I’ve also been doing the incentive spirometry, which helps, but the most effective “treatment“ has been walking. I saw others say the same thing and it really does work!
I haven’t had any nausea, vomiting, or issues with drinking. They had me take a pre-op antiemetic and I was on Zofran around the clock. I have some oral Zofran for home if I need it.
I hope the rest of my July buddies have a good experience too! Good luck!

Apologies in advance for the long post!!
Hello everyone! I had my surgery July 12th! I am a little over a week post op! Here’s a little bit of insight for those interested!
Before surgery I was given a whole bunch of stuff as well as some antibiotics in which I had an allergic reaction to and made me break out in hives. It was super uncomfortable considering I was then wheeled to the operating room shortly after. I couldn’t do anything about the itching as I had to lay in a particular way and kept thinking “I hope they put me to sleep under soon” because it was soooo uncomfortable.
After waking up I could barely open my eyes, and at some point I stopped trying but I was still aware of my surroundings for a bit. I just remember shivering and feeling extremely cold. My entire body was aching and I kept getting these chills of pain run through my body. I was in and out so I didn’t even remember leaving the operating room and into the post op room.
If I am being completely honest the pain was at its highest the day of the surgery and thankfully the medications they gave me were strong or else I didn’t think I would be able to bear it. I pushed myself to walk about 3-4 hours after surgery even though I wasn’t pushed to, I felt like I needed to?? (Idk my brain was all over the place). I just couldn’t stand laying down for all this hours so if it meant walking to use the bathroom to get out of bed then so be it.
I kept trying to push through it and walk walk walk. They were not kidding about the walking and how it helps with gas pains. The gas pains were so bad for me, it felt like bloating(?) just everywhere..the gas pains wow..
My entire stay everyone was super nice and attentive! My surgeon was also kind enough to fulfill my request in taking a picture of my stomach after he took it out! (I personally found it very fascinating!!)
I was finally discharged the next day after being able to handle Water and Soup about 4oz for 5 hours consecutively. And I was very homesick and really missed my bed (and pets).
By day 5 though I felt pretty good and a bit back to my normal self for the most part.
Until day 5 I could NOT stomach regular water. For some reason I could not stand the taste of it?? It tasted disgusting and I had to keep drinking Gatorade or mixing my water with daily hydration flavored packets.
After day 5, I was able to stomach Protein Shakes (mixed with collagen) and was super happy about the progress.
There hasn’t been any complications and for that I am thankful, I didn’t check in sooner as I was busy trying to consume fluids every 15 minutes (I got tired of the timers soooo quick).
An app that has been a staple for me personally is Baritastic, love the easy platform and the visualization of the water goal for the day as well as being able to log in my weight. It breaks down my goal into little milestones and basically an all in one app as I can also log in food and tracks weightloss from before and after surgery as well! I also lets me keep count of the days after surgery and my BMI! Highly recommend this app, especially because it’s free
Apologies for the long post! I wanted to be thorough and detailed especially for those that are still waiting to have surgery! I cannot think about anything else to write but if anyone has any questions, please let me know! I’ll be happy to respond and as open as possible! I cannot wait to start puréed food though!! 😩

I had my surgery on Monday. The gas pain in the shoulders was the absolute worse. However my blood work showed that I have some internal bleeding. I had to have a blood transfusion today. They did a CT scan as well today to see what is going on and they confirmed I have blood pooled behind some organs. They also saw a bleed on the CT scan but it was from on the incisions for the surgical tools. HOpefully if my hemoglobin levels out and I don’t lose anymore I can go home tomorrow.

Had my surgery this morning. Doing ok. No incision or tummy area pain (yet). I had a Tummy Tuck 15 years ago so where the big incision is, is half numb from that and I think is helping with that pain now. Gas pain comes in waves but not too bad. Walking on my own. My biggest problem is nausea. Im getting Water and ice down, but they smooshed some pill in water (twice) and got sick each time. I’m pushing right along! Hope my other July buddies are doing well!