SarahByNumbers

I just started my 2-week pre-op diet today. My program makes us do 100% liquids only (with the exception of 3 dill pickles per day ?) for the whole 2 weeks, so I've been to the restroom what seems like 80 times already today ?
It hasn't been too bad yet, thankfully. I had some weird gas pains going on earlier, but they seem to be gone now. I've heard Day 3-4 are the worst for most people, so I'm looking forward to getting past those.
So far I've had a "fruity cereal milk" Orgain shake, "Horchata" and "Strawberries & Cream" TransformHQ shakes, and a tropical coconut Protein2O. Someone's lunch at the office smelled amazing, so I went for a little walk to avoid the smells ? Hopefully dinner time with my husband isn't too bad. I'm saving my 3 pickles for dinner so I have something to crunch on.
I hope everyone else is doing fantastic and for the post-oppers, that you're feeling better!! ?

I hope today is a better day for you and you get to go home soon, Cat! Congratulations!

Today's the big day for some of you!!! ?I am so excited for y'all - may you have uneventful, routine surgeries with no complications and fantastic recoveries, and may you achieve all the health goals you set for yourselves! Definitely keep the rest of us posted on how you're feeling and how things go, what you find does/doesn't work for you, etc.!

Someone asked earlier about good water bottles without straws - I like my Nalgene 32oz bottles. I have one of the smaller-mouthed bottles and one of the larger-mouthed bottles (with a little insert that helps me not pour the whole darn thing down my top). I also have a ~70oz "Juggy" water bottle that came with a straw, but it can be removed. I like how, with the Nalgenes, I know that if I fill & drink them twice, then I've at least gotten the minimum 64oz of water per day that my program recommends. The Juggy is HUGE, but really useful for the days where I'm either running around or not able to fill multiple times, or if I'm being lazy and don't want to wander downstairs to the fridge for filtered water multiple times. ?

As for leave, I'm unfortunately not eligible for FMLA at my job just yet as my one-year anniversary is the end of January. I did fill out similar paperwork "just in case", though. I do have an absolutely insane amount of vacation/sick PTO, so I will be using that to get paid for my 1.5 weeks completely off of work (a Wednesday through the next Friday; my surgery is the day before Thanksgiving here in the USA). I plan on working from home the 2nd full week, and then will likely return to my hybrid schedule (3 days in office, 2 days from home) after that. I'm lucky that I have a desk job that really just requires some walking. I've been extremely open with my HR person and immediate supervisor, so they both know what's going on! We've had at least one other person in my unit have WLS, so it's nice to not be the "guinea pig" for all this (and to have someone just upstairs that I can "talk shop" with).

Hi friends! ?This is my first post on here, so I apologize if I have NO IDEA what I'm doing! ? My VSG is scheduled for 11/22...the day immediately before Thanksgiving. Who does that? lol
I figured if I use food as an excuse to not get the surgery at that time, then I'm probably not ready for it...plus, Yule/Christmas/what-have-you is the month after that, so if I use holidays as an excuse to delay surgery, it's gonna be a few months.
Originally, my surgeon wanted to get me in in September, but I was waiting for my EGD still (even though my surgeon ordered it originally, he then said he was fine with me skipping it...I still wanted to make sure I didn't have Silent Reflux or anything funky going on). Plus, I had a cardiac event monitor for 30 days in September and wanted to get THOSE results prior to surgery, AND I got married on (Friday ?) October 13th, AND I have a major thing at work that I'm in charge of the whole week of November 13th where my presence is mandatory, soooo...11/22 it is!
I've waffled back and forth on whether to get VSG or RNY (my surgeon does not do SADI/DS at all), but I'm going with my initial gut feeling and sticking with VSG.
I imagine a lot of us have either already started, or will soon be starting, our LRDs - good luck, everyone! Magnesium & Potassium are REALLY helpful for leg cramps - that's something I learned when I did keto ages ago and kept getting woken up by charlie horses.

I attended a concert last week that was basically standing room only. In the past, I would have been DYING standing for 4 hours, but now apparently I can do it! My feet were a little grumpy with me, and I was a little sore the next day (over 40 here, lol!) but this is leaps and bounds better than it was in the past. Looking forward to seeing how I handle a 3-day music festival coming up this summer!

It's always good to ask stuff like this, because I guarantee there is someone else out there with the same question who is too shy to ask! ?
Personally, I haven't had any issues post-op. It's entirely possible that it's something in your partner's diet that's making things taste off/funky to you, or just an "off" stomach week for you. Hopefully it resolves, otherwise SleeveToBypass2023's suggestion works! Good luck!

Meowdy, friends! ? I had VSG on 11/22/23 (the day before Thanksgiving here in the USA ?, almost 5 months ago), and I have not been a very fast loser. While some people may have dropped 20 lbs in each of the first two months post-op, I'm just at almost 40 lbs down since surgery. My Physician's Assistant (we don't meet with the surgeon at all post-op in our program) said I'm definitely a "slow loser" and am about 12 lbs higher than they'd expect me to be right now.
Anyone else out there only losing about 1-2 lbs per week? Anyone who was in this situation and managed to kick things up a notch? And also, anyone who was a slow loser who eventually met their weight loss goal?
I've always been awesome at getting in my water, protein, and vitamins each day. My program pretty much refuses to give us macro goals other than protein, but I know I'm generally under 100g of carbs daily (sometimes much less). Protein, I'm usually at 80g+. Calories, I float around 1000 per day. Water, I get a MINIMUM of 64oz. I took a week off of exercising (elliptical and weights) when I was sick with a cold, and I actually lost the most in that week, so I laid off the exercise for a bit, worried it was slowing me down. I'm going to start back up on it, just because it's a good habit to get back into. When I do the elliptical, it's usually pretty vigorous for 30 minutes, sweating profusely and burning ~400-500 calories. I put on some very loud heavy metal and take out all my frustrations on the machine ?
I'm worried I'm going to be stuck at this weight and that I'm "wasting" this tool and opportunity, or that maybe I chose the wrong surgery. Granted, my current weight is way better than where I was before starting the pre-op diet, and my mobility and endurance are IMMENSELY better, and my IBS-D has basically disappeared (THANK THE LORDT), but it's still not where I'd like to end up. The PA told me that sleeve patients can lose for at least 18 months post-op, so hopefully it's just a slow-but-steady race for me.
I guess I could just use some encouragement or advice or anecdotes from others who were slow but successful, or if someone sees something glaringly "wrong" with what I'm doing.

Today is my 1 year anniversary since surgery! It has been a wild ride! I am so glad I decided to get the surgery done. I used to get winded just walking up the stairs from my basement. Now I walk between 2-3 miles per night. Next on the agenda, possible skin removal next year and both knee replacements (holding out as long as I can). I have had continuous weight loss, however, I have stalled somewhat but still had small losses during those stalls. Keep on track and use this tool to its full advantages! I have been of Blood Pressure meds since surgery. I may not need my cpap any longer, but I haven't done another sleep study.
STATS:
I have lost a total of 227.2 pounds:
17.25 inches around my chest
32.5 inches around my belly button
27.25 inches around my waist
6.25 inches around my neck
4.5 inches on bicep
10 inches around my upper thigh
4.25 inches on my calf
HW: 469.8
PreOp: 450.6 (19.2 pounds lost)
SW: 430.8 (39 pounds lost)
CW: 242.6 (227.2 pounds lost)

Ok so almost 13 months post sleeve I am just 2.4kg / 5lb from my goal and have already passed the target weight set by my surgeon so I may revise my goal a bit, for a buffer, will see. Anyway here is a picture of me taken on holiday end March 2023 (4 months pre-op) which a friend sent me and a picture of me today in size 8 UK / 4 US (wide leg) jumpsuit.
Not brave enough (yet anyway) to share my face.

Small update, in case this is beneficial to anyone else going through the same stall & hunger issues in the future!
I met with my Physician's Assistant (we don't see the surgeon post-op in my program - the PA does all the medical legwork) on July 8th since I was stuck in the high 240s for quite a while (roughly 112kg). The PA discussed what I was doing, agreed that I was doing almost everything right, minus somewhat larger portions at meals due to experiencing more hunger. We discussed GLP-1s (Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, etc.), phentermine, topiramate + phentermine, Contrave, and other medication options. Since my insurance would not cover GLP-1s (I do not have diabetes) and they'd all be crazy expensive out-of-pocket, we decided to give the phentermine a try. Note that this is not a good medication to add if you have any history of heart issues - I'm not a doctor, so anything I say is personal anecdote and you should always consult a physician for any changes in your own medications, etc.
Phentermine is a stimulant and an anorectic, which means it reduces appetite and can increase energy. It will NOT cause you to burn more calories without increasing activity, so reducing the amount eaten is critical (and increasing activity helps, too). The PA had me do an EKG in-office that day, and since it came out normal, I was prescribed half of a 37.5mg tablet for the first 4 days, to increase to a whole tablet daily if I still had residual hunger and was tolerating the 1/2 tab well. I did end up going up to the full tablet, as I had no side effects (except for some anxiety the one day I had a cup of coffee in the morning...don't combine stimulants!!).
The result has been that I've dropped 5lbs in the last 2 weeks, and almost a week of that was spent at an outdoor music festival where the food options were far less than stellar (think "carnival foods" - I tried to stick mostly to all-meat options as much as possible, but I did help my spouse with some cheese curds and funnel cake...). I do have Narcolepsy and ADHD, and the addition of a stimulant has been a bit helpful for those conditions, as well. Another plus was that it cost me roughly $7 USD to fill at my pharmacy with insurance, so it was far more affordable for me than the GLP-1s would have been. My hunger has been curbed quite a bit, and this has helped me feel satisfied eating far smaller portions than I was eating previously.
I have a check-in with my PA towards the end of August, and I'm pleased with my progress so far! I had an annual physical with my General Practitioner last week, and my A1C says I'm no longer pre-diabetic ?

I know a few people on the compound semaglutide as well as tirzepatide, 1 person on Zepbound, and 1 person on Wegovy. They all say the same thing. It helps lower blood sugar, suppresses appetite, quiets head hunger, causes crazy constipation after the initial dose, causes nausea on the 2nd dose on up, and you basically have to stay on it forever because once you go off it, all the benefits go away and you gain back the weight you lost (sometimes even more).
It doesn't cause weight loss in and of itself, it does burn or melt away fat, it doesn't speed up metabolism. They changed their eating habits while on the medication, but once they stopped, that all kind of went out the window because all the things the meds stopped came roaring back.
So make sure, if you want to be on it, you can be on it for the long haul. Otherwise you well very well could undo the progress you make while on it once you go off it.

I supposed the OP has already worked this out since the post was 2015 but I just want to add that the surgeons do then to weight loss drugs as one of the tools in their belts post surgery now. They have quite a few in addition to phentermine nowadays too. For anyone out there experiencing weight gain please touch base with your team. I was unable to take the meds because if interactions with other meds I was on but that was definitely an option that was presented to me early on and for someone with only a fair amount of weight to lose it could help. I have taken phentermine in the past and it did reduce my appetite significantly. My problem is I wake up several times and night and eat too so once the med wore off I was hungry. For those reasons they didn’t work for me but they do work for many people.

Are you talking about surgery or the glp- meds or some other meds? For surgery some people choose to go out of pocket and some stay within the states (the dr should have a private pay rate). For GLP-1 meds they do make compounded versions of them that are a little cheaper. Frankly most insirance doesn’t cover them so lots of people are going that route. They offer them here in the store on this site but I can’t vouch for them. I’ve never tried any of them. The other diet drugs that are less expensive you could probably go to like good rx and get a coupon code for a pharmacy near you and get a better price than retail. Phentermine is one that I have heard some people have success with. You will need to see a dr for the script and they most likely will do an ekg before they give them to you since it is a stimulant. There are a few others but that’s the only name that is coming to mind right now. I will tell you ahead of time though if you are a night eater. Like you eat all through the night the phentermine won’t do much for you because you can’t take it at night or you can’t sleep and once it wears off it doesn’t do anything of course. It did curb my cravings so I could make healthy choices through the normal day though.

hi all, I posted this in the pre op forum for June buddies, but thought I'd also post it here in case it helps anyone.
Here's my experience so far after getting the Gastric Sleeve procedure on 13th June 2024...
Immediately after surgery
It was pretty rough for me, I woke up in a lot of pain, so much so that the nurses had to give me 30mg morphine for the pain. I was in a recovery room for the first 24 hours (standard procedure for the private hospital in the UK i went through) After the initial 24hrs I was moved back to my room where I felt a lot better. Even able to eat an ice pop and a small cup of Tomato Soup (sipping of course) and sipping Water every 5-10 mins.
Week 1-2
I quickly moved onto the liquids phase, in which I must have taken in around 2-300 cals per day through Protein Shakes and watery Soups. I must admin this phase was the hardest for me, managing the pain meds as well as trying to drink as much liquids as I could in a day. It just so happened there was an international football (soccer) tournament on in Europe in my first 2 weeks' recovery so was engrossed in that! I also started walking 1 mile per day and upping that to almost 2 miles by the end of it. My weight loss was drastic in this phase but my word I was lethargic/got tired v easily and not up for doing much.
Week 3-4
Puree stage - finally I felt I was able to get some proper food in me, and a few days after starting this phase, my weight slowed right down - the dreaded (but expected) 3 week plateau kicked in. I went around a week and a bit without any weight loss, despite me sticking to the recommended diet. I am not going to sugar coat this, it was a bit disappointing standing on those scales after a week, but I knew this would happen so meh I guess. Still walking 2 miles per day during this phase and now feeling I have a lot more energy.
Week 5-6
Week 5 started with me starting to lose a pound every 2 days or so, so my body seems like it has adjusted to the inro of more foods for the 'soft foods' stage. I also started back at the gym doing some cardio work on top of my walks, and oh boy I have so much more energy for it! I am now around half way through week 6 and had my first appointment with my nutritionist and he is blown away by the progress I have made/am making. He gave me further chewing tips to make sure I am not overeating as I have been sick a couple of times when I've eaten too quickly and not realised I'm full/satisfied. He is now happy for me to start introducing more fibred meats and more complex foods, like a little Pasta and a little bit of rice, to test the waters.
Struggles so far:
Reminding myself I have a new stomach not eating what family members are eating e.g. Sunday dinner Eating too fast resulting in vomiting Extra attention from people who have noticed a loss in weight (47lbs and counting since pre-op liver diet). Since I've been overweight most of my adult life, I carried a lot of shame internally, so its in my nature not to talk about myself/get photos taken etc Wins so far
Losing a lot of weight and all the benefits that go with it. Being more present with my family. Having the energy to do everything they want to do (I have a wife and 2 kids, girl 11, boy 7) Clothes! I have dropped from XXXL to XL already. Which was a surprise when I packed to go to a 5 day getaway with my fam in week 5 Mental health - the mental benefits come as such a relief. I no longer feel down about my weight (although I know I still have a ways to go) Confidence - generally just feel I can be more myself - hopefully some here will resonate with this.
Would be great to hear of your experiences so far, especially if you had your procedure in April/May/June/July!

Thanks for checking on me!! About the same in terms of weight, unfortunately ?, although I'm bouncing around the high 240s instead of the low 250s now, so there's been a slight change. I'm going to reach out to my team soon if things don't get moving again.

Thanks for checking on me!! About the same in terms of weight, unfortunately ?, although I'm bouncing around the high 240s instead of the low 250s now, so there's been a slight change. I'm going to reach out to my team soon if things don't get moving again.

Thank you all, I ended up drinking a ton more water and it seemed to help!

You have hormonal shifts and should be temporary but I’d speak to my OB/GYN or your surgeon to have labs done.

I don't think it sounds abnormal At All. I was recently doing some research into something tangently related (spotting / menstrual issues) and everything I came across has been talking about how much our hormones change -- both from the surgery itself, but also all throughout weight loss, etc. Get yourself some good lube and enjoy. ?

I don't think you are going bald, just going through what so many of us have had to cope with.
I had long thick straight hair pre-op and thought I was doing really well when I got to month four with no hair loss and then it was like a horror movie for two months. Clumps would come out if I washed my hair, I would cry in the shower when I saw what was in the drain and my hand after just a light touch wash. I kept my hair tied back and washed just once a week during the two months but you could tell where I had been by following the trail of fallen hair, I seriously shed more than my cat!
I was so self conscious about it as had bald patches but thankfully others couldn't tell it was mostly underneath. I ended up cutting my hair up to chin length so it was not as obvious. After six months the hair loss stopped and now it is about regrowth, it is nearly as annoying though not in anyway upsetting. I have been getting my hair cut every couple of months so that my existing hair is as close in length to the new hair (which is coming in with a curl) and I have to put mascara in my hair if I go out in public as there are baby hairs sticking up all over the place, looks like static hair.
I took special bariatric vitamins for hair for three months, no idea if it helped but I was prepared to try anything. I also got a couple of wigs but ended up not needed them. For washing my hair I used a really soft shampoo made from oat milk.
Basically I just want to let you know that what you are going through is normal after the surgery, you couldn't have prevented it, it just happens to most patients as the body is coping with the weight loss and it will get better.

My boyfriend tells me that when I'm sleeping at night I am performing a symphony. LOL

Someone's gotta tell my PA this! lol
Thank you for the encouragement - this situation was at least a good motivator for me to re-evaluate what I'm eating (I was getting a little lax with keeping some of the less nutritious things outta my mouth), so if anything, my worries have put me back on track to sustain this lifestyle change longer term.

It's always good to ask stuff like this, because I guarantee there is someone else out there with the same question who is too shy to ask! ?
Personally, I haven't had any issues post-op. It's entirely possible that it's something in your partner's diet that's making things taste off/funky to you, or just an "off" stomach week for you. Hopefully it resolves, otherwise SleeveToBypass2023's suggestion works! Good luck!

I attended a concert last week that was basically standing room only. In the past, I would have been DYING standing for 4 hours, but now apparently I can do it! My feet were a little grumpy with me, and I was a little sore the next day (over 40 here, lol!) but this is leaps and bounds better than it was in the past. Looking forward to seeing how I handle a 3-day music festival coming up this summer!

I attended a concert last week that was basically standing room only. In the past, I would have been DYING standing for 4 hours, but now apparently I can do it! My feet were a little grumpy with me, and I was a little sore the next day (over 40 here, lol!) but this is leaps and bounds better than it was in the past. Looking forward to seeing how I handle a 3-day music festival coming up this summer!