ILKrista

Well, my doctor told me that he wouldn't do the surgery if I had smoked within 1 month of the surgery. He didn't care what I was smoking out of.... a pipe, a bong, a hookah, or a just a plain old cigarette. According to him, smoking inflames the esophagus and makes it much harder to get the tubes in your throat. Maybe you should check with your doctor?

I don't think there is a sticky thread of people's surgery/hospital stories. I know that many other people have posted them, but you will probably have to search through the lists or maybe try doing a search keyword for surgery or hospital? Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck in making your decision! I would also recommend you check out the band to sleeve revision forum. I'm sure the folks in there would have plenty of food for thought.

I wasn't sure where to post this topic, so I am throwing it in here. Here is a website where they have photos of people your height at all different weights. I wanted to get some idea of what my goal weight really should be. http://www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.html

I've found that some people have really genuinely been supportive of my journey... and I've been surprised by who they are. I've also found that some people really are 'haters', doing everything from telling me it doesn't look like I've lost any weight, to competing with how much weight is lost because they don't want to be the fat friend. Again, I've been surprised by which people in my life these people have turned out to me. Whenever someone tells me I don't want to get too thin or I shouldn't lose more weight, I just tell them that I am going to follow the advise of my doctor who has been doing this for more than 20 years... and if I'm feeling bitchy, I'll usually ask them how long they've been practicing medicine for. Remember, you are doing this so you can be the person YOU want to be, not the person your friends want to be!

At 2 months out, I would have to say that I experience hunger... or at least something happens that makes me glance up at the clock and realize I need to eat every couple of hours. But it is never the 'I must have food or I will go crazy' type of hunger I had before the surgery. More of a tickling type feeling that tells me it's time for a snack. The only other time I feel hungry is when my coworkers (cheerfully refered to as 'the sadists') bring in cupcakes, donuts, or whatever other 'treat' they've decided to leave in the breakroom. Mentally, I still feel that compulsion to shove it in whether I'm physically hungry or not. However, I've never actually given in and eaten any of it.

Congrats on your success! Krista

I gained 12 from the surgery. I don't count it as weight I re-lost. I figure it was from the gas & IV & swelling from surgery, and not from fat. Congrats on your weightloss!

Hey Suz, We are in the same boat. Like you I have about 130 pounds to lose. I had surgery 6 weeks ago. And I've lost 'only' roughly 40 pounds. When I went to my doctor two weeks ago, I asked why I wasn't losing 30 pounds a month like EVERYONE else. I was told that the weightloss rate depends a lot on how much you have to lose (if you have 300 pounds to lose, you will lose more quickly than if you have 150 to lose), what you are eating (people who struggle with the eating and drinking in the beginning lose weight a lot quicker, but this is not doctor recommended!), and what your gender is (yes, men do lose more quickly). At this point, my doctor says I shouldn't even be worried about how much I've lost. I'm still healing and am only cleared to do certain exercises. I still get frustrated... the scale hasn't moved in days! But, just remember, if you lose 10 pounds a month, by the end of the year you will be at goal! That's freakin' amazing! If you ever need to talk, feel free to send me a message. I'm at the same stage as you and going through a lot of the same frustrations.

I use a baby spoon to take really small bites. To slow down my eating, I will knit a row or figure out one answer to a crossword before I allow myself to take the next bite. Of course, if you are eating as a family, this might be a little weird.

If you figure it out, let me know! I go from zero to bitch if someone so much as glances at me funny. Guess in the future it will be easy to spot sleevers... we'll be the ones out of jobs

I just wonder if your grandmother would have the same reaction to someone having lung cancer removed? After all, it's not fair to all the people who did the 'right thing' and never smoked. Or what about someone having a bypass... aren't they cheating because it's their fault for eating fatty food? This irks me because I've had people tell me that I'm taking the easy way out and should just try harder.

When you get to the blended food stage, have some refried bead with salsa. I accidentally bought that instead of regular refried beans, and it was pretty good... just spicy enough for me to forget that everything I was eating was still the consistency of baby food.

Baby girl.... they are called haters ;-( Unfortunately they are our friends and you think they would be happy for us, but they are not. They are jealous instead. You can either say something to them or let it roll off your back. I second the haters comment. I've been really surprised at how insensitive some of my 'friends' have been. The friend who drove me to the hospital keeps reminding me that I'm going to end up with 'big, saggy boobs' if I lose too much weight. When someone complemented me on my weightloss, she said, "As your friend, I have to be honest... It doesn't look like you've lost any weight yet." Thanks a lot! I say just ignore them and the comments. It is pure jealousy.

Well, I am only one month out of surgery, but i have found that I will have a hot flash if I haven't eaten enough that day. One second I'm fine, then next I feel sweaty and like I need to sit down. Eating something seems to cure it. I've also recently upped my daily calorie intake because I was only getting about 400 calories a day. Since I'm eating more, I feel much better and haven't had the hot flashes.

My doctor told me that this surgery was successful with about 80% of the people... that means that 20% either dont' lose the weight or don't maintain weightloss. I think most of the people who are on here are still really working on the weightloss and the 20% who it didn't work for are not. Just a thought.

God will your stomach let you know if you are eating too fast or didn't chew enough! I just started soft foods yesterday. I made myself turkey meatballs for dinner today and was so excited that I ate them way too fast. I feel horrible right now. Like I need to burp or throw up or something. Lesson learned... eat slow & chew!

I did the same thing with the binge eating and in the course of 3 months I gained 20 pounds. I had it in my head that I was going to eat as much of the bad food because I knew I wouldn't be able to later. Then I saw the surgeon and he basically told me that if I didn't my some serious changes and show major improvement, I wouldn't be having this surgery. That forced me to get back on track and, thankfully I lost the 20 pounds and insurance approved me. I'm glad you are back on track. Just remember to remind yourself of all the reasons you must succeed with this surgery. Those bad foods have had a hold over you (and me) for years, or we wouldn't be looking at WLS. You can succeed in breaking that hold! I haven't had fast food in months... I never thought I would be able to say that. Learn from the past, but look to the future. You will succeed!

I had to do nothing but protein shakes for 2 weeks prior to surgery, and I didn't have a problem with them. Then I had to do it for one week post-op and by day 4 I would almost be dry-heaving when I would bring it up to my mouth. Three weeks later I still can't do protein shakes. Do your best to get the protein in and just remember that you only have to tough the shakes out for a little longer. The day I was allowed pureed food was pure heaven!

Research, research, research. When I started I was convinced that Lap-Band was for me. But when I heard about the sleeve I reconsidered. Three things swayed me to the sleeve. The first is that when I look at plastic, I have a really hard time thinking that it is going to last 50 years without degrading... and since I hope to live to 80, that's a problem. Another issue I had with the idea of the Lapband was that it can malfuction 20 years down the road. I wanted something that once I was healed, there weren't going to be possible problems in the future. The final issue was financial. With Lapband, you have to go in for fills and unfills pretty often. At $50 a visit for a copay, that adds up. In the end you have the make the choice that you can be happy with. Good luck!

Thanks for all the support, everyone. As frustrated as I get with the few people with the crazy expectations, for the most part people have been supportive. I just think that some people have no common sense... even if i was losing a pound a day (which I'm not), at three weeks it would still only be 21 lbs... That's not going to make much difference to your appearance when you have over 100 pounds to lose. In the end, I'm glad I just told people because A) a coworker drove me to the hospital and I know she couldn't have kept her mouth shut so everyone would have found out anyway, and the only reason I looked into WLS was because a coworker's husband had it and was very open about it. Hopefully someone else who has been suffering due to their weight will decide to do something about it because I was honest about it. And, hey, if nothing else I now have a great excuse for being supper bitchy... I just remind people that I'm still recovering from surgery and I'm only eating around 600 calories... They can't possibly expect me to be as sweet as I normally would be.

You can do it. The pre-op diet is hard, but well worth it. I would really recommend you go through the carb withdrawl during the preop diet instead of having to deal with that after surgery when you are already dealing with so much. You will feel like utter crap for about 4 days and then you feel fine. I actually feel more alert now that I have cut out the vast majority of the carbs I eat... but first you have to deal with the crappy feeling of getting off them. Best of luck! ILKrista

I thought I would mention that I found this cookbook/eating plan called 'Eating for Life' by Bill Phillips. The book talks about the importance of eating 6 time a day... high protein & healthy carb. Exactly like what we are supposed to be doing. He has a lot of really good recipes, including desert ideas (sugar free pudding with a couple of scoops of protein powder). I thought I would pass along the info since it seems more fitting that a lot of the bariatric surgery cookbooks I've looked at. You may want to see if your library has it available.

I was sleeved 3 weeks ago, and I told everyone that I was doing it. My family, friends, coworkers, landlord, etc. I figured it would be best to just get it out there and then I wouldn't have to explain to people why I was losing weight, eating weird, etc. If people asked, I told them. However, I'm kind of starting to regret it. My landlord called to check up on me a couple days ago and said, "So, I bet you look really different by now. You've probably lost a ton of weight already." I told him, that no, since it had only been two and half weeks since surgery, you really couldn't notice a difference yet. I've also noticed people at work trying to check me out on the sly. Someone else said that it would be great that I could wear a bikini this summer. Seriously... do they think I swallowed a magic bean or something? How can people seriously think you are going to look dramatically different after only 2 and a half weeks? Or, for that matter that I'm going to lose the 140 pound I need to by this summer. I'm starting to think I should have just kept my mouth shut. I'm also starting to think that most people really are idiots. Maybe I'm just crabby. Krista

I slept on the couch with my back propped into a reclining position for 1 week after surgery. I found lying flat was too painful of a position to get out of.

I have the same thing beneath my largest incision. The dr. said it is normal and it was due to the internal stitching and it should eventually go away when all is healed up.