Search the Community

I have taken two of my three classes and I think I have more questions than answers. My first thought sitting through these classes is "If I could comply with all of these nutrition requirements and restrictions, I don't think I would need surgery". I am scared that I am going to make my life miserable by altering my digestive tract and then not being able to stick to the diet and causing all sorts of problems. My other issue is that I do not have an office job. I am outdoors, mobile, and never know which direction I will need to go. The other day it occurred to me that I drove 4 different vehicles before lunch. I don't know how I would be able to keep up with vitamins and supplements short of a fanny pack. Also, I had to drive the other day for 8 hours in a remote area and there was no food option available (I was on a tractor). The last thing I need is to pass out behind the wheel. Am I over-thinking, or are these legitimate concerns? I have all but talked myself out of this procedure

Whenever we lose a lot of weight in a short period of time (15 pounds in 16 days), a substantial amount of the pounds lost is actually water weight. To lose a pound a fat a day, you would need to burn an additional 3500 calories above what you are consuming, which generally is only achieved consistently by peak athletes. If you are sticking to your program's plan, you are still losing fat pounds during a stall as your body regains the excess depleted fluid. Once your body reaches healthy fluid levels, your scales will start reflecting losses again. Please don't get discouraged. For most of us, weight loss is not a steady decline but achieved with periods of losses and stalls as our bodies adjust to the changes.

I work a desk job, from home. I took 3 weeks off and I would have been happier taking more. I had an issue with my diaphragm - for several months - that made it difficult for me to sit straight up and down. So, sitting in my office chair (even with it reclined) was painful. The diaphragm issue is still there - 8-months post op - but it's much better. I can sit in my office chair all day and not have an issue.

Hey all, Tomorrow's the d-day for Abdominoplasty and brachioplasty. Looking forward to Abdominoplasty for sure given my abdominal area didn't flatten out with the weight loss. So LiPo plus reconstructive surgery will do decent job not to mention tighten up some of the loose skin. Not sure how I feel about brachioplasty for now. Scars definitely make me a bit uneasy. Plus it takes time to heal and scars to lighten and flatten out. But hopefully down the road, I'll be happy with the final result. Anyhow, do advise me how to look after myself and post-op recovery. First week will be the hardest I feel. Any suggestions?

So I’m struggling with the whole thought of loose skin. I’ve lost 60 pounds already. I’m 5’4. The gastric sleeve was a medical necessity not by choice I have an autoimmune disease. I was 280 now I’m 220 about 8 weeks post op. I was always comfortable in my skin. Now idk. I keep losing and I know that I won’t be able to afford plastics. TMI but I also have big boobs. Always have since high school when I was a skinny. Now I worry I’m just going to be a walking flab. Im getting insecure which is not like me at all. The struggle is real.

Hi there, I was sleeved June 19 and I had this!! I had 2 ER visits and was re admitted to hospital. I referred myself to a gastroenterologist in the end. That is what you need. My pain was only at night too! Here is my long story and I hope it helps you. Please know I am feeling better now. You’ve had complications but there is hope. Here is what I posted last night in another thread. Hi everyone! I was sleeved on 19/6 (Australian date format lol). My experience was no smooth sailing and I developed severe complications despite seeing the best surgeon at the best hospital. I’ve felt really scared, alone and isolated so I am delighted to find this forum. my weight was only 92 pre op and I guess I was considered a healthy young woman. 5 days post op I developed a severe burning pain deep inside my stomach. After numerous emergency visits and tests, it was determine I did not have a gastric leak. I had to be re admitted to hospital to manage the most severe pain of my life, for another 5 days and they still didn’t know what was wrong. Long story short, I had to self refer myself to a gastroenterologist who immediately knew what was wrong. I had developed bile reflux from my bowel into my freshly cut stomach which was causing the searing pain, severe inflammatory gastritis of my stomach lining, which then caused pancreatitis and severe spasms of my actual stomach. Because of all of this I could not even get Water down and my throat was burning and mouth dried up from bile damage. He put me on a bunch of new intense meds and nearly 6 weeks post op now I am starting to feel normal. It’s been a really scary rough ride and emotional and I haven’t known if I’ve made the right decision. I can eat about 1/4 cup soft foods now which I am grateful for. Anyway I wanted to share my story in case you ever come across someone with these symptoms and doctors don’t believe them / don’t know what is wrong.

Great Idea! Hope to see this spreadsheet finished one day. I have my surgery this week but I will participate as I go along. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT Male 38 6' or 1.83 metres 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 10lbs 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery

You're absolutely right! The first week I lost a lb andwas pretty disappointed. Since then I've stayed off the scale and don't plan to get back on until my follow up appointment. I'm going to do a monthly weigh in going forward and trust the process. I do think I'm losing inches though, my scrub top feels looser so that's a nice nsv!

I’m two months and 2 weeks only lost 21 pounds… my weight before surgery was 179 180 pounds. Weight goal is 125 pounds. I’m worry at this point 21 pounds almost 3 months and eating less than 1000 calories a day and working out 3-4 a week

Hey all, back from my 2+ week vacation and wanted to give an update: First, you look awesome Lindsay! Second, the update (2 weeks traveling around Germany and Italy): Protein was VERY hard to hit. The "on the go" protein mixes that I brought got real tiresome real quick. I wasn't able to do them everyday. Thankfully, I got approved to have protein bars the day before I left, so I made use of those pretty heavily. Water was also VERY hard to hit. I wasn't keeping exact track, but based on the color of my urine, I wasn't doing great. I was also sweating a substantial amount too, so I needed even more water. The 30m no-drink after eating restriction was a killer. We would stop for some food, I would grab a nice cold bottled water, then have to wait 30m for it to warm up to 80 degrees before I could drink it (I never realized how spoiled I was with cold water) Exercise was easy. Nothing specific, but we averaged 15000 steps a day so I counted that There was a significant amount of cheating: I would usually order a meat based meal, but then try a bunch of different pastas from my family (tiny bites, but 3 or 4 different ones usually). I also occasionally had a bite or two of bread, and ate a piece or two of pizza. I drank wine...quite a bit. We had a couple of wine tastings booked, but I would also do wine before dinner with all my family. I had a grand total of 3 bites of gelato (which I am pretty proud of). The kids got gelato pretty much every night, and I only stole 3 bites as I wanted to try the flavors (coconut, stratiacello, and milk???) In addition to wine, I did have a glass+ of champagne (so double dip of alcohol and carbonation) I had unapproved meats. I didn't always have good options for meat, so there was a couple of nights I shared steak with somebody, or had some other non-approved meat. That being said, I only ever had one stomach issue on the whole trip. I ordered a plate of various meats (ribs, bacon, sausage). I am not sure what the problem was, if I ate too fast, didn't chew enough, or it was too fatty, but I had a pretty quick reaction and didn't feel good at all. There was pain in my stomach area for about 15 minutes. After getting up, walking around, and burping a WHOLE lot, the pain passed. Overall, I was very happy with how it all went. While I have a decent list of cheats above, other than the wine, I really only had a bite or two of non approved stuff each meal. My stomach felt great 98% of the time, and....I lost 9 pounds!!!

I was able to do desk work and chores (except the heavy lifting, of course, as per my surgeon) on day 3, but I did feel tired for a couple of weeks possibly due to low calorie intake, borderline dehydration and general recovering from surgery. Some recover fast, some recover slower but whatever your case is, don't rush back to work if you can help it. Relax and heal faster. Good luck and congrats on your upcoming surgery!

The first 2 weeks after my sleeve, I had a lot of pain, difficulty walking, and I was constipated. I'm now on the other side of my revision from sleeve to bypass, and I have........... a lot of pain and difficulty walking. Not sure if I'm constipated again or not. It's been 2 days since my surgery, tho, and I haven't gone yet. So probably.

What a crazy past week! I first posted here last Saturday about the doubts I was having about my gastric sleeve surgery scheduled for 8/15, not in regards to surgery, but concerns with the provider. Monday I expressed some of my concerns to the nurse, who is the bariatric program coordinator, and this lead her to deciding to take me off the surgery schedule, saying if I was going to rehash all the past issues I'd had with them, since these issues would only likely continue post op that it wouldn't be safe to do surgery as I wouldn't comply with post op care. She did say she'd consider reinstating my surgery date, but then started making a long list of demands... since I live out of town I had been told I needed to remain in town through Friday. Of course I booked a hotel from Wednesday-Friday (the plan was likely 1 night in the hospital, and then staying at the hotel 2 additional nights before being able to return back to my home town). She apparently didn't believe me and demanded I forward her my confirmation of booking a hotel room to her! Then she wanted me to make certain statements in writing on the patient portal so "she could take it back to the team" about staying in town, transportation, pain meds, post op care, etc. I was shocked by how horrible I was treated, she was literally yelling at me so loudly (while I was at work) that the conversation could be over heard by others and I had people coming up to me saying "who were you talking to?" in shock by it. I literally had a panic attack after her screaming at me and telling me she was taking my surgery off the schedule. She clearly has no idea the type of person I am: I have never in my life no showed a medical appointment. Have been at my current job 6 years and never clocked in so much as 1 minute late to work. I'm extremely reliable and responsible, so her telling me that I was incapable of following instructions (when the written diet she sent me was in fact incorrect). I don't blame her for that, as they are transitioning the program to the new surgeon so editing all their materials, but to tell me I am incapable of following instructions when she in fact gave me incorrect instructions, and her saying she didn't believe it was safe to do surgery just completely blew my mind! Tuesday she informed me they were going to "keep me off the schedule as a final decision" and I was pretty much despondent and wasn't even able to go to work yesterdady as I pretty much cried all day long. I went to see my primacy care provider, thinking this insane experience had thrown me over the edge and that I needed help for anxiety before I could even think about surgery further, but I actually left very encouraged to keep moving forward. They have referred me to another surgeon and I have a consult on 8/23! I will NOT allow this horrible experience to deter me. My primary care provider told I dodged a bullet and I need to keep moving forward. I thought I went in to ask for some anxiety meds/mental health assistance- something, but the words of encouragement and motivation to keep moving forward were 1000 times better! That being said I am seeing Dr. Tarin Worrest in Missoula, MT on 8/23. By any chance has anyone had surgery with her? Also, any one else have any surgeon suggestions in Montana? My insurance is largely a Montana network so not a whole lot of options, but if anyone has any suggestions for surgeons in the Allegiance network I'd love to hear them!

The loose breast skin you end up with isn’t from gravity. It’s not new droopiness. Your skin has already been stretched from gravity & the weight of your breast. That’s been happening for years. They won’t be hanging down any further than they were before surgery. Maybe a little less because you’ll be smaller. My breasts droop the same as they did before surgery but they are empty in the top section because of the fat that’s been lost. The bottom of my breasts are still relatively full. I went from a 18E to a 10E for the base of my breasts but I sometimes stuff the upper part of the cup with tissues because of the pleating from having more fabric in the upper cup than I need. Plastic surgery will be your only solution if it ends up bothering you because they’ll remove your excess skin & lift your breasts. I do recommend getting yourself properly fitted as you lose weight & drop down bra sizes. I had upper back pain because I continued to wear my old bras for too long. It was fixed by buying bras that actually fit. I had to do it three times before my weight stabilised (18E-12G-10F/G-10E). I did buy some cropped bralet styles from Bonds (your Haynes) for around the house after the second refit.

I was out-patient and my surgery was last Wednesday I returned to work this Tuesday but only because I work in a office. If I had even a slightly active job I would have taken two weeks off. Today is day 8 post-op and my tummy muscles are very weak.

I think the grouchiness came from soreness yesterday (stomach muscles and an unrelated nerve pain in my leg). It comes and goes. Like, today I feel fine so kind of regret posting that. I am 33 and pretty healthy so I know I am possibly having an easier time than if someone twice my age got it. Everyone's experience is going to be different but my advice would be for anyone to take two weeks minimum to be on the safe side

I'm starting targeted C02 Cryo therapy next week. A friend runs the business and wants to document my progress for advertising to local bariatric patients so she's offering it free to me. Otherwise, it's pretty pricey. I still have a ways to go with my weight loss, but she wants to treat me as I lose instead of waiting to see how much loose skin I'm left with at goal weight. Despite the cost, people are willing to pay. She can't keep up with demand and recently had to hire a second tech. The before and after pictures that I've seen are amazing. Face , batwings, tummy etc. I'm willing to give it a go. Hopefully with good results.

Yep, sounds like every side effect I’ve read about. It’s something I worry about: not eating & losing weight only because you feel too sick not because you are making better food choices & establishing better habits. And what happens when you stop the medication? Will you be able to continue to eat the much lower calorie intake needed to maintain your lower weight? My question is were you stalled or had you reached your set point - the weight your body is happiest at? It’s always much harder to lose below & maintain a weight that is lower than your set point. Your body will keep taking you back to that weight. Not everyone loses all the weight they may want to lose. The average weight loss for sleeve or bypass is about 65% of the weight to be lost to put you in a healthier weight range. From the numbers you gave you had already exceeded that average which is something to celebrate. Your choice of course but talk to your prescribing doctor about how to manage the side effects & the what happens after you stop taking the medication.

Hi, @alliepow! Thanks for sharing! Week 1 down, that's the hardest one, so you're gonna rock the rest!

I was mainly looking for another option to mix with my coffee as I don’t tend to drink protein shakes alone anymore. I get my morning coffee with my jumpstart of protein to start the day. I didn’t do this until 30 days post-op because I couldn’t have caffeine and decaf was awful lol. So I find vanilla is little easier to mix. (Though I have also tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Chike protein coffee and it wasn’t so bad). I am not opposed to other protein shake chocolate options if I wanted to blend it up even with ice for a treat, but I had gotten sick of chocolate ones for awhile since that flavor was and is the only one I can find in Costco. I was drinking 2 a day pre-op and nearly everyday for a couple weeks post-op. I do drink the Protein 2O protein waters. I don’t drink them as often now since I can make my protein goals mostly with my morning proffee and foods, but I will still throw them in on days I fall short. I agree it’s a nice way to mix it up without adding more heavy milky liquid.

I know that theres not many options wghen surgery was just a week away but I'm sick of boullion and none broth. Is egg drop soup ok strained by chance?

I was eating 5000 or 6000 calories a day. So even without the surgery, I would have lost the same amount of weight now if at the last minute after doing Optifast - I decided to cancel the surgery was my point. I have already learned how to eat better and detoxed from bad foods. I am not going to back to how I used to be. I don't regret the surgery at all, but it does give a perspective that I probably could have achieved the same result if I maintained the same discipline that I had to get the surgery. That is where I failed with past diets. When you are "forced" to drink shakes for 4 weeks that is different than just trying to diet for 4 weeks.

Yay a fellow Texan! I’m up in north Texas. I had my surgery in Plano, but that’s about an hour from where I actually live. I guess that amount of weight loss is normal? I started at a slightly higher weight not too far off from yours so we seem to be tracking about the same, but I bet you’ll pass me up soon. From what I’ve seen, the weight falls off of men a little faster. This week has been slower so far. I’m down about 5lbs. Food is still going okay. I’ve had yogurt, strained soups and a tiny bit of pureed beans. Nothing crazy and only very small amounts. I’m able to finish my protein shakes and I can drink around 65-70oz of fluids for the day. You’re so lucky you get to eat eggs. I’ve been craving them. My first post-op appointment is next Tuesday. Maybe he’ll let me then too.

most people have their first stall sometime during the first month after surgery, so you're actually a bit late to the party! So yes - early stalls are very common! it's been several years since I had surgery, so someone not as far out can probably answer your question about portion sizes, but as far as stretching your stomach, that doesn't happen - from what I understand, you'd have to overeat day after day after day for that (and i've also heard that the whole stomach-stretching thing is a myth - so I'm not sure which is correct - but suffice it to say, your stomach probably isn't going to stretch). Your stomach capacity is bigger now than it was right after surgery, though, because the swelling has gone down - but it's still pretty small now!

Hi LibrarianErin and others! First time posting here! I am scheduled for July 12! Currently on my pre-op diet. To be honest, it is a lot harder than I expected trying to fight the urge to eat and constantly having to remind myself that I cannot. Although it feels hard now I know future me will thank me for it. I’ve also found TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit nice for information and following others to see their journey. Especially the food recipes. Currently on day three of my pre op diet and on the first night I had a little moment where I started to panic thinking and just overwhelming myself with “what-ifs” but I found that watching videos and reading threads such as this one has helped ease my nerves a bit. I was met with some criticism from peers and others about having the surgery mostly due to my age. Also the typical “just diet and exercise” answer which is frustrating as I’ve been trying that the last 4 years and struggling to lose anything. But I am doing this primarily for my health (a little tiny bit for myself lol) because I want to enjoy life again. Excited to start the journey of a new lifestyle and learn to have a better relationship with food and myself! How is everyone else doing?