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I was told by the surgeon that if you have a leak it will be quite obvious. High fever and evidence of infection. I thought the same thing right after surgery because of a lot of discomfort where I imagined a leak would be. It was due to trapped gas left behind from surgery. It took about a week to subside.

:wub:I am 18 days postop. I am so grateful for the surgery and also the removal of a hematoma that was a complication from a previous surgery ( the hematome, about the size of a baseball) I have lost 12.5 pounds since the day before surgery. I am eating about 1100 to 1400 calories. This may sound like alot to some but I know if I eat less than that my body thinks it is starving and holds on to the weight. I excercised to "Zumba" today for a full 20 minutes. It is a totally fun latin dance excercise dvd. I felt I hit a mini goal. I am hopeful for 1.5 to 2 lbs a week on average. If I loose 6 lbs a month I will be at my goal by my band aniversary date. My first goal will be 170 and my second goal will be 140. I don't want to loose too quickly. I have seen people loose too quickly and they look horrible and unhealthy. Eating a balance of fats, carbs and protiens will keep my hair and skin healthy. Being over 50 that is so important to not let the weightloss age me anymore than I already am. My restriction is very comfortable right now. I am about 3 cc's and I go for a fill in 1 week. I am not sure I want too much of a fill I will need. My attitude is this band is a tool. I will not look at it as a "cure". I am grateful I can sit down with a small meal and not be hungry afterwards. Wow! that is awesome. One of the main things that has helped is not eating until I am physically hungry. I am finding other activities when I have head hunger or deal with the root of the head hunger. That is such an important difference than before. Well that is all for now!:rolleyes2: Best wishes for all on this journey! Lee Anne

WOW, we are in the single digits now. Just 9 more days until I'm in band land! Yesterday was a very busy day, today is busy as well, and tomorrow is too. Matter of fact, this entire week is busy for me between work and all my doc appointments, I'm just a bit stressed today! Yesterday here is how my day went: 8:30 - 11:15 - my preop. Had my blood work done, also an EKG, and chest xrays. I had to fill out and sign a ton of paperwork with the nurse, I paid my part of the hospital which was $43.50. I think I got out cheap on that one, she said the cost was $29,679, the discount rate negotiated with the insurance was $435 and I owed 10% of that. Cool. I had one small problem with the hospital, they had me put in my own words what I was having done and I told them a hiatal hernia repair and lap band. Well the problem was, the doctor didn't send an order for the hernia repair, so that caused a little stink, but the hospital nurse called my docs nurse and I think they got it worked out. 11:45 - I had to get my upper cervical care done at my chiopractor's office, my neck was killing me. I got thru with the doc and swung thru KFC, got an order of boneless chicken wings, hot flavored and tried to eat them in the car, big mistake, too messy and they tasted bad, I ended up throwing them out. I ran by to pick my daughter's skirt up from the alterations place before my next appointment which was at 1:00 pm with the Psych lady. We went over some stress techniques, craving techniques etc. She said I am ready for surgery. I got out of there around 1:50, I had to run to my docs office to take a short quiz they give every Monday from 1:30 - 2:30 (in between that I made a deposit at my bank). I had to show them that I knew about the changes I was about to make. I passed the test. Got thru with them at 2:30. Then I had a 3:00 pm appt with the dietician. We went thru a lot of info. Found out my clear liquid diet is no longer just 48 hours before surgery, but they are now requiring it to be FOUR days before surgery. So Sunday, I will have to start on clear liquids. eeks. I finished with the dieticial at around 4:20, had to meet with the surgeons office at 4:30 to go over the pre-surgery consultation. I didn't get out of his office until after 6:00 - I had a looong day. I had a total of 6 appointments yesterday and managed to fit everyone of them in. I even was able to squeeze in two errands in (picked my daughters skirt up & went to bank). I have to leave today at 11:00 from work to meet with the sleep center people. Then I will go back there tonight at 9:30 and spend the night there for my sleep study test. :notagree . I'm actually looking forward to this, I can sleep all by myself in a huge bed (my DH smothers me at night - he is a snuggler and I am not). My eating was really off yesterday, I could kick myself. However, I will not cheat any more, promise! I ended up eating a dish from Zios, which had some pasta in it. Well, I've got a ton to do at work because I am leaving next week, so I am going to stay focussed at work!

I tried going back to work after a week and 3 days- sitting at my desk for 30 minutes and starting feeling some of the worse pains, had a wore my abdominal binder it probably wouldn't have been so bad, but I actually had to wait 5 more days before I went back to work. I still had pain on that 5th day but it was minimal.

I understand exactly what you're going through!!! I'm in the middle of my preop diet and my surgery is July 7th - Just a few days away. I am really unsure how I will feel after the surgery. I took the following week off work but thats it. I'm hoping to be back to work after a week and a couple of weekends! Wishing you the best of luck.

I'm only planning on a few days. I have a desk job and work from home. But no more than one week unless I have complications. Good Luck.

Hi Sleeve Sisters! I'm Karen and I'm 43 and live in Asheville, NC. I was a thin, competitive athlete and had a consistent weight of 130-135 throughout my 20s. Then I had my first child 10 years ago and my second 7 1/2 years ago and gained 70lbs with each one and despite spinning 5x week throughout and after my pregnancies I wasn't able to get below 180. 2 1/2 years ago I decided to go on the 500 calorie a day phentermine and HCG diet for a year and got down to 155. In the two years I've been off of that I gained 110 lbs, partly because the phentermine permanently damaged my adrenal glands causing my basal metabolic rate to be 1/2 of what it should be (and causing massive fatigue issues making exercise nearly impossible). If I don't eat under 1,200 calories a day for the rest of my life I'll never lose this weight. I'm really excited to have the surgery and get back to the real me and getting fit again. I'm scheduled for July 1st. I'm really worried about the 2 week liquid diet, though.

I'm almost a week post op, and I can definitely sympathize. I don't think I have it as bad as you do though. I do sometimes feel like burps get "stuck" and I am still having a hard time drinking because it feels like I'm hitting some kind of a wall... Hope you and I both get past this soon!!

After the first night dr asked if I wanted to stay another night and I chose to stay. I was not getting out of bed too well and did not feel that I could handle all of my care at home. Is it being done in a outpatient facility? Or a hospital? My dr was a bariatric surgeon of excellence and so was the hospital. I had terrible pain that did not improve significantly for a week. But everyone is so different. You read about some going back to work in a week. You still have time to research him. Best of luck.

Okay so ive called 3 times last week and left voice mails. Her voice mail says ill try my best to get back to to you in 24 hrs!!!! is that 24 work hours? Well Ive already been approved and set a surgery date but had to hold off cause i couldnt get the 725 fee up in time.. So now that im on the right path with the money i can reschedule. So i left her a message and nothing yet? WTF im about to go and find another doctor already this office is driving me nuts....

Just started my pre-op dietyoday. This is rough! I dont know how I am going to do this for 2 weeks! Any tips??

I only have the diet for 5 days before surgery, What kind of diet are you on for two weeks?

I don't know who your doctor is, but I went on a doctor directed modified South Beach diet. I ate as much meat as I wanted but no carbs but some greens, beans, brocolli, cauliflower. No peas, corn, etc. Keep your carbs under 40 a day, mandatory. I even ate out and had wine. I ate scrambled eggs for breakfast with cheese, omlettes, tuna, turkey breast, ham for lunch...even hambergers. Dinner was steak, fish, chicken, pork chops with veggies. I lost a pound a day and shrunk my liver by 50% I actually got a gold star on my picture of my liver that my doctor presented to me after surgery! I think your clinic is using the wrong approach...No breads or carbs....easy to do when you are eating meat and certain veggies. Please do not worry about surgery. It was the easiest surgery I have ever had. Next to no pain after the surgery. In fact, if it didn't irritate my stomach, I would have taken Advil instead of the liquid Oxycontin they gave me afterward. First week after surgery is great for me but the liquid diet. Got trying. Now I am on pureed food! I get to chew and have texture. Friday the 8th I go to mushy food! WooHoo! My surgery was on October 24 and I have lost a pound a day since then. Tonite I had pureed tuna noodle casserole. Yesterday, I had pureed stead, potatoes and gravy! Was tasty!

I was sweating bullets because I knew I had gained a few pounds over the Thanksgiving Holidays after my approval. Between the holiday and a couple of "Last Meals" I had put back on about 5 pounds but I had lost 20 in my 3 month weight loss period. He came in and started off by pointing out the weight gain and asked what was up. I told him and he was cool with it and said I would lose those 5 and several more after my 2 week clear liquids pre-op phase so it wasn't a huge deal to him. Btw, I not only lost those 5 but an additional 10!

Thanks everybody. I'm back on the wagon this morning. My surgeon usually requires 1 week like I am eating now (3 Bariatric Meal Replacement shakes & 1 low fat low carb high protein meal) then 1 week with 5 shakes a day & nothing else. Since I had 3 weeks til surgery the last time I was in to see him, he said if I started right then, I could do the 3 shakes 1 meal diet the whole 3 weeks until the day before surgery.(clear liquids only that day). So that is what I was trying to do, but looks like I will have to do the full liquid next week since I cheated so much the last few days. I need a swift kick in the butt to wake me up to the fact that this is a gift to even have the surgery, I have got to quit squandering my chance. That's where this forum is great. Thanks again.

My surgery is on Nov 18, started my liquid diet a week ago. I did ok the first 2 days. I'm not hungry, but I've been emotional eating. I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to lose enough weight & shrink my liver enough & my surgeon won't do the surgery. I had lost 5 lbs, but I still have 2 weeks. I'm supposed to have 3 meal replacement shakes & 1 high protein, low fat , low carb meal a day. Need some encouragement please!

After my RNY gastric bypass surgery I did break out in a rash on my stomach and breasts. It was so bad that I went to urgent care. The doctor prescribed benadryl and another topical antibiotic. The rash cleared up within a week. Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App

For the past week I have just kinda felt like MEH. I don't know why. Kinda don't want to be around or deal with anyone. Went to the crack back on Friday for an adjustment and the whole left side of my back hurt whenever he pressed on it (that has never happened before). It almost feels like I have a major case of the Mondays. I hope to break out of this funk soon.

Chelsea i was thinking the same thing. i am getting banded on Wednesday, and I rememeber when I took his seminar he said that there would be a 1 week liquid diet before surgery to shrink the liver. When I scheduled my surgery 2 weeks ago he told me to eat normally, not to gain weight and do an all liquid diet the day before surgery. Good luck. Let me know how everything went.

Same here, I found the best thing for me was to buy a composition book, on the left side of the paper I've got Water, Protein, calories and sugar (that's what my dietician want me to track) and then in the right paper I write the times I eat, drink, or take medicine/vitamins... Writing how much and of course if the food did not sit well. It's old school but I find it really easy.... I'm eating basically the same things so far, three weeks out and in the soft food diets, so it's easy to do this right now.

Hey there lessofmeismore! Yes I'm officially post op. Today is actually day 7 for me so I'm officially one week post op now. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and I feel I have a great shot at accomplishing something I always wanted. Thank you for your encouraging words.....I'm doing pretty good so far and everyday gets better.

Great to know! I do have an office job, so I am taking a week off. I am not telling the people at my job!!

It seems like those of you who are saying you do fine are at least a year out (2014 surgery). I am three months out and I can't even imagine the thought of alcohol, so I'm not inclined to try. It could knock me out even at my highest weight and larger stomach. Given this thread, I am definitely waiting until the 1st anniversary (incidentally, the day after my birthday).

Congratulations!!! I am almost 4 weeks post op and I feel out of this world. The best advice I can give is start practicing your life style now, start weighing your foods, practice eating very slow and drinking often and KEEP POSITIVE. You will do awesome!

I have had lot of hair fall before my VSG surgery due to PCOS and hair fall is said to happen more from the 6th week onwards and I am freaking out. Any good Biotin shampoos out there that can help in restoring the lost hair and make my hair regrow?