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Hey there @LookingForward22! It went great. Had the initial "educational" call with a ton of other people. My appointments were originally scheduled for the end of August, but due to cancellations, I had my health and exercise appointments this past Monday, and the nutritionist will be at the end of August. Both appointments went well and we talked a bit about the surgeries and medicine-type options. I think I'm leaning towards sleeve as recovery time isn't too bad but also still very effective. Still learning, but from everything I've read and heard, I think that'll be the option for me. I also started seeing a Psychologist (took a bit to find one taking new patients, but did it!) who has been super helpful. I found out during my appointment she could also be the one to do my eval. I didn't know it prior, but she used to do evals for these types of surgeries in the past so it's nice talking to someone who has an understanding. Happy to hear things for you are going well! out of curiousity, how long did your program go? I think this one I'm on would be 4-6 months. I'm not in a rush though, it has been pretty interesting and happy to have motivation to work towards a healthy goal again. @Midgetlegs I have had kidney stones a few times but it has been about 2-3 years since. I've really kicked up my water intake over the years, those are no fun. The Dr. I saw did mention it could increase risk. I recall same for Gallstones as you mention. My brother has gotten those in the past and I hear they're also super painful. thanks for the tip, though. Glad to hear yours have not been an issue! I definitely plan to be careful around those high fatty foods as I know how painful Kidney stones are and I'd rather not have to deal with gallstones. @ShoppGirl Yeah, the eating stuff I've kind of accepted for a while but this is one of the first times I'm trying to seek help on it also because I want this surgery if/when I move forward to be a success. Mine is definitely more emotional/anxiety driven, but I have also snacked when bored. I appreciate your support! Being on this forum I really have learned a lot from the threads and discussions and everyone is super helpful. I think having different opinions/views/experiences can really help someone such as myself make educated decisions and the support really helps.

My insurance (Highmark Blue-shield, I am in Pennsylvania) has no program specific requirements for education/classes or pre-op weight-loss requirement. My program put me on a 3 month schedule - the shortest duration they offer… because of getting pre-op clearances. I had the intro meeting plus three classes where we went over their program material & requirements. My first intro class was May 16th. Classes were spaced about every two weeks. I had two in June and a final appointment and weigh in on July 7th (my program required I not gain weight after my initial weigh-in). I managed to get all my pre-op testing in fairly quickly, but it was not all reviewed and signed off on by the July 7th class, so I had to wait a few more days to schedule to meet the surgeon. First available appointment to meet the surgeon was July 21st. She scheduled me for her first available surgery for August 16th, 2022. So my whole program from first appointment to surgery will be exactly 3 months … that is not typical from what I understand. Most of the people in my intro class were on 6 month schedules or longer, which was dictated by their insurance.

So this question really depends if you have insurance. Typically with insurance most have to do like 6 months of supervised weight loss attempts and such. I had no insurance.. So i saw my surgeon for the first time on December 14th. This is where he ordered all the testing like EKG, Chest Xray, Bloodwork, psychological exam. I did the testing pretty quickly. The psychological exam took 2-3 months to book. There were no openings before that so that was on March 1st. One of my test came back abnormal which was the EKG. So i had to visit my cardiologist to get clearance for surgery. This is when they ordered a nuclear stress test. after that i was cleared for surgery. Once everything came back normal my surgery was scheduled for 3 weeks later. So if it wasnt for that stupid psyc exam i could have had the surgery months ago.

I am a month and 3 days out from my sleeve and this is my first post. Breakfast this morning. I don’t think I felt restriction, it just felt like I had enough.

Good morning July 2022 Peeps. Sounds like there's a lot of the group doing well. Hope to hear from the ones that just had surgery in the last couple days. I am at 10 days post-op. After losing 12.5 lbs in the first week, I stalled out for a couple days. Instead of losing my normal 2-4 lbs, I lost 0.0 and 0.4. This was a bit frustrating since I am only taking in about 500 calories per day. But it is what it is. From what I read, this is how this is going to go. I am happy that my plateau or whatever, may have been a small one and this morning I showed a 2.2 lbs loss. For those that believe a person shouldn't weigh themselves daily, I normally don't, but I wanted to record my first 4 weeks in a journal on my laptop.

When my spouse and I were getting serious about walking Post-op and after a fair chunk of research, we chose New Balance. We found them very comfortable. My wife chooses them to this day. They are typically reasonably priced. After I established to myself that binge running was going to be a thing in my life, I eventually changed to Nike Free, which has much less support, but still more than you'd expect. It felt close to running barefoot. They aren't cheap, and now are harder to find. When I was doing 90+ mile weeks, I went through a pair about every 6 weeks. Even though I can't run any longer, I still buy Nike Free exclusively because they are so light. They last a lot longer now. Good luck, Tek

I was lower BMI and I had several stalls. They get more frequent the closer you get to a healthy weight.

I feel your pain, there. I'm a teacher as well, but fortunately, my surgery is scheduled for 8/4, so I have a couple of weeks to recover before having to head off and start herding the squirrels again. Hopefully you can have your room ready to go before surgery so you don't have to worry about too much heavy lifting before you actually have to go back. Good luck!

I am a serious coffee drinker every morning at work, however I shouldn't be having withdrawals because I have protein shakes that have caffeine in them. So I'm getting a small amount of caffeine in my body still. Yes I guess I ate a moderate amount of carbohydrates and sugar. I had something similar happen to me when I was low carb program through my doctor's office. I was on very low carb intake and I began to have aching joints to the point where I would lay in bed and almost cry at night. The doctor said it was lack of carbs, calcium and magnesium. Which is why I went and took one of those vitamins right away last night. I feel so much better today. It's probably just carbohydrate withdrawal, sugar, caffeine. I've also been making sure I stay hydrated. Thank you so much for all of your comments. 4 days left! I've waited a year and a half for this and although I'm excited I have been very emotional for the last week. Probably just nerves, scared and a little nervous to go into the OR. Sent from my LM-G710VM using BariatricPal mobile app

Surgery is next Friday. I'm excited and nervous... I'm trying to get ready around the house and my to do list is below. Anything I'm missing? - Nurse will be with me for the first 24 hours - Meal prep for 1+ weeks following surgery - Clean house (including new sheets on bed) - Dog walker booked - Meds picked up and put within easy reach - Everyday items put out on counters so I don't need to reach (in bathroom and kitchen) - Garment and scar tape ordered

I'm on day 16 of my stall and it's really bothering me. I hate stalls. But the worst thing is my daughter woke up really sick yesterday and now I'm sick today. Fever, achy, super tired, sick to my stomach, bad headache, runny/stuffy nose. I'm drinking the Fairlife protein shake (with caffeine) and eating fruit because honestly, that's all I can do. I normally get my protein from my food but I have a feeling that while I'm sick I'll be getting half or a little more from my shakes and protein drinks. Nothing is sitting right in my stomach besides fruit. Not sure how that's going to affect my weight, but I'll worry about it later. I hate being sick. Blah....

Hey guys! I hit a week from surgery Thursday. I think I may be the prodigal child and I feel bad about raving about how little pain I was in, how little the gas was a problem etc. But at the same time I want to let others know, it's not always negative! Also, consider about 3 years ago I had my gallbladder removed, so I am fresh to a lot of things these surgeries deal with. Incisions, pre op diet, gas, pneumonia potental, etc. Sorry in advance for the novel. My surgery was supposed to be at 1030am on the 14th, but I think I went under something after lunch. I think they were running a little bit behind lol. I remember coming to and going out many times that first day. I was able to drink from the small medicine cups of water they gave me. I expected there to be pain ... but there wasn't. Granted I had dilaudid at first and then just tramadol. I was up peeing (they keep track of that for kidney function) and walking around the nurses station. Later in the evening/night. I literally just wanted to sleep. But honestly, as annoying as they were waking me up every hour for vitals and asking if I felt up for walking, I really did feel better at least getting one trip around the station every so often. I was discharged around lunchtime the next day. I never touched the prescribed oxycodone nor tylenol for that matter. I never took anything other than my normal pills and the Prilosec except one zofran because the day after I got home (that saturday) the nausea took hold something fierce for some reason. After that though, I never had a problem. I didn't have to use the little spirometer they give you. I just took deep breaths and coughed. Very little phlegm came up overall, but I have no trace of pneumonia. Saturday I also decided to weigh, as I have read others did. I was also up about 3 lbs from day of surgery weight. They put like 3 or 4 bags of fluids in me while I was there, so I don't doubt that was 100% the reason. I decided then that I would just wait for the next appointment before weighing. Sunday, my first day on full liquids, was the worst. You would think that graduating to the next stage would be the last day that would be bad, but when you realize that doesn't really open you up to much more than tomato soup and protein shakes (which you are already sick of by now) - when I tell you mentally I was so done. I regretted the surgery, I regretted becoming fat enough to need it in the first place, I hated everyone and everything. I was hungry ALL THE TIME. I was not one of the lucky ones that lost the hunger hormone and have to "force" themselves to eat and drink. Monday rolled around. I just started taking things day by day. Hour by hour and slowly time started to pass. Thursday was my week post-op appointment. Incisions are healing well, bruising is starting to clear up. Also, the uvula (the dangly thingie in the back of your throat) was irritated and elongated from the breathing tube while I was under. IT WAS DRIVING ME F**KING BONKERS. I can't stand that thing hitting the back of my tongue and making me feel like I have something caught in my throat 24/7. It is just now starting to get back to normal. When I started this journey, beginning with the nutritionist visits in December I was 371.2. On the day of surgery, I was 345. Weight one week post-op was 336.8. Overall, since December down 34.4 and almost 10 since surgery. Granted I could be down less as it is now Saturday, but I refuse to weigh for a while. Maybe not until my 1mth appointment. Just stay the course and see what happens! I'm already seeing little NSVs. Tiny ones, but none-the-less they are there. They are just little reminders that this is a process and I can and will be successful. It's been a while since I've been around so I wanted to touch base. Also to provide info for those still waiting for surgery and those that are fresh out. It DOES get better! Even as soon as a week after. Best wishes to everyone no matter where they are in their journey!

Hello everyone! I am 6 weeks post sleeve - I got sleeved July 8th, and I'm thrilled to report that I have now joined the great 100s Club! I have lost 42 pounds so far - I did not lose any pre op, in fact, I gained! I can't say that all has been perfect because I do have my days when I miss and crave foods that I shouldn't be eating and I do sneak a little in here and there, but I keep it all down! No stomach issues! I can't wait to start eating salads - week 8, I think! Happy journey, all!

Had some corn i need to use up, so grilled up a few 1/2 cobs and made a raw corn salsa with other random item in the fridge. Had one of the 1/2 cobs preceded with an espresso martini (not shown). 217 calories for both. Heres a pic of the salsa and ingredient list…I didn’t have any yet…i’ll stick some on a salad later. The yield was about 2.5-3 cups and comes up to 499 cals is someone were to eat the whole bowl.

My surgeon did not exactly set a “goal”, but before surgery he only said that based on my height/weight/age, i would highly likely get down to 175 within a year (translate to a 60lbs loss as I started at 235), and that anything beyond that was “bonus”. Ended up losing those “expected” 60 lbs before my 3 month mark, and racked up a few more “bonus lbs loss” after that. At my one year mark i was maintaining a 120 lbs loss +\- a couple lbs (and still am today) I saw my surgeon and nutritionist and nurse for many follow up visits the first 3 years and they didn’t bring up any talk about my target weights at all. My surgeon focused on recovery and possible medical issues (i had none); and my NUT was more concerned about how much i was eating (not enough in her opinion, but let me be mostly because my labs always came back satisfactorily).

Yea two weeks is a long time but just think about the weight you will lose that you don’t have to lose after.

July 12, had Lapband out, gastric bypass done. On week 1 1/2 post op. Still in the liquid diet phase. One thing I didn’t know it the awful changes with body odor. It is hideous.

Just an accountability check in/update. I’m so thankful I didn’t chicken out of this surgery. I’m 3.5 weeks post-op, still in the puréed food phase and down 26 lbs. the puréed stage hasn’t been that difficult as I’ve gotten creative with my options. I’m still drinking a couple of protein shakes as I can’t really eat more than a 3-4 “bites” before I’m stuffed. I am struggling to get all my water in daily. I seem to top out at 32 ounces, not including at least a small bottle of Gatorade zero and the 12 oz of 1% milk for my shakes. I started adding a collagen supplement and that stuff smells horrible. 🤢 All in all, everything is going smoothly thus far. 😁

this would be a question for your clinic. It's pretty standard to withhold supplements for a week or so before a major surgery, but I can't remember if I was told that before my WLS or not (it's been too many years), and I'm not 100% sure if that would include calcium and magnesium. At any rate, what you're experiencing isn't normal - or at least not common. I've been hanging out on this site for over seven years, and I don't ever remember reading anything about this. I guess it could also be weather-related since most of the country is under a heatwave (my arthritis acts up when the humidity is high), but I don't know. At any rate, that sounds miserable! I hope you can get through to someone today to get some answers.

I’m having a sleeve on the 16th. I’m starting my 3 week liver shrinking diet in 3 days and trying not to eat myself to death saying goodbye to all my favorite binge foods.

I agree with going slow with raw vegetable. I didn’t do salads for a few months though I could eat cucumber (peeled) pretty early out. Lettuce leaves, spinach, rocket, etc, can be too coarse. When I started salads I used iceberg lettuce only. I ate a lot of different cooked vegetables from soft foods. Watch how you cook your meats to avoid drying them out. Poaching, steaming, roasting, braising, slow cooking, is a good place to begin. And buy tender cuts. Like use chicken thighs not breast. Cook steak to medium rare. Have gravies, sauces, etc. to keep your meals moist. Continue to keep your bites small. I still cut my food into bite sizes pieces before I start to eat when I’m at home. Don’t load your cutlery with both protein & vegetables - one or the other. I could eat any red meats, poultry or seafood but some struggle with certain meats at first. Best advice is go slowly and never give up on anything. Try it again in a week or so or try a different cut or cooking it a different way.

I also rent pontoon boats here where i live. I dont own a boat. There are websites where you can rent peoples personal boats kinda like that car rental website that lets people rent out their own cars. I cant have a boat parked where i live either. When i had my jetski i paid to keep it at a marina. My friend bought a $90K Boat last year. They use it maybe twice a month. I cant justify spending that much money and only using it that much lol. when i had my jetski i used it almost every single day. Thought about buying one but i am planning on moving out of Florida next year and if i get a jetski then cant move until its paid off lol. I will keep renting instead. Also not sure if its available in your area. but here. THere is also something called a boat club. prices vary by location but basically you pay $7K Upfront and then a monthly fee of a couple hundred dollars depending on the package you choose and you get to use a boat for a certain amount of days a week all year long. You reserve online, and its ready for you at the marina, Bring it back when you are done, they clean it and do all the maintenance, I found that to be the best deal to be able to get out on the water without the high cost of boat ownership and storage.

Welcome..I am also new to this forum just discovered it a few days ago. People on here are very nice and lots of info. My surgery is July 26th (next Tuesday) on my pre op diet . I have lost 40pds since starting the program and I am not gaining during the pre op diet but scales are not moving either. I have not cheated so im not sure if I have just stalled. This has been bugging me but trying to stay positive. Again welcome

so far 3 months post sleeve. I have been able to tolerate everything i have tried. Now certain things do make my stomach gurgle like crazy and you know then that maybe you shouldnt be eating this that is my warning lol. but i have never thrown up or gotten nausea over eating anything. The sitting heavy in the stomach part yes.

So after i had surgery. I got my first job that required standing for hours in over 15 years. It was rough. Very rough for the first few weeks. I tried different decent priced shoes, Inserts ect... None worked. Finnally after googling and reading. i came across one pair each website kept recommending. But they were very pricey. I am a person who buys typically 40 dollar shoes so spending this much was hard lol. But i did and trust me i would do it again in a heart beat. Now over 2 months into this job where i am standing for 9 hours a day 50 hours a week my feet no longer hurt. I dont know if you are male or female. Dont know if shoes differ between the two genders but for me a guy these shoes are amazing.