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I had a TT, breast lift and augmentation 4 weeks ago. Tummy tuck hurt on days 2,3,4 but after that is wasn’t so bad. Managed any pain there after w Tylenol. Breasts only felt sore-like you feel when you’re about to start your cycle. Everyone is diff but that was my exp. good luck to you!

I've done protein shakes with milk a couple times this week, but I haven't tried any dairy since the yogurt. I'll have to keep that in mind

Hey fellas! my surgery is scheduled for august 15 been on the liquid diet for over a week now and im going outa my mind

And I am already on mine, Day9, even though my surgery isn't until September 5th, I am doing 4+ weeks, according to studies my,liver will be 12% smaller and leaner from when this diet started. That should rid of. me from the NASH, most obese,have some degree of it from just bring fat. It hasn't been easy but I plan to feel much better after this is over

I am so super happy !! I got a date, march 17 ! I'm nervous but so excited at the same time. What I am upset about and why I am posting this thread is because the doctor at my program recommends 2 weeks off to get back to work and I am a nurse and work at a rehab center ( people post surgery ) and they will only give me one week off which would be march 17 - march 24. Exactly 7 days off. Did anyone go back to work quickly after surgery ? When did you feel ' back to normal ' ? Thanks in advance for answers ! Xo

But all of that being said in my previous comment, I think they tell people that to get their asses into gear. I think what they are trying to do is create a sort of "now or never" mentality in hopes that it will shock people into action. Because I do think that if you cannot make some significant headway while the surgery is still fresh and new, the thinking is that you never will. If your stalling at 4 months out, throwing the rules to the wind and frequenting the local fast food joints and have not made any significant headway or have completely hit the brakes on weight loss, chances are you probably will never get with the program again. Its a sad but true assessment of bariatric patients. Of course that does not apply to everyone and its obviously a generalizations but where there is smoke there is fire and there is a reason why its a general assumption.... GENERALLY it's true.

I don't even really seem to be experiencing this "honeymoon period" because honestly, besides the huge drop right before sugery that was basically induced by more or less fasting, I am now about two weeks out and am losing at a rate of about 3-6 pounds a week. Now I do realize that being only two weeks out its a little soon to start declaring that I am losing "too slowly" or whatever and frankly, I am not overly concerned. If it dropped below 2 pounds a week I would be a little concerned that my math was bad or something but I think people buy into these grandiose picture perfect success stories of people losing 30 pounds a month for 6 months or whatever and BAM! they are cured of their weight problems FOR-EV-ER. That's just NOT how it happens for most people, but I think its what people secretly wish for. I understand it I suppose but here is what I know from my medical training - you can only metabolize so much fat per week, you did not a medically significant amount of weight every single month of your life and you are not going to lose it like that more than likely unless you are some kind of rule-following superstar. I am constantly telling myself and reminding myself that my expectations need to be in line with reality. I don't need to be frantic about my weight loss, what I need is to be focused. Every choice needs to be deliberate, not frantic. The two things are very different and produce vastly different results.

I'm 17 days post op now and I've been doing well recovering from the surgery physically, but I've notice I've been extremely moody.. Three extreme emotions, no middle ground... Feeling miserable and hate the feeling of not being me.. Please tell me I'm not the only one and how did you overcome it..?

Ok when does the hairloss stop?! Mine started about 6-8 weeks out, it has been 6 months since my surgery and still lots of loss. Why is this? Im not buying the protein bit. Any insight?

Something I learned While doing weight watchers that helped jumpstart my weight loss when I was on a stall is the Wendy method. Basically if you figure up how many calories you get a week, wrote out how you can still get that Amt of calories this week while having high calorie days and low calorie days. It tricks your body or something and works wonders.

I too am day three.. and I hurt like heck... but I have the time off and will walk and rest as long as it takes... only Popsicles tea jello and water so far and that makes me belch ... might have chicken broth tonight.. if I feel like it.. protein drinks start Friday I think..

I had a lot of pain too! I missed about a week and a half of work. (Im a nurse). You have a lot of pain, from a foreign object being in your body and whoever told any of us that this is just minor surgery, was mistaken. The other pain that I really experienced, is from the port itself. It because of how it is sewn in place or stapled. You may have port pain off and on for at least a year or so. That is normal.

That really sucks! Mine started the morning of my lap band surgery. That was uncomfortable, I feel so bad for you to have to deal with the period the first week of your PS surgery.

I am curious as to what everyone eats. I was banded July 26th. I had a good weight loss before and right after surgery but it has been at a stand still for the last few weeks. From my post-op one week appointment to this past monday (4weeks) I only lost 2lbs. When I got weighed Monday I almost cried. I have been what I think to be pretty good. I eat oatmeal or yogurt with lowfat granola for Breakfast, cottage cheese and sugar free applesacue for lunch, a low fat spring cheese for snack and a regualr homecooked low fat dinner (chicken with vegis most of the time) Other times in the past when I dieted, I have never been this good and yet I lost. I am so discouraged. On top of that, I had my first fill and I really don't feel a difference. I feel like I am starving myself for nothing. I mean I went to a party saturday where everyone was drinking and eating and smoking, all things I loved but gave up and for what 2 lbs in 4 weeks?!? Oh right and for my health! haha OH, and I only drink Water. At least 60ozs a day but usually way more. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My surgeon just told me this week...no pill larger than a reg (non peanut) m & m all others get crushed.

Hello everyone.. I am new to the forum. This is my 4th week.. had my sleeve on 10/22/12..Have lost about 23lbs..but have not lost anything in the last week. I am feeling fine.. however, I am not able to eat very much..not because I can not tolerate the food but because I feel so full right away.. I try to drink my water and try to get my protein in, but I just can't. Is this normal? Did anyone go through this? Does it get better? Any suggestions?

The protein shakes go down easier. On my 4th week I was still on full liquids (protein shakes, yogurt, etc.) I still have a protein shake now an then. My favorite is Max Protein chocolate, with cold coffee and sugar free chocolate Torani syrup. Sometimes i shake in a quarter tsp. of sugar free chocolate pudding mix or cocoa powder. I do everything from blackberry to lemon cream to chocolate almond roca. You can make them taste incredible if you work at it a little. Greek yogurt is high in protein and goes down easy. My favorite is Chobani, I wasn't actually eating solids until week 7 and even then I was gradually introducing things.

Hi y'all, I'm Debbie and I just saw my doc for the first time today. Kinda looking forward to this but kinda scared too. Why am I doing this? Well, in 2002 I broke my tailbone and crushed my lower back. By the time I was fused 13 months later, the surgery failed. Called "Failure to Thrive". Basically means I'm in chronic pain. Because of the way I landed I was told I started a domino effect which is causing my discs to disintegrate known as Disintegrating Disc Disease. All my discs have failed. To help with this I have had 2 Neurostimulators implanted. Yes, I am a Borg. Lol. A few years ago I was seeing a doctor 3x's a week for spinal shots and he unintentionally overdosed me with Vitamin D, which I am apparently allergic to in high doses. Go figure. Well, I ended up with Hashimoto's Hypothyroid Autoimmune Disease. Yay me! Like the back wasn't enough I guess. Yeah. Hashimoto's see's the thyroid as a foreign object to be attacked by the immune system. Unfortunately, I gained a bunch of weight. (55 pounds!!!). On top of already being chubby. and it won't stay controlled or stabilize!! I either sleep all the time or I'm awake for days. I had lost 65 pounds just before all that happened. It's just about broke my heart. Anyway, I went to my pain management doc for more pain shots. But because I told her I was having chest pains she told me I had to see a Cardio doc first. I told her my a Endocrinologist said that was normal with Hashimoto's, she's like nope. Heart doc. So I went. The first thing the Cardio doc said was a Gastric Sleeve to control the thyroid. Boy. What a moment. What a thought. Who knew?? So where I am, 10 days later starting my 6 month journey to surgery. So glad y'all are here!!!

I had the bypass to help with joint pain and chronic pain. I have rheumatoid arthritis and have been on prednisone for many years. It was a vicious cycle for me. I took the pred to be able to function - the pred made me hungry - the food made me gain weight - had to increase pred to function - and so on. My goal was to get off the pred for good. I knew losing weight would help. I am 17 months post op and have lost 125. My joints feel so much better and I only have 1-2 flare ups a month. I have decreased my pred from 20mg a day to 2.5mg a day. Every time I try to go lower I have a flare up, but I am not giving up. I know enjoy life so much. Will the pain ever go away completely - no - but I have more good days than painful days. I exercise all the time. I play soccer 3-4 nights a week. My mom has degenerative disk disease as well, and she does not take good care of her self. Please make sure you get in your protein like you are supposed to. It does so much for our bodies! Good luck!!

This info is in the FAQ folder in the files section on the SmartBandster Yahoo group: The following explanation comes from Scientific American Magazine. Though stomach growling is commonly heard and associated with hunger and an absence of food in the stomach, it can occur at any time, on an empty or full stomach. Furthermore, growling doesn't only come from the stomach but, just as often, can be heard coming from the small intestines. Growling is more commonly associated with hunger because it is typically louder when the stomach and intestines are empty and so the organs' contents don't muffle the noise. This growling has been of interest for so many years that the ancient Greeks came up with the rather interesting name for it: borborygmi (the plural of borborygmus). The etymology of the term relies ononomatopoeia; it is an attempt to put the rumbling sound into words. Borborygmi actually translates as "rumbling." The physiological origin of this rumbling involves muscular activity in the stomach and small intestines. In general, the gastrointestinal tract is a hollow tube that runs from mouth to anus and its walls areprimarily composed of layers of smooth muscle. When the walls are activated and squeeze the tract's contents to mix and propel food,gas and fluids through the stomach and small intestines, it generatesa rumbling noise. This squeezing of the muscular walls is termed peristalsis and involves a ring of contraction moving aborally (away from the oral cavity) towards the anus a few inches at a time. The generation of these waves of peristalsis results from a rhythmic fluctuation of electrical potential in the smooth muscle cells, which, all other conditions being appropriate, will cause the muscle to contract. This fluctuation is called the basic electrical rhythm(BER) and is a result of inherent activity of the enteric nervous system, which is found in the walls of the gut. The BER causes the muscle cells of the stomach and small intestines to activate at a regular rhythm (three and 12 times per minute, respectively), in a manner similar to, but slower than, the rhythmicity of cardiac muscle in the heart. The autonomic nervous system and hormonal factors can modulate this BER. Though the rate and force of peristalsis typically increases in the presence of food, activity also increases after the stomach and small intestines have been empty for approximately two hours. In the latter case, receptors in the walls of the stomach sense the absence of food, causing a reflex generation of waves of electrical activity(migrating myoelectric complexes, or MMCs) in the enteric nervous system. These MMCs travel along the stomach and small intestines and lead to hunger contractions. Such hunger contractions start in the antrum, or lower region, of the stomach and propagate along the entire length of the gut, sweeping to the terminal ileum. They clear out any and all stomach contents—including mucus, remaining foodstuffs and bacteria—and keep them from accumulating at any one site. The contractions also produce vibrations and the rumbling noise associated with hunger. Hunger contractions may continue for 10 to 20 minutes once initiated, and then repeat every one to two hours until the next meal is ingested. These are not the same as hunger pangs, which start 12 to 24 hours after the last meal and may continue for a few days before gradually subsiding. (It is possible such pangs are important in the hunger sensation that drives animals to eat.) Low blood sugar enhances this activity, which can also be induced using an intravenous infusion of the hormone motilin. After feeding, the MMCs subside.

I don't have gout, but take allopurinol for kidney stones, so maybe that is why I've not had any gout issues. Anyhow, from what I've read, weight loss does help gout because it reduces the amount of uric acid that can be stored in the fat cells, as the fat cells are reduced, the acid is reduced, however, rapid weight loss (more than 1 or 2 pounds per week) could actually make the flare ups worse because the acid would be released too quickly for the kidneys to process it. It should even out once the weight is gone.

I had an episode 1 week before surgery! I had another episode a few weeks after surgery which was probably because of rapid weight loss. I have gone a few months without an episode. I have been taking black (tart) cherry extract to ward them off.

You can find the BCBS-Illinois medical policy regarding bariatric surgery here: http://medicalpolicy.hcsc.net/medicalpolicy/home?ctype=POLICY&cat=Surgery&path=/templatedata/medpolicies/POLICY/data/SURGERY/SUR716.003_2010-07-01#hlink Their requirements are: BMI greater than 40 OR BMI greater than 35 with two of the listed co-morbid conditions that have not responded to conservative medical treatment Documented Three month supervised, comprehensive weight loss program which includes counseling in dietary, physical activity and behavioral changes. Phsychological Evaluation and Clearance Be sure to confirm with BCBS to make sure that your plan follows this medical policy. There are some plans managed by BCBS-Illinois that are self-funded and are able to set their own criteria for medical necessity.

Soooooo I had off from work the past week from Christmas through New Year's and go back Monday. I have eaten so bad! I never over eat as I've never been able to or wanted to push that boundary. Nothing really bothers my pouch per say either. I just have been kind of grazing throughout the day which is not good and on unhealthy things such as potato chips and a cookie here and there. I was sleeved back on 01/31/15 and this is my first slip up since then. I do not plan on this becoming a habit or my new way of eating. I never want to go back to how I was before and I guess me coming here and talking about it is just me needing to get my thoughts out and see it in words lol. Well thats that and here is to an even better year than before for everyone. Thanks!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! ???? My surgery is next week and being on my pre-op diet is starting to get boring. I just want to eat too!! But WE MUST BE STRONG!!!