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@JennyBeez That is definitely the right way to go with it! I am so used to doing weights when I am at the gym, so it will be really weird going in and focusing on cardio (which I bloody hate), and body weight! What kinds of light exercises do you do? Definitely take it easy lovely! I am sorry to hear that your weekend wasn't great - sometimes everything comes all at once doesn't it? We are our own worst critics, and definitely see things 10000x worse on ourselves, as others may perceive them. Just make sure to get some self-care time in and remind yourself of how far you have already come ❤️ You got this x I haven't even had an appointment with my Dr yet - I don't think I am due to until 3 months post-op! But I did use my mum's blood pressure machine yesterday and it was ever so slightly high which is strange! I will be extra careful when standing for sure - and even more so when exercising, I don't want to pass out 😅

Congratulations on your decision. Unfortunately I don’t have that insurance but do you usually need a referral to see a specialist? I suppose If you were to call a surgeons office and ask to schedule they would let you know if you really need to wait until you see your primary. Then again if your appointment is soon it may make sense to just wait anyways so they can give you a recommendation for a surgeon if you don’t have one in mind For me, it was the surgeons office that let me know what all the requirements were. I have seen them vary slightly from one person to the next. It depends on insirance but also varies by the program as well as your medical history. For my Sleeve the requirements were a 6 month medically supervised weight loss attempt, psyc eval and a nutritionist appointment. Ooh and you will need medical clearance for surgery which depending on your health may be just routine lab work or it may be additional appointments like a cardiologist checkup. They may also require you to sort out the sleep apnea thing and make sure that the cpap is working to treat your sleep apnea sufficiently if you do have it but i’m not 100% certain on that (just seems like I heard something about that). I am currently pending a revision and this time he required an ekg that he didn’t ask for last time. I guess maybe since I’m a little older. They wanted the labs to be drawn within a month or less of my surgery date so I scheduled them and the ekg at my primary doctor at two weeks out from my surgery. Listing it out it seems like a lot but you will have a While to get it all done and they should walk you through it step by step.

Honestly this has been the absolute bane of my life. I am 4 weeks post-surgery and although I seem to be having a bowel movement every day or every other day, I was so so constipated. TMI here but It got to the point that I had an anal fissure and was passing blood every time I had a bowel movement. Needless to say, I am taking daily Dulcolax now and I will be doing so until I am able to eat more & include more fibre in my diet.

That is crazy. I just had to pay about €80 for the year to join the once a week class. If you haven't checked them out yet on YouTube you should look at Meredith Shirk of Svelte Training in case there are some exercises they have that you might like. They do lots, free to view, and a lot of them can be modified depending on aches and pains like knees, back etc. some are seated or on the bed - https://www.youtube.com/@MeredithShirkandSvelteTraining

Hello! First time in this forum, so glad I found it! I am scheduled for gastric sleeve surgery on June 14, and am finishing day 3 of the liquid protein diet. So far, so good - tbh, I’m amazed at the energy I have. Altho talk to me on day 6 or 7 and I might change my tune lol

Thank you so Much for your Answers! Both of you <3, yes i am seeking Therapy and be open about it, its sometimes that lingering fear of things not working out for me, in Germany i can get Plastic Surgery, and if the Documentation work is good the Health insurance would cover part of it. I also agree with, there is maybe a Special person who doesn't care and Loves me for who i am a Man can Hope. And Push forward.

I thought FMLA was up to the employer, not whomever did your surgery. Or did the surgeon's office have to sign off on something verifying that they expected it would take x-number of weeks to recover (??). It's been several years for me but I don't really remember - but it could be that my clinic had to state that I would require so many weeks to recover. My employer was the entity that granted the FMLA, though. But as far as the rest of your post, yes - I would think it might take more than two weeks to recover from the DS. The surgeon's office probably should have said that you might need up to (however many) weeks... although sleeve2bypass is correct - two weeks seems pretty standard. Although the vast majority of people have sleeve or bypass, which aren't as extensive.

There are so many opinions about what vitamins people are told to take immediately post op any even more variations of what they stay on once people get labs back and realize that our bodies all respond differently to the same surgery. If your doctor isn’t concerned about your iron I would keep an eye on it with your labs but I doubt it’s low enough to be responsible for hair loss. A stab in the dark though, did you have COVID lately by any chance. A friend of a friend of mine got COVID and then started losing her hair several weeks afterwards. A quick google just revealed it’s referred to as hair shedding and it often follows a very high fever that comes with COVID and one site suggests biotin. If this applies to you maybe do a little more research into it. Otherwise I think a trip to the dermatologist is a good next step if your doctor didn’t see any explanation in your labs.

Week 11 tomorrow, and I definitely notice more shedding now -- and all of a sudden, the ends of my hair seem to be getting drier and more brittle. I guess it's 'begun' 🙈

I did bone broth, tomato soup with protein powder, every flavor of sugar free drink mix and shakes. As long as i got enough protein and the recommended calories i felt good. I loved sugar free peach tea to help get the fluids in….. sip sip sip. For the first two weeks my surgeon included the shakes as prt of my 64 oz goal.

Seems pretty standard. I had 2 weeks off when I had my sleeve and when I had to have the revision to bypass a year later, also had 2 weeks then. I think they tend to only give longer if you have complications. Otherwise I think 2 weeks is pretty typical. Some doctor's offices will give longer if you specifically ask for it (not mine) but I don't think that's typical.

I got calories guideline from my doctor, he expected me to just consume 600 - 1000 calories a day max, with minimum 70gr-100gr of protein. I'm on the first day of my 3rd week today, hope this helps and oh he said to prioritize protein over everything else, good luck for both of us!!

1) Was nervous about the soreness, was very manageable. 2) My thick comfy PJ’s and noise-cancelling headphone were CRITICAL! The person I shared a room with talked (screamed) in his sleep non-stop. Chapstick, phone/watch charger, comfy walking shoes. 3) Having energy and practicing self-discipline.

It is pretty common & it can be a challenge to find foods you enjoy & can tolerate. It can be a lot of trial & error to find foods to eat. Don’t give up a good though. Sometimes you eat something one day & it’s fine but the next day your tummy is no way that’s disgusting. Then a week or so later it’s great again. It does gets better & easier as you progress. I began eating to a routine to help counter not being hungry & having no appetite because I knew I had to eat. Didn’t matter if I didn’t eat all of my portion or only ate the protein portion, as long as I was getting some nutrients in. My fridge always had leftovers in it which I’d eat for another meal that day or the next. Actually there’s still leftovers there everyday & I’m 5 years out. 😁 Eating to a routine continues to be part of my day. I’m not as rigid anymore but I find it helps keep me focussed & helps ensure I only respond to real hunger not head hunger.

I'm almost four weeks post gastric sleeve. I've lost 28 pounds, which I'm thrilled with. I've felt so good that I pulled some weeds in the front of my house yesterday. Today I have some abdominal pain. It's not horrible, but I'm worried I may have hurt my healing stomach. Should I be worried? No vomiting and I'm eating 1/2 cup of soft food as normal with no issues. Thanks for your help! 💕💕💕

Well, bariatric surgeon did not find anything wrong with my pouch (inside my pouch, no scar tissue causing problems, no hernia/bleeding inside pouch, etc.). Ironically unlike the 3 incisions that I had during my gastric bypass surgery, I have FIVE incisions. I guess he REALLY looked around. I look like I got attacked by a knife-wielding assailant with very precise aim..lol. I have my follow up with the surgeon tomorrow to talk about the procedure (he only saw my husband after the procedure as he had back to back surgeries lined up) as I have not officially spoken with him. I am trying to remember to ask him about their stance/experience on semiglutide/similar meds for their patients.

FMLA is granted by your employer, but the doctor is the one who says when you can return to work and if they say two weeks, your employer only legally has to hold your job for two weeks. Like I said, I did a lot of research prior to taking leave and saw some went back as soon as 2 days after their surgery, others took the full 6 weeks, but the most common leave time was 2-6. Given that timeline and my previous experience w/ surgery, I expected 4 weeks would be the best situation for me. I am not sure there should be a "standard" for these surgeries. Most of us are very obese and have varying comorbid conditions. I'm not saying that some people cannot return at 2 weeks (or even sooner), but this should be a private conversation that takes place between a patient and their provider and should be customized to the specific patient and their needs. The door to conversation about this should not be slammed on the patient.

it won't affect your stitches. It's in your large intestine - no stitches in that area. It's very common for it to take a week +/- for the first bowel movement - there's not much in there to come out. although that first one can be a doozy. Daily Miralax or stool softeners can help. just so you know, for some of us, constipation becomes a chronic problem. I think it has more to do with the high protein diet and some of the supplements (iron and calcium are the worst culprits) more than anything else. I have a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it. Others use magnesium tablets, stool softeners, SmoothMove tea - whatever works!

I have a cousin and a close friend who take the shots. One takes semaglutide and the other takes tirzepatide. They both love them. It's expensive, and they have to take the compounds because insurance won't cover the name brands (but they pay $250/mo for sema and $325/mo for tirz, so not horrible) but they love it. Both say their diabetes, head hunger, and high cholesterol are completely gone. But they will have to stay on them forever, otherwise they'll gain back what they lost. My cousin went off and within 3 months gained everything back plus an extra 15 pounds. So now she's back on and will be staying on.

I am still basically stalled too. I fluctuate up and down the same pound over and over again but everyone keeps saying “you’ve lost more weight, haven’t you?” Ummm, no. It must just be shifting around. I know how discouraging it can be for the scale to not move especially after the quick initial weight loss right after surgery. I try to tell myself it’s a good thing because my skin seems to be bouncing right back and if I was losing too quickly it wouldn’t and then I would have the added problem of loose skin everywhere. I have about 25lbs left to lose so if we have a year to lose our weight I have 9 months to lose that weight. If you look at it that way it’s more bearable. Hang in there

That's 15 pounds per month, or 3.75 pounds per week. You're more than on track. And I'm glad to hear you're doing well. I know the feeling about being anemic. I've been fighting that since 8th grade. Thanks for updating!!!

Mine came after an open conversation with my sleep doctor of all people. I was seeing him because I was getting set up with a CPAP machine due to my sleep apnea. In addition to my sleep apnea I had developed several other obesity-related health conditions including pre-diabetes, chronic pain in my knees and back, some minor heart issues and the worst of all, scrotal lymphedema (I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy). My doctor pointed out that losing weight would help all of those issues and he added that his mother was quite heavy and was dealing with a lot of health issues and that the sooner I could lose weight, the better my long-term health would be, and he recommended I look into bariatric surgery. That was the first time the idea had even crossed my mind. I did some research on it, but found out my insurance wouldn't cover it and it would be around $20,000 to pay for it out of pocket. But 3 years later I started a new job and got on their insurance, and it covered the surgery, so I began the process at that point.

Hello there! I'm chiming in late but wanted to congratulate you on your victories so far and wish you well on your upcoming surgery! I just had a SADI surgery on August 5th - It is basically a sleeve + sleeve revision done initially, all in one go. I mainly wanted to give my opinion on your question regarding hobbies post-surgery -- I can only speak for myself, but being exactly one week out from surgery I can tell you that managing my fluids and getting to know my 'newly revised' body has been pretty consuming in and of itself! I'm so very, very tired of protein shakes but I will say the Premier have seemed to work best for me and offer the most variety so far, affordably. I don't know if your liquid diet has started yet, but if you have a great love for tomato, corn, peas, pineapple, celery, shrimp, artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, rhubarb, Grapefruit, pasta, peanut butter, coconut, or steak this would be the time to enjoy them! According to my Bariatric guide, at least, those are considered cautionary foods for quite a while post-surgery. I also wanted to mention what has actually been the biggest help for me personally, as someone who also tends to over-prepare, triple-think, and struggles with both Anxiety and ADHD - there is an app called Finch that has proven to be an absolute life saver. I was feeling a lot of overwhelm leading up to the journey - and I took the long road, as you have, actually going ten months from start to surgery. I wasn't sure how I would actually follow through properly on the dietary restrictions, get myself more active, keep track of the vitamins, focus on the hydration -- and I also had to quit smoking and drinking alcohol. I have no advertising gain by mentioning this app by the way - lol - it has just helped me SO ridiculously much that I try to tell as many folks as I can about it. I was surprised when I mentioned it to my therapist that she already knew about it and said a lot of her patients use it. Finch is a silly game / task oriented app that has a free version which has worked out just fine for me so far. It kind of 'gamifies' making healthy choices, letting you customize your goals like drinking water, taking vitamins, getting out of the house, trying new activities, etc. There are different 'journeys' and 'goals' you can set for yourself - some of the ones I'm doing now are called 'New Year, New You' another one is 'Gratitude' and there is also 'So fresh, so clean'. The 'Nourish my Body' journey has really helped me evaluate the relationship I have had in the past with food and cultivate a better relationship with it moving forward. I know not everyone needs the same kind of encouragements that I do, but for me working through these pre-created goals, being given suggestions on how to interact more with my community, to think about what foods I do and do not enjoy, and prompt me to get more active have made a huge difference. Once you are recovered and looking for physically engaging activities I'd suggest exploring new hobbies like biking, geocashing, and nature photography. Even volunteering as a dog walker at your local humane society might be enjoyable. Best wishes!

I know that for the first few weeks after surgery any medication that you take is in a liquid/dissolvable form but what happens after that? How do you take tablets if you can only sip water? 🤔

I have trouble getting in enough veg or fruits right now. I was trying to force myself to get some lettuce (romaine or iceberg) and use them as lettuce wraps once or twice a week, but I don't eat enough of the head to make it worth it before it goes bad. My nutritionist has been telling me that 'fresh is best' -- but also that the best veg to eat is whatever veg you do eat. (in other words -- it doesn't matter how good something might be for you if you don't end up eating it, lol). I have a small can of low sodium V8 twice a week, and try to throw some frozen veg in with my protein -- spinach, broccoli florets, green beans. Bell peppers. I used to heavily dislike bell peppers, but after my surgery I love them -- steamed or on the barbecue.