I think I know the answer to this but I'm so stinking nervous about my surgery that's coming up in a couple of weeks that anything and everything is running through my mind. After surgery, the staple line stays in place and your stomach grows around it, right? Do I need to worry about having leaks 3 years, 5 years, 10 years out? I don't want to have this done and then find out all is being held in place by the staples.

That was a great thing to see. I never really worried about the healing over the staples, but I am more comfortable seeing the 8 months later photos.

Thank you so much! What a relief it is to see this. So really, life is normal, you just have to eat a lot less.

I think every person's definition of "normal" is pretty different. I think I live a very normal life post-op, my mom doesn't, some of my friends don't think it's normal, but then I have other friends that know about my surgery and say things like "wow, I've never seen you eat pizza" because I really do stick to plan most of the time. However, I want to preface that with the fact that I was not an emotional, stress, or comfort eater. food was not this thing I turned to when stressed, sad, or overwhelmed. I just loved food in large quantities, and didn't have a stopping point. So, I do not and have never suffered from the "eat a carb, crave a carb" that I often hear about on forums. I did work on some behaviors that led to my obesity, but I refuse to classify myself as a food addict. I've dealt with addiction in other forms, and my love of food was not driven by compulsion or addiction. Defining what is normal to you, or every other patient might be different. I do have trigger foods that I really do avoid unless it's a special occasion such as cake, or cupcakes. Those things go down way to easy, and I can eat a huge slice of cake so I do not keep those things in my house. But, if I'm at a party, I'm sharing in the celebration with cake, a whole slice of cake ! ! ! My husband eats ice cream, Reese's Ice Cream, 4 nights a week, and not once have I been tempted to eat his ice cream. I keep some 100% whole fruit raspberry or peach sorbet that is no sugar added, no milk fat, in the house in the event I want frozen yumminess, but I can honestly say it's been 2 months since I've touched the container.

When I say my life is "normal", I am comparing it to the life I've seen other naturally skinny women living.I eat pretty much the same things and amounts of my skinny girlfriends. I might modify my plate to get in Protein first such as removing the bun, or eating the meat and eggs from the salad first, but I'm still eating somewhat normal amounts. The portions are smaller, but I'm rarely questioned as to why/how/ if my food is okay because I've eaten such a small amount. The only time it really happens is when I go to buffets with friends, and I only make one trip, and even then, that has only happened 2 times in 2 years, and the lady was convinced something was wrong. I can eat 1 slice of pizza and be perfectly content and satisfied. I can eat all foods in smaller portions that I could pre-op, but I have a different mindset on what I put in my mouth. I still go for protein first about 80-90% of the time. But, sometimes I just want a big, fat juicy salad or a veggie plate from a restaurant. For example last night, we went to Sonny's barbque. My husband had a sampler platter of all the meats, my son had ribs, each of them ordered 2 sides with their meals. I opted for the salad bar knowing I would steal meat from their plates. That's exactly how it happened. I ate 3/4 of my salad, sat there and talked with them and then waited about 20 minutes and snacked about 2oz of meat of my husband's plate. I was perfectly content and satisfied. I can fit a lot more junk food in that I can nutrient dense food. I can easily polish off one of those 99cent bag of doritos without issue so I avoid eating chips because those are truly just junk food. I don't believe in "good or bad" or "cheats". I look at what I'm putting in my body as nutrient dense or lacking.

I hope that makes sense, and I'm sorry to ramble.

Yes, thank you for all the day in, day out info. These things are important! To get a tiny look into how you might eat or not eat...even though I know we are all different...makes me feel like that I won't be suffering or feeling deprived (like I do now, in preop..ugh!) when my stomach heals. All I can think is that I still have a week and a half of barely anything and then I have 7 weeks before I'm set free to regular foods! It's so hard to get the feeling things will get better at this point...sometimes I find myself feeling sad and having thoughts of why am I putting myself through this. Everything you just said plus the pictures remind me that what I'm going through now and after surgery will be temporary. So once again thank you and everyone else too that encourages all of the pre-sleevers! Seeing what's on the other side and knowing that there are others that have struggled through the hard parts just as I am now.

Ok now i am confused , i was told they were disolving stitches and Staples, so i guess thats another question, did anyone else think they would disolve???

I was told that the staples will never go away! That's a good question though. I'm curious what others have to say about this. Is it possible that different doctors use different types of staples for this procedure or is the same across the board?

hi! would you mind sending me your pics? I would LOVE to see how they look like. If its ok with you, you can message me at jenalenn@msn.com Thank you!

Yep, skin and scar tissue heal over the staple line. I was scoped at 8 months post-op, and the staples were not visible at all. If you aren't queasy, I have actual pictures I can share.

I Just saw the pics, Thanks! Amazing how our bodies heal !! Thanks for sharing!

I think every person's definition of "normal" is pretty different. I think I live a very normal life post-op, my mom doesn't, some of my friends don't think it's normal, but then I have other friends that know about my surgery and say things like "wow, I've never seen you eat pizza" because I really do stick to plan most of the time. However, I want to preface that with the fact that I was not an emotional, stress, or comfort eater. food was not this thing I turned to when stressed, sad, or overwhelmed. I just loved food in large quantities, and didn't have a stopping point. So, I do not and have never suffered from the "eat a carb, crave a carb" that I often hear about on forums. I did work on some behaviors that led to my obesity, but I refuse to classify myself as a food addict. I've dealt with addiction in other forms, and my love of food was not driven by compulsion or addiction. Defining what is normal to you, or every other patient might be different. I do have trigger foods that I really do avoid unless it's a special occasion such as cake, or cupcakes. Those things go down way to easy, and I can eat a huge slice of cake so I do not keep those things in my house. But, if I'm at a party, I'm sharing in the celebration with cake, a whole slice of cake ! ! ! My husband eats ice cream, Reese's Ice Cream, 4 nights a week, and not once have I been tempted to eat his ice cream. I keep some 100% whole fruit raspberry or peach sorbet that is no sugar added, no milk fat, in the house in the event I want frozen yumminess, but I can honestly say it's been 2 months since I've touched the container.

When I say my life is "normal", I am comparing it to the life I've seen other naturally skinny women living.I eat pretty much the same things and amounts of my skinny girlfriends. I might modify my plate to get in Protein first such as removing the bun, or eating the meat and eggs from the salad first, but I'm still eating somewhat normal amounts. The portions are smaller, but I'm rarely questioned as to why/how/ if my food is okay because I've eaten such a small amount. The only time it really happens is when I go to buffets with friends, and I only make one trip, and even then, that has only happened 2 times in 2 years, and the lady was convinced something was wrong. I can eat 1 slice of pizza and be perfectly content and satisfied. I can eat all foods in smaller portions that I could pre-op, but I have a different mindset on what I put in my mouth. I still go for protein first about 80-90% of the time. But, sometimes I just want a big, fat juicy salad or a veggie plate from a restaurant. For example last night, we went to Sonny's barbque. My husband had a sampler platter of all the meats, my son had ribs, each of them ordered 2 sides with their meals. I opted for the salad bar knowing I would steal meat from their plates. That's exactly how it happened. I ate 3/4 of my salad, sat there and talked with them and then waited about 20 minutes and snacked about 2oz of meat of my husband's plate. I was perfectly content and satisfied. I can fit a lot more junk food in that I can nutrient dense food. I can easily polish off one of those 99cent bag of doritos without issue so I avoid eating chips because those are truly just junk food. I don't believe in "good or bad" or "cheats". I look at what I'm putting in my body as nutrient dense or lacking.

I hope that makes sense, and I'm sorry to ramble.