Ok, I had my surgery in Mexico, everything went great. I had no problems and very little pain. I actually felt pretty good. I did not have any nausua or anything. I felt this way for almost 2 weeks. I was really surprised at how well things were going. Over the last 4 days or so, I have been getting more tender in the area of the incisions and the area of the stomach. Sometimes it just feels sore, other times it is just a very mild pain / sornes right below the rib cage and just a bit on the left side. I do not have any fever, food is ok, still restricted on what I can eat.

The first 10 days or so I got in and out of a car no problem, now when I do it, I feel the soreness. Confused why I did not feel anything the first 10 days, but now I feel the tenderness/soreness. How do I know if something is wrong. I dont want to make a trip to the hospital if this is normal as all 100% of the expense would be out of pocket. My concern is a leak or infection.

Today is day 15 post op and in some ways it's my most "uncomfortable" days. It's tender when I laugh or talk too much.

I was told that it's the muscle under the incisions starting to knit and it's normal.

If I had to describe the pain, this is exactly how I would describe it.

All is better so far. 2 months out tomorrow. I am down 55 LBS., the wife is down around 43LBS. I tell you what, I still sometimes get buyers remorse, mostly because I miss the comfort of food at times. I am never hungry, I dont eat much at all and when I do, I have to make sure that I eat slow and chew alot, otherwise I feel like the food is stuck or backing up my throat.

I hope that months from now I can eat a bit more freely, meaning that I dont get the discomfort when I eat. Threw up the other day after eat maybe 1-2 oz of steak, did not sit well and came right back up. The first month was a bit rough, no bad pain or anything, just pariniod a bit that I had a leak. The new tendeness here and the slight discomfort there had me reading into things more than what I should have.

2 months out and no more pains, just adjusting to food, hopefully it gets easier. I use to get enjoyment out of eating, no I only eat because I know I should and that I need to. Hope some of the enjoyment comes back, not too much of it though.

For you new sleevers that are struggling a bit, it took me around 6 weeks to start feeling normal again and to feel really good about my decision. I cannot say YET that it is the best decision that I ever made, maybe in another month or two I can. I can say that it was a good and wise decision at this point.

For you long-time sleevers, does eating get better, how far out do you have to be before you a fully healed and really no longer have any threats from the surgery?

Starting: 321

Surgery: 315

Current: 265

Goal: 195

6'1 Male

I'm really glad I found this thread. I'm 3 weeks post-op and about 3-4 days ago I noticed that I was having some pain on my left side (especially when I was laying on my left side at night). I was really afraid that my "tummy" was coming loose or something - hahahahaha. That does coincide with where the largest incision is for me, and also where my port was for my lapband that the Doc removed. I don't see my Doc again until May 9th and was considering calling him.

I haven't had surgery as of yet, but I am about to embark on the Journey soon, June 13. I have so many questions about what's going to happen in the long run..... other than the weight loss I mean. I would like to know if you ever have enjoyment when eating after you are healed. Also, will you have to take antacid forever? I am scared of the things that are unknown that no one wants to talk about. I am a direct person, and would like it if someone would just come out and tell the negative side of things....

So far, what I know is that I am going to have reflux, but for how long. I understand that with time, your stomach can stretch out ... does this mean you go back to normal as far as the burning in the throat issue?

What about the lack of enjoyment in eating... Does it change back later on at some point.... If not, I would like to know the truth..

Can anybody be direct with me, Please...

I haven't had surgery as of yet, but I am about to embark on the Journey soon, June 13. I have so many questions about what's going to happen in the long run..... other than the weight loss I mean. I would like to know if you ever have enjoyment when eating after you are healed. Also, will you have to take antacid forever? I am scared of the things that are unknown that no one wants to talk about. I am a direct person, and would like it if someone would just come out and tell the negative side of things....

So far, what I know is that I am going to have reflux, but for how long. I understand that with time, your stomach can stretch out ... does this mean you go back to normal as far as the burning in the throat issue?

What about the lack of enjoyment in eating... Does it change back later on at some point.... If not, I would like to know the truth..

Can anybody be direct with me, Please...

You may, or you may not have reflux. I've had none and I'm four weeks out, but my doctor has me on a PPI (Prilocec) for three months. I know lots of other people who have never had reflux.

I'm also enjoying eating. At four weeks, my NUT has me on mostly regular food. I just make sure whatever I eat is high in Protein and moist. I like to cook, so I found a great bariatric cookbook by Sarah Maria Leach and she has recipes for all stages of eating (liquids to soft to regular) and all of them have been awesome. She also offers suggestions for how to enhance the meals so your family can eat what you eat, and that's what we do at my house. I have not yet gone out to eat though. I'm eating such small portions that I just don't want to waste the money/food. But this Friday we are going to a restaurant for dinner to Celebrate my daughters HS graduation, so I will just have some Soup or maybe split some fish with my husband.

I've really chosen to do this with a positive attitude and it seems to be working. I've had a couple of days of feeling tired, or slightly yucky (had to force myself to eat), but generally feel great and now have tons of energy because of the amount of protein I am consuming. I've followed my surgeon and NUT's instructions to the letter. I came out of the surgery being able to drink without any issues and most foods and drinks have been agreeable - although the Protein shakes took me a couple of weeks to get used to (I had a low carb diet for pre-op, so didn't do the shakes). I did find I can't eat Peanut Butter yet, it has too much sugar in it for me. And yesterday, I tried a very tiny bite of bacon and spent the next hour or so in the bathroom. But, you have to learn what your sleeve is gonna like and what it is not.

The forum members are here to offer you their support. You're going to do great. Think positive!

Well, I am going on 4 months now, actually about 15 weeks. 6/16/2012 will be 4 months. I am down to 235 from 321, 86 pounds lost overall. To answer some of your question New Orleans Lady, I do not regret the surgery, but if I had to do it all over again, I am not sure that I would do it, most likely yes, but I would really weigh in on what I know now.

As far as eating, I used to really really enjoy eating, now I eat to stay alive so to speak. I get relly no enjoyment from eating and the taste of found is not relly appealing to me. Bread and dense meats still sit heavy on me and the amount that I can eat is really small. I usually stop eating after about 5-6 teaspoons of food, any more than that it feels like the food is backed up and/or stuck and I get really burpy.

I guess losing the masive atraction to food is not really a bad thing, but I would like to have some enjoyment from eating, which as of now is very minimal and nothing really seems to taste relly good like it used to. Actuelly, I have noticed that I have started craving healthier foods, had a massive craving for an orange the other night and i banana tonight.

It took me about 2 months to return to normal, meaning not worrying about a leak, pain, discomfort, mental, etc. I have not had any scid or reflux issue that I have noteticed, I did have a bit the first 2-4 weeks, but then they went away.

The reason why I said I would maybe not go forward with the surgery again is only because it is a BIG lifstyle change and there are sacrifices that get made whether you like it or not. I somewhat thought that it would just reduce the amount that I could eat, make me get full faster and stay full longer, I never thought that I would lose the interest or attraction in eating.

This also may be normal to only being 4 months out, you may want to check with people that are 1-2 years post op, maybe it is different the futher out you get, not really sure.

My wife also had the surgery, we got it done together, she seems to have adapted better than I, her weight lost is a bit slower, she started at 270 and is now at 209. Hope this helps, good luck.