ok. i can honestly say that my sleeve surgery has saved my life and even though i ended up with a stricture i would still do it all over again. i am however noticing that i am currently at week 16 and because of the sticture i have yet to reach the "make healthy food choices but still can eat what you pretty much want just in smaller amounts" phase. i am still on the pureed stage. yes, that's right i'm 16 weeks post surgey and still at the pureed stage thanks to the stomach stricture issue. thank goodness i have no appitite at all nor do i crave anything because if i did then that would just be too much to handle i think. now back to why i need help. this week, i really began to question "who is this person i see when i look in the mirror?" i don't see the old pre-surgery me but i do not know who this is that i see! i've gone from a size 32 pant/5x shirt to 22 pant/1x shirt in 16 weeks and i'm really freaking out. don't get me wrong i did my research before surgery, i knew that i was going to lose a lot of weight but i guess knowing and seeing are two totally different things. i was never in this to be a certain size i just wanted to be healthy and be able to simple things that folks without weight issues don't even think twice about. has anyone else had similar feelings about dropping the weight this fast and if so what did you tell yourself so you could handle it? everyone tells me i look great, i try to take the compliments in stride and smile and say thanks but right now my brain is so confused that i'm finding it hard to handle it when they tell me how healthy i look. if they only knew--healthy isn't what i would say i was. this stomach stricture is a real pain in the butt. it's madining have been on pureed food for so long. i think if i never see or eat yogurt, cottage cheese or mashed potatoes again that will be just fine with me. having the stricture has made my getting enough protein a uphill challenge. i cannot keep liquid protein shakes down and i add the unjury non flavored protein to my 5 basic foods trying to up the protein amounts but i still come way under and it really makes me afraid. i stay in contact with the clinic and the nutritionist and she has given me "the bare minimums" that i can have. i only pray that when i go for my 6mth checkup that my labwork isn't totally screwed up. well i guess i've vented enough. thanks for allowing me the chance to see if anyone else has had similar experience. i hope everyone has a blessed night.

you arent losing it. i find it weird looking back at my reflection as well. it is like a stranger. it has taken me by surprize that the new person is not the old skinny person I used to be, but an old version of her. i think i was expecting to see the old me again, and i am finally realizing that person is gone. good luck!

I think that you will find that with time, your image of yourself will change. For me, at about 4 months out, I was holding up pants, looking at the waistband, and thinking, "These will never fit." But they did. The waist looked so small! Now I trust that when I put on a size 8 it will probably fit (like I was sure a size 22 was going to fit when I was fat). It's just a number--it's not you. The real you is inside and won't change. Your sleeve might cause you to change some habits, but people without WLS do that anyway. Change is good!

What is a stricture?

What is a stricture?

a stricture happens only in a VERY SMALL PERCENT of the patients. its when the scar tissue blocks the stomach being able to pass food. in otherwords, as your stomach heals from surgery in a small percent of patients the scar tissue heals on the inside not the outside which inturn can cause a blockage. mine completely blocked the passage of anything at week 6 after the sleeve surgery. they went in and used a balloon to stretch the stricture to allow me to again be able to eat but i'm now at week 16 and still haven't been released to each anything but pureed foods. it's been a very, very long 16 weeks. i have 2 more weeks before i go back for a recheck and hopefully he will give me the all clear!

Wow what a bummer. Hope you are feeling better and healed soon. Good luck to you!