Hi Everyone, I’m finally on here again to tell my Post-Op story. My surgery was on Tuesday April 2^nd and I came home on Thursday. I waited until now to write because I needed to be in the right frame of mind before I write this or I was worried that I would scare everyone away. I would love to sugar coat everything and tell you that my journey so far has been wonderful, but I’ve decided to just be honest because after all it IS my journey. First of all I woke up from surgery! So yay that was wonderful, but then I am told that they are taking me to ICU because my oxygen level was very low and they were worried about that with my sleep apnea, ok, no biggie. Now when I finally get to my room, wham the pain hits me. Honestly I am not a big cry baby when it comes to pain but I have to tell you, I was not expecting the amount of pain I had. When I read other peoples stories on here that say they had NO pain, I just find that so hard to believe how you could have 5 incisions and your stomach pulled out through your skin and not have ANY pain, KUDOS to all of you that didn’t, but I certainly did. Ok so I dealt with the pain, I’ve had trouble breathing since my surgery ( I will address this tomorrow with my surgeon), and now I finally get to come home, pain and all…I, like most of you have been wanting this surgery for over a year, I fought with my insurance for over a year to get approved, I have been on these forums 24/7 reading as much information as I possibly can to be prepared, well let me remind you, that like anything else in life, until you experience it for yourself, you can not possibly know how something is going to be until you go through it yourself. Now please know that I am not saying this to scare anyone, I am not unhappy with my decision to have the surgery and today I finally have a better out look on everything, but you can not imagine how you are going to feel until after you have had the surgery yourself no matter how much you read or think you know. What I mean by this is that everyone’s relationships with food are alittle different and everyone is going to react differently when they actually can NOT have food. For months now I have been telling myself that I am over food and I can’t wait to get this done and start my journey, it took me by such surprise that when I got home, I was feeling so down, I couldn’t understand why until my husband starting eating a pizza and the smell of it just made me want to cry, and everyday since, watching my family eat, is pure torture for me. You kinda forget that their life goes on and they are going to eat and they are going to eat in front of you, you can’t avoid that forever. I know that this too shall pass and I know that I will get through this, but I’m just letting you know to be prepared that it’s not easy, afterall, didn’t we always fail before on diets because our willpower wasn’t great enough to keep us going? Well now no matter how much you may want to “cheat” you CANT or you will hurt yourself, yes I guess that is a good thing, but is not easy. Plus I had to give up smoking in January to have this surgery which would be my other “go to “ crutch that I now don’t have either.---

So back to when I get home, as I said, I was so prepared, had everything I needed and I swear when I got home I felt like I had no idea what to do, I thought they must have taken my brains out with my stomach cause I could not remember anything! I got so confused on –what’s a meal, whats a liquid- how much of each, when, etc..Well my brains finally came back and I’m figuring it out, but it’s not easy. It has become my full time job all week just trying to get it all straight and get it all in. I realize it’s not forever and that’s the only thing that gets me through the day. Trying to keep track of every 3 hours a meal, but half hour before don’t drink, then a half hour after don’t drink but then after that you better take in liquids every 2 minutes and then figure out your protein intake, has become my job now. I thought I would try to go back to work next week, LOL yeah right..I need to have all this figured out first. I have never used my timer so much in my life! I really don’t mean to be a downer here, as I said, this is why I waited all week to write because if I had of written right away it would not have been good. This is only MY journey and how I have felt so far, I do not regret having the surgery because what is getting me through these tough days is the outcome and knowing (hoping) that it will be worth it, but I guess when your feeling this way and your still Fat, doesn’t help, LOL…For everyone who is upcoming in their surgery, I wish you the best and I’m sure you will be fine and not have my experience, and to everyone who’s had their surgery and had NO pain and everything has gone smooth sailing and so easy for you, KUDOS to you, but I did want to be honest so that if anyone experiences what I am experiencing I want them to feel they can come to me at any time to talk, because I will probably know how you feel and hopefully already be past that and able to get you past it as well. So please message me if you need any support at all. Sorry this was so long, I tried to make it as short as possible and I just want to end with this, if anyone has a dark day, my best advice to you is, to remember why you did this in the first place and that everyday it WILL get better, I promise..That is the only thing that got me through so far, Oh and by the way, I have lost 9 pounds since the day before surgery, so yay me!..Thanks for reading…Kari

You guys are still very early out, it does test your patience and endurance. Just keep sticking to the plan and it will come off..A pound a day is amazing so don't be so hard on yourself.Today I finally started soft foods, each stage gets better and better..I was on liquids for 3 weeks after surgery, so I KNOW how hard that is, but hang in there, the end results will be worth it..You need to give your stomach time to heal properly..I am a slow loser and get very frustrated myself, but I try to keep telling myself it will happen, I just have to be patient, but it's not easy..Sunday I went to my first wedding post op and that really tested my endurance. The only thing I could eat there was a few bites of mashed potatoes and I couldn't drink either, so it was very hard but then instead of feeling sorry for myself I began to feel empowered, knowing that I could NOT cheat even if I wanted to, which is what I would have done in the past if I was on a regular diet, so I just got up and danced and enjoyed the day, but the smells of food were torture..LOL..good luck everyone, we can do it...It gets better every day..

Just would like to add my 2 cents. I was sleeved on March 12 this year and my journey was very similar to yours. I had a very difficult recovery in the 1st days after surgery. Lots of vomiting, at one point I broke a blood vessel in my forehead and I started to bleed massively out my nose and mouth. I thought my elderly parents we going to have a heart attack when they saw that. I was very dehydrated so I ended up staying an extra day. It was tough in the beginning I felt like what have. I done to myself? But as I have healed things are getting better. I have had pizza (actually its something I can tolerate without puking. Just one small piece though,). I am relearning how to eat, figuring out my limits and trying to move forward. I can't take back my decision so I have. To embrace this change! I am proud to say I had my check up yesterday and I have lost a total of 43lbs!! I am thrilled with my progress as hard as this journey has been. You will make it, just keep looking toward the future!! Good Luck!!

I am DYING For a slice of pizza! LOL....how far out were you when you had it? 43 lbs! That's awesome, congratulations..I'm 5 weeks out and have lost 26 pounds so far, I just wish it would come off a little faster, but I'm trying to be patient..

Well I was down 18lbs from the preop diet which was 12 days long. So since march 1st I have lost 43lbs... Pizza well I was bad, probably a month out. I ate like a very thin 1/2 slice of a very small pizza. ( no crust) It went down ok and then I waited like 2 hours and had another small one. I love pizza so I was very excited. I have had a hard time with some foods because they were too spicy and well I didn't eat slow enough. I tend to be a gobbler. If I I don't chew well enough or eat to fast I vomit. I do eat pizza now like once a week. But I have 1 slice and I am done, full and satisfied. Such a great feeling not to be a slave to food anymore. I let my sleeve tell me when I'm done. Not to say that I haven't had a hard time with that. It's been a process to figure out when I am full or not. That one extra bite and its all over... Blah....

How did you eat the pizza without the crust?? LOL...Well it sounds like your doing great with the 43 lb loss so keep it up!

Believe me I wanted the crust!! But knew my tummy couldn't handle it so the dog got a treat. I say try it but eat really slow....

I think it's great that you're facing all these feelings now and learning how to deal with them or get past them. Better to deal with the emotional issues right away than pretend everything is ok and have them smack you in the face later on!

Yes, Hathery, I think your pretty much forced to deal with them..I'm 5 weeks post op now and doing great..What a difference a month can make huh? I still have certain issues I'm dealing with as we all do I'm sure, but just taking it day by day...Every day gets easier, and every day I learn something new..Thanks..