I see so many questions on this forum and remember all the questions I had pre op and especially post op...so I thought I would try too compile some information in one spot....here's hoping it helps someone and someone finds it useful....

1. Don't freak out when you can barely sip anything immediately after surgery.....I could barely drink a little medicine cup in the hospital...some can drink more....I just couldn't.....I can hardly remember the feeling in my stomach but I struggled and struggled, in fact I stayed an extra night in the hospital due to this and continues to struggle when I went home. It got better day by day...for me milk was easier.

2. On the same subject of drinking...water hits the stomach a bit hard in the beginning due to its density as my nutritionist explained to me....if you mix it with g2 or crystal light you will feel a difference. At about 3 months I started plain water and now at more than 6 months post op it's no problem at all.

3. I don't feel very full on pureed foods..what's up? Wait till you get to semi solid or pure protein.....it's so different...even at 6 months out I feel incredible restriction when I eat a Boca burger.

4. Don't freak out when you come home from the hospital and all you do is feel sad, melancholy and cry yourself through the morning...for a couple of weeks I was mourning food. I missed my food friend pizza and chips, my love pasta and I broke up and I didn't think I could live without any of them....I stopped crying at....probably 2 weeks....once I transition to pureed and ate the famous ricotta bake. Somehow I began feeling somewhat like my old self..

5. I am still kind of in 4. Will I ever be able to eat a piece of pizza again??????

Yes...of course you can...eventually you can..I could eat a slice and probably be very satisfied but now I don't want to....I find myself making healthier choices but I did make that cauliflower crust pizza and it was pretty good. I ate one small slice. It wasn't exactly like a traditional piece of pizza...but it was good! And I knew it was healthy.

6 . O.mg..I left the hospital weighing more than I did pre op. I figure it's all the fluids they pump used up with..

7. I haven't lost a lb in weeks...what's up with that????? I've been watching the rhythms of my weight loss...and I can clearly see I stay at number for two, three weeks and then I drop 5 or 6 lbs in a few days. It cycles this way and I don't freak anymore.

Feel free to add folks....

Wait...what? Do you mean sharting? Is that a short-term or long-term side affect?

One of those things they kinda leave out of the brochure. Thankfully the sharting is only short term. But the constipation can be long term. It's difficult getting in enough Fiber until later when your capacity to eat increases.

How short term??... got to go back to work, I'm a community worker, so sometimes can be ages till I can 'find' a loo!

For me it was only the week after surgery.....

Thanks! Really want to go back after 2 weeks:)

Is it normal to feel hungry while on liquids?

I have noticed that some surgeons require a longer pre-op diet while others only require a day or two. I have to say that my dr wanted a week pre-op of Protein shakes with cooked veggies ending with 3 days of just Protein Shakes. I actually wanted to get started early and did two weeks.

I found this to be the hardest part - my body went through carb/sugar withdrawal and for 3 days I was so tired, had a headache, and slept as much as I could...BUT (at that point) I still had a very positive outlook looking forward to getting sleeved (even though I was nervous/scared).

I can't imagine having to heal from the surgery AND go through this food withdrawal at the same time (which is what I think happens to those who don't have to do a pre-op surgery). Before I started the pre-op, I gorged on foods that I thought I would never be able to enjoy again (at least not in the quantities I was used to) and ended up gaining 10 pounds over the course of a month or so.

I don't know how it happened but a kind of switch went off in my head once I started that pre-op diet that kind of said "this is it...this is my life and I want to be healthier and to do that I just have to live this way...and I am ok with this because I feel like this is my last chance."

Having lost weight only to regain so many times, having to buy larger and larger clothes, not being able to keep up with my family on vacation was so much more distressing/depressing to me than not being able to eat certain foods.

I wish for all of you that "magic moment" when that switch in your head is flipped and you are content with the changes...I am at almost 8 weeks and have lost 43 pounds and the weight loss does slow down but make the effort to do some physical activity daily and write down what you eat...it does help you stay focused on what you need to eat to be healthy! I finally see light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time in my life I feel like I will be able to keep the weight off.

Good luck to all of you on your new journey!

Is it normal to feel hungry while on liquids?

Definitely. Could be acid reflux (which feels just like hunger after surgery) or it could be head hunger. Or maybe real hunger. But yes not uncommon and frankly I didn't feel any satisfaction until I started on real foods again. The liquids don't do much for you in terms of satiety. It's just something we all have to live with. It gets better.

How short term??... got to go back to work' date=' I'm a community worker, so sometimes can be ages till I can 'find' a loo![/quote']

LOL....sorry. Just don't try to fart.

I heard the stories. I knew it was possible. But somehow I didn't think it would happen to me. Sadly, I was not immune.

13. Don't expect your GI tract to work the same post surgery as it did before. Weird things will be happening. And under no circumstances should you trust a fart.

Note to self. I didn't know sharting was a problem post-op.