I'm a 35 year old at 6'5" and 365#. 10 days before surgery and started a liquid diet this morning. I am excited for the most part; any advice from you vets?

John

John - My best advice is to follow your doctor's instructions, take one day at a time, and ask any questions you have in this forum. You will find lots of encouragement and help just when you need it the most. Hard to give exact advice as everyone has a little different experience; so just ask lots of questions and post your experiences as you encounter different things on this awesome journey we are all sharing. I would also suggest using My Fitness Pal to track your eating. Helps track Protein, calories, carbs, etc. Best of luck to you.

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Hi John, I certainly am not a vet to the sleeve but had a band for over 6 years which is probably longer than most here with the sleeve. I am 3 days post-op. Surgery was Friday 10/25. So far I have had some pain but nothing that pain meds didn't take care of. One bout of nausea but got a shot and it was over as quickly as it began. I have not had gas pains, I had a lap band and port removed and the sleeve performed in one procedure. My surgery took two hours. I am very fortunate and hope to have a smooth recovery. I had a catheter for the 1st day and also had a jp drain which was taken out before I left the hospital. These were only because I was a revision patient, but different doctors do different things. Do what your doctor says follow the diet and you should be good. Good luck. I'm sure you'll do fine.

I'm a 35 year old at 6'5" and 365#. 10 days before surgery and started a liquid diet this morning. I am excited for the most part; any advice from you vets?

John

Congrats on it being 10 days away!!

Like Debbie said..take it one day at a time..it can be a challenge but you can do it!! What kind of pre-op diet did your Dr give you? (Many people here had slightly different pre and post op diets) I am 3 weeks post op and in my opinion the pre-op diet was the hardest but still manageable with finding the right kind of liquids that I enjoyed!

My pre-op is just a ten day low carb, low sugar liquid diet. Clear liquids two days prior.

Just stick with it, dude!!! It gets better in a few days!

My pre-op is just a ten day low carb, low sugar liquid diet. Clear liquids two days prior.

Very similar to what I had. Life savers for me during that time: getting my favorite Soups from my neighborhood chinese restaurant. Egg drop and Won-ton..with no wont tons was a life saver for me...and the sugar free popsicles!!

Good luck! I'm only 8 days out and on my 2nd week of post op liquids. Everything has been going good. Take your time, walk as soon as you can in the hospital. It helps a lot! Sip slowly!! You'll do great.

The pre-op diets are hard for people. Hang in there and do your very best with it. Here's my long list of advice. I'll try to keep it short, but I'm not so good at short posts.

Stock up on groceries and supplies before surgery so you won't have to run out afterward.

Also stock up on meds. I hope you have your PPI, because you'll want one for at least a short period post op.

Walk, walk, walk post op.

Sip, sip, sip. If you're awake, you should be sipping. If cold liquids don't cut it, try warm ones.

If you don't like the Protein shakes post op, find another one. There is a shake out there that you like, you just have to find it. Protein Shakes are a tremendous boost and getting as much protein as you can will keep you from losing muscle instead of fat.

You're doing a pre-op diet, so you likely won't log huge loss numbers your first month. Anything you lose pre-op should be counted into your loss total. Remember that we all lose at an individual pace, so even someone the same height and weight sleeved the same day will see different results. If the scale gets you down, put it away. You're going to lose weight because you're slicing out 85% of your stomach and can't help but lose weight. And yes, you will probably stall (three weeks at one weight) at some point, and it's normal and no, you aren't done losing weight just because it happens.

Follow your post op nutritional guidelines - do not eat foods before you're supposed to eat them. But that advice about calories/carbs are guidelines. There is no one size approach to this, so the ideal combination of calories, carbs and protein is the one you can live with that gives you results.

Good luck! I wouldn't trade my sleeve for anything.

~Cheri

I found on the pre op that boost were the best drinks and help fill me up. After surgery make sure you get something good the help relive gas b/c that's the worst part I found. Walking really helps. Try not to lay around. Drinking slow an all day will help. Don't push it with introducing food you will get sick. Bread is a really bad one to try to soon. I've heard that from a few ladies I keep in contact with. Popsicles were my best friend for the first couple weeks. So much easier than drinking. Get good broth too. Good luck.

Thank you all. Great advice from fellow sleevers.