I had my sleeve done Monday and came home yesterday afternoon. Tuesday was not fun. Lots of stomach spasming. Today I feel like I didn't even have surgery. Able to drink without any problems. I had two Protein shakes today, yogurt, a little Soup and a good amount of Water. The only thing is the gurgling sound in my upper airway...throat and belly. I feel super blessed but I am amazed at how good I feel. Has anyone else felt like they were back to normal this soon post op?

I also had very manageable pain from the beginning. As far as food consumption goes, I'm five weeks out and I am allowed purees for now. I'm down 33lbs. I do struggle with Water and food because I feel full after just a little bit. I'm still in shock that I went through this and I do have some wicked cravings, but it was what I needed. It amazes me that dealing with food is more traumatic than the actual surgery!

Yolanda...33lbs in 5 weeks is beyond awesome! What was your pre op weight if you don't mind me asking?

I felt exactly the same way. Do remember that though you feel well, you have indeed just had major abdominal surgery. Your doctor likely used a pain block to aid you on this side of the knife, so don't overdo it on accident (as I might have) and don't feel alarmed when it wears off (as I did). That said, do honestly enjoy the way you feel! I never got to a point that I felt not than muscular tenderness, and I've had no trouble taking in fluids and Proteins since the very beginning. I've also had no trouble transitioning through food stages, and I've not yet hit a stall. I'm down 55 pounds and several sizes at eight weeks post-op. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, so good. I honestly love my sleeve!

I am four days post op... I think any block would have worn off by now. No?

I felt exactly the same way. Do remember that though you feel well, you have indeed just had major abdominal surgery. Your doctor likely used a pain block to aid you on this side of the knife, so don't overdo it on accident (as I might have) and don't feel alarmed when it wears off (as I did). That said, do honestly enjoy the way you feel! I never got to a point that I felt not than muscular tenderness, and I've had no trouble taking in fluids and proteins since the very beginning. I've also had no trouble transitioning through food stages, and I've not yet hit a stall. I'm down 55 pounds and several sizes at eight weeks post-op. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, so good. I honestly love my sleeve!

im curious, what was ur beginning weight, I'm only down 40 lbs in nearly the same amount of time.

I am almost 2 weeks post op. I had surgery done January 27th and too am doing great from the get go.. I have no pain either just the gurgling too.. But I can barely get all the food, Water, and shakes I need too. I barely drink about 20 oz of water, maybe 1 Protein shake, if that, and my food. And I'm barely eating. I can't! I get way too full. How do you drink so much? I have to sip very little or it hurts going down. Any suggestions on getting the Fluid down. I just started my soft food stage yesterday.

you may just have more internal swelling than others. Continue to take small sips as to not get dehydrated. Put two scoops of Protein powder in one shake to double up the protein. 'So Delicious' makes an unsweetened almond milk that has 5x the amount of protein. Get yourself some of that to make your shakes. Keep us posted. Small sips.. every 15 minutes. Slow and steady wins the race.

Concerning the cravings, it gets better. I had bad head hunger for about a week and a half. It was like someone was standing over my shoulder screaming CHEESEBURGER! Now its more like I get text messages letting me know that cheeseburgers are a thing and they're pretty good. So I still get cravings, but its waaay more manageable now.

Oh my that is good news! I hope I get text messages soon!

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Edited February 16, 201412 yr by annasue

I had a great experience as well, Sleeved on 1/28, came home on 1/29. I'm had no issues with any full liquids, am able to get 64oz of fluids down in addition to two protein shakes a day. I came off the Lortab and anti nausea last Sunday, and have been avoiding taking liquid Tylenol, even though I have some handy just in case. Pain is rather minimal, except for the bruising around the belly button incision which is where the stomach was removed from. I'll be moving to soft foods on Tuesday! I'm hoping that based on how things have been going so far that I will be able to manage everything OK.

Same here sleeved 1/14 and was able to start chicken this week I have had a text book recovery some soreness nothing unmanageable and eating small amounts is no joke so far I've hit the dreaded 2-3 week stall hoping to be over that soon!

These are amazing stories! I saw my surgeon for follow up today he told me if I don't lose to my goal weight in 6 months I've failed the sleeve? That this tool works best in 6 months and the rest is maintaining! He said if I don't work out and burn 1000 calories a day I won't lose? Wow do you work out this much?? I love your stories I was day if surgery 224 now 210 stalled for a week now and am freaking out!

Hello Mamato2,

I was sleeved on 1/14 also and day of surgery I was at 224, 5'4. The first week I lost 10 pounds, then the second week 2 pounds, 3rd week 2 pounds, and now I have lost another since yesterday 2 pounds so I am back at 208. I just started purred food yesterday. Im not allowed to exercise until 6 weeks post op but I do walk about a mile everyday. I was just wondering what your caloric intake is at. My NUT and doc have me at 800-900 calories a day. I also drink 64+ ounces of Fluid a day and 70-100g of Protein per day. What does your doc have your goals set to. Remember we are still healing and honestly 14 pounds in 3 weeks is not bad.(4.6 pounds a week). If we continue to loose at that rate, that is 119 pounds in 6 months which is really good. These doctors get so tied up in the numbers but if you are getting the combo of your fluids, calories, and protein in and doing exercise daily it will come off. My NUT said our tummys are still in a state of shock and that as we loose weight the scale will stop moving for a week or so here and there while it catches up and then start dumping it again. She said this will continue to happen the whole time if we stay the course. I have had to be reminded this weight did not appear overnight, it was several years in the making and that if we work the sleeve as a tool it is it will work for us. I know this is hard but try to weigh maybe 2 x's a week. Also I started making of list of things I can do now that I could not do 3 weeks ago, such as cross my legs without extreme uncomfort, I can get up from a sitting position without help or without doing the roll over, lol. Also I have taken pictures from the front and side once a week to see the progress and I also measured myself. During the time that the scale was not moving the measurements were so that told me the scale will move once the body has caught up. Try to stay positive, this is a lifetime journey and a lot of people continue to loose after the six month mark. Don't let your doctor add stress to this journey, you got this.

Same here sleeved 1/14 and was able to start chicken this week I have had a text book recovery some soreness nothing unmanageable and eating small amounts is no joke so far I've hit the dreaded 2-3 week stall hoping to be over that soon!
These are amazing stories! I saw my surgeon for follow up today he told me if I don't lose to my goal weight in 6 months I've failed the sleeve? That this tool works best in 6 months and the rest is maintaining! He said if I don't work out and burn 1000 calories a day I won't lose? Wow do you work out this much?? I love your stories I was day if surgery 224 now 210 stalled for a week now and am freaking out!

I had a great experience as well, Sleeved on 1/28, came home on 1/29. I'm had no issues with any full liquids, am able to get 64oz of fluids down in addition to two protein shakes a day. I came off the Lortab and anti nausea last Sunday, and have been avoiding taking liquid Tylenol, even though I have some handy just in case. Pain is rather minimal, except for the bruising around the belly button incision which is where the stomach was removed from. I'll be moving to soft foods on Tuesday! I'm hoping that based on how things have been going so far that I will be able to manage everything OK.

Did your doctor want to see your for follow up before you advance to the next stage...pureed foods?

I had a great experience as well, Sleeved on 1/28, came home on 1/29. I'm had no issues with any full liquids, am able to get 64oz of fluids down in addition to two Protein shakes a day. I came off the Lortab and anti nausea last Sunday, and have been avoiding taking liquid Tylenol, even though I have some handy just in case. Pain is rather minimal, except for the bruising around the belly button incision which is where the stomach was removed from. I'll be moving to soft foods on Tuesday! I'm hoping that based on how things have been going so far that I will be able to manage everything OK.

Did your doctor want to see your for follow up before you advance to the next stage...pureed foods?

I don't have a puree stage with my diet plan, instead, after day 14 I go right to soft foods (Tuesday) and continue that for 2 weeks. I saw my surgeon 7 days post surgery for my first follow up. I have a second follow up at the 4 week post surgery mark which is also around the time my diet has me starting regular foods. I'll likely wait until after the appointment before proceeding with that phase.

I am blessed too. Surgery was Monday 5pm. Tuesday was a rough day. Discharged Wednesday. At work Thursday and Friday for a couple hours. Swallowing is good. Following the script. So so blessed. I was very anxious going in to surgery. The stories of complications scared me.

I wonder if the difference in recovery is due to age? Im 53 and it takes me longer to get well then it did 25 years ago!

Mamat02 your doc said if you don't hit goal by 6 months the sleeve has failed? Gosh that's pretty scary! I just cant fail at this! This is my last chance. I'm going to talk to my doc on the 18th when I go for my 2 weeks follow up and see what he has to say about this.

I wonder if the difference in recovery is due to age? Im 53 and it takes me longer to get well then it did 25 years ago!

Mamat02 your doc said if you don't hit goal by 6 months the sleeve has failed? Gosh that's pretty scary! I just cant fail at this! This is my last chance. I'm going to talk to my doc on the 18th when I go for my 2 weeks follow up and see what he has to say about this.

when the doc says 'its a fail' it doesn't literally mean the sleeve failed. It means you haven't fallen into the average norm of statistics of patients who lose 60-65% of their excess weight in such time frame.

About failing the sleeve after six months....that's bizarre. My surgeon told me to expect my loss of 100 pounds to take about a year. He would like to see me lose 10% per month, which is 10 pounds. So far I have lost 42 pounds since starting my supervised program last September. That's 42 pounds that I would not have lost otherwise. So, don't let his comment about six months stress you out. EVERY pound you lose is a victory.

I am four days post op... I think any block would have worn off by now. No?

Not necessarily. I felt very tender about a week to ten days out (though I felt amazing at post-op day 4) and it lasted through just before the three week mark. It was all around that large incision, and doc said that was where the one through-and-through stitch is. He said pain would disappear when it dissolved, and sure enough, it did. The tenderness I felt was manageable with liquid Tylenol.