Give it to me straight.

[Tamlyn 107]

I guess that does sound a little confusing, huh?

I think it's head hunger vs. stomach hunger, and also that I miss chewing. Like, he made turkey burgers on Friday night, and they smelled so good that I really really wanted a bite. I'm still on liquids and purees, so I didn't have one, but I wouldn't even have thought that I wanted a bite of burger if I hadn't smelled them. But before I had the surgery, I would have probably wolfed down a burger without thinking about it, and then considered a second one. I don't feel that kind of compulsion anymore, to overeat. And my stomach doesn't give me hunger signals anymore. I'm still trying to figure out how they work now.

I don't know if that explains it any better. It's a weird combination of feelings!

[LidiBell 86]

I am 4 months out now. For the first month I thought it was the stupidest thing I had EVER done. I regretted it, and even begged my husband to put me out of my misery. A month and 2 days after surgery I began hurting really bad in my left shoulder, to the point I could not move. I went to the ER and it ended up I had a tear in my stomach. They did emergency surgery within 1 hour of my arrival to the ER. If you would have asked me during the first 2 months after surgery, I would have said...DO NOT DO IT. YOU WILL REGRET IT. lol...Today, I say, GO FOR IT. The results I have thus far make it all worth it. I would not change a thing. I would go through it all again just to be where I am now.

Good luck to you!

[Thinthoughts 23]

<p>I am 4 months out now. For the first month I thought it was the stupidest thing I had EVER done. I regretted it, and even begged my husband to put me out of my misery. A month and 2 days after surgery I began hurting really bad in my left shoulder, to the point I could not move. I went to the ER and it ended up I had a tear in my stomach. They did emergency surgery within 1 hour of my arrival to the ER. If you would have asked me during the first 2 months after surgery, I would have said...DO NOT DO IT. YOU WILL REGRET IT. lol...Today, I say, GO FOR IT. The results I have thus far make it all worth it. I would not change a thing. I would go through it all again just to be where I am now.</p> <p> </p> <p>Good luck to you!</p>

Wow! After going through all that you'd still do it again?! Do you feel ok with what you're able to eat now? The amount, variety, textures. My surgeon says I should never eat rice, bread, Pasta, or potatoes ever again and that is a hard pill to swallow.

[Thinthoughts 23]

I guess that does sound a little confusing, huh? <br><br> I think it's head hunger vs. stomach hunger, and also that I miss chewing. Like, he made turkey burgers on Friday night, and they smelled so good that I really really wanted a bite. I'm still on liquids and purees, so I didn't have one, but I wouldn't even have thought that I wanted a bite of burger if I hadn't smelled them. But before I had the surgery, I would have probably wolfed down a burger without thinking about it, and then considered a second one. I don't feel that kind of compulsion anymore, to overeat. And my stomach doesn't give me hunger signals anymore. I'm still trying to figure out how they work now. <br><br> I don't know if that explains it any better. It's a weird combination of feelings!

That is weird. But also a Godsend. Head hunger will be so hard to overcome. I'm on my two week presurgery diet right now. My first day of the second week and my kids are eating hamburgers tonight. I can't even be on the same floor of the house. After the two week diet, does it feel like a relief to do the puréed and cream liquids or is it torture. Right now I can have 4 Premier Protein shakes a day and a 230 calorie lean cuisine for dinner or 3 shakes a day with a 380 cal lean cuisine. It's soooo hard but at least it can eat one meal a day. I'm starving but at least I get to chew once a day.

[*Lexie* 1,486]

This is a great thread to read. It's so bizarre, my surgeon's staff has said that recovery is really tough and almost everyone has nausea. When I read posts on here, it seems the opposite. For most recovery is easy and for a few, it's really tough. Wondering if they are trying to prepare us for the worst.

I've had gall bladder surgery, a c-section and a Tummy Tuck. Recovery from a tummy tuck was very difficult, to me any other surgery should be a walk in the park in comparison.

[LidiBell 86]

Yes, I would definitely do it again. I do not eat nor have a desire to eat bread/pasta/rice. They only urges I am fighting is sweets. Ugh...It is killing me.

[elpasovet 83]

This is a great thread to read. It's so bizarre, my surgeon's staff has said that recovery is really tough and almost everyone has nausea. When I read posts on here, it seems the opposite. For most recovery is easy and for a few, it's really tough. Wondering if they are trying to prepare us for the worst. I've had gall bladder surgery, a c-section and a Tummy Tuck. Recovery from a tummy tuck was very difficult, to me any other surgery should be a walk in the park in comparison.

Agreed. I've had 4 c sections and a lower body lift. The lower body lift almost killed me but it was worth it. Hoping to get my sleeve soon...

[Miss Mac 6,261]

My ultimate pain reference is when the morphine wore off after knee replacement surgery. In comparison, the pain from my sleeve surgery was minimal. I get much more grief from arthritis.

[brendaliz_r 29]

Were you tired - Yes the first weak

Weak- Yes the first 3-4 days

In pain- YES! It hurts a lot, the morphine helps but whenever you need to get up, it will hurt, try to walk as often as you can.

Do you have children to care for - A 3yr daughter, my husband and family help me with her during the hospital stay and the 1st week at home. I started taking her to preschool, still can't hold her up. I teached her to get in/out the car herself prior the surgery.

and what is your profession - I'm an administrative assistance.

how soon did you go back - Still on medical leave but I want to go back to work, I don't like being home.

My sleeve was on July 31, I still feel minimal discomfort and still a lil swollen but I started driving yesterday and I assure you this, you will wakeup feeling less pain every day. Hang in there!

[Rovobay 920]

after reading all of these, I feel better prepared as to what range of recovery I may have. I feel the date getting closer. nice thread.

[Tisa 52]

I was tired and in pain the first week but I did not feel hungry. Also I was bored and a little depressed because I couldn't do much. The second week I was well enough to walk around for a long time but it still hurt to bend, laugh ect. I was also easily fatigued. This Monday I am finally going back to work, I'm a lifeguard so I had to take extra time. I can bend, sneeze ect. It still aches a bit but nothing major. I also get occasional dizzy spells. I am well enough to do everyday tasks that are necessary for my job. If I had a less strenuous job I would have gone back at 2 weeks. At one week just forget it there was no way I was going into work.

[lylabelle 257]

I had to go back 5 days out. I flew to Mexico for surgery. Day 3 was hard, I had pain. But luckily I went to an amazing surgeon that keeps you 3 days so I had mophine in 2 minutes flat. Car rides were uncomfortable for about a week, but not painful - then suddenly I realized I wasn't feeling every bump in my tummy any more. We were given sublingual pain meds. I bought extra at the pharmacy before I left- never took them all. I'd love lots of time off but I work for myself (I do nails). So I had to get back to work. Wasn't overly exhausted.

[wmass_mom 2]

I'm not going to lie, the first 48 hours were awful. Intense pain whenever I moved my abdominal muscles. Getting in and out of bed was a 10 minute process and had me swearing like a sailor.

Day 3 started to feel a little easier. Day 4 I went with my family to the mall, walking slow and tiring after an hour but still doable. Day 5 (today) I drive my kids to a local fair and walked around.

Taking off just a week of work might be a little uncomfortable but unless you're in an active job I think you'll be ok. I am a photographer and I will be shooting a wedding 10 days post-op. I'm feeling pretty confident I can do it.

Good luck!

[lylabelle 257]

Make sure they do good pain meds. It's one reason I picked surgery where I did. I was on iv pain meds 2 days.

[bikrchk 1,313]

I'm new to all this and have my surgery in a week and a half (Aug 19th). I have been reading all your posts and you are all so brave and truly inspiring! I applaud you all! Bravo! I have heard many conflicting accounts of what post op will look like that first week. Mostly people are using words like "hard, difficult, etc." I'm just taking one week off work and I'd like to know everyone's personal accounts of how their first week or two went so I know what I'm in for. Please be as specific as possible. Were you tired, weak, in pain, do you have children to care for and what is your profession, how soon did you go back and what was it like, etc, etc. I'm on the two week pre surgery diet and as this gets more and more real I'm getting more and more nervous.

I think it's different for everyone. I'm 47 and went into surgery with a BMI of 35.5, so on the lower end, compared to many here. I'm a Systems Engineer, (desk job most of the time). I was admitted as the first patient on a Monday and was back in my room by 11am. They also fixed a hiatial hernia while they were in there. I'm told it took me a while to come out of the anesthesia. My mom went home about 5pm a basket case because I wasn't with it as fast as she'd hoped. By 8PM, I was up doing laps. Met her at the elevator in the morning and told her they were sending me home a day early! The only bad nausea I had was due to the oral pain meds they tried to give me, (I was wearing an allergy Bracelet that said DON'T, but they did it anyway and it came right back up). That was the one and only time I threw up and the last time I took a narcotic pain med in the process. I found 3-4 Tylenol Jr chewables took the edge off just fine.

I was sent home on full liquids and did fine tolerating everything, though it was a struggle to get in all my fluids and Protein the first week. I sent mom home Thursday night, (I live alone so she was there to make sure I didn't keel over with no one knowing) and drove myself to the grocery on the Friday following my surgery and bought soup\walked as it was pouring down rain and I couldn't get outside. I tried to go back to work the next Monday (this was a week earlier than planned) but had to fight with HR 3 days about my lifting restriction so I didn't get back till that Wednesday. I worked pretty much full days that week. I was a bit tired the first few days, napped some, but did not feel really "weak". I only have to worry about the "fur babies" so I had it pretty easy. It took me about a month before I really began to feel like myself. My energy improved a lot as I advanced from purees to soft foods.

All in all, not that bad of an experience, and no real issues since. Ten months later I'm at goal, have perfect labs and am free of all the prescriptions I'd been taking pre-op. Life. Is. Good!