I was sleeved on March 27th and currently coming up on 4 months post op. I have been happy with my loss so far and finally after my last stall of a week and a half have made it under 300 for the first time on over 10 years. The question I have is the damage to my knees was done before I decided to have the sleeve surgery and I was hoping that losing the weight that I have so far would help them to feel better. It has not and I honestly believe is because I am more active on them than I was before surgery.

Now I am currently in therapy to try and strengthen both my knees as a last ditch effort to keep from having surgery but I am not 100% sure it is going to stop me from having my knees replaced. Currently I cannot walk anymore and any other exercising, even pool activates, hurt more and more.

My question is how many people have had surgeries after the sleeve and what was it like in the hospital. My concern is that I will not be able to bring in my Vitamins and that the food that I will get will not be enough Protein to help me out. I would be looking at least a 4 day stay in the hospital and this concerns me. I talked with sleeve doctor's office and they told me once I have a surgery scheduled and on the books to have them call their office and they would talk them through what needed to be done, but again I am worried that the hospital here will just not listen to my doctor especially since he is out of town and not the doctor doing the surgery.

How many people have had to and where you able to bring in your own shakes and vitamins or are my fears legitimate?

I've worked in healthcare and you don't have anything to worry about. You can clearly coordinate your diet with the hospital and bring things with you. They are legally required to work within the parameters of your diet so as long as you fill them in ahead of time, bring with you everything you can (Vitamins, non-refrigerated Protein drinks, protein that doesn't need refrigeration (Jerky, PB2, protein bars) you can have it all with you in your room. Don't expect the hospital to go out of their way to make you special food...that isn't part of the deal, however, you are more than able to bring enough food with you to be just fine in the hospital for a few days. If you have family, they can also bring you hot meals or cold Protein shakes throughout the duration of your stay. A knee surgery should not have any restrictions on what you eat afterward, so as long as your surgeon and the doctors are informed about the food you have with you and the fact that you will be keeping it in your room, it should be smooth sailing.

Also, they don't have the option to not listen to your doctor regardless of whether or not your sleeve surgeon is in another state. Either they do what they are supposed to do (within reason as agreed upon ahead of time) or you sue them. Hospitals know the score. Bring what you need with you and be fully ready to do as you damn well please while you are in the hospital. You are a patient and a customer, not a victim or a prisoner...remember that and you will be fine.

Thank you for your reply. That makes me feel better about going into it.