It's funny that since my procedure 1 week ago , i have so much more time on my hands.Just 3 weeks ago, I was a was a step away from getting the sleeve surgery . I had already had most of the tests and was sitting in the psychs office when he asked me If i had any concerns. And, at that moment It dawned upon me that besides that typical elective surgery fears, I was most fearful of the stomach stretching back as I heard that it was possible. I truly got that there was no 100% sure fire way to prevent myself from gaining it back again. The sleeve was supposedly permanent . And yet, I had been up and down most of life, always praying when I was at goal weight, that I wouldn't gain it back... This time it took 4 years and boom there I was, no longer fitting into my clothes, isolating, planning my next food adventure. I was miserable, numb and although I am quite active in my social and work life, i was all alone. My 2 friends that I was sharing this can be called by their procedure names, "Lap-band" and"Sleeve". Lap-band was a6 year success of 80lbs. She attributed it to monthly check ins and group support. "Sleeve" was new to the game. She wasn't utilizing the support and I noticed a difference. It's not about the perfection of eating. It's the how and why. No one is better at finding"tricks" to eating basically the same, under this new regime than I.

So, here I am , day 8 and i'm going to spend the next 51 weeks learning how to eat. This week I got to watch and live through every moment that I would have previously used food to substitute, comfort, numb, kill time, avoid etc... We are on 2 sides of the same street. I know that without support I will fail. Even if I lose all of the weight on my own, I know the inevitable. I'm going to use the phone, see my Dr , attend support and really be present. Oh, and keep drinking that h20!

Edited October 24, 201510 yr by lifeofbry

@@SLSH - thank you ... I hope you're right. Sometimes being mildly OCD comes in handy ... if only that's all it took - lol!

@@ophelia150 - good luck! I will keep an eye out for you tomorrow and will send lots of happy thoughts your way. I am definitely feeling all of the same things (gulp), so I understand what you're going through. I'm glad that my summary helped - lol!! :-D But I've never done this before either, so it's probably better to defer to everyone else here. Hopefully we can support each other through this ... I certainly wish you great success and hope that our journeys are fruitful. Cheers!!

If I had to do it over yes I would because everyone has their own experience! My doc gave me the patch, zofran and amind for nausea! I used all of them!

How is everyone doing...roll call

Hi - I just got my balloon a few weeks ago. Do you still have yours? How has it gone for you?

I just passed 1/2 way and have lost 26 pounds. No nausea, I am exercising and feeling pretty good. The weight loss has definitely slowed down, at this stage, I find, you are dieting, but just don't have the hunger that you usually experience. Good luck with yours and once you get through the first 6 weeks, it's not too hard.