Hey everyone ! I am expected to get my sleeve mid February if all goes as planned and I have a few questions that I will be asking my doctor at the next appointment (which is the first week of January). In the meantime, I'm hoping I can get some insight from those of you who have already been sleeved.

1. First question may be a bit silly and I know everyone has their own unique experience, but I'm wondering what to expect on the actual day of surgery. For some reason the surgery itself doesn't make me nervous because I know I have an excellent doctor, but being put to sleep makes me a little nervous. Also, I'm nervous that I'll wake up into excruciating pain.. Is this the case ? Either way I know eventually it will all be a minor detail but I'm just curious to see how others have reacted to surgery.

2. My second question has to do with hair loss. Is there anything I can do from now to prevent my hair from falling out/ thinning. I know getting in my Protein is key, but is there anything else I can do? I know not everyone experiences hair loss but for those of you who have.. What did you do to tackle this problem? How long before it began to grow back ?

3. My third question has to do with excess skin. Again I know each person is different and there are many factors to this. My question is did anyone find that toning exercises or any kind of body butters/lotions help at all?

4. My fourth and final question has to do with pregnancy after being sleeved. I don't plan on starting a family for another 4-5 years but I'm curious if the sleeve has affected anyone's pregnancy.. Did anyone find it hard to take in the proper nutrients ? Was it hard to bounce back from pregnancy? Did any complications that may not be obvious arise due to the sleeve?

Sorry for the million questions! These are just some things that have crossed my mind and I would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks in advance ! xo

1. First question may be a bit silly and I know everyone has their own unique experience, but I'm wondering what to expect on the actual day of surgery. For some reason the surgery itself doesn't make me nervous because I know I have an excellent doctor, but being put to sleep makes me a little nervous. Also, I'm nervous that I'll wake up into excruciating pain.. Is this the case ? Either way I know eventually it will all be a minor detail but I'm just curious to see how others have reacted to surgery.

For my surgery, I was wheeled into the operating room, had a few pleasantries with the staff, then bam woke up in the recovery room. No mask being put on my face, no slow fading out . . . I was just there chatting with people one second, then the next second woke up. When I woke up I did have pain in my shoulder (from the surgical gas) but I wouldn't call it excruciating. My team did an excellent job on pain control the whole time I was there. It wasn't a big deal.

2. My second question has to do with hair loss. Is there anything I can do from now to prevent my hair from falling out/ thinning. I know getting in my Protein is key, but is there anything else I can do?

No, there isn"t anything you can do to prevent it. Don't waste your money on massive amounts of biotin or some sort of special shampoo. It will either happen or it won't. There are good ways you can cut and style your hair, as well as cosmetic tricks, to hide hair loss if you get a severe case of it. Usually the hair loss starts around month 3 and stops and the hair starts growing back somewhere around month 6.

3. My third question has to do with excess skin. Again I know each person is different and there are many factors to this. My question is did anyone find that toning exercises or any kind of body butters/lotions help at all?

No. If there were some sort of magic trick to prevent excess skin, no one would need plastic surgery because word would spread and everyone would do it. The thing is, you already have the skin you have. You can't prevent it, it's already there. If having excess skin is going to bother you a lot, start saving your pennies for plastic surgery now.

4. My fourth and final question has to do with pregnancy after being sleeved. I don't plan on starting a family for another 4-5 years but I'm curious if the sleeve has affected anyone's pregnancy.. Did anyone find it hard to take in the proper nutrients ? Was it hard to bounce back from pregnancy? Did any complications that may not be obvious arise due to the sleeve?

I haven't had personal experience, but my sister (a physician) says that pregnant women require an extra 300 calories per day to nourish the fetus, plus a prenatal vitamin. It's not hard to get 300 calories per day. Make a protein shake with whole milk and a tablespoon of peanut butter and you are just about there. Or eat a handful of nuts twice a day. Instead of having yogurt for breakfast, have scrambled eggs with cheese and avocado, plus eat a couple slices of dried mango for an after-dinner snack. Trust me, once most sleevers get a year or two out of surgery, they don't have trouble adding in 300 calories. They have trouble *not* adding in 300 calories when they don't need to! You'll be fine

1. First question may be a bit silly and I know everyone has their own unique experience, but I'm wondering what to expect on the actual day of surgery. For some reason the surgery itself doesn't make me nervous because I know I have an excellent doctor, but being put to sleep makes me a little nervous. Also, I'm nervous that I'll wake up into excruciating pain.. Is this the case ? Either way I know eventually it will all be a minor detail but I'm just curious to see how others have reacted to surgery.

For me, there wasn't much pain when I first woke up from surgery. Honestly, not a lot of pain even in the days following surgery, other than gas pain. My main problems immediately upon waking were disorientation and feeling very thirsty. I remember feeling like I wasn't in control of my body and not really knowing what was going on. I was moaning a lot and I didn't know why. It was unpleasant, but not painful.

2. My second question has to do with hair loss. Is there anything I can do from now to prevent my hair from falling out/ thinning. I know getting in my Protein is key, but is there anything else I can do? I know not everyone experiences hair loss but for those of you who have.. What did you do to tackle this problem? How long before it began to grow back ?

There is likely nothing you can do to prevent hair loss. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. If it makes you feel better to feel like you have some level of control, you can start taking Biotin (really only strengthens hair, doesn't prevent loss or cause regrowth) and make sure to get as much protein in as early as you can post-op. There are three main things that cause hair loss in bariatric patients: anesthesia, protein/mineral deficiencies, and rapid weight loss. Any one of those things can cause hair loss in ANYONE, bariatric patients just get the triple whammie. My hair loss started in month three and only lasted about a month and a half. It began growing back immediately.

3. My third question has to do with excess skin. Again I know each person is different and there are many factors to this. My question is did anyone find that toning exercises or any kind of body butters/lotions help at all?

This is a lot like the hair loss question. There are some things you can do to potentially minimize it, but if it's going to happen it's probably going to happen. Also, no one can tell you if anything they did actually helped, because there is no control study to know what would have happened if they HADN'T taken the steps they did. Here are the things you can do to maybe minimize loose skin: Stay well hydrated. Drink lots and lots of Water. You should be doing that anyway, but it's great for your skin. Moisturize daily. There are a LOT of products on the market, but most seem to recommend products with shae butter for improving skin elasticity. Take your supplements. Studies have shown Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and beef Gelatin to improve skin elasticity. Tone with strength training. This will at least help "fill out" some of your loose skin with muscle where you've lost fat. I have done all of these things and I still ended up with loose skin. Is there LESS loose skin than if I hadn't done these things? Only God knows.

4. My fourth and final question has to do with pregnancy after being sleeved. I don't plan on starting a family for another 4-5 years but I'm curious if the sleeve has affected anyone's pregnancy.. Did anyone find it hard to take in the proper nutrients ? Was it hard to bounce back from pregnancy? Did any complications that may not be obvious arise due to the sleeve?

Having never been pregnant and not having any intention of getting pregnant, I can't help you with this one.

Hey everyone ! I am expected to get my sleeve mid February if all goes as planned and I have a few questions that I will be asking my doctor at the next appointment (which is the first week of January). In the meantime, I'm hoping I can get some insight from those of you who have already been sleeved.

1. First question may be a bit silly and I know everyone has their own unique experience, but I'm wondering what to expect on the actual day of surgery. For some reason the surgery itself doesn't make me nervous because I know I have an excellent doctor, but being put to sleep makes me a little nervous. Also, I'm nervous that I'll wake up into excruciating pain.. Is this the case ? Either way I know eventually it will all be a minor detail but I'm just curious to see how others have reacted to surgery.

2. My second question has to do with hair loss. Is there anything I can do from now to prevent my hair from falling out/ thinning. I know getting in my Protein is key, but is there anything else I can do? I know not everyone experiences hair loss but for those of you who have.. What did you do to tackle this problem? How long before it began to grow back ?

3. My third question has to do with excess skin. Again I know each person is different and there are many factors to this. My question is did anyone find that toning exercises or any kind of body butters/lotions help at all?

4. My fourth and final question has to do with pregnancy after being sleeved. I don't plan on starting a family for another 4-5 years but I'm curious if the sleeve has affected anyone's pregnancy.. Did anyone find it hard to take in the proper nutrients ? Was it hard to bounce back from pregnancy? Did any complications that may not be obvious arise due to the sleeve?

Sorry for the million questions! These are just some things that have crossed my mind and I would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks in advance ! xo

1. Go on YouTube. There are multiple videos of people explaining their surgery experience.

2. There's nothing you can do to prevent hair shedding. When your weight becomes stable your hair will begin to grow back. For most people hair shedding is not drastic and many people don't even notice it.

3. There's nothing you can do to prevent excess skin. If you have large amounts then plastic surgery will be your next avenue to explore.

4. Can't help you there as I'm a guy.

Thanks guys ! I appreciate your feedback ! Xo

I highly recommend Clusie L.videos on YouTube about her weight loss surgery experience. She is so funny!

I highly recommend Clusie L.videos on YouTube about her weight loss surgery experience. She is so funny!

thank you! I'll def check it out