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Hello! I am about to go through the process of getting the sleeve, and I wanted to hear from sleevers who are also are/were in college. How was the experience (ie. going out with friends, drinking, etc) and how did y'all handle it? Thanks in advance for answering.

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I'm not in college but I am in law school (where, like in college, there is a lot of stress and a lot of drinking), so I am curious what people have to say on this topic. I'll be getting sleeved early next year.

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One think to watch out for is alcohol. My Dr said not to drink for 1 year after surgery due to risk of bleeding ulcers. Your tolerance changes dramatically after as well

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College was fine. I had no issues, my professors all let me keep Water and Snacks with me, everyone was understanding, it was actually very easy to maintain my weight there since many college folks are so health-conscious.

I stayed away from alcohol for a full year though. It simply wasn't worth it to me to risk permanent damage to my body. Now, I can go out for a night of drinking, but I must give myself lots of time (1.5 hours minimum) to digest food. Mixed drinks take forever because my stomach capacity is small, so I end up pretty much just drinking straight shots, but I pace myself carefully with plenty of time between drinks (and I NEVER MIX CLEARS AND DARKS). If I try to drink too much, I'll vomit. If I mix, I vomit. My sleeve is very good at telling me when enough is enough.

Unlike many people, my alcohol tolerance didn't really change, and after all the weight loss, I still don't really feel much of a difference in the amount it takes for me to get a buzz. But enough people have expressed a lower tolerance, so be careful anyhow!

Lastly, drinking is seriously overrated. I wouldn't do it too often, sleeve or not. Campus culture can be nuts, and it's not good for your health overall to drink so much. I definitely feel the pressure, so I just limit the nights I'll drink, and encourage my friends to take part in activities outside drinking (bowling, trivia, dancing, etc). Learning to have fun and participate in social activities outside of food/drink has been really helpful!

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I am currently in college! I will say that it's so weird to go out to eat with friends and see them eating their whole meal and I can only eat a small portion! Servers think I don't like the food haha! It does suck that you can't go to parties and drink, but that's just something that comes with the surgery! the whole experience hasn't been bad at all honestly!

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Well, it may be difficult at the beginning, because things will be different, but you'll get used to it. I didn't face any big problems. and everything was good!

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I also didn't face any problems or troubles in college. Maybe, it's because I chose the best time for that when I had not had a lot of studies and homework. But also, my groupmates were helpful, and the professors were so understandable. I didn't miss any deadlines, because I managed to do everything, and here is one educational source, which was very helpful for me when I had some writing troubles. But in general, I can say that everything was great, and I hope that all of you who are also in college, won't face them either.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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