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[Charlzette 6]

Hello everyone I am new here! I am having the Gastric Sleeve on Tuesday. Any tips on the do’s and don’t? I know everyone’s experience is different but I got to admit I am super nervous.

[Luna Girl 307]

Get up and walk as soon as you can after surgery and do it often. It will help with the gas pain.

Good Luck!

[Charlzette 6]

1 hour ago, Luna Girl said:

Get up and walk as soon as you can after surgery and do it often. It will help with the gas pain.

Good Luck!

Thank you love!!!! I have bought me some compression socks, a binder, and compression arm sleeves so when I do go walking and start to loose weight I want have loose skin

[Arabesque 6,444]

Follow your plan. This is important because your plan has been designed to aid healing. Remember there’s a lot of stitches & staples holding your tummy together & you don’t want to risk putting strain or pressure on your tummy before it’s fully healed.

Listen to your body. It will tell you what you can or can’t do or eat yet. Things are going to be different but you’ll get used to the changes & how your body may react.

It’s not a competition. You’ll lose at the rate that’s right for you.

You will lose some hair. Can’t stop it because it’s how your body reacts to the surgery & the reduced food intake. It’s just an acceleration of your natural Hair loss cycle. The hair loss will stop. Your new hair is still growing in but just at its usual rate which is why your hair may look thin for a while until it catches up.

You will have stalls along the way. It’s just your body taking a breath to catch up with the changes. They may last a week or up to three but they do stop & you’ll start losing again.

You will experience Constipation. Often a lot of constipation. Include some soluble (non swelling) fibre in your diet & have some stool softeners on hand.

You may experience a temporary change in your taste buds. Some also find their sense of smell becomes more sensitive for a while. Some foods may suddenly become disgusting because of their taste or smell.

Some people find binders useful post surgery as a support while healing. It’s an individual thing. I didn’t use one.

Now the bad news - there is little you can do to stop or reduce the chances of having loose skin. It’s why so many have plastic surgery to remove it. The loose skin is a result of your fat stretching out your skin. Think of a hair band that’s been stretched out from lots of use & is loose. Ain’t nothing goes to make that band as tight as it was when it was new. How much loose skin you have depends upon factors like age, gender, how long you’ve been at your highest weight, etc. if you’re young & still have a lot of natural skin elasticity you likely won’t have as much as someone older like me.

Don’t mean to scare you just wanted you not to be surprised if these things do happen. While they are common experiences, it seems they are things that many medical teams don’t tell their patients to expect. They can be quite scary when they occur if you don’t know they can.

Good luck.

[Esi 179]

Good luck! I would say to be open to doing things differently than you were expecting, if your body needs it.

I had heard that tastes could change after surgery, and this was true in my case. All of the Protein supplements I had purchased and planned to take made me vomit. After a lot of research and reading reviews, I found one that works for me. All of the Vitamin supplements did the same. Pharmacists can be very helpful in this case, for example finding a slow release Iron pill.

Take notes on what you are eating for a while, times you eat and drink, times you take medicines and supplements, etc. If there is a problem later, it will help your team figure out what could be causing it.

I am still a newbie, but I found out there is often a stall in weight at three weeks. Mine lasted for 12 days before it started inching down again. Don’t get worried.