Hi everyone! I am scheduled for my gastric sleeve for August 17th. I am 5'3" and 230 lbs so the doctor said I need to lose 100 lbs. Honestly I am super nervous and keep having thoughts of excitement but then I think well maybe I will just cancel it. Is it normal to feel this way? I would love to meet other people that are scheduled on the same month or around so we can somewhat do this process together.

6 hours ago, I Am Enough! said:

Sorry I haven't been on much lately but I had a setback and have been really taking it easy. About my 5th post-op I kept getting really bad wrenching cramps in my abdomen under my incisions. They sent me for a CT scan with the blue contrast dye and all that fun stuff. Come to find out I had a gas bubble in my pouch. Plus they had given me heartburn medicine to take for a month, but the directions weren't clear so I had not been taking it. Come to find out that the omeprazole (sp) was there to help with any kind of gas and whether or not I had heartburn. Once I started taking that again, the cramps went away and I could heal.

I was so scared I had done something wrong and messed up my surgery. Definitely not fun! But I'm down almost 40 pounds since I started this journey. I had a NSV yesterday - I was able to walk up the stairs in my home without feeling winded! What kind of non-scale victories have you had recently?

That sounds scary. I'm glad you're all right.

I've been a bit lax with my heartburn medication, because I haven't had any heartburn after the first week. I'm going to try to remember taking it every day from now on.

I'm winded whenever I walk still, but I bought a bra this week and I'm down a band size. That's something. I also started tackling the box of books that was left over when I changed my bookshelves this summer, and I took a whole bag to recycling. So I've started back on projects I didn't complete because of my surgery. That feels good.

6 hours ago, SHORTY_ said:

4-week update*

I went in for labs last week. Today I found out I was low on Iron even with my supplement. The surgeon's assistant told me to double my dose and add Vitamin C. I also was told to lower my physical activity. I'm burning too much for what my body is taking in so it's causing my body to hold on to everything and stall out. She said once I start hitting 800 calories then I can go back to my normal walking routine (7,000-10,000 steps a day). I was pretty disheartened by that because I was ready to up my physical activity. I also got scolded for using laxatives and to only use stool softeners right now (I expected that).

I'm 43lbs down from my highest. 13.8 from my surgery.

Now I'm worried about going to my 1-month appointment! I get close to 7K steps just at my normal work day...I didn't know that we were supposed to be taking things even easier than that. Last week was my first week back at work and I was exhausted.

I've had to do the laxative thing twice already because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have moved my bowels since before surgery. It was getting really, really dire. I was very close to going to the doctor about it. But, the laxatives worked. I'm hoping that adding more fiber will help as I add more foods into my diet. I don't want to be dependent on laxatives for the rest of my life. They have had me on miralax in the AM and stool softeners since I came home and even that hasn't been working well.

39 minutes ago, tranquil_chaos said:

Now I'm worried about going to my 1-month appointment! I get close to 7K steps just at my normal work day...I didn't know that we were supposed to be taking things even easier than that. Last week was my first week back at work and I was exhausted.

I've had to do the laxative thing twice already because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have moved my bowels since before surgery. It was getting really, really dire. I was very close to going to the doctor about it. But, the laxatives worked. I'm hoping that adding more Fiber will help as I add more foods into my diet. I don't want to be dependent on laxatives for the rest of my life. They have had me on Miralax in the AM and stool softeners since I came home and even that hasn't been working well.

I wouldn't be worried and everyone is different. I just wanted to be fully honest with My Dr. to get the most out of my new pouch. 7-10k was too much because I'm struggling to get over 500 calories and to stay at 5k. She said I can start walking 7-10k again when I'm hitting 800+ calories. The laxatives if ok by ur doctor you should be fine. I was taking them every 2 days and she told me to wait 4-5 days.

I had my post op visit today to have my staples removed (really glad to see them go!). I’m down 20 pounds since my pre op visit two weeks ago, and 63 pounds overall. No real problems except a persistent pain in my back because I haven’t been able to sleep on my side yet. Getting my water and protein in and feeling great!

25 minutes ago, Denise7M7 said:

I had my post op visit today to have my staples removed (really glad to see them go!). I’m down 20 pounds since my pre op visit two weeks ago, and 63 pounds overall. No real problems except a persistent pain in my back because I haven’t been able to sleep on my side yet. Getting my Water and Protein in and feeling great!

63--wow! Can you see and feel the difference?

So the other day I was not having a good day. I just was super tired. I’ve been struggling to meet my goals - I think I’m in a stall and I was just feeling not great.

There were ice cream and cookies in the house due to leftovers from a fantasy football coming home.

I really wanted just a bit - but I knew that I shouldn’t. My husband - very sweetly said “I love you and I don’t want you to do anything to derail your progress… if you need me to, I’ll get rid of them”. (He asked me if he should bring them home and I said yea because the kids had friends over - so I knew they would eat them.

I know that was hard for him (he never wants to tell me no about anything.) - but that kinda snapped me out of my head hunger and I’ve haven’t had any issue being around the snacks since.

It felt good to know I have his support and he will help me when I need it. And it’s awesome to know that I can can resist temptation and make good choices when I am faced with temptation - not because I “have to” but because I want to.

On 08/29/2022 at 21:21, suzecate said:

63--wow! Can you see and feel the difference?

I can! I’ve got a long way to go, but even this 20 down since surgery has made a difference in how my clothes fit, and how I fit behind the wheel when I drive. I’m sure I huffed and puffed less walking across the parking lot at the clinic yesterday too. I’m looking forward to so much more

20 hours ago, SHORTY_ said:

I feel like they tend to drop the ball with the short-term aftercare information. I had no idea about the heartburn meds and never took mine either until my 3-week post-op apt My doctor encouraged me to keep taking them for the same reasons.

So glad ur doing good and congrats on your loss!

Non-scale victories... I feel like I have so much more energy than before. Any lower back pain I had before is totally gone. No more shin splints or fasciitis pains. I can def. tell my clothing is fitting loser and people are starting to notice the loss. I'm starting to gain my confidence back up as well.

That's fantastic news! COngratulations on all the NSVs! ❤️

22 hours ago, heartofmercury said:

Just checking in with the group! I'm 21 days post op today. I've lost 13 pounds since surgery and 30 pounds since my first appointment. I went for IV fluids today. I've been consistently getting 45 - 55 oz of fluids per day. I'm making an effort to get more Fluid, but was feeling tired the last few days. I get to start purees on Wednesday! Has anyone tried Malt-O-Meal on the puree stage?

Wow, you are doing great on your fluids. I'm sorry you had to get an IV. Hope you are feeling better! I bought the cream of wheat, which I think is very similar to malt-o-meal. I will be starting that on Friday myself. I also got some baby oatmeal and instant grits. All of these things are heavily processed and not my first choice, but happy to have something other than fluids! I can't wait to move on! I have successfully eaten apple sauce even though I'm not supposed to until Friday. To me the applesauce was the same consistency as the squash soup and it went down just fine I think adding the applesauce to the cream of wheat and malt-o-meals might help with the taste.

Any vitamins to help for joint pain?

Is it normal to feel pain three weeks after gastric sleeve surgery? I have been relatively pain free after the first week, but today and yesterday I've had aches and pain in one of my incision sites and also in general around my midsection.

Is this normal, or should I have it looked at?

57 minutes ago, Jackiehappiness said:

Any Vitamins to help for joint pain?

There are a few... Turmeric, Glucosamine, Chondroitin are the best

Wow, you are doing great on your fluids. I'm sorry you had to get an IV. Hope you are feeling better! I bought the cream of wheat, which I think is very similar to malt-o-meal. I will be starting that on Friday myself. I also got some baby oatmeal and instant grits. All of these things are heavily processed and not my first choice, but happy to have something other than fluids! I can't wait to move on! I have successfully eaten apple sauce even though I'm not supposed to until Friday. To me the applesauce was the same consistency as the squash soup and it went down just fine [emoji4] I think adding the applesauce to the cream of wheat and malt-o-meals might help with the taste.

Thanks! I feel a lot better after the IV. Not that I felt terrible...just a little more tired than normal. I'm also excited to have something other than liquids. I like your idea of applesauce in cream of wheat!

On 08/30/2022 at 11:59, Sunnyer said:

Is it normal to feel pain three weeks after gastric sleeve surgery? I have been relatively pain free after the first week, but today and yesterday I've had aches and pain in one of my incision sites and also in general around my midsection.

Is this normal, or should I have it looked at?

I have some small seromas that are sore on my main incision. I have been using ice and heat on the area (was told they are normal and as long as they aren’t showing signs of infection not to worry).

The heat and ice helps a lot. That incisions the one that’s been tender from day one so I’m just rolling with it. Occasionally I take some Tylenol.

My binder is getting a bit loose even pulled tight so I’m not wearing it as much but it does tend to feel better when I wear it. It’s just been super hot with it on and the warmer weather.

I’d check with your dr to make sure they don’t want to see you and to see what they say.

1 hour ago, LookingForward22 said:

I have some small seromas that are sore on my main incision. I have been using ice and heat on the area (was told they are normal and as long as they aren’t showing signs of infection not to worry).

The heat and ice helps a lot. That incisions the one that’s been tender from day one so I’m just rolling with it. Occasionally I take some Tylenol.

My binder is getting a bit loose even pulled tight so I’m not wearing it as much but it does tend to feel better when I wear it. It’s just been super hot with it on and the warmer weather.

I’d check with your dr to make sure they don’t want to see you and to see what they say.

i never wore a binder and this incision has not hurt until yesterday. It's just so weird to get a new type of pain three weeks after the surgery.

I did email a nurse at the hospital, and she sent me a reply with more questions. I replied to her, but they're closed now. It's not acute pain, just a sting now and then, and when I lean forward etc. I don't have a fever or increased heartbeat, so it's probably not that serious.