Six months out and rolling.....

Hello people...just thought I would share a milestone date and some of the experiences I have gone through on this journey. First, I will say, those who want to throw stones, nit pick or complain about my sentence structure, just stop reading right now and move on to the next thread. That said...here we go.

I started my pre-op diet six months ago today on November 5th. I had surgery on November 17th and as of today, I have lost a total of 128 pounds, 98 pounds of it was since the surgery. I lost 30 pounds on the pre-op diet. The first five days of the pre-op diet were the worst. I had more jello in 12 days during that time than I have had in the preceding 12 years. I would honestly have to say that was the hardest part of this process for me. The pre-op diet, the mental wrangling of whether I should or shouldn't do the procedure. I was in that dilemma right up until I was rolled into the operating room. I was half tempted to jump off the gurney and grab my clothes and run for my truck but obviously I didn't. 

When I woke up after surgery, I really didn't have any measurable pain. I stayed the night in the hospital. To be honest, I probably could have gone home that evening. I was up and walking around without the nurse in relatively short order to the point the nurses were concerned if I was pushing myself too hard. I think the worst pain I had was on the ride home, I could really feel every bump and every turn when we had to change streets. For about two to three weeks I had a small bit of discomfort if I tried to lay down on my side or facing down prone on the bed, as the swelling went away so did the discomfort. The best thing for that was to keep walking.

One of the things I was concerned about prior to having the surgery, is that so many social situations are centered around food. About ten days after surgery, the day after Thanksgiving (I planned ahead, my better half flew down to her folks for a week for the holiday at my request). That way none of the typical holiday fare would be in the house so close after surgery. The day after Thanksgiving, which was about ten days after surgery mind you, I took a nearly 200 mile road trip up to the Thunder Valley Casino which is just north of Sacramento CA. I decided to go play a little blackjack and ended up walking past their buffet at the casino. I can admit the aromas coming out of the buffet as I walked past it were definitely delightful. What I discovered was it didn't even phase me, no hunger, no regrets, I was just like...wow...that smells great...and continued on to find a table and played some cards, i felt even better when I left carrying $3k more than I walked in with. I handled the drive there and back just fine, no problems, none whatsoever.

Fast forward through the different post op stages. All went well, discovered what agreed with me, what didn't as far as digesting goes. Once I moved on to the solid food stage which if I recall started at week nine post op. I strongly suggest when you incorporate new types of food into your diet, do it at home, not out an about, because if for some reason it takes the express lane through you, you rather be at home. Throughout this time, I was trying this and that, following the protocol of protein first, veggies second, and fruits last if any. My doctor said at this point, I could have whatever I wanted within reason, even bread if I chose, but keep it on the small side as far only a little bit, not a whole lot. Well my other half went to a deli one day coming home from classes and brought me back a small club sandwich with the thought I could take the contents and leave whatever bread I didn't want behind. Well I ate the sandwich as is. I had half for lunch and about five hours later I had the rest for dinner.

I mentioned it in a post on here and some people went completely nuts over it. I mentioned in my thread I had a treat that day, and by treat I meant a surprise. Some of the replies were downright off the chart. Some were stating I was setting myself up to failure and that I was going to give other the impression that it was okay to have a small sandwich and so on. My thoughts is everyone is different and will recover and metabolize what they eat in different ways, it all comes down to personal choices. I bring this up to those reading this and who are in the initial part of their journey is listen to whatever people say, but make your own choices, their experiences are not necessarily going to the experiences you will have. If you experience negative reaction after you try something new, then you know not to do that again, and that in the end is the best teacher. 

A month or so ago I took a 8 day vacation out of state. I was at 117 pounds lost at that point. During those 8 days, I knew I was going to probably put some weight back on. I had seen other posts on here where people had. I took my protein shakes with me to put in the fridge at the hotel, even with that, when we ate out I ordered food responsibly, and picked and chose what I ate, I noticed that so much of what we eat is so processed and loaded with sodium. I knew it was before but I would really taste it now after having had the surgery. I will admit I probably ate food that I shouldn't have, granted in small amounts here and there with the mentality I am on vacation, it's not a everyday month after month change to my lifestyle. Well when I got home, I stepped on the scale and I was 7 pounds heavier. I could feel it even before I stepped on the scale to be honest. Once I got back home, I went back to my routine or protein shakes and yogurt, in the morning, chicken salad for lunch and then a sensible dinner that evening. In the month that I have been back, I lost that 7 pounds and 11 pounds more on top of that. 

Prior to my trip, I was stalled at 117 pounds lost for nearly a month. I realize that even at six months out after starting this, my body is still getting used to its new signals it is sending itself. During that stall, my eating habits and my physical activities were the same. Honestly, I have no scientific proof to back it up, but I think the trip and adding a couple of pounds during that trip broke that stall. That's just my opinion, but it's what I believe. 

My advice to the new sleevers and soon to be new sleevers is once you have it done, you will wish you had done it years ago. I had the same apprehensions you all did and I wish I had done it much much sooner. Stick to your protein levels, I still take in 120-150 grams of protein a day, this is highly important even more so in the first couple months after surgery being protein is what helps make you heal from the huge assault you just had done to your abdomen. While some will disagree with me, and some of them know I could care a less about their opinion, let experience be your guide, and march to the beat of your drum. I don't mean leave the hospital and go through a drive thru for a burger either, that experience will put you back into the operating room or the morgue. Just discover in small doses what you can tolerate and what you can't, what affects your weight loss and what doesn't. That is the best teacher of all and if you can get through that you can do anything. The sky's the limit. Good luck.

congrats !!!!

Whatever works for you!!!! I may not be so far out but I think it's important to treat yourself once in a while. What works for you. I was hesitant in joining in a forum because it's much different than a spoken dialogue and everybody's opinion is welcome, even the negative ones'. 

But you know your body best and as long as you continue using your tool and what works best and not letting old habits creep up, you'll do great man!!

water off a ducks back

That's pretty much is my thought on it. Thanks for the reply.

WOW.....WONDERFUL post.....thank you so much.................and as far as grammar, etc.....let the nit pickers waste their time doing their silly, time-wasting thing.....(I'm like the grammar police with my kids......ONLY) - personally speaking, your post was extremely helpful for me. I was banded in 2006, unbanded 2 months ago and am scheduled for surgery on June 6. The information you've shared has given me lots of confidence that this decision I've made is the right one. Additionally, your common sense approach and recommendation is just that.....common sense, but unfortunately, common sense is a flower that doesn't grow in everyone's garden. I know a few people who could use a kick in the behind about their after surgery behavior, but those are usually the ones who know everything anyway....oh well.

Again, thanks for the long, well-written and clearly thought out information........if no one else will tell you....I will......greatly appreciated.

AND......congrats on the fabulous weight loss!

Anita

Thank you for your reply. I know personally speaking, I have always been on the bigger side. I stand 6'5'. Up until 10 years ago, I was always floating around 325lbs. At my height and build, I was still overweight, but I was still high speed low drag so to speak. Back to the 10 years ago reference. I had some medical issues cause me impairment as far as mobility, then 5 years ago I was involved in a wreck where I wa**** from behind and my left knee ate the dash and absolutely shredded the meniscus creating more mobility issues. Well over that decade, the weight just kept getting bigger and bigger and I finally acted on what I knew all along. I have always marched to the beat of my own drum, I have been self employed my entire adult life for the most part. That is a total of 26 years in business. I put my mentality of running my personal medical issues into the same gear as my business life. I had several surgeries over the past few years to fix certain issues and then focused on the getting the sleeve done. I should have done this years ago, but sometimes things are right in front of us and either we don't see it, or we choose not to see it for whatever reason. I still have several more surgeries to come once I am down to the weight level I want to be at. Then the sky is the limit. I agree wholeheartedly with your comment of common sense being anything but common. I figuratively try to kill people with kindness, if that doesn't work, I try it with humor, if that doesn't work, then there are always hollow points. Yes that is a joke for those who don't understand humor that isn't politically correct. Again thanks for your reply and I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming surgery. I assume you are going to be starting a pre-op diet soon. I know for me, I did Premier Protein shakes, you can get them by the case at Costco, chocolate is the best, the vanilla and strawberry are somewhat lacking. I did buy some of them and also bought some sugar free Tourani's syrup to help with their flavor but never got that far. That and as much sugar free jello as you want to eat to help with the full feeling until you get past the carb withdraw.  If you have questions, feel free to message me on here, that goes for everyone. Also I ran this as one big paragraph just to irritate the grammar nazis. So cheers and ciao.

Loving your reply / long paragraph.......I have the same perverse sense of humor.....only problem for me is the density of the text....that's what happens when you have old eyes.

I had meniscus surgery in August - didn't help much with my weight because I was immobile for the better part of 4 months....spent about 5 months in physical therapy and even though the physical therapy Nazis made fun of me for going so long, I have the last laugh because I have zero pain. Being 70, I wasn't sure how my recovery would go and I was willing to settle for mobility and lessened pain....so, I hit the recovery jackpot. But, being unable to actually do any exercise or walking for all that time, added about 15 pounds (seems that walking to the refrigerator wasn't painful).

I start my pre-op diet on the 23rd and am starting to stock up on Premier Protein and boxes of Jello (sugar fee of course)....not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to getting thin again.........I didn't have weight problems til about 25 years ago when some really bad stressful situations pushed me over the edge of what little sanity I had left.

Okay....back to cleaning out my fridge........there's contraband in there.

Keep up the good work.....you're inspiring me!

Thanks for the post. I can relate, not necessarily this forum, but on others. I've butted heads a few times on here, but I dont let it bother me. Its hard to remember that our experiences are NOT going to be the exact same for other people. Its hard to remember because its the truth that we know, you know?

I appreciate your post! Hope you stick around. I look forward to my journey post op here in 20 days

Great Post.  I needed this, you are correct different strokes for different folks.  I need to remember this.  THanks.