What you wish you'd known?

[kaybee]

Hello sleever friends!

Question for you guys. I'm wondering if there's anything you wish you'd known/prepared for/considered before getting your sleeve? I'm trying to spend my six month waiting period learning as much as I can about the surgery and life after it, so I'd love to hear any advice! I know you can never fully prepare yourself for such a big change--but after big decisions I often think 'if only I'd known this before hand!' so any feedback would be much appreciated. I'm definitely moving forward with the surgery, just wondering what adjustments you found tough and what challenges you faced that maybe you weren't expecting--both in terms of the actual surgery and life afterwards.Thanks as always for your thoughts!

Kathryn

[Therealme]

I am also intending to undergo surgery in about a month and would love to know the answer to this question. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[robin34]

One thing is I wish I had known that my stomach would be so sensitive that I could not stand the protein drinks and vitamins that I purchased presurgery. Just purchase some samples of things then you will have time to purchase what you can stand after surgery. The 29th will be 6 months for me and I cannot stomach the bariatric chewable vitamins. I was fine presurgery but now my stomach feels like it's trying to reject them when I chew them with or without liquid. I've even tried to do a little of it at a time. My new tummy just hates them!

I also got dehydrated on my plane ride home because I did could not stomach the protein that I took for the plane ride. I had an international flight from costa rica (4 hours) then a long layover in houston and 1.5 hour plane ride from houston. Then a 2 hour drive home! It was a long and exhausting day that ended with me being dehydrated and passed out!!!!!!! All is good now and I'm 81 lbs lighter today!

[goestogym]

I can also use all the advice that this wonderful board has to share! I'm scheduled for 1/11!

[dackn8tr]

Great Question!!! The only thing i really wish i'd known about/prepared for more was the hair loss so i could have started my Biotin earlier. I didn't hear anything about that part of it at the Bariatric Center and just read about it in passing here so i didn't realize how it can effect your mental state when it starts. Please don't get me wrong, even with that being a side effect I would do this surgery over again in a HEARTBEAT, this is the best thing i've ever done for myself, but i would have started taking the Biotin sooner. I didn't get any until I started losing my hair so i felt like i was playing "catch-up" with it and have wondered if i could have saved myself some grief by starting it early and getting it in my system. Anyway, good luck to all of you ... this truly is a beautiful gift you're giving yourself and it will change your life!! Best Wishes all around!!!

[Its_Me]

Great question. Remember everyones is different, what works for one persons tummy might not work for another.

One thing I wish I'd know is how freaking cold I was always going to be. Sitting here at work now w/a blanket on my legs.

Best wishes as you start this journey.

[LisaI]

you know, i have had no suprises post surgery...except the slow weight loss, even with 800 cal a day, which i rarely go past...the weight crawls slowly down. I had dreams to be one of those "i lost 100 pounds in a week and a half" people lol, guess that was unrealistic :P

as far as surgery went, i had one nasty surprise. i woke up and still had the tube in my throat. i was gagging and struggling and thought i would die. had i know that was a thing could happen, maybe mentally i could have prepared.

[KennetteW]

I absolutely love that I did this. I will say maybe not 100% of the time, because it really is an adjustment to find that you cannot eat like you used to. You may go through a kind of mourning period for a month or two afterward, like you've lost a friend. However, just remember it does get better and you will adjust. Just remember that it takes time and those feelings won't last forever. I have been blessed, I had no complications whatsoever and I can eat pretty much whatever I want...... If I wanted to. I choose not to, because I know my trigger foods. I am a Carb addict. I will indulge sometimes, but I don't make it a habit. Give yourself a little time to adjust to the loss of some of the things you LOVED to eat before trying them again. That will help break the craving. One thing I miss most is carbonation (Diet Pepsi) I still crave my DP and wish I could have one. However, I know where that path can lead and I want to succeed, so I refuse to give in to those cravings. Good luck and all I can say is just do as much research as you can and try to stay positive. I would definitely do it again if I had to choose. It was the best thing I could have done for me. Also, I believe a lot of the healing after surgery depends on your mindset.

[ACE]

Maybe I wish I had known how exhausting loosing weight can be. there have been days that I cannot get up because I am so tired and its not from doing anything extra its just that happens to be the day my body decides to drop a few pounds at a time. And the cold I am cold to the bone now where I used to be the one asking for the air conditioning in the middle of the winter. I have to learn to wear layers which is hard because it almost feels like i am putting on the emotional insulation and that can be a bit of a challenge This can be a huge emotional roller coaster so be ready for anything to come up that might be hard to face because I have found when i stall I have something emotional to face before I lose again.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and congrats on getting this far it sounds like your are ready

[marilynlw]

I have really had an easy time but I just didn't know how different my new tummy would feel. Before surgery I rarely ever felt my stomach, feelings of fullness, hunger or food going in or out, just nothing unless I was sick. Now I can feel sensations from my new tummy I never felt before. Not painful or uncomfortable but I can feel when I am getting full or when I drink or eat to fast. My new stomach is giving me signals my old stomach wasn't. That's probably a good thing. I can actually feel the food or drink going into the stomach. I think these sensations will pass with time but I am fully aware now.

You have probable read on here how people have trouble getting all their fluids in after surgery. That is one thing never mentioned in any of the educational meetings I went to. I was one who always drank way more fluid then the 64 oz. drank 2 or 3 glasses for water with each meal and loads between meals and never expected to have a problem getting the minimum. After the surgery the stomach is swollen and only small amounts will go in at one time making it difficult to get the 64 oz so you will have to keep sipping all day long. I found the crushed ice the best thing because as the ice melted in my mouth I was swallowing small amounts at a time and I think the cold helped to reduce the swelling. Even 6 week after surgery I have to keep reminding myself to drink. Not drinking when eating is hard to get used to.

All in all I am very glad I had the surgery but didn't realized how obsessed I would become with trying to eat and drink healthy and about getting my exercise.

I hope this helps and doesn't hinder your thinking processes about getting the sleeve. I just wish I would have done it years ago.

[Dee Leshuz]

I wish I'd known the second this surgery was available to the general public, US, Mexico, whatever. It would have been nice to get it done earlier instead of however many years of going up and down.

[niamh]

I've had a pretty easy time, so nothing in particular. I guess I think it is important not to believe that you can know particularly what it is going to be like for you - the thing that's really helpful about this forum is seeing how varied the range of individual experience is, so be open to a range of possible eventualities for you. So give up your beliefs about how fast/slow you will lose, exactly what you will/won't be able to eat, how your eating preferences will/won't change, how long you'll be in pain (or not) etc etc. I still don't know whether or not I'm going to have significant hair loss (I can definitely perceive some, but fairly slight at the moment, just shy of three months out). Roll with the punches is my best advice.

[STackert]

I would say that first, I was surprised after the surgery while still in the hospital how much I had to go to the bathroom! (About 2-3 times an hour due to all the fluid coming through my IV). If my husband hadn't been there to help me, I'm not sure what I would've done... probably requested a catheter!

Second, I was pretty miserable for at least the first 3 days. Very sore. My doctor had told me that it would feel like I had done a million situps. He wasn't exaggerating! Plus, the first two weeks, I had a drain. So that was beyond miserable. Couldn't wait to get it out.

Third, it's getting better now, but sometimes, I feel depressed that I can't eat any more than 2-4 ounces at a time. I don't enjoy food like I used to, which is probably a good thing and why I needed the surgery to begin with. I think you can go through a grieving period for food. Food had been my entertainment, my comforter, my companion. Well, time to say goodbye to that old friend since it was more of an enemy anyway.

Best wishes to you!

[ArizonaRN]

My surgery was a breeze, I can eat anything without any discomfort (which sometimes can be bad) and I feel wonderful. The two things I wish I would have known was 1) that I was ready for this kind of surgery to change my life and wish I would have done it YEARS ago! and 2) that the weight loss can be frustrating. Inching down little by little. Sometimes a 5 lbs chunk and other weeks one little pound per week loss. The ups and downs and the stalls. I had this notion in my mind that if I was only eating 800 cals a day that the weight would fall off....wrong! Be prepared for the roller coaster of weight loss and the emotions that come along with it. This forum is amazing for support, so come on here and shout from the roof tops when your happy and complain when you feel that rut, we are here for you both ways!

[drisner]

To me so far there are two different phases to be ready for, the first month or two after surgery and the period after that.

For the first month or two, I did not realize how hard the super restrictive diets would be. Getting through the liquid stage & pureed stages were really, really hard for me. And you have no energy.

After that, I wish I knew how easy it was to fall off of the wagon. Start having too much carbs or eating too often and you will stop losing weight and maybe even gain some. You still have to be very diligent or you will not lose the weight.

And for both stages, exercise is very important. It is the only thing that will get your energy levels back up after the surgery and it really helps with you losing weight as you go forward.