Getting prepared

[MommyKat3]

I am having surgery at the end of the month. I am trying to prepare for after the surgery. I have a few questions. I think I have
The food thing covered. I have questions about clothing. I know that I should wear something loose home from the hospital. How long is your abdomen tender. How quickly did you drop sizes. I know everyone is different, but I am looking for averages. I like to be as prepared as possible. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Tamera2]

Katina, I wore leggings and loose t-shirt home from the hospital and for a couple three weeks. Abdomen was tender for 2-3 weeks. I started out in size 22 pants, 3x tops. Now size 16 pants & lg tops. Surgery just 1-24-17. See chart below. Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions I'm happy to try and answe. Good Luck with your journey

[RehabNurse]

I wore a baggy sweatsuit to/from the hospital. I also wore slip-on shoes because my abdomen would be too tender to bend over to tie shoelaces. My abdomen was sore for only 4 days at the most.

I estimate I dropped a clothing size once every six weeks. However, my weight loss was gradual and slower than most sleevers since it took 18 months for me to lose 100 pounds. Glance at the signature below my post if you want to see my monthly losses.

[Kindle]

I wore crocs, elastic waist pants and a loose jersey (Go Packers) to and from the hospital. It was 3 weeks postop before I could wear my jeans....no abdominal pain, just bloating and surgical swelling.

I don't recall how fast I dropped sizes, but I would wear something till it was hanging on me, even with a belt and then buy something from the thrift store to get me through. Usually skipped a size or two by doing this. Went through pant sizes faster than tops because I was able to get away with wearing too big of shirts better than too big of bottoms. Sports bras were essential as my boobs shrunk because they could accommodate a large size fluctuation better than regular bras. It was about 10 months before I stabilized at my new normal (-100 pounds) and finally bought new clothes, which I am still wearing today. Overall went from 22W jeans/XXL tops to 6/7 jeans and S/M tops. 44DD to 34A/B. Unless you have a money tree, thrift stores and clearance racks are a must as you go through your losing phase.

[Shirl]

I wore a brand new lounge (couture like) suit size xxl it was kind of snug and slip on uggs. By end of month that suit was loose!!! I dropped two dress sizes in one month!!! Lost a dress size about once a month, I would say I went from size 18/20 to size 10 in approximately 4.5-6 months. I have been holding at size 10 and medium for a few months.

I didn't see drastic drop in scale numbers, but certainly in inches.

Regarding abdominal pain, maybe the first 48hrs was uncomfortable, but it was from the incisions not from anything else. It'd hurt/burn like sensation if I laughed or coughed so just in case have a pillow handy with you at all times to help.

I was working out as soon as I was cleared one week post op. I have slowled down, but getting back to a regular routine again.

[azladyrider]

I had surgery in late June 2012 and was a tight size 18 at the time. I remember trying on clothes in my skinny section of my closet and getting into my 8s by September then I went shopping for jeans and got into 6's around the same time frame. Within a month those were falling off of me and I got into 1's and 2s - by late November I was actually in size 12 in the girls section which was way too small for me. I'm still in 2s now. The strange thing was that even when the scale stopped going down my sizes dropped.

[DesertGal]

I wore home from the hospital a lounging sundress type smock dress (?) with a cardigan sweater. And flip flops. My stomach was tender and I also had a pillow waiting for me in the van to put across my abdomen on the way home.
My clothing size dropped dramatically. I was originally in size 22w pants and XXL (2x) tops in December. Surgery was 3 weeks ago this coming Friday and I am in 12/14 shorts and a L top. (One brand of shorts is a 16). My chest size has shrunk down 7" and the cup size has gone from a DD to a C (and I just bought the C the other day and that is even loose.) Even my underwear are 3 sizes smaller now. Everyone's different on loosing sizes- and weight- but I am ready to pack up all my BIG MAMA tops and pants and pack them away!

[Katrina]

It was so weird for me. I lost at least 30 - 40 pounds before I could ever go down a size in clothes then just like that I went from 16's - 10's. I never wore any of the between sizes.

As I'm typing this I just remembered I was in the hospital for a lot of that, so now that makes much more sense.

[Christie13]

I was able to wear jeans a week post op. I went back to work and did not want to wear stretchy pants. Luckily they were loose enough that I could just put them below my incisions. As for dropping sizes, I really did not track but they went down pretty fast. Surgery date I was in size 16. Now I am in a size 4. (I'm 4'11".)