ok ladies[or whoever you asked to do this]: here's your thread, all ready for you to tell us that you're fine. in recovery. etc etc etc.

now, all we have to do is be patient... not one of my strong points, but i'll try, especially since there's a 3-hour time difference between here and there..

<tap tap tap> hmmmm. i guess i'll go to my office meeting now...

WOOOHOOOO, IM HOME!, actually was home saturday but have been sleeping alot. you girls are gonna die when i tell you this, but myself and serendipity where roomates in the hospital, is was sooooo funny. It was wonderful meeting through a website and than meeting each other in person and supporting each other through our roughest days. Dont know what i would have done without her sugar-free hard candy seeing as though our hospital screwd our menus up every single day.

But i have wonderful new, im down 20 lbs today, exactly one week after surgery, im just hoping thats not too fast. I actually gained weight while in th hospital though, that was depressing.

So lets keep up the chatting and now that im back and feeling spunky i cant wait to start posting away!!!!!

Glad you are doing well MysTek! That's great that you lost 20 pounds in a week! I can't say that it went that fast for me for sure. It's also great that you are feeling spunky. I was three months out before I felt that way. How cool that you guys shared a room! It really helps to have a support person there who is going through exactly what you are going through. Congrats to you! Look forward to getting to know you!

FABULOUS news - all the way around.

as for the 20 pounds in a week - don't worry about 'too fast, too slow.' if you do what you're supposed to do, then the rate is JUST FINE, whatever it is...

well girls, so much for my spunky feeling...i guess it was the calm before the storm. I may have pneumonia. They thought i had the early stages in the hospital as well. THey keep griping about my liquid (WATER) intake, and i totally agree with pookie, it is very hard. I can now finally, after a week finish a whole carnation instant breakfast throughout the day. ALot of my problem in the first few days was that the smell of bullion literally made me ill, and i love chicken broth...and that i absolutley hate jello. So, my intake totally sucked.
Now a week after surgery im back to loving broth, but hate jello still, so they reccomended a sugar-free carnation instant breakfast a day to get my vitamins. i warm up about 4 oz of water, so the choc flavor is pretty tasty!

POOKIE- i loved your 8 tips, that was so wonderful, and it seems that even if people dont experience the exact same things that they still will prob experience some of them at different degrees.

I totally expect mid-month, for the weight loss to stop once i hit stage 2, i know i will get extremely disapointed...but that is what you all are here for.
I cant even begin to express to you all again how wonderful supportive and uplifting this forum has been for me.

The whole craving thing, i actually had it so bad 4 days after surgery when my husband brought a pizza home that i literaly licked the top of the pizza just to remember those days. my hubby laughed histerically, than apologized because he thought id been sleeping when he brought it in. Luckily i have been able to pin-point the time of the day when i mostly get my craving, evenings, and i either try to keep myself busy, suck on sugar-free candy, or simply go to sleep.

Well, enough about me, how are all ofyou today? I feel like crud but the sun is still shining!

jiffy's nag: instead of sucking on sugar free candy: DRINK SOMETHING!!!!! you don't need the candy. YOU NEED THE LIQUID!!!!

more later...

I HEAR YAH JIFF....I KNOW, LIQUIDS, LIQUIDS, LIQUIDS!!!!!!!!! And your right POOK about the sugar alcohols, didnt even dawn on me. ANd i even think the same about the gas thing now that you mention it, i guess i never put 2 and 2 together.

I wonder how my old friend serendipity is doing, im worried bout her. she stayed an extra day in the hospital, so i hope she is home now and feeling better. My prayers are with her

you're having gas??? hmmmmm. if staying off the SF candies doesn't help, you may want to look at the carnation instant breakfast. not only may that have sugar alcohols [check the label], lots of us come out of the surgery with lactose intolerance, and there's LOTS of lactose in CIB.

and, if you're mixing it in a blender, that adds a lot of air, which also makes you gassy.. .

no one ever said this was easy!!! <or if they did, they were delusional!!!!>

I didn't go home until Monday. My lungs kept getting compressed by fluid, despite my ability to blow a 3000 on the I.S. thingy. Not to mention my lack of pain control. I'm doing ok, but way behind you in the weight loss curve. No biggie. Everyone has their own schedule. I ended up going back to the hospital about 7 hours after I was discharged because my stomach started spasming really hard and I couldn't handle the pain. I couldn't swallow, move, breath or sleep without crying. So, hubby made me go back. I was finally pain-free enough to go home on Wedsnesday afternoon/evening. I really hated being there, I never slept for longer than an hour out of every 4 hours at a time. As of this morning, I've lost 28 lbs. Maybe I'm slower because I spent twice as much time in the hospital? Oh well. I'm followingg the diet as prescribed, but I'm experiencing one part of what could be attributed to dumping syndrome, and I thing we all know which symptom, lol. But I also had IBS prior to surgery and it's acting much like that. So, I'm not sure what to think. Also, I noticed a really painful spot in the back of my knee/calf this afternoon and it's spreading down my calf. Hope it's not a blood clot. I have an appointment tomorrow with another clinic at Balboa. I think I might swing by and see my surgeon or Eve if I can. I have no appetite, no cravings, I have no idea when I'm full, so I play it safe and stay within the guidelines. I can't feel my stomach, you know, like when you take a drink of ice water, you can feel it go down? I can't feel that. Anyone else have that problem? How about really bad heartburn?

Hi Pookie,

I skipped the tums because I don't really want kidney stones. I'm taking Aciphex, same stuff I was taking before for GERD, and it's working like a charm. Which also worries me because as I understand it, it is physically impossible to have the type of heartburn I am having, since all my pre-op tests came back clean, including the ones for reflux and hiatal hernia.

Angie

I'm sorry to read that you are having trouble Serendipity. It does take a while to get use to your new stomach, but it does get better. I had to stay in the hospital extra time too, because of a fever. I think 27 pounds is a pretty good weight loss for the length of time it has been. Like Pookie said, everyone looses at a different rate. Shoot, I was dissappointed to see that I wasn't completely skinny right after surgery, LOL. I spent so much time thinking about it before hand and planning, I wanted instant gratification afterward. I too, was in extreme pain after surgery. I know how you were/are feeling. It took me around 3 months before I started to feel hunger, and once you start eating solids that feeling of full will come back as well. Hang in there darlin' the worst of it is almost over (((((HUGS)))))

Aww, thanks for the hugs. I think I am experiencing a huge chunk of denial about the weight loss. I fought for so long like you wouldn't believe, against PCOS and post-partum hyperinsulinemia that I had lost almost all hope. I spend 3 hours on an operating table and, WHAM!!!, the weight starts falling off. I am a frustrated for no reason all the time, and I just don't see the changes. My husband has been saying things for 2 weeks about how much weight I've lossed. I've had to get some new clothes already. I just don't see it. I also feel like it's going too fast, although the standard is 10 lbs a week, give or take. I felt so ready for this going into it. In hindsight, have I made a mistake, not for my body, but for my mind? I'm about due for a trip to the shrink's office anyway, lol.

Angie

oh angie.. you've hit on a BIG ISSUE here - all that MIND stuff... it's a huge battle. remember: this surgery was on your digestive tract, not your brain. keep saying that to yourself and deal with what you have to...

as for the lifelong struggle with PCOS and hyperinsulinemia and no weight loss - and now the weight is falling off... here's what i think [and i've talked with my surgeon about this, and he doesn't think i'm completely crazy, it's just that there are so many unknowns here...]

feeling hungry/wanting to eat/insulin/ghrelin/and lord knows what other hormones are involved are extremely interrelated. i think that for some of us - many of us - these links have been so hopelessly tangled and working wrong that the surgery is the only way to fix it. because: THE SURGERY HAS SHORT CIRCUITED ALL THESE FEEDBACK LOOPS AND RELATIONSHIPS. that we are now normal - hormonally at least. and our bodies can finally let go of the weight.

of course, consuming fewer than 500 calories a day SHOULD result in some weight loss, but speaking as someone who GAINED weight on an 800 calorie diet, there's no way that just eating so little - by itself - will result in the massive weight loss that you're seeing, angie. and that i saw.

now, having said all that.. what does this mean for the slower losers among us? i suspect that your [unknown to medical research] hormones weren't quite as screwed up.

just a few thoughts.. meant to be helpful and reassuring, but i'm not sure i managed that. so please accept my apologies if i've (1) hurt anyone's feelings, (2) confused anyone beyond all hope of understanding, or (3) scared the daylights out of anyone!!!!

Well Hello ladies, seems like i have missed so much in the past week or so. Im so glad to see your doing welling Angie, i was worried bout ya girl. But, your so true to the fact that everyone heals at thier own rate, as well as loses the weight at thier own rate.
I think alot of it for some people is their mindset. This is an enourmous surgery that by no means will be a walk in the park. And by keeping the power of positive thinking on board and suportive uplifting people around you, you can conquere anything...even if it doesnt feel like it at that very moment.
I spoke to my surgeon today becuase of my pure lack of energy, and the fact that i havent had a bowel movement in almost 3 weeks, and he reassured me that the lack of energy was normal. THe bowel movemetns on the other hand, we fixed that too!!! HE said, that most people lose the bulk of the weight in the beginning few weeks and that the rest is up to me. He reminded me that this was just a tool, yet a large one, to changing and readapting your lifestyle. And that it takes time.
My second week out i was craving big time, everything.....which Eve says is normal but this operation puts your body through malnutrition in order to drastically shed unwanted pounds and reteach you the fundimentals of eating properly all over again. She told me to keep myself busy and drink water, and keep drinking that eventually these craving would go away, that things do not happen over night.
Now three weeks out, i dont have the craving anymore and im on PHase 2 and slowly beginning to feel hunger again, in small doses. Yet i totally made the mistake of eating too fast oneday....ouch. Now that I am on Phase 2, I have stopped losing weight, but have regained my energy back.
I hit my 30 lb mark last week, and the surgeon says people lose typically 20-30 lbs the first few weeks and than begins the first platoe. It isnt easy, it is discouraging, especially when you lose so quickly to begin with.
But i keep smiling, and my husband makes me feel wonderful about the weight i have lost, even if in my eyes its not enough. Making small goals seems to have really made an impact of reality with me, wether it be to lose another pound, eat a different food, walk an extra step, or simply smile a bigger smile.

And eventually these pounds will fade away.

wishing all of you ladies, and especially angie, a speedy recovery, a big bear hug, and tons of blessings.

Also today, my friend Renee, who is a regular to "viewing" the 3FC site, has her surgery today. She is in my prayers, and im hoping she gets her tail on here and posts with us once she feels up to it. Happy Valentines Day Renee!!!