I am doing this!

I feel the same way!

Thanks, it will be nice not to be hungry.  I agree about wishing I never had the band,however,I done well with it at first couple years but then things went downhill as far as acid reflux,vomiting,not ever hitting scsweeypt spot on fills,et****il I had complications n it had to come out.  Boy,did I gain weight fast though on it coming out and reflux disappeared quickly.  I'm hoping this is so so much better and faster at losing the weight then my band was.  

Congratulations on your decision to have the sleeve surgery.

I m thrilled with my sleeve and I'd do it again regularly if I had to to maintain my weight.  It is so good to be a normal weight, have more energy and be healthier.  Plus to shop at regular-sized stores and look good in the clothes is so gratifying. 

But... when I go out to a fancy dinner, and watch everyone else able to eat 3 or 4 times more than I can,  I feel deprived. 

I also have to watch my carbs or the cravings take over and I start to overeat and gain weight.  I miss the sweets and breads and potatoes and pasta. 

But the bottom line is that I'm healthy and happy.  Life is good, and it was so worth the effort to get the obesity under control.

best wishes,

Carol

Any depression caused from the inability to eat large amounts of food?

I wouldn't say "depression" but I've just gone thru a very stressful time with a change in administration at work, and a tough situation which resulted in me retiring in July.  I still want to rely on  eating to calm myself, and it has been hard to stick to the plan when I'm feeling so stressed.  I've had many sleepless nights which resulted in late night snacks to help calm me and help me sleep. 

I know I need a better strategy for managing stress, but nothing helps like food did.  The stress has subsided with the end of the job, but now I have to manage the uncertainty of making such a major life change.  Such is life!

I've come to realize that obesity is a disease, and WLS gives us a tool to manage the disease. But its a life-long struggle to manage the obesity, even when weight loss is done, and we enter the bigger challenge of maintenance. 

best wishes,
Carol

Thank you for your reply.  I think I can handle that kind of stress.  What I cant handle is food getting stuck...esophageal spasms.... foaming at the mouth when food gets stuck... having to sit strategically at restaurants in preparation of possible stuck/foam incident.  I also want consistency...one day I could eat a porterhouse and the next day couldn't eat a crumb.  I HATED MY BAND.  I NAMED IT SYBIL!!!!  It was an appropriate name for the band bc it certainly had multiple personalities!

I think you'll find the sleeve much more livable.  I've never had food stuck.  I've over-eaten a few times and had mucus / the foamies, but I quickly learned to recognize the problem and it hasn't happened in a long time. I've only thrown-up once and that was immediately after surgery - this was because I couldn't stomach sweet drinks, so I had to switch to chicken broth with protein powder rather than shakes.

 I also can eat pretty consistently.  There was a period when food didn't appeal to me at all, and I had to force myself to eat (maybe 2 to 4 months out)  but it passed and now my appetite is normal. 

I think you'll like the sleeve. 

best of luck,

Carol

Never teach your children to cook if you are planning to have weight loss surgery LOL.  As I sip my broth week 2 my daughter cooks like the devil right next to me.  It's so hard but then I think "NOTHING...NOTHING tastes as good as skinny/healthy FEELS!  I love food...food and I were pals.  I'll miss it terribly and think of it often in a wistful see ya never kind of way lol.  *sigh*

...and weigh****chers says something that really makes sense.  All you need is a bite to enjoy food.  Once you have the flavor in your mouth you eat mindlessly until it's gone.  You really just enjoy the taste.  Take that bite if you need it...enjoy the heck out of it...and put the rest away.  You have the flavor in your mouth and not the calories.  

I am two months out from band to sleeve revision surgery with hernia repair and I so love my sleeve. I was banded June of 08. The weight loss has been slow but I have always been a slow loser so I am not worried.

I finally feel "normal" again, no pooling of fluid or food stuck in the middle of my chest, no sliming, no port sticking out of my abdomen, no vomiting and so far since I've been on regular food nothing is off limits.

I am so loving sleeve life right now, even though I had complications with the band having a revision was the best thing that could have happened to me!!!!