After surgery: What surprised you most?

After having your weight loss surgery, were there things along the way that came as a surprise to you? Things that no one told you would/might happen? Or might not happen? I have read about unexpected weight loss stalls early after surgery that surprised some. Hoping to learn more from you all. Thank you.

the infamous three-week stall. No one ever mentioned that in our pre-op classes, yet almost everyone goes through that. I co-led one of the pre-op classes at my clinic for about three years (before COVID hit, that is), and I always made a point of telling the patients that so they wouldn't freak out when it happened to them.

Other members have said the same thing...that no one told them about a stall early on. I am glad I know this now.

I am one week post op. What exactly is the 3 week stall?

stalls are periods of 1-3 weeks where you don't lose any weight, even if you're following your program 100%. Most people have several stalls along their weight loss journey. The first one hits probably at least 90% of us sometime during the first month or so after surgery. It's usually the third week post-surgery, hence the name, but for some people it can happen during week 2 or week 5 - or whatever. This first major stall (the "three week stall") is esp frustrating because it happens so soon after surgery, and it's when people are ingesting maybe 500 calories a day, so they can't understand why they aren't losing weight. But....it always breaks, and the weight loss starts up again...

Thank you and as I read your post before... I just hit the week three stall and I'm not as frustrated as I probably would have been!

I was surprised at how much better I felt even when I had only lost a relatively small amount of weight, early on.

I was surprised at how making sure I had enough fluid would have to become a long-term focus. I knew that I would have to drink extra fluids for a while after surgery, but I assumed that in a few weeks I could go back to relying on thirst to tell me when I needed to drink something. I'm 2.5 years out, and I'm still prone to dehydration if I forget to drink enough fluids. Fortunately, it's almost second nature now.

I was surprised that I got bags under my eyes. I was expecting loose skin, but not under my eyes. I was 59, so I assumed that I was stuck with them unless I wanted to get plastic surgery. (They didn't bother me enough to consider that.) I was even more surprised that the bags went away on their own over the course of a year. Similarly, my double chin became a wattle, which I assumed I was stuck with. It mostly went away on its own, and the bit I have left doesn't bother me.

These are good things to know. Thank you!

Feeling faint or lightheaded when standing up during months 8. - 18 (max weight loss completed time), looking like cancer patient after achieving goal (gaunt, bigger eyeballs looking, boney in places. Also experiencing the other weight bias against overly thin people, being a deflated ballon with uneven weight distribution for a couple of years.

All resolved over time or aren't as important to me anymore. I'm definitely very happy to have experienced a very successful life changing improvement in my health.

Forgot to mention your ass will be boney and hurt like hell to sit on for a long time. A butt cushion will probably come in handy after dropping 80+.