Things I've learned in the past 2 weeks....

1.  Drinking any liquid shortly after eating Jello will make said liquid come back up... quickly. 2.  Remain sitting up for a while after taking pills, eating, drinking, etc... reason... see number 1. 3.  New sleeping positions must be learned.... ow. 4. Turning quickly from the waist up while sitting down...for ANY reason... is a no-no... also ow. 5. I really don't like broth. . LOL. 6.  Sipping is a decision... easy to say, sometimes hard to remember...  Old habits of a quick chug result.. well.. see number 1 again. 7.  Walmart has a surprising amount of decnt low fat low sugar soups.  Most of which taste ok when you pulverize them in a blender .  The cheesy flavored ones are easiest to hide protein powder in! 8.  Everyone who finds out you had bypass surgery will have 'their' story of their friend who did it and it did/did not work out great, and will feel perfectly ok to ask you personal questions about your pain levels, diet, personal hygeine, weight, eating habits, sex life, family support, etc .. etc.. etc.. 9.  I've told my wife not to tell anyone else who doesn't already know...  see number 8... I'm thinking of just typing up a 10 page report to give everyone the details so I don't have to repeat myself.. LOL. 10.  Every emotion possible has run thru my head.  I thought I was emotional leading up TO the surgery? Wow.  Joy, Fear, Anger, Regret, Surprise, Happiness, Hope, Joy, Frustration... and on and on... Anyway, as I've said before.. I'm sure it's nothing "But such as is common to all men...".. but what a couple of weeks it's been... Dale

I just want to encourage you to continue to stick to the program your surgeon has prescribed for you.  I looked at your profile and I assume you are fairly tall since I weighed less than you when I had my Open RNY, but I had a higher BMI.  You have really good friends listed on your profile.  Be sure to Contact them.  Many of them have had wonderful weight losses from really high initial weights. Realize that, barring any stupidity on your part, you will lose a lot of weight in the first 18 months following surgery.  I indulged in the stupidity of snacking but still managed to lose over 200 lbs during that time.  But, if you want to continue to lose weight past that point, you should learn how to eat during that period of grace.   You should be able to start to exercise.  If you can't walk much, then I suggest using light weights and some cardio.  The cardio can come from a stationary bike or aquatic exercises.  I do the latter and have fun at the pool at my local YMCA. Finally, if there are any emotional or mental problems you had before having WLS, know that WLS will not cure them.  It is imperitive to get counseling or group therapy if this pertains to you.  Otherwise, you are likely to switch addictions or compulsions.  I don't want to brand you like me, because I've found that many men on this forum were just big eaters.  Many of us had parents who encourage us to overeat for many reasons such as fears that we were too thin, or the classic "there are children starving in (pick your underdeveloped country), to just being the  "garbage can" so food wouldn't have to be thrown out.  My mom would always have my Dad and me finish the end of whatever meal we were eating.  My Dad did lots of physical exercise and didn't gain weight and I was thin until the year I got engaged--but those bad habits didn't go away. Take this post-op journey a day at a time.  You'll be surprised at how fast your progress will be.  Discuss reasonable goals for your first 18 mos post-op with your surgeon.  You may have a goal of 300 to 350 for that time.  You can continue to lose weight past that time, but you will then be more like any normal person going through a lifestyle change in that you can continue to exercise and watch what you eat, but you will stop having phenomenol weight loss.  It may slow down to a pound a week or less.  Just continue to post here and know that you'll get plenty of support from the men in the locker room.

Dale, I am glad to see that you have kept your sense of humor. I suggest that you have some business cards printed up and hand them out when someone asks you an unwanted question about your WLS.  For general questions you could hand them a card with a standard answer.  For personal questions you could hand them a card with "NOYB".  For obnocious questions I would suggest "NOYFBAH".  Just a thought. Joe

Dale... How are you dude?  You made me laugh my ass off. I friggin hate broth and jello now. I have 2 cases of jello in my fridge... that I just can't do. I am hopping the GF's kids will eat it over the time. When ever I look at that shelf in my fridge it makes me think of a box of crayola's just puked in my fridge.

Dale, That is funny and I can so relate to it right now. Joebear, I love that idea. That is good stuff.

----- 
Even the toughest criminals become remarkably docile 
 once separated from society by six feet of soil. 

LOL.. ah the questions get even better... it amazes me how many people think NOTHING is off limits... My favorite so far... "So.. when you lose weight, you'll be able to have sex again?"... What? Fat people can't have sex????    Now granted.. I may have it in more positions...  The nerve..... Dale

Dale, When asked that, you can always reply: Yes, when should I pencil you in, and what postion would you like to start off with? Congrats on the good attitude, and yes the first month is full of new discoveries and the next months are full of FARTs, both kinds. Herb

Dale,

It is great to hear your story so I can have some more information about what I might expect after I get cut up.  On the sex topic, last night I was talking to a buddy at work that had wls about 5 years ago.  He said "You know your wife will like it, your d*** gets bigger."  I laughed and said yeah that I had heard that.  Then he said "And it's nice to be able to see what your doing too".  I said "So you mean I don't have to fiddle around like a blind guy reading poetry?"  We both had a good laugh.....

All the best to you in yoru recovery.

Paul