Thank you all for helping me get past phase 1! Now the real fight begins!

Hi all,

A while back I posted a bit of an emotional dump where I explained my journey so far, all my fears and reservations pre surgery.

And you all kicked ass and really helped me. Not only by welcoming me but also by giving great insight and encouragement, thank you all so very much!

I have been quiet since as I focused on work, life and surgery/recovery. I am now 6 days post op and I am right in the middle of the early struggle phase. And wow it sure can be a struggle!

WLS is not for sissies and is no cop out by any means! Kudos to all of you for your successes and your efforts, hard work is hard work.

I found myself in a bit of an odd situation a few times whilst in hospital, nurses and some patients were surprised I was getting a VSG, I was by no means that heavy and some even said "why are you getting this procedure, you aren't that big?" I get why they said that but it's not really what you want to hear hours/days after you've changed your life for good and had 70 percent of your stomach cut out! For context, I lost 13 kgs (about 26 pounds I think?) pre surgery and went in at a BMI of 33.5 which is actually lower than legally required in Australia. So I get their point of view.... kind of. But anyway who gives a **** what people think right, this is for US!

Day one out of surgery I was so nauseous I couldn't keep anything down and could barely sip water without dry heaving. This is because I'm a massive sissy when it comes to morphine type drugs and always get very ill. Once I was off the drugs I quickly got up to a decent fluid intake. I was discharged on day 3, behind schedule thanks to the aforementioned lack of tolerance to drugs.

I am now slowly able to drink more and more and eat more and more (yogurts, soups and smooth hummus/purées) but I still really struggle with the whole eating or drinking too fast... I find 2-3 sips of water and I feel pressure in my sleeve... I get this is normal but it's really disheartening.

Im starting to get a bit dark on this whole thing and am worrying I made a mistake, reading some of the old posts here really helps in regards to it being normal and getting better. I'm more annoyed by the inability to drink at a reasonable pace... I am getting real sick of 2 small sips per 5 minutes...

I thought I would consult all of you for your wisdom once again, I'm sure there are plenty others out there that would benefit from all your insights on this.

How long did it take for your eating/drinking pace to normalize?

Does it get better? How much better?

When did the nausea and pressure subside?

TLDR: I had my surgery 6 days ago. It went really well. You are all fantastic for your advice and precious responses to my earlier post. I am recovering well, but there is still a real struggle with eating and drinking. I know it's early and there's swelling but is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

You might try other liquids and temperatures. Some people find hot tea works better than cold water, or that luke warm broth is good, or room temperature crystal light. Experiment and see what works for you - somethings might work better.

It does get better. I found that, by the time I was eating solid food again, I felt human. (I had probably felt human before that, I just hadn't noticed since it was gradual.) For me, that was 6 weeks post-op.

If you're experiencing nausea, you might be progressing your diet too fast.

As for the pressure/restriction? That's sort of the point of the surgery :D You'll always want to eat slowly going forward.

I'm so glad your procedure went well! You're definitely in a tough phase right now. The first several weeks were so hard for me, I definitely got into a dark place. Hang in there, it will pass!

I was able to drink more after the second week, and I felt a better version of normal about 10 weeks after surgery. Now I feel fantastic. Take care of yourself!