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Newbie to the forum and to my 1 week old pouch!

jules2

Active Member
Hello everybody

I found this wonderful forum very late on in my pre-operative journey, 2 nights before my operation in fact, when I was panicking about last minute packing. I had just about given up on finding an active UK based WLS forum that wasn't on FaceBook.

One week ago today, I had a laparoscopic Roux en Y gastric bypass, performed by Mr Leeder at Royal Derby Hospital. The journey started about 3.5 years ago when my lovely diabetic nurse specialist first suggested weight loss surgery to me and then kindly asked my GP to refer me. I joined the Tier 3 programme at Royal Derby back in Jan 2016 and have spent the last 3 years not actually believing that 1) the funding would be approved, or 2) I'd be able to jump through all the hoops required, or 3) I'd actually be able to get my liver shrunk enough to prevent them stitching me up and sending me home in shame. Well I guess I should have believed as I now have 5 (increasingly itchy) incision dressings on my currently big round tum and I haven't felt hungry once in the last 7 days! :D

The weight loss in the first week has been underwhelming to be honest with a loss of only 1.5 lbs, but am trying to be positive that this might be due to the 2/3lb gain immediately post operatively with IVs and stomach swelling, etc. I'm still 20.5lbs lighter than when I started the Liver Shrinking Diet on 17/1/19 and hoping weeks 2, 3 and 4 are kinder to me. At least I'm not ravenous anymore, as was the case on the LSD.

Sorry for lurking this first 9 days but I've been slightly occupied with sipping, walking, sipping, sleeping, sipping, burping, sipping, constantly consuming Slimfast (it feels), sipping, panicking, sipping. ;)

Lovely to finally say hello to you all.

Jules
 
Thank you Mazza for your kind welcome. :)

I have a question about our board profiles: is our Start Weight meant to be the first assessment weight at hospital, our weight before the liver shrinking diet or our weight on the day of the weight loss surgery?

Just had a phone call from one of the bariatric nurses on the team at the Royal Derby to check in with me on my first week anniversary, which was lovely of them - very caring. I thought I didn't have many questions but it's amazing how many come to mind when there's a friendly nurse on the end of the phone. :D She told me not to fuss at all about the first week's weight loss, they are only interested in our successful recovery for the first six weeks (not sure the bariatric dieticians would agree with that though, :whip:).
 
Hi and welcome, congratulations on reaching the losers bench, you sound very well educated on post surgery rules, sip sip sip.....and your doing just great, don’t worry about the scales just yet you will have a lot of swelling, I look forward to your continued updates xxx
 
Hello everybody

I found this wonderful forum very late on in my pre-operative journey, 2 nights before my operation in fact, when I was panicking about last minute packing. I had just about given up on finding an active UK based WLS forum that wasn't on FaceBook.

One week ago today, I had a laparoscopic Roux en Y gastric bypass, performed by Mr Leeder at Royal Derby Hospital. The journey started about 3.5 years ago when my lovely diabetic nurse specialist first suggested weight loss surgery to me and then kindly asked my GP to refer me. I joined the Tier 3 programme at Royal Derby back in Jan 2016 and have spent the last 3 years not actually believing that 1) the funding would be approved, or 2) I'd be able to jump through all the hoops required, or 3) I'd actually be able to get my liver shrunk enough to prevent them stitching me up and sending me home in shame. Well I guess I should have believed as I now have 5 (increasingly itchy) incision dressings on my currently big round tum and I haven't felt hungry once in the last 7 days! :D

The weight loss in the first week has been underwhelming to be honest with a loss of only 1.5 lbs, but am trying to be positive that this might be due to the 2/3lb gain immediately post operatively with IVs and stomach swelling, etc. I'm still 20.5lbs lighter than when I started the Liver Shrinking Diet on 17/1/19 and hoping weeks 2, 3 and 4 are kinder to me. At least I'm not ravenous anymore, as was the case on the LSD.

Sorry for lurking this first 9 days but I've been slightly occupied with sipping, walking, sipping, sleeping, sipping, burping, sipping, constantly consuming Slimfast (it feels), sipping, panicking, sipping. ;)

Lovely to finally say hello to you all.

Jules
Hi Jules, welcome to the forum, congratulations on having your bypass, I think not losing much the first week is pretty normal like you said due to swelling etc due to op. Sound like you are doing all the right things as the last bit of your post made me laugh, as everyone says sipping is almost like a full time job in the early days. Look forward to following your journey x
 
Thank you Mazza for your kind welcome. :)

I have a question about our board profiles: is our Start Weight meant to be the first assessment weight at hospital, our weight before the liver shrinking diet or our weight on the day of the weight loss surgery?

Just had a phone call from one of the bariatric nurses on the team at the Royal Derby to check in with me on my first week anniversary, which was lovely of them - very caring. I thought I didn't have many questions but it's amazing how many come to mind when there's a friendly nurse on the end of the phone. :D She told me not to fuss at all about the first week's weight loss, they are only interested in our successful recovery for the first six weeks (not sure the bariatric dieticians would agree with that though, :whip:).
I do think it is all about fluids and healing in the first weeks, just trying not to get dehydrated, I'm sure you'll smash it x
 
Whichever one you want to use @jules2, some people want to reflect their heaviest weight as the starting point and others the day of surgery weight.

Sound advice from the nurse, it's all about healing for now, moving little and often and keeping your fluids up. The dietitian will no doubt have plenty of advice when needed too :D
 
Hi sweetheart welcome and congratulations:). Your doing brilliantly please don’t worry about the scales you will be full of fluids and all that needs to settle. Those inches will be sliding off you Hun I hope you measured your self pre op if not do it now hun you will be amazed by how many inches you lose xx
 
Hello everybody

I found this wonderful forum very late on in my pre-operative journey, 2 nights before my operation in fact, when I was panicking about last minute packing. I had just about given up on finding an active UK based WLS forum that wasn't on FaceBook.

One week ago today, I had a laparoscopic Roux en Y gastric bypass, performed by Mr Leeder at Royal Derby Hospital. The journey started about 3.5 years ago when my lovely diabetic nurse specialist first suggested weight loss surgery to me and then kindly asked my GP to refer me. I joined the Tier 3 programme at Royal Derby back in Jan 2016 and have spent the last 3 years not actually believing that 1) the funding would be approved, or 2) I'd be able to jump through all the hoops required, or 3) I'd actually be able to get my liver shrunk enough to prevent them stitching me up and sending me home in shame. Well I guess I should have believed as I now have 5 (increasingly itchy) incision dressings on my currently big round tum and I haven't felt hungry once in the last 7 days! :D

The weight loss in the first week has been underwhelming to be honest with a loss of only 1.5 lbs, but am trying to be positive that this might be due to the 2/3lb gain immediately post operatively with IVs and stomach swelling, etc. I'm still 20.5lbs lighter than when I started the Liver Shrinking Diet on 17/1/19 and hoping weeks 2, 3 and 4 are kinder to me. At least I'm not ravenous anymore, as was the case on the LSD.

Sorry for lurking this first 9 days but I've been slightly occupied with sipping, walking, sipping, sleeping, sipping, burping, sipping, constantly consuming Slimfast (it feels), sipping, panicking, sipping. ;)

Lovely to finally say hello to you all.

Jules

Hi and welcome to the board. I thought I'd be referred to Derby (I'm in Burton) but my GP referred me to Dudley. I am still pre op but should be getting a date soon.

I'm assuming you know about the Derby monthly support group meeting?
 
Hello and Welcome. Look forward to hearing about your journey
 
Awww, thank you all so much for the lovely welcome.

Once again, I'm sat here in the back garden with my t shirt and shorts, puzzle book, protein water, a new family saga book, my dogs and sun glasses - recuperation is better with a bit of climate change. ;) Oh and a very vile Slimfast Vitality choc mint shake, they are so rank but have 6g more protein than the normal tasty ones. Only for another week with any luck, I cannot WAIT for some thick soup and blended cod in sauce after 7 weeks of Slimfasts. It's not food craving per se, more generalised savoury craving.

Great tip Irene about the measurements and no I haven't done it yet, but will today. I have had hubby take some photos last week and will repeat each month and at each stone dropped. I lost 8 stone in 2010 and photographed each stone dropped after the first 2, made it much easier for my brain to catch up with the new body, to see it. Yeah, I regained it all within a 18 months. :rolleyes: Not this time though due to my new tool and different behaviours.

Thank you for the heads up about the Derby support group Parsnip (great name too :)). I'm actually 2/2.5 hours away from Derby on the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire border so while I've been able to visit Derby for the infrequent visits over the last three years, it's a bit too far for regular trips. I do wish there were Skype support groups or something for those of us who live out in the sticks. This is why I'm so pleased to have found WLsurgery.com. There's so much online which is US bariatric based but having a Brit peer group at various stages to share experiences appears beneficial for us all. Also reading back through the historic posts teaches more about what WLS is like day to day than 100 hours of education sessions from people who haven't actually been through the process themselves. I think the formal education is valuable but I prefer to blend it with the RL experience of my peers.

Gosh, I'm rambling. Back to the sudoku. :D
 
A big welcome to the forum Jules. You are doing well by sipping the days away at the moment. There are very some knowledgeable people here who can help with any queries you may have. Good luck with your WL journey!:p
 
Hope you feel better really soon, very sensible going back to bed, I find logging helps me lots and may be of benefit to others too xx
 
Feeling really exhausted today and got an 'upset' system so going back to bed with a hot water bottle and a big bottle of water. Looking forward to having my staples taken out tomorrow. Thinking about journalling too, both for my benefit and hopefully help others.
Hope you're feeling better now. Would be interesting following your journey, certainly gives us pre oppers some insight on how it's going to be and would be good for you to look back on. x
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but:

Woohoo!!!!!! I had my staples out today :woohoo::wee::banana_dancer:

The dratted histamine itching is still irritating but at least I can put some nice cooling menthol cream on it to sooth and moisturise it. No diabetic tunnelling infections this time either! :)
 
Hello everybody

I found this wonderful forum very late on in my pre-operative journey, 2 nights before my operation in fact, when I was panicking about last minute packing. I had just about given up on finding an active UK based WLS forum that wasn't on FaceBook.

One week ago today, I had a laparoscopic Roux en Y gastric bypass, performed by Mr Leeder at Royal Derby Hospital. The journey started about 3.5 years ago when my lovely diabetic nurse specialist first suggested weight loss surgery to me and then kindly asked my GP to refer me. I joined the Tier 3 programme at Royal Derby back in Jan 2016 and have spent the last 3 years not actually believing that 1) the funding would be approved, or 2) I'd be able to jump through all the hoops required, or 3) I'd actually be able to get my liver shrunk enough to prevent them stitching me up and sending me home in shame. Well I guess I should have believed as I now have 5 (increasingly itchy) incision dressings on my currently big round tum and I haven't felt hungry once in the last 7 days! :D

The weight loss in the first week has been underwhelming to be honest with a loss of only 1.5 lbs, but am trying to be positive that this might be due to the 2/3lb gain immediately post operatively with IVs and stomach swelling, etc. I'm still 20.5lbs lighter than when I started the Liver Shrinking Diet on 17/1/19 and hoping weeks 2, 3 and 4 are kinder to me. At least I'm not ravenous anymore, as was the case on the LSD.

Sorry for lurking this first 9 days but I've been slightly occupied with sipping, walking, sipping, sleeping, sipping, burping, sipping, constantly consuming Slimfast (it feels), sipping, panicking, sipping. ;)

Lovely to finally say hello to you all.

Jules
I love you already. WELCOME!! PS: I lost NOTHING the first week after surgery - and I was in the damn hospital. Just wait for it. Wait... :)
 
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