All the bad things

Hey everyone I am in the process of getting clearance for my sleeve. This wonderful site has been so helpful to me and I would like all the veterans out there to give me all the bad, gross, embarrassing, and things to look out for after surgery. I am a what if kind of person. I am not looking to freak myself out and be like, "forget this". I want this, I need this, I just want to informed. I had a lot of complications having my daughter and had things happen that I was blind sided with. I would rather know what is "normal" healing and what is not normal. Thank you all very much.

First, everyone's recovery is different. Mine was super easy, while others have horrible pain and retching and dry heaves and anywhere in between!

From hanging around these boards and from my own experience I have learned a few things:

1. It's NORMAL to not feel restriction when you are newly sleeved. That is why it is very important to eat measured portions and not eat beyond the volume your surgeon gives you as a guideline. 
2. Most leaks happen during the first 6 weeks after surgery AT HOME from patients being non compliant in regard to the eating guidelines set by the surgeon. This is not a scare tactic - it's true. 
3. Your eyes will be bigger than your stomach for months and months. If you over eat, you will be in quite a bit of discomfort. The discomfort can last a few minutes or a few hours. 
4. As a new post op during your liquid phase, full liquids phase, NEVER TRUST A FART! 'Nuff said?
5. Never introduce a new food to your sleeve away from home. You never know when your sleeve will rebel. Going out to dinner and getting up from the table to do this is a bit embarrassing. Yes, I admit, that happened to me more than once. 
6. Being an emotional basket case the first couple of weeks is common. Hormones are stored in your fat. As you release the fat, the hormones surge out. I cried at stupid Hallmark commercials. It was Christmas time and every sappy commercial got to me. 
7. Having a can do attitude will take you much farther than you think you can go. Believe you can reach your goals and don't settle. Too many people settle. Bah, humbug on settling. 
8. Do not take breaks from losing weight due to this or that. People who put weight loss on hold for whatever reason don't seem to make it to their ultimate goal weight. 
9. If you follow a ketogenic (super low carb) diet YOUR BREATH WILL STINK!
10. Drink your water! Above all, drink your water. Dehydration is nasty and dangerous as all get out. I watched a guy keel over in support group as a new post op because he was so dehydrated. Another guy in my group ended up in the ER and then the ICU because he wasn't drinking nearly enough and his kidneys shut down. Literally, stopped working. DRINK YOUR WATER! IT'S YOUR JOB!

NEXT....

Thank you for your honest answers. Like I said I want to be as prepared as I can be. I didn't know I needed to reintroduce foods so that was a new piece of information. As for never trusting a fart I work with infants... I always fear the worse and hope for the best . Keep them coming guys I love learning these things.

I'm not a vet & Kairk has said a lot already, I'll only add please, please, please don't be 1 of the people who wants to know when they can start drinking again after wls. This is the time to maximize weight loss & drinking will only slow it down & put a lot of stress on an already stressed out liver. Plus it won't take much to feel drunk.

Oh & for me when I had my first pee in the hospital after surgery, I had green pee!, yeah, kinda wasn't expecting that, the nurse said it was totally normal due to the stuff they gave me during surgery. I was glad when it went back to its normal color. 

This was new to me, but constipation became an ever-present problem.  Let's see - how to put this politely - it was like passing bricks, just awful.  I think it is the high-protein, low fiber diet that can cause this (but don't quote me on that).  My gastroenterologist recommends avoiding this problem for general colon health, and has me taking miralax every day (indefinitely).  If you end up with this problem, do some research on this board for various ways to fix it and of course check with your doc for advice, but for me the daily miralax keeps my guts happy and keeps construction materials at bay. :)

Really loud and frequent tummy gurgles are also pretty common for several months after surgery, but they're just funny... unless you're in a quiet office or library or something. :)

Kudos for educating yourself so well. Good luck!!

Getting protein in will be critical, and at first challenging. Your tastes may change dramitically post-op as well, so have enough in the house to get you started... but not so much that you get stick with a hundred dollars worth of protein shakes you can't stomach. A few examples are I loved cottage cheese before, couldn't stomach it post-op, and now years out am back to loving it. Things tasted sickly sweet too. 

I had a super easy recovery - but to add my 2cents...I realized post surgery that I am extremely sensitive to most types of adhesives and was miserable trying to keep my incisions covered. Maybe be prepared with a few different kinds of bandages. Also, you will be sleepy at first - go with it and rest and allow time to heal. And everyone will tell you this but it can't be emphasized enough - WATER!!! Do not allow yourself to become dehydrated.

I will have to talk to the doctors about the adhesives. Since I am allergic to bandaid adhesives and most medical tape. That should be fun

I 2nd the constipation thing. I was blindsided by that. Now I make sure to start miralax DAYS before any surgery or starting narcotics. 

I was surprised at the external appearance of my stomach - all deformed and lopsided. 

Surgery turned me into a total light weight with alcohol. Preop I could finish a **** ton of beer or take many shots- now 2-3 pushes my limits. I also 2nd the do not rush back to alcohol. Is a black hole for extra calories. And for me, any alcohol BURNED my stomach for at least 18 months. Now it's fine but i still limit my liquid calories. 

Acid reflux can happen - I had a severe case and it took me 3 years to find the right doctor to help me and get on the right meds. Now approaching 5 yrs I am totally off my meds and doing fine. I'm good with just occasional tums or Pepcid. 

Relationships change - I lost my "let's always eat and drink" social group. Some due to their reaction to me but mostly due to my changes in priorities. After losing the weight it became a little easier for me to make new healthier friends (and definitely made a lot of new friends from OH). It is a sad change at first but now I'm grateful for it. I need positive influences in my life and friends who understand that I can't eat and drink like I used to. 

Life happens after surgery - before surgery I didn't have too many health problems (shocking!) but after surgery I dealt with quite a bit (several back surgeries, auto immune disorder diagnosis, etc). I was depressed before surgery but it got much worse a couple years after surgery. Nothing to do with surgery but just a reminder that surgery and WL are no guarantees you will be happier.