Oregondaisy

She has announced it on the post to post thread, if it's who I think you're talking about it. Mac, you were nauseous and had acid problems, and said you felt hungry. Plus nobody at work knows I am having this done, so it's going to tricky going back to work. I would rather know what I am getting myself into, than thinking once the initial pain is gone, everything will be fine. Where do you get your Vitamins and Calcium? I don't want any bad labs. I need a chewable calcium citrate.

Yes, you can do sit ups. I do them all the time. You shouldn't do them immediately after surgery, but it's fine if you are far enough out from surgery. They do hurt to begin with, but that's just because your muscles aren't used to it. I still get sore if I go a few days without doing them, and then go back at it.

You must have not chewed it well. If you chew it up, it turns into nothing in your mouth. I wish it didn't because movie popcorn is fattening as hell and I can't resist it.

Do you have the Realize band? The port is completely different with that band, or so I have heard. I am sure he will be able to access it with fluoro. It gives him an exact picture of the port. He should be able to see what the problem is.

I am over 2 years out. My scars are faded little white lines. They are hardly noticeable but they are definitely there.

Unfortunately, I can eat the largest size bag of popcorn that the movie place sells. That is a heck of a lot of popcorn. Yes, it does mush up to nothing in your mouth. You just have to make sure you chew it well, just like anything else. As long as you're far enough out from surgery that you don't have trouble with solid food, and have the go ahead from your doctor to eat solid food, how much pop corn you eat is entirely your decision.

I started out not wanting to tell people because I didn't want people asking me how much I have lost now, etc. Now, I don't tell people because I get sick of hearing other people say "they took the easy way out" There is nothing easy about this.

I opened up all my herbs today and put them in water just to see how it would taste. It's not so bad. I hope I can get them down when the time comes. Mac, your blog is very informative. Informative, but scary. It's really going to be hard. It's going to be a lot harder than my band surgery. I am even more freaked out.

Kat and Ebony you have great kids! That feedback orange thing is extremely annoying. Some people have said that clicking on things like that will give us a virus.

I am flying down to San Diego. They will pick me up and take me to the hospital. I have a friend who had the sleeve done by Dr. Aceves. I actually talked her out of the band and she is so glad. I told her having fills and unfills is really a pain in the neck. You're lucky Janet in that respect that you found your sweet spot early . I can't count how many fills I have had. I would probably say 9 as well as 3 unfills. I've talked with them a lot on the phone. Most of the nurses do speak English. Dr. Aceves speaks English. He is the most experienced with band to sleeve revisions. My dr. has never even done one sleeve. I really trust WasA. We talk on the phone all the time, and we have gotten together every time I go to Phoenix. I know there are people on the board who find her abrasive, but she is very kind and caring, as well as very intelligent. I am pretty freaked out, but when I think hard about it, I feel like this is a good decision. When I think about having a piece of silicone wrapped around my stomach, I get freaked out too. I have always been a worrier. I am unable to be an ostrich!

I tell people the truth without telling them about the band. I told them I have been going to the gym almost every day for the past 5 years. This is true, but I have only had my band 2 years. The first 3 years, even going to the gym almost every day did not work. Then I say I got really tired of being over weight so I drank slim fast 3-4 times a day for a month to jump start my weight loss. This is true. This was my post op diet. Then I say, I watch my portions very carefully and I exercise my brains out, which is all true. The band does not stop me from eating Cookies, candy, cake, ice cream, chips, all the junk food. All that stuff goes through the band just fine. I told them I finally found my will power and I don't let myself gain more than 5 lbs before going back to drinking slim fast 3-4 times a day. I have no intention of telling anyone other than my children and my best friend about the band. I don't feel like it's anybody's business.

Hi Janet, Yea, I will still have to watch what I eat, but I think with the sleeve it will be easier. The band is fickle. Some days I have good restriction, other days, I feel I can eat way too much. I know it's up to me to do the work, but from what I have heard, the sleeve makes the work a little easier than the band. Plus all this stuff with Katy really has me freaked out. I know so many people who are having band problems all of a sudden around here, who have had the band for years with no trouble. WasA is supposed to drive over, but I just won't know until it happens. My surgery date is 5-6. She works so many hours, sometimes she is not able to take time off from work. It's really scary to me, as I do know that they chop off your stomach but the band is scaring me too. I have heard of cases where the band can damage the stomach to a point that no other WLS is possible. I hope I have made the right decision.

Yes Janet, I am really going through with the sleeve. I am worried about gaining weight because I can't get my band as tight as where I had it when I got to goal. I am sick of watching every single bite I put in my mouth and worrying what the scale is going to do. I am also sick of worrying that if I get a fill, I am going to start puking in my sleep again. That was very traumatic for me. I hate my port which sticks out of me like an egg. I have so much scar tissue between my port and my band around the tubing, that I can hardly bend at the waist. Yes, I am having it done by Dr. Aceves and yes, I am self paying. I think my health is more important than my children's inheritance.

Being too tight is dangerous. It definitely causes problem. It may not cause problems immediately, but it's a big stress on the esophagus. I am surprised more people are not getting the sleeve. No issues with being too tight or too lose. Anyone who throws up often should consider an unfill. Having the smallest amount removed makes a huge difference. It could be the deciding factor on whether or not you get to keep your band long term.

It's definitely possible. My daughter never had periods when she weighed 325 lbs. She had gastric bypass and as soon as she lost weight, her periods became normal. she has normal periods now.

not in the least bit annoying. It's nice to have a guy's opinion!

I hope you will be able to post here again quickly. We will all be worried about you!

I am really proud of myself that I can do that. It's called a Roman Chair. When I first started exercising, I could not hold myself up. Now I can do that without a problem. It took a lot of work with shoulder and back exercises to be able to do that and hold myself up. It is really great for the abs. That would make me want to exercise my brains out if it were possible to O from it!

Honestly I have no talent unless you count diagramming sentences. I can't draw, sew etc. People say I am easy to talk to and should have been a shrink, but I hated school.

Thanks Mac, I will do just that. Didn't realize that the Daily Plate had that type of info! After looking it over, I am really freaked out. I have bladder/urinary tract problems (interstitial cystitis) and it's very important that I get tons of water in, or I am in a lot of pain. This worries me. I went to an alternative medicine dr. and he put me on a lot of herbs which really help, but I drink a ton of water to get them all down. It looks like getting liquids down for the first few weeks is really an issue:crying:

Yes, Plain is definitely our resident comic:laugh::cursing:

We seem to have a lot of nurses here!

I can't picture what you're talking about. You're on your hands and knees and prop yourself up on your elbows like a plank position? I could never have an O doing any exercise.

Tapshoes thanks for the reviews. I really need to find movies the BF and I can watch together. It's hard. I agree with you about slumdog. I would be interested in some of the classics you mentioned.

I wonder how many pages this thread will have a year from now when I am the winner.