Rootman

I'll be blunt, it's probably cheaper than a funeral - which is where you are generally heading when morbidly obese. I was and it's the best thing I've ever donw for myself. I have insurance and paid myself to get it sooner without waiting for the insurance companies games.

Well personally I CANNOT NOT drink in a meal, while I drink a lot LESS fluid than pre-op I still must drink in order to wash my food down. This may be in part due to the fact that I have a Schatzki ring ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schatzki_ring ) that predates my surgery, I have always HAD to drink with a meal. I find that if I control my portions properly I don't need to worry about it and go ahead and drink with my meals. A secondary reason is that I get kidney stones at the drop of a hat and the only way I can keep them at bay is by drinking a LOT of water, one of the times I can sit and consume it at meals so I drink with meals.

AHEM! The name is RootMAN, thank you very much - it's not all chicks in this forum!

YES! This has been a major issue for me too. Even on CUSHIONED seats I find myself shifting back and forth. Went to the theater a few days ago and saw a 2.5 hour movie, I thought I would die!

Well 2011 will soon be history. It's been a real roller coaster ride for me, physically, emotionally and spiritually. What are some of your highlights from the past year? Here's mine: Sleeved 12/6 2010 I lost a majority of my weight in 2011. Went from size 52 pants, 3 X tops to size 34 pants and LARGE tops (medium almost fits but is almost always too short in the sleeves and body). ~375 to about 205 now. Started to get in shape. I am now in better shape than ever (sounds like a Bowfelx commercial doesn't it ). Our city has a fantastic senior center with a pool and I've swam away many a pound of fat and added a LOT of muscle mass. It's so cool to see the sides of my thighs scooped in and defined instead of being round like a susage. I look at my arms and see REAL biceps and not just tubular limbs. I had a terrible time getting my hormones in line. I started Testosterone replacement therapy about 1 1/2 years ago and with my drop in weight the dosage had to be cut back, and cut back and cut back again. I still need to replace it as I don't seem to produce much on my own. I turned the big five-oh this past year. Half a century, sheesh! So how was your year?

Restaurant booths are now too BIG and you have to scoot forward to reach the table! Blood pressure cuffs are hard to adjust SMALL enough when the used to barely fit at all. You feel like you are gyping the server at a restaurant when you tip the regular 15%, only now it's on less than HALF the regular bill becasue you are splitting Entrees and skipping deserts.

Well I'll go out on a limb here and say YES, you are over reacting. Some people are just insensitive jerks and usually end up in lower paying service jobs like the restaurant industry. Just brush them off and YOU take control of the situation. You have every right to vent but just let it go after that. Little things like this can eat you alive if you dwell on them and you now have a big challenge ahead of you post op. Concentrate on that. Good luck friend!

Congrats, I know it's a big NSV, I actually used beach towels at first for the same reason.

I thought it was funny the first time I pulled my newest size large (down from 3X) undies out of the drier, I actually said out loud "Who the hecks are these kids underwear?" (we have no kids). Congrats, keep up the progress!

You go girl! Congrats!

You go girl! Congrats and happy surgiversary!

OK ladies, since you clicked the link I guess you can chime in too I apologize if I offend anyones sensibilities, I just saw this happen again today and was wondering where to post this question when the MAN ROOM came to mind. OK, I've seen this a few times and am consumed with curiosity. From time to time I see full grown men when using a urinal unzip, unbuckle, unhook and pull their underwear down and whiz over the top of the waste-band. WHY? I find this absolutely one of the most stupid things on the planet. Did no one ever teach them to simply unzip, fish around through the underwear fly and pull it out and go? Even if you're wearing "fashion" underwear without a fly you can peek over the top through the fly can't you? This has got to be so inconvenient too. I mean one slip of the hand and your pants drop to the floor. It's bad enough to see other dudes gyrating their hips making sure they host down every square inch of the urninal puck then do the "shake dance" on one leg after going, do we really need to see all of this too? I actually saw (he was an Asian from Asia if that even has anything remotely to do with it) a man stand there, DROP HIS PANTS TO HIS ANKLES and the pull down and whiz, this is in a public office restroom at a bank of urinals. Is this just in America we have goofs that do this?

Looking good!

I too had to look it up and found a pertinent article through Google: http://www.daveywaveyfitness.com/nutrition/8-side-effects-of-too-much-protein/ The article mention needing 0.4 grams per pound of body weight, 0.6 if physically active. That seems to fit in for most people but seems like too little for people with lower body weights.

I had forgotten this post till Anese posted to it and bumped it to the top again. On a related topic: An incident a few weeks ago was funny, I actually had a guy get mad at me for breaking the "guy code", that is taking the middle urinal of 3 urinals while #1 and #3 are taken. Yes, ladies, there is an unspoken "rule" that men are supposed to leave an empty urinal between them unless they are spaced far apart or have generous wing walls between them. liittle makes breaking this rule OK, except for maybe a sports event or movie with a limited half time / break. These urinals were fairly tight but my 50+ YO bladder and 3 cups of coffee trumped the "guy code" prohibition and I barged right in and revealed myself. I had to tap the guy on the rights shoe because he was straddling the urinal so wide he left no room for me to plant my feet.The guy on my left mumbled something about being "pushy" or something but I just ignored it. Not to sound racists - since I've already brought up Asians differences. More than one a few of the Asian dudes here in my office would take the MIDDLE urinal of 3 when no one else was occupying the outer two, thereby making BOTH urinals off limits to any guys coming in. A few times I just jumped in again once, other times I did the "cruse by the sink and rinse my hands" delay tactic and finally had to exit, walk around a bit and come back in because he was taking so long. Sometimes we guys are really, really stupid.

Well mine is to: Lose weight, well nope I for the first time in DECADES don't have to do that. Get in shape - well I did that too, I'm in better shape now than EVERY in my whole life. Do something about my terrible sense of style - well, I certainly have licked this one too. With far more choices and not being forced to by "circus tents" for clothes I am certainly better dressed than I was. Being able to pick off the rack (when I can find SMALL enough clothes!) nearly ANYWHERE helps too. Get my skin cleared up - well that issue was resolved pretty magically post-op, must be the diet. Get my health back in line - well, I licked that too. So I guess I really have NO resolutions this year. So I'm not perfect and have other character flaws at least I am not fat, ugly, out of shape and a poorly dressed slob any more.

Yes, call the doc pronto! It is the same symptoms for what I always thought is the notorious "dumping", perhaps I'm wrong and "dumping" is something else entirely. I too had these exact symptoms when eating too much too fast post op. I also had it once when drinking but that was after a heavy meal - and by heavy I mean hardly for an early post-op sleever, which is hardly anything at all. Better safe than sorry, see your doc!

Hey I resemble that remark !!

I've ALWAYS thought the food an McD's was disgusting and like you was "trapped" into going to one months ago - it was the only thing around without getting off the highway for miles. YUCK! I ate one bite of the burger patty and that was it. We were "dining in" so I ordered one of their ice cream cones, it was pretty good. So my opinion of their food just went down. I didn't think it COULD get any lower

Well, I'm hesitating to post but here goes. 2011 was quite a year for me, I got a VSG Dec 2010 and lost a massive amount of weight, started exercising and closed the book on a lot of health issues. I generally feel great physically. Spiritually my life has taken a real nose dive. I've just HAD it with organized religion, and by that I mean the church. I guess I now count myself as agnostic as I am not sure WHAT I believe in. If there is a god I am hard pressed to see what role he actively plays in my life. This is after being an active christian for 35 years. So guys you are not alone.

Yep, it's not the amount of TIME it's the quality of the closure on the incisions. If you're slow at healing and the incisions - especially the largest one in the typical laproscopic VSG - need to be totally closed, NOT seeping and at least well scabbed over. Even at that avoid soaking to long and picking at the scab. Mine popped open a little after about 3 weeks and it took a few weeks more to close all the way over. You can barely see it at all now with 12 months behind it.

Wow, if anything a lot of us have the OPPOSITE and experience chills and coldness. Be sure to tell your doc at the next visit.

Legs dropping is typically a sign of trying to keep your head too high. Try pressing your shoulders down. It also indicates a slow pace, picking up the pace of both the stroke and kick might help If you're like me and having problems breathing then get a snorkel. I swim 1 1/2 mile 5 or 6 days a week and I too find it's the only excercise I really enjoy. And as others have said as long as your incisions are healed well and you're up to it go for it. You'll get winded pret ty fast but just keep moving and you'll build up your strength in a few weeks.

To lose weight, while I am technically still about 15 pounds overweight it's a far, far cry from the nearly 200 pounds I WAS overweight prior to 2011. Geez, I love the sleeve.

The wifey and I sometimes split a meal AND end up taking some home! We've gotten 2 or 3 meals EACH off of ONE entree at times. That's how large portions are becoming.