Rootman

It really won't be too much of an issue, at 6 months you really start to pick up more of an appetite as the stomach is about as healed as it's going to get. You will then be able to eat more. As the difference in what you NEED to eat to stay at the weight you are and the amount of calories you are consuming narrows the weight loss will slow then stop. It is surprising how just a SLIGHT increase in calories can keep you from losing and actually put a few pounds on. A few hundred calories a day is all it takes, that's a candy bar at worst or a few pieces of bread at best. I too was worried after by weight just flew off for 8 or 9 months. I've been stuck at 210 pounds now for about 2 months. I am comfortable and I look good and after some soul searching and whining on the forum ( ) I just made a decision to not even try to lose any more. I am technically overweight by 20 pounds and 10 more pounds beyond that to my initial goal. I'm just going to sit here and watch my diet and maintain my exercise regime, if I lose more than OK, if not I am going to force myself to be satisfied at the tremendous progress and success I have already achieved.

I suggest looking at the self pay route. I didn't try to get through my insurance, 2 people I heard about from my company gave up after getting the run around for about a year, one gal I know personally is sitting at 9 months after she started to pursue the insurance route. It wasn't easy to get the money but it was the BEST investment I have EVER made. There are a lot of sites in the USA that will do self pay for a cash discount, there are many sites in Mexico that offer it at a very steep discount. I had mine done in Tijuana MX last December for ~$5000. I hesitate to recommend the site I went to any more due to safety and health issues that have cropped up recently. Look around the forum, there are lots of posts about self pay.

LilMissDiva has a great tutorial about the ticker. Sorry, not sure about the picture. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/13516-ticker-tutorial-for-vst-lbt-with-pictures/

Yes, ONE bite is nausea, TWO bites is MISERY. It DOES get better as the stomach heals although you can still get "dumping" when you over eat - the heart races, you sweat profusely and get nauseas, sometimes barf - been there twice in the last 2 months - not fun. It sure beats the way it used to be though scarfing down everything in site, burping and then packing in more and just adding the pounds on and on. We need to pay very close attention to the FULL signal we are so used to ignoring.

165 LBS in 9 months, the results have FAR EXCEEDED my expectations, I was accepting the fact that it would take me 2 years to get to where I am today. I seem to have reached a plateau thought. I am technically still 20 lbs overweight at 210 lbs (NOT obese though) and having problems breaking though the 200 lb barrier. This is a FAR cry from the 375+ lbs I weighed this time last year. It's worth every dime and all the relatively minor misery I put myself through - and looking back I was FAR more miserable being fat and having all sorts of health issues.

LOL! Ain't it a wonderful feeling? I am finding now that I can't find many things in a SMALL enough size to fit. Many shirts start out at LARGE and I need a medium for most of them.

Nope, and I've not heard of anyone else that has either - not to say it isn't so in your case. food was, well, EXQUISITE after the long pre-op diet, liquids and mushies. Things tasted FANTASTIC. And at about 6 or so months out I really started to appreciate the flavor of food and my tastes have been dramatically altered. For instance I used to HATE black pepper, now I love the stuff. Hope you get over this. Be sure to sip liquids a lot, it is very easy to get dehydrated when you're not eating too, we get a lot of moisture from our food.

No not exactly, could this actually be excess acid? It is a common enough experience for sleevers. While MOST of the stomach tissue that has the proton pumps is cut away, what little is left still produces to much acid for the are of stomach that is left. Have you tried a PPI yet? Prilosec OTC here in the USA is one common one.

Sorry, this is long winded and kind of whiny. I started this adventure the Friday after Thanksgiving (USA) 2010 and it's been a real roller coaster ride. The weight has just flown off and I now look "normal", even a bit thin. I initial set my goal weight at 180 pounds, right smack in the middle of the BMI charts recommended 160 to 190 pounds for a 6' tall male. I knew it was outrageous and I haven't weighed 180 pounds since EARLY High School, and I was skeletally thin then too. In reality 190 is probably more like it with even 200 being within reason. About a month or so ago I arrived at 210 pounds, the first time in DECADES. I feel and look great. I wear medium or large men's clothes. I would at least like to drop another 10 or 15 pounds just to get into ONEderland. It looks like it's not possible for me to do this. I've been hovering around 210 for more than a month now, I gain and loose 1 or 2 pounds over and over. Last weekend we went horseback riding ( an activity I haven't done in years because of my weight - we went 4 times this summer) and while I was stepping up on the horse he sidled toward me, in order to not lose my balance and fall off backwards I laid over the saddle and caught the horn of the saddle (western type) right under my left ribs - FULL weight right down onto the edge of the ribcage. I managed to stand again and swing my leg over but was in a LOT of pain. By Monday it wasn't better but I decided to go swimming at the gym as usual thinking the exercise in the warm Water and motion would loosen me up. Nope, not by a long shot. I quit early after only an hour (typically I swim 90 minutes). I've skipped the rest of this week and the pain is letting up somewhat but is still there. Today I did my weigh in and I gained more than 3 pounds! The swelling in my feet has returned too, it's been absent since I started working out. Now obviously this weight has got to be mostly water as I've been pretty good with my diet. I've stuck to plan but seem to be blessed (cursed?) with an incredibly slow and efficient metabolism that squeezes every last ounce of calories out of my food. According to the BMR charts I need about 2000 calories just to maintain 210, however if I eat anything over 1700 - EVEN WITH SWIMMING 4 HOURS A WEEK and having an average although sedentary lifestyle beyond that - I can't lose weight and seem to stabilize or even GAIN weight. So, is my journey over? Am I forever cursed to be 210 and STRUGGLE to maintain that? This is really a bummer, I had actually thought that with the ease with which I lost the majority of the weight that I would perhaps even struggle to keep my weight UP after all was said and done. I AM in a good place and being 20 pounds over weight is acceptable although disappointing, it's a far cry from weighing 375 like I was last year. So, what should I do?

The main reason is cost, and for many with no insurance it is the only option. The total cost can be as low as $5000, most times in the States the cost can be $20,000 or more. While I have insurance I did not want to wait, many from my company have waited for up to a year for approval, quite frankly I think I would be dead in another year if I had waited.

I was 10 months ago. With the recent problems that have cropped up with the site I went to - a robbery, a couple of bad complications and the founder going spastic on a few patients - I can't whole heartedly endorse the place I went. It worked out fine for me and hundreds of others too. You decide for yourself.

YES. 10+ months and ~165 pounds down, while I am not exactly where I WANT to be I am certainly far better than I would be without the sleeve. It has saved my life.

I second what Veda said, YES it can increase in volume and stretch somewhat but nowhere near back to the original capacity, the tissue is just not there and the stomach does not regenerate itself the way, say, skin does. Remeber too that it now has a row of pretty inflexible staples running along it's edge as well, this certainly has to keep some of the stretching at bay. I am 10+ months out and can already eat a LOT more than I could for the first 10 months, so much that it has me a little concerned that I may fall into the same old bad habits of excessive snacking again. And that is what will really be the downfall of anyone that fails the sleeve - their own bad habits. We human "beans" seem pretty adept at screwing up anything and everything that is set before us - a wonderful solution like the sleeve is one prime example. So take advantage of the first year of marked decrease in capacity and keep up the good eating habits you cultivate during that time period - the success or failure of the sleeve is entirely in your hands.

We all wish you the best of luck! The start of a new adventure!

Same advice as I gave above, if you can handle the bubbles and it doesn't trip a desire for other sweets then YES in moderation. DIET drinks have NO calories but they typically have a lot of sodium and caffeine, both of which are not good for you in large amounts either. Just use use your head people and moderate your intake of EVERYTHING.

Only a few things missing from this picture, connect a slow moving drain to the bottom of the balloon and a tube with a valve at the top, every time the balloon starts to swell a little open the valve and *burp* the gas out while letting the slow drain dribble the liquid past the balloon. I think you'll find that the soda has little NO effect on the balloon now. The stomach is NOT a closed system, there are TWO ways out for the gas and it doesn't just sit there and keep expanding it till it stretches your stomach all out. Drink soda? Can you? - YES, should you ?- MAYBE. If the bubbles bother you then NO, if they don't bother you and drinking sweet soda doesn't prompt you to binge on other sweets then leave it up to your own judgment. If you at ALL doubtful of your control or the sodas effect on you then - NO - DON'T DRINK IT - better safe than sorry. Sorry, my post isn't officially what the OP asked for but I get really cranky when I hear bad illustrations like this.

I'll stand up on my psychobabble hat and take a shot at it. Well, it seems to play a part in some of "happily" marrieds too. I've chalked it up to changing hormones, changing chemical balances, changing self image and increased self confidence. Notice I've chalked up all the "reasons" on OUR part of the situation and none on the "other side". What I've concluded is that while all the changes seem to happen on OUR side not all the REASONS of the imbalance in the relationship are ours. Like many people we fat or formerly fat have a tendency to walk into co-dependency type of relationships. To sum it up it's like the explanation that Rock Balboa gave as to why he liked Adriane - gaps: Rocky: Sure, I like her. Paulie: What's the attraction? Rocky: I dunno... she fills gaps. Paulie: What's 'gaps'? Rocky: I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps. While we all have needs and all have strengths to give, when a relationship is TOTALLY based on filling someone else's needs with strengths - or worse yet filling needs with weaknesses the relationship is on a much narrower road to success. Quite often the other partner needs us to be (pick on: fat, unhealthy, insecure, etc, etc, etc) because they feel "safe" in the relationship. As long as you have the problem / weakness / issue they feel that they are needed in the relationship. As soon as the balance changes they feel threatened or abandoned. While SOME of this goes on in every relationship, when a relationship has this as it's PRIMARY foundation then you are treading on thin ice and relationship threatening problems can occur. You're going to have to discuss this with your partners, get to the root of the problem and seek outside counseling if you cannot resolve it. Perhaps what I've said is wrong and they genuinely desire fat partners, in this case WLS may be a deal breaker and the relationship will end. Don't just assume you can "make it work" after success with surgery, I'd advise getting to the root of the problem BEFORE surgery so you aren't working through the issue AND the other issues that are bound to pop up POST surgery. Just MHO, IANAD.

No, this sounds absolutely UNresonable and sure makes it seem like the Dr is taking advantage of you and gaming the system, a full evaluation CANNOT be done in 12 minutes. I'd pay it and then AFTER the approval for surgery is granted complain like hell about this doctor and his practice. Why PAY THEN complain - to make sure you get approval and that this "doc" doesn't throw a monkey wrench into the works and try and stop you from obtaining clearance. Sorry to sound so crass but if the situation is what you have explained it as then this is a gross misuse of authority - JMHO

Welcome and we all wish you the best as you start your new adventure. Don't get discouraged, we all have the stall at least a few times. I've been at 210 for about a month now and really, really want to get below 200 pounds so bad I can taste it. Stick with it, it only gets better from here on out!

It varies per person but the "magic time" seems to be at about 6 months out. At that point I could eat a good sized portion, albeit a lot LESS than pre-op. The violence of the over eating and FULL feeling we all experience for the first dew months post-op has settled down and I now just feel uncomfortable when over doing it - which is like 1/2 a small portion too much instead of the MOUNDS of food I used to scarf down and never really feel full. At 10 months out I have changed my eating habits and my tastes have changed I no longer worry about what I eat. I know my limits and just don't - or rarely - exceed them.

Give it time, you're still early enough out that it makes little to no difference on your protein intake. In a few weeks you might be able to tolerate it more. Give it time.

Both things you mention can cause this, low BP and sugar. It can also be caused by dehydration. The simplest way to determine dehydration is to look back at how much you are urinating. If properly hydrated you should be urinating several times a day, say 3 or 4, and the urine should be clear to lightly golden colored, if you are NOT urinating or the urine is dark yellow to brown then you are dehydrated. I know it's tough but just start sipping Water all day. Low BP can be checked sitting and standing with a home pressure testing kit and the results compared, a significant drop in pressure should not occur between the two. See the doc if it's low - say WAY below 120 / 80. It may be just the change in diet doing it but it could be caused by internal bleeding. See the ER doc if it tests way low, like less than 100 / 60. Simple blood sugar testers are available cheaply too. Levels below 70 are what to watch for. Being post op you are not eating much and the results are low glucose levels. If you can drink some apple juice it may help. OJ is good too but quite acid and may upset your already traumatized stomach. Regardless, see the doc if symptoms persist.

Doncha' love it! I don't member wearing clothes this small since high school, maybe even grade school!

Well good for you, we all wish you the BEST as you start your exciting new life! Here's to losin'!

Congrats, you look fabulous!