Rootman

I have had an ongoing battle with it for more than 35 years. I started with Miralax daily a few years back - shortly after they went OTC. I take 1/2 cap in a small juice glass with Crystal light at half strength (can't take CL at full strength - too sweet). I tried a generic version and it just would not work, don't know why.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/13516-ticker-tutorial-for-vst-lbt-with-pictures/

I was sleeved on Monday and returned to work Friday - but was miserable for a few weeks. I work in an office and had understanding people that helped with what little lifting I normally did. Realistically, I'd say anywhere between 1 to 3 weeks, just depends on how tough you are, how badly the surgery affects you and how bad you want to get back to work. This all varies per individual and there is no hard and fast rules. If possible I'd plan on at least 3 weeks and come back early if you can, it seems to be easier to do this then plan for 1 week and try to beg for more when you can't come back.

Yes, they will show up on x-rays as a distinct black bar following the curve of your sleeve. If getting x-rays for that area of the body you may want to warn the doctor just so they know. Absolutely NO effect on the x-ray itself, they just show up. The same is true for MRI, titanium is nonferrous, that is nonmagnetic so the MRI will not move them or attract them. Metal detectors should not go off for them either as titanium is a very light metal, almost as light as aluminum. They would have to be set and an incredibly high level to go off and they'd be finding everything, surgical pins, bridgework, metal zippers etc.

I go 4 or 5 times a week, I swim for 90 minutes M-W-F and walk, stationary bike and some resistance training Tu-Th. We've got an excellent senior wellness center in my town and it's only $20 a year for as much as you want, full indoor track, dozen weight training machines, lap pool and a therapy pool. It's been just what I need.

I'm about the same time frame as you and YES I've noticed that in the last few weeks I've actually gotten hungry, especially after a 90 minute swim or so, but as Lakelady pointed out it's not the ravenous monster it once was. Pre-op my sugar would drop like a rock and I would gorge myself on carbs like crazy. Now I just get a wee bit hungry and if it happens between meals a few saltine crackers eases it. If I face a meal hungry I fill up fast and can't eat anywhere near the amount I once could. Just mind your intake and stay away from high calorie foods that are bad for you and you should be just fine.

I wonder too if the x-ray actually showed the 3D view of your stomach, I mean it may look like a dumbell from the front but does it bulge out front to back at the top and bottom - something that might not show on a single x-ray view? That would mean the stomach is simply potato shaped and bulges out in different directions. It seams to me that on an empty stomcah it would be kind of relaxed nd may show up this way as the center sort of draws up??? Maybe?

It's aggravating, I've been stuck with the same 2 pounds all week. It also makes no sense to me whatsoever, I record every morsel that passes my lips and never exceed 1100 calories, and I've been swimming for 4+ hours a week and doing some walking and the exercise bike 2 days a week. Some days I end up with NEGATIVE calories and I still am not losing this week. It's happened twice before for a week or so but it'll break soon. Sure is infuriating though not seeing the scale move. I've flipped off that dang scale more than once this week

"Mr. Sexy Butt" - this by an enormous woman at work. Being a guy I wasn't too offended, just startled a bit. No one has EVER called me sexy before or commented about by butt. well except for calling me "Hugh Jass" a few years ago

Me too! I have ALWAYS been heat sensitive, even as a skinny kid. I would sweat copious amounts constantly all day and night at the slightest hint of warmth. I would actually leave salt stains on the sheets and pillow. I am now down 120 pounds and am cold all night, have to have the heating blanket on HIGH. I think there is more to it then just losing the fat insulation because as I said I have always been heat sensitive. A lower matabolism may explain it partly too but I often wonder if there isn't something else involved. Theories people?

Patience my dear, patience. The body is a wonderful thing and when calories are reduced so drastically it pulls a few tricks in order to preserve all the fat that it has so diligently packed away for years by slowing the metabolism and stopping other functions altogether - hair growth and some cell division for example. The body cannot STAY in this "starvation mode" forever or else organ shutdown and eventual death will occur. You are still eating and providing SOME nourishment so the body will eventually resume all it's functions and you will start losing again. Some people are lucky and this rarely happens, others seem to lose in fits and starts all the way through. Keep up what you're doing. I am of the firm opinion that there is nothing that you can do to "break" a stall, it just takes time and anything that we do to "break" the stall just happens to coincide with the time that it takes for the body to start to lose again. Don't get discouraged, just keep up the proper diet and exercise and you will start losing again.

Get to the doctor, NOW!! If indeed you are yellow that indicated jaundice and that means liver problems. Also, are you telling us you are on a strict liquid POST-OP diet for 30 days? There is no reason for that, you should graduate to heavier liquids, mushies then small amounts of soft solid food. Make sure you are doing what your doctor has requested and not just what you think you need.

Some swear it off all together, however I like a can or 3 a week. I used to chug down a few liters a week but not so much any more. I find it harmless and enjoy the bittersweet taste of diet Dr. Pepper. I don't think the carbonation can effect your stomach enough to matter. If it triggers intense sweet cravings then perhaps you'd better lay off it.

YES! Nasty foamy spit. I was constantly spitting post op until a month or two ago. Now I just get the spit rolling when I eat too much or get acid rolling in my stomach.

I think the doctors simply standardize on a size and just use it exclusively. I suppose they might go larger or smaller depending on a specific situation but I don't know for certain. One would think if someone already has a super small stomach they wouldn't need the surgery in the first place.

Yes, you do. The house is quite small and they really pack them in at times. You will also share a recovery room at the clinic too. Why are you so determined to NOT share a room? Frankly you really won't care and will probably feel like crap and just want to sleep.

Don't forget the relativity theory These people are "relatively" content, in part because they have never experienced anything different, let alone better. Even a frog in a beaker over a bunsen burner is happy to be warm and wet - at least till he starts to cook, suffers muscle damage and can't get out. They are also probably riding high on the endorphins the body puts out in response to eating. What greater pleasure than to stuff yourself full and then go back for more? There is a reason it is pleasurable, the same reason taking recreational drugs is pleasurable for some. Until the diabetes, heart disease and other problems start cropping up they probably will not get a clue, even then some do not. I've heard of people on oxygen therapy still smoking cigarettes like a chimney. That's both stupid AND dangerous, yet they have very few compunctions about it and their "reward" outweighs their "risk". I got wise when by blood pressure, sugar, resting heart rate, glandular problems and joints started to make their complaints known and did something about it. Some people will NEVER learn. They've made their own bed and must lie in it.

Depends on the surgeon, many DO put a drain in some do not. It has a two fold service, first to drain any seepage away that the "injured" stomach may produce and to drain any possible leakage the stomach may have. On day 3 we had to drink a purple dye to make sure none appeared in the drain as a check for leakage.

I think what a LOT of this amounts to us a WAG on the part of the doctor, how much in percentage depends on how much you started with minus the amount that's left, therefore if you started with a BIG stomach then the percentage is greater. The stomach is a notoriously stretchy thing so even that isn't a firm thing either, if you pigged out up til the surgery your stomach is going to be a huge sagging thing, stay on a liquid diet and the stomach will retract. The LENGTH of the organ again makes a difference, a 5'1" woman probably has a shorter, smaller stomach than a 6'3" man, or even just vary from individual to individual that might otherwise be similar in size. Regardless what matters is what is left and what you put in it.

Congrats bug! Good work and keep it up, look forward to your sub 200 post!

The wife gave me a hug today and we both noticed that she can reach around and touch her hands behind my back, last time I remember her trying it was last year and her arms were about a foot too short! Whooda thunk it, I get an operation on my stomach and her arms grow about a foot

They wrapped my legs in a stretchy gauze pre-op and took them off the day after. Post-op I got 4 pair and wore them for a few months, I've had intermittent problems with edema in my legs which seems to of passed now that I've lost ~120 pounds. My feet would be cold in the evening and sore from the compression so I was anxious to not wear them any longer.

I was never diagnosed as diabetic, in fact most of the blood sugar tests I've had indicated that I was the opposite - hypoglycemic. I took many sugar tests, including a month long study suggested by my PCP, they showed my fasting blood sugar would plunge down into the 50's (!!!) sometimes. Most say that you should get concerned when they hit the 70's, VERY concerned in the 60's and the 50's are way, way too low. I would get light headed and visibly shake till I drank some juice or ate a lot of carbs. Anyways, after the sleeve I still took my blood sugar regularly and it's almost always been spot on. Maybe 95 or so far a fasting test and never above 120 after a meal. The sleeve also seems to of helped me regulate my sugar. Whatever the reason, better nutrition, fewer carbs or some mysterious unknown side effect of the sleeve itself I have not felt this good an DECADES.

The word dour comes to mind . . .

While some fatigue may result from the surgery and massive diet change at 6 weeks you should be perking up a little. I'd specifically ask the doc to run a full blood panel to make sure yo are not deficient in any Vitamins or minerals. Vitamins and supplements are cheap insurance against possible Vitamin related illnesses that can crop up because of our limited food intake. As Guitrman above suggests, I to recommend a Multivitamin, B12 sub lingual, Iron supplement and Calcium citrate supplement. Make sure and take the iron and calcium at least 2 hours apart as they interfere with each other.