Rootman

Supersweetums hit the nail on the head. I can add a little. Why do (some Sleeve) people eat so slowly, chew so slow? That was a turn off for the Band, so how is the Sleeve different in that way? I understand that if you eat too fast, just like before you will be overfull and feel sick, but why else, is there something different about the *new & improved stomach* that makes it hard to eat? What would happen if you ate some bites too big/fast (I read about the horrible coconut story)? I guess I don't want to spend so much of my day trying to just get in normal nutrients.For some reason - perhaps the elimination of MOST of the stomach area that produces the hormone ghrelin ( https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Ghrelin ) - the desire for food is lost. I cannot wolf down my food any longer and have no desire to. Because the full stomach s no longer there to churn the food in a massive amount of gastric juices to start the breakdown process we must help the process along and chew the food to paste to make it easier to digest. I for the most part no longer WANT to eat but know I need to, so I sit there take tiny bites, chew the hell out of it and take my time doing this task, it's not unpleasant, it just no longer holds the desire I used to have to stuff my face - the thrill is gone. I eat to live now, not live to eat. Why is it so hard to get in fluids? One person had said they normally drink a Protein shake in the morning and it takes a hour and a half to get it down, and other 30 minutes for a egg. Why so long? Why can't fluids be drank faster or in *normal* quantities? I worry about long-term dehydration, as I tend to not drink much, then drink 2 full glasses of Water at one time to catch up.Again, the stomach is just about as big as a medium banana - it used to be the size of a womans clutch purse. Fluids don't just sail through - although they do go through faster than solids. Drink too much too fast and it gets uncomfortable, like after Thanksgiving dinner packing in that second piece of pie and drink used to feel. Drink WAY to fast and you get a lot of pain as the new sleeve does not stretch to accommodate the Fluid. You can barf it up too. Why should we avoid to eat and drink at the same time. If fluids travel thru so fast, then what is that so? (I understand that soda/beer bubbles tend to inflate.Again, the amount of capacity and therefore the amount of gastric juices is greatly diminished. Drink to much while eating and you can dilute hte gastric juices and cause un "treated" food to pass into the intestines where they won't be adsorbed as readily. You also have to make a choice - LIQUIDS or SOLIDS, you can't do a full amount of either. Since we NEED the solid foods and it's caloric benefit it's wisest to NOT drink liquids and take up some of the space the solids can use. I wonder about the focus on protein. I guess since the stomach is so small that we have to ensure that we get enough protein in first before everything else, but is that at the expense of fruits and veggies? Those are important too. Protein gets lame..Protein is "hi test" food, carbs are "lo test". Protein provides a longer term energy and the building blocks for muscle and carbs quick energy. Again, the stomachs capacity requires us to make a choice, better longer term energy in the form of protein or quick energy food for the here and now in the form of carbs. You SHOULD make the choice in the favor of protein. Later as the stomach heals and you can eat a tad more you can indulge in more carbs. What will happen 10 years down the line. I know the Sleeve as stand alone is only a few years, but will I be a old woman who can't get her Ensure in? LOL actually that might be helpful, since our metabolism slows down as we age, being able to eat less might help! I have seen a few of you have trouble maintaining weight, as in losing too much. That worries me a bit as I might be trading one problem for another. Those of you who don't have that issue (are above goal, slow losers) are you in that boat from *bad* choices or that you can eat more? Since it's only been around about 5 years there is no concrete data. You SHOULD be able to eat sufficient foods at normal meals to keep your weight stabilized. 3 meals plus 2 Snacks is all it takes - but the RIGHT meals and snacks too. I don't think anyone is going to pass away from malnutrition but we will always have to watch what we eat and make right choices. To ME this is a far better choice than being obese with diabetes, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and myriad other obesity related diseases and THEN try to make a good choice on what to eat. As far as a "trade" it appears to be a good "problem" to have compared to the alternative. Why do many have issues with bread? Smaller stomach, not Band, so how does it get so stuck?I am not sure on this one but I think that it balls up and may be harder to digest than protein. It IS mainly carbs too. Well, I think that was it! I am off to see Dr. Ganta and ask my list of surgery questions.. Thank you all so much and have a great day! Colette

My theory is sensations left over from surgery. Your liver is moved out of the way, stomach poked and prodded and fat cut away and then up to 85% of your stomach is cut away, while the organs don't have nerve cells on the surface like skin does the stomach does (did) have have nerves internally - which are sheered off where the organ is removed. I can imagine the brain is used to getting signals from that area and now that it's gone is "feeling" the lack of response it normally gets. Maybe it's something like the phantom limb sensations that amputees have?

Congrats! Wish you the best!

Also be aware that the "hunger" you feel may be acid, I too had similar sensations but described mine as an "empty" feeling. Started on Prilosec and it made me a lot more comfortable.

I started with pureed meats with gravy, actually Gerbers baby food in a 2.5 oz jar. Went down pretty easy and actually tastes pretty good, the chicken is best with beef a second. Good luck, it DOES get better.

I am curious to know what your total out of pocket expense was for your VSG surgery after your insurance policy paid up. I myself did self pay for $5000 plus another $500 or so for travel and lodging. I did not pursue insurance because I did not want to wait for approval, my health was declining fast.

Great post, lots of info. Congrats on your change of life.

Should be OK and taste good too. Watch the salt though, the seem to pour the salt into French Onion soup.

Infornored, when I first read your post the statement " He thinks it's a very risky surgery and it sounds like the easy way out.". The "easy" way out? Why yes it is, it seems to be far easier than the band - and permanent too, remember you are going to have to have a lap band removed at some point. Probably have a few adjustments and basically have a piece of plasic in your gut. There are quite a few people around here that had a lap band and had to have it taken out and then had a sleeve. Have you roamed the sleeve forum? Read any comments about SLIMING with the sleeve? Nasty thick mucus comes up and literally streams and strings from your mouth. There too are problems with erosion, basically the band rubs a hole in your stomach. Slippage too. I looked into it and soon dismissed it. There are success stories but they seem to be overwhelmed with failures too. It's not the be-all and end-all of WLS but it WORKS. As TijuanaPlacation points out above, all surgeries present a risk. I wish you well, make the choice you can agree on, your marriage is important too.

Well welcome and good luck. You are just starting a life long adventure.

They are called lipomas (lie-poe-ma) a benign fatty tumor. I had 3 removed last year and a 4th ended up NOT being a lipoma but squamous cell carcinoma, The skin fat surrounding them may shrink but the lipoma will most likely not shrink. Surgery can be performed in a doctors office if they are willing to do it there. They are harmless but unsightly.

Congrats on your success and thanks for posting the long term success of your co-worker, it is really inspiring to here that it KEEPS working years out!

Well I'm not always cold - yet - with only 70 lbs down but I am not hot any more. Used to ALWAYS turn the fan on at work, I no longer need it. I used to sweat in bed incessantly which left the bed smelling funky, which again doesn't happen. Let me put it this way, better to be thin and cold that fat and hot and sweaty, at least you can cover up with something whereas I could only take so much off to keep cool.

YES he should require it and it is for your own safety and health. The area that is being operated on is very near and "under" the liver, eating the pre-op diet will help "shrink" the liver as it is no longer as heavily involved in processing the stuff out of whole foods that we eat. This makes the surgeons job easier and makes it easier on you too. Also, if you are on a pre-op diet without a gut full of waste from whole foods there is a lot less likelihood that you will get constipated after surgery - which can be VERY painful and even life threatening if you allow it to become a blockage. WARNING GRAPHIC: I was chatting with a couple of guys from the housekeeping staff at the place I went. They both had VSG's. They were bragging about pigging out on chicken wings, tacos and vodka shots the NIGHT before surgery. They both admitted that they were so sick and got so stopped up that they wished they'd of died. The pain was incredible, one fellow was afraid to "push" on his bowels lest he burst his incisions, he eventually had to and pushed out a dry sticky mass that felt like "someone's fist being pushed out from the inside". The gut pain was better after that but he said it was a few days before he could sit upright on anything but a pillow. He was laughing about it when he spoke to me but says he was in tears when it happened. So given both issues I'd HIGHLY advise a liquid pre-op diet. Take a laxative a few days before surgery too so as to get cleaned out.

Hi FatToPhat, I too am an emotional eater - or WAS is more like it. I REALLY loved food and snacking and munching was my favorite pastime. I am in my 8th week post-op and so far my physical appetite has been DECIMATED, I am NEVER hungry. When I eat food tastes good for maybe the first and second bite and often not even the first few bites. I literally have to force myself to finish my meal. Food tastes different in that I can seemingly actually taste it now, the variance in textures and flavors, the spices all seem very distinct to me. A side effect is that most of the "want to" to eat is now gone too, I just draw no joy from eating and I no longer want to. Now this may change as I heal further and get into the final stages of my weight loss and stabilize what my sleeve is doing. If I do start to really desire food I hope that the break I've had during this time of "tastelessness" will help me break with the old habits of emotional eating. I guess I am one of the "lucky" ones that no longer am an emotional eater. I am never physically hungry and food just isn't a driving force in my life as it used to be. I now eat to survive rather than live to eat.

http://www.hospitaljerusalem.com.mx/ $5K total.

Yep Susanne is right, and don't forget that you haven't passed the remainder of that food yet either, a lot of the liquid will be eliminated from your bowel as well as the bladder. One possible hint I can give you is DON'T weigh daily, it's TOO easy to get caught up in the roller coaster ups and downs and get discouraged and - what are we PREVIOUSLY famous for? Pig out in disgust - even though that pig put will be much smaller it never helps. Go back to your regular diet, I bet within a week you'll be back on track. We all need to Celebrate once in a while too.

Yes, while a sleeve may be just the ticket for you your BMI is only 30.3, very low by most standards and puts you just BARELY into the obese category. I honestly think I would try other alternatives like a good diet before I committed to the lifelong change of a VSG. Just my opinion.

Well first thing - I am open to being invited to your house for supper any day! Man, I've really been turned off by food lately after my op but pulled pork and cornbread actually made my mouth water! Cornbread is loaded with sugar, it has to be or else it tastes nastier than hell without it - and some places server it "plain" without all the sugar, I personally can't stand it. To show what a bad boy used to be we used to make up a pan of cornbread - the old Jiffy Mix brand which isn't much better than Trader Joe's - and I'd eat it with maple syrup. Man, talk about good! I'd more than likely barf it up now as sweets just don't cut it for me, but the memories! BTW: She IS right about the calories: http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/trader-joes/cornbread

It may be LOW blood sugar, do you have a meter you can check it with? THey are very inexpensive, with strips and lancets it shouldn't run you more than 30 dollars. Have you gotten ANY liquids down? Perhaps a Protein shake - I know they aren't the best but I use Boost by Nestle. The others I tried gagged me something awful. A tip I learned from a physical therapist is to pinch your left pinky finger just at the first joint (next to the nail), for some reason it clears up vertigo in a lot of people. Baring the above check with your doctor, it may be just emotional / shock too. I wish you well!

Congrats, the next goal reached will be that much sweeter.

Yep, sorry you had to go through that. If it wasn't you then his victim would have been the next person of color or handicapped or super skinny or whatever. Mentally disturbed people lash out sometimes.

I remember a while ago there was an episode of House MD on TV about a guy that was making money hiring himself out as a guinea pig and taking all kinds of medications, one antacid he was taking allowed the bezoar to form and some other drugs got caught in the thing and failed to dissolve - hence his problem he was hallucinating because of the undissolved medication was breaking loose and finally hitting his system at a much higher dose then originally planned. That's how *I* know what a bezoar is. Who says sitting around and watching TV isn't good for something

Stalls ARE common. There are things you can do to help. DO NOT weigh yourself every day, do it once a week. You won't get as discouraged with the ups and downs. DO NOT set your expectations so high, 2 pounds a week will be 110 pounds a YEAR - look to the long term CAREFULLY count your calories - inspect labels CAREFULLY, an old trick is to declare ridiculously small portions. That can or pouch that you eat in one sitting? It may be listed as TWO SERVINGS on the label, you therefore need to count TWICE the calories when figuring your intake. DO NOT limit your Water intake in an attempt to lose "water weight" , remain hydrated. It is very unlikely that you are drinking too much water. REMAIN ACTIVE, walking is the BEST exercise post surgery. WATCH THE "GRAZING", while most NUTs / Docs recommend 3 meals plus Snacks the snacks need to be lower calorie and not equal to a full meal. Avoid high fat, high sugar snacks. CONCENTRATE on Protein. Your intake is limited, you therefor need to get the best nutrition in FIRST, then carbs / sugars if there is room left. BE PATIENT - you body is a wonderful thing, when faced with this rapid decline in caloric input it does many things to "lean out the throttle" and use just the energy that it is taking in rather than the fat stores it has so carefully stored away for years. It can only do this for so long then it is forced to start burning fat. Stick with it, it works. DID I SAY to stick with it? Yep I already did. If you're like the most typical of us here on the VSG forum you've tried and failed at many a diet. This is NOT a diet it is a physical block to drive down your caloric intake. DON'T GIVE UP, again, stick with it, it'll work.

The staples are permanent, they are titanium and never corrode. While I've never seen what they look like long term I would imagine that after a few years they would be pretty much enveloped in scar tissue as the stomach heals.