seniorsleever

I'm 54, and believe me, if this had been available 30 years ago I would have jumped through hoops to get it. Don't suffer for years when you don't have to. Having surgery at your age means you will have an easier time adjusting to the restrictions and will be healthier for the whole rest of your life. I don't know how long that may be for me, but it will likely be a long and healthy life for you. Why put yourself through the yo-yo dieting roller coaster when you can fix the problem once and for all?

Welcome, Missy! It sounds like you are way ahead of the curve, knowing what your diet will be already. So many of us agonized over the decision to have surgery. Keep us informed about your progress!

Hey, mine has been slow, too. But my jeans are a lot looser. So it all evens out in the end. (no pun intended!) Don't worry--the weight will come off eventually. Everyone loses at their own rate. The scales will catch up with it eventually.

No, because what you are seeing is the contrast INSIDE the sleeve--so the swelling of the sleeve constricts the inner diameter of the sleeve and it appears smaller on the xray.

We're all excited for you! Keep us updated on how you are doing. Good luck!

Good thing I'm post-menopausal--I would really be a b-aitch!

Corpus Christi

That's great! Independence Day! Congratulations.

The main flavoring in licorice is Anise--maybe if you added a little anise to some greek yogurt or something similar it would satisfy your craving in a good way. Worth a try...

That's great! My CPAP is at 17mm right now, and feels a little too high, so it may need to come down. I am really hoping to get rid of mine too. Congrats on a great NSV!

I like strained beef vegetable. I even cheated a little and had watery tomato soup with picante sauce added for flavor. Yum!

My doctor didn't use a bougie, he used an endoscope. He said he could examine the staple line from the inside that way--kills two birds with one stone.

I had all the same questions. Here's what you need to ask yourself--have I ever lost weight and KEPT IT OFF? Do I think if I lose weight with WW I can KEEP IT OFF? If you are really honest about these questions the answer will be apparent. With the surgery I will lose weight and know that I will keep it off. That makes it worth it for me. Hope this helps.

Take good care of yourself when you get home, for as long as you can. Good luck!

Mine has pretty much resolved, but it was really red and swollen for the first few days. Heat might help more than ice if it is still bothering you. It will go away as the liquid reabsorbs.

Where in Texas are you? I had my self-pay surgery 8 days ago in San Antonio with Dr. Patel. It took less than 2 months for me, and I had to have a bunch of tests beforehand.

Welcome, Johnny! Check out the Man Room further down in the forums. You'll find other guys there who can relate to what you're going through. This forum all rocks!

As an RN, I would call this a definite red flag. Call your doctor ASAP. It might be nothing-- but it might indicate a leak in your sleeve, or pancreatitis even. Nothing to mess around with.

I have 5 incisions, the largest one had a pain ball tube in it. My IV infiltrated the second day and they tried several times to re-start it (I had to take extra antibiotics and was hospitalized an extra day.) They finally put it in my upper arm. I also had four shots of blood thinner in my abdomen while there, but none since. They also drew blood samples twice a day. This was a week ago today.

Mine was done on the 24th, so I am 7 days postop. Yes, I still get the gas bubbles, especially when I drink a little too much at one time. So I think you're probably right on track.No straws--they made it worse for me.

Scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, pudding, creamed soups!

My headaches are either caused by caffeine withdrawal or aspartame. I had to go caffeine free in stages, mixing regular iced tea in various proportions with decaf until I got decaffeinated. Iced tea has always been my go-to drink.

Good luck, Doug! I was sleeved last Monday, and although the last week has been difficult, I am doing better and starting to get back to normal activities. You will be surprised how fast the recovery time goes by! We'll all be thinking about you!

I'd say it depends on the surgeon. My surgeon told me if I had not dropped 10 pounds by the day of surgery, it would be cancelled. So I'd say she's really pushing it. Let's hope her surgeon doesn't feel that way.

Well, I am now 1 week postop, and finally feel up to posting again. The last week has been a little rough. I had to stay an extra day in the hospital--my white count was up and they weren't sure why it wouldn't go back down, but it finally did. My IV infiltrated twice, and my arms are completely covered in bruises. I have to say that the first three days postop I was sure I had made the biggest mistake of my life! But now I am doing much better and gave myself a good pep talk yesterday, so I know I am on the way to a better life. My biggest difficulty right now is the back spasms from not being able to lie on my side yet. I'm still taking Lortab Elixir twice a day to combat that, but otherwise the pain is very manageable. (My son said "Lortab for the win!" LOL!) My incisions are healing nicely, even the biggest one, which had a pain ball in it for the first two days. I am drinking a protein shake every morning with 2% milk, water, juice once a day, and strained soup-broth twice a day. I have my SF Jello and SF popsicles, but because I am allergic to aspartame I only have one a day at most, or the migraines will set in. My husband is keeping the house running, doing the shopping, and fixes my soup-broth for me. (He eats the solids part for his own meal or gives it to the dog.) We take a short 10 minute walk every evening. When I weighed in the morning of surgery I weighed 269, 21 pounds down from my starting weight. When I got home from San Antonio, I had gained 10 pounds from all the swelling! I am finally back down to 269 this morning, so I guess I am finally on my way down. Thanks to everyone who sent private messages while this was going on. They really meant a lot.