peppercma

I agree, starting the 26th gives us a chance to officially finish this one. Even though alot of us won't be meeting our goal we can be proud of how close we've come to it. And I'm not figuring how close I came until Christmas morning . I look forward to the new challenge. This was my first one and I like how it gives me a reason to work toward my weight loss instead of just letting it happen.

Woo-hoo! My stall just suddenly ended last week. I lost 4# last week. I now only have 6# left to go to make my goal. I still probably won't meet my goal, but at least I won't miss it by as much as I thought I would. SW - 233.....GW - 220.....CW - 226.....# to go - 6

Not doing very well at all. I'm thankful that I gained no weight during the week of Thanksgiving, but it's not looking good to meet my goal. Just have to keep working at it, maybe something big will "break" between now and then. started challenge at 233.....weight today 231.....goal of 220.....2 lbs lost, 11 more to go

I'm rather late getting in on this, but I'm gonna try it. This is my first challenge. I was always afraid to make a goal because I didn't want to fail. But, I'm coming off a one month stall so hopefully this will help to motivate me. So, here I go...CW 233...GW 220.

I'm 3 months out and have been eating fresh fruit since about a month out and salads since about 2 month out. They both cause great amounts of "rumblies in my tummy". Grapes actually make me burp, but everything else just seems to make the tummy very vocal. I never had this problem pre-surgery, so why is it happening now? And will it go away? Even some sliders make this happen also, like the greek yogurt. Thanks for any input y'all have.

I know this has been asked in many ways on this forum, but I've never really seen what I'm looking for. I have chosen Dr. Kelly as my surgeon. I'm scheduled for July 29th and have already paid my deposit and paid for plane tickets for my husband and myself. But, with the recent death he has had (along with "encouragement" from GA Girl ) I'm beginning to doubt my choice. I'm looking for help from everyone here to either confirm my doubts and help me choose a new Dr. or confirm my original decision to use Dr. Kelly and give me the courage to stick with him. TIA for anyone willing to help me out with this! So, my question is...WHY did you choose the Dr. you did? I don't want to know about how great your experience was, I can find that info all over here. I want to know what made you finally decide on that Dr. What I mean is was it because he's in so & so location, his medical history is this, his personal history is that, his experience is this much, his training was here, his rates of complications/infections/deaths is that or maybe just because you heard so much great stuff about him, or your friend used him. I hope y'all get my meaning. I want specifics ! I'm not asking y'all to do my research for me, I can do that on my own. I just want your personal reasons for making the choice you did.

Hi All! My husband and I are flying to San Diego today and then going to TJ tomorrow for the surgery. I have a wonderful peace about this and I'm so thankful that God loves me enough to give me this assurance that all will be fine. But, some extra prayers never hurt, so if anyone thinks about it between today and the 2nd when we return I'd really appreciate any extra prayers you have to send up for me. Thanks!

As the original poster of this thread I am starting to regret asking for any opinions. I was really hoping this would be a "state your facts and get on with your life" kinda thing. But, this is really starting to sound like a bunch of kids fighting over who's right and who's wrong. Everyone has their own opinion and their own way of stating that opinion. Also, I believe that every one here is an adult and should starting acting like it. You will never get the other person to change how they think/feel about this topic. Maybe it's time to just let this thread die and everyone go on about their business

My husband came with me, and I would have been a total mess without him. He was more of a morale booster, than a keep me safe kinda thing. If he hadn't of been there I don't think I would have gotten up to walk around as early as I did, nor would I have taken the ice chips as often. That first day after surgery I just felt kinda crappy and he was there to encourage me and make me feel better. I honestly can't imagine how anyone goes thru it alone.

I wasn't given any driving restrictions that I remember. My surgery was on a Friday, we flew home on Tuesday and I was driving around town on Wednesday...so I guess that was 5 days. Honestly, I felt well enough on Monday and Tuesday that I could have driven then.

My surgery was done July 29th, so I'm almost 2 months out. I've lost a little over 30# and am very grateful for it, but I do miss the experience of eating. It isn't enjoyable to eat anymore. There is so much thought involved in every bite right now...small bites, chew slowly, chew 30 times, swallow, wait a minute to let it all settle, repeat and wait for "that feeling" to signal that your done. So, my opinion is to wait until after Thanksgiving. Use that as your food funeral and savor every bite and every different item you eat. Enjoy the experience and then get down to business with the sleeve.

I was sleeved by Dr. Kelly on July 29th. Here are my answers to your questions... What hurt - about an hour after surgery I had extremely bad gas pains for about 5 minutes. The drain tube was uncomfortable, but not painful. You will have 5 incision sites, one low between your breasts, the other 4 are about 3" lower going across your stomach...1) under right breast "ish" 2) under left breast "ish" 3) left of the left breast (I believe this is where the stomach was pulled out) 4) sort of near your left "side" (this is where the drain tube is placed). If you really want a photo you can PM me and I'll try to send one to you. Functioning again - my surgery was at 3:30pm and I was in and out of it until morning (except during that 5 minutes of gas pain). I was good to go the next morning, just tired. Barring any complications you will be just fine when head home. Walking - I was walking 6 blocks to and from the hotel the day I was released from the hospital (surgery on Fri, released Sun). Really long walks I'd say about a week, just because of being tired. In hospital - hooked up to the IV and the drain tube. Saturday afternoon they started to not be concerned if I was off the IV for a while after walking the halls. No catheter (yippee!) If you want a bit more "in depth" you can check out my blog (link below). It's a bit behind, but I do have it thru my return home.

I would suggest actually speaking with the Dr's that you are trying to decide between. Having a conversation with Dr. Kelly sealed the deal for me.

My weight loss is going well, at least for me. My highest weight was 282, the day of surgery (July 29) I was 269, today I am 252. I know there's lots of ladies who've lost a whole lot more than I have in a month, but I'm happy with where I'm at. I just remember where I was, so where I am will be great, no matter where that is. As for the hair...I haven't been loosing it in clumps like some folks say they have, but I think that I have been loosing some. My hair is short, so it's harder for me to tell when I lose it since I don't have these long strings of hair anymore. But I do think that I've lost some. It just seems thinner than before. I think I'm going to up my Biotin from once a day to three times. I just pray there is no wig in my future!

I used Dr. Kelly also. Tylenol is the only choice. The paperwork we had to sign said the following... "To protect your new stomach from ulcers you must never take the following medications: Aspirin, Motrin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Relafen or other similar drugs."

I'm using Vit E oil. You can get it at Wal-Mart. Just put a dab on your fingertip and rub it into each incision. Don't reapply unless you wash the previous application off first, a build up of the oil could give you a skin infection. I just put it on after a shower each day. Some say it doesn't work, some say it does. My mom used it on a large cut I had as a kid. Now, roughly 26 years later, there is no "scar coloring" to it. It needed to be stitched closed, but we couldn't afford it so I do still have the mark from the cut. I believe that had it been stitched I would have nothing on my leg to indicate such a bad cut.

Just remember what you saw on the screen when you did your leak test. You took a drink of that nastiness and down it went. Into the tummy, then the tummy squeezes here and there to push it along and out it goes into the intestines. Each swallow seemed to take less than a minute for the whole process. It can't stretch the tummy if it isn't there long enough to make a difference.

I had my surgery on a Friday and flew home on Tuesday. We flew from San Diego to Atlanta with a layover in Dallas, so we spent most of our day in airplanes. I had no problems at all. My husband was with me so I didn't have to worry about carrying the bag, but the little I did have to was not a problem. I didn't take any precautionary pain meds before the flight and everything was fine. Just a bit sore in the tummy area, but that's to be expected. Walking thru the airports was not a problem either, and the Atlanta airport is big.

I don't know what kind of protein you're using, but you may want to try Syntrax Nectar's. Based on how you like it to taste, it can be mixed with as little as 2oz of water (I use 6oz) and you get either 23 or 25 grams of protein (I can't remember which and I'm too lazy to go look ). I bought a sample pack from bariatric pantry for less than $14 and got 10 different flavors. So far I like the twisted cherry and roadside lemonade. I didn't care for the fuzzy navel one, and I was really looking forward to it since that was one of my favorite mixed drinks in my younger days.

Up to 2 weeks before surgery I had to do the "slim fast" type diet. A Protein shake for Breakfast & lunch, salad with a protein in it for dinner, and a Protein Shake in the evening if needed for hunger. Three days before surgery I went on the all liquid part. This is copied from my paper... PRE-SURGERY DIET You will need to follow this simple diet for 3 days before your surgery. Some patients with higher BMI’s will be asked to follow a different diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery. This is necessary to help shrink the liver and make the surgery easier to perform. Please do not eat anything on your day of arrival, you will need to fast at least 10hrs before surgery. Allowed foods (3 day pre surgery diet) All kinds of liquids Water, tea, lemon water (take at least 3.5 litters a day) Water, tea, fruit juice drinks, natural fruit beverages, chicken stock, vegetables, cream Soups, skim milk, yogurt, jelly (gelatine desserts). Same liquids plus pureed foods a day (a first stage of Gerber sized, strained). Mashed fruits, vegetables, cereals (oatmeal, rice, potato, noodles, mixed). Please avoid and/or limit salt intake. It will keep the swelling down after surgery. Do not smoke at least one week before your surgery and don’t take aspirin. Hope this helps.

From my experiences, the pain was caused by taking too big of a drink, too big of a bite and not waiting long enough between bites/drinks. The baby spoon is the way to go though, that's for sure. Go slower with your intake and listen/feel what your new tummy is saying. It helps me to take a bite, put the spoon down, sit back in the chair and wait a minute or two for the next bite. The farther out from surgery you are, the less you'll have to do that. My hubby worries every time I take a minute to "rest" that I'm going to throw up And, since you're not that far out from surgery, I'd say go back to liquids for a few days and give your tummy more of a chance to heal and let the swelling go down.