Foxbins

I am in the Bay area and this evening KTVU (the Fox affiliate) aired a story about a military wife who had a VSG. The story was about the cost to taxpayers as the surgery, done in a military hospital, is performed at almost no cost for military dependents. The story emphasized that 390 million dollars worth of what they called "weight loss surgery" had been done. They made it sound like every overweight woman with a husband in the service was rushing to get a VSG on the taxpayer's dime. I'll bet that Congress is going to jump on this pretty quick, so if you are considering surgery and your benefits are through Tricare, I'd get it done sooner rather than later.

I believe that if most surgeons had a good bedside manner, they would have chosen another specialty. I know a lot of MDs, and the surgeons tend to be brusque, but decisive and energetic. I don't think it's a fluke that they prefer their patients out cold. I think as long as your surgeon has a good reputation and you trust them to do good work and give good aftercare and he answers your questions he's okay.

I have not heard any bad things about Dr. Zafrani in Costa Rica. I don't know about any Dominican Republic surgeons, sorry.

I had the same issue until I caught a glimpse of myself in a window and wondered who the woman wearing the huge shirt was--and it was me. It made me look 30 lbs heavier than I am. I came home, went through my closet, and donated all the XL tops. I still have some big clothes but I am getting much better about realizing that excess fabric hanging off me (no matter where, pants or shirts) just makes me look bigger. Now I look trim when I pass the mirror. If I am feeling a little exposed I put on another layer but nothing baggy.

How about chicken or beef boullion? It's hot and salty and not sweet--my protein shakes were sweet and I got sick of them by the end of each day. Chewing gum also helped me (as long as you don't swallow it) because I was chewing something. For head hunger you need to distract yourself. Read, do laundry, walk, drink some decaf tea, do a puzzle...you are drinking all day so your stomach should always be full of something. It won't feel full because it's liquid, so that contributes to the real hunger feeling, but pretty soon you will be able to have thicker food and then you won't be as hungry. Please stick to your plan and it will get better!

I only use Celebrate for a chewable calcium citrate because I can't swallow the Citracal petites even now and too much of the liquid I use gives me the squitters. You can get a complete multi, iron, and B-12 elsewhere for lots less. Centrum makes a complete chewable for not much money and is available everywhere. My iron comes from a discount grocery store (Grocery Outlet in CA) and costs $1.99 for 100 tablets, I'm sure you can find something similar in your area. Wal-Mart has a good, quick-dissolving B-12 sublingual for less than 4 dollars and you only need one or two 2500 mcg pills a week. I use Costco Premier Protein (the ready-to-drink shakes) and still like them after 10 months.

So glad you're doing so well--you look great!

I've been drinking coffee with Splenda since 1 month after surgery and I don't think it had any impact on my weight loss. It's not the Splenda--it's your body and its adaptation to losing weight. Some months I lost 8 or 9 lbs.--some months 3.5. My fourth month I lost 4 lbs. As long as you are tracking calories, protein, and water (plus carbs if you are low-carbing), don't worry about months with less weight loss. For me, the following month was usually great.

I don't have hunger any more. If I have not eaten in a while, I feel empty or light-headed but I don't have that "feed me now!" feeling I used to have. If I am busy I can easily go all day without thinking about food. Head hunger is when I have eaten dinner and think, "I'd really like a cookie now for dessert" or when I am watching TV and get up, go in the kitchen, and stand in front of the open fridge looking for something to eat. In both cases, I am re-enacting bad habits from before my surgery. I get head hunger when I'm bored, anxious, or tired. I don't keep junk food in the house anymore and now when head hunger strikes I try to distract myself first; if that doesn't work, I have either a high-protein snack (like jerky or an egg) or a low-calorie one (like cucumber rounds or a SF Popsicle).

I don't know how much I can "officially" eat and I don't want to know. I eat measured portions and track calories, carbs, protein, and water. Somedays I eat less than what I measured but I don't eat more. If I want more, I wait, have some water, take a walk, read a book--and then if I am still hungry I have some apple slices or an Oh Yeah! stick or some jerky. The mushy foods for me are full of carbs so I stick with things like 3 large scallops, or 2.5 oz of steak, or 1 egg. If you are afraid that you are losing too much, you can always add in calories of mush--avocado, tuna or chicken salad, chili, meatballs, pulled pork. Since you are five months post-op, you should be able to try anything now. See what works for you but I recommend staying away from the mushy stuff.

My surgery was 9.5 months ago and I'm still not physically hungry. Head hunger still strikes from time to time.

I took Fen-phen also...the loss of hunger now is also accompanied by a loss of interest in food. With the Fen-phen, I wasn't hungry but I was still interested in food, planning what I would eat, and I had a number of annoying side effects (dry mouth, jitteriness, making weird mouth movements without realizing it. None of that after the sleeve. There are so many more interesting things to do now than think about food all the time.

Mine was almost two hours due to a really big hiatal hernia that needed to be repaired. I was in the hospital three nights with Dr. Aceves in Mexico.

I would count all of the Protein grams and guess at the carbs. If you eat 1/4 of the veggies, then count 6 carbs--1/3 of the veggies would be 8. If you want something quick to eat when you are pressed for time, what about steaming or boiling some shrimp? They are good cold with a squirt of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Or hard-boiled eggs--I used to boil a bunch at the beginning of the week and make egg salad or just eat them with salt and pepper. They were ready-made no matter what I decided. Also, you could make some turkey chili on the weekend and eat that during the week. As someone who used to live on frozen prepared meals, the food I fix from scratch tastes so much better to me, and I'm not getting all that sodium from the boxed meals. Just a thought!

Yes!!! Way to go, Coops! Congratulations--

Do I regret my surgery? Hell, no! There are lots of postings about cravings, because cravings are in your head. The emotional relationship most of us have with food won't get fixed with surgery. Hunger? I lost mine after surgery, but some people don't and have to find ways to stay full longer. If you are looking to eat the same after surgery as before, then I think the trade-off is slower weight loss. If you are willing to forego fast food and junk food until you reach goal (or on VERY special occasions) and stick with the "dense Protein first" rule, your weight loss should be quite steady and certainly would average more than a pound a week. This surgery is becoming more familiar to surgeons and more widely available. I have seen some posts from folks who clearly were unprepared for the aftermath of their surgical choice, but if you follow your surgeon's plan, I do not think you will regret your choice or be unhappy with your results. Good luck and keep posting!

If you do not have insurance then an ER will treat you in an emergency situration--if it is something small, like an infected incision, your clinic will probably do fine. You might want to look for a surgeon who is a member of the BLIS network, which would cover you if you had sleeve complications. Your Mexican surgeon cannot write prescriptions to be filled in the U.S. since they aren't licensed here.

Look at my ticker! BMI of 35, normal BMI of 25 achieved in September, 1 lb. away from my personal goal, and my surgery was 1/13/11.

Walk as much as you can, even if you are bent over and tottering for only a few minutes at a time. Your strength and stamina will return faster the quicker you resume as much activity as you can. Like Dramagirl said, walking helps prevent clotting in your extremities.

I was smaller than you when I started, at 232. Here is how my weight loss progressed over the months: Jan-17 lbs Feb-8 lbs Mar-9 lbs Apr-8.5 lbs May-4 lbs Jun-9 lbs Jul-6 lbs Aug-8 lbs Sep-3.5 lbs Oct-6.5 so far. I ate about 600 calories from month 4-8 and less than 30 carbs. I still don't understand what happened in May with only a 4 lb loss--the month was no different from the April or June in what I ate. Just keep to your plan and the weight will come off.

9 months out and 1 lb away from my goal of 150. Hit a normal BMI of under 25 in September. I eat between 600-900 calories a day and keep carbs from fruit, dairy, and veg under 50 for the day. I am still losing 3-5 lbs a month. I don't eat junk food anymore and don't keep it in the house, so that helps me. Dessert is now a "special occasion" treat, rather than every day after lunch AND dinner. I am so grateful for this surgery!

Viactiv is calcium carbonate and poorly absorbed in our acid-reduced stomachs. At costco.com, you can buy a liquid calcium citrate that actually tastes good and I have heard that Whole Foods also sells a liquid. vitacost.com has calcium citrate chewables that are really sweet, but not too chalky. Celebrate sells the Calcet Lemon Bites--high in carbs if you are watching them, kind of expensive, but calcium citrate and not bad-tasting. I can't stomach any of my Vitamins or supplements without food except the liquid calcium. I eat a couple bites, take the pill, take a small swallow of Water, take another bite. I was hoping to swallow the Citracal Petites by now (nine months post-op) but they don't consistently stay down and I hate vomitting. Keep trying! You will find something that works for you.

I am 5'8" and weigh 151. I am not skinny--I still have boobs and some belly fat, but my rear end is flat and my thighs are all wrinkly--but I am slender. You can always gain weight if you need to (we are all experts at gaining) but I think you ought to experience being slender if you have not. There is nothing to be afraid of. It's great!

My surgery was January 13, 2011. I've had three sets of labs since and albumin has always been 4.5+ and prealbumin has always been at 17.

My prealbumin is 17 as well and has been since right after surgery. Prealbumin is a measure of how much Protein you have ingested over the past few days. My albumin levels have always been above 4 (which is where it should be) and so my doc and dietician aren't worried about the prealbumin as long as albumin stays good. Drinking some Protein shakes should help boost your level before surgery.