Penpen

Hi all! I started having pains right under the bottom part of my ribs on the left side of my body 2 nights ago. They come and go but have for the most part, stuck around. It feels like a really bad runner's cramp. It hurts when I breath in or laugh. It hurts to walk, sleep, or lay on my side...or lay on my back for that matter. I called my doctor's office yesterday and they told me that it was just gas and that they get calls almost every day about the same pains from other people. They told me to take my Gas X strips. So, I have been and they are just not helping. I just don't think it is gas because I don't feel it in any other part of my body. Have you had the pain and did it ever go away? What did your doctor say it was? What can I do to not hurt so much? Help!!!

Hi! Does anyone know if drinking liquid can stretch your sleeve? I've been downing a lot of liquid lately, trying to keep up with my needed intake. My husband asked me if I happened to drink it too fast and too often, would it stretch my stomach. Good grief, I don't know! That just gave me something else to worry about. Just so you know, I'm not talking about carbonated drinks. I'm talking about water, tea, skim milk...etc.

Hey Dooter! I'm now 7 months post op and I can eat anything and everything. I eat almonds, peanuts, and cashews almost on a daily basis and have never had anything get stuck. Sometimes it feels like it gets stuck going down my esophagus but that's just air bubbles and that always works itself out. Also, my ticker has not been updated in a while so it does not reflect my true weight. I've now lost 94 lbs. and have 56 to go.

I wondered the same thing before surgery and asked a similar question. Here's the thread. It has pictures of someone's healed stomach. I hope this helps. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/19292-stomach-closure/page__fromsearch__1

In the mist of all the emotion and what seems like no "real" food, it was sometimes hard to image life any different than that very moment. It would get really depressing sometimes but just remember it definitely gets a whole lot better....it just takes time.

Thank you Hetera! You made my day!

I totally agree with what you are saying. I also wanted to throw in there that anyone going through the preop diet or you're first or second months of post op, that living with the sleeve is completely different when you get out past 2 months. I remember having the thoughts that I wish I hadn't done the surgery because I was no longer enjoying food but only eating certain types of food (liquid or mushy) and very little of that, to simply survive. Just remember that you will definitely enjoy food again. Like tonight, we grilled steaks on the grill. I ate about 3 oz. of steak, maybe 2 small spoon fulls of a loaded potato, and a tiny pinch of brownie. I was so satisfied! These are foods I love! When I was going through the pre-op diet and the first month or two of post op, I really thought I'd never eat anything like that again. It just takes time. Hang in there!

Thank you Mommy794! I'm so glad someone understood what I was trying to say. lol It's so hard to describe the way eating makes me feel now. I know that there have been a few times that I think I can eat an entire plate full of food at a restaurant. So against my husband's opinion that I can't possibly eat that much and we could save money if we'd just share, well....I order the whole darn plate. AND guess what! I take 3 or 4 bites and my brain turns back on and remembers that it had the sleeve surgery and that there's no possible way I can eat even a fourth of the food. Then shortly after that, I feel stuffed and disgusted by the food. My husband doesn't say a word but I feel like a child that just through a temper tantrum! I feel like I need to tell him he was right and that I'm sorry. lol I hate that I get that way but I love that when I do, my sleeve is there to remind that "Hey, you will explode if you eat all that AND it WILL be very painful!!!" Okay, maybe not explode but you know what I mean.

I also wanted to say that you do still have to make the right choices. That doesn't mean you can't have something bad, it just means that the majority of what passes over your tongue needs to be the right foods but like I said before, my appetite has changed. I do still crave sweets and junky foods but when I do eat them, not often, I have a small amount and I'm satisfied. I just wanted to add that because I don't want anyone to think that having the sleeve makes it totally effortless. You have to make the effort to eat the right things but the sleeve seems to make that a lot easier. I don't feel like I'm on a diet which is awesome.

Hi! I, like you, have always eaten for every emotion under the sun. I'd eat when I was depressed, I'd eat when I was angry, I'd eat when i was happy, I'd eat because there was a celebration of some sort, I'd eat because someone else was eating (even when I'd just ate and was already full)....I'd eat all the time and it didn't matter the reason or the emotion. I was out if control. And what went into my mouth most of the time was high carb, low Protein. I was miserable and I worried about the same thing your worrying about. It's been about 5.5 months since surgery. What's changed for me? Well, my appetite for one. I don't crave things the way I used to. In fact, most of the time I have to remind myself it's time to eat something. When I do crave something, even when I'm craving a huge plate of something. (mind hunger)..i'll take 2-4 bites and am usually full and satisfied. My full feels like it used to feel when I'd eat a plate full of food then go back for another plate full...and because of that feeling, my desire for food at that point goes south. Once I hit that point, and remind you that it doesn't take much, I get a feeling of disgust for whatever I'm eating and I stop. It's so hard to describe. Maybe just saying that even when my mind tells me I can eat huge amounts, my stomach reminds me quickly that I can't and I'm left with no desire to continue to eat. I don't have to tell my self to stop, my stomach tells me. Now that I'm 5+ months post op, my weight loss almost seems effortless. Before surgery, there was no such thing...everything that had to do with food, control, and weight loss took an over abundance of control which I could not come up with on my own. For some reason, the sleeve gives you the ability to control without feeling overwhelmed and like a failure. Its so hard to describe. I just posted in my blog yesterday about a lot of the reasons I love my sleeve and some ways my sleeve has been life changing. You are more than welcome to read it. My blog is down below in my signature. I hope this helps. Everything about eating and your relationship with food will change after surgery. It's just about impossible to image what it will be like until you've got your sleeve. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if needed. This was one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

My sleeve loves skim milk---my sleeve HATES protein shakes. My sleeve loves ground turkey----my sleeve hates ground beef. My sleeve loves all kinds of nuts----my sleeve hates pork rinds. My sleeve loves pepperjack cheese---my sleeve hates any other kind of cold cheese. My sleeve loves bacon---my sleeve hates eggs.

Oh my goodness, don't feel guilty over that! Smile! This is the joy of having the sleeve. You're no longer on a diet but a life change. I've had pizza several times since my surgery and I did as you did. I eat the toppings and maybe a pinch of bread. I didn't know I was supposed to feel guilty over this. I'm thinking you're not supposed to. I eat cheese a lot! Most of the time straight from the package and cold. In fact, I'm eating little squares of pepperjack cheese right now. It's a good, easy source of protein. As far as when I ate pizza, I didn't gain. I've continued to lose. Don't let things like that get the best of you! If you're not over filling your sleeve and you're not eating all carbs, there's nothing to fret about in my book. Just saying! I think you're doing great and I don't think that was a bad choice. I have a husband and son, and I try to eat the same meals as they do minus most of the carbs....but with that said, I still have a bite of bread or pasta every once in a while. Lift up your chin and keep going! This is a life changing tool....that changes your relationship with food AND diets! No more diets! diets!

Hang in there! It is so worth whatever the wait or cancellations. I can definitely understand your frustration but as you've probably seen many times on this forum, most love their sleeve and I'm one of those people. I absolutely love my sleeve! In fact I was blogging about how much I love my sleeve today! And you will love yours, too! Keep smiling! Hugs!

I know I'm a little late on this conversation but I thought it would be worth while to mention that before I had surgery, I had a very similar question. Tiffykens replied and posted pictures of her sleeved stomach....yes, her stomach. It was awesome to see and to know that you're stomach completely heals up and over those staples so you don't have to worry about future leaks and such. Here is the link: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/19292-stomach-closure/page__fromsearch__1

I didn't have one either.

Well said!!!! AND don't forget to add that you continue to lose weight! You don't gain after you dive in to those devilish things....now, if that's all you ate, then maybe, I don't know. Like PdxMan says, you still need to get all your protein and liquids in. The way it makes me feel, is that I'm eating as if I were a naturally thin person without trying, I don't feel like I'm dieting or being too picky, and I still continue to lose weight....AND NOT GAIN 100's of pounds....just LIKE a naturally thin person does, I think. Of course, I don't know what a naturally thin person actually feels like or acts....I'm only guessing! This is just how I perceive what's going on with me. AND I absolutely love it! I you sleeve!

Is there anyone that had not reached goal, got pregnant, had the baby, and then continued with weight loss until they reached their goal? Okay, this is going to sound crazy but we are considering having another child now. I do understand that I should wait until the recommended time frame but there are many women who get pregnant early out from surgery and have a healthy pregnancy. I'm now almost 38 and it has been a little over 5 months since my surgery. We'd been trying for the last 3 years and nothing at all happened. My goal with surgery was to lose 150 lbs. and so far I've lost 83 lbs. Just a little background, when I was 28, we decided to try to get pregnant and I did...right away. I had no problem at all conceiving. At the time, I weighed around 220 lbs. Well, over the years I gained and gained until I reached 280 lbs. My ob/gyn doctor thought that over the time frame we had been trying to conceive for the second time that my weight may have been playing a part in not ovulating. We then decided that I would take fertility pills to force my body to ovulate. Still nothing. So, I kind of just gave up and decided that I had to do something about my weight. About 5 months later, we decided that this surgery was the right thing for me...but not to get pregnant...to become emotionally well and to prevent problems with my health that were slowly creeping in. I made up my mind then that my physical and mental health were more important than anything else for me at the time. And I thought that I would be too old by the time I was set free to have another child. Well, here I am....5 months out....wasn't even considering having another child.....THEN my husband starts talking about it and we both decide that maybe this is a good time EXCEPT that I'm not done losing weight. I'm so scared that I will never get to goal if I get pregnant now. I'm not really concerned about gaining a bunch with a pregnancy because I actually weighed less one week after my son was born than I did before I got pregnant. What I'm worried about is my body settling into the weight I'm at now and never dropping any lower. Any advice? Am I being ridiculous? Should we wait until I've reached goal? Should we wait until I'm 18-24 months post op? Is it safe to conceive right now?

I am a little over 5 months out and I still have a sweet tooth....yet, it's not as intense as before. I don't deprive myself of it and I've overcome the guilt I used to feel when I would indulge in some kind of junk food. I don't eat junky stuff every day but I do have it quite often. For the most part, I stick to Protein, protein, protein. I eat lots of cheese, jerky, nuts, chicken, skim milk, etc. But for some reason, when I eat any kind junky food now, I continue to lose. Don't get me wrong, when I do eat something bad, it is small and I'm satisfied after only a couple of bites or say, one cookie. Then it seems like my cravings go away. I would love to mention the fact that we went on a vacation last week and I ate so many things that I should not have.....I'm not telling anyone to go do this....AND I felt guilty the entire time. There was just something about being on vacation and feeling as if I had the right to be bad because vacation is a time to do things you don't do on an every day basis. Oh, and I had a Starbuck's tall gingerbread latte on the way back home. Okay, so I was thinking that I had surely gained some weight over the week. When I got home, I had actually lost 3 lbs. I'm sure that if I indulged this way all the time that I would surely not lose and possibly even gain but I think the fact that my portions were small and I was doing a lot of walking during vacation that my body didn't even register the junk. I LOVE MY SLEEVE! It has changed everything for me. I feel like I can enjoy life like a naturally thin person does....of course, not over doing the bad stuff because now I have a restrictive tool built in and my appetite has changed. When I talk about my appetite, sure I still crave sweets and my mind tells me that I can still eat huge plates full of food but after a few bites of whatever, I get this warm, stuffed feeling and really have no more desire to keep eating. The sleeve really does change your relationship with food in a way that you have never experienced before. Until you are sleeved, you can't even image it. Okay, now I'm getting off topic. You're not on a diet but have come into a life change....you can enjoy the foods that you love again, you're sleeve will help you to control over doing it. And stick with what you know you're supposed to do, enjoy the devilish foods in moderation. You'll be just fine!

I don't think that's too ambitious. I know that everyone is different but with the sleeve, that kind of weight loss should be expected. When I was at my highest weight of 280 lbs. right before surgery, my excess weight was 150 lbs. I'm now just a little over 5 months post op and have already lost 83 lbs. I can't guarantee it but I would almost say for sure that once I'm one year post op, I will have lost 100% of my excess weight because I'm already more than half way to goal. Just saying!

Oh, thank you about my blog! So glad it helped you.

Hey mchez1986! In the hospital, I was given pain shots. Then when I was sent home, they gave the same kind of medicine but in liquid form to take by mouth which tasted terrible but worked wonders. My surgeon did give a prescription for it that we had to stop and pick up on the way home but my husband did all the running and getting. I was out of it because before I left the hospital, I asked them to give me one more shot each for the nausea and pain. They gladly gave me it.

Hi DebiC! Not everything. Down below is what is listed in the manual for my surgeon's patients and also, he actually told me to add Iron and Vitamin d to the already listed vitamins. All the other vitamins and supplements I took it upon myself to add....like for example, Biotin (helps with hair growth), Vitamin C (helps with hair growth and a number of other things), etc. The generic Pepcid AC Complete was recommended by him also. I hope this helps. Oh, and FIBER! I worried about the same thing. So I use Benefiber in my coffee every day and normally I drink 2 cups of coffee so I add enough between the two to give me 6 grams of fiber. I also eat almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc. every day and this definitely helps to add in the fiber. I wanted to also say that the Benefiber unflavor is truly unflavored. And it's supposed to dissolve in most things. I've only tried it in coffee and tea. In coffee, it works wonderfully. You can't tell it's there. But in the ice cold tea, it wouldn't dissolve completely and I kept getting little chunks of it in my mouth. I couldn't taste it but the texture was too much. From my bariatric manual: It is important to supplement your vitamins and minerals after weight loss surgery. Your diets are changing and the quantity is much less, therefore you must take supplements. It is additionally important for gastric bypass and sleeve patients to take sublingual vitamin B12 supplements since the new pouch cannot use vitamin B12 from the diet. We recommend: • liquid or Chewable Adult Multivitamin (Begin upon release from the hospital) Two doses daily, may be taken together • Iron (only if recommended by your physician) Ferrous Fumerate 18-29 mg Ferrous Gluconate/sulfate 300 mg Ferrous Sulfate is most common, however it is NOT well absorbed after Gastric Bypass or sleeve surgery. • B-12 – 500 mcg sublingual daily or 2400 mcg sublingual every week (Begin upon release from the hospital) Sublingual (under the tongue) - This can be purchased over the counter at your local health food store or pharmacy either in a spray or melt away tablet. OR IM (intramuscular shot) can be prescribed and administered by yourself or your physician Nasal Spray available by prescription B-12 should not be taken in pill form, as there are not enough acids in your new system for absorption. • calcium citrate 1000 to 1500 mg Daily (Begin with your soft diet) Calcium Citrate products are best absorbed with Vitamin D and magnesium. Calcium Citrate can be taken in liquid or chewable forms and should be taken in 500mg. doses with at least one hour between doses. Do not take Calcium at the same time as iron. Do not use calcium carbonate, as it is NOT well absorbed after bariatric surgery.

Hi there! You will be okay. I did have some pain and at one point, some nausea and once vomited but it was because my meds had lapsed. I wrote all about my stay in the hospital on my blog if you'd like to read about it. Here's the link: http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/2011/07/surgery-and-hospital-stay-part-1.html Hang in there! I remember being in total fear of the unknown. You will make it through this and come out of it on a much brighter side. The beginning is hard but tolerable. Keep smiling and know that we are all here cheering you on....AND that if I could get through it, so can you! And I'm a major scardy-cat!

I'm a little over 5 months out and this is what I take. It took me a while to build up to all of it but probably by 1.5-2 months out, I was taking most of this. About 7 a.m.: 1x Spring Valley High-Potency D-3 Vitamin, 1000 IU (softgels found at Walmart) 2x Bariatric Advantage sugar-free Calcium Citrate Chewy Bites (Lemon Flavored) (They taste like Starburst.) (ordered online) Note: Calcium should be taken with D vitamin to help it absorb. About 3-4 hours later: 1x Centrum Multivitamin Chewables (orange flavored, found at Walmart) 1x Spring Valley Super Potency Biotin (5,000 mcg) (capsules) (found at Walmart) 1x Nature's Bounty sublingual B-12 (2,500 mcg) (natural cherry) (found at Costco) 1x Celebrate Bariatric supplements Iron + C (30 mg chewable) (grape) (ordered online) 1x Nature Made Super B-Complex with Vitamin C & Folic Acid (tablets) (can't remember if we got it at costco or Walmart) 1x Vitamin C chewable (I'm out right now so I can't give you the details on it. I will have it again tomorrow if anyone is interested in the details.) Note: Iron should be taken with Vitamin C to help it absorb. Note: Iron and calcium chews should NOT be taken at the same time. This will cause poor absorption of the calcium or the opposite...I can't remember which one. About 3-4 hours later: 1x Centrum Multivitamin Chewables (orange flavored, found at Walmart) Right before bed: 2x Bariatric Advantage Sugar-Free calcium citrate Chewy Bites (Lemon Flavored) (They taste like Starburst.) (ordered online) 1x generic brand of Pepsid AC Complete for stomach acid (found at Walmart and Sam's) I had my 3 month post op blood work done and at the time I wasn't taking the iron supplement, D-3, Biotin, or the B-complex. I had perfect readings and the nurse practitioner told me to keep doing what I was doing. My surgeon told me to go ahead and add D-3 and iron anyways. So I did. I also added Biotin, B-complex, and Vitamin C because it helps with hair growth. I hope this helps.

My husband and I usually pick one meal and share. I barely dent it with my portion. Sometimes, if I'm having a moment, I order my own and I try to pick something that will be good when you reheat it. If I do that, it usually last me a 2-3 more meals depending on what it is. My hubby and I love to order steak fajitas. I don't eat any of the flour tortillas but I eat about 3-4 oz. of meat mixed in with grilled onions and other fajita toppings. Yum! Also, when they bring out the chips and salsa, I usually have one chip with salsa. I would love to have more and sometimes it's hard to sit and watch everyone else chowing down but I know that if I eat anything more I won't have any room for the healthy food. When I'm out by myself and need to eat, I'll stop by McDonald's. You can get a chicken patty (baked or fried) for $1.25. Sometimes I order just a sausage and egg and no bun. At Taco Bell, I order the tacos that have fajita meat and open it up and eat the insides and leave behind the flour tortilla. Sometimes I'll order a small bowl of re-fried Beans with cheese. Then add salsa or piaco digio (spelling???).