SKCUNNINGHAM

Call your doctor (I would call my PCP - but you might want to call your surgeon) and walk them through your symptoms. They may want to take blood and see what is going on. I do think you probably need iron, and you may also be low on B12 - but I am not a doctor and you will really only know for sure if they do bloodwork.

Peacequeen, I'm sorry to hear you have a leak. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hang in there.

Yes, there are risks to this surgery - there are risks to any surgery. You can minimize the risks of problems with your surgery by picking a surgeon that is experienced with the sleeve. How many sleeve surgeries has your physician done in the past 12 months? How many sleeve surgeries has your physician done in total? A search of the literature shows, the more experienced the doctor is, the fewer problems they have. I would be looking for 50-100 in the past 12 months (for me personally) Second thing to consider - the hospital where you will have your surgery - how many sleeve surgeries have they had in their facility this year? Same kind of thing as above - the more surgeries like yours the hospital has done, the fewer problems the patients have. OK - so if you pick an experienced surgeon and he/she does your sleeve at an experienced hospital, you have minimized your risk of a problem caused by the surgeon or the hospital. The way you can minimize risk of problems post-surgery is be 100% compliant with rules your doctor lays out. The pre-op diet is there to shrink your liver (which lessions the risk of damage to your liver during surgery). The rigid post-op diet (Clear liquids, then full liquids, then mushies) is to give your incision line time to heal before you put solid foods into your stomach. Many patients who have problems post surgery bring it on themselves due to non-compliance with the strict after surgery diet. (Not all - some problems that the surgeon caused aren't discovered till the swelling subsides) So if you choose your surgeon and hospital carefully and commit to following the program he/she lays out for you - can you eliminate ALL risk? No - but a high % of it. Then, you are left with a choice - would you rather take a short term risk of having the surgery and getting the long term gain of being a much healthier, happier mom for your 4 year old; or minimize the short term risk (NOT have the surgery) and have a much higher long term risk of being in poor health or dying from weight-related problems when your son is older? Only you can make the choice. And the psychiatrist was only being prudent about making sure you have your paperwork / wishes for your son clear before surgery - that is something you would need to do with any kind of surgery - in fact any time you undergo anesthesia. I did that each time I have had surgery - will, living will, medical power of attorney, and a sheet for my husband telling all of my bank account #'s, insurance policy #'s, keys to this or that, and my wishes for specific things. That kind of planning is again just prudent behaviour. Good luck with your decision. Sharon

Congratulations! My thoughts will be with you for a great surgery and an easy recovery.

I believe anyone who works the sleeve correctly and follows the rules will get to goal. Some lose fast, some lose slow. You determination to stick with the rules and what works for you will be what gets you to your goal. You may need to shake up your body - it sounds complacent with what you are doing. How about going on LilMissDiva's verison of the 5 day pouch test to shake things up, then after that - go back on 600-700 calories for 3 weeks (continuing to exercise). I bet that will get the scale moving in the right direction. Somewhere LilMissDiva has her getting back on track / 5 day pouch test "pinned" on one of the forums.

cottage cheese and applesauce. tuna with mayo bean and bacon campbells soup pureed chicken with chicken broth protein smoothie with strawberries yogurt pureed hot and sour soup (i was craving FLAVOR)

If you don't take calcium, your bones will suffer. If you don't take B12, you can have all sorts of serious problems, including "brain fog" and memory issues. If you don't take Iron, some people (me included) get badly anemic. Since I take iron I take C along with it to improve the absorbtion of the iron. I had a nutritionist tell me that if you eat 20-30 different foods in your weekly diet (difent colors of food - good healthy foods - can't count junk calories) you might not need a multi Vitamin. But I tend to eat the same foods repeatedly, so I probably miss some key nutrients. So I take multiple Vitamins. I don't drink milk (that is fortified with vitamin D) and I don't get in the sun much, I take Vitamin D supplements. Since I don't use a lot of salt, I take something to give me the necessary iodine (for a healthy thyroid). And I didn't realize about thyamine being in bread flour - makes me glad I take a multi vitamin that covers it. I had a family member die of thiamin shortage. A deficiency there is for-real serious.

I caught the stomach flu the week before Christmas. I had major intestional uphevals for 3-4 days. Couldn't hardly get out of the master bedroom suite. Got really dehydrated from losing all my liquids and not being able to hold anything down. I was close to being hospitalized. My electrolytes got all out of whack. I was drinking 80 ounces of G2 a day for several days to get things back in order.

Off of all Blood pressure medications. Off of all cholesterol medications. Sleep Apnea is gone - goodbye to the hated CPAP machine. Arthritis is much better as is the joint pain. My roseacia also seems better (?).

Amen to this topic! You guys are the spicey shot of testosterone that this predominately female forum needs. I learn a lot from you guys' post and have laughed so hard at some of the topics I have almost peed myself. Thanks for all your contributions. Best of luck in your Quest to have your outer selves match the inner stud-muffins you all are.

Here comes some more tough love. You are 100% responsible for your success for failure with the sleeve. Not your two year old, not your husband (whether he is supportive or not). You need to step up and be accountable for your behaviors. Sounds like to me you may not be committeed to changing the things in your environment that will help you succeed. Here are some examples of things from your post: 1) Why are you letting your 2 year old eat cheezits in the first place? Why are there cheezits in the house? They aren't good for any one at any age - they are empty calories with little or no nutritive value. Get rid of them. If your husband insists on junk food in the house, get a big tin (like popcorn comes in) put all the junk food inside and tell him he needs to get it for himself if he wants to eat it. You don't handle it anymore. In fact, you could make him buy it for himself. 2) If your two year old hands you something you can't eat, take it from him, tell him thankyou - and then distract him with something else. Pick him up in the air, tickle him, something to get his mind off of feeding mom. 3) If your husband set down dip and chip next to you - either you move or move the food to his other side out of your reach. 4) You say you aren't a cook or a food planner. If you really want to be successful long term, you probably want to change both of these. Letting someone else be in charge of your food is asking for trouble. Pull up those big girl panties and get back on track! And, it sounds like you need to have some serious discussions with your husband. Does he not want you to lose weight? If so, why is that? You have certainly gone to a lot of trouble, made life-long changes to your body, and spent major $$ to let your husband a a helpless two year old be ruling your life as far as your food choices go. I don't mean to be harsh or non-supportive - but you need to stop what you are doing. I have ruined my own success 4 different times in my life with not being accoutable for my own choices and behaviours. That is not happening to me this time - no matter what or who in my life is being a barrier to my success. Good luck. Sharon

PDXman - you are so right. My NUT told me that same advice early on. Also, protein is what keeps us full the longest, and it is good to not try to get all your day's protein in early in the day.

When I go four hours without Protein, I get an empty feeling - kind of a hollowing out sensation from my stomach. Different than pre surgery hunger. If I ignore it and continue not to eat, I will get a headache and get kind of shaky. When I am full - I get this sensation that there is no more room - but it isn't packed tightly. If I go one bite beyond that, I get uncomfortable is my stomach and chest. . No runny nose, sneezing, or hiccups. I have to pay attention - but it does tell me.

Let me give you a suggestion. You shouldn't eat or drink more than 25-30 grams of protein at any meal. You system can absorb more than that amount of protein. Split your protein up into 3 20 gram "meals" or two thirty gram "meals". Protein is what is going to make you feel the fullest - so spread it out throughout the day and it will help you feel full throughout the day. I don't know who those 40 or 50 gram protein shots or drinks are marketed to - maybe athletes. I have no use for them. If I did use one in the past, I would split it into different servings.

The above suggestion are all right on point. Also, make your pureed food a little runnier in consistency. It will be easier on your tummy.

Sleeve4me - A kilometer is .62 miles, so a 5k is 3.1 miles and a 10k is 6.2 miles. Forensicchik - way to go with those easy to find ovaries! Good luck on the upcoming race and your training regime. :-)

I think what you are feeling is either head hunger or acid / gas. Try to put yourself on a schedule. Eat/drink your Breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you want, have a Protein snack mid morning and afternoon (spreading your protein consumption throughout the day). I need to eat protein about every 4 hours (just a little will do me). If it hasn't been 4 hours since I ate, and I feel "hungry", I tell my sleeve to shut-up, it's not hungry. Then I take a GASX strip, drink something warm, and the feeling goes away. As long as you are meeting your protein goals and are meeting your Fluid goals to stay hydrated, you really AREN'T hungry - it is just your body or your mind sending you false signals. This is all part of the learning processs. It will get better.

Tylenol also make a cold product and an allergy product that both are pretty effective. Stay away from Advil, Aleve, and aspirin - all of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Drinking something warm will help your throat - tea, lemonaide, broth, etc. Warm showers seem to make me feel better, too. Hope you beat this soon. KEEP HYDRATED!

I like Hanes, Jockey and Joe Boxer brands. I prefer stretchy cotton with maybe a little spandex in them. I prefer bikini or hipsters. If you go to a brand's website, they will explain the sizing for their particular brand. Once I find a kind I like, I usually source it online (I live in the middle of nowhere) and try to find single rather than multi-packs.

Amanda - you are so wise. And you are wise to have that sense of hope. The sleeve is an outstanding tool. I couldn't be more pleased with mine.

Sounds great. I will try these soon.

I can eat about 3-4 ounces of protein and a few bites of veggies. I don't eat bread or pasta because that swells in my stomach and I don't like the feeling.

Yes it's real. Congrats on the weight loss and being able to walk a mile already. Sounds like you are doing well. Have you thought of keeping a journal or blog of your weight loss journey? Lots of people do that to record all of the myriad of feelings they experience during the process. Best of luck to you. Sharon

Sounds like you are going through a tough patch mentally - it has been hard during the holidays to see all of the rich carbohydrates. The reality is, yes you are still on a diet - since you have 35 pounds to get into the normal BMI range. And, yes, you need to really watch those starchy carbs if you want to get those pounds off as quickly as your metabolism allows. Unless you are like PDXman and exercise like crazy you aren't going to be able to eat a lot of them. I think Indymom has the right idea - what she is doing is what I do also. I don't cook two separate meals. I do occasionally make my husband something that I choose not to eat - but it is happening less. He has become much more conscious of eating healthy and is choosing to eat less starchy carbs, too. How about treating yourself to a cooking class? Take one that focuses on cooking healthier lighter meals - and get the whole family behind eating healthier and living a healthier lifestyle. I think everyone is on a diet - if diet means being conscious of what you are putting in your mouth. I know I will be on one for the rest of my life. Does this make me happy? No - I wish I were 3" taller, absolutely loved to exercise, and had the metabolism of a jet engine. But I didn't get any one of those three gifts when God made me. But He did give me some thing that I really appreciate - so I am not ungrateful. I work with what I have and make the best of it. Nothing is more important than being as healthy as I can be. That means watching what I eat and making exercise a regular part of my life. There are so many more wonderful joys in life than the fleeting satisfaction you get from eating a starchy carb. Look to add those things in your life and make the food less important. This is the hard part - learning how to live with the sleeve and the life changes you have to make. Good Luck. Sharon

That is wonderful! I wish I could send you fireworks and a marching band - this is a major accomplishment. Congratulations!