PdxMan

Just want to echo Rena's thoughts. I had really bad reflux prior and had to keep a container of Tums in multiple locations. I had a hiatal hernia repair during surgery and ever since then, I have had Tums only once when I worked late one night, came home and ate something and then when directly to bed. So, it was't smart and not unexpected. I have a cousin and his sister both had the bypass about 4 years ago. He is doing great, but she has had issues with bowel obstructions.

It's difficult to get solids out when no solids are going in. Don't worry, soon you will be posting a thread asking just the opposite. BTW, the answer to that question is Milk of Magnesia.

@@Alex Brecher ... can you throw a dog a bone, here?

Not to worry. That is one of the reasons why we have the rules we do, so we can create threads where we get responses from just men. If you want responses from the general public, we have plenty of area to do just that. As far as being too shy to post in The powder Room, don't worry about it. We're asked not to post in there, either. Just like I'm sure they don't want us posting opinions about why their cycle won't stop, getting a breast lift or how to straighten out the vajayjay, we should also have our own place where we feel safe to post what is going on and get the feedback we need. I'm sorry you felt like you had to edit your post and remove your content. I quoted the ladies posts on this thread so they get notifications of my post. I have been guilty of not checking which forum I am posting in before hitting the POST button and hopefully this will remind them and others to be respectful of each other's forums.

Ladies, we love hearing from you in the main forums, but as luv2plumb pointed out, The Man's room is for men. Please refer to THIS stickied post at the top of The Men's Room if you have any questions. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/250199-attention-ladies-the-man-room-is-for-men-only/

I love what you said here. Just to put it out there, last night I brought home an Escape from New York large half cheese, half Canadian bacon pizza. A real NY style pie which is one of the best you will find on the West coast. I had just over half a slice of the CB. Your share reminds me of something shared at an AA meeting this past weekend. A fellow was in rehab following an intervention. He said he didn't drink all the time. He was able to control his drinking most of the time. He didn't believe he had a problem. A counselor then asked him to think about this next question, not answering it until the next day. The question was, when you are not drinking, what percentage of your mind is spent thinking about alcohol? This is when he realized he had a problem as after some reflection, he realized not only did he merely think about it, he romanticized it. The moral to my story is that even if we are able to control our consumption of a food with the aid of the sleeve, if thinking about it in an unhealthy manner occupies our time when we are away from it, perhaps it is something which should never cross our lips in the first place.

If you are worried about it, then you should call ...

Are you afraid it could be a trigger for you? Is it really worth it?

So, can we get an update on your experience? Share so others can learn.

Well, I see you joined the forum in August, 2013, so you surely have seen what your office has been saying. There are many, many toxic threads on here patting each other on the back laughing about how this person or that has been doing their own thing and haven't suffered any consequences. People will substitute this forum for their doctor's guidelines, yet still expect their doctor to support them. Does that make any sense? Take this scenario into your own life. What if you were working in the garden department at your local nursery and someone comes in needing help with planting their vegetables. You give them all the plants they need and directions on how to prepare the soil, space the plants, fertilize and Water them. Then, they come back a month later telling you the tomatoes are laying flat on the ground. You ask them if they followed your directions and they tell you the went to a gardening forum and followed their advice. What would you say next? Would you be frustrated? Is it fair to say that you have a gardening god complex? While I agree, there are doctors who do have a god complex and they are not my doctors for long. I always ask questions of my doctors and the ones who have a dialog with me stay. IMO, internet forums are a place to research and share our experiences. If you discover something here which is different from your understanding, you should ask your medical team first before implementing. As has been mentioned, they know your medical history and are vested in your success. *** EDIT *** I also wanted to add that as I am sure you have read, a lot of people will post threads on here seeking validation to do something which they know is against the guidelines. Again, a very dangerous, toxic thing as it undermines the fundamental philosophy of change. It reminds me of the thread from someone who wanted to know what they could order from Dairy Queen 3 weeks post op. Dangerous thread, IMO. "Oh, look, this person said I could have a Dilly bar," and well ... play the rest of the tape.

About 7 months post op I was telling a story to some co-workers and using my hands during a demonstrative moment. My wedding ring went flying across the room landing on someone's keyboard. Oy ... At this point, nobody at my work knew I had the surgery (they all know now) but of course, they knew I had been losing weight. It was a funny NSV. The problem was, my wedding ring was titanium, which can't be re-sized. I basically went without a ring for a year as I didn't know where my weight was going to settle. I have since purchased a new ring and it works for me. I am sad it is not my "wedding" ring, but I do still have the original up by the kitchen sink. Stores can always order a ring in your size and if not, if it is a pliable metal, they can re-size it.

Hmmm ... I am not a relationship councelor, nor do I play one on the internet, but I have to disagree with the previous two posts. Communicating with your partner is never a bad thing. As a matter of fact, being open and honest about your feelings can be the sexiest thing a woman sees in a man. Someone who is willing to share what is going on. I can't say I have ever come across a woman in a meaningful relationship who would prefer if their partner wouldn't share what is going on between the ears. But, here's the thing. You can't just sit down and say, "Hi honey, just thought I would let you know I feel like a teenage boy now. Let's head off to the bedroom." Of course, that won't work. It is more of a conversation over dinner where you talk about your life as it relates to your sex drive prior to surgery and what is going on now. Ask her about her drive and if she has any concerns about yours. See if she is interested in seeking answers to her diminished drive. This and many other personal conversations should be an ongoing part of your relationship.

Hmmm ... I haven't heard about the hormones changing ... for either men or women ... for any WLS. I know there is a flood of hormones stored in fat released, which I believe is the major contributing factor to hair loss. But as you mention, the first 6 months the "honeymoon" period where you have little choice regarding compliance. It is the period to embrace the change I mentioned above. If you feel you are going to begin "cheating" as soon as you can, after 6 months, then may I suggest also counseling as it relates to the deeper reasons why food is an option for abuse? I was surprised how often my mind turned to food for comfort. I knew I did this, but post surgery, I was forced to see it and examine it more closely. It wasn't comfortable at all. It was a tumultuous time for me, but I came out better for the experience. I basically question my motivation for putting anything in my mouth. Am I eating this beef Jerky because I am hungry or am I feeding something else? From my reading here, I have found the most successful WLS folk are those who look at the long term. Changing the way they eat, prepare foods, exercise and the daily way they go about life. There is a reason I was morbidly obese. There was a reason I could never maintain the lifestyle after a successful diet. Food isn't my problem. I am and how I deal with life on life's terms. That is what I needed to address. Everything else just falls into line.

What kind are they? Do they have aspartame in them? That stuff gives me a headache every time. What are the specifics of your liquid diet? Protein shakes only or what?

So ... what do you say we get back on topic ... Secrets to success ... First off, I would say, right sizing expectations. I would question why you are wanting to lose 100 pounds in 6 months? If you Google fast weight loss, you will find there are medical concerns with rapid weight loss, whether it is with the aid of surgery or not. Also, is that expectation realistic? Expectations are future resentments, thus setting ourselves up for disappointment. I went into this knowing that if I followed the guidelines as closely as possible, I would lose weight. I accepted that I am not going to lose at the same rate as everybody else and would only weigh once a month because I saw others on here driving themselves crazy when they would gain a pound. Which brings me to my second tip, don't weigh daily. This loops in expectations because surely you cannot expect to lose weight every single day. The body just doesn't work that way. You are going to experience times where the scale doesn't move and may even go up at times. As long as you are burning more calories than you are consuming, you are going to lose weight. Just know this deep down in your gut. When some people don't see the scale move or see it go up, they say, "F-it. I knew I would fail at this, too!" and then grab a container of ice cream. Then, they are truly done. They have given up when the body is doing something it is supposed to be doing. Make changes, not excuses. One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If I want change, then I have to be the one to make change. My personal saying is, "Nothing ever changes if nothing ever changes." If I am going to change my relationship with food, then that is what I need to do. Not just sometimes, all the time. If I want to be a person who exercises, then that is what I have to do. Talk to my Dr, ask friends to go for walks, join the local gym ... Avoid the pissing matches on this forum. This was difficult for me to do early out and I still do get sucked in occasionally. But the old saying is true, opinions are like assh*!es. Everybody's got one and those with really big ones merely shout a bit louder. And they also will never hit the Like This on any of your posts. Take the information which resonates with you and leave the rest.

Early out, you are going to enter a stage called ketosis. Google it or search this site for a TON of postings about it. Basically, when your body gets to such a low level of carb consumption over a period of time, you enter ketosis. One side affect is the release of acetone in your saliva. This results in everything tasting like a cat's butt. Once you are able to increase your calories and carbs a bit, flavor will return.

IMO, I don't think starting BMI plays a factor whether if not the procedure is put in the category of a failure? (As they have defined it)I would love to know your thoughts on how this plays a role.

I think more interesting is that 1 out of 14 didn't experience weight gain, as they defined it. Granted, it is a small sample, but it lends itself to what I also hold true. I am not stretching my sleeve out, and if it were to be larger than it was in the few months post op, it is by no means responsible for any weight I gain. I guess I will have to blame it on the fork if I should begin to gain.

I have a desk job and was sleeved on a Friday, flew home on Monday and was back at work 1/2 time on Wednesday. The following Monday, I was back full time. Prior to my surgery, I started on the elliptical almost daily and was able to do 45 minutes. I know the added endurance helped my recovery.

Ah, the dating life. I miss it like I miss stomach flu. This would be my next conversation with your boyfriend. Hon, I love you very much. The last 13 months have been great, but it is but a small glimpse of my life. Those who know me well, my family, know the struggles I have gone through in my life and are supportive of this decision. I understand WLS is an unknown for you. You cannot know my experience and I would not wish morbid obesity on anyone just so they could know my plight. Your statement about WLS being the easy way out and me being lazy is just ignorant. You can choose to break up with me over this, but this will be your loss just as I can choose to break up with you for not being supportive of me and my struggles. If this is how you are going to try to control me, then it is probably be best if we do break up now as I don't need this kind of drama in my life right now. So, choose now. Support me and we can grow closer together as we embark on this journey, or you can take the easy way out and break up with me. But that would just be lazy, now wouldn't it?

I don't think anyone here can answer what your insurance carrier considers a revision. You are going to have to contact them directly. Perhaps you can phrase the question in a way which doesn't reveal you already had the band. "If I were to choose a band and then later, say, like 3 years from now, revise to the sleeve, would that procedure be covered, too?"

Oh yes, it will grow back. I lost from months 6 to 10, then it started to come back. I am close to 3 years post and you would have never guessed I had that little episode in my life.

Journaling is always a great method to do a brain dump. But when doing a gratitude list, I try not to limit myself solely to my weight loss journey. As a matter of fact, I try to focus on everything outside my WLS for which I am grateful for. This helps to keep me out of my pity parties.

Doing any of the "fad" diet things will be just like what happened on all of our pre-surgery diets. Every diet I did, I lost 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks. I later found out this is more related to burning through the glycogen stored in the liver. This makes sense to me because I wouldn't maintain that diet and within a week, I would gain that 10 pounds back. Now, did I really lose 10 pounds of fat and then immediately regain 10 pounds of fat? No. It is all a deception of the glycogen burn. So, sure, you can go on the liquid diet for 10 days and yes, you will drop 10 pounds. I can pretty much guarantee it. But then, what do you think will happen when you re-introduce your regular diet? So, then, you start thinking, "I know, I'll drop the 10 pounds and then I'll go back to following the guidelines." Well, you are still going to regain the weight as you will be still be storing all the glycogen you lost during your liquid torture. You say that you are eating the wrong foods. So, like I suggested in the other thread you mention, how about just going back to the basic guidelines? Get back to a lifestyle you can maintain. Is it your plan to continue eating the wrong foods and then every few months do a 10 day liquid routine? Surely you can see this is not healthy. Think long term sustainability, not short term gratification.

Contact your surgeon. You need to eliminate the possibility of a stricture. Vomiting 8 days post op is not normal and can impede your healing. Are you on a liquid only diet?