PdxMan

Y'all remember THIS thread? I don't think there is a plan to try to "police" the forums, which, is too bad. There are many threads with this request, yet ...

I agree ^. I always regained it faster than I lost it. I guess, for me, it has been relatively easy to maintain. I attribute that to the fact that, for the most part, I pretty much still follow the general guidelines. I eat my lean Protein first. I chew thoroughly and put my utensil down between bites. I stop eating when I feel the restriction. I don't inhale my food like I used to, which for me, was a big issue. I was able to form these new habits by following these guidelines from day 1. If you remember back about a year or so ago, there was a thread about why you don't need to follow the "Rules", which I argued was a dangerous topic to propose. I believe for long term success, we need to change our fundamental relationship with food. I never treated them as "Rules", but more as guidelines. Like you, Jane, I can't go back ... won't go back.

I just wanted to add that pretty much every diet I tried worked. Worked wonderfully. I lost 30 pounds on Slim-Fast ... then went off of it and gained back 40. Lost 40 with Atkins ... stopped and gained back 50. Did the caveman with lots of exercise and lost 20, but then winter came and ... well ... gained 30. So, the diets worked for me. I lost weight. I just couldn't keep it off. That is not the diet's fault. This is why I went with the sleeve. It forces me to not abuse food the way I used to. I have lost my excess weight and not regained.

I avoided flour things until about the 6 month mark. I could have probably had some sooner, but you really need to take advantage of the first 12 months as that is your best window to lose weight. Don't jeopardize it by feeding your taste buds only. If you are getting the surgery and wondering when you will be able to eat cake, you may want to take a closer look at your relationship with food.

Why eat out? Because it is a fun, social thing to do. Sushi with rice will need to be avoided for awhile as rice is one of those nutritionally irrelevant foods that occupies WAY too much space. It is also a food that will expand more once it gets into your stomach. If you are still in the window where leaks could happen, this could potentially be dangerous. When I went out early on, I would get Soups and ask the waitress to have them pureed. No problem. As I progressed, so did my selections. When I am out with my wife or family, we split. We still have doggy bags, too! So ... why wouldn't you eat out?

I think to summarize what a lot of people have said (and was true for me) ... be sure to exhaust every means possible before VSG. This is a drastic, life altering procedure. I'd say somewhere between marriage and having children, for me. It makes me crazy reading posts from people who say they regret the surgery and wish they would have tried a diet instead. (You mean you haven't tried that a dozen times already? ... Really?)

I also have a desk job. My surgery was on Friday and I was back to work the following Wednesday. I worked half days Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but was full time that following Monday. Never had a problem. Brought my protein shakes (premier) to work. I could sip and walk just as easy at work as I can at home.

I'm headed up to Alaska on a cruise in less than a month. I was on a cruise about 10 years ago and over-indulged on food, for sure. If I wasn't sure which entree to choose, I ordered them all. Same thing for dessert. I wouldn't choose, I just told them to bring one of everything. Hamburgers and pizza for Snacks. Food coma quickly followed along with gastric distress. Now, being a slave to food no longer, I can enjoy the other aspects of the cruise instead of always recovering from my last binge. I hope you have a great time. What ship are you on? PM me with details. We are figuring out our shore excursions now. Would love a review from you.

Soups are always a good option. When I was at this stage, I would explain that I recently had stomach surgery and would ask them to puree the soup. I had chili, clam chowder, vegetable beef soups at restaurants and never had an issue with them pureeing them for me.

I hear what you are saying, but in today's litigious society, I wouldn't post a Drs name in a complication rant, either. It would be very easy for them to connect the dots to who you were and then you would be facing their lawyers. They have all the paperwork and history to make you look like a slanderous fool. If someone is needing to deal with lawyers and all that entails, the last place it needs to be hashed out at is an internet forum. As far as being too sick to type ... huh? I don't know about you but I could be two inches from death and still be able to type. You will see posts on here from people who woke up from surgery and 15 minutes later are posting. If you have ever had any long term health issues, you know that you are still able to do some basic functions. I can't confirm the story, but it doesn't seem too far fetched at all when I reflect on other medical issues I and others in my circle have gone through.

If you read the thread, you will see that in post #62, DisneyDee made a post. When you create a topic, you receive emails when anyone makes a post to it. In their response, post #68, she states her mother used her daughter's email when signing up for the account as she didn't have an email address at the time. Maybe the whole thing is made up ... I doubt it, but it doesn't matter. Since you are researching WLS, then you do know that people who get some form of bariatric surgery do die. They have stories. Just because they don't tell it to your liking doesn't mean these stories don't exist. Somebody has to be that 1%, so let's not discount them nor their stories. To the daughter of the OP, I am sorry your mother had to be in the 1%. As she said, she knew she could die either way, as did I. I weighed the risk and decided to go for it. I hope you will be able to find peace with your mother's decision.

Hmmm ... I don't know about that, B. Just the other day I had to explain the difference between labia and vulva to a grown woman. It is my belief men have a far greater interest in the female body than the other way around. When a woman wants to get pregnant, the interest does peak, but quickly wanes at birth of said child. I'm not sure what a woman would have to add of value to the discussion of penis size. I'm pretty sure all the men here know they are all different sizes and shapes ... some circumcised, some not. Whatever they're experience is, it is second hand and biased by their perception, not their reality. I can talk to you all day about labia, the clitoris, vagina, cervix ... I paid attention in health class and was a certified nurses aid for almost 3 years. I would rather leave it to my female counterparts to answer questions about that area, even though I may know the answer. The bottom line is we have had members of both genders express interest in trying to keep these rooms gender specific. I cannot fault them for that and I wish to respect both rooms, although I am guilty of not checking the room before I post, but I am much more diligent about that now.

I am in the same camp as FeelsMe2. I had severe reflux and and now, post-sleeve, my reflux is gone. Talk with another Dr. I would be wary of a Dr's experience if this is the sole reason for not doing a VSG on you.

Do a Google search on Thrush. Compare the images to yours. Happened to me after my last operation.

First off, congrats on losing weight. That is awesome! Second, you know that they are just using an expression. Just like when we said, "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse", we really didn't mean we could eat a horse. It is merely our way of being dramatic to emphasize a point. Unfortunately, we sleevers find ourselves a bit sensitive to these weight-related expressions, especially in the immediate weeks to months post-op. It's a hormone-stored-in-fat-release thing. Just remember that the person making the statement is really trying to pay you a compliment and does not have deep seated meanings behind using a general expression.

They were just sad they couldn't make boob jokes anymore. I'll be the first to admit men can become a bit sophomoric when this topic comes around and rightly so, the women objected. I don't see why there is such a hub-bub about it. As I have pointed out, if you want both gender responses, post in the General forum. If you want gender specific responses, post in the Powder/Men's Room. If a man wants to know what Vitamins the guys are taking, they have a place to get their experience. They are not looking for the pre/post menopausal sleever nor are they wanting pre/post pregnancy needs or the myriad of other women's Vitamin needs. If they are wanting all sleever's thoughts, then they can post in the General forum. All should be available to read, for sure. I see you are alive and posting well here at VST. I hope your summer is going well.

I hear ya, but I will direct you to my response on THIS thread.

You gotta go back a few months ago when there were threads in the powder Room regarding women's breasts post sleeve. A few male folks, including a moderator, made some tongue-in-cheek comments and there were complaints from a few females. They were wanting a place where they could post a question and get targeted responses from their peers. From what I recall, that is what gave rise to the "rules". As I have mentioned in other posts on this topic since, if that is what the ladies want, then fine. If I have a response, I just create new thread in the general area and have a link to the Powder Room post. Simple enough. If a woman or man is wanting responses from both genders, then they should post in the General forum ... after all ... isn't that what it is for?

Just so it is recorded in the thread, I will remind all that it was a few women who complained about men posting in the powder Room that prompted the rule. If the rule is to stand, then check the profile for the gender and enforce the rule. Surely that option is available and if not, this would be quite an easy programming fix.

He did mine two years ago. Same price and experience. I loved the outpatient option, too. There are sick people in hospitals, and I wasn't sick and didn't want to get sick.

I was diagnosed with foot drop about 15 months post-op. I had numbness in my right foot starting with my toe and after time, it continued through the foot and up into my calf. An MRI revealed a ruptured disc between L4/L5. I had a micro-discectomy last October. After, my disc had shrunk to the point where the bone was now pressing on the left nerve and as you may expect, I started getting numbness in my left foot. I had a laminectomy to remove the bone in January. A month later, I started physical therapy and have just recently finished. I still have minor numbness in both feet, but it is tolerable. Now, is this related to weight loss? I can't see how losing weight could cause a disc to blow. I would think just the opposite, actually. Less weight would mean less compression on those discs. I did ask my surgeon and he agreed. Don't take this lightly. I fell a couple times and broke my right big toe because I could not bring my foot around completely. Not fun.

It was about 5 months out before I could tolerate romaine lettuce. I started iceberg lettuce at about 4 months slowly adding in romaine. After about a month, I cut out iceberg and started adding spinach. That took about a month to eat a spinach salad, then I started adding kale. At just over 6 months out I was able to eat any kind of salad/veggie. Salads are one of the most difficult things to digest due to their fibrous nature. Of course, everyone is different. Soon, someone will be posting how they were able to eat crushed glass 2 days post-op, no problem. Just because someone can/can't eat something doesn't mean it applies to you. Introduce foods slowly taking single bites and evaluating how you feel after.

Congrats Scotty. Just keep doing what your sponsor says. Be willing to try anything. So happy to hear this.

Compression shorts under my athletic shorts. Works great for everything.

Hmmm ... it would seem to me that the new suture line would be inside the old one thereby removing the old suture line. That would seem to make the most sense to me to avoid additional scar tissue. Definitely talk to your Dr about this and ensure they have done re-sleeves.