Suzannesh

You are both in excellent hands. This is going to be a life changing event. You will love Dr. Aceves. His staff are all caring and kind. Pack light, don't take any jewelery. Maybe just your watch. If you have any questions or need something just let me know. I am always happy to help. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi you never think twice about making a car payment. Consider this a "body Payment". It will last you a lifetime. Car's don't. I sat down and figured out how much I paid for my sleeve surgery, and how much I saved each month, eating less food, going out to eat less, not taking some medications, seeing my doctor less. And it took me 18 months to pay myself back because what I saved. You are worth this cost of this surgery. Go for it. Look at your credit cards, they usually have lower interest rates. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I went to Dr. Aceves in 2008--did not have to get any financial aid. But you will need to get your loan approved before they will set a date to do your surgery. I am sorry your Mom is acting like this. It just shows that she isn't really as educated about universal medical care. Dr. Aceves is on of the top bariatric doctors in the world. He is highly thought of by so many of his peers. You have made the right choice without a doubt. You will never have a regret that you had WLS with Dr. Aceves. Nina will always be there to answer all your questions. So just write the down as you think about them. I am always out here too to answer your questions. I was 63 when I had WLS and I had the VGS. I have NO scars at all. I have to look real had to see if I can see them anymore. I am now 66. So I have had my sleeve for 3 years. I have a lot of experience when it comes to this. You will see that I post a lot. You should be able to return to work in 7 to 10 days. They will tell you to not lift anything over 50 pounds for the 1st 6 weeks. You are are doing all the right things. You have done your research, not hurried into making your choice, It took me 6 months to make up my mind about having WLS and having it be Dr. Aceves to do the surgery. If you have more questios please feel free to ask me. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Jay9mal, I kept losing after 1 year. That is why it took me 14 months. But the last 10 pounds were the hardest to get off. I had to bump up my exercise more and that seemed to help me. I also made sure I got at least 70 grams of Protein in each day and STAYED AWAY from WHITE carbs. They are my downfall. So when I got to my goal, I exercise less and eat about 900 calories a day. I just feel full and satisfied. I would never make it on 1,000 calories a day. I know me and I would have to exercise more if I ate 1,000 calories a day. I am happy with the way I eat now, I get everything I want and it works for me. I know that some same they eat more calories to burn off the fat. Here is how I look at it calories in calories out. I found my magic spot and so I can maintain it. You will become more confident the longer you do this and you will know what feels right and good for you. I am always here if you have questions you want to ask. For me what works is lower carbs and some "good" fat in my body and that is how I stay at my goal weight. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, Didn't anyone tell any of you about using GAS-X. You can get the thin strips that just melt on your tounge and it REALLY helps get rid of the gas pain? Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I CAN NOT take credit for what this says, but it sure pertains to weight loss too. "Don't waste your time in the race looking back to see what the other guy is doing. It's not about the other guy. It's about what can you do. You just need to run that race as hard as you can. You need to give it everything you've got, all the time, for yourself." — Oprah This is what I have always said. This is ALL about you and NO one else. Never allow anyone to discourage you or bully you. We are hard enough on ourselves, so do this for YOU and NO one else. Hugs to you,

Hi, Your welcome, sometime we lose site of the fact that this has NOTHING to do with others. Just ourselves. Hugs, Suzanne

Hey, Congratulation and welcome to our world :D . You are going to be just fine. You have a GREAT attitude. Just remember the 1st 10 days of the Clear liquids if that is what you are doing is the hardest. Actually the 1st 30 days was my hardest. It just keeps getting better each day. I am always out here if you have questions or need something. I had a sleeve 3 years ago, and like you have NO regrets at ALL. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, To be on the safe side with for 30 days after your surgery and then take it. You do know that taking it does not guarantee that you will not lose your hair? It just helps with the regrowth. There really is nothing that will stop the loss of your hair. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I think you need to do what is BEST for you. For me I knew I got into trouble eating carbs, so a low carb diet made a WHOLE lot of sense to me. When I was losing weight I ate 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day. Now if you exercise during the day that burns up some calories so yes you can eat a little more calories--no matter what it was always at 800 calories for me. But if you do NO exercising then I always kept it at 800 calories. I walk about 6 days a week still 3 years later and keep my calories about about 1000. I am 66 years old and know for a fact that I would really have a problem with 1200 calories UNLESS I was burning some of them up with exercise. What do you want to do and what feels right for you? I know that most people after surgery at least with Dr. Aceves do 800 calories and no more than 20 carbs a day. It took me 14 months to lose 105 pounds. I never felt bad, I alway felt good. It is pretty normal at 8 weeks to be able to eat almost anything. Not everyone has the problems that you talked about. The one thing I notices was if something was really sweet. You just might be one of the lucky one. Take care, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, Today is a very special day for me. It is my birthday and I am 66 today. What makes it so special is that I am able to do things I never dreamed I would do. I am healthy, happy and have added so many years to my life because I had WLS and have maintained my weight loss of 105 for almost 3 years. I did this for ME and NO one else. I feel so very blessed that I had WLS. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I hope that your weight loss is going well. I know that summer time can be an easier time for weight loss. It is a lot easier to get outside and exercise more. I know that it is hard to do, but if each day you will try to do something it makes it a lot easier. If you have a exercise buddy to work out with you that is really helpful too. When I get up and start walking on the treadmill each morning, I sometimes think oh my gosh I don't want to do this again today. About 1/2 way through my 3 mile walk, I am loving it, I feel my energy level coming around, and I feel a whole lot better. I am the person who never liked to exercise, but as I started to lose weight it got a lot easier and I knew this was so helpful for my health and weight loss. Now I know that this is very helpful to my success at maintaining my weight loss. Also during the summer it is fun having fresh veggies and great salad are nice too. Be a lot more creative with what you cook and how use use these fresh fruits and veggies. Think about making some yummy salads and adding things you normally wouldn't add. Add some nice fresh strawberries to a tossed green salad. You might find out you love all these veggies and fresh fruit. You are on the road to a successful weight loss. NEVER give up on what you are doing or thinking about doing. WLS was something that changed my entire life. Hugs, Suzanne

HI I suggest you ONLY try clear liquids until things start to work better for you. They should be clear liquids--like beef or chicken broth. Please remember your new stomach is quite swollen and will not hold anymore that food the size of your thumb. So if you can only get about 2 tablespoons of food in then that is about all the food your new stomach will hold for now. It does get better as time goes on. I would suggest about 10 days of nothing but clear liquids. Then move on to 10 days of creamy liquids. Creamy soups, pudding sugar free, yogurt, cottage cheese.Please remember only about 2 tbs when you are eating. I hope this is helpful. Sugar Free all Natural fruit popcicles really helped me too the frist couple of months. If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me. Suzanne

Hi Everyone, Why to first month is so difficult. You are about to change everything you know about eating and your body. Your brain for all of you life has been used to you eating almost anything you wanted and large amounts of food. I never stopped and gave this much thought, when I wanted to have WLS. All I was thinking was about getting the fat off my body and feeling healthy again. I spent a lot of year being fat and this was my chance to change the roller coaster of losing the weight and regaining it again. So for me I had to spend the first 10 days having nothing but Clear liquids. I could only have about a ¼ of a cup of anything when it was time to eat. I felt pretty good, but this first 10 days were the worst. There are only some many clear liquids. I had various kinds of broth—chicken was my favorite. I had Jello, white grape juice, apple juice, Water with Crystal Light, decaf tea—Earl Gray and my life saver was sugar free all natural fruit popsicles. If my stomach felt quizy this really seemed to clam it. I had problems finding a Protein Drink that was clear that I liked. I since have found some. They are made by Syntrax and they are called Nectar—all kinds of flavors that can be mixed with water. It is very important that you try to get some protein the first 10 days. These first 10 days are difficult because my brain is screaming at me “I am hungry.” We call these head games because your brain is trying to control you. Your brain can play some mean and ugly games with your mind and what you are thinking. You are NOT hungry; you are getting what you need for these 1st 10 days. You NEED to give your new stomach time to heal and that is why you need to follow exactly what they tell you to eat. The next 10 days is so much better. 10 days of nothing but creamy foods. I thought I was in heaven when I got to this stage. I could have my favorite Protein Drink. I love Premier Protein Drink—I get mine at costco. I have since found 2 other Protein drinks made by Syntrax that I also love—Mint Cookie and banana Cream. I could have cottage cheese, sugar pudding, yogurt, and creamy Soups. Some Creamy style Peanut Butter. I still could also have any of the clear liquids I was having before. Remember you are only going to be able to eat about 2 oz. of anything when you eat. Your new stomach can now only hold food about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days are getting a little better. It is 10 days of mushy food. I found this stage a little harder, but I became a little creative. I took some home made chicken Soup and put it in the blender, veggies worked great to make mushy, sweet potato was great instead of a regular potato. I also had applesauce at this point too. I tried to watch my carbs too—no more than 20 carbs per day. I always made sure I had my protein drinks at least 2 per day. I was told to have at least 70 grams of protein per day. Premier Protein had 30 grams per drink box. Another challenge I had was drinking enough water and getting the Protein Drinks down too. It felt like I was always sipping and drinking something. This is just what you have to do. Eating is like having a job and you have to do the best you can to get everything inside your body that you need. I had problems swallowing my medication during this time. I learned to smash the meds up into a power with a mortar and then mixed the powered medication with applesauce and that is how I took my meds. You may have problems with constipation too. I use 1 cap full of Miralax everyday in the morning. I put 1 cap full in with my Protein Drink and mix it in my Magic Bullet. I still use Miralax all the time. It is not habit forming and helps because we eat a lot of protein and that causes the constipation. Remember there is a reason you need to follow the diet that your doctor has given you. Different doctors have different things they may want you to be eating. These were what my doctor had me do. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. Suzanne Sleeved 10/28/2008 Lost 105 lbs.

Hi, I had the same problems and so I found some adult gummy Vitamins at Costco--not as good as you should be taking but better than nothing. The best I found were a liquid vitamin that I used to buy at costco. If you have a Costco or a Sam's look and see if the have any liquid vitamins. I would mix them with some crystal light or even a little Water and drink them. Not bad at all. Suzanne

Hi I tried all those things--NONE of them worked for me. PLEASE Use Miralax. It was the ONLY thing that worked for me. At first you might try using 1 cap full 2 or 3 times a day. It has NO taste so you can mix it in anything. 3 years later I still use one cap full in my Protein drink each morning. It is NON habit forming and it is just going to be a way of life since we eat a lot of protein. Hugs, Suzannne

Hi, I will save you the time. Here is the information. You will love it. I also got banana Cream and it is really Yummy too. I hope you like it. Hugs, The next Protein Drink that I have tried is called: Matrix 2.0 Mint Cookies made by Syntrax. You can check this out on this Web Site. http://www26.netrition.com/syntrax_matrix_page.html The cost for 2.16 lbs. is $22.99 plus postage. Item # 39-0963 Suzanne

Hi, You may find some answers after they check your blood levels too. I also had to have my meds adjusted like you. And after awhile they took me off most of them. Do you like your Protein Drink that you are drinking? I have a few that I really like, and I just had to sip them instead of trying to drink them all at one time. I found out my potassium was really low and that was part of my problem too. It does get better in time. Have you tried to have part of a soft boiled egg in the morning--that used to help me. Sometimes a spoon of Peanut Butter also helped. And always a sugar free all natural Popsicles worked magic for me. Keep me posted. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, This is called phlegming or sliming --it is caused because you do NOT chew your foods enough and then the the food gets stuck and it comes back up. It is NOT a vomit but as you said it is a saliva. Take smaller bites and chew and chew, and chew. I know it is a pain in the neck, but at first it is a fact of life after having WLS. You will NEVER be able to shovel food in like you used too. You will always have to take smaller bites and chew more than you ever did before but not as much as you need to chew at first. This is part of that relearning and breaking some life long habits of how we ate and how little we chewed our food. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, The reason you chew so much is to turn the food into a liquid so when you swallow it, it goes down a lot easier and is a lot easier to digest. It has NOTHING to do with gas. No it doesn't get gross in your mouth. Your new stomach needs the best possible chance to heal and this helps when you are started to eat regular food. It is to your benefit to slow down and eat and chew a lot. Taking small bites also helps a lot. As far as what you are eating, different doctors have different views. This is just what my doctor had me do. I wish you great success in your weight loss journey. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Oh I so agree with you--this is a crime and they are allowed to do it. Maybe just maybe this is why people can NOT afford Health Insurance. Who gives them the right to be able to charge this amount of $$$$$$$$$$? It is time that someone (and I wish I knew who) puts some guide lines on what hospitals can charge. I also feel the same about the price they charge for medications. And what is a person to do? Thanks for taking the time to post this. It is skin off your nose because eventually you have to pay or your employer pays the insurance premium. And if your employer is paying it and it keeps going up--they have less money to give your a raise or you will have to start paying more for you part of the insurance. NOTHING is free in this world. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I have another suggestion. Have you had a blood panel done lately. I went through something like this and for my my potassium was low. It was a simple fix and I now take potassium medications. You might want to go to your PCP and have them run a blood panel to just make sure. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Tracy, Well, I am glad that it was helpful to you. As time goes on the swallowing does get a lot better. I think it took me about 6 months before the pills went down easy. I do the chew-able Calcium. I also did a liquid Vitamin for awhile and I got those at costco. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask me. I asked a lot of questions myself and that is how I learned a lot of things. Hugs, Suzanne