Lissa

I'm one who is on a LOT of antacid. BUT, mine is under doctor's orders, and NOt my VSG surgeon. I had blood clots earlier this year, along with two pulmonary emboli. I've been on Coumadin, except for a month break, since June, 2011. According to BOTH my docs, Coumadin leaches calcium with long term use. I started taking regular calcium, then the pulmonologist switched me to the Tums, 2x a day. They both want me getting the calcium in me, but apparently Tums has calcium that's more available to me with my medicine combo. YES, too much antacid is bad for you and can cause kidney stones.

:::Pinch:::: I can't wait till I'm where you're at today!!! Congrats!!

I've had a couple of pieces of toast in 3.5 months. Like others say, it's definitely something that fills me up. I like to toast the bread, then cook an over medium egg and put it on top. I can usually eat the egg and about half the piece of bread. Like Meg, I do like chips sometimes. I really like the baked cheetos, but I'll have a small handful once a week as a snack because they are a slider for me as well. Crackers are good with Peanut Butter or cheese. I've also eaten a couple with sardines. I can't eat many of them at a time. I'm still avoiding rice. One bite of it made me feel YUCKY full. I'll skip the rice, thanks.

I'm still taking as many chewables as possible at 3.5 months out. I take a Centrum chewable in the morning, two Tums twice a day, a sublingual B12 daily, and a Biotin that I swallow. I tried switching to a non-chewable multi, but it didn't sit well in Rex yet. I'll try again in a few months. I can swallow some pills, biotin and my asthma meds and coumadin. They are all VERY small, though.

I can't "weight" to see you both on the loser's bench!! YAY!!!!

You all are great!! I needed some humor after that text! I may file, but it's going to be very different from what we had talked about before!! And I will file when I am ready!! Lissa

ItalianLady, I'm sorry if I missed where you were attacked. I read the thread re: plication and thought everyone was well spoken and mostly polite, but maybe I missed it. Rosy, I hope you feel better quickly and that your doc moves you to full liquids at least!! Lissa

Rosy, I'm sorry you're having a really rough day. At least it sounds like it. I wouldn't worry about the sodium in the egg drop soup right this minute. I agree that the liquid diet right after surgery STINKS! The only good thing that comes out of it is that we usually drop a big chunk of weight. I wish I could give you a hug and make you feel better. I know this is the worst time. You probably have already done it, but a call to your doctor might be in order? Maybe he or she would agree to let you move to at least full liquids? I'm not allowed gum, either. Only, I'm not allowed to have it EVER again, according to my doc and my nut. They tell me that it's because I might swallow the gum by accident and block my opening. I didn't realize that the opening had been tightened that much! (((Rosy))) Good luck!! I do think the head part of this is the toughest for us all.

Rosy, Are you allowed anything besides clear liquids? Applesauce, cottage cheese, etc? Try changing up and having some Soup. I ate the liquid from a bowl of egg drop soup very early post op and it was divine! LOL When are you allowed mushies? Probably in 4 days? Just hang tought and it will be worth it. Every surgeon is different, but the rules are in place to help keep us from damaging the sleeve. It's hard waiting for the next stage, but it's worth it to avoid a leak. I have seen some posters say that they chewed on ice at this stage, just to have something to chew in their mouths. Would that be a solution for you? Good luck!!

Jane, Congrats on being sleeved. Sorry that you're having pain, but the tummy/thigh muscles do hurt for a couple of days after surgery. It will get better quickly. You're doing the right things, sip, sip, sip, then walk, walk, walk. Can't wait till you start posting what you're losing. It's gonna be so incredible!!!

I lost around 25 pounds my first month. I don't even remember for sure! EEK! I'm at 67.6 pounds lost as of today, 3.5 months post-op, which I think is INCREDIBLE! I see my figure coming back and I know I'll get to goal. I had surgery at 337 (HW 352) and I'm hoping to be around 230 by March. At 230, I'll look like a brick S____ house again, at least that's what My Virtual Model tells me. I want to get to 170, but I've always carried my weight pretty well because I'm tall. We will see when I get closer to goal, but I know I'll get there. We all will, because we're determined to do it!!!

I'm happy for everyone that is getting their surgery, but, FavoredOne, I have to admit I have a soft spot for you! I hope you'll be up to posting and letting us know how you're doing very soon after surgery! Love your smile and can't wait to see the frame around it shrinking so the smile will get bigger!

I'm still chugging along towards my Christmas goal, and I just might make it!! SW 298 CW 284.4 GW 280 Lbs to Goal 4.4 Thrilled doesn't describe how I'm feeling right now!

I've heard that being Vitamin D deficient can also add to depression. Did your doc suggest a supplement? It will get better! (((hugs)))

Welcome!!!

At my heaviest I used to tell family members that "The Cocaine diet just isn't working for me!" My mother was the worst offender on asking questions about my weight. I used to want to snap her bony little butt in half! Now, I miss her asking me about it.

That 3 week stall is a PITA for sure! You are doing everything right and the weight will start coming off again. Look for the NSVs when you hit stalls. My experience has been that I lose inches when I am not losing pounds. You lose weight, then your body has to adjust things before you will lose more. Two weeks ago, I was bouncing up and down the same 5 pounds, but my pants got so loose they fell off. Now I'm losing between half and one pound a day again. It WILL happen and the stall WILL break.

Kathy, Most people aren't overly fond of Protein shakes by the time they get to solid foods after surgery. You may not WANT to sub a meal with a Protein shake. My nut wants us getting most of our protein from food by the time we're into regular foods, but I can't see the harm in having a protein shake for breakfast if you want. Someone mentioned Egg Face and she makes tons of yummy looking Protein Shakes that she uses for breakfast and she's 5 years post op RNY.

Valerie, You will eventually develop a full feeling or signal. Right now, your tummy is probably still numb and somewhat swollen, so you don't recognize it. Immediately post-op my signal was pain in my left shoulder...and I thought it was gas! Now, I burp when I'm getting full. I know to put down the fork and push away from the plate as soon as I burp. I'm 3.5 months out, if that helps you any. It does get easier, but the best thing to do is exactly what you are doing... keep paying attention, eat very slow and chew very well. Good luck!!

I had my surgery in Sebastian with Dr Patrick Domkowski. I think he hung the sun, the moon and the stars!!! He does do revision surgeries. We actually talked about it at my last appt as a curiousity point for me. My friend is an ER nurse at the Sebastian River Medical Center where Dr D does his surgeries and she gave him glowing reviews before I ever met him. I did talk to other docs, but Dr D made me feel the most secure about the surgery. I have had no problems since/because of my surgery. He doesn't have the Center of Excellence distinction because they weren't doing the required volume. That is changing by summer of 2012, though. He's doing an online seminar tomorrow night if you're interested. http://www.riversidesurgicalweightloss.com/ is the link, I think.

Just an FYI for those who are interested. I PM'd 5DogMa today and she says she is in the hospital for dehydration and won't get out until she can drink enough to stay hydrated on her own. I wish her luck and hope she's all better soon!!

Oh, I had an AWESOME NSV today!! I am laughing at myself because this meant so much, but, Oh Well!! I do contract work for builders, so I travel to their sales centers fairly often. At one, there is a really sweet guy there (I think he's gay, but...) and I hadn't seen him in about 3 weeks. Today I was standing in the back room making copies and he walked into the room, stopped, did a double take and said "You look positively skinny today!" I really don't look "anything" skinny, but it was such a nice morale boost to me! ::::sigh:::: It's the little things.

You've hit the 3 week stall with a vengeance! Change things up, add Protein or carbs, subtract carbs, drink more Water, do some exercise. TAKE YOUR MEASUREMENTS! LOL Your body is readjusting to the changes you have put it through, surgery, then liquids, full liquids, then you've probably just started either mushies or solid foods. Now it's got to readjust AGAIN! While you may not be losing on the scale, you're probably noticing some of your clothes getting looser (this is when I had to get new undies!), and you probably have more ability to do things. Unless you're eating tons of sugar, cake, candy, ice cream, you WILL start losing again, probably with a big dramatic drop. Oh, and because someone else had this problem: Is your scale actually working? Good luck!!

Slim, First, Congrats on the baby!! Second, My surgeon allows NSAIDS after VSG, but doesn't encourage taking lots of over the counter meds. My pulmonary doc actually put me on baby aspirin the first time I went off coumadin and my surgeon didn't object at all. I also took Lovenox injections, which is similar to Heparin, immediately before my sleeve surgery and then three weeks later because I had a filter installed and then removed. I had DVTs before I had my sleeve, which required the filter to make sure no clots went wandering through my body because of the VSG. If you need the Heparin to make it through the pregnancy, I think you'll probably be fine. Your surgeon and ob/gyn are the best people to make that decision and I'm certain they won't have you do something that would cause you or the baby permanent harm! Congrats again!! I can't wait to see baby pics!!

For me, it's been a matter of changing the way I think about food. Now it either IS Protein or it is NOT protein. I eat protein first, get my Water in, then deal with all the other categories of food. I refuse to think of food as good or bad. It's just food. I need it to fuel my body, but I don't need it for other things. I used to eat my problems away. Now I'm having to deal with all the underlying issues that I used to cover up with food. I am seeing a therapist to deal with those issues, but it's almost like she's window-dressing now. The sleeve by itself has made me think hard about what I'm eating. It's been an interesting journey and you'll probably wind up taking your own version of it. IME, lawyers are normally analytical people (I'm a paralegal) and really like to dig into the whys and wherefores of things. Good luck!