Lissa

Congrats!!!

Yay!! That's always a nice NSV!

Congrats on the smaller size AND on the NSVs! It's always nice for hard work to be recognized!!

My stomach is my most difficult place to shrink. There is muscle there, lots of it, but it's underneath a bunch of skin. My arms and legs are toning up pretty well, but my tummy is not showing as much improvement.

I see nothing wrong with being a carnivore! It's protein, baby!!

I have the perfect solution for you. Ballroom dancing. My stepson was really shy around girls, but he'd show body parts that he shouldn't, i.e. paper thin boxers when I was around. We first put him into karate classes, which helped him get used to touching people, then he went on to ballroom dancing classes. There's a lot of touching involved, but it's all very structured. He posts his videos on You Tube when he competes and it's really helped his self-confidence levels, plus it's given him a venue where he's had to learn the "polite" ways to express interest in girls. He's a bit of a ham, but his videos are listed under "thenameismagoo" on You Tube if you're interested in seeing whether that might be something you could tolerate. It's about the only way I can think of where you'll get to meet women who are NOT expecting you to either pay them for their favors, or pushing you into situations where you're not comfortable. Students and instructors are definitely not encouraged to date. Perhaps a few lessons would help you become more used to having people in your personal space. Good luck!

Do you have BCBS/IL? I was told, and I read the policy as well, that UPS unilaterally excludes WLS. I self-paid because of it. Of course, my surgery was almost 9 monhts ago, so that may have changed.

Any NSV is a big victory! Great for you!!

First of all, welcome to VST and to the loser's bench! Second, if you're getting in 54 oz of Water AND a Protein shake, you're doing an amazing job! My doc tells us not to worry so much about the protein until we're into the mushies stage. You need the water WAY more than you need protein for those first few weeks. You're not going to starve to death, but you can get dehydrated and end up in trouble in a hurry. Good luck on your journey!!

Chrissy, Take all the leave they will give you. Since you're going to have to self-pay because UPS has a unilateral weight loss exclusion, take all the time you can get.

Star, I think you were a victim of "rote speech". He hears the same things from patients so often that he has a speech in place for that expected conversation. He doesn't know how to vary his approach to someone who is actually being successful. I agree that he's an a##, but at least he actually sees you instead of palming you off on someone else like some of the doctors I've read about on here.

Good job!!

I'm almost 9 months out and I have no regrets. IMO, the sleeve saved my life. I'm happier, healthier and fitter than EVER before. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself.

You should check out profiles for Stronger_Diva and for Sleeve of Steel. Both of them look really good and are still healthy looking gals. Diva is in a zero and Sleeve of Steel has specifically chosen to be a little thicker for her own reason. You do NOT have to get to stick thin after being sleeved. I doubt I'll ever get to that point myself. I'm 5'8, so anything below 180 or so is going to look pretty bad on me. My goal weight is 190. I think we all go through the stage of wishing we could have done this without surgery..and many of us have lost significant amounts of weight without WLS. The problem is that it's very hard to keep that weight off without WLS. This isn't a miracle. It's a tool to HELP us do what we need to do to get healthy. Lots of sleevers manage to get to goal without exercise, but those who are most successful in my book are the ones who add exercise to their daily routines. Good luck, whatever decision you make!

I never actually posted that I had WLS. I started posting pictures of myself with notes like "50 pounds gone" or "Off to the gym for my morning workout". I'm a member of a couple of Sleeve groups on FB, and I've posted things on my page that relate to sleeving, plus I now have several personal friends (as opposed to friends through a group) who post things related to their WLS journeys on their personal pages. It's just matter of factly become part of my daily life on FB. I'm sleeved; I'm proud; bite me if you don't like it. Of course, as I've posted bits and pieces of my journey, others have asked questions, but only one person has said anything remotely negative TO me about my surgery on FB. I'm noticing that a LOT of my friends are now working out and dieting, and a couple are actually being pretty successful. If I've had a hand in inspiring that, great!

One of my best NSVs has been the ability to sit in both vinyl and canvas lawn chairs without worrying about them collapsing under me!

Oh, except maybe Whoo Hoo!

Oh, I am made of sterner stuff. Working in a prison definitely kicks the sissy-girl out of you. But, this is still a g-rated forum. I couldn't find anything to say in response to your post that I thought would stay within TOS guidelines.

Some of you know that I have a DVT (blood clot) and two pulmonary embolisms before surgery because of pneumonia. You might remember that I've been on coumadin since last June because of those clots. I had an appt with my pulmonary doctor yesterday and he told me that I could refuse to continue taking the coumadin. He couldn't NOT prescribe it because my test results still say I'm high on clot factor, but with my weight loss and activity level, he wouldn't argue with me if I refused the medicine, so I refused it. As a precautionary measure, he ordered an ultrasound of my legs, the site of the blood clot before. I had that ultrasound today and my legs are not only clot free, the tech couldn't even tell where the clot had been!! She also complimented me on the amount of muscle in my thighs, although that muscle made it harder for her to do the ultrasound. I'm a happy and HEALTHY girl today!! I think I can predict that I will outlive the death sentence the doctors handed me last year! THAT is worth a happy dance all on it's own!!!

I did tons of research before surgery, but decided against DS for the same reasons I decided against gastric bypass: malabsorption. Both DS and GB require that you monitor your vitamin levels super closely for life, even more closely that we should do with our sleeves. The other issue for me was dumping syndrome. I had IBS pre-op and wanted to avoid making that worse if possible. I've been lucky that I haven't had any episodes of that since surgery, so I made the right choice for me.

Now, one of the other maxims of weight loss surgery: Never trust a fart. Congrats on being sleeved, especially with only one incision! Welcome to the loser's bench!!

The difference in bougie sizes is measured in millimeters, so the difference between a 32 and a 40 bougie is smaller than the size of the word difference on your screen. What gives some people more capacity than others is their height. If you're taller, you usually have a longer sleeve, not necessarily wider.

Nicotine is out of your system in 3 days. Drink lots of Water. After that, it's all in your head rather than being because you "need" nicotine. I got myself through by promising myself I could have a cigarette in 2 days, or a week, or next month. IMO, cold turkey is the only way that really works. Patches and ecigs just deliver more nicotine, which is the major addictive substance in cigarettes. Good luck!!

That is gross. I've been researching tummy tucks and every time I see pics of someone's removed skin I want to hurl. My best friend is an ER nurse and she's finally learned not to tell me horror stories about what goes on at work. I lose my cool really quick when it comes to blood and guts.

SleeveMe, Smoking aggravated my pre-op pneumonia, diminished my lung capacity and caused asthma. I've had a good bit of improvement in my lung capacity, but I'll never be 100%. My pulmonologist is hopeful that my increased cardio will undo some of the asthma damage. Oh, and I also now have allergies to pollen, etc that I did not have before smoking. But, why give your life to smoking after going through this to save yourself from obesity?