Lissa

Strange, You should ask him that! Just tell him you're "not that kind of girl" and that he has to at least shake your hand and buy you some broth first.

Souled, It is a vice you must give up. Smoking, especially after VST, impedes healing of the sleeve, makes skin reabsorption more difficult, and can cause ulcers in our sleeves. Drop them now. It's tough, but why have life-saving sleeve surgery if you're going to continue to smoke? FTR, I'm an ex-smoker as well... and it nearly killed me pre-op.

You'll get it, and sooner than you think! Mine fell about 3 weeks post-op. That was my first real NSV, I lost my panties. My pants themselves followed two weeks later!

Congrats! Now that you're here, hang out and visit with us!

Wow!! You do look great! You can tell you've got your sassy back, too!

Peacequeen, I may be one of the ones that you are referring to as making it seem easy, but it's not. If you noticed, my weight loss all but stalled. From January until the beginning of May, I barely lost 10 pounds. I kept up on eating right, Water, and exercise, but the weight just wasn't moving much. The only explanation I have for it is that I weighed in that same bracket (250-270) for over 10 years on my way up, so it took a while for my body to decide that it could let go of some of that weight. I also doubled my cardio and weight lifting during May and BAM, I dropped to 252. That was my 100 pound mark, but I think that the extreme (for me) exercise is what finally kicked my body into gear again. Please don't beat yourself up or feel like a failure. You're one of my inspirations around here!!

LMAO!! That would do it. Of course, that's when I first realized I was REALLY losing weight, too. My panties were falling around my thighs while I still had pants on over them!

Yeah, Star, I sometimes have to remind myself that prison humor/attitude doesn't work in a g-rated forum. I work really hard not to drop curse words into posts here. 13 years after my last work day in a prison, I still use way too much salty language.

Glad that you have a date!! With a surgeon! LOL

By now, you should be sleeved! Hope everything is going well and that you are recovering pain-free!

Fingers crossed for yoU!

I'm thrilled it's not a leak. Resting your sleeve sounds like a great idea until the swelling goes down. I was really concerned when you posted the other day that you did have a leak. I've never been so happy to be wrong!

It's okay, Star. YOU didn't leave me speechless. This is a g-rated forum usually, so I had no response to Ourborous' last post!

I'm absolutely speechless. Mark this one on the calendar.

Jimmy, Women responded first because there are WAY more of us here than there are guys. We're also the ones trying to take care of everyone, so we hear ALL of the men's complaints...even the ones they won't tell their buddies! Besides, We're used to treating chafing in private areas from changing baby diapers.

Okay, for those who asked for a picture. Here's my official 100 pounds gone picture:

So, I'm in Walmart this morning, doing a little shopping, when I look up and see this really handsome black man. He looks REALLY familiar, too. At first I thought he was someone else, but when I asked, he said no, but he's a Dr Domkowski patient, too. That's when I realized I was talking to Mr. J!!! I've been following his journey here and on You Tube, and I knew he lived here in Vero, but I was stunned to actually see him in person! BTW, Mr. J seriously needs to update his pic on here! If he hadn't been smiling, I might not have recognized him! It was nice to meet him in person. He's very charming and kind, even when accosted by strange women in Walmart! I imagine he's got his own NSV for today "Some crazy lady came up and talked to me out of the blue!"

IMO, the "clean plate club" should be renamed the "guaranteed big a*# club". Good on you for knowing when to say when.

I have to go through Gravatar to change my profile pic.

I feel sorry for your little friend, ourborous! He's telling you to be nicer to him. Maybe a little baby powder would help. I bought cornstarch-based baby powder recently for my tummy issues. As I get more active, more things rub together than you'd think and my belly isn't liking all this movement. With the humidity in FL, regular baby powder felt like sandpaper on my tummy. Someone else mentioned monkey butt powder. They also make a paste which speeds healing. Good luck!

I look at it like this: Your surgeon sets your pre and post-op diet based on what your (general you) surgeon has found works for his/her patients with his/her surgical technique. Therefore, you should follow whatever diet your surgeon recommends for best results. I sometimes wonder about the big differences as well, though.

Bread and pasta both make me hurt. They also stay in my sleeve for a long time and make it tough for me to drink water. I avoid both.

Drink more water, but you can also use Biotin Gel (sold at walmart) to help with dry mouth from mouth breathing. I use a bipap machine nightly and, even with the humidifier on it, I often wake up with dry mouth. The Biotin gel helps me not wake up with dry mouth as often. I don't know if there are any other brands of this, but it's found where the toothpaste is sold.

Libra, Thank you! I'll look for them when I go in again. I was in walmart this morning and I have a post about that coming up in a few. Dorrie, Yes, I'm still eating cheetos. I've found that a small indulgence in them once a month keeps me from obsessing about them all the time. Now I can tell myself, "Okay, self, you want cheetos. You had cheetos last week and you get to have cheetos again next week. Get over it and eat your Protein bar." So far, it's working.

Oh, that NSV was made twice as nice because you left him SPEECHLESS!! You go girl!