UXgrrl

People have been getting partial (even full) gastrectomies for decades... it's only been in the last 5-6 years that it's been being performed specifically for weight loss purposes. People have had severe ulcers, stomach cancer, etc. and have been having parts of their stomachs removed and the only significant side effect was weight loss. In your research you might have come across the fact that the sleeve gastrectromy for WLS was originally done as part of the D/S procedure... then they started doing it to "step down" patients who were too obese to withstand an open surgical procedure since the VSG could be done laproscopically... Personally I felt most comfortable going with the sleeve from the very beginning because it just seemed so "clean and simple". Combined with what I knew my personal food struggles (simple overeating) it made the most sense for me. I wasn't happy about the presence of (another*) foreign object in my body and I didn't want my intestines messed around with, since I already had an uneasy truce with them. From past attempts at diets, I knew that if I could lose enough weight in the beginning I could trust myself to stay committed to continuing. I also wanted something permanent. I honestly believe that I was born with a stomach too big for my metabolism. I've struggled with weight my entire life. Now I feel that I've corrected a situation that has done nothing but get me in trouble for as long as I can remember. (* I say "another" because I already have an artificial hip implant, which someone reminded me of when I explained my "foreign body" argument. Personally I didn't think they were equivalent but the jerk I was speaking to apparently did.) This is a tough decision. Honestly, for me, having the decision to have WLS of any kind was much less of a hurdle than which procedure to have. One some level, any kind of surgery requires a leap of faith and a trust in something bigger and more powerful than you are -- God, the universe, whatever it is to you. At some point the risks are outweighed by mounting evidence that your other weight-related problems are not going to be resolved on their own. That point comes at different times for different people. Please let us know if you need more information to make a decision either way... there is a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum, and we're happy to answer questions. Best of luck!

Pookeyism, that's great advice about the zinc oxide treatment for the towel... I will definitely look this post up again if heat rashes become a problem (and I suspect they will).

What an interesting question! It's nice that they are asking you that ahead of time. One of the things that always bugs me in the hospital is the fact that they woke me up at all hours and the constant parade in and out was disruptive. I know that they have to do some things frequently, like check your blood pressure, etc, but in the night or when you're sleeping, I would prefer if they delayed non-critical cares or at least try to be very quiet when in the room. I also had an awesome hospital dietician visit me on the 2nd day, once my head was clearer and I could talk. The dietician I met with before surgery was kind of an old battleaxe and I didn't care for her attitude much. The one in the hospital sat and talked with me for over an hour and answered all sorts of questions, and had a very refreshing, realistic attitude towards the process. This was very helpful, because as we've seen on this board, every surgeon has a different approach to nutrition after WLS... even surgeons who practice in the same hospital. Kind of along those same lines... someone needs to sit with you and really go over what happens once you're discharged. What should you do if you run into problems? What constitutes a problem, exactly? Can't keep water down? In too much pain? Find out who to call for any possible problem, at any time day or night. It's so easy to get caught up in rushing to get home because you're excited to get out of the hospital that it's easy to forget to get all your questions answered. Once you're out of the hospital, you're on your own until your first follow up, and while this board is a FANTASTIC source of help, many times we will say to you "you should probably call your doctor". Make SURE you know who to call if you need it. Good luck!

Thanks for coming back and letting us know! Hope things are smoothing sailing for you from this point on.

What's potted meat? Like meat in a can? I went and bought canned chicken (works just like tuna in a can... in fact, tastes kind of like it too ) for quick chicken salads.

Once I really started trying to move around & exercise a bit (in my 2nd week) I was having a lot of internal pain in my left rectus abdominis muscle. It was my 2nd largest incision and it was healing fine; it was the first scab to fall off, in fact. Anyway, I was having a deep dull ache in that muscle that happened every time I tried to sit up or roll over in bed, when I got on my knees to look under the couch, laughed or coughed. Basically, any time I was using my stomach muscles. It was really annoying, and I spent a few nights with my heating pad, but it did go away eventually. Incidentally, I noticed that muscle was twitching quite a bit the first few days after surgery. Kind of like how your eyelid twitches sometimes. Clearly something traumatized it. I read through my surgical report when it came in the mail and it sounds like my stomach was removed through my largest incision, which was almost directly midline over my belly button, not the one on my far left side which has been having the hardest time healing, which many people say they had their stomach removed through. Your pain sounds muscular in origin. As long as you aren't having other problems, like your incisions are red or hot and you're not running a fever or having other signs of infection or a leak, you're probably fine. Don't forget that your muscles have sutures in them as well and are healing. Try a heating pad or something else warm for a few days, and take it easy.

I agree, lots of stuff sounded totally gross pre-op to me too but somehow I managed to deal with it after surgery. Puréed chicken was my favorite meat... The trick is to add enough moisture, because it can get a strange texture, almost stringy. The white meat breasts were the worst with that. I've transitioned to soft foods -- almost to normal diet -- but my fave mushy foods were rotisserie chicken meat (blenderized) and cottage cheese. Rotisserie chicken has such an awesome flavor, and it's very soft and moist. Oddly enough, puréed Beans, with different kinds of spices, were a hit too. I couldn't stand beans before and now I'm quite fond of them, especially cannellini (white beans). Lots of people like refried beans with a little of cheese on top. I also liked hummus and baba ganoush. I think the key for me was to eat food that naturally came puréed... Then I didn't feel deprived because I had to mess around with it. I tried to eat what my family was eating at night but I always felt a little sad putting dinner in the blender.

I've been taking -- on my dietician's recommendation -- generic kid's chewable multi-vitamins with iron from Walgreens. I don't know how much they were but I'm sure they were less than $5. Also I have to take 2 Tums Ultra a day. I've heard you can get sublingual B12 fairly cheap too. That covers me for vitamins. You'll get more variety and probably better taste if you spend more, but I don't think you have to go into debt over supplements, especially since they are so essential.

I had some pretty bizarre dreams during my first week or two. My sleep schedule -- never very regular to start with -- was completely whacked out and at times I couldn't tell if what I remembered happening really did or if it was a dream. I NEVER in my life dreamed about eating but I did during that time. I even convinced myself once that I could email doughnuts (I don't even like doughnuts much!) Things started to settle down at the end of the 2nd week. It's amazing what the body will do under stress and we all handle it differently. Sounds like you're handling things well so far... keep up the great work!

I actually woke from up surgery in the recovery room in the middle of a terrible cramp in both calves, and the compression cuffs they had on my legs were excruciating. I whined at the nurses and they say they gave me something for it (no idea what), and when they kept reoccurring, over and over every time I tried to flex my legs, they did blood work to see if my potassium and sodium were low (they weren't). My legs were good and sore for three or four days after. I haven't had a charlie horse in years previously. Muscle cramps can be caused by dehydration. You probably weren't allowed to drink anything for awhile before surgery. Are you prone to cramps? Maybe you had cramps during the surgery, and this is the lasting soreness that you're feeling. If that's the case, a heating pad and tylenol should help. BUT... I agree with the others above, see if a sports drink helps (watch the calories! lots of them are full of sugar) and if not, go directly to your ER, do not pass go or collect $200!

I was getting sweats -- along with nausea -- and I figured out it was from the Protein shake I was drinking right before bed. Apparently the protein in the shake was so easily digestible that my system was "revving up" after drinking the shake. I was mixing 1 scoop of EAS whey Isolate protein with 1 cup of Lactaid milk. I switched to 0.5 scoop and added 1/2 c. nonfat greek yogurt to the 1 cup of milk, and that solved the problem (for a similar calorie & protein load) I Googled this issue and apparently some people in the bodybuilding community have trouble with this too. They suggest consuming casein protein instead of whey before bed; or better yet, just eat some cottage cheese (which is what I do now).

Oh jeez... you just can't seem to catch a break, can you? And on a holiday weekend too, good grief. I hope you are able to get through the wait til your scope on Wednesday, and I sure hope they are able to find the problem this time around.

Hope something helps you! Good luck, and hope you catch some zzz's!

It's amazing what kinds of weird pains muscle tension can create. It's such a relief that things look OK from the cardiologist's point of view, so that wasn't a waste of time... And you've eliminated the most obvious suspects, which leads me to believe the elbow pain sounds like it might be referred pain, or possibly a pinched nerve from muscular tension in the upper chest and/or shoulders. Have you been sitting hunched over for a prolonged period of time, or with your shoulders rolled forward? Does anything help? Tylenol? Ibuprofen? Hot showers? Exercise? Laying down? You might want to consider trying a physical therapist, or even better, a massage therapist who is trained in trigger point therapy. Trigger points can cause all sorts of bizarre aches and pains and mimic lots of much worse illnesses. They are hard little nodules of contracted fibers in your muscles that cause chronic shortening and weakening of muscles, and can -- over time -- lead to joint dysfunction and possibly osteoarthritis. Most of us have dozens of them at any given time in our bodies but we don't notice them until they start hurting. They've even found them in the bodies of cadavers post-mortem. Here is a pretty good overview of them: http://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.php

Aww, that's so cool! Congratulations! And it's so awesome that your daughters are supportive.

I have RLS (restless leg syndrome) as well as a cyclic sleep phase disorder, so I've been battling insomnia most of my life. The only thing that has been working consistently for me was melatonin supplements. I take the 3mg sublingual melatonin from Source Naturals and they are a godsend for me. When I had my overnight sleep study they recorded me falling asleep 12 minutes after I took one! I recommended these to a coworker who seemed to have similar insomnia problems as I did and they didn't work for him, so YMMV. They are fast-acting, so take them once you are already in bed and ready to turn out the light. Good luck! It sucks when you can't sleep, it can really ruin your whole life.

Good suggestions, everyone. Thanks! It makes me feel a little less apprehensive. I'm sure I'll be a MUCH cheaper date at the sushi place this time around... before we would order 4 or 5 rolls between us, plus appetizers and saki! The bill was never less than $120.

@Felicia - I know it is so hard, doing all this work, being good, and not seeing the reward on the scale. I stalled for 6 days in my 2nd week (apparently I hit my 3 week stall early, LOL) and it was very depressing, especially since I am still adjusting to my new lifestyle. Plus I was having serious energy problems which made it difficult to get back to normal life, making it even easier to get depressed. Remember that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of adipose tissue (fat). You're being very diligent about Protein and nutrient intake; I have a theory that our bodies, right after surgery, and sucking up every ounce of nutrients and protein we put in it and rebuilding tissue like crazy after years of sub-optimal nutrition. (I can't back this up with proof but it makes sense to me). I also read on this board somewhere that the switch from glycogen burning to fat burning requires a detox period during which your body tends to hoard a little extra Water than usual... again, can't prove this, but based on what I know about metabolism it makes sense. Plus... TMI warning... how's your poop? If I have a BM I almost always notice a lb or two drop on the scale the next day. I did the math once... 3500 calories to lose one pound. I figured that I required 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. I'm hovering around 600 calories a day intake... this means a 1200/day deficit. That means 1 lb every 3 days. If I'm weighing every day, I'm only going to see a loss a couple times a week. My conclusion is that I should only weigh myself once a week. So far I haven't been able to stick to that @likasulema - Most likely you were stitched up using dissolvable stitches internally (which will just dissolve away over time) and the outside was either done with dissolvable stitches too (if you can see them) or more likely, incision glue. At least that seems to be the consensus on this board. Neither one will have to be removed by your surgeon.

I too hesitated a lot to take the "extreme" step of WLS. For so many years it seemed like the last resort of desperate people who had no other choice. It was a slap in the face when my insurance actually approved VSG, even though there were rumors of other people being denied for it from our insurance company, because it really hit home that, medically, I WAS one of those desperate people who had no other choice. I had no idea that my weight was really life-threatening. I'd been heavy my whole life and I was one of those higher-energy people who "carried it well". To have an insurance company tell me that, yes, I needed WLS was a wake-up call. I had all the same fears as everyone else who comes to this board, wondering if this is the right decision. I relied very heavily, and still do, on all the "graduates" who keep saying that it changed their lives, their only regret was not doing it sooner, etc etc. I figured that, statistically, it was very unlikely that I would be one of the exceptions and would probably have a similar (positive) outcome. Even now, 3 weeks out when I am still struggling with energy and pain, I'm believing in the collective wisdom of the great people on this board. And so far they have not let me down. :heart:

It's hard to choose rewards because they so often require spending money, which is tight in our household. So far I've only set two: 241, which was the weight I was when I started my most successful diet in my life (Atkins). I was 23. For that, I will reward myself with a new haircut (which I desperately need). Next one after that is 212, which was what I got to when I got bored with Atkins and quit. That was what I weighed when I met my partner 10+ years ago. Not sure what I'll do then to Celebrate. Of course, there's always "onderland"... I think it's probably important to celebrate goals and NSVs, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do that without it involving food or too much money. I'm curious to hear what others say!

I'm personally getting tired of seeing the bright blue ads that are focused on a skinny woman's torso (who SO NOT EVER had WLS or a baby) that go to http://www.mysurgeryoptions.com/. I totally get the e-commerce thing too (I'm actually in that industry) but Alex, you may see more conversion if you mix in some ads for Vitamins, shapewear, hairpieces etc (like thecropqueen said). Judging from the traffic numbers in the forums, I think most of your users have already had surgery so they aren't benefiting from ads from surgeons. I'm sure your population would be happy to do user research surveys, if you wanted to target them more effectively. You could also build in an option for people to disclose in their profile settings what kind of surgery they had and how long ago... I bet that would be useful data as well. Just some ideas.

Wow... this reminds me of some of the questions other people were asking when I was attending my very, very first informational WLS seminar back when I first started this journey. There is just so much ignorance regarding food and nutrition. Some people are battling not only emotional eating issues but also straight out stupidity. The fact of the matter is that you can seriously hurt yourself post-op if you have any WLS and don't follow the rules. I know this is why they put you through the psychological ringer ahead of time to make sure you have enough common sense to handle yourself afterwards. And the nutritional counseling too. It's a pain to have to go through but for the people who really don't know better, it can save their lives. My personal inspiration to do this project right is an acquaintance of mine who had RNY, lost 100+ and just looks awful. We were over at her house a year ago and her partner gave us glasses of sweet tea (they're southern). I took a sip and almost gagged -- there was so much sugar in it I was surprised my spoon didn't stand up straight! I made an offhanded comment and the RNY friend sort of laughed about how she just can't stop drinking her sweet tea after surgery. I swore to myself I wouldn't become judgemental about other people's eating habits after I lost weight but jeez, it's no wonder she has weight problems (still, even after WLS). I feel bad for her.

I use myfitnesspal on my iPod Touch, my iPad, and every computer I touch. I noticed the other day that they finally came out with a version sized for the iPad. 'Bout time!

Yep, I second what Lisa said... there will be at LEAST one opportunity when you will be asked to verify who you are and what you are having done. You will be asked to verify who you are, when you were born, and what you're having done so many times it'll get super irritating. You should be fine!

Relax. You're doing just fine. Everything that you're experiencing is totally normal. We've all been there, in one form or another. This process can be extremely traumatic in the very beginning. I'm just starting to come out of the woods, look around and say, "holy ****, I'm not going to be the only one this doesn't work for, this might actually be my lifetime solution I was dreaming about!" You WILL get to that place too. I promise you that. Some of us bounce back sooner than others. It's so tempting to compare yourself to others, but we're all on our own journeys to health. Try instead to focus on YOUR goals & YOUR victories. They will come, and sooner than you think! I've been a member of this board for only a few months and it has an amazing group of supportive people. You've found your friends and your support group. We'll be here for you when you need us. Don't forget to search through the old posts for keywords about things you are wondering about. There's a wealth of information buried in here... but if your brain isn't entirely functional right now, we're happy to repeat ourselves! Welcome, welcome. We're glad you're here!