Smoggy

Good luck! I love the "that which gets measured, gets done " idea. So true!

I have had oral thrush before from being on a sustained course of antibiotics. With oral thrush your mouth REALLY hurts and your tongue hurts too and is swollen and can even become cracked. The whole inside of your mouth and tongue is coated in a thick white furry substance and talking and swallowing are painful. Treating it with a topical ointment smeared on the surfaces inside your mouth, and taking a course of tablets worked fairly quickly for me luckily. If on the other hand you have yucky bog-breath from ketosis , I would also like to know how does one treat it? Do you just have to live with it? I would find that very hard to do as I deal with the public in my job all day long and it would be a major problem having them flinch away from me every time I talked to them.... a bit of a liability in my line of work so I am very interested in the answer to this question!

Hi Suzannesh, thanks so much for your very informative and helpful post. It is so very much appreciated. I will be having surgery in Abu Dhabi. The Doctor I am focusing on at the moment has a stellar reputation here although pre and post op care is extremely minimal compared to the US. I will certainly be bugging you further with questions if thats okay. You are an inspiration- many thanks!

I have told a very small group, some close friends, new friends in a sleeve support group, and my brother. Almost all of them have been supportive. I know my stepmother would disapprove, gossip negatively about it and influence my Dad into being negative too so I haven't told him. Likewise some acquaintances would definitely be negative so I am not informing them. I do not really want people in my workplace to know, as there is a lot of judgemental negativity there in a lot of respects, and I am sure I would be the butt of jokes etc with some people if it came out. I am naturally quite a discreet person about my private life and I think there is nothing wrong with being reserved about the details of my life except with close friends and family.

Hello jasleeve, so very happy for you that you are feeling better and seem to be on the road to recovery after your ghastly experiences. Love and light to you xox

So very sorry you have been having such a hard time. Sending you a hug in words and here's hoping you get this all behind you and that you're on the road to recovery soon. xox

I love the iPad app too! Yay!

Allie Alii it is so good to hear you are feeling better. Best of luck to you. Hmm,I am definitely doing this- but as to fears- I have zillions:- Here's a few 1)I too am self-pay and I also have the "will I mess it up after spending so much hard-earned moolah" fears. I am still saving and will be sleeved in +/- 5 months so a long way out, but these things are on my mind. 2)I am also in an area of the world where there is zero pre or after-care, and pretty much all of that kind of care will be me reading up on here and working out my own plan. I'm nervous that I won't know what I'm doing! I've met up with a couple of ladies who have formed a kind of support group, so that will help but it is still scary. 3) I am completely on my own for this surgery, a single gal with no family where I live and all of my friends will be away on vacation. Some friends and family know my plan but none can be with me for surgery or after to help look after me. It does work in my favour in that not everyone needs to know as I will need to keep it pretty discreet at work though. I'm quite an independent sort, but this is a biggie to do on my own! 4) Complications, leaks, not-so-good recovery issues. Will I be one of these? aaargh! Does everyone freak out with this one? 5) I'm a big -girl's blouse with pain and here the "big gun" pain meds are illegal so will the milder legal pain meds be enough? Or will I be a gibbering wreck from pain?

Well done you. What great results!

Huge difference in the pics! Well done- you must be so excited!

This is a really interesting question, but is seems to be looking like a "how long is a piece of string " question too. I know people who have bounced back from major surgery and others who haven't and also a few who have taken ages to recover from very minor surgery. I think perhaps it all depends on how healthy you are, time under the knife, reaction to anasthaesia and other drugs, your personal outlook, support system, how bashed - up your insides get during surgery and a host of other things. Personally I am waiting until summertime to be sleeved when I plan to have about 7-8 weeks to myself to recover and to learn how to rethink my lifestyle. I think I also have the slightly panicked idea that sod's law states that I'll be one of those people who has all sorts of issues with recovery so I want to be on the safe side.Overly cautious, hmm perhaps

Hi there, so glad you seem to be doing better every day, and you sound so positive. Good for you! I'm still pre-sleeve and researching surgeons and trying to work out my timing and it is very interesting to see how new sleevers are doing as I'll be there before I know it! I'm following your posts with interest. Wishing you all the best.

Hi there LovePINK (Love the handle!) First of all- don't beat yourself up. What's done is done. Make a new start and stick to an eating plan. Ask the people around you to help you, not tempt you. Calling yourself a failure when you haven't even started on your journey yet is only going to be part of a self-fulfilling prophecy which makes it easy to give up. The thing is to completely realise that you could at any moment harm your insides and nothing is worth that. Certainly not a few bites of burgers and french fries. You need to take a good hard look at yourself and admit to the food addiction and the 'head hunger' problem and actively DO something about it. Whether that means making yourself accountable in some way, or going to see a counsellor specialising in food disorders - DO IT. This is your life and your health. You are responsible for it. You have got this far and made such a huge brave step forward having surgery in the first place, step up to the plate and complete the process.

Hello Sandfluffymama, I'm so glad you got on with Dr Abdulsalam Al Taie, and that you felt comfortable there. Your experience sounds really positive which is always a good thing. I'm sorry you're in a quandary about telling your Mum, I suppose predicting her reaction is key- will she be positive or negative? If negative- would she agree to disagree and support you nevertheless? My Dad wouldn't- so I've taken the difficult decision not to tell him, but my brother is the opposite and since I've told him I'm going to be doing this he has been nothing but supportive. However the cards fall, I wish only the best for you. You deserve to have a healthy and active life with your beautiful little girl. xox

I'm not sure how you are taking pills so am going to suggest some liquid options- chicken Soup is tried and trusted- sipping and keeping hydrated as much as possible is key.Colds are usually viral so you just have to help your body to do the work and wait out the storm so to speak. If you put some effervescent Vitamin C tabs (1000 mg- and there are sugar-free options) along with some echinacea drops in a glass of Water, and obviously stir and wait for the bubbles to completely subside, that is a great daily immune booster. I have actually found some soluble echinacea and zinc ones which are awesome.If you feel REALLY grotty I also swear by Lemsip (dissolve in hot water), which is also good as it contains paracetamol for fever and a decongestant- it does tend to dry your nose out though. A friend I know throws a tot of whisky into that too but I'm a bit less gung-ho. Gargling 3 times a day with salt water for a sore throat is also a great remedy as is irrigating the sinuses with a neti pot (google it- these are amazing for sinus congestion- weird but they WORK!). Also, keep your hands clean and away from your face or you will spread those germs EVERYWHERE.lol Hope you get better!

Wow, this really resonated with me- thanks for the inspiration. i decided to plan this surgery when my gynaecologist recently scared me by giving me some facts and figures about morbid obesity and cancer- i had been conning myself that it would all just work out until then.This just makes me feel so much more determined to do it.

Being active often Having a waist and a lap Walking into a shop and buying any fitted regular sized clothes I like Losing the ‘invisible cloak’ of fatness Wearing high heels

I want to wear something just like this http://www.boden.co.uk/en-GB/Clearance/Womens-Dresses/Knee-Length-Dresses/WH290/Womens-Chic-Ruffle-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4 With these http://www.polyvore.com/jimmy_choo_suede_navy_cosmic/thing?id=43107104 *SIGH* I'll get there....

Thanks for the advice and the welcome peeps!

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the place for introductions and I'm usually allergic to forums and stuff, but anyway.... I haven't had surgery yet, am still looking for a good surgeon in my city, am researching my options, and saving up. I have got to the stage where I can't bear photos or looking in the mirror and am totally despairing. Someone recently called me the "fat lady in the circus" (on a day when I was feeling quite svelte )and I have got to the end of my tether after years of yo-yo dieting. Anyway, I intend to find out all I can on here, ask lots of questions and I'll be taking the VSG leap when I'm ready.Do bear with me please because I think that some of my mountains of bodyfat has leaked into my brain (I'm a bit slow at times). Um, thats it I think. Feel free to chip in and tell me I've posted in a weird place or sound like a nutter.

Hi- am in your city not sleeved yet, researching docs here etc and still agonising over it all, would love to hear about your journey.