Back~To~Amy

I didn't have one prior to my VSG surgery, but did have one after my final gallbladder attack. I don't remember for sure, but it seems like it took quite some time. I remember the tech looking at all kinds of things in my abdomen because, as she moved around. She told me what she was looking at. "Good" thing all she found was a bad gallbladder that had to come out ASAP.

Hi PJones. Thanks for sharing your experience. I wanted to stop by here and welcome you to VST. This place is wonderful and the people and support here is amazing. Congrats on your success thus far! Keep up the good work. I look forward to getting to know you. Best of luck to you in your journey.

I just wanted to pop in and say y'all can do it! Be strong and before you know it, you won't even think about them anymore. The beginning is the roughest but it does get easier. I quit 6 1/2 years ago and it is so freeing not to have cigarettes controlling my life and making me stink. I admire those of you quitting during this process.

When you are on liquids, it very important to find a variety of stuff you enjoy because that part of the diet gets old quick.

I too am in the Dallas area and I paid $12,000.00.

I will try and find it there. I definitely want to try it. Thanks!

I just saw a commercial for Ensure Clear. It looks like a juice and it has 9 grams of protein in it. Has anyone tried it? If so, what did you think?

I lived off them on my preop diet. I paid right around 24 to 25 dollars for a case. Now postop, I'm having trouble drinking them as i no find them too sweet While I was under anesthetic having surgery, my doctor must've taken out my sweet tooth too. I didn't have much of one prior to surgery, but now I have absolutely none.

Good point Skye. I may be in a stall but in the last week, I've been able to put on pants that didn't fit the weeks prior. I am taking my measurements bit only every 4 weeks. I'm right in the middle of that 4 weeks right now.

It sounds like we are both in the same slow boat blondeej and it sucks! I never had a stall this early out the gazillion times I did Weight Watchers so I was sure it wouldn't happen list VSG.....WRONG! I too am a scale wh%#e and I doubt it will ever change. Tomorrow I will do what I do everyday. I will get out of bed, pee and hop on the scale and tomorrow again I will be optimistic. One day, hopefully soon, I will be happy at the number!

I'm 4 1/2 weeks out. In the beginning I got a sharp bubble feeling pain right between my breasts if I took a normal drink. I don't anymore so long as its a normal size drink. I can take several pretty good sized gulps in a row now and still feel that pain slightly. However, if I'm "dying" of thirst, it is not enough to stop me from gulping.

I record my weight every Monday. Every 4 weeks I take pics and do my measurements. I'm a big digital scrapbooker and am documenting this stuff in scrapbook style. I intend to put make it into a hard back book when I reach goal. I also have a blog. It started out as a way for me to document my journey for me. I've put useful information in there though that can help people who are early in their journey. Personally, I'd rather over document my journey than under document it. Best of luck in your "new" life.

Heck ya. I wanna chime in. I'm 31 days postop and have lost 20ish pounds since surgery. For the last week and a half or so my scale has been going up and down the same 2 1/2 pounds and it is driving me crazy. It doesn't go above 270.8 but it won't go below 268 I keep waking up every morning thinking this is gonna be the day I see 267 and nope, it hasn't been the day yet. Tomorrow? A girl can dream, right?

Darla5060 brings up a good point. A HUGE point. Snacking on the wrong things could actually hurt you. Your sleeve is still in the very early stages of healing and eating something contraindicated could cause a leak or worse! I know it is hard but you have to hang in there for your health!

With all do respect, have you thought of counseling? It sounds to me as if you have self-esteem issues you expected surgery/weight loss to fix. You mention being ugly with stretch marks and that you had to take 20 pictures just to get your profile picture. Surgery didn’t do that to you. Those things existed the day you had surgery. Your face is still the same as the day you had surgery you’re your stretch marks would be too since you haven’t lost any weight. As to how you are feeling since surgery. Do you really think you are going to feel the way you do at this exact moment for forever and that you will never lose any weight and that this will all be for nothing? Healing takes time. And, if you aren’t cheating your sleeve, it is impossible not to lose weight. Have you contacted your doctor about this? Have you been documenting what you eat/drink? If so, see a nutritionist. I think though you really need to consider getting help from a therapist or psychologist. Weight loss isn’t a cure for the issues going on in your head, issues that obviously existed prior to surgery such as the look of your face and your stretch marks. Heck, the stretch marks may get worse as you lose weight and as is with a lot of people who lose a lot of weight, you may have sagging skin. Did you consider all this before you had surgery because it is a reality for most? You need to be able to deal with all of your imperfections….the ones you have now and the ones that may develop as the result of weight loss. You make a comment about there being no contest that a man would choose inner inside a Victoria’s Secret model’s body over inner beauty in a fat and ugly body. Did you expect that Victoria’s Secret Body? If not, did you consider that yours will likely have the same, if not more stretch marks, than you had the day of surgery or that you may have excess skin that hangs? Again, you need to be able to deal with this from an emotional standpoint and it certainly doesn’t sound like you are in a place to do so. Please take care of yourself and get help if you need it. Best of luck to you.

I'm not sure about the bags, but I can speak about the blood thinner shots. I didn't know till after surgery that I too had to give myself shots for 10 days postop. In my head I was freaking out. I've always had a fear of needles. This needle was soooo teeny tiny and you do it in your stomach where there's lots of "cushion". It really turned out to be easy and no big deal. Best of luck to you.

There is actually information now that debunks caffeine dehydrating you unless you drink it in large amounts. From the Mayo Clinic website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661

The first few days are the toughest. It seems around day 4 for most proper is when it hard easier. That was the case for me too. Hang in there!

I think with all those carbs, I better find something else. I've looked for the Special K Vitamin Water but haven't been able to find it. What part of the store do you find it?