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So yesterday was my 2 month post-op Surgiversary! Overall, I'm feeling pretty great! Down 49 lbs (1 lbs away from my first goal!) and nearly 27% to my goal weight! My measurements are surprising! I didn't lose that much in inches in the first month (-12.25 inches), but I lost more weight (-21.9 lbs). In my second month, I've lost less weight (-15.3 lbs), but significantly more inches (-21.75 inches)! Not sure what to attribute that to, perhaps the first month was mostly Water weight and less reflected in measurements? In any case, I'll take it! Here are some pictures of my progress: I don't see that big a change in these pictures (my body image is messed up....I know). My husband says he sees a dramatic change already (he's so sweet and supportive!). I do see quite a change in my face though, which is nice, as I look at myself in the mirror in the morning (tooth brushing, combing, etc.) and it's a good way to start off the day!). Yippee!

Very possibly. Many VSG patients have reflux post-op. For some it resolves with time, for others it ends up being fairly permanent. The good news is that it is quite well controlled with medication (a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) such as Omeprazole (Prilosec) often by itself or in combination with another med). There are many theories as to the why patients develop Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) post VSG surgery: 1. The new long narrow shape of the stomach make the mobility of the acids more easily progress up into the esophagus. 2. The sphincter muscle between the esophagus and the stomach many have mobility issues post-op due to the surgery. Often these will resolve with time and healing. In some cases, there may have been some scarring or injury to the sphincter during surgery that can result in a more permanent condition. 3. During post-op healing (which can take up to 6 months to fully heal), the lining of the stomach is very sensitive and more likely to react to the acids being produced. This can cause some spasms that may push the acids upward into the esophagus. 4. Some patients may develop a hiatus hernia. A hiatus hernia is a widening of the diaphragm at the point where the esophagus passes from the chest into the abdomen. When you have a hiatus hernia, the stomach slips into the chest and the sphincter at the end of the esophagus is less effective. The hiatus hernia can be surgically repaired (and often patients have this pre-op and it is found during VSG surgery and it is repaired during the VSG!), which should also help resolve the sphincter mobility problems. 5. And of course, eating foods that irritate the stomach or cause excess acid production, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, garlic, onions, spicy foods, foods high in fat, alcohol, and caffeine should be avoided in the early post-op stage. If you are progressing well following the elimination of many of the foods suggested above and are taking a PPI, you can begin to try to reintroduce one of these foods at a time and assess your tolerance. Laying down after eating can also increase the likelihood of GERD and should be avoided. Good luck!

It's true the those of use in the 300 lb mark when we start may not get down to the 130 lb mark in a short amount of time, but MANY of us do get down there (I'm planning on it!) with lots of hard work, dedication, attention to our food and exercise. I'm actually not wanting to lose it all TOO fast, as hopefully that will help prevent massive skins issues. I am certain I will need cosmetics in the end (being 42 years old and over 300 lbs for the last 15 years, and obese since I was about 10 years old). A slower loss many help some areas "bounce back" and reduce the number of surgeries I need post-op and at goal. Have faith that you can do this! I know many doctors talk about the statistics (60-70% of excess weight lost in the first 12 months for the average compliant patient). But there's no reason you can't be a part of the top end of the bell curve and loss ALL of your excess weight. It doesn't have to be in the first 12 months either (though it gets harder to lose as you get closer to goal). Don't let the statistics about EWL (excess weight loss) dissuade you from this surgery, if that's all that holding you back.

One of the main reasons so many of us begin our weight loss journey (other than to improve our health and longevity) is to recapture the social aspect of our lives. We gave food the power to hide us from so many of our friends, social events and activities. Now you've taken BACK that power. Just because some of these events are centered around meals and food doesn't mean you can't go, enjoy reconnecting with old friends, relive some good old times and stories and show off your fantastic new fit figure! If others are eating, you can nibble along to fit in...and if anyone notices you've eaten so little, you can simply say you're too busy talking or listening to everyone else to worry about eating! As to the extra costs.......you only get an opportunity to go to a 40th class reunion once in your life. And by the time the next reunion comes around (probably the 50th), there's a good chance that some of your classmates and old friends may not be able to attend for health reasons, or worse! Don't pass up your chance to see them now. You'll have a fantastic time, I'm sure of it!

Fantastic. What a difference! I have a Fitbit (got one for me, my husband and my sister). My husband and I use it to "compete" against one another! It's really got him moving, and I find myself doing more exercise too, just to stay ahead of him! Great work! Keep it up!

Wow! Don't you just LOVE surprises like that? You thought it was a FUTURE NSV and it was today's! Happy Sunday! Keep up the great work!

The best birthday gift you could ever give yourself....good health! Hope your day was fantastic and your future filled with more good scale news!

Yes, increasing your dose may help (make sure your doctor agrees!). Of course acidic foods (orange juice, pineapples, raw tomatoes, etc.) will exacerbate things. Carbonated soft drinks (even diet!) are killers for stomach lining inflammation and excess acid production. So you will definitely benefit from eliminating those from your diet. And since carbonated drinks are a BIG "no no" post-op, getting them out of your life now will be very helpful later on (not to mention ditching the caffeine addiction that comes with it). There is a good chance that your incidence of GERD pre-op is related not only to your diet but also to an accumulation of fat in your thorax that is pushing on your internal organs (including your stomach). This will hopefully significantly decrease post-op as you lose weight and will reduce the pressure on your organs. That will probably help reduce the upward progression of the acid in your stomach, up into your esophagus. As well, you may need to have an assessment of whether you have a hiatal hernia, which is also common in obese patients, and can contribute to GERD. Many patients have their sleeve and hernia done at the same time, and sometimes, a patient doesn't even know they HAVE a hernia until post-op when the surgeon tells them they found it and repaired it during the VSG. Good luck!

I had increasingly bad heartburn (GERD) prior to my VSG (May 14, 2012). I was taking a 20 mg Omeprazole (Prilosec) in the morning and it helped some, but not enough. Now, post-op I am taking a 20 mg Omeprazole 2x per day (morning and dinner) and it helps alot. But I do find times when I have a "hunger" sensation and if I don't put something in my stomach, it gets worse. I am certain it is due to excess acid production, even with the 2 tabs/day. I'm hesitant to increase this amount, as I'm still early in my post-op recovery and learning which foods I tolerate, how much I can eat per meal and how to manage fluids, etc. I am of the belief that things will improve over time with regards to my GERD and I will manage nicely with the Prilosec in the long-term. Hope that helps!

In a pinch, you could actually take a SF popsicle and "chop" it up with a chef's knife, or one of those "slap chop" devices. Then you're still getting the small amount of calories, no sugar and all the taste.....plus the texture you like, and you can use a spoon! My 2 cents worth...

Ah yes....the "good" old days (not!). My standard meal was something like this: 1-2 Egg rolls (lots of plum sauce!) General Tso chicken 1/2 Singapore noodles 1/2 "house" fried rice Cantonese chow mein Sauteed mixed vegetables Easily 2000 calories, and I would ALWAYS feel sick afterwards from overeating. Never seemed to stop me from doing it again the next time though..... Can't even believe that would all fit in my pre-op stomach! Mega carbs, mega volume.....it's amazing the vegetables even made it in there somehow (LOL). I think it would take me a week to eat all that food now. And I'm not even tempted!

You are SO welcome! And look at you......already 73% to your goal in only 4 months! That is WICKED good. Do you realize that at this point (your 4 month mark) you are 17 weeks post-op and you've lost an average of 4.29 lbs/week? This is fantastic and is pretty much right on my average of 4.6 lbs/week, over a much longer period of time! You need to reach around and pat yourself on the back (and then pat yourself on that amazing shrinking butt too!). You have no reasons to doubt your success dear.........you're smack dab in the middle of victory already! A BMI of 28.69 (after being in the 40s), and only 27 lbs away from goal......you CAN and WILL do this! I just know it!

So after 11 long days, I've finally broken my first post-op stall! I've been stuck at 283.3 lbs for 11 days. This was after 11 lbs lost pre-op (2 week liquid diet) and 24.5 lbs lost post-op (in about 4.5 weeks). I guess I was a bit later than the oft-mentioned "3rd week stall"! Today I am 282.2 lbs! Okay, not a huge drop, but after 11 days of the same (+/- 0.2 lbs), it's very encouraging! Now I know I have nothing to really complain about. Others on the board have suffered stalls of 6 weeks or more early on. Mine was only a week and a half. And I'm averaging 4.4 lbs/week loss (including pre-op diet), which is FANTASTIC! It's just really heartening to see the scale move downward again, even if it's only a bit. I did something drastic yesterday to try to change things up. I went on a 100% carb-free day. It's alot harder than I thought! I ate only things I thought were really carb-free (eggs, chicken, cheese, shrimp) and yet I still managed to ingest 3g of carbs (according to MyFitnessPal). I don't know if that "experiment" had anything to do with my stall being broken, or if it was just the right timing and it would have changed on its own. I also doubled my walking yesterday too, from about 2 miles to nearly 4 miles. Either way, I'll take it! Back on my happy track and looking forward to a continued downward trend!

Walking is fantastic! And if you're bored, you can walk with a friend. The time/distance just slips by and before you know it, you've gone a couple of miles (and burned a bunch of calories!). And if it's really hot, you can always "mall walk". Just leave the purse/wallet in the car, or the walk becomes a shopping trip. With no exercise except opening the wallet and giving the credit card a workout!

I know each surgeon's post-op instructions vary (quite wildly, in fact!). I myself was not eating solids until 4 weeks out and started out very gingerly at that.........eating mostly mushies! A 1 lb increase is very normal when you're weighing yourself daily. As you mentioned, extra salt can cause increased Water retention. For women, hormonal changes cause all kinds of water fluctuation. A lack of bowel movements can also increase our weight. And as SMP1126 mentioned, "starvation mode" can throw us into a stall and cause fluctuations as well. The "Week 3 Stall" is a VERY well known topic here on VerticalSleeveTalk. If you were to type that into the search bar (top right hand corner of the page), you would be AMAZED at the number of posts and amount of discussion about it! Don't get discouraged, and stay your course. Keep drinking your fluids, go slow and easy with your foods. Try to get moving if you can (not sure swimming is a good idea yet, especially if you had a drain.....it takes time for those incisions to really heal up, and chlorine in the wounds won't help!). I do quite a bit of walking and I started swimming around week 6-7 post-op. Keep up the great work, and if you can manage it, put the scale away for a few days. The stall will drive you crazy (up 1/2 pound, down 1/2 pound, up 1 pound....ARGH!). Instead, try taking your measurements and monitor them. And take note of how your clothes are fitting. These are very motivating NSVs (non scale victories) that are not tied to the evil scale.

I live in Toronto, Canada and I bought it at a store called Nutrition House. It is formulated in a "tonic" basic of fruit nectar and other natural ingredients. This makes it quite sweet (it has 60 calories per serving and 15 g of sugar!). I don't use it daily, mostly because I'm really watching my carbs. But I see you can get it at a number of places in the U.S.: 1. http://www.basichealth369.com/products/Calcium%20Magnesium.html (some really good info here!) 2. http://www.salus-haus.com/45/33/0/6/productDetail.html (more good info here) 3. http://www.iherb.com/flora-salus-haus-floradix-calcium-magnesium-with-zinc-vitamin-d-and-herbs-8-5-fl-oz-250-ml/3003?at=0 (a good price - nutrition info here as well) 4. http://www.nationalnutrition.ca/detail.aspx?ID=1262 (an even better price!) Sorry most of these are online stores. If you want to buy it at a local store and they don't carry it, perhaps you could ask them to special order it for you? Good luck!

I am having problems with sleeping. I fall asleep without problems, but I wake up every night between 4 and 4:30 and regardless of how tired I am, I cannot get back to sleep. I thought it might be related to restless legs (they feel quite active when I'm trying to sleep!). So I did some research and found out that sometimes (!), restless legs are caused by a deficiency of magnesium. I decided to try a liquid (SALUS CALCIUM MAGNESIUM LIQUID SUPPLEMENT WITH ADDED ZINC & Vitamin D ), as I'm not that fond of taking pills. This particular formulation is targeted to those who are more concerned with bone health (hence the calcium), but the magnesium ratio is much higher than calcium which is supposed to offset the "imbalance" that often occurs when you take calcium alone. You need both magnesium and calcium together for optimal bone health. Now, back to restless legs........a magnesium deficiency can lead to cramping and spasms in the muscles. The legs, having the largest muscles in the body tend to be the primary target. We probably have this cramping and spasms during the day, but due to activity, we don't notice it as much. When we lay down to sleep, the small (and sometimes not so small!) twitching, tingling, tensions etc. can drive us crazy! I've tried the liquid supplement noted above and it has helped (some), but I am sure that getting my magnesium from natural food sources (such as legumes, nuts, vegetables and whole grains) would be the most beneficial. Unfortunately, I'm still very early post-op (8 weeks) and I'm focusing on Protein right now, so not much room left for these excellent other sources! My last resort (after seeing the doctor yesterday for a sinus infection and also complaining of sleep disturbances).....lorezapam. I had the best night's sleep I've had since surgery! My doc only gave me 10 pills (which is good, I don't want to get dependent), and over the next few weeks, I hope to get this sorted out for good!

It's been about 2 weeks since I posted my "stall broken" message. Happy to say that things are moving along nicely! I'm down about another 10 lbs in that 2 weeks (woohoo!). I'm very reassured to see that even after a stall (that wasn't really very long, just 11 days) the scale can start moving well. Even better, I'm noticing a difference in my clothes (down to a 26 from my 28/30 pre-op) and already starting to feel the 26's being on the loose side! Hope for those in a stall (I'm sure I'll be back there again in the future!). There is life after a stall! Thanks for the support everyone!

OMG, please tell me you are NOT going to start using McDonald's Sweet tea as your primary source of fluids! This drink is PACKED with sugar and has no nutritional value of any kind! The numbers: - Small (16 oz) Calories: 150 Carbs: 36 g (all sugar!) - Medium (21 oz) Calories: 180 Carbs: 45 g (all sugar!) - Large (32 oz) Calories: 280 Carbs: 69 g (all sugar!) Look at that! 69 g of sugar in a large! And nearly that's 1/2 a day's calories for a post-op patient! And not a stitch of Protein or Vitamins in sight! Really? What was the point of giving up soda then, if you're just going to substitute it with this sugary syrup? You need to find a way to deal with artificial sweeteners (or natural-based sweeteners such as Stevia or Truvia or Agave syrup). Or else, give up sugar altogether. It is the carbs that make us fat and unhealthy and these hidden liquid calories are the major culprit. Don't let BIG BUSINESS make/keep you fat. All you're doing is fattening their corporate balance sheets by buying their cheap sugar Water (it costs them PENNIES for that large size). Do yourself a HUGE favour and remember WHY you had the VSG in the first place. Your taste buds are stil readjusting from the surgery. I found that in the first 6 weeks post-op everything tasted horrible, and I had a bad taste in my mouth constantly. I suspect this was due to the fact that I was in ketosis. I'm adapting now and I am enjoying food and drink flavours again. Save your calories and carbs for things that have some nutritional value! And focus on getting protein in first. Carbs are the "last in line" food you need to be eating in order to have initial success in this endeavour!

That's a great idea Lissa. I would have taken the elevator down gladly.....but this particular stairwell had locked doors that only open with a passcard. I work on the 1st floor and my card only works there and on the ground floor. So I had no access to an elevator at the top! No choice but to walk all the way down to my floor or ground..... So now I know (LOL). But I'm a glutton for punishment (and I won't let a few stairs beat me)....I'll probably be back on those stairs again soon.