Minckle

I was self-pay and used my American Express card to pay for my surgery. Membership Rewards points galore!!

The thing that surprised me the most is how easy the surgery was and the recovery has been. I expected a lot more pain! I purchased a bracelet on etsy of a butterfly. It's on a string knot, so I don't take it off. I figured the butterfly was the best symbol of the change I am experiencing!

Welcome!! *wave* LOVE the chocolate Premium shakes from Costco/Sam's Club. They don't taste artificial and are less than $1 each!

How inspiring! And that dress is adorable - where did you get it??

Your surgeon is letting you use a Straw?? That's a big no-no for mine because of the gas it causes.... I'm wondering if that's what causing your burping.

P R E A C H !

Seriously ROFLMAO over "never trust a fart".

Could it be caffeine withdrawal? I felt like crap for the first two days of the diet and then suddenly felt just peachy.

Wow. What floor were you on? We were there at the same time! I liked all of my nurses except one. Anytime you get an IV, blood clots are a risk - did they give you all your shots?

Oh, no! Feel better. Did they give you any nausea medicine? Are you using GasX? You poor thing. I'm sorry you've had such a tough time.

It's funny because I was TERRIFIED of having a drain and it was totally no big deal. I didn't have any infection issues.

Interesting. I had a drain hole, but after they took out the drain they bandaged it up and told me to wait a few days before removing the bandage. By the time I took it off, the hole was completely scabbed over. Then I just cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and re-bandaged it. I don't blame you - that would kinda give me the willies!

Woohoo! More reason to drink the KoolAid.

Man, that diet is borrrrrrrring. I might have felt tempted by the pizza as well! You've been eating very bland things and I have to wonder if once you're done with your restrictions that you won't find things a bit easier. Have you tried the recipes or food sections on here for some "spicier" food options? Also, are you going to tell us what the pizza toppings were or what?

Welcome! (That sleep apnea is a b***h, isn't it? That was a big factor for my decision.)

I see several posts where you asked questions or made comments and people replied to you. What are your expectations?

Sneaking off won't solve anything. This is a hard thing to do so you've got to make the decision for you, regardless of outside opinion.

YES! My family was the worst. In the end, they supported me but I'll tell you two things I figured out: 1. There is a lot of misinformation about WLS out there. Most people don't know the difference between the LapBand or the Sleeve. If they get informed and understand it, they will support you. If they don't, they walk around comparing you to the "fat one from Wilson Phillips". 2. If your family is fat (mine is) and some of your relationship is around food, it's going to be tough for them. My mom and I have spent many hours as cohorts in crime, being "bad" and eating "bad things" to excess. Getting the sleeve meant I wasn't her cohort anymore and it hurt her feelings and made her feel like I was rejecting her. She also took it personally like SHE was the reason I was fat and had food issues (which, I mean, she IS. But no sense being mean and reminding her of it). I finally just told them that I was sick and the surgery would fix me. That if I had a cancerous tumor, no one would think I was crazy for wanting it removed so that I could live longer, right? I told them that I was an adult and was going to make the decision for myself. So they could either support me or not, but their support wasn't going to influence my decision. It was a rough couple of months, and we got into it at almost every family gathering, but ultimately my mom was with me when I went into surgery and my dad was with me when I came out. Hang in there!

I am the Queen of Nausea so I dreaded getting nausea and (god forbid!) barfing. I had these horrible visions of the racking pain vomiting would cause my incisions and sutures. Sure enough, the first time they gave me Lortab it all came right back up. And you know what? No big deal. It didn't hurt that bad at all and they had all kind of lovely meds going into my IV. Worst Case Scenario, not so Worst.

Your avatar pic KILLS me. Love it! At this stage, your stomach is going to fluctuate a lot. Don't overthink it. If you're not eating more than a cup of food at a time, you're certainly not stretching anything. You've got gas and acid and settling going on. For instance, yesterday morning I had a protein shake and drank almost all of it. This morning I had a shake and could get less than half of it down before I felt full.

You'll be fine. Tell them you didn't get it when you arrive at the hospital. There are plenty of things they can put in your IV to help with nausea. Sorry about your roof and GOOD LUCK tomorrow.

You'll be FINE. The first two days suck, but after that it's cake (so to speak). Stick with it.... my surgeon told me my discipline with the pre-op led to two less incisions and a faster recovery. It's worth it!

Evelyn, I read your post and a very bad word flew out of my mouth followed by the word "him". Can you guess what the first word was? It's funny because my parents were so un-supportive of my surgery that I ended up going to see two different doctors for their "opinion" about the procedure. That little method backfired on my parents because BOTH doctors were extremely encouraging. So is my PCP. So this jackass just blows my mind.

Y'all are going to love me for this one.... Slice a banana up and freeze it overnight. Put banana in blender/food processor with a few drops of vanilla and skim milk (just enough milk to get the bananas moving in the blender. start with a little and add more as needed). Once it's pureed, it's the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

I've heard about the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD) which is tracking outcomes. You may want to do some Internet research on it.