Bufflehead

If your insurance has already approved your sleeve, there is no chance you will be denied now unless you do something like send them a certified letter stating that your weight has dropped below a 40.0 BMI and to please reconsider. And probably not even then. Your surgeon won't care. This is assuming you have already been approved -- if not (which would be odd given that your surgery is in less than a week, correct?) then show up for your final weigh in wearing ankle weights and wrist weights and you'll be fine

oh wow, yum! You know, if you ever get tired of Mr. Gamergirl, or Texas, or whatever, and need an extended break, I've got a couple of spare bedrooms and lots of cooking equipment. Just saying.

Your mom will eventually realize that getting in shape after sleeve surgery does involve eating healthy and staying active. It's not like you are going to be on the couch eating Cheetos and Reese's Peanutbutter cups after this. You will go on hikes with her and keep your calories very low. I know it's human nature for most of us to want the approval of our parents and to shrink from telling them things that will bring on their judgment, but I would encourage you to at least consider telling her sooner rather than later and using it as an opportunity not just to educate her but to teach yourself to be confident in your own convictions and not worry so much about what other people (specifically your parents) think. On the other hand, if you know she is going to come down hard and make it emotionally tougher for you to stay on track with being healthy prior to surgery, then it might be better to keep it to yourself. You are an adult - your health care decisions are none of her business. Either way, it is your call and YOU just have to feel comfortable with what you decide. Congrats on your upcoming surgery -- I'll bet you love your sleeve (eventually, the first few weeks can be tough) and will do great with it.

I don't know if you have a Trader Joe's near you but I really like their High Potency Chewable Multis. I have two a day to meet the bariatric standards. They are also a lot cheaper than just about any other chewable multi.

I haven't had that come up yet, but if it does, I'll say something like, I am trying to lose weight so I have to really restrict my portions - doctor's orders! If you throw in a "doctor's orders!" when talking about what you eat, people generally back off fast and don't question you more about it. Also, it's the truth. Just maybe not the whole truth. :ph34r:

What are you mixing your protein shakes with? If it is milk, you may want to try something else - some people develop temporary or permanent lactose intolerance after surgery. So maybe try unsweetened vanilla almond milk, or get powders such as the Syntrax Nectar fruit flavors that mix well with water? Or you could try the bariatric hot chocolate that mixes with hot water and see if you do well with that. A lot of people can tolerate warm protein drinks but not cold.

Science says no, at least not any better than using vaseline or aquaphor and keeping the scars covered: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/17/health/la-he-scars-20110417 What has been shown to work are the silicone scar sheeting products such as Scar Away and Cica Care.

I agree with getting a second opinion - but keep in mind that your surgeon is the one with medical expertise and the vast majority of surgeons really do just want the best results for their patients, they don't have ulterior motives. Maybe see if you can attend some support groups and talk to people who have had the gastric bypass. It wasn't my choice for wls surgery and I love my sleeve, but lots of people do well with the bypass. My niece had one and is doing fabulous, has kept off all of her weight, leads a normal life with no complications - it can be a good option. But I would definitely get a second opinion!

Definitely watch out for strange fullness cues from your body. For many people, filling up the sleeve will result in pressure on the vagus nerve, which can lead to things like: runny nose, hiccups, sneezing, burping, etc. For me, when my nose starts to run when I'm eating, I stop, immediately. And I totally agree with TurnThePage - you should have a measured amount of food for each meal and never eat more. Your only question should be whether you even eat that much. For me, along with watching out for a runny nose, I eat slowly and ask myself as I eat, am I actually hungry? Do I really want to eat this? Or am I just continuing to eat because I feel like I should since I measured out this portion of food? It's a psychological, emotional thing that I need to check in on that lets me know whether I should actually eat the whole thing. When I start to feel like I don't need to eat what's left on my plate, I stop and give the plate to my dog (she loves me even more since my surgery).

I didn't need any help really but I had my housekeeper come for an extra visit to do stuff that requires heavy lifting (changing kitty litter) or a lot of effort (mopping, vacuuming). That was it. I would say don't have your family come. You should be up and doing things for yourself. Having other people wait on you will not help your recovery. If they want to help, tell them they can stop by for a couple of hours to do heavy housework (give them a list of exactly what you need done), or they can drive you to the store or something. Having a bunch of people getting in your way and wanting to chat when you should be focused on sipping water or making a protein shake is IMO not beneficial. Good luck!

I made people stay away, the last thing I wanted was to feel like I needed to entertain someone when I should be focused on nothing but sipping and walking. If I needed help at any time, that's what the nurse call button is for.

I have had no issues except 2 cases of foamies where I ate too fast/too much. I have tolerated all the foods I have tried just fine, but I am not yet six months out and am still on soft foods per my doctor's plan. So I haven't tried tough meats (has to be something I can cut with a fork), any kind of grain, any kind of starchy veggie, nuts, raw vegetables, or anything with refined sugar. I don't anticipate any problems though, it's all been smooth sailing so far.

you look fantastic! wtg!

Thanks! I am going to try out your chocolate unjury + espresso powder + cinnamon brown sugar recipe as well. I have all those ingredients already waiting for me at home!

Dumping syndrome: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dumping-syndrome/DS00715 Dumping is more likely to happen to people with gastric bypass than the sleeve, but it does occur for some sleevers too. Sliming/Foamies: usually happens when you eat too much or eat too fast. You may get a sensation of something "stuck" in the upper part of your stomach or chest (or you may not, it all varies), of being terribly overfull, and nauseated. You feel very uncomfortable and may start to feel just taken over by complete exhaustion. You feel like you need to throw up, but can't, and then your mouth starts watering like crazy (like right before you would throw up) and you start hacking up gobs of clear, foamy, slimy liquid. It is NOT pleasant! A very strong lesson to not eat as much, and/or eat slower, next time. Sometimes people get the slimies just from eating the wrong kind of food before they are ready for it, but I think usually it's too much/too fast/too big pieces of food.

I'm allowed 60 grams of carbs per day, and I make use of them to eat stuff to keep me regular - I usually have beans and prunes every day, plus occasional servings of stuff like a quarter cup of frozen berries blended into my protein shake or some cruciferous veggies with dinner. Also have black coffee every day and a chewable probiotic. I don't take laxatives or stool softeners and I poop every day (no such thing as TMI here, right?). I think some of that is poop-promoting diet choices and some is just that I'm lucky enough to have a digestive system that has always, pre and post-sleeve, functioned like clockwork and never given me any troubles whatsoever. Oh and exercise is good for healthy bowel functioning too! Exercise every day and that will help for most folks.

I bought a couple of no-wire, fasten in front cotton comfort/leisure bras and was glad I did. I had an incision right where the underwire would have been sitting and it would have HURT! And the last thing I cared about was my modesty around the nurses. The bra I had with me in the hospital was enough to keep me contained so I wouldn't slap anyone (or myself) in the eye and that was good enough for me.

You are not the only one. I've been getting a lot of comments and compliments these last couple of weeks and I feel more and more uncomfortable each time. I can really relate to your thinking about how this means they were noticing your body shape before hand, are comparing now, thinking about you in judgmental ways, etc. Seriously it's like you took the words right out of my brain. I like people at work noticing when I do my job well. I don't want them staring at/thinking about my body. And I also don't mind talking about exactly what I've been doing but it seems like people always ask me in awkward social situations where you really don't want to start talking details about surgery. :ph34r:

It absolutely does get easier. And the fact that you want to practice before hand and make this a habit shows me that you won't fail at it, you are going to do great

I have an iced coffee made with 1 scoop Chike + 1 teaspoon instant espresso in the morning, so that's the equivalent of 2 shots of espresso. And then in the evenings I usually have 12 oz. (2 standard coffee cups) of black coffee.

My little profile summary on the left has started showing me as a lap band patient. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a lap band patient. I have a vertical sleeve. How can I change this? Thanks!

I had a drain and I didn't have any pain when they took it out. it does feel a little weird, but it didn't hurt. Having a drain is good IMO - when I saw the stuff coming out in the drain, believe me, I was glad it wasn't just sloshing around in my body somewhere Also, usually the surgeon will have the Fluid from the drain tested to make sure that there is nothing leaking out of your stomach and into the abdominal cavity - it's an additional form of a leak test. Didn't have a stress test so I can't provide any guidance there, but it looks like previous posters took care of it. I am sure you will do fine

Wild or rough sex won't cause your staples to pop. If it is immediately after surgery it might cause pain or stress at your incision sites, but it isn't going to harm your stomach. I don't think pregnancy could stretch your stomach - after all, that's not where the fetus is. If anything I would imagine that the space the fetus takes up would cause your digestive organs to be a bit compressed for a while! Many, many women have happy healthy pregnancies after being sleeved and popping staples is not an issue that I have ever heard of.

It's your surgeon who decides whether you have a pre-op diet and if so, what kind. Your insurance may require something like three months of medically supervised weight loss before you are approved, while your surgeon's requirement would be more along the lines of two weeks of low carb (or liquid) diet immediately prior to surgery in order to shrink your liver. Each surgeon and insurance company are different in terms of precise requirements.

I totally understand your forum love, GG. For several years (back when God's forum was just a pup) I was involved with one at TWoP (Television without Pity.) It was the forum snarking on the Bachelor. Fluffnomore, I totally get this, I have lots of good friends I made on the American Idol boards there 4-5 years ago even though I never post there anymore. We also retreated to our own separate forum when the modding at TWoP got out of control and irrational. Oh and by the way, switching to another topic in this thread, my eating habits pre-surgery? How did I get to being just a hair under a 60 BMI? Almost every kind of bad eating habit you can think of except binging. I ate way too much. I ate the wrong kind of food (cake for breakfast, anyone?). I ate constantly if I could. And now when I get tempted to start researching and weaseling out the plan my dietician and surgeon have set for me, and want to believe that I'm a smart person who can figure out what to do on her own, I have to go all Dr. Phil* on myself . . . how's that working for you? *Disclaimer: I hate Dr. Phil and think he's a complete buffoon, but that one little line of his has worked for me. It helps me keep my know-it-allness in line.