Bufflehead

The truth of the matter is that by choosing surgery, you are reducing your chance of death in the next five years by 90 percent (seriously, there are published studies on this -- if you take two random obese people and give one of them weight loss surgery and the other no surgery, the no surgery one is 90% more likely to die in the next five years). So, you are making an incredibly smart choice to have surgery. There is basically nothing you could do that would improve the odds of being around for your children and partner more. This surgery is less dangerous than knee replacement surgery. If you were suffering with horrendous knee pain every day and a knee replacement had been recommended, do you think your children and partner would tell you not to have it, you should just suffer instead? Being obese and unhealthy is no way to live, not for them and not for you. It's normal to be afraid of surgery but if you look at things rationally, obesity is really, truly, much scarier.

Agree with @@LipstickLady -- what you (and any other sleever) needs to worry about is not physical damage to your sleeve but your own emotional/psychological commitment to eating healthy food in appropriate amounts for the rest of your life. Without that commitment, having a sleeve, or almost any other weight loss surgery, is pretty meaningless.

What are you taking for it? I was on 40 mg of omeprazole (sp?) for the first several weeks after surgery, 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg at night. If your PPI isn't doing enough (and it sounds like it isn't), check in with your doc to increase your prescription or try a stronger drug. Good luck!

Trader Joe's High Potency chewable.

I would say let your surgeon know you didn't drink it. Hopefully your surgery can still go ahead -- most people getting the sleeve do not have to do a bowel clean out because their surgeons aren't going to touch their intestines anyway. So, perhaps your surgeon will not reschedule over it.

I love nuts, but I make myself keep raw nuts on hand and then roast a tiny batch for a snack. If I keep pre-roasted, pre-flavored nuts on hand, I have trouble stopping when I should!

Do you take it with food? If not, give that a try. If you already are, definitely try another vitamin. For the first several weeks after surgery I took liquid vitamins -- I did the Wellesse brand. I took a double dose, one in the morning, one at night. They did not bother me at all. My labs were always great. Now I take the Trader Joe's High Potency chewable, which again, caused me absolutely no nausea whatsoever. Also, keep in mind that if you can't take vitamins for a couple of weeks, it isn't the end of the world. It takes several weeks for vitamin deficiencies to develop, so while taking vitamins is great, not being able to take them for a few weeks should not harm you.

You can also try using something like FairLife milk or Carbmaster milk. Those are both lower carb, lower calorie, and higher protein than regular milk, plus they are lactose-free.

First, I would make sure you get that in writing -- check your Member Benefit Guide and/or Plan Document. You would be surprised how much faulty information insurance reps give out. If it really isn't covered, do you have access to other insurance that might cover it? For example, if you work, does your employment offer health insurance that covers bariatric surgery? If so, it might be worth your while to switch to that plan during your next open enrollment. You can also explore self-pay options. If you are willing to travel, many people go to Mexico and have excellent experiences and I think options start around $4-5,000. If you aren't willing to go out of the country, there are self-pay options in the US starting around $12K I think. There is a whole sub-forum here for Mexico and Self-Pay options where you can probably get more info. Good luck!

1. Can you still enjoy the same foods with just a smaller portion size? Let me start by saying the "same foods" I ate before surgery were basically a bunch of crap. I lived on sweets, potatoes, noodles, rice, and various forms of dairy (cheese, ice cream, chocolate milk, etc.). I can physically do it in that my old favorites will not make me sick or even nauseated*. But if I choose to eat crappy foods, they will (1) not leave me satisfied with a much smaller portion size and (2) will cause cravings for more crappy foods and I will eventually start to gain weight. So, if you are picturing a future where you eat one pancake for Breakfast, half a candy bar for a snack, half a small packet of potato chips for lunch, and then half a cup of mac and cheese for dinner -- nope, that is not what post-sleeve life looks like. You can eat a range of *healthy* foods and be satisfied with small portions, but small portions of crappy food will not satisfy you as they do not engage your pyloric valve and go right through your stomach. You can still be a bottomless pit when it comes to crappy foods and this is how you can easily defeat your restriction. But if you are willing to eat healthy foods, yes, you can eat a wide variety of food and be very satisfied with a small portion size. 2.What are the portion sizes that you can eat? I can eat about 3 ounces of meat + 1.5 ounces green veggies. However, it took me a couple of years to be able to eat that much. For the first couple of years post-op, it was more like 2 ounces of meat + 1 ounce green veggies. 3. Do you regret having this surgery? I lost 220+ lbs and went from a size 36 to a 6 or 8. My blood pressure went from out of control to perfectly normal. My arthritis in my hips and knees has vanished. My life is ordinary -- rather than being a sad struggle. I am grateful every single day for this surgery and have never regretted it, not even right after waking up with some pain or during the first few days of struggling to get enough liquids in. This is hands down the best decision I ever made. *exceptions: bread made with yeast and anything carbonated do cause me discomfort so I avoid those foods and drinks.

No, if the huge successes here came from non-stop working out, we wouldn't need surgery. Food issues are what got us fat and fixing those food issues is what will make us healthy.

@@lweaver1 I have to strongly disagree. For some of us -- not all, but some -- insisting on learning moderation with sweets is like telling an alcoholic they have to learn how to drink in moderation and that having one drink now and then is a good way to end cravings for liquor. Not everyone can "do" moderation. I know I can't, I learned it the hard way. I don't know whether the OP will be a moderator or an abstainer by nature, but that's something they need to figure out for themself. They say "I really need to stay clear of these foods" -- that sounds like an instinctive knowledge that this is not a good choice, at least for now.

@@moppet I did (and do) work out regularly, but early on I just started with walking and then super low-impact aerobics. Working out is great for your health and important in maintenance but remember that what is most critical is your diet. You know what they say -- and it's all true -- the battle to lose weight is won in the kitchen, not in the gym. Follow your eating plan religiously, track everything, and stay away from crappy, high carb, nutrition-free foods and you will do great.

Are you allowed fruit on full liquids post-op? I wasn't, not even pureed, except for a small amount of berries, because fruit is so high in calories, carbs, and sugar. Better to focus, IMO, on protein at this point rather than liquid sugar like you would get if you started drinking a lot of fruit.

I was still on liquids at 2 weeks post op. Your surgeon's guidelines are likely meant as a maximum, not a minimum. Don't stress and don't push yourself to the point of any discomfort. This isn't a race to try to fit in a certain amount of food -- believe me, at some point you will look back at this point in your post-op progression and wish you had the restriction you have now!

Kitchen scale that weighs in grams and ounces, immersion blender, small food processor, heating pad, Bubba Keg, MyFitnessPal account.

http://eating-disorders.org.uk/chewing-and-spitting-food/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/symptom-watch-chewing-and-spitting/ http://pamtremble.blogspot.com/2008/10/chew-and-spit-habit-you-dont-want-to.html

Did you get written guidelines from your team? They will usually include a list of approved and unapproved foods. I could eat sushi when I was on soft foods stage (which for me was at two months, it might be different for you) but was allowed fish only, no rice, no seaweed.

Many people revise from vsg to bypass. They still have a stomach. It cures reflux in almost everyone. Ask your surgeon about the mechanical details of how it all works, I am sure he or she can do a better job explaining than I can!

Do what you need to do to get surgery where you feel comfortable.Definitely talk with your surgeon about your concerns. Also, even if your insurance doesn't cover wls, it might cover all or part of the machine. I will pass along an impression from my sister -- she is a physician. She worked at a sleep lab to make $$$ while she was in medical school, at the lab affiliated with her school (one of the top 15 or so in the country if that makes the credentials of the lab look any better). Her impression: everyone who goes to a sleep lab gets diagnosed with sleep apnea and ordered to buy a ton of expensive equipment. She didn't actually say the word "scam" to me but I can tell you she has no faith in sleep labs or people (doctors) who push sleep apnea as an actual problem.

There isn't much that is almost completely universally experienced after sleeve surgery but stalling at three weeks out is one of those things. Don't believe me? Use the search function on this site -- or just do a general Google -- for "three week stall" or "vsg third week stall" or anything like that. Stay away from the scale for a few weeks and keep following your program. You may want to take measurements instead of weighing yourself for a bit. Good luck!

It's normal to be completely exhausted for several WEEKS (not days) after any major surgery. Treat yourself kindly.

That sounds like stomach acid to me.

36 or 6X to a 6 (well, the 6 is mostly in some vanity sizing from certain stores, usually an 8, but I like to say 36 to 6).

I was allowed to swallow any pills that fit through a standard size wedding ring. My surgeon wrote me prescriptions for liquid pain meds (Lortab) -- that was the only one I needed in liquid form.