Bufflehead

I didn't see anything on that site about being a living skin donor, only about cadaver skin donations. Other sites seem to say that skin from living donors is not usable: http://www.traumaburn.org/who/skinbank/faq.shtml http://plasticsurgery101.blogspot.com/2007/09/urban-legend-debunked-can-you-donate.html http://utahbariatrics.com/faq-plastic-surgery-after-bariatric-surgery-part-i/

Policies are pretty cut and dried. It's not like you are going to trick them into selling you a policy that they otherwise wouldn't. They either include the coverage or they don't. I'm not really sure what kind of coverage you are shopping for -- are you selecting a plan at work? Buying from an independent agent? Shopping on the Affordable Care Act exchange? How you figure out coverage depends on which kind of policy you are looking for. But I think the general answer is always going to be the same -- ask about coverage for bariatric surgery and get your answers in writing wherever possible. Look at plan documents and member benefit handbooks. Good luck!

No, you can't.

Because of the way the pyloric valve works. The pyloric valve sits at the bottom of your stomach and it is what regulates passage of food into the intestines. If you put food that is tough to digest in your stomach, it will close up so that your stomach can get in extra digestion time with it before it goes to the intestines. Food that is hard to digest is the kind of thing that is chewy, fibrous, tough, or high protein. So, things like lean meat and green veggies cause the pyloric valve to close up and food to stay inside your stomach for longer, leading to a feeling of fullness or satiety. Food that is easy to digest -- high carb food with little fiber, like highly processed grain-based foods and sweets, do not cause the pyloric valve to close up. They "slide" right through the open valve leading you to feel like you are still hungry and can just eat more and more.

Tylenol and a heating pad.

Absolutely! My multi-vitamin is low calorie and low carb, but especially for people who take bariatric specialty vitamins, they should be tracked. Those things will jack up your calorie, carb, and sugar counts fast.

I love Chike. I'm used to caffeine so it doesn't make me feel weird, it makes me feel normal. Chike does have a fair amount of calories and carbs, so I usually use a half-serving or 2/3 serving and add a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee to bump up the coffee flavor.

No, thank goodness, my surgeon doesn't touch the intestines during gastric sleeve surgery so there was no need for a bowel prep.

Great topic! My contribution: can I eat [food A] on [post-op diet stage B]? when can I have sex again? I'm having intense pain/coughing up blood/chest pains/can't breathe [insert other serious medical symptom here] -- what should I do?

Total as per my dietitian's orders.

Why did you choose sleeve vs RNY? What protein shakes do you like? What is a good vitamin to take? What are your favorite purees? Help, I'm three weeks post-op and I've stopped losing weight! What should I take to the hospital? When can I go back to work? How can I prevent loose skin? If I take 50 million mcg of biotin every day and get all my protein in, can I prevent hair loss? When can I eat pizza/popcorn/birthday cake? When can I drink alcohol? When can I drink coffee and isn't it true that drinking coffee will leave you a dry, withered husk of a person with all your vital fluids sapped out of your body? Don't get me wrong -- I am not mad at anyone for asking these questions (though truth be told I wonder why people don't try a little harder sometimes to read up on things in advance and figure out they've all been asked many, many, many times before). It's more that I have been here a long time and don't feel like I have anything new or enlightening to add, and it's time for the newbies to get some practice answering the most frequently answered questions. Good luck y'all! I will stick around but will be trying to dial back my talkativeness.

I used Wellesse liquid vitamins for the first several weeks after surgery, then switched to Trader Joe's High Potency chewable multi's -- these are very mild flavored. I have my labs drawn regularly and they have always been great over the 3.5 years since my surgery.

You can't detox your liver, it doesn't work that way. And you can't strengthen it, it isn't a muscle. The best things you can do for your liver are to avoid excessive alcohol and lose weight. Also, limit tylenol and don't do stuff that will give you hepatitis.

Sounds like ketosis breath.* Mouthwash and tooth brushing won't help, as it is caused by a chemical reaction in your body/blood rather than anything on the surface of your mouth or teeth. It should get better when you are able to eat a wider variety in your diet. *definitely check with Dr. Google on this one -- I am not a medical professional, you should look it up and see if it sounds like what you have. It's common with the very low carb diets that most of us have to adopt immediately post-op. Good luck!

I never saw dramatic loss. Slow and steady won the race for me -- and btw 30 lbs in 5 weeks is NOT slow, it is awesome. Good job!

EBay, Kohls, your local thrift store, thredup.com - you have lots of options. Don't change your job because you are nervous of the wardrobe requirements. For example -- I bought a pair of designer trousers that ordinarily cost over $500 for $12 at my local thrift store. Look at it as a fun challenge to get the most compliments on the cheapest clothes you can find

No, they just gave me liquid lortab every several hours. That stuff is nasty!

I did not have to count sugar as I never had any blood sugar problems, but had to stay under 60 grams of carbs per day during weight loss phase. Many programs do things differently though -- there is no one answer to your question. Since your guidelines are not clear, you will probably want to call your team for their advice. Good luck!

Definitely if you aren't on a PPI or other means of controlling stomach acid, get on one. If you are on one, consult with your doctor about a stronger prescription or a different prescription. Gastric sleeve surgery results in excess stomach acid (especially in the first several weeks) for a significant number of patients. Symptoms of excess stomach acid include hunger and a growling, grumbling stomach.

You don't need to get back on the losing bench -- you are already on it, you are still losing weight. If you want to lose weight faster, you have to increase your caloric deficit. There are basically three ways to do this: --decrease the number of calories you take in every day --significantly increase your exercise --both of the above together. In order to decrease your calories, you have to start by knowing exactly how many calories you are currently taking in. If you don't already, weigh all your portions and track your intake on MyFitnessPal or a similar app for a week or so. Examine your entries for things that you might be able to reduce in size, or replace with something with lower calories. For example, if you are eating peanut butter, replace it with PB2. If you are eating beans, replace with chicken and broccoli. Replace string cheese with some turkey jerky. Good luck!

My surgeon only does lap band in very limited circumstances -- low BMI and if the patient absolutely refuses any other bariatric surgery. He would not have done one on me, which is fine because after reading up about the common complications and lack of weight loss success, I would not have wanted one.

You are only as done as you want to be. You are still losing weight, which is good. If you want to keep losing weight, or lose weight faster, you'll likely need to commit to managing your caloric deficity pretty intensely, which means knowing exactly how many calories you are taking in and being willing to lower that -- or significantly up your exercise -- in order to keep losing as you grow smaller, or speed up the weight loss. You have done fantastic work so far, it's really impressive! If you want to keep losing weight, you can. I know I always say that the last 20 lbs or so I had to do hand to hand combat with each pound to kill it. It was really hard work. Some people have the luxury of gliding easily to their goal weight, but I think for most of us it is a different story. If you want to lose the last 40 lbs, you absolutely can do it, I promise you, but it may be slow and super hard going.

That sounds crazy to me. I started out as a relative heavy weight. I lost about 40 lbs in the first three months and my bariatric np told me I was doing fantastic and better than they had charted out for me, expectation-wise. I had a super-strict plan and followed it to the T.

I don't know if this will be concrete enough for you, but here is the plan I had for my pre-op program (not the official pre-surgery diet but for before that, on my nutritional program). I still use a modified version of it when I need to drop into weight loss mode again. Unlimited: lean, unprocessed protein (fish, white meat chicken & turkey, lean cuts of beef, etc.); green veggies (asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, leafy greens, cauliflower, artichokes, green beans), black coffee, tea, water; herbs and spices, healthy fats (olive oil, grass-fed butter etc. but in moderate quantities -- "unlimited" doesn't mean to go eat a stick of butter!).. One serving of each daily: whole grains, fresh fruit, nonfat dairy. 1 time per week (each): sweet potato, nuts (small serving only), beans/legumes; eggs Banned: everything else, including starchy veggies, sweets, artificial sweeteners, highly processed food such as jello or pudding or chips. Weigh/measure all portions and log everything in MyFitnessPal. Stay under 1500 calories per day. Carbs, protein, etc. will take care of themselves on this eating plan. Sample menu: Breakfast: steel-cut oatmeal w/ cinnamon Morning snack: 1 c. nonfat yogurt Lunch: Chicken breast & asparagus salad w/ olive oil & vinaigrette Afternoon snack: apple Dinner: Grilled salmon, baked avocado slices, pan-wilted garlic spinach After dinner snack: 1 oz. hickory almonds Good luck!

I was okay for driving after a week (you need to be off narcotic painkillers for a minimum of 24 hours before driving). I went back to work after 2 weeks but honestly should have waited 3, I was too tired and couldn't make it through a whole day for the first couple days back at work.