Fiddleman

Hi - I am a Seattle Sleever who had VSG performed by DR McMahan at Swedish Hospital on Capital Hill. Fairly pleased with the process before, during and after the procedure was performed. They have support group once a month and regular follow up every 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 month. I am currently just about at 9 months. The dietician, PA, MA and nurses are all very supportive, very good at what they do and, more importantly, love what they do. It shows in how they treat the patients. I would recommend them to anyone.

Long Island?

I believe a loss of 10% excess weight is enough to get off the cpap. Everyone is different though. I stopped using mine a few days after surgery and have not used it since. No longer snore according to my wife, no more headaches in the morning to grogginess the next day. In fact, I am "donating" my cpap machine to my wife as she just got diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (60% o2 levels at night). She will be having VSG in a few months.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have ordered chocolate flavor and hope this will eliminate the need to take any NSAID.

Just curious, what do you mean it was a recalled bottle of hydrocodone? What was wrong with it?

Per my comments above should I go see an internist, rheumatologist or a physical therapist? Any natural remedies that I can try instead of NSAID like Ibuprofen? I am also getting into Yoga with a hope the stretches are going to help "fix" my back issues by building stronger core and taking tension off the upper back. I have also read a stronger trapezoid muscle will help with my specific back inflammation issues. Would you think this will help instead of taking NSAID? Sorry in advance for hijacking the thread if you view it this way.

I am hoping that someone can help with my need for NSAID to address back inflammation. My upper back gets so inflamed for some reason. Do not know why. It seems to have amped up a bit after dropping excess weight, perhaps from the body failing to balance correctly after dropping 180 lb in 6 months. A few days ago, my PCP put me on 800 mg of Ibuprofen up to 3 x a day with up to 1500 mg Tylenol at same time to calm it. Yes, you read that correctly: 800 mg a pill up to 3x daily. I usually only take once a day, sometimes 2x daily. I did explain again to my PCP the dangers of taking such high doses. He said to stop if I start to feel any irritation. So far none... My surgeon doctor basically said OK with NSAID at 6 months, but did not encourage use and I am really concerned at the amount my PCP is having me take daily, especially when it is not really helping; still have the achy, burning, spasming of the muscles in upper back, around the shoulder blades. I am thinking about calling my surgeon on Monday to explain that I really do not want to take this much Ibuprofen on a daily basis for fear of damage. Basically beg for some alternative that will make a quality of life difference. I am hoping he will be sympathetic to my needs even though I am so far post op. I would just like a safe alternative. Maybe like constantly wear a heat pad on my upper back? Heat seems to help the inflammation. I don't really want to be cranked up on hydrocodone, but what are the alternatives? This back inflammation probably stems from my many years as a software developer often spending 15-18 a day hunched over my keyboard. Not so bad anymore, but the physical toll is catching up quickly. I now work at home so will need to do a better job at getting the ergonomics right and taking lots of stretching breaks.

Urban dictionary to the rescue: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Lunk%20Alarm

You should be able to eat real food starting in week 5 or 6. Start to introduce proteins that do not cause you trouble. Perhaps some chicken, pork or salmon. A lot of people struggle with beef this early on in most forms like hamburger, steak and shredded. Some do not. See if you can handle 2-3 ounces of these proteins. If not, no worries. You can always try again in a couple weeks. You can also start to eat cooked and steamed vegetables at this time, but do watch out for very fibrous vegetables like squash as it could irritate your stomach. Raw vegetables can be introduced after 3 months. By about month 5 or 6, you should be able to eat almost anything in terms of proteins and vegetables. You are welcome to also eat fruits, but do stick to the fibrous fruits as they will be lower in glycemic values and be absorbed more slowly. It is this slow absorption of carbohydrates that will be good for you and not be converted immediately into energy for the body. Spikes in insulin will cause hunger and is generally something you should try and avoid. Nuts and lentils are good carbs and fats that will help with energy also. As for rice and other starchy carbohydrates like potatoes, do try and limit eating these as they are converted into energy too quickly and may result in slower weight loss.

For newer folks, target being able to drink first 1 ounce an hour while you are awake for the first week or two after surgery you can easily meet Protein goals with this strategy and not be discomforted as the amount you drink at once will be sips over an hour. After that, work up to 1-3 ounces per meal until 5 weeks out. Then you can start moving towards 5 ounces and 8 ounces as the months progress. Usually around month 5 or 6, most post ops do not find much restriction from a shake and are encouraged to try and get their Proteins all from solids, usually earlier then that. At 5 weeks out, I was sticking to 5 ounces as not able to drink more without discomfort. By 6 months out, I could drink 8 ounces no problem, with chia seeds. Today, I feel like there is no limit to the amount of shake I can drink at once. My stomach basically treats it like Water. It does not cause restriction for me any longer. For this reason, I have lately been mixing up my breakfast to include 5 ounce shake and 2-3 ounces of a protein like chicken meatball. I still love to have my Protein Shake first thing in the morning with chia seeds.

I just called my health insurance (UHC) about this question. They said that TT, extended TT and panni are covered 100% if I meet the morbid obesity requirement as-of current health. This seems ridiculous!! Of course I am not going to meet that requirement now and I am pretty sure I would not be needing a Tummy Tuck when I was morbidly obese. Retrospectively, perhaps I should have submitted the claim for TT with the claim for VSG at the same time. They also said I can have my doctor submit a claim now with a solid reason to see if it is eligible according to UHC. Any idea what I can have my surgeon state as a reason to grease the eligibility as-of today when I am in healthy range according to the BMI chart?

Thanks for the update!

Thanks Laura!

I never get those days where I feel like I cannot eat anything. Wish I did sometimes. However, I always feel like I am unable to eat more then 4 oz protein and 1-2 ounce of veggie. Do you want to share some of those food restrictions days with me where you feel full after 2 bites ? Please? Pretty please??

I will be having 4 chicken teriyaki meatballs and 1 ounce of seaweed salad.

This post hits on some great points. However, the most important point is learning to eat optimally for your body to function optimally. Getting weight loss results is like 80% good diet and 20% exercise. It took me a while to figure this out in my life. Presleeve, I would exercise like a fiend, but was not getting any results and in fact was gaining a small amount. I was like WTF. Here I am busting myself on the ellyptical for like 2 hours and it was not helping drop the weight. The reason was my diet was screwed up. I knew it was screwed up but kept rationalizing my bad eating habits from working out. Bad eating habits like popcorn, donut holes, brownies, Cereal to the obsess. Got really tired of this and gave up the exercise, but not the bad eating. Ballooned me 100 lbs in 6-8 months. Literally. And really compounded my mental stability issues. That is why I am so glad we have the time post sleeve to get our diets right and ideal before jumping into a regular exercise routine. This is important for everyone who thinks losing weight and maintaining can coexist with bad eating habits and mediocre exercise. Progressively, I am pushing myself athletically in ways I could only dream about before. As Pdxman so wisely states, it is good to really WORK hard when you are exercising. Push through to the edge of pain / fatigue. If you feel like your exertion < 80%, notch up your intensity. Progressively you will get stronger and be able to do more and more as you get real results and your confidence climbs. A personal recommendation is to lose the weight all the way until near goal before going tough to the nails on your work outs because 1) it will be easier and 2) it will be less stress on your body. This is just an opinion and you can take it or leave it. An added benefit is that good eating really optimizes not only exercise results, but also mental balance, ability to focus and concentrate, sleeping well, good energy response during the day and much more. The benefits go on and on and on. Please consider good eating habits and goal driven hard work out sessions!