Izuri

Welcome to VST! =) I am a pretty new sleever - just got sleeved on July 26th. It's been awesome. Surgery went great, post-op healing is going well (Although I'm tired!! =p) And I'm down almost 20 pounds. Keep us updated on how your process goes!

I'm glad you had the chance to think it over before you talked to him =) And I'm glad that you got a chance to vent - I am like that sometimes, just need to blow off some steam! It sounds like you're possibly in a stall. Have you been measuring? Are you losing inches? Maybe that's where the weight loss had disappeared to for a little bit. Are you eating quite a few carbs? Maybe cutting back just a little more on them would help if you are?

Ouch! I'm sorry to hear that! What a lesson =x

I was told that approximately a year after surgery the remainder of your stomach can start to produce ghrelin again. Maybe this is what you're feeling? Is it bad, like you're hungry beyond when you eat? Or is it pretty well satisfied with your current eating?

I looked at all the procedures before deciding. My cousin had RNY a few years ago. She has done really well, but in the beginning she really didn't look that healthy to me, even though I was happy for her. She is doing great now, but has many Vitamins she will have to take for the rest of her life. I have some too, but I am 100% certain about my sleeve. If you are thinking of switching, give your insurance company a call. They should be able to tell you for sure whether you can switch without having to go through the entire process again, or if maybe there are just a couple steps to do. If you do call and get this information, get the person you talked to's name and the time you talked so that you can have some documentation of the conversation. I hope that there are others on here who may have a little more insight into whether it's an easy process to switch or not. I hope that you figure out what will be best for you =) Good luck!

Your story of this ring is really touching. It is nice to know that he will be remembered and that you actually will be able to showcase one of his last pieces now. I am so glad to hear this NSV =) It is definitely an incredible thing.

I think at some point you either choose to change and deal with the reasons you ate, or you don't and have trouble later on. Our head hunger can come from an emotional place, or we use it to fill gaps in time, or to take the place of boredom. It seems like at some point those issues will be smack dab in our face =p I am going to be starting counseling soon so that I can meet these issues head on and try and solve them so that I can continue to be the healthiest possible.

It depends on the doctor. I would be honest and up front about it though. If they do push the surgery back it's only because they want to be sure your lung function is sufficient to be able to withstand surgery and post-op. Plus the soon smoking puts you at higher risk for things like strictures and pnuemonia after surgery. I do hope that you will still be able to have the surgery though, I know waiting would be frustrating =( And congratulations on quitting =) It's hard, but totally worth it.

I'm not sure I'll actually be taller, but I do know I'm a notorious sloucher! I will probably gain an extra inch or two when I stand up straight cause less weight is holding me down!

Is it the same kind of items that you are getting sick on or are you eating the same things every day? Have you been having this problem since you got sleeved or is it something that's developed over time?

It is very difficult, that's for sure. Your body is still adjusting to your new diet. It's a lot more fiber and probably a lot more protein, which is good for your body, but not something it's used to. I did not have a pre-op diet, but there are many people on the forum who had to. Losing weight can help decrease surgery risk, plus it helps you get on track with the types of foods you'll need to be ready to eat after surgery. Some doctors are very strict about how much weight you lose before surgery, others are kind of loose on it and will still allow surgery if you've only lost part. I know it's hard, but if you can stick to it, I think you will be really proud of yourself. Protein shakes are not the most amazing food in the world, but they are really good for you and especially immediately post-op they will be the easiest way to make sure your body is getting the protein it needs. I hope that it gets easier for you, hang in there, only 18 days til your surgery!! Once you get there it will all be worth it!

I am seven days out today and I am still tired and taking a nap halfway through the day. On tired days I am taking two (Although I'm trying my best to taper down). I took 4 weeks off of work because I could and wanted to make sure I was as back to normal as possible before school starts, but I only work part time. I think if I was full time I would at least take 2 weeks.

I'm glad you asked these questions. I haven't read much on the different center of gravity and balance. I don't have a lot to offer on the topics other than that I used to be a mouth breather at ***ht (and still am sometimes) and making sure I was drinking Water before bed and brushing my teeth right before bed helped a little. I have found that I generally do not mouth breathe if I lay on my side, so maybe different positions would be helpful? AND congratulations on your loss!!! That is so amazing =)

It looks like from your stats that you have been losing well. I do not think you have been failing at all. You are over halfway to your listed goal on your ticker! Our bodies take time to adjust to losing, and sometimes they take a break and stall, but have you been measuring? It's possible that you are losing inches during these stalls and may not even be noticing it! =) I have read that the closer you get to goal, it can really slow down weight loss wise. Don't give up! It will still happen! I am still during the first week so my list would probably not be helpful at this point. I would suggest though that you look into how much Protein you're getting in. Getting in too little protein can sometimes cause losses to decrease. It seems counter intuitive, but if you're eating too little it can make you lose slower too. Did you get a number from the NUT about how much protein you should be aiming for per day? That will help guide you. I was told that the best practice to make sure you get the protein in is to make sure you're always eating it first. hair loss is common when you lose a lot of weight quickly. Are you getting your Vitamins daily? Biotin can be a good supplement to help this. I have come across a number of great hair loss threads. If you go to the first forum and look to the top right of the page there is a search bar. If you type in hair loss it will bring up a bunch of helpful threads on how to stop hair loss as much as possible. Hang in there! You are doing great =) I know it seems frustrating sometimes, but this is a long journey. I hope you feel better! Make a list of all the differences in your health so you can look at them when you're feeling low and remember how far you've come.

That sounds like a lot of fun! Have a great time and enjoy yourself =)

3 jeans sizes! Wow!! What a change =D I'm sure you're feeling awesome, you deserve it. Keep up the awesome work.

I never asked why you would waste thousands of dollar. I asked why you would possibly spend it and then not follow doctor's instructions. It really caught me off guard how your first two sentences contradicted each other. I guess I never even considered not following my doctor's plan because I assume that he has knowledge enough to decide what works best for his patients. I want to be sure that my outcome is good, and if I ever disagreed with his plan or had questions or wanted to advance faster, I would call his office first. I may have read up on the surgery, but I probably do not have the knowledge that he has, I have not seen the patient base that he has. Even though I may have read and studied this procedure, he has experience with hundreds of patients post-op and how they have tolerated the diet, the medicines, etc, which gives him a much wider knowledge base than I do, no matter how much I learn about this procedure. That was my point and what I misunderstood. I am not a sheep for following my doctor's instructions. By the way, I also am in the healthcare field. You do have the right to do what you want with your body, but I do think it would be at least a wise decision to talk to your doctor before deciding to ignore his instructions. I am sure you will be fine, but there is a reason that they give the recommendations that they do, it is not just arbitrary. I am sorry that you felt my opinion was mean-spirited. I never called you any names or said you were dumb. I do acknowledge that in this particular field, my doctor has far more knowledge than I do, and if I trust him to cut into me, I trust that he has a reason for his post-op plan. I hope that this maybe explains what I meant more thoroughly, and I apologize if you were offended.

If you read my post over again, aside from the last sentence, which really just stated what my first honest thought was after reading this, the post was asking a simple question - Why wouldn't she follow directions from her doctor after a serious procedure. Her doctor that she trusted to do a serious surgery. That is a valid question and I stand behind the post. I did not call her stupid. I was not cruel or making fun of her or mean. I wondered something I think is perfectly valid. And I did follow it up with suggestions for alternate foods that are on liquid diets that she could use to get back on track. This is how I actually felt about what she wrote. I have been supportive in almost every other post I have written, if you don't believe me, look through all my posts. I have written on many posts, some where people have cheated and been worried and I told them to hang in there and that things happen, they can get back on track, we are all human, etc. I just didn't get this and she asked for comments, so I gave it my honest opinion. I would never support someone openly continuing to go against their doctor's advice without either consulting their doctor or having an opinion from another physician. I do not claim to be perfect, but I really think it is in her best interest to follow her doctor's orders. I'm sorry if in any way that was misunderstood. I do apologize for upsetting people, I did not realize that what I posted would be such an issue. I will try and watch how I phrase things in the future. *Edited to be less of a wall of text =)

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, or maybe there is just a part of the surgery that I did not understand correctly, but I have noticed that some posts seem to be talking about stomas and pouches. I could just be being uptight about this, but I hope people are really understanding the anatomy of the procedure they're having done. I'm not sure if this has just been introduced into the whole lingo of weight loss surgery or if some of these people haven't really read up on the differences between RNY and sleeve, but I did notice that even the nurses in the hospital were doing this post-surgery. They would say "etc, etc, your stoma, etc, etc" and I was like "...I don't have a stoma" and they were like "oh, well, the same rules apply" Don't get me wrong, the nurses were wonderfully supportive, but it seemed like everyone just lumped all the surgeries into RNY and I've been noticing a lot of that here too. So correct me if I've read up on my surgery wrong, but we have a sleeve, not a pouch, and an intact pyloric sphincter, not a stoma, right?? They are very different things that come with very different future implications (i.e. stoma = possible dumping syndrome, stricture of the stoma, etc) I realize that they are similar, but the health care needs behind them can be different. Am I the only one who has noticed this or am I just being a total b for pointing it out (In which case, I'm sorry =p)? *Edited to decrease the wide generalizations I made a bit and to add clarification =)

Have you heard back on your H Pylori test?

Oh goodness. I think I am already addicted to shopping - bad news for me =p Haha I sure will enjoy buying myself a new wardrobe at goal.

I know my doctor said that if at any stage I begin a food phase and it turns out I'm not ready, go back to the previous stage for a few days and then try again. I think when we reach that point we will be able to handle it, just in very small quantities. It may be more of a phasing regular foods in slowly over time.

They don't have a packet of information that's translated? I would ask them if they do have an English packet. It seems like they would because many of those programs accept English speaking patients. I agree that the search tool on this website is great for looking up information. If you have questions about pureed foods, just type that into the search and you'll have tons of questions and answers =) That might give you more specific information to the exact questions you're looking for. As for post op diet - my doctor said 1 week full liquids, 1 week puree, 2 weeks soft foods, then regular foods. I haven't been for my 2 week appointment yet though, so I'm not sure what additional information we will discuss at that point. *Note: Each doctor seems to have a varied diet. You may want to contact your clinic and see if they will explain yours to you over the phone. I have heard some doctors do 3 week liquid diets, some do only 5 days. Walk a lot to help decrease the gas.

From a lot of reading both here and on other resources on sleeves, you should not be drinking carbonated drinks at 6 weeks. You should consult your doctor as to whether they think it is fine at some point in the future, but now is not the appropriate time.

Yay! I'm happy for you =) August 29th will be here sooner than you realize!