sr910

Oh yeah and the band... that port they do the fills from sits on top of the muscle and underneath the skin. To me, that translates to "you can totally feel it!" So I wasn't okay with that! Lol My surgeon said he thinks the band is "on it's way out..." My surgeon also said bypass is good for people who have severe acid reflux issues, if that pertains to you. But I really feel like the sleeve is the only option for me! And about plication not removing the grehlin... I asked my surgeon if bypass patients still experiences grehlin-related hunger and he said no -- since food isn't passing through the stomach, grehlin production more or less shuts down. Just a random tidbit... Good luck with whatever you choose. =)

Here is my thought process on it... Bypass is exactly what it says -- they bypass the stomach and food goes from a pouch to the small intestine. Not having stomach acid in the bypass pouch is just odd to me -- stomach acid is part of the digestion process! The bypass pouch will stretch more than the sleeve. I know 2 people who have had gastric bypass that over-eat and are still overweight. One of them ate a HUGE burrito from a Mexican restaurant the other day... If you can just stretch it and fall back into old habits and gain your weight back, what's the point? The sleeve maintains its restriction because it is formed using the thick-walled, inner curvature of the stomach. It can be stretched, but nowhere near as much as the pouch created during bypass. Malabsorption -- with the sleeve, you still have a stomach with acid and normal digestion, it just has a smaller capacity and is shaped like a banana. Weight loss from the sleeve is all thanks to restriction (and your food choices.) You will lose weight from bypass, but it will be from restriction and malabsorption. It all goes back to not having stomach acid and normal digestion. But another thing to think about... When you swallow a pill, what makes it disintegrate and get absorbed by your body? STOMACH ACID! So aside from your usual Tylenol, I've heard of a lot of people having problems getting their prescription medication dosed correctly. If you don't have stomach acid to break down the pill and start the absorption process, who knows how much of that pill your body will actually absorb?

Sent you a private message

I'm in San Diego. I was actually scheduled for March 5 but my arm doctor told me no. I had surgery on my arm in November (which involved cutting the bone) and it hasn't quite healed yet so hopefully having another month will give my arm time to heal. I'm on my phone so I can't really see anything ok your profile. Where are you from?

I'm April 15, too! =)

And I totally realize that 5 days of pre-op dieting is nothing compared to 2-4 weeks like some of you are doing... My 5 days was only intended to encourage people that are in their first 4 days lol

I am no longer a March sleever -- I will be an April, May, or June sleever, but I'm definitely shooting for April. My arm still isn't healed from my surgery in November, so my arm doctor is telling me no, I'm SWAMPED at work and my boss is being a major bit** about me taking half a day off for tests and a full day off for my pre-op class where they go over surgery, the hospital stay, the food stages... Ugh. So whatever. Hopefully my arm will heal, my boss will get the stick out of her ass, and I can get caught up with all the work that keeps getting piled on me. I will be tuned in to hear allll about your sleeves! Please keep me updated -- I want to know every detail so I can be super duper prepared when my turn finally rolls around. **Oh, and I already completed 5 days of my pre-op diet and lost 7 lbs! I'm going to try realllly hard to not gain between now and when I start my pre-op diet again. The first day was hard, I had such a bad headache the second day I just stayed in bed, and by day 3 I wasn't really hungry, so I just want to encourage everyone who hasn't started yet, or maybe just started your pre-op diet... YOU CAN DO IT! I know it's challenging, especially when every other TV and radio commercial is about FOOD!

Hey all, just wanted to say I got my approval yesterday -- just 3 (business) days after my paperwork being submitted. Yayy!! Although I'm still waiting to hear if I need to reschedule. I'm scheduled now for March 5 but my arm doctor wants me to wait -- so I asked my WLS surgeon to call my arm doctor -- I'll let them duke it out!

Okay I just need to vent. I had an ulnar osteotomy on my right arm last January (2012.) My arm doctor bitched about me being overweight and I told him I was researching WLS -- he says "oh that's great!" I went to the seminar, started attending my nutritionist appointments... Then I had an ulnar osteotomy on my left arm Nov. 1, 2012. He says wait til January to have surgery. January came and he said wait until march to have surgery. Well now my surgery is scheduled for march 5 and he says NO WAY. My arm bone hasn't healed completely so he wants me to wait. But here's my frustration. If my arm is unable to heal with my current eating and nutritional intake, who's to say that after surgery -- when I'm supplementing and watching that I get certain nutrients -- my bone will heal any less? I'm so annoyed right now! It took so long to get to this point and now he won't even give me an estimate of when he thinks it'd be okay for me to get sleeved. Urgh!!

I've been taking 1,000iu of d3 2x a day for the past month or so. I ordered some calcium pills and they are so big I choke so I've ordered liquid calcium. The same thing happened with my right arm. Using the bone growth stimulator will fix it, it'll just take a little while. I just think the bone growth stimulator is all I need -- sleeve or not -- to heal my bone, and being sleeved isn't going to have that great of an impact. I have a call into my surgeon's office so he can give me a second opinion. I'm just upset with the arm doctor -- I don't think he knows how much it has taken to get to this point!

1) I know that I will not be allowed to drive following surgery -- how long will I not be able to drive? I know it might be different for everyone, but I'm just trying to get an idea. 2) My surgery date is March 5. My best friend has advanced-screening tickets of Oz the great and powerful for 2 days after surgery. Do you post-sleevers think I will be okay to sit in a movie theatre for a couple hours at 2 days post-op? She also has the option of getting them for 4 days post-op... Is this totally crazy and should I just say no I can't go? I'm just not sure what recovery is going to be like. I don't intend to sound stupid and be all, "yeah, woohoo, social butterfly right after surgery!" but I got up and moving pretty quickly after serious arm surgery... Thank you!!

I'm currently using a bone growth stimulator that send electric pulses to my bone, prompting new cells to form. Other than that, he hasn't said anything -- he didn't even call me himself, I got a call from his receptionist who couldn't even answer any of my questions! So, it's fine I called me surgeons office and am going to get his opinion. Since I'll be supplementing Calcium and D after surgery, I'm thinking my bone might have a better chance after surgery! I'm continuing with my preop diet, though. My coordinator was super nice and told me that if I absolutely had to reschedule it, it'd be the beginning of April.

My surgeon doesn't do drains, but I will definitely call my friend and ask her to swap the 2-day post-op tickets for the 4-day post-op tickets. Love you all, thanks!!

There are certain things that I want to be "goodbye forever" foods --McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell... NOBODY should eat that stuff! (I've been watching a lot of documentaries on Netflix related to processed junk and America's obesity epidemic) -- But like... Sushi. It's healthier than a cheeseburger, but I have a friend that cannot tolerate rice even 5 years after her WLS. So, I intentionally want to say goodbye forever to the crap, but then goodbye maybe forever to things like sushi that aren't really that bad, but I might just not be able to tolerate them later. Idk I'm pretty sure I'm over-analyzing everything as always. I knew the mental aspect of this whole process would be more of a challenge than anything else for me. However, I felt pretty good on Saturday at work. My lunch break rolled around and I was like "Hm. Not really hungry. Could totally just have a protein shake if I had to!" -- that made me feel a little less emotional about the nagging voice in my head that's telling me I'm going to fail at the preop diet just like every other diet I've ever tried. I can do it, and I know that I can -- I've just never really followed through on anything like this, so succeeding will prove a lot to myself.

Tomorrow is my last "normal" day before my strict pre-op diet starts and I think I'm going crazy. I wanted to have a few of my favorite foods before I said farewell forever. I know there are some foods that I'll be able to eat later, but I want to have a final goodbye and NEVER allow myself to have certain things ever again. But they don't sound good and I literally cried last night because I thought I wanted Mexican food but it didn't sound good. Wtf? I'm not going to feel guilty about having a "food funeral" -- I just wanted to have a couple things one last time. Like a Costco hotdog (don't judge me! Lol)

I have.. -- attended the information seminar -- had 6 months of supervised dieting -- had a consult with my surgeon -- gotten all my bloodwork and medical clearance w/ my primary -- had my paperwork submitted to insurance I got some paperwork in the mail today about attending a full-day seminar where they will discuss the surgery, the hospital stay, the diet after surgery, etc etc... On my paperwork it says to bring a mandatory CASH ONLY payment of $300 for their "Administrative Fee." I'm annoyed because 1) I've never heard of this and wish they would have mentioned it earlier... and 2) Why "CASH ONLY"?? I'm used to people saying cash only when they don't want to have to claim monies for sneaky tax purposes. I have cash, I'll pay it -- it just seems a little shady to me... Thoughts?

Coordinator called and said, "Okay I submitted your paperwork -- how does March 5 sound?" Ahhh so soon! I don't know why it seemed to take so long to get to this point, and now it's suddenly here. I know I need to do this and that it will be the best thing I ever do, but I can't help second guess myself. What's wrong with me?!

March 5 w/ Dr. Mueller in San Diego! (Pending my arm doctor giving me the OK -- had an ulnar osteotomy in Nov that hasn't healed just yet...)

619 San Diego, CA!

My paperwork was just submitted Friday morning, but I've already been scheduled for March 5. Maybe my surgeon's office deals with Anthem Blue Cross a lot? I was kind of speechless on the phone. "Just calling to let you know I just submitted your paperwork. How does March 5 sound for surgery?" Uh... what?

Aw, I love all of you!! Thanks for the reassuring words -- I know I need this, want this, and that it'll be such a good experience. The pre-op diet is scaring me the most. I know I can do it, I just feel like it's going to take a LOT of mental willpower. I wish I could just lock myself in a room for 2 weeks and not have to see/smell/etc all the foods that are 1) not of nutritional value, and 2) off limits. I'm definitely going to write a list of reaffirming points -- why I'm doing this, how I'll have such a happier and fulfilling life, how wonderful life will be afterwards... Thank you again. I'm glad I have vst and people who can relate!

25g of protein in a 6 oz cup. Anyone heard of or tried this stuff?